Welcome to the world of Empires Earth!
Unlike the First Five, Empires Earth is a late-comer to the interdimensional community. Only recently has Empires opened up to the other worlds of the ITA. It is quickly making up its lost ground, however, and is definitely a sight to see for the tourist, either casual or inveterate.
The most notable fact about Empires is that, unlike most worlds with a 19th century point of historical divergence from Prime, its history has not been marked by decolonization of the vast European (and Japanese) empires, but rather by their survival to the modern day. This, combined with Empires' high level of technology, can make for a seemingly anachronistic experience.
Although initial scouting had occurred as early as the 1930's, Empires Earth was first formally contacted by the ITA in 1952. Following heated deliberations in the Council of Strasbourg and in metropolitan parliaments, Empires agreed to accept affiliate membership in the ITA in 1953. Sponsored by Napoleonic Earth and Prime, Empires gained full membership in the ITA in 1968.
Until recently, the relative self-sufficiency of Empires Earth led it to keep a low profile in the interdimensional community, its only significant interactions being trade in technology and cultural items with Marketplace, Prime, and Napoleonic Earth. The aftermath of the recent British War has changed this, as the world empires seek to modernize their economies and military in cooperation with other second-echelon worlds.
The traditional isolation of Empires Earth from the interworld community has been mirrored by its lack of interworld rail connections. Until 1997, there was only a rail Gridney from Capital City, Transfer Point, to Strasbourg, and a sea Gridney from Napoleonic Earth's North Sea off of Hamburg to Shanghai. In the aftermath of the British War, the Congress of Strasbourg has supported the establishment of a rail Gridney from the city of Abidjan, in the Kingdom of Mali on Estates-General Earth, to the French city of Marseilles; it has been opened to interworld rail transit in October of 1999. The Congress is also in the midst of talks with Jane Grey Earth on the establishment of a sea Gridney from the Bay of Biscay on Jane Grey Earth to the Skagerrak strait between the Danish and Swedish kingdoms of Empires.
Empires is home to many governments, most of which are based on dynastic and aristocratic principles. Below is a sampling:
Imperial State: The imperial state is by far the most important form of government on this world. Each of the seven world empires is organized around a core nation or nations and a ruling dynasty. Over the past century, the core nation, in the name of the dynasty, has expanded its territorial control outside Europe to include large numbers of people, administered either by a constitutional monarchy subordinate to the core nation and its dyansty, or by the colonial authority of the core nation. The core nation maintains preferential trade agreements with its subordinate territories and ensures that the subordinate territories remain under the political and military control of the core nation, All of the core nations of the world empires, and many of the territories subordinate to the core nation or components of the core nation, are governed as constitutional monarchies.
Constitutional Monarchy: The constitutional monarchy on Empires Earth is the predominant form of government. The theory of constitutional monarchy on Empires Earth holds that the ruling head of the national dynasty has the right to rule over the people, serving as a political figure above petty party politics and ensuring national unity. However, the ruling head of the national dynasty must submit to the will of the people, as expressed in democratic votes on everyday matters, and allow the expression of fundamental human rights. The core nations and national components of the western European empires are governed as constitutional monarchies, as are the western European colonies of overseas settlement, and the member states of the French-subordinate American Union, and the various German states, including Saxony, Poland, and the Baltics. The restored Russian empire and the Kingdom of Ukraine qualify as marginal constitutional monarchies, as they are still in the process of emerging from the absolute monarchy that prevailed until 1999.
Absolute Monarchies: Absolute monarchies are those dynastic states that choose to minimize the role of the people in establishing national policies, seeking to establish responsive government, as opposed to responsible government. The rule of law in absolute monarchies is fundamentally based on the government and dynasty controlling a preponderant amount of force. Absolute monarchies vary widely in tenor, from the core nation of the Japanese Empire, which has an advisory elected parliament, to the petty states of the Indian subcontinent.
Republic: Pressure applied by the world empires has resulted in the disappearance of most of the republics created in the 19th century. Though the American successor states are governed by elected heads of state, these heads of state are effectively powerless, representing factions of various national militaries or economic interests based in the world empires.
Colonial Territory: Almost three-quarters of Empires Earth's population lives in one colonial territory or another, that is, a territory deprived of any indigenous government and placed under the direct authority of an imperial colonial authority.
There are many different types of colonial territories. At one extreme are the départements d'outremer, the "overseas departments", of the French Empire, including the Antilles, the French Pacific, and many of the coastal regions and major cities of French West Africa. All permanent residents of the départements d'outremer have full French metropolitan citizenship, the right to movement anywhere within the French Empire, and the right to elect representatives to the Corps législatif in Paris. At the other are the German territories in eastern Africa and Southeast Asia, which are administered by the German corporate bodies with the sole aim of extracting as much profit as possible for the European core of the German Empire, regardless of cost to the indigenous populations. Most other colonial territories are located towards the middle of this spectrum, with the beginnings of responsive local government combined with a metropolitan-controlled economic and military policy. Generally speaking, the French and Hapsburg empires lean towards liberal colonial policies, the German empire towards conservative policies, and the Brasilian, Japanese, and Netherlando-British empires towards more centrist policies.
The French Imperial franc (f) is the most important currency indigenous to this world. The French Imperial franc is accepted throughout the French Empire and the American Union, and is usable at reasonable exchange rates throughout the Euroatlantic Economic Union (Union économique euroatlantique). Some interworld currencies accepted in many of the larger cities of the Euroatlantic Economic Union empires include the ITA pound, the Confed dollar, and the Napoleonic franc.
Prime has many excellant hotels, lodges, and other forms of accomadations. The following is only just a sample.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The best, rare on Prime, non-existent on some worlds.
The equivalent would be the Forbidden City on Marketplace, or the Du Regent in Paris on the Communauté Globale.
Le Napoléon (Paris): Le Napoléon advertises only in those media, such as polo magazines, dynastic bulletins, and exclusive video channels, that have large numbers of jaded wealthy aristocrats and nouveaux riches. Le Napoléon -- located in the middle of Paris' exclusive Les Halles district -- has only one type of room, that being a ten-room apartment-style suite with 400 square meters of floor space, a sitting room with fully-stocked bar, two bedrooms, an up-to-date media centre, and a whirlpool. This costs 1200 f per week, or 4000 f per month. Le Napoléon also offers numerous packages that provide free access to local cultural venues and tourist attractions.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Luxury.
Das Palais (Berlin): Luxury accommodations, with numerous amenities, excellent beds, and numerous on-site restaurants and shops.
⭐⭐⭐ Comfortable.
Serge's Comfort Inns: Two rooms per suite, with comfortable beds and decent bathrooms, all with nice swimming pools.
⭐⭐ Medium.
Howard Stevensons: A basic one-room hotel room or basic suite in a chain noted for buildings with cyan roofs.
⭐ Economy.
Shimodo Lodges: Shimodo Lodges are a chain indigenous to Empires which offers cheap rooms with showers and phone jacks and soft beds.
½⭐ Super Economy.
Sleepmart: Sleepmart is a very recent arrival, and still the only chain of its kind. Sleepmarts offer only one service: Sleep. Sleepmarts are most similar to hostels, with sterile, clean, and reasonably decent beds.
The employment situation varies considerably throughout Empires Earth. On the one hand, the members of the Euroatlantic Economic Union - including the French, Brazillian, Hapsburg, and Netherlando-British homelands and overseas empires - are in the middle of an economic boom fostered by interworld trade and technological modernization, while Japan is enjoying moderate industrial expansion, and even the stagnant economies of Germany and Russia are recovering from their slumps. On the other hand, though, the Japanese, German, and Russian empires practically prohibit all but the most skilled offworld worker from having a job in their metropolitan and imperial territories. The Euroatlantic Economic Union's member states have less stringent work visa requirements, but all save the Brazillian Empire limit employment to citizens.
There are some jobs to be had for the itinerant tourist, mainly in low-level service industry jobs, but these have little permanency and provide low pay. Tourists with certain technical skills in demand, including computer technology and biotechnology, can find decent jobs, however, and can even acquire long-term work visas.
Although Empires Earth as a whole rates Class A-4, with most of Europe, South America, Japan, and the various colonies of settlement rating A-3, there are numerous regional advisories.
* Class B-2a advisories apply to all of the members of the Euroatlantic Economic Union -- including France, Brazil, and the Hapsburg empires and the Kingdom of the Netherlands but excluding all other territories of the Netherlando-British Empire -- whose legal systems operate according to the Code Napoléon.
* Class B-2e advisories apply to the non-Dutch territories of the Netherlando-British Empire, and to the republics of North America, which have common law legal systems.
* A Class C-2 advisory applies to the British Isles, which are currently in the midst of wide-ranging constitutional and political reforms.
* A Class D-2 advisory applies to the territory of the Russian Empire and to that of the Kingdom of Ukraine, as various factions rejecting the Czarist banner continue to wage warfare against legally established authorities in both allied states.
* A Class D-3 advisory applies to the Kingdom of England in the Netherlando-British Empire, where the illegal Royal Guard organization continues to wage terrorist attacks against the new imperial government.
* A Class D-9 advisory applies in the German Empire and its overseas colonies, due to officially sanctioned racism directed primarily towards members of homo sapiens sapiens of African descent. In addition, a restricted D-9 advisory applies for all members of sentient non-human species: Though the Brasilian, French, and Hapsburg empires grant sentient non-humans de facto equality, this decision is still being debated in the courts, while in the other world empires, the question hasn't even be considered.
* A Class E-2 advisory applies to the former Asian territories of the Russian Empire - particularly the region of Persia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus - which are in the middle of post-colonial civil warfare. This advisory may be lifted after a year for the new Georgian and Armenian republics.