Interstellar Civil War

The Interstellar Civil War is a conflict between the Federal government and various secessionist regions throughout human space. The conflict has developed into asymmetric warfare, with the Federation using its military superiority to blockade and occasionally occupy key rebel strongholds and the Alliance relying on piracy and hit-and-run tactics against Federal convoys. Large battles typically only occur either when the Federals can force the Alliance into battle or when the Alliance can consolidate enough forces to briefly outnumber local Federal forces. Although large-scale battles from a planetary perspective are rare, there are planets where ongoing invasions or resistance against occupation have led to longstanding localized conflicts. Many of these battles would have been considered major wars in their own right on Old Earth during the One Planet Period.

The Conflict

Prelude

Due to their remoteness, many settled worlds were de facto independent from the Federal Government for decades prior to the beginning of the conflict. As the Federal Government did not interfere with these outposts, there was little desire for them to break away. Occasionally extremist groups on remote worlds would kidnap or murder Federal officials and military personnel. Some historians view these incidents as the beginnings of the Civil War, but at the time they were viewed as isolated incidents and not part of a larger trend of separatist sentiment. Over the decades, increasing frustration with Federal expansion and trade policies as well as lack of representation in the Federal Congress led many outlying worlds to call for separation from the Federation. Many of these worlds convened a congress that founded the People's Alliance. Contrary to popular belief, the People's Alliance is strictly a military alliance and not a government body. While many of the secessionist worlds seek to build a strong government in opposition to the Federation, none of them are committed to unifying with each other. The single stated goal of the People's Alliance is the recognized independence of each member state. When and if independence is recognized by the Federation, all member states will in theory be free to go their separate ways.

Deployment

The founding of the People's Alliance and its declaration of open warfare on the Federation marked the beginning of the Interstellar Civil War. Prior to the opening of hostilities, the Federation military was widely dispersed and largely focused on protecting trade routes from pirates and maintaining the peace on remote outposts. As such, Federal forces were unprepared for the declaration of war. On many separatist worlds, local planetary defense forces were easily able to overpower Federal outposts or cut them off from supplies. On remote worlds with small populations, federal forces were able to fend off local insurrectionists until reinforcements arrived or they were evacuated. On other Alliance worlds where local sentiment was strongly divided between secessionists and loyalists, the declaration of war led to planetary-scale civil wars breaking out. After the initial glut of rebel victories over remote Federal outposts, the Alliance had difficulty following up on their success. The Alliance lacked the naval forces and transportation infrastructure to rapidly deploy planetary militias to secessionist worlds still under Federal control. Meanwhile, the Federation was dealing with its own problems. Completely unprepared for fullscale warfare, the Government struggled to evacuate/resupply Federal outposts. While the Alliance hoped for a quicky victory over an unprepared Federal Government, the Federation began preparing for a long war, relying on its larger population, superior production capacity, and professional military to eventually wear down the People's Alliance. In the months following the outbreak of war, the Federal Congress passed several laws granting increased representation to remote settlements and overhauling trade regulations. While some Federalists viewed this as pandering to rebels, many citizens sympathized with the complaints of the People's Alliance even if they disagreed with their militaristic stance and viewed these new laws as long overdue. These laws probably kept some systems from joining the Alliance and on some seceded worlds were viewed as invalidating the need for armed rebellion and pushed local governments back to the Federal side.

Outcome

The outbreak of war led to many reforms within the Federal Government, especially related to expansion policy, trade regulation, and increased representation.

Included Conflicts

• Battle of Gamble

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Space

Conflict Result

Ongoing

Belligerents

Federal Government

• Federal Interstellar Government

Rebellion

• People's Alliance

Strength

750,000,000 personnel
60,000,000 combat troops
1,200,000 combat vehicles
15,000 warships
135,000 other starships

450,000,000 personnel
50,000,000 combat troops
1,000,000 combat vehicles
5,000 warships
95,000 other starships

Casualties

50,000 KIA
200,000 wounded
10,000 POWs
2,000,000 civilian casualties

60,000 KIA
500,000 wounded
200,000 POWs
15,000,000 civilian casualties

Objectives

Total surrender of the People's Alliance and recognition of Federal authority everywhere throughout human space

Independence of all Alliance territory from the Federal Government