Fourth Column

The Fourth Column are the “true” monarchists of the Empire. Sometimes called Colonials, they seek to establish a powerful confederacy of consenting sovereign states, each in command of their own subjects. The Fourth Column are distinct from Absolutists in that they think centralization of the Imperial state around New Babylon is a mistake, one that can only lead to conflict; likewise, they are opposed to the Federalists they imagine a different version of a centralized state. The Fourth Column as a political theory first emerged from among the military and minor nobility before and the Union–Imperial war, following the defeat of the Imperial fleet by rebel forces during the Outer Rim Unrest. At first a militant anti-leftist party and paramilitary “social” group, the Fourth Column movement swept across the Throne Worlds and the bloodied veterans of the Republican Military forces. Born from the shock of the Outer Rims Unrest, and then the terrible losses suffered by the people of New Babylon, the ignoble soldiery, and officers of minor nobility, the Fourth Column movement gained steam as an angry response to the perceived mismanagement of a once mighty power by the centralized Republican government. It was the Fourth Column who would instill the vote of no confidence and help bring about the Colonial Earth Empire. Unable to fully grasp power in the turmoil that followed, the movement was split by the Absolutists and evolved into a militant conservative political movement. In the centuries since, the Fourth Column have established themselves as a vocal plurality faction that holds sway in the Houses of House of Steel, and Moments, as well as many within Harrison Armory. Their party planks stand against what they see to be the liberalization of time-honored traditions, the degeneration of ancient Imperial culture, the weakness of the Colonial Earth Empire in addressing internal and external threats, the arrogance of the Corporate Assembly and its expeditions into Pacifica, and – as always – the existence of the Union of Socialist Systems.