A Brief Chronology

The Julian Protectorate: A Brief Chronology
-------------------------------------------

Year        Major Event
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-2180       Emperor Hiroshi II (Rule of Man) begins assigning traders
                as planetary governors in Mendan and Amdukan sectors.
-1776       Collapse of the Rule of Man.  Vargr raids and migration in
                full swing.
-1658       Sack of Gashikan.
-1646       Second Empire of Gashikan founded.  Vargr Race Wars begin.
-1427       Project Wolvesbane (Biowar project) clears Vargr settlements
                from Gashikan sector (Vargr Genocide).
-1000       Effective end of the Vargr Race Wars.
 -612       Legion of Breskain, Gashikan order of knighthood dedicated
                to total genocide of Vargr, founded.
 -312       Menderes Emancipation.
 -302       Slavery abolished on Asimikigir.
 -300       Beginning of emancipations in Mendan and Amdukan.
 -247       Menderes Corporation launches first starship.
 -222       Hhkar Invasions begin.
    0       Cleon I proclaims Third Imperium.
   47       Hhkar Invasions end.
   89       Imperial Antares Pacification Campaign.
  166       IISS and Imperial Diplomatic Corps begin operation in coreward
                regions.
  175       Beginning of Julian War.
  185       Expulsion of Imperial forces from coreward regions by Star
                Legion.
  191       Julian War ends with peace treaty.  Formation of original
                League of Antares.  Foundation of Julian Protectorate as
                permanent polity.
  382       Imperial Emperor Martin III starts Alien Missions
  420       Imperial Grand Survey published.
  486       Vargr Mission, part of Imperial Alien Missions, begins.
  488       Hidden War begins.
  494       Hidden War ends.
  499       Vargr Mission ends.
  622       First Vargr (Soegz) becomes Archduke of Antares.
 1065       Imperial Second Survey published.
 1070       Civil War results in collapse of Second Empire of Gashikan.
 1085       Menderes Corporation begins trade in/with Domain of Antares.
 1116       Assassination of Strephon.  Beginning of Imperial Rebellion.
 1117       Domain of Antares secedes from Imperium, calls itself League
                of Antares.
 1118       League of Antares joins Julian Protectorate.
 1120       Hostility to Julian involvement in Rebellion prompts secession
                of League of Antares.

The Ziru Sirka and the Rule of Man

The Julian Protectorate: The Ziru Sirka and the Rule of Man
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At the height of Ziru Sirka dominance, most of Meshan, Mendan, and Amdukan
sectors were under the control of the Vilani Makhidarun bureau, with some
control of the Mendan Main and its surrounds shared with other bureaux.
These areas, along with the rest of the Ziru Sirka, fell under the control
of the Rule of Man at the conclusion of the Interstellar Wars, but even
before that time, the area served to attract Solomani traders.  The influx
of Solomani traders increased during the Rule of Man, and their experience
and familiarity with the area came to the notice of Emperor Hiroshi II, who
appointed such individuals to planetary administration, replacing the
military administration of the area.

In addition to the appointment of experienced traders as planetary
governors, a Solomani development company, Scorpion, in cooperation with
the Vilani Sharurshid bureau, recruited colonists for the development of
the Antarean region.  These two factors contributed to a vibrant, thriving
region which prospered while the rest of the empire decayed.

The Coming of the Vargr

The Julian Protectorate: The Coming of the Vargr
------------------------------------------------

As the Rule of Man decayed, Vargr settlers, who had obtained Jump drive 
from the Vilani in Corridor and Windhorn sectors, finally rounded the 
coreward end of the Windhorn Rift and entered the area.  While initial
reaction was positive (the Vargr were viewed as a potentially useful
resource), raiders and corsairs inevitably followed, and just as inevitably,
conflict between human and Vargr resulted.  This conflict did little to
build trust between the races, but remained relatively low-key until the
spark of the Sack of Gashikan.

The Sack of Gashikan and the Race Wars

The Julian Protectorate: The Sack of Gashikan and the Vargr Race Wars
---------------------------------------------------------------------

In -1658 (Imperial), a Vargr corsair attacked the garden world of Gashikan,
using nuclear weapons and pillaging the world.  The human inhabitants of the
world suffered global holocaust.  The resulting reaction included reprisals
against neighboring Vargr communities, and a series of bloody wars inflamed
racial hatred between Human and Vargr as far away as Antares.

In -1646, human worlds uniting against the Vargr formed the Second Empire of
Gashikan, whose founding principles focussed on the extermination of the
Vargr as a race, on the basis of a perceived threat posed by the Vargr to
the very existence of Humaniti.  Early efforts to expel the Vargr from
Gashikan sector fell short of full success, and Vargr retaliations inflamed
fears of the humans in the area.  Fear and hatred of the Vargr persisted and
became rooted in Gashikan society, and influenced human states to rimward.

The Second Empire of Gashikan, taking advantage of anti-Vargr xenophobia,
embarked on a campaign to bring other human planets under its domination,
in the guise of offering them protection.  Many planets accepted; others 
who refused were brought into the Empire by force, in a fierce war of
unification.  Eventually, the Second Empire of Gashikan controlled most of
Gashikan sector, much of Trenchan and Mendan sectors, and had minor holdings
in Meshan and Gzaekfueg sectors.

Although the Gashikan Navy continued to operate vigorously against the Vargr,
the Race Wars are generally held to have ended in -1000, and the anti-Vargr
prejudice, while still dominant, now had the opportunity to die down.

The Vargr Enslavements

The Julian Protectorate: The Vargr Enslavements
-----------------------------------------------

After the end of the Vargr Race Wars in -1000, tolerance for Vargr grew in
areas outside the Second Empire of Gashikan.  Vargr settlements on planets
that humans considered undesirable were accepted, provided that the Vargr
posed no threat.  Even where a threat was perceived, humans intervening
preferred to enslave the Vargr rather than exterminate them.  Inside the
Empire of Gashikan, the situation was quite different.  Vargr caught within
the Empire were invariably killed immediately.  Outside the Empire, Vargr 
slavery grew to enormous proportions, and became a dominant industry in the
area, reaching a peak around -300.  Continued Vargr immigration and the
occasional emancipation, coupled with increasingly tolerant relations between
human and Vargr, resulted around this time in a larger number of free Vargr
than those still enslaved.  Although it would remain a major industry for
quite some time, Vargr slavery began a long, slow, decline.

The Menderes Emancipation

The Julian Protectorate: The Menderes Emancipation
--------------------------------------------------

On Asimikigir, the Menderes Corporation was becoming a major corporation.
Its power was due primarily to the large number of Vargr slaves it owned,
which comprised most of it labor force.  Unlike other slave-owning 
corporations, however, the Menderes Corporation made a strong effort to
ensure that its Vargr slaves were happy and well-treated, and felt that 
they were leading rewarding lives.

In -321, the Menderes family head, Karik Menderes, took the forward-looking
step of emancipating all of the Menderes Vargr, making them employees rather
than property.  Although done for economic reasons, the emancipation sparked
a Vargr Emancipation movement on Asimikigir that eventually resulted (in
-302) in the complete outlawing of slavery on Asimikigir.  The trend spread
quickly to other worlds, aided in part by the Menderes corporate attitude
that racism and business didn't mix.  Although the Menderes Corporation did
not actively advocate this point of view, and in fact would set aside these
attitudes where necessary to do business, the example that they set by merely
existing turned into a powerful force for change.  This resulted in increased
opportunity for lucrative dealings between Vargr and human.

The Menderes Corporation again took a forward-looking step in -275, when 
Tran Menderes broke the effective monopoly that Kudukara Lines, a human-owned
and -operated company from Gashikan, had on interstellar transport in the
area.  At the time, there were few worlds outside Gashikan that could build
starships - but in Meshan sector, there were Vargr that could and did build
them, and made an offer to carry Menderes goods off Asimikigir to other
worlds.

The Trade Wars

The Julian Protectorate: The Trade Wars
---------------------------------------

When Tran Menderes accepted a Vargr offer to transport Menderes goods, he
started a trend.  Other Vargr traders approached Menderes, where they were
met with a positive reception.  The resulting trade association was both
controversial and widely criticized, as was the Menderes Corporation, but
Tran Menderes stayed his course, and eventually, with Vargr technical
assistance and a mixed Human-Vargr labor force, the Menderes Corporation was
able to launch its first starship in -247.  Under the successors to Tran
Menderes, the Menderes Corporation launched and generally won half a dozen
trade wars against Kudukara Lines, and grew to connect the Vargr Extents
with the Vargr Enclaves, profiting enormously from the Vargr trade.

The Rise of the Third Imperium

The Julian Protectorate:  The Rise of the Third Imperium
--------------------------------------------------------

The rise of the Sylean Federation, and its conversion into the Third Imperium
by Cleon Zhunastu's proclamation, passed largely unnoticed in the region.
However, astute observers would realize that the proclaimed connection with
the First and Second Imperia presaged a play for Imperial dominance in the
region.  This was largely ignored until the Antarean Pacification Campaign,
in which the rimward portion of the Menderes trading sphere fell to the
expansionist forces of the Imperium.  At the same time, reports came 
filtering in that showed a lack of Imperial toleration for the Vargr, and
an apparent preference for force and intimidation rather than diplomacy and
negotiation in dealing with Vargr, at least in Corridor sector.  These
reports ignited anti-Imperial sentiment in the coreward areas of the Menderes
sphere.

The Menderes family and companies began an anti-Imperial propaganda campaign,
building common cause between Human and Vargr in resisting continued Imperial
expansion.  To Vargr, the poor treatment afforded Vargr in Corridor and other
areas of the Imperium was made the focus of the propaganda; to Humans, it was
the specter of a possible Imperial claim to the coreward portions of the 
former Ziru Sirka.  The Menderes campaign was largely successful, and when
Imperial scouts and diplomats entered the region as ambassadors of goodwill,
they were largely rebuffed.

The Julian War

The Julian Protectorate: The Julian War
---------------------------------------

The diplomatic overtures from 166 on being unproductive, in 175, Emperor
Martin I ordered Imperial fleets into Mendan sector, in an effort to 
accomplish by force what couldn't be accomplished by negotiation.

The region was divided into a number of small polities, but these rallied
to the Asimikigir Confederation, the Menderes Corporation and family, and
in particular Julian Menderes, the family head, when he became Regent of
the Asimikigir Confederation in 178.  Julian commanded the respect and
loyalty of both humans and Vargr in the Confederation, and he proved an
able leader as well.  Taking advantage of Vargr resourcefulness and human
determination, Julian Menderes was able to create a protectorate organization
whose military arm, the Star Legion, was able to repulse the Imperial forces
by 185, and to capture most of the Antares region by 191, when the Imperium
was forced to come to a formal peace agreement.

The Julian Protectorate Forms

The Julian Protectorate: The Julian Protectorate Forms
------------------------------------------------------

With the peace treaty in 191, Julian Menderes was able to convert 
the wartime protectorate organization into a permanent authority, the 
Julian Protectorate, with the Star Legion as its armed forces.  This change
was more nominal than actual, as its primary purpose is to resist Imperial
expansion, rather than act as a governing state.  As part of the peace
agreement of 191 with the Imperium, a cluster of worlds in Antares sector
was granted autonomy as the League of Antares, and Julian Menderes was able
to ensure that the people in positions of power were from families that had
come coreward as refugees during the Pacification Campaigns.  The cluster is
today largely sympathetic to the Protectorate, and, although Imperial
domination of the cluster is complete, no attempt to revoke autonomy or to
reintegrate the cluster by force has been made, largely because of the 
certainty of a response from the Protectorate.

The Decline of the Protectorate

The Julian Protectorate: The Decline of the Protectorate
--------------------------------------------------------

With peace between the Protectorate and the Imperium, the Protectorate's
defensive alliance against the Imperium waned as a binding force between
the members.  Members went their own way in foreign relations and trade,
with the Protectorate doing little more than establishing standards for
interoperation (to ensure that, if the Star Legion were again needed, 
maintenance and communication between various worlds' and confederations'
detachments would not suffer).

The First Resurgence:

The Julian Protectorate: The First Resurgence: The Imperial Grand Survey
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the late 380s through the early 400s and 410s, Imperial scouts attempted
to survey the worlds of the Protectorate for the Imperial Grand Survey.
These attempts caused concern that the information was to be used for
military or intelligence purposes, and presaged another war.  The
Protectorate "beefed up" the Star Legion and ordered it out on patrol, and
many worlds refused cooperation with the Scouts, resulting in soured
relations between the Imperium and the states of the Protectorate.  The
Imperium resorted to clandestine operations in Protectorate space, and in
spite of Protectorate efforts to prevent it, most of the area had been
surveyed to Imperial Class III standards by the time of the publication of
the Survey, in 420.

The Second Resurgence:

The Julian Protectorate: The Second Resurgence: The Vargr Missions and the
Hidden War
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 382, Emperor Martin III of the Imperium ordered a series of Alien Missions
to learn about the alien races with whom the Imperium had contact.  These
missions included xenologists and other researchers, journalists, and
diplomats.  The Vargr Mission, from 486 to 499, met a cool reception from
Protectorate worlds, and, althout anti-Imperial feeling had ebbed since the
Grand Survey, radically anti-Imperial factions attempted to incite worlds of
the Protectorate to turn away the Imperial emissaries.  When these attempts
failed, the radicals resorted to terrorism and corsair raids, hiring bands
of pirates and corsairs to attack the Imperial ships.

Cleon IV, unwilling to tolerate continued harrassment of the study mission,
ordered Imperial Naval Intelligence to counter the anti-Imperial activity in
the area, in a "Hidden War" lasting from 488 to 494.  Although the Naval
efforts were largely successful, they were widely publicised in the 
Protectorate, and anti-Imperial feeling surged.  In spite of the cessation of 
harrassment, the Imperium elected to terminate the Vargr Mission early, in 
499, and move on.

The Third Resurgence:

The Julian Protectorate: The Third Resurgence: The Second Imperial Survey
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

As with the original Grand Survey in the 380s to 410s, the Second Survey
prompted fears of espionage directed at a possible war to incorporate the
Protectorate area into the Imperium.  While the Imperium did not resort as
heavily to clandestine operations as during the Grand Survey, and relied
more on diplomacy, there were nevertheless some incidents between the Star
Legion and clandestine Scout operations that contributed to the damaging
of relations with the Imperium.

The Fourth Resurgence:

The Julian Protectorate: The Fourth Resurgence: The Utovogh Tirades and
the Rebellion
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

A charismatic Vargr leader, Utovogh, was responsible for inciting anti-
Imperial feeling among Vargr outside the Protectorate.  While he has had
little effect within the Protectorate, the growing hostility to the
Imperium has been coupled with an increase in support for the Protectorate.
Concerned about possible belligerence, the Protectorate increased the size
of the Star Legion to its highest levels since the Julian War, and patrols
have been intensified.

With the assassination of Strephon and the fragmenting of the Imperium, the
Protectorate has emerged as a force for stability in the Antarean region and
the Vargr Enclaves.  Archduke Bzrk of the Imperial Domain of Antares has
shown himself to be a leader who has earned the support of both Humans and
Vargr in the region, and he is generally trusted to guide his Domain through
the problems of the Rebellion.

In 1117, Archduke Bzrk announced that the Domain of Antares would be forced
to "operate independently [of the Imperium] for a time", and renamed his
Domain as the League of Antares.  The following year, at Bzrk's request, the
League was admitted to the Protectorate as a member confederation, and Star
Legion detachments were soon in action against Imperial fleets under Lucan's
control.  Antareans and Julians were comrades-in-arms throughout 1118 and
1119, but resentment started to grow against Antares, for involving the
Protectorate in a war not properly theirs to fight.  The admission of two
confederations formerly part of the anti-Vargr Second Empire of Gashikan
provided a pretext for Bzrk to renounce the membership of the League in the
Protectorate, and non-Antarean detachments of the Star Legion were at the
same time withdrawn from the wars of the Rebellion.  The condition of
Lucan's forces had deteriorated to the point where the League of Antares
could stand on its own, and good relations between the League and the
Protectorate remain.