Hanseatic League
Sarna News
Contents
Overview
The Hanseatic League is a mercantile nation located in the Deep Periphery, coreward of the Inner Sphere and anti-spinward of the most of the Deep Periphery. "League territory" extends approximately 300 light years in diameter.
Early History (source?)
Its origins begin in 2695 as the government of the Star League started to become increasingly authoritarian.
Camedon Wainwright, a retired admiral of Star League Navy, and Captain-Dame Jenessa De La Cruz, the owner of a small fleet of Jumpships and deepcore mining firms, tried to build up their own league of worlds based upon the Ideals of the great Star League itself but falling short as the Hanseatic worlds soon began to fight among themselves. In 2745 a loose confederation of the 12 to 15 known worlds in the league joined together to defend themselves from Belt-pirates and other Periphery kingdoms.
The League
The modern Hanseatic League is a mercantile alliance of between 20 and 30 worlds. Lyran refugees arrived in Hansa space in the late twenty-ninth century as a direct result of Archon Elizabeth Steiner's Military Disaster Order. As their influence increased, the League took shape, and was officially founded in 2891.
The League is run by a ruling council of merchants. Though peasants within the League do possess some freedoms, the mercantile class strictly controls the flow of goods, services, and travelers within its worlds. The League does trade and interact with outsiders, but this interaction is "officially" limited to three worlds, Bruges, Lübeck and Bergen. Despite this self-imposed isolation, foreigners may do business with merchants on other worlds, as the Hanseatic military can not cordon off the entire League. German is the official language, but English and Spanish are also spoken. There is no domestic currency, nor is there an HPG network, so the ruling class controls all large scale commerce and information.
Hansa Security Force
The Hanseatic League maintains a standing army, the Hansa Security Force, which is composed of "Regional Security Forces" and a "Convoy Protection Force". The Regional Security Forces are composed of conventional combat vehicles and a (relatively) large BattleMech force (by deep periphery standards). These units generally form combined arms forces with battalion(s) of conventional forces, supplemented with company(-ies) of 'Mechs. The Hansa has never fielded greater than a single battalion of BattleMechs in a single military operation. The Convoy Protection Force is composed of marines, mercantile ships, Aerospace assets, assault Dropships, and "militarized Jumpships". Technology within the League is approximately equal to that of the Inner Sphere in 3025.
Each Hanseatic unit is commanded by a Captain-General. The supply chain for Hanseatic units is uncertain, but Captain-Generals generally receive a percentage of the profits made by merchants operating within their jurisdiction. This means Hanseatic units can be "starved" out of existence in response to offenses, but at the danger of leaving ungarrisoned territory.
Hanseatic Relations
The Hanseatic League claims to support free trade throughout the deep periphery, and its traders do venture great distances and trade with many small periphery realms and colonies. However, Hanseatic "free trade" clearly does not extend to member worlds. Further, Hanseatic mercantile interests have led the League intervene (and prolong) conflicts within some deep periphery neighbors, most specifically the (near) continuous war between the Umayyad Caliphate and Nueva Castile.
Hanseatic League merchants are direct competitors of other Periphery traders, especially those of the Diamond Sharks. This competition has led to open hostilities, and a tendency for the Hansa direct its mercantile interests anti-spinward and rimward (away from the Clan Homeworlds).