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Posted by: MARS 2 Jul 2013, 20:22

Since the current series of Russian model updates won't have any story portion, I am going to compensate those of you guys who are interested in our lore with a new irregular series which I'll call 'Canon Fodder'. These updates will consist entirely of official story elements that exist outside our primary plotline, much like the 'Stories of Others' updates which, to our pleasant surprise, inspired a lot of interesting fan-fiction. The first Episode of Canon Fodder will be very much in the same style, giving you some background on the situation of Germany in the ROTR timeline.

The European Union Republic of Germany found itself in a severe crisis long before the GLA insurrection of 2028. Despite still having the most powerful industry in the entire Eurozone, the country's economy was resting on shaky pillars, with an over-reliance on exports, wages on an all-time low and an increasingly geriatric population. Ignoring the growing sentiment of EU-skepticism and existential fear among the populace, the parliament had long degraded itself into a rubber stamp institution for the Brussels central government which demanded funds for one costly state or bank bailout after another while the nations of Europe found themselves in a period of forced reorganisation into a collection of smaller entities that would, in the warped minds of the political elite, constitute the future united states of Europe. Eventually, the major established parties in Berlin agreed on an uneasy truce to maintain this unbearable status quo, for they were afraid that Germany would return to its old, imperialist habits in the event that the EU should fail prior to its completion. This resulted in the creation of the bipartisan and perpetually squabbling Europakoalition, a move that was darkly reminiscent of the ineffectual emergency coalitions that ruled during the twilight years of the failed Weimar Republic.




The GLA insurrection of 2028 pushed the country beyond the breaking point: Most of the major cities fell into complete anarchy and by the time the Chinese intervened, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne and Stuttgart had become the battlegrounds of an all-out civil war between the GLA, radical anti-capitalists, fractured military units, right wing nationalists and vigilante groups. The People's Liberation Army embarked on a massive crackdown campaign to restore order and even though the tragic, fratricidal fighting eventually came to an end, it had become evident that the status quo could no longer be maintained for long. In 2029, thousands of citizens gathered in front of the Reichstag demanding the dissolution of the coalition and a full restoration of the parliament's sovereignty. After almost two weeks of protests and violent clashes between citizens and police forces, news came that the German Army was mobilising to secure the borders. Hours later, a large detachment of KSK special forces roped down directly on top of the Reichstag via helicopters and proceeded to place the building under a lockdown. The entire government was arrested and the Fuehrungsstab der Streitkraefte, the supreme military command, seized control to form a provisional government.




With the support of the Chinese, the provisional council proceeded to restore the country's independence. Similar events unfolded in most other European countries and by the end of the year, the EU central institutions had nothing left to rule over. Soon, the council assembled a commission of legal scholars, intellectuals and historians to rewrite the hollowed remains of the old Grundgesetz into a new founding constitution for a new Federal Republic of Germany. Most importantly, the first article of the new constitution started out exactly as its predecessor: "Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority". As one of the first practical implications of this re-affirmed policy, Germany placed an entire catalogue of severe restrictions upon surveillance and privacy invasion by intelligence agencies, arguing that the nation that once gave birth to both the Nazi Gestapo and the East German Stasi must learn from its history. The concept of a social market economy, a mixed system of regulated private businesses and state-funded community services, was fixated as the new guideline of the political system in order to combine the positive elements of economic liberalism and social democracy. Broad public referendums were introduced as a new pillar for democratic legitimacy and when the military council ceded its power to the first elected civilian government in 2035, the German people were given the chance to directly elect their Federal President for the first time in history. During that time, the breakaway Republic of Bavaria returned under the wings of the federal eagle after its secession in 2024.




In 2036, Berlin became the hosting city of the Olympic Summer Games. Originally scheduled for 2028, but postponed due to the GLA insurrection, the Games took place a century after those of 1936, which had been turned into a vile propaganda show by the Nazi regime. Now, precisely one hundred years later, the Federal Republic presented itself as a peaceful, modern society which had finally come to terms with its own history and identity. The opening ceremony was delivered by a diverse cast of German citizens from all walks of life, genders, ages, religions and ethnicities. One segment was also dedicated to the German Army which, after decades of mistrust, disaffection and chronic anti-militarism among the population, was finally welcomed as the guardian of a free constitution and a proud people. The ceremony ended with an orchestral performance of the country's national anthem, which had also been revised to include references to the former anthems of West Germany, East Germany as well as the Children's Anthem proposed by the famous poet Bertolt Brecht in 1950 in an effort to create a new symbol of unity and confidence:

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit fuer das Deutsche Vaterland,
Danach lasst uns alle streben, bruederlich mit Herz und Hand.
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit sind des Glueckes Unterpfand,
Blueh im Glanze dieses Glueckes, bluehe Deutsches Vaterland.

Anmut sparet nicht noch Muehe, Leidenschaft nicht noch Verstand,
Dass ein gutes Deutschland bluehe wie ein andres gutes Land.
Und nicht ueber und nicht unter andern Voelkern wolln wir sein,
Von der See bis zu den Alpen, von der Oder bis zum Rhein.

Lasst uns pfluegen, lasst uns bauen, lernt und schafft wie nie zuvor,
Und der eignen Kraft vertrauend steigt ein frei Geschlecht empor.
Deutsche Jugend, bestes Streben unsres Volks in dir vereint,
Wirst du Deutschlands neues Leben und die Sonne schoen wie nie
Ueber Deutschland scheint, ueber Deutschland scheint.

Posted by: swedishplayer-97 2 Jul 2013, 20:37

At first I thought you had misspelled "cannon", but then I got it.

PUN-PUN-PUN-PUN-PUN

I'll probably wait with posting my fan-fic so others can read this.

Posted by: Anubis 2 Jul 2013, 20:43

Really nice lore. I can't wait to hear what happens to the other nations of the former EU to know if this change was good or bad

Posted by: __CrUsHeR 2 Jul 2013, 21:32

Very good, I loved that his initiative to write more stories, I hope to see more cool stuff about the universe of ROTR.

Posted by: The General 2 Jul 2013, 21:45

Looks interasting.

Posted by: Pepo 2 Jul 2013, 22:56

great story has always

Posted by: Panzer4life 2 Jul 2013, 23:29

Nice update MARS. Now, a question regarding the Russian unit updates, are they mostly done? And second, at "The General", what is that signature for? I looks neat, but I was wondering where you got it?

Posted by: MARS 3 Jul 2013, 6:39

The Russian unit updates are currently in the works. Some are already done while others are WIP, but the way I planned them, they won't have any story portions aside from unit descriptions, which is why I wrote this to compensate. It also gives me the opportunity to put lengthy infodumbs with background information in a lore-only update as opposed to spreading them in with the regular updates which actually tell a story.

Posted by: X1Destroy 3 Jul 2013, 7:05

Wonderful, I love reading story like this.

I'm waiting for the next part. The skin updates can come later.

FB banner already have the revised Sentinel and Kodiak, and they look very deadly.

Posted by: The General 3 Jul 2013, 8:17

Panzer4life,
I bumped into it by accident, when i was looking at pictures of T-90.

Posted by: X1Destroy 3 Jul 2013, 8:29

Your sign is......a T99 Armata concept?

Posted by: The General 3 Jul 2013, 8:32

Yep.

Posted by: DefensiveGeneral 3 Jul 2013, 8:33

Uhmmm... Lore!

Posted by: SpiralSpectre 3 Jul 2013, 8:52

Sounds good. There is always room for more lore. Nice (and maybe a bit surprising) to hear how they made up with people from all religions and ethnicities... I personally half expected them to launch some covert witchhunt aided by the Chinese to hunt down "GLA sympathisers" with a motto like "a potential GLA sympathiser is a GLA sympathiser".

Good to hear how the military stepped up. The policies sound... good. A non anti-military German population... now that -really- would be a new Germany.

BTW was Berlin practically the unofficial capital of the ECA until the war?

Posted by: SorataZ 3 Jul 2013, 9:29

Now that's just absolutely ironic But your explanation works very well.

Posted by: MARS 3 Jul 2013, 9:35

Due to its non-federal, decentralised nature, the ECA doesn't really need a capital, whether official or not. Although technically, they still have Brussels - which is presumably where their governments/ministers still meet when discussing common issues - until the enormous heap of ex-EU bureaucracy and property is wrapped up. This is the sort of transitional process that'd take several years. As for the Olympic Games, I did that to reinforce the metaphor of change, juxtaposition, etc. and the in-universe FRG obviously jumped right at this historical opportunity to make a statement. Plus, it seems like a genuine feel-good moment which is something that our grimdark setting needs from time to time.

Posted by: Claine 3 Jul 2013, 20:45

waow this is amazing update

Posted by: InterestedPlayer 7 Jul 2013, 1:57

Interesting, good lore and good explanation of Germany's situation. I'm a little surprised they didn't have a conflict with the indebted Greeks though. Perhaps they were more concerned with the GLA and PLA?

Posted by: InterestedPlayer 7 Jul 2013, 1:58

Also like the irony of the 2036 Olympics being hosted there.

Posted by: Corpsemania 7 Jul 2013, 13:41

I should say that the "new" national anthem is not new at all... :

But that's great for one who doesn't understand Deutsch :

Have translated it into Chinese.Your fans there will like it,MARS