Following on from our overview of the Imperium, we’ve had more than a few of you asking for a look at another of the Great Powers of the Dystopian Age. This time we thought it would be of interest to look at how military might and commerce have uniquely shaped the Imperial British Crown and her Dominions.

One of the most venerable and dominant global powers of the past three hundred years, the Imperial British Crown spread from a small island grouping in the Atlantic Ocean. Establishing colonies and annexing nations as it grew in strength, at the height of its power at the dawn of the Eighteenth Century the Imperial British Crown claimed almost 25% of the population and landmass of the world. What was even more remarkable was that much of this dominance has been maintained despite losing control of the thirteen colonies that would later form the Union of Federated States. But the bitter cost of holding onto such power has defined much of how the Crown appears in the Dystopian Age.

The major territories (known as Dominions) that comprise the Crown are the homelands of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, Australia, Canada, the Indian Raj, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea and over fifty islands, realms and colonies scattered across the globe. Because of this, the Crown enjoys the ability to project its military and economic might to an unparalleled degree across every region of the world. This has resulted in a series of alliances and agreements that held the Great Powers of the Dystopian Age together in an uneasy and often fractious peace, known (often ironically) as Pax Britannia.

For two hundred years Pax Britannia saw the Crown hold the expansive Russian-led Commonwealth, the wealthy Ottoman Sultanate and the isolationist Celestian Empire at bay. Between these four mighty blocks were consolidated the lives of almost a billion souls and the destiny of the world. The secession of the thirteen American colonies coupled with the subsequent rise of the Imperium and the Latin Alliance at the heart of Europe proved the Crown was no longer the unassailable power of the age. By the time the technologies of the emergent Covenant of the Enlightened began to proliferate the battlefields of the globe, Pax Britannia was over.

Exemplifying many of the aesthetics from the earlier Jacobean period, the Crown prides itself on its art and architecture. Erecting hugely elaborate monuments and sculptures to rival those of ancient Greece and Rome, the Crown also called upon designs from earlier British and French architecture such as those by Inigo Jones. Despite visually harking to a golden age of prosperity in the Imperial British Crown, life was harsh and austere. Only the upper class, property-owning officers and wealthy merchants enjoyed the fruits of Pax Britannia and it was these who felt the fading of the Crown’s glory towards the end of the eighteenth century, all the more keenly.

Out of this tumultuous period, the line between mercenary and soldier of the Crown became a blurred one. As the Crown’s power and control began to wane, a greater reliance was placed on the services and successes of enterprising military commanders. Nowhere was this more clearly seen than with the dominance of the East India Trading Company (EITC) in the Crown’s foreign affairs.

During the seventeenth century, the focus of the EITC was establishing trade in India. Company interests turned from trade to territory during the 18th century as the EITC and the Crown forces deployed with them fought against their French equivalents, the Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales (CFIO). Battles between the two groups resulted in a victorious EITC in control of Bengal and a major military and political power in India. In the following decades, the Company gradually increased the extent of the territories under its control on behalf of the Crown, bringing the majority of the Indian subcontinent into the Crown Dominion of the Raj via local puppet rulers under the threat of force.

Though still reliant on the British Crown for naval support, by the dawn of the nineteenth century, the East India Trading Company had a private army almost twice the size of the Crown’s own land forces and was the de facto representative of Her Majesty’s interests around the globe. By acting as agents of the Crown in this matter, the EITC accumulated vast wealth and personal fortune for its officers and board members, such as the corpulent Benedict Arnold III (great-grandson of that famous Crown patriot).

This position continued to be enjoyed throughout the century, though the declining influence and fortunes of the British Crown has caused serious consideration by the British Government into passing an Act that might bring all the wealth and might of the EITC into Parliament’s direct control. There is a concern that this state of affairs has been allowed to continue for too long and that even Her Majesty may now lack the authority to bring the Company to heel.

Elsewhere, this mix of nations, commerce and military prowess has legitimised groups such as Captain Rani Nimue’s band of privateers. Operating from the legendary submersible, Nautilus, this largely Indian crew raids shipping and settlements around the globe under license from the Crown. These exploits take them as far away as the streets of Lagos, the Gold Coast of Australia and even the Antarctic interior. In Wild West Exodus, a surprise attack from the Nautilus crew makes for exciting allies to the Outlaws and a thorn in the side of the Law and the Union.

Each of the Great Powers in the Dystopian Age has a unique character and structure to them. Hopefully, this gives a sense of how the Crown is represented across Dystopian Wars, Lost World Exodus and Wild West Exodus. But there is so much more to the Crown and future Studio Diaries will delve deeper into the nature of her Dominions as well as the other Great Powers of the Age.

Until next time!

Stuart