Human colonies: Difference between revisions

Despite these successes, the efforts did not solve Earth's overpopulation issue. It eventually led to political unrest, contributing to the formation of political movements promising independence from the national governments on Earth and the perceived oppression by the [[United Nations]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/> Operating across the colonized worlds and orbital platforms of the Sol system, the [[Frieden]] movement and the [[Koslovics]] were the most prominent of these rebel factions. Beginning with a Frieden attack on the [[United Nations Colonial Advisors]] in the Jovian Moons and the [[Jovian Moons Campaign|subsequent UN response]], battles were fought over the colony worlds—as well as [[Rain Forest Wars|Earth itself]]—from 2160 to [[2170]], culminating in a UN victory in the [[Interplanetary War]]. The outcome of the space wars led to the establishment of the [[Unified Earth Government]] as a centralized governing body tasked to ensure Earth's influence over the colony worlds and a powerful, united military force known as the [[United Nations Space Command]].<ref name="xboxhalo"/>

The technological innovation of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] in [[2291]] sprung the human civilization into the [[Technological Achievement Tiers#Tier 3: Space-Faring|space-faring age]], allowing them to travel beyond [[Sol system]]. Half a century later, the UEG constructed its first line of [[colony ship]]s - led by ''[[Odyssey]]'' - to initiate the expansion of human habitation, relieving the growing pressure of overpopulation on Earth and the off-world colonies across the Sol system.<ref name="xboxhalo"/> To manage governance in the extrasolar colonies as well as to ensure their security from [[piracy|pirates]] and other threats, the UEG established the [[Colonial Administration Authority]] and the [[Colonial Military Administration]] in [[2310]].{{Ref/Book|[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]|Page=228}} Two centuries later, both bodies would be marginalized—the latter due to widespread insurgent sympathies in its ranks—and eventually absorbed into the UNSC's emergency military government in [[2525]].{{Ref/Site|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://halostory.bungie.org/oconnor_mclees_080508.html|Site=Halo Story Page|Page=Frank O'Connor/Robt McLees Interview - August 2008}}

As faster-than-light travel was still new and highly expensive, potential colonists were subjected to rigorous physical and mental testing to determine their suitability for the extrasolar colonization programs. As such, the colonists who formed the basis for the 210 first-wave colonies settled before [[2390]] formed humanity's elite; these worlds would later be known as the Inner Colonies. Earth and the Inner Colonies soon became the political and economic basis of the UNSC as humanity began expanding to the Outer Colonies.<ref name="xboxhalo"/> For humanity at large, this was a time of unparalleled prosperity and optimism which has later come to be referred to as the "Golden Age" of human colonization,<ref>''Halo: Evolutions'', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", p. 415-416</ref> a period which would eventually come to a violent end in the later years of the 25th century.<ref name="cole"/>

The Inner Colonies' reliance on the Outer Colonies prompted the Unified Earth Government to maintain its hold over the Outer Colonies, but it inevitably began to lose its ability to do so as the Outer Colonies eventually surrounded the core worlds and far surpassed them in number. The overbearing influence of the Earth government, enforced by the UNSC and, initially, the [[Colonial Military Administration]], led to a growing secessionist sentiment among Outer Colony citizens. The more radical elements of this movement took up arms against the UNSC, sparking a series of brushfire wars—collectively known as the Insurrection—in the late 2490s.<ref name="cole"/>

While the Unified Earth Government is technically a confederation of equal, independently-governed worlds, this is not true in practice;<ref name="enc43"/> the interests of Earth and the Inner Colonies weigh more heavily in the government's decision-making than those of the Outer Colonies. This has led to tensions and even [[Insurrection|civil war]] between the UNSC and the outer settlements,{{Ref/Site|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rPeMxbvCjYo|Site=YouTube|Page=Halo: From A to Z with Frank O'Connor}} which many of the Inner Colonies relied on for their foodstuffs and resources.<ref name="xboxhalo"/>