H. Beam Piper | Terro-human Future History

The Terro-human History Project

"You will learn many things undreamed-of by the political-science faculty at the University of Nefertiti."
— Jurgen, Prince Trevannion (H. Beam Piper), "A Slave is a Slave"

Home | H. Beam Piper | Links | Contact

Future History | Paratime | Other Works | Mailing List

Bibliography | Gallery | Chronology | Concordance | Development

Terra: From Many Nations to One Planet

A Terro-human History Project^α monograph
Imperial Conservatory of Terro-human Civilization^β
Imperial University, Odin, 1360 A.E.^γ

The period between the Third and Fourth World Wars, 32-109 Atomic Era (A.E.), saw a profound transformation of Terro-human civilization. It marked the end of the era when Terra itself had been politically divided into multiple nations. In the aftermath of the Fourth World War, a single, world sovereignty emerged on Terra. This global government, the "second' Terran Federation, eventually went on, of course, to forge the first interstellar Terro-human civilization.

Elements of a single, global sovereignty had first appeared at the end of the Second World War (4 Pre-Atomic to 2 A.E.) when the victors, a coalition of nations known as the Allies, formed the United Nations (UN), an international collective security organization. In the years before the Third World War the UN included most of the nations of Terra. (See Table 1.)

Table 1: UN Members, circa 30 A.E.

Afghanistan	Albania^‡	America^{* 1}	Argentina^†
Australia^{* 2}	Austria	Byelorussia^{‡ 3}	Belgium^{* 4}
Bolivia^†	Britain^{‡ 5}	Brazil	Bulgaria^‡
Burma	Cambodia	Canada^*	Ceylon
Chile^†	China (Formosa)^*	Colombia^†	Costa Rica^†
Cuba^†	Czechoslovakia^‡	Denmark^{* 6}	East Hispaniola^†
Ecuador^†	Egypt	El Salvador^†	Ethiopia⁷
Finland	France^{‡ 8}	Guatemala^†	Greece^*
Haiti^*	Honduras^†	Hungary^†	Iceland^*
India^{‡ 9}	Indonesia	Iran^†	Iraq^**
Ireland^*	Israel^*	Italy^{* 10}	Jordan^**
Japan^*	Laos	Lebanon^**	Liberia^*
Libya	Luxembourg^*	Mexico^†	Morocco
Nepal	Netherlands^{* 11}	New Zealand^{* 12}	Nicaragua^†
Norway^*	Panama^†	Pakistan^{* 13}	Paraguay^†
Peru^†	Philippines^*	Poland^‡	Portugal^{* 14}
Romania^‡	Russia^{* 15}	Arabia	South Africa¹⁶
Spain^{† 17}	Sudan	Sweden	Syria^**
Thailand^*	Turkey^*	Tunisia	Ukraine^{‡ 18}
Uruguay^†	Venezuela^†	Yemen, North	Yugoslavia

^* Western Bloc.
^† Ibero-American Confederation.

^‡ Eastern Bloc.
^** Islamic Caliphate (and Western Bloc).

¹ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in North America (Puerto Rico).
² Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Oceania (Papua and New Guinea).
³ Subject territory of Russia.
⁴ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Congo-Léopoldville and Ruanda-Urundi).
⁵ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Northern and Southern Cameroons, Gambia, Gold Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Nyasaland, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Swaziland, Tanganyika, Togoland, Uganda, and Zanzibar), Eurasia (Aden, North Borneo, Brunei, Cyprus, Kuwait, Malaya, Muscat and Oman, Qatar, Sarawak, and the Trucial Coast), North America (Bahama Archipelago, British Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands), South America (Falkland Islands and Guiana), and Oceania (Fiji Islands, New Hebrides, and Solomon Islands).
⁶ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in North America (Greenland).
⁷ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Eritrea).
⁸ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Afrique Équatoriale, Afrique Occidentale, Algeria, Cameroun, Côte des Somalis, Madagascar, Réunion, and Togo), North America (Antilles), South America (Guyane), and Oceania (Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouvelles-Hébrides, and Polynésie).
⁹ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Eurasia (Bhutan).
¹⁰ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Somalia).
¹¹ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in Oceania (New Guinea) and South America (Suriname).
¹² Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Oceania (Western Samoa).
¹³ Included East Pakistan (Bangladesh).
¹⁴ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square miles in Africa (Angola, Cabo Verde, Guiné, and Moçambique) and Oceania (Timor).
¹⁵ Included controlled territories greater than one thousand square kilometers in Eurasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan).
¹⁶ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Suidwes-Afrika).
¹⁷ Included controlled territory greater than one thousand square kilometers in Africa (Guinea and Sahara).
¹⁸ Subject territory of Russia.

Many regions of Terra, primarily in Africa and in southern Eurasia but also island territories in Terra's oceans, were subject territories of nations in western Eurasia and North America and therefore were not separately represented at the UN. Also, at the time of its collapse, there were also a handful of nations which were not members of the UN. Most of these nations had been formally or informally partitioned — often as a result of armed conflict — by their respective patrons among the "Eastern Bloc," a sub-coalition led by Russia, a northern Eurasian nation, and the "Western Bloc," led by America, a central North American nation. (See Table 2.)

Table 2: Non-UN Nations, circa 30 A.E.

China (Mainland)^†	Germany, East^†	Germany, West^*	Korea, North^†
Korea, South^*	Mongolia^†	Switzerland	Vietnam, North^†
Vietnam, South^*

^* Western Bloc.

^† Eastern Bloc.

In addition to the Eastern and Western Blocs, two other coalitions of nations existed at the outbreak of the Third World War: the non-aligned Ibero-American Confederation, comprised of nations located primarily in southern North America and South America, and the Islamic Caliphate (also a member of the Western Bloc), comprised of nations located in southwestern Eurasia.

Image - Terra at outbreak of Third World War

Figure 1: Political map of Terra at outbreak of Third World War

Increasing tensions between the Eastern and Western Blocs, sparked by disagreement over the status of an American military base on the Moon, led to the collapse of the UN and ultimately to the "Thirty Days' War," as the month-long Third World War was originally known. America, the leading nation of the Western Bloc, formed the Terran Federation of States, a new collective security organization shortly before the outbreak of the war. (See Table 3.)

(First) Terran Federation flag

Table 3: Terran Federation of States, circa 32 A.E.

America	Canada	China (Formosa)	German, West
Haiti	Iceland	Iran	Ireland
Islamic Caliphate¹	Japan	Korea, South	Liberia
Pakistan	Philippines	Portugal	Thailand
Turkey	Vietnam, South

¹ Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria plus the former British territories of Kuwait, Muscat and Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial Coast.

Not all Western Bloc nations joined the Terran Federation. In the immediate aftermath of the Third World War several former Western Bloc nations, led by the northwestern Eurasian nations of Britain and France, formed the World Commonwealth of Nations, a international collective security organization distinct from the Terran Federation of States. Several former subject territories which had been controlled by western Eurasian nations were admitted into the World Commonwealth as full members. (See Table 4.)

World Commonwealth flag

Table 4: World Commonwealth of Nations, circa 35 A.E.

Africa, Central¹	Africa, East²	Africa, West³	Algeria⁴
Belgium^{* †}	Britain^{* † 5}	Cyprus⁶	Denmark^{* †}
Ethiopia	France^{* †}	Greece^{* †}	Israel^*
Italy^{* †}	Libya	Luxembourg^{* †}	Morocco
Madagascar⁷	Netherlands^{* †}	Norway^*	Pacific Islands⁸
Somalia⁹	Sudan	Tunisia	West Indies¹⁰

^* Originally Western Bloc.

^† Suffered substantial atomic devastation.

¹ Comprised of the former Belgian territories of Congo-Léopoldville and Ruanda-Urundi; the former British territory of Southern Cameroons; and the former French territories of Afrique Équatoriale and Cameroun.
² Comprised of the former British territories of Kenya, Nyasaland, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Tanganyika, Uganda, and Zanzibar.
³ Comprised of the former British territories of Northern Cameroons, Gambia, Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togoland; and the former French territories of Afrique Occidentale and Togo.
⁴ Territory formerly controlled by France.
⁵ Included territory in South America (Falkland Islands).
⁶ Territory formerly controlled by Britain.
⁷ Territory formerly controlled by France; also included the former British territory of Mauritius and French territory of Réunion.
⁸ Comprised of the former British territories of Fiji Islands, New Hebrides, and Solomon Islands and the former French territories of Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouvelles-Hébrides, and Polynésie.
⁹ Comprised of the former British territory of Somaliland, former Italian territory of Somalia and former French territory of Côte des Somalis.
¹⁰ Comprised of the former British territories of Bahama Archipelago, British Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Guiana; the former Netherlands territory of Suriname; and the former French territories of Antilles and Guyane.

During the Third World War many members of both the Terran Federation and the World Commonwealth suffered substantial atomic devastation.

The Eastern Bloc was defeated decisively in the Third World War and most Eastern Bloc nations and territories suffered substantial atomic devastation. Eastern Bloc nations and their subject territories (and some allied nations) were jointly occupied by the Terran Federation and the World Commonwealth. (See Table 5.)

Table 5: Occupied Nations, circa 35 A.E.

Albania^*	Armenia^{† ‡}	Azerbaijan^{† ‡}	Bhutan
Bulgaria^{* ‡}	Byelorussia^{* † ‡}	Cambodia	Ceylon
China (Mainland)^{* ‡}	Czechoslovakia^{* ‡}	Estonia^†	Finland
Georgia^{† ‡}	Germany, East^{* ‡}	Hungary^{* ‡}	India^{* ‡}
Kazakhstan^{† ‡}	Korea, North^{* ‡}	Kirghizia^{† ‡}	Latvia^†
Lithuania^†	Laos	Moldova^{† ‡}	Mongolia^*
Poland^{* ‡}	Romania^{* ‡}	Russia^{* ‡}	Tadzhikistan^{† ‡}
Turkmenistan^{† ‡}	Ukraine^{* † ‡}	Uzbekistan^{† ‡}	Vietnam, North^*

^* Former Eastern Bloc.
^‡ Suffered substantial atomic devastation.

^† Former Russian subject territory.

Some nations, primarily those in the Southern Hemisphere, managed to avoid atomic damage during the Third World War. These included not only those former UN members that had not been aligned with the Eastern or Western Bloc combatants but also some former Western Bloc members that had not joined the Terran Federation prior to the War and did not join the World Commonwealth in its aftermath. During the Third World War some of these "non-aligned" nations also gained control of subject territories previously held by Western Bloc nations in return for tacit support of the Western Bloc during the Third World War. (See Table 6.)

Table 6: Non-aligned Nations, circa 35 A.E.

Afghanistan	Argentina^†	Australia^*	Austria
Bolivia^†	Brazil	Burma	Chile^†
Colombia^†	Costa Rica^†	Cuba^†	East Hispaniola^†
Ecuador^†	Egypt	El Savaldor^†	Guatemala^†
Honduras^†	Indonesia¹	Mexico^†	Nepal
New Zealand^*	Nicaragua^†	Panama^†	Paraguay^†
Peru^†	Arabia	South Africa²	Spain^†
Sweden	Switzerland	Uruguay^†	Venezuela^†
Yemen³	Yugoslavia

^* Originally Western Bloc.

^† Ibero-American Confederation.

¹ Included the former British territories of North Borneo, Brunei, Malaya, and Sarawak; the former Netherlands territory of New Guinea; and the former Portuguese territory of Timor.
² Included the former British territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swaziland.
³ Included former British territory of Aden.

Image - Terra after Third World War

Figure 2: Political map of Terra in aftermath of Third World War

In the seven decades between the Third World War and the Fourth World War, the nations and subject territories of the former Eastern Bloc were absorbed by the Terran Federation or the World Commonwealth. Most subject territories previously controlled by Terran Federation nations were also admitted into the Terran Federation as full members. (See Table 7.)

Table 7: Terran Federation, circa 105 A.E.

America^†	Angola¹	Armenia^{* †}	Azerbaijan^{* †}
Canada^†	Cambodia	China^{† 2}	Georgia^{* †}
Germany^{† 3}	Guiné⁴	Haiti	Iceland
Iran^†	Ireland	Islamic Caliphate	Japan^†
Kazakhstan^{* †}	Korea^{† 5}	Kirghizia^{* †}	Laos
Liberia	Mongolia^*	Moçambique⁶	Pakistan^†
Philippines	Portugal	Tadzhikistan^{* †}	Thailand
Turkey^†	Turkmenistan^{* †}	Uzbekistan^{* †}	Vietnam⁷

^* Former Eastern Bloc.

^† Suffered substantial atomic devastation.

¹ Territory formerly controlled by Portugal.
² Included the formerly partitioned China (Formosa) and China (Mainland) and the former Russian provinces of Amur, Buryat, Chita, Chukotka, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Koryak, Magadan, Primorsky, Sakhalin, Tuva and Yakutia.
³ Included the formerly partitioned West Germany and East Germany.
⁴ Territory formerly controlled by Portugal; also included the former Portuguese-controlled territory of Cabo Verde.
⁵ Included the formerly partitioned South Korea and North Korea.
⁶ Territory formerly controlled by Portugal.
⁷ Included the formerly partitioned South Vietnam and North Vietnam.

In the aftermath of the Third World War, America made territorical claims in Antartica and began to establish settlements for refugees from Terran Federation areas of atomic devastation in the Northern Hemisphere, beginning with its own Antarctic stations in the Ross Archipelago and at the McMurdo Dry Valleys oases ("McMurdo redoubt"), at the Cape Hallett oasis ("Essex redoubt"), at the Windmill Islands oasis ("Yorktown redoubt"), in the Palmer Archipelago ("Yellowstone redoubt"), at the Larsemann Hills oasis ("Sequoia redoubt"), at the Stillwell Hills oasis ("Franklin redoubt") and at a former Japanese station in the Flatvaer Islands ("Mayflower redoubt"). (Existing research stations on Antarctic ice shelves — Ellsworth and Little America — or in the Antarctic interior — Amundsen-Scott and Byrd — were not expanded into settlements for refugees.)

America also laid claims to former Eastern Bloc Antarctic stations for settlement areas, including Russian stations on the Queen Mary Land coast ("Ticonderoga redoubt"), at the Bunger Hills oasis ("Carolina redoubt"), at the Schirmacher oasis ("Apache redoubt"), at the Thala Hills oasis ("Bunker Hill redoubt"), on King George Island ("Mesa Verde redoubt") and on the Oates Land coast ("Huron redoubt"). (Eastern Bloc research stations in the Antarctic interior — Komsomolskaya, Sovetskaya and Vostok — were also claimed by America but not expanded into settlements for refugees and therefore abandoned.)

In addition to Eastern Block stations, America also claimed World Commonwealth Antartic stations for settlement areas, including British stations in the Palmer Archipelago ("Saratoga redoubt"), on the Trinity Peninsula ("Sioux redoubt" and "Acadia redoubt"), in the Wilhelm Archipelago ("Michigan redoubt"), on King George Island ("Choctaw redoubt"), on Signy Island ("Princeton redoubt"), at Ferin Head on the Graham Coast ("Mojave redoubt"), on Adelaide Island ("Chippewa redoubt"), in Marguerite Bay ("Rio Grande redoubt"), in Crystal Sound off the Loubet Coast ("Seminole redoubt") and the French station in the Geologie Archipelago ("Shenandoah redoubt"). (World Commonwealth research stations on Antarctic ice shelves — Baudouin, Halley Bay, and Norway — or in the Antarctic interior — South Ice and Charcot — or which had been damaged by volcanic eruptions — Deception Island — were also claimed by America but not expanded into settlements for refugees and therefore abandoned.)

Finally, America also laid claims to Antarctic stations established by members of the Ibero-American Confederation and other non-aligned nations, including Argentine stations on Laurie Island ("Everglades redoubt"), in the Palmer Archipelago ("Lexington redoubt"), on the Sanavirón Peninsula ("Blackfoot redoubt"), in the Debenham Islands ("Iroquois redoubt"), on the Trinity Peninsula ("Hancock redoubt"), on King George Island ("Erie redoubt"), on Livingston Island ("Cherokee redoubt"), on Seymour Island ("Superior redoubt"), on Joinville Island ("Missouri redoubt"), on the Foca Nunataks ("Zion redoubt") and at Cierva Cove ("Mississippi redoubt"); Australian stations at the Holme Bay oasis ("Navajo redoubt") and at the Vestfold Hills oasis ("Valley Forge redoubt"); Chilean stations on Greenwich Island ("Colorado redoubt"), on King George Island ("Cheyenne redoubt" and "Columbia redoubt"), on Robert Island ("Comanche redoubt"), on the Trinity Peninsula ("Dakota redoubt") and at Waterboat Point ("Randolph redoubt"); and a New Zealand station in the Ross Archipelago ("Kiowa redoubt"). (Non-aligned nation research stations on Antarctic ice shelves — Belgrano — or which had been damaged by volcanic eruptions — Aguirre — were also claimed by America but not expanded into settlements for refugees and therefore abandoned.)

Those former Eastern Bloc nations and subject territories not absorbed by the Terran Federation were absorbed by the World Commonwealth in the period between the Third and Fourth World Wars. (See Table 8.)

Table 8: World Commonwealth, circa 105 A.E.

Africa, Central	Africa, East	Africa, West	Albania^*
Algeria	Byelorussia^{* †}	Belgium^†	Bhutan
Britain^†	Bulgaria^{* †}	Ceylon	Cyprus
Czechoslovakia^{* †}	Denmark^†	Estonia^*	Ethiopia
Finland	France^†	Greece^†	Hungary^{* †}
India^{* † 1}	Israel	Italy^†	Latvia^*
Libya	Lithuania^*	Luxembourg^†	Moldova^{* †}
Morocco	Netherlands^†	Norway	Pacific Islands
Poland^{* †}	Romania^{* †}	Russia^{* †}	Somalia
Sudan	Tunisia	Ukraine^{* †}	West Indies

^* Former Eastern Bloc.

^† Suffered substantial atomic devastation.

¹ Included the former Chinese province of Tibet.

On the eve of the Fourth World War, most nations that were not members of either the Terran Federation or the World Commonwealth were located in the Southern Hemisphere. (See Table 9.)

Table 9: Non-aligned Nations, circa 105 A.E.

Afghanistan	Argentina^*	Australia^†	Austria
Bolivia^*	Brazil	Burma	Chile^*
Colombia^*	Costa Rica^*	Cuba^*	East Hispaniola^*
Ecuador^*	Egypt	El Salvador^*	Guatemala^*
Honduras^*	Indonesia	Mexico^*	Nepal
New Zealand^†	Nicaragua^*	Panama^*	Paraguay^*
Peru^*	Arabia	South Africa	Spain^*
Sweden	Switzerland	Uruguay^*	Venezuela^*
Yemen	Yugoslavia

^* Ibero-American Confederation.

^† Former Western Bloc.

Image - Federation and Commonwealth

Figure 3: Political map of Terra at outbreak of Fourth World War

The Fourth World War, between the Terran Federation and the World Commonwealth, was sparked by rivalries over their respective interplanetary colonies on Mars and Venus. (Thus, the Fourth World War is also known as the First Interplanetary War.)

Much of the Northern Hemisphere of Terra, already severely damaged in the Third World War, was destroyed in the Fourth World War. Both the Terran Federation and the World Commonwealth had begun migration programs in the aftermath of the Third World War which moved large numbers of people to various territories in the Southern Hemisphere (including Antarctica) but populations of these settlements were tiny in comparison to the numbers who were killed in the Northern Hemisphere during the Fourth World War.

In the end, the "non-aligned" nations of the Southern Hemisphere forced an armistice on what remained of the devastated Terran Federation and World Commonwealth — including their respective colonies on Luna, Mars, and Venus — and eventually imposed a single, global — and system-wide — government: the "second" Terran Federation.

Image - Second Terran Federation

Figure 4: Political map of Terra in the aftermath of the Fourth World War

^α Based upon H. Beam Piper's science-fiction "Terro-human Future History" collection of yarns. As Piper's commentary in "The Future History" (Zenith Science Fiction, Peter Weston, ed., No. 4, April/May 1964, pp. 10-12) makes clear, the Terro-human Future History canon is comprised of the stories "Omnilingual" (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1957), "Edge of the Knife" (Amazing Stories, May 1957), "The Keeper" (Venture Science Fiction, July 1957), "Graveyard of Dreams" (Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1958), "Ministry of Disturbance" (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1958), "Oomphel in the Sky" (Analog Science Fact — Science Fiction, November 1960), "Naudsonce" (Analog Science Fact — Science Fiction, January 1962), and "A Slave is a Slave" (Analog Science Fact — Science Fiction, April 1962), and the novels Uller Uprising (originally published in The Petrified Planet, Twayne, 1952), Four-Day Planet (Putnam, 1961), Little Fuzzy (Avon, 1962), Space Viking (originally serialized in Analog Science Fact — Science Fiction, November 1962, December 1962, January 1963, and February 1963), Junkyard Planet (Putnam, 1963, reissued as The Cosmic Computer), Fuzzy Sapiens (originally published as The Other Human Race, Avon, 1964), and Fuzzies and Other People (Ace, 1984). Additionally, those portions of Piper's yarn "When in the Course —" (originally published in Federation, Ace 1981) which are not duplicated in his Paratime yarn "Gunpowder God" (Analog Science Fiction — Science Fact, November 1964) are also treated as part of the Terro-human Future History canon. Finally, background material found in the authorized novels Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning (Ace, 1981) and Golden Dream by Ardath Mayhar (Ace, 1982) is also treated as canonical when it does not contradict Piper's own work.

^β Inspired by the Traveller® science-fiction role-playing game's Regency Institute for Cultural Education (RICE), an in-setting construct "dedicated to increasing the level of knowledge and understanding of the various cultures that the traveller may encounter within the Regency . . . through . . . such publications as [its] series of RICE Papers. . . ."

^γ Piper's Terro-human Future History dating is used throughout this essay. Piper tells us in "The Future History" that the "Atomic Era (AE) is reckoned as beginning on the 2nd December, 1942, Christian Era (CE), with the first self-sustaining nuclear reactor, put into operation by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago. Unlike earlier dating-systems, it begins with a Year Zero — 12/2/'42 to 12/1/'43, CE. With allowances for December overlaps, 1943 CE is thus equal to Year Zero AE, and 1944 CE to 1 AE, and each century accordingly begins with the 'double-zero' year, and ends with the ninety-nine year. . . . Dates AE and CE are converted by adding or subtracting 1943: thus 1964 CE is 21 AE, and 1066 CE is reckoned as 877 PreAtomic (PA)." As real-world events unfolded, Piper's Terro-human Future History diverged from actual history in approximately 15 A.E. (1958 CE).

Home | H. Beam Piper | Links | Sitemap

Future History | Paratime | Other Works | Mailing List

Bibliography | Gallery | Chronology | Concordance | Development

Please support Piper content at Zarthani.net

©1999 - 2022 by Zarthani.net. The contents of this Web site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any material displayed on or served by this site cannot be republished or distributed without explicit consent from Zarthani.net.