Eastern Union

The Eastern Union is a group of human-settled worlds in the Eastern Fringe, at the edge of the Imperium. Although still a part of the Imperium of Man, the Imperium's chaotic nature and their distance from any other Imperial authority has allowed the Eastern Union to grow into a practically-independent regional power.

History
Records of settlement for the region are long-lost, but the cluster was brought into the Imperium in the Great Crusade.

Formation of the Union
Beginning in early M36, the region was subject to strong intermittent Warp Storms which cut off the cluster from the rest of the Imperium; local Imperial commanders held power as best they could, but the intermittent nature of the Warp Storms permitted Xenos and Heretics to sometimes slip through the storms and attack the cluster.

Civil wars rocked the cluster as different Imperial commanders clashed with each other, each trying to gain supremacy or prevent others from doing so. Finally, in 848.M36 a near-simultaneous series of revolts burst out across every planet in the cluster; Adeptus Arbites and even Imperial Guard forces could not put them down, and the military government and warlords were forced to relent.

Disgusted by the regular authorities' inability to defend them from the threat of Xenos and Heretics, the rebels called a cluster-wide convention with representatives from every system; they formed a loose coalition, devoted to common defense against the threats they faced without any hope of aid from the rest of the Imperium.

By the end of M36 the loose commonwealth had coalesced into a Federation titled the Eastern Union, whose central government had gained enough power to force the Imperial Guard and Navy commanders to answer to it.

Attempted Putsch
Although militarily the Imperial Guard and Navy could have overthrown the Union, they could not have sustained any control over the fractious worlds of the cluster. Also, the Federation halted infighting in Imperial ranks and brought the warlords to heel, which won the loyalty of many Imperial soldiers.

Still, enough higher officers were chagrined at this assumption of power that they attempted to overthrow the Legitimate government of then-President Frederich Ebert: in 923.M36 a conspiracy of Imperial Guard and Navy officers led by General Walter Luttwitz seized control of government.

But most of the 'Legitimate' government escaped from the putsch and the 'Legitimatists' called for a cluster-wide general strike; the Eastern Union came to a standstill, while the defection of most governemnt adepts prevented the putschists from being able to govern effectively; enough of the military remained loyal to the Union that the Putschists could not rule through military fiat, and the Putschists were forced to surrender and reinstall President Ebert.

Aftermath of the Putsch
Resisting calls for bloody reprisals, Ebert re-assigned or dismissed the officers who had been most prominent in the putsch, and permitted most of the rest to return to the ranks in the Navy and Guard. The wounds of the Putsch swiftly closed under the pressure of outside invasion.

Composition
The Eastern Union is composed of a number of systems, including, but not limited to:

Martasvin Kansaas Nusterdam Philadelphi
 * Also in the Martasvin system: Munruvia

Military
The Eastern Union Army is the title of the Imperial Guard in the Eastern Union: composed of regiments raised from every world of the Union. raised primarily by voluntary enlistment, the Union Army has displayed a high morale that has borne it through millennia of conflict.

Regiments of the Union Army
Kansaas Jayhawks

Notable Engagements
In 999.M39 a Necron host awoke on Arrizon, and was narrowly defeated at The Battle At The Foot Of The Pyramids

Culture
The Eastern Union has a tradition of equality: after the formation of the Union, most worlds abolished nobility, and most worlds in the Union are governed in a republican manner.

Mutants
Mutants in the Eastern Union are generally subject to less discrimination than they might face elsewhere: early in the life of the Federation it was realized that Mutants had to be dealt with in some way that would strengthen the Eastern Union in the face of threats internal and external; Martasvin started by employing Mutants in the Imperial Guard. Other worlds followed suit.

Over time, Mutants have gained some inroads into equality; on many worlds of the Union, Mutants can own businesses and even gain minor government posts. The world of Munruvia was even set aside as a Mutant reservation, primarily for those who had served in the Imperial Guard.