"...had been made an Imperial client about a century ago, a few abortive revolts were crushed, now there was only a resident - which meant a trouble-free but unimportant and little visited world." (II, pp. 306-307)
So Nyanza, like Ansa, Aeneas and Brae, was incorporated into the Empire by force. Was that necessary? Some Nyanzans saw reasons to rebel but now the planet is thought to be trouble-free although this turns out not to be the case. What are the current reasons for discontent? We are not told, unless I find something by continuing to reread. Fiction is less detailed than reality. In reality, there would have to be reasons but in fiction they might not be stated.
Earlier in the Technic History, the reasons for conflict within the Polesotechnic League were explicit. Cartelization was mentioned in "Lodestar" and came to a head in Mirkheim.
Although Flandry does not know of any reasons for discontent on Nyanza, he recognizes that there might be some:
"...the days and weeks and months between stars let their systems drift culturally apart - let hell brew for years, unnoticed till it boiled over -..." (II, p. 308)
That thought will lead to a comparison between the Technic and Psychotechnic Histories. Whereas students of history study a single timeline, students of future histories are able to compare alternative timelines. World War III occurs in one but not in another etc.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
We see Flandry making similar reflections about how vast distances and the time it takes for information to spread can lead to very serious problems in Chapter II of THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS.
Like it or not, ALL great powers in human history have used force during their eras of expansion. And I see no reason for that to change, as the aggressive behavior China shows. I include the US as well, including things like the failed attempt to conquer Canada in the 1812 war with the UK, and the successful wars with the Indians and Mexicans. And Stirling gives us fascinating speculations about the imperial expansion of the US in a timeline where Theodore Roosevelt won the 1912 Presidential election in his Black Chamber books.
I have recently reread "The Game of Glory," and I am not convinced discontented Nyanzans had legitimate grounds for complaints against the Empire. The taxes it levied on the Nyanzan nations were lower than they were before Imperial annexation. And the Nyanzan states retained a good deal of internal autonomy. The fact there was only ONE Imperial official on the planet struck me as a very telling sign of how lightly the Empire ruled.
Ditto, what you said about "alternate histories," as we see in the stories of Harry Turtledove and S.M. Stirling. Or Anderson's THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS and A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment