Silesian Confederacy
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The Silesian Confederacy is a fictional star nation that appears in David Weber's Honor Harrington series of novels.
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[edit] Overview and History
The Silesian Confederacy is (or more accurately, was) a vast interstellar government made up of several systems. It was located to the "north" of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and to the "east" of the Andermani Empire.
For the entirety of its history, the Confederacy was plagued by piracy and secessionist movements which aimed at breaking away from the almost powerless central Silesian government. Regional power in the Confederacy was in the hands of the System Governors, often corrupt individuals, who aided piracy or actively tried to secede. The level of violence in the Silesian Confederacy was such that hundreds of thousands died every year on its account.
Silesian pirates are considered amongst the most brutal and cruel of the human galaxy, having no compunction about murdering or raping the crews of captured ships.
During the First Havenite War, the Confederacy was a minor front of combat, which the People's Republic of Haven tried to inflame by sending a force of People's Navy warships to attack Manticoran commerce and protect Andermani merchant ships from piracy. The idea was to warm up relations with the Empire, adding pressure to Manticore in another front. The main actions of the war fought in Silesia are depicted in Honor Among Enemies.
By the end of War of Honor, the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Andermani Empire, now allies against the Republic of Haven, decided to put an end to their differences over Silesia by partitioning the Confederacy between each one. It is hinted that the actual takeover of Silesia consisted in major bribes to the Confederacy's System Governors.
A popular nickname for Silesians is "Silly" (plural "Sillies"), while those working with the Confederate government, especially the Navy, are known as "Confeds".
[edit] Foreign Relations
With so much internal infighting, the Confederacy was often prey to the ambitions of foreign powers.
The Andermani Empire considered that the Confederacy was its natural backyard and the next logical ground for expansion, and thus deployed a large portion of the Imperial Andermani Navy to the Confederacy, ostensibly to protect Andermani shipping but also to establish a foothold on Silesian space.
The Star Kingdom of Manticore was more concerned with piracy and the ineptness of the Confederate Navy to crush it, and also maintained sizeable detachments of the Royal Manticoran Navy in Silesian space to protect Manticoran merchant vessels. Also, the deployment of Manticoran military assets served as a warning to the Andermani Empire, whose expansion over Silesia was a major concern for the Star Kingdom. Honor Harrington conducted at least two anti-piracy cruises; one while commanding the Star Knight-class heavy cruiser HMS Fearless (between On Basilisk Station and The Honor of the Queen) and another in command of the armed merchant cruiser HMAMC Wayfarer (Honor Among Enemies). Her longtime rival Pavel Young also was at one time assigned to fight piracy in Silesia.
At the end of Honor Among Enemies, Manticore had established a naval station at Sidemore just outside the Confederacy in order to police it and protect shipping. It lies near the Triangle Route, near the Andermanni Empire.
The People's Republic of Haven considered that Silesia was the next natural target for expansion in the opening novel of the Honoverse, On Basilisk Station.
[edit] Military
The Confederate Navy was a troubled and powerless force when dealing with piracy and political violence. Corruption and political interference also prevented the Navy from accomplishing its mission. Confederate ships were also decades behind their equivalents in more modern nations such as the Star Kingdom of Manticore or the Andermani Empire. With the demise of the Confederacy, the Confederate Navy may be divided between the Manticoran and Andermani navies.
In the newly introduced Saganami Island Tactical Simulator game, several classes of Confederate ships have been released, including the Silesia-class Battle Cruiser, the Jarmon- and Telmach-class Heavy Cruiser, the Wroclaw-class Light Cruiser, the Cheslav-class destroyer, Gryf-class frigate and the Mazur-class Light Attack Craft.
