Ataran Federal Union

The Ataran Federal Union (known colloquially as the Union and the AFU) was an interstellar federated government that grew along the route of human expansion for more than a century. Founded on the idea of free trade between closely-tied members who were too small to see focused growth from larger governments, during the AFU’s expansion the majority of its new members were recruited from nations who had strong potential for industrial and societal growth without the means to realize it, due to said potential too uneconomical for any other investor, including themselves. New members typically came from within the Civil Periphery as the Periphery expanded over the AFU's lifetime, since nations there had the most unexploited potential.

History

Formed in the year 198 FA near the Ataran sector during a localized economic downturn, the three founding members - each residing in separate star systems – established close-knit trade routes between themselves, supplying each other with surplus resources through an expedited bureaucratic process. After several periods of growth they sought out other smaller-scale societies with which to expand their capabilities. By 250 FA the AFU had expanded to eighteen member states, and by 300 FA it peaked at thirty-three members spread across thirty-nine star systems. During this time the AFU was struck by the effects of the Galactic Recession, and the Union as a whole found itself unable to maintain the spindlous trade routes across its greater length. Events culminated in 302 FA when the AFU essentially split in half as the expansion-side members ceded from the rest of the Union, forming various fully independent bodies.

With trade routes to the Civil Periphery (and thus to any potential new members) now completely severed, in 304 FA the remaining AFU nations opted to re-form into the Ataran Federated States, their newly re-structured federation now more focused on establishing local partnerships rather than investing in frontier ventures. This was eventually realized to be nothing more than a formality, and in 311 FA the remaining constituents voted to officially dissolve the federation.