Free Worlds League

In the fictional BattleTech universe, the Free Worlds League is one of the Successor States, ruled by House Marik. Its capital is Atreus.

The Free Worlds League is the oldest of the Inner Sphere's five major Successor States. Being in nature as a multicultural, with strong European, American, and Indian overtones. It also traditionally offered great autonomy to its component regions, like the Duchy of Oriente, Principality of Regulus, and Duchy of Andurien. While FWL's history is wracked with many vicious civil wars currently with fractured league in due part of the Word of Blake Jihad and tensions along border coinciding with the House Liao border as much of the League’s territory originally have belonged to the Capellan Confederation. The emergence of the Clan invasion changed the role of the League in the Inner Sphere considerably as being one of the two untouched nations during the Clan invasion were it would a major supplier to its enemies of foods and even weapons to fend off the Clans; and until Operation Serpent it would be a neutral in the war.

This brought the Free Worlds League to being an economic powerhouse, supplying materials ranging from food to ‘mechs, to other factions in need; often trading for advanced Clan technology. During this time the split between the Word of Blake and Comstar impacted the League as well, making them the first house to remove Comstar for interstellar communications in favor of the Blakeists.

The Free Worlds League having a strong emphasis on combined arms tactics, with almost all of the regiments featuring a large number of infantry, armor and aerospace assets as well as one of the largest navies in the Inner Sphere. The focus on battlemechs however does exist within their elite regiments that make up the Knights of the Inner Sphere in an effort to return to Star League tradition of minimizing loss of life by reducing war to just a handful of combatants. Near the end of 3067, the Free Worlds League possessed a space navy that greatly outpaced those of the other Successor States.

After the Word of Blake Jihad, the Free Worlds League dissolved into several bosies with three as the main contenders for the right to rule the Free Worlds League but many smaller realms and even non-aligned planets battle via supremacy over each other.

The Beginning
Formed in 2271 by the Treaty of Marik, uniting the Marik Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Oriente, and the Principality of Regulus. This loose organization of states, began to expand almost immediately into the surrounding systems. With the annex of the Stewart Commonality, was point in time were the rulers of the FWL was to be designated Captain-General. Since then, House Marik has held the post of Captain-General to the fracturing of the League were false Mariks, disposed Mariks, and even other Houses within the former Free Worlds League Question the long time serving Marik family right to rule over the FWL today.

In 2398, the Capellan Confederation declared war on the League in an attempt to annex the Andurien system and other surrounding systems would the beginning of the 150-year period known as the Age of War. By 2556, Ian Cameron, leader of the Terran Hegemony, negotiated the Andurien Peace Treaty, ending the Age of War, and with the aid of the two nations sett the foundations for the creation of the Star League. After the Star League Civil War by Stefan Amaris, the Usurper, Aleksandr Kerensky left the Inner Sphere with the majority of the Star League Armed Forces. This set off the First Succession War began. Since then three other Succession Wars have occurred.

Duchy of Andurien
One of the most restive provinces of the Free Worlds League is the Duchy of Andurien. Historically, the Andurien worlds have been disputed between the Free Worlds League and House Liao's Capellan Confederation. Its people resent being treated as a prize by these larger powers, and would prefer independence.

From 2366 to 2369, the Free Worlds League captured several worlds from the fledgling Capellan Confederation, including Andurien. A decade of fierce fighting failed to reverse the losses.

In 2398, Kurnath Liao began the First Andurien War to reclaim the Andurien systems.

In 2528, the depraved Chancellor Kalvin Liao, obsessed with the daughter of Andurien's duke, launched the Second Andurien War. Following his assassination in 2530, his successor ended the war the next year.

Terrence Liao invaded Andurien again in 2551. Although militarily unsuccessful, Albert Marik conceded the Andurien worlds in exchange for Terrence's agreement to join the Star League.

In the First Succession War, the Free Worlds League recaptured the Andurien systems in a 2789 campaign. However, Andurien fared well in the Succession Wars: Capellan reverses, forcing them on the defensive and giving them fresher irredentist grievances, prevented another massive invasion.

Andurien's ruler, Dame Catherine Humphreys, forged a covert alliance with Magestrix Kyalla Centrella of the Magistracy of Canopus. The conclusion of the Fourth Succession War in 3030, which saw the routed Capellans lose half their territory to the Federated Suns, emboldened them. Andurien declared independence in September, and began a joint invasion with Canopus of the Capellan Confederation, hoping to seize enough planets to make their alliance a significant power. But the Capellans rallied, and drove out the invaders. Meanwhile, Andurien's secession had created a backlash in the rest of the League in favor of the Marik rulers, who now moved against Andurien. Centrella cut Humphreys loose to fend for herself, and the Duchy was overrun by 3040.