Despite current discussion, I don't think that the old information about the
Old Earth Union (OEU) and the new are contradictory. The impression I get
from the new material (S&A) is this:
During the 2nd Empire, Earth operated a trade alliance called the Terran
Mercantile Community. When the ROM fell, this alliance evolved into a local
government to take its place, by about -1690. The TMC was able to continue
much as it had during the ROM, trading with its neighbors, and defending
itself from occasional piratical raids. This government included many, if
not most, of the original Terran Confederation member worlds at first.
Gradually, isolationism and introspection caused the TMC to deteriorate.
Terra and her neighbors concentrated their interests on the subsector level.
When the TMC broke up in -1110, several new, more local governments took
*its* place, among them the OEU, Dingir League, and Easter Concord, centered
around HiPop worlds that maintained interstellar technology.
Note that, while piracy might have been a contributing factor to the end of
the TMC, I don't think it was the *primary* factor. The Reaver's era ended
shortly BEFORE the end of the TMC, and Reaver attacks seem to have
concentrated on fringe worlds that had lost interstellar technology. Note
that the Reaver states were governments that had retained this technology
and in some cases, their recolonization of devastated worlds may have actually
preserved knowlege from a world which was doomed before -- those that were
easy pickings for them. I think that it was economic depression that was the
primary factor in this deterioration, and a trend toward isolationism, and
a shift to intraplanetary trade due to the expense of interplanetary trade.
Why did the Terrans abandon all settlements except for the Earth-Moon area?
I don't know. I think that might be slightly incorrect. Most outer colonies
probably weren't worth the trouble of defending, or maintaining. A refining
station in orbit around Jupiter, might, but it wouldn't exactly be a colony.
The Belt would, but mining was also going on at Luna, which was much closer
to the manufacturing stations. Again, Belt operations might not require a
permanent colony anyway, at least at the level which the Terran economy
was operating at. Independent, transient mining vessels could move out, find
a rock, and tow it safely home for processing.
However, Luna was being developed. Marc Miller wrote an article on Luna a
few years back when he mentions that the Plato settlement, I believe, held
its atmosphere in with a gravitic dome that had been operating continuously
built during the Long Night! Now that's impressive. There was still good work
going on at Terra, just at a smaller scale and in a more insular fashion.
Anyway, I just wanted to add my two bits worth to this discussion.
- --Steve