Greater German Reich Motto Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Vaterland (One People, One Empire, One Fatherland) Political information Type of Government Fascist Dictatorship

Single Party State Constitution Führerprinzip Head of State Reichskanzler Ruprecht Gossler Head of Government Reichsminister for Affairs Wilhelm Teuer Executive Branch Reich Chancellery Legislative Branch Reichstag Societal information Official Language German

French

Dutch

Czech

Greek

Hungarian

Bulgarian

Serbian

Slovak Currency Reichsmark Anthem "Das Lied der Deutschen" Population 8,977,000,000 Historical information Formed from German Reich

German Reich Kingdom of Belgium

Kingdom of Belgium Czecho-Slovak Republic

Czecho-Slovak Republic Kingdom of Denmark

Kingdom of Denmark French Republic

French Republic Kingdom of Greece

Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Hungary

Kingdom of Hungary Principality of Liechtenstein

Principality of Liechtenstein Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Kingdom of the Netherlands

Kingdom of the Netherlands Republic of Poland

Republic of Poland Kingdom of Romania

Kingdom of Romania Kingdom of Yugoslavia Date of establishment 1933 Date of reorganization 1942 [Source]

The Greater German Reich is a single party fascist state centered around the Eschenbach Rift from the Hammerhead Depths to the Sinai Rift. It is comprised of 41 Gau (provinces) spread across 24 star systems with Germania as its capital. The German Reich is the third most populous nation in the Orion Arm, with a majority originating from the European continent on Earth.

Founded in 1933 with the appointment of Adolf Hitler, the early history of the German Reich was centered around the Nazi Party and its systematic racial policies. After the death of Hitler in the First Scinfaxi War, an ideological struggle between the Nazi Party and opponents in the Wehrmacht and Abwehr saw the eventual dissolution of the National Socialist movement. In the modern era, the German Reich is a strictly fascist, often invoking the memory of the historic German state of Prussia to consolidate support for German nationalism and military service.

The Greater German Reich is one of the Orion Arm’s four superpowers and the undisputed leader of the interstellar fascist movement. It remains a leader in several industrial and technological sectors, particularly terraforming and spacecraft design. A developed country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled and productive society, the German Reich upholds numerous social programs including social security, universal health care, and tuition free post-secondary education.

As a founding member of the Axis Powers, German maintains strong ties to Italy, Spain, Japan, and dozens of other smaller governments and political parties. Having been locked in a cold war with the Soviet Union and its allies for the better part of a century, the Greater German Reich is currently engaged in a large scale war with the USSR over control of several border systems, including Vega, Tanarsus, Valencia and Vistula.

History

Pre-Scinfaxi

The Greater German Reich traces its history mainly to the Germanic tribes of Europe believed to have been formed in the Nordic Bronze Age or Pre-Roman Iron Age. Over many centuries the region to become known as Germany was governed by many, often fragmented empires until unification under the German Empire in 1871. Under numerous policies championed by Minister President of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, the German Empire secured itself as a great power, claiming numerous colonies in Africa and the Pacific. Under Emperor Wilhelm II Germany, like many other great powers of the time took an imperialistic course, leading to friction with neighboring countries and the development of a great web of military alliances and treaties.

The assassination of Austria’s crown prince in 1914 provided the pretext for an Austrian invasion of Serbia which in turn triggered the spark of the Great War. After four years of warfare in which over two million German soldiers were killed, a general armistice ended the fighting in November of 1919. Emperor Wilhelm II and his ruling princes abdicated their positions and Germany was reformed into a Republic following a brutal civil war between Royalist, Republican and Communist elements. The newly formed Government, known historically as the Weimar Republic faced numerous difficulties including economic collapse, social unrest and particularly harsh reparation payments demanded as part of the Treaty of Versailles.

Rampant hyperinflation through the 1920s led to inflated prices for consumer goods, economic chaos and food riots. When the German government failed to make reparation payments in 1923, French troops occupied industrial areas along the Ruhr, fueling further widespread civil unreast. After a partial stabilization of the economy between 1924-1929 the Weimar Republic once again fell into economic turmoil as the world-wide Great Depression hit Germany in 1929. Catastrophic austerity measures employed by President Paul von Hindenburg caused employment to reach nearly 30% by 1932.

After winning the special election of 1932, the National Socialist or Nazi Party began to consolidate its influence across Germany. Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and after the passing of the Enabling Act of 1933 Hiter was granted nearly unrestricted legislative power. The government was transformed into a centralized totalitarian state and began a program of military rearmament.

Through the development of numerous public work projects, millions of Germans were immediately put to work building high speed roadways, hydroelectric dams and transportation hubs. While the standard of living began to rise in Germany, increasingly racial policies began to target Jews and other minorities, often resulting in riots and other displays of violence. Hundreds of Jews were murdered throughout Germany, often in acts instigated by SA Paramilitary Forces.

The Scinfaxi Virus

The worldwide crisis brought on by the spread of the Scinfaxi Virus was readily exploited by the German Reich. With the attentions of France and Great Britain divided between civil unrest and the evacuation of their colonies, Germany was able to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia with only the barest of objections from the international community. As the situation worsened, German troops occupied Poland after a brief three-week campaign. Romania followed, this time at the invitation of Romanian “Conducător“ Ion Antonescu. In each case, the government of the Reich claimed only to be restoring order and shoring up unstable governments in the face of the Virus, while at home Hitler presented to the expansion as a necessary move to ensure German security by safeguarding its frontiers. In reality the administrative framework of the occupied territories was subsumed directly into the Greater German Reich with undesirables transported to a network of concentration camps.

The spread of the Virus into Europe in the early years of the 1940s finally brought to the attention of the Reich the true extent of the danger posed by its dissemination. Experiments conducted on political prisoners gave German scientists intricate knowledge of the nature of The Virus, but yielded no further benefits to create a cure. A mass burning campaign of Viral Growth, real or suspected began across German occupied territories but succeeded only in destroying thousands of acres of valuable farmland.

With the collapse of social order in the Balkans, Germany and Italy began occupying the Balkan states, completing their annexation by early 1941. Following the successful integration of numerous European nations and confident in future expansion, Germany was officially renamed the ‘Gross Deutsches Reich’ or Greater German Reich, in 1942.

The Scinfaxi Invasion

In 1943 when the Scinfaxi began their landings across the world, the Greater German Reich was one of the first nations to recognize the threat and meet them in combat. The largest Scinfaxi landings in Europe were centered around Southern Spain, Northern Italy, and Greece; all areas that had become sites of large German occupation during the calamitous Virus Crisis.

The Greater German Reich put up fanatical resistance to the Scinfaxi Invasion yet fared no better than any other nation and suffered massive loses against the technologically overwhelming foe. With Germany one of the few nations to survive the Virus crisis with its command structures intact, after only a few months into the war, the Wehrmacht had become the last organized force in Western Europe capable of mounting organized resistance. Over time it would eventually integrate Italian, French, Spanish and other retreating military units. With static defense lines useless against the Scinfaxi, the Wehrmacht engaged in a campaign of mobile defense, fighting running battles across the whole of Europe.

The destruction of major cities like Berlin and Stuttgart decapitated the nation’s leadership with nearly the entirety of the Nazi upper political structure killed between 1943 and 1944. Adolf Hitler was killed during the fall of Berlin, paralyzing the entire country as the remaining prominent political and military leaders attempted to obtain power. By the autumn of 1944 the situation had stabilized somewhat in the form of a shaky alliance between a collection of Wehrmacht generals and Nazi party officials. Ludwig Beck and Henning von Tresckow formed a new provisional military government on the promise that Heinrich Himmler, the highest ranking remaining Nazi would take control of the country once the situation had stabilized.

By 1945 most German leaders agreed the war was lost and preparations were made in secret meetings with the last remaining human nations for the construction of “doomsday” settlements in Iceland and the Arctic. But in October of that year, the detonation of an American atomic bomb in Chicago succeeded in halting the advance of the Scinfaxi worldwide, giving the Greater German Reich a much needed reprieve. By 1946, German scientists had detonated their own bomb and the Scinfaxi forces in Europe began a slow retreat. Coordinating their attacks for the first time with Red Army units, a combined German-Soviet offensive in June 1946 succeeded in pushing the Scinfaxi almost entirely out of continental Europe.

The Reconstruction Era

The whole of Europe was economically and politically devastated in the wake of the First Scinfaxi War. While the Greater German Reich had remained intact, much of it had been placed under the administration of local army commanders rather than any civil authority. As the only organization left in Europe capable of still operating effectively, the Wehrmacht had occupied large areas of France, Italy, Spain and the Balkans during the Scinfaxi retreat. Fearful of Soviet expansionism in the post-war vacuum, the German High Command moved to solidify its hold on these territories. Provisional governments were toppled and interim alliances disbanded in favor of pro-German movements and political organizations.

In 1948, Heinrich Himmler recovered from his hospital stay and assumed command of Germany. Yet the coalition of anti-Nazi officials that had grown during the First Scinfaxi War resisted Himmer’s attempts to transfer power to the SS and after ruling the Reich for less than a year, he was found dead in his office. Officially his cause of death was as a result of the Scinfaxi Virus which had ravaged his body for almost 4 years, but rumors of his assassination widened the schism between the SS and Wehrmacht. A so called “shadow war” began in Germany, as the SS moved to retain control over the country, while the Wehrmacht and Abwehr worked to purge the last remaining Nazi influences within their own organizations and outmaneuver the SS. In December of 1949, the anti-Nazi coalition began Operation Flycatcher. In a single 24 hours, over 70 prominent SS officials and Nazi officers were murdered and Eduard Wagner proclaimed the new Chancellor of the Greater German Reich. The coordinated campaign for the denazification of Germany had achieved excellent results, but the immense cost of reconstruction, the occupation of much of Europe and lingering political enmity continued the plague the country.

Pro-German governments were installed in Italy and Spain in 1948 and 1953 respectively while France, the low countries and most of Central Europe was directly absorbed into the Reich. Independence movements and strikes plagued German occupied Europe for much of the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the independence of France. The pro-German government installed fell mere months after the German withdrawal with British and American aid leading to the French Blockade Crisis in 1964.

By the late 1960s the Greater German Reich had stabilized politically and economically and more funds were directed towards the nation’s growing space program. The landing of a German spacecraft on the moon in 1967 sparked a global space race and the Reich began large scale federal support for science education and research. While initially conducted purely for prestige in the eyes of the general public, the revelation that Scinfaxi devices in the Southern Hemisphere were slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable made space exploration the primary focus of German industry.

Colonization

A string of German technical achievements set the pace of the space race including dozens more manned moon missions, the establishment of a permanent space station in 1969, and the exploration of the solar system by hundreds of automated probes during the 1970s and 1980s. These accomplishments contributed to the already fierce ideological and political rivalry between the Greater German Reich and Soviet Union leading to a number of fierce border skirmishes between the two nations.

Wary of Soviet power, the Reich conducted a series of clandestine operations during the 1980s and 1990s, hoping to weaken its primary rival and draw attention away from its own internal economic problems. While these operations succeeded in unraveling Soviet power in Eastern Europe for a time, it also allowed the United States to gain the upper hand in the space race with the launch of the Freedom space station.

The appointment of Reichskanzler Horst Nessler in 1998 reoriented German foreign relations around a policy of détente. The confrontation with the Soviet Union was deescalated and closer ties were established with the Western Allies, in particular the United States. In the year 2000, Operation Marathon, an attempt to reverse the effects of the Scinfaxi presence on Earth began, with the deployment of thousands of atmospheric processors across Europe and North America. While Marathon would ultimately be unsuccessful, the project was a major catalyst for renewed international cooperation.

German engineers developed their own method of faster than light travel in 2028, sending thousands of automated probes across the Orion Arm and becoming an official signatory of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Venture. The German Reich contributed mainly technical advisors to the colony project rather than colonists, seeking to learn from experience techniques and methods that could eventually be used on their own solely funded colonies. In 2047, the first German colony VNN-47 was founded within the system that would eventually be named Germania. Dozens more planets and moons were developed in the ensuing decades, the majority being directly absorbed into the German Reich, but some, considered too distant from the core German worlds or perceived as economically unfeasible granted independence under the authority of pro-German and fascist governments. Many modern nations including the Vega Union State, the State of Trausch, the Tyrol Republic and the United States of Trevano amongst others can all trace their history to German colonies granted independence.

The Second Scinfaxi War

At the start of the Second Scinfaxi War, an immense shipbuilding campaign and highly coordinated colonial program had seen the population of the GGR on Earth reduced to roughly 130 million people. The German government had been moved to Germania in 2132 and the majority of its citizens still living on Earth were members of the military, the shipbuilding industry, or simply those unwilling to leave. In a near repeat of the First Scinfaxi War, German resistance was fanatical, but the sheer technological superiority of the Scinfaxi swept aside all resistance. German forces defended Europe for 3 years until the evacuation was finally suspended.

On August 19th, 2153, as the Scinfaxi reached the outskirts of the near-deserted city, ten thousand German soldiers were dropped into Berlin. Specifically selected from volunteers across the Wehrmacht, the ten thousand represented countrymen from every German province, every former state of Europe and Field Marshall Paulus Friedberg, the Chief of the Armed Forces Supreme High Command who personally led the division. After nearly 30 hours of intense fighting, when every soldier was presumed killed, nearly a thousand atomic bombs were detonated across the world. The firestorm and following nuclear winter intended to have finally destroyed the last of the Scinfaxi and their Virus.

The Golden Age of Exploration

Germany was one of the first major nations to recover from the exodus of Earth and the integration of tens of millions of refugees. It’s colonies, while relatively few in number were some of the most advanced and well developed and the Reich was spared much of the hardship, famine and social unrest that befell the other major human colonies. The German economy rapidly developed, peaking for a few years as the largest within the Orion Arm before being overtaken by the United States and the Democratic Federation.

Throughout the 2190s, a second major colonization effort began, developing several new systems on the edge of the German state and creating what is now the Soviet-German border. These new colonies were quickly integrated into the intricate and highly efficient German interstellar transit lanes, rapidly aiding their establishment and continued development.

Today

Germania, capital of the Reich.

In the modern era the Greater German Reich has seen mixed successes with its international influence severely affected by the collapse of the Vega Union State and Cambadera State. The expansion of Soviet influence on its border worlds and growing Soviet military power has thrust the German military into an armed standoff with the Soviet Union over the border systems of Tanarsus, Galleria, and Vega.

Its core worlds, and its founding ideology remain unchallenged however, and the Reich leadership believes it still has the building blocks to achieve victory over its enemies.

Government

The Reich Chancellery is ruling political institutions of the German government, at its head is the Reichskanzler who serves as both the head of state and head of government. The various ministries controlling the Reich are directed by ministers, and most often by those who have served or continue to serve in the military. The system has multiple redundancies in place to prevent treachery or subversion. At times this means that the German government can be paralyzed by ministries stepping on one another’s toes and engaging in political squabbling. That state of affairs is mitigated by the authority of the Reichkansler and Leading Minister, who continually arbiter disputes between the departments and achieve a consensus ‘for Germany.’

The legislature of the GGR is the ‘Reichstag’, where representatives elected by the people approve the programmes of the Reich ministries and provide a basic level of oversight. The legislature produces ‘advice papers’ for the various departments rather than bills like other legislatures, although it does also provide the recruitment pool for Reich ministers and sometimes the Reichskansler too. The GGR is from top to bottom infused with the ideology of ‘German constitutionalism’ which espouses complete loyalty to the Reich, its officials and to the German people. This is accompanied by the formidable apparatus of the modern police state: Ministry for State Security, one of the largest secret police forces within the Orion Arm.

Cabinet and National Authorities

Office of the Reich Chancellery

Office of the Reich Leading Minister

Privy Cabinet Council

Reich Offices

Office of the President of the Reich Bank

Office of the Reich Master Terraformer

Office of the Inspector for Interplanetary Travel

Reich Youth Office

Reich Treasury Office

Reich Ministries

Reich Interior Ministry

Reich Foreign Ministry

Reich Ministry of Aviation & Interstellar Travel

Reich Ministry of Information and Public Enlightenment

Reich Ministers without Portfolio

Reich Ministry of Justice

Reich Ministry of Colonization

Reich Labor Ministry

Reich Economics Ministry

Reich Ministry of Finance

Reich Postal Ministry

Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture

Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Public Instruction

Reich Transportation Ministry

Reich Ministry for Weapons, Munitions, and Armament

Planetary Systems

See: Planetary Systems of the Greater German Reich

Foreign Relations

Despite the truce that had prevailed throughout the Scinfaxi War, the Greater German Reich immediately resumed its icy relations with the other human powers when the war ended.

When reconstruction began, and its shattered infrastructure was restored, the Greater German Reich adopted a period of isolation. For over 20 years there was little contact until the mid 1960s when the German spacecraft Bismarck IV landed on the moon.

Although the Reich attempted to maintain relations with the Democratic Federation when Earth was finally abandoned, this became harder to maintain over the years, particularly with the French Republic which has maintained an ancestral hatred of the government that absorbed France into its borders in the aftermath of the war. Relations with the United Kingdom are slightly better, but are at a minimal level. On the other hand, there has been a certain level of cordiality between the Reich and the United States of America in recent years as the latter becomes more and more alarmed by the bellicose Soviet Union. Relations between the communist superpower and the Reich are effectively nil.

Relations with the Empire of Japan remain strong, with talk of an official reaffirmation of the Triparite Pact between the two nations circulating between both Empires' foreign ministries. The Kriegsmarine and the Imperial Japanese Navy conduct an annual naval exercise, whilst selected Heer and the Imperial Japanese Army units conduct war games against one another on an annual basis.

Unlike the Empire of Japan, the Reich makes little use of permanent puppet states or protectorates, directly absorbing worlds or states directly into its national body over time with justification presented by the Constitution and national policies. This policy has become even more important after the breakaway state known as the New Weimar Republic came into being. It has since resisted all efforts to be incorporated into the GGR, and is now falling under the influence of the Soviet Union. The latter and the Democratic Federation are lobbying the GGR to prevent it declaring war on this hostile upstart. The entire affair has been a considerable embarrassment to the GGR, and did lead to the resignation of the former Reichskansler and several other Reich ministers.

Military

The unified armed forces of the Greater German Reich are known as the Wehrmacht. It is comprised of the Heer (army), Kriegsmarine (navy), and Luftwaffe (air force). In 2286, a total of 107 million Germans were serving across all three branches. The Wehrmacht forms the heart of German politico-military power and it's officers can often be found directing many branches of the German government. German forces are some of the most advanced in the Orion Arm, capable of operating starships, stations, deploying ground forces and conducting prolonged military campaigns across the Orion Arm, regardless of the distance to a friendly star system. The German Kriegsmarine is the second largest within the Orion Arm and fields some of the largest military starships ever put into service. The Wehrmacht's military structure, unique combat techniques, advanced weapons, and doctrine of "lightning war" or blitzkrieg has made it one of the most effective armed forces in human history.

The Reich military is in many ways fundamental to the identity of the nation. Several national holidays are implicitly tied to the history of the Wehrmacht, and German culture is saturated (in adverts, films, books and television shows) with military adventures and propaganda that display German soldiers in a heroic light. A majority of the Reich population opt for some form of military service during their lives. It is, in fact, almost a requirement if one is to satisfy ambitions for high office in politics or business.

Economy

The Greater German Reich maintains a capitalistic economy similar to those of the Democratic Federation and the Empire of Japan, although with distinct fascistic elements. It is dominated by major corporations which have a close relationship with the relevant Reich ministries in a characteristic example of a ‘military-industrial complex’ although this practice extends to many civilian industries as well, including the banking and finance sectors. Military production of exceptional quality does, however, dominate the Reich’s list of corporations and the term ‘guns and butter’ is often used to describe the Reich’s economic policy.

Corporations and companies led by ‘Reich Citizens’ operate under more favorable conditions than those that are not run by ‘true Germans’. The latter face higher taxes and restrictions upon their operations, and customers are also restricted in who they may buy from. The system largely succeeds in its objective to make ‘Full Citizens’ the richest group within the Reich and major companies and businesses not owned by Reich Citizens are rare.

Major Corporations

Wünch & Werner (Weapons manufacturer)

Hock & Locken (Weapons manufacturer)

Mauser AG (Weapons manufacturer)

Hartmann-Krupp AG (Weapons and Orbital manufacturer)

Arado Flugzeugwerke (Aerospace manufacturer)

Junkers & Co (Aerospace manufacturer)

Henschel & Son (Aerospace manufacturer)

Messerschmitt AG (Aerospace manufacturer)

Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG (Aerospace manufacturer)

Gothaer Schiffbau AG (Aerospace manufacturer)

MeyerNeumann Marine Systems (Shipbuilder and Space Station manufacturer)

Blohm + Voss Shipbuilding GmbH(Shipbuilder)

Krauss-Werner GmbH & Co AG (Produces Kampfpanzers, IFVs, Self Propelled Artillery)

Rheinmetall AG (Produces Kampfpanzers, IFVs, APCs)

Science

Greater German Reich's scientific research is arguably the most efficient of the superpowers, and was for many years the most unethical, too. German scientists of the past were allowed to use any means necessary, including tests and experiments on humans, to gain technological superiority. This is one of the major reasons why the Greater German Reich is currently the most technologically advanced human faction in the galaxy (even though the rules of experimentation have now changed in what most believe was a move to please the United States of America). Currently the research might of the GGR is concentrated on superior weaponry and military equipment, after several decades of preference in consumer goods technology. This change highlights the growing tensions with the Soviet Union.

Society

Citizenship Tiers

There remains within the Reich a tiered citizenship structure with ‘Reich Citizens’ being at the top of the pile and solely comprised of those who have completed or remain involved in civic or military programs, regardless of gender identity, religion, race or sexual preference. The most common route to Reich Citizenship is the completion of four years of national service, either within the military or other recognized institution, but other paths exist. Beneath these are ‘Civilians’, a caste composed of those who have yet to undertake the service necessary to achieve one the higher grades, as well as those excluded for reasons of political, criminal or other offenses. Most will regain citizenship by enlisting or re-enlisting for some kind of Reich service). The system is fluid, with some gaining and losing citizenship multiple times over the course of their life. An annulment of one’s Reich Citizenship is one of the most common sentences for minor crimes, with usually specific criteria assigned for its reinstatement. While losing one’s Reich Citizenship is viewed harshly, failing to re-apply for it is seen as the greatest failure to the German state.

There is also a small, marginalized section of society without any certification at all, as the certificate may be withdrawn by Reich authorities should suspicion ever fall upon a person of undertaking "Un-German" activities. Examples include membership of socialist or communist organizations, being a conscientious objector, owning copies of banned literature, and fraternizing with other "Un-German" persons. Non-certified "residents" are not counted for the purposes of electoral franchise, are withdrawn from social welfare programmes, have their wages docked and are banned from many careers. A lost certificate can rarely be recovered if withdrawn by the Reich authorities. Judicial authorities do have hearings to consider whether a person has been wrongly struck off, but decisions in favor of the claimant are incredibly rare.

Education

Education in the Reich starts early in childhood and continues until age nineteen. Throughout their education, children are taught their place within the society of the German Reich, and the duty they hold for its preservation and defense. Most young children are members of the Deutsche Jugend, a government run youth programme that is subsidiary to the main educational structures. Those who want to teach in the schools and academies must go through a rigorous screening process in order to determine a candidate's suitability, with emphasis placed on a candidate’s civic service and youth involvement. A defining aspect of the German education system is its strictness, with corporal punishment being the main disciplinary style. All children must wear school uniforms approved by the state, and keep in top physical shape throughout their school careers. After a child goes through the education system, he/she may choose to enter the armed forces, or go on to pursue a different career of national service for one to four years. Completing four years of service grants a certificate of accredited ‘Reich Citizenship’, allowing participation in Reich politics and opening considerable opportunities in life that would otherwise be closed. While four years of service is not mandatory, failure to meet this standard is seen as a failure of civic responsibility.

Youth Programs

The Deutsches Jungvolk or "German Youth" is the primary youth organization within the Greater German Reich. Its members undertake numerous activities including, sports, camping, hiking, domestic training and further schooling. Stories of Reich martyrs, national service and facts about German and European traditions are emphasized. Membership is not mandatory, but failure to complete the minimum requirements of the German Youth Organization is considered as failure on the part of the parents.

Social Welfare

In the Greater German Reich, social welfare is given a large priority. The system focuses on providing employment for citizens and ensuring a minimal living standard. Heavily focused on is the idea of a national Reich community. To aid in the fostering of a feeling of community, labour and entertainment experiences—from festivals, to vacation trips and traveling cinemas—are all a part of the "Strength through Joy" (Kraft durch Freude) program which extends across the entire Reich. Also crucial to the building of loyalty and comradeship is the National Labour Service and the German Youth Organization. Although welfare is free for all, the burden of financing much of the system comes from the docked pay of foreign residents, as well as higher taxes paid by those beneath the ‘Reich Citizen’ level.

Health

Health care within the Greater German Reich is arguably the most efficient in the Orion sector. Reich citizens are given free healthcare, although this is denied to non-certified citizens and civilians. The Reich's health programs are also well known for massive anti-smoking campaigns. German products are given regular health screenings in order to remove harmful chemicals, and women are encouraged to undergo regular screenings for breast cancer.

Women's Rights

Officially and legally, women within the Greater German Reich are entitled to equal rights, and women can be found in all walks of life and in every career path. However, women are encouraged to leave the workplace at some point in their lives in order to create large families. Women receive various awards for giving birth to four, six, and eight or more children. Large families also receive subsidies to help with their utilities, school fees, and other household expenses.

Environmentalism

German environmentalism can best be described as somewhat effective. The concept of the Dauerwald (best translated as the "perpetual forest") which included concepts such as forest management and protection was promoted and efforts were also made to curb air pollution. In practice, the enacted laws and policies met resistance from various ministries that sought to undermine them, and from the priority that the war-effort took to environmental protection.

Culture

The Greater German Reich heavily promotes the concept of Volksgemeinschaft, a national German community. Fundamental to Volksgemeinschaft is the idea of breaking down elitism, ethnic and religious divides and uniting peoples of all class divides to achieve a national purpose. As the German Reich incorporated various nations and peoples, this concept was expanded by stretching the definition of “German” to include members of every race and ethnic group that serve the Reich faithfully. Loyalty to the regime, adherence to its laws and customs are defined as what constitutes a proper German, rather than one’s ethnic background or even first language. In this way, the term German is increasingly used, especially in the past century, rather nebulously, referring to both a Reich Citizen or the country itself, rather than the Germanic ethnic group.

Media

German media, like the rest of German society, is centered around military and national service. Art considered to promote these ideals are heavily subsidized and promoted by the Reich Chamber of Culture under the Reich Ministry of Information and Public Enlightenment.

While the majority of publishing houses, film production companies and other aspects of cultural life such as fine arts, music and theater are heavily influenced by the Chamber of Culture or it’s sub-chambers, no law exists explicitly prohibiting any form of expression or the content of any piece of media or art. However, those who participate in certain art forms or other content perceived to undermine the state are often stripped of their full citizenship should they possess it.

Religion

Christianity is the largest denomination within the Reich, although heavily regulated by the state through the Reichskirche. Other religions are tolerated by the Reich authorities as long as the organization can receive a charitable certification from the relevant Reich ministry. Any Church, Synagogue or Mosque may be shut down at a moments notice if the congregation is ever considered to be disloyal. The Reich does not by habit label religions as "Un-German" but considerable stigma is attached to any which appear to place Germany second to the interests of the faith.

Sports

Established in 2104, the Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (RBL) is the umbrella organization for sports in the Reich. The aims of the promotion of sports in the Reich included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of a wider national purpose. One major part of the RBL’s ideas is the superiority of German sports skills. Out of all sports in the Reich, football remains the most popular, with many Germans partaking in community-organized events.