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Lyran Commonwealth
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Origins and History
I'm not saying that the Steiners are perpetually on the thin
line between sanity and loony tune, because that's a myth.
The Steiner family has such a reputation that being icy-cool
that when they do show a strong emotion like anger, love,
or humor, people around them are so startled that they wonder
if that Steiner has lost his wits. Of course, holding one's
emotions in is another kind of madness.
-- Interview with Thelos Auburn on The News Hour, Donegal
Broadcasting Co., September 19, 3024
The Lyran Commonwealth was formed in 2340 as an amalgamation
of three smaller mutual-defense leagues: the Tamar Pact, the
Federation of Skye, and the Protectorate of Donegal. The original
Lyran capital was Arcturus.
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Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities between the Commonwealth
and the Draconis Combine in 2407, however, the Lyran government
moved to its current location on Tharkad. Soon after, leadership
of the Commonwealth passed from Alistair Marsden to his only heir,
Katherine Marsden Steiner, and remains in Steiner hands to this
day.
The Lyran Commonwealth currently consists of about 400 worlds.
During the course of the first three Succession Wars, it had been
slowly but steadily losing ground to the Draconis Combine, which
had taken almost a fourth of the original Lyran territories (including
more than half the old Tamar Pact worlds along the Draconis Combine
border). The Fourth Succession War saw the complete reversal of
that trend, however, with the Lyrans capturing 53 Kurita worlds,
while losing only 2. That House Steiner retained those worlds during
the 20 years between the end of the Fourth War and the invasion
of the Clans says much about the strengths of the Federated Commonwealth.
However, the Inner Sphere has been hard-pressed to stand up to the
Clan invasion, and the Lyran Commonwealth has been second only to
the Free Rasalhague Republic in number of worlds lost.
One reason that House Steiner has remained a formidable force in
Successor State politics even in the worst of times is that its
domain includes some of the most richly endowed planets in the Inner
Sphere. These include Alarion, Coventry, Donegal, Summer, Tamar,
New Karlsruh, and Hesperus II. The latter is the site of the Star
League's greatest surviving supply depots and the largest still-functioning
'Mech manufacturing and repair facility in the Successor States.
Regardless of its military fortunes, the Lyran Commonwealth has
consistently maintained its reputation for making money. Until many
of its industrialized worlds fell to the Clan invaders, the Commonwealth's
overall industrial output, particularly of non-military goods, outstripped
of the other Successor States. Even today, only the Free Worlds
League surpasses the Commonwealth's GNP per capita. This economic
growth has made the Steiner House currency the most stable in the
Inner Sphere. Some of this success is due to human ingenuity, and
some to the rich natural resources of the average Lyran member-world
and to the relatively small amount of war damage sustained by the
industrial plants of a few, key remote worlds. Over the years, the
Archons of House Steiner have consistently sponsored innovative
economic and trade policies, such as major tax advantages for industrial
reconstruction projects, awarding land grants to successful entrepreneurs
and victorious MechWarriors, and encouraging the activities of free
traders. Many of these policies are still presently in force
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