History Literature / TheDraka

* BattleThralls: In ''Under The Yoke,'' Alliance infiltrator Frederick Kustaa thinks some European Janissaries might've fought ''against'' the Draka -- the pan-European government was taking soldiers pretty young toward the end. More generally -- the usual Draka practice seems to be to execute enemy prisoners of war or send them to destructive-labor sites. In ''Marching Through Georgia,'' Eric specifically brings up phosphate mining in the Sahara. Soldiers are viewed as too dangerous to sell as ordinary serfs.

Science Fiction author Creator/SMStirling said ''"Screw that."'' Apparently tired of seeing the same cliches being used again, and again; he created the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination Domination]] of the Draka, an EvilEmpire that doesn't intend to lose... ever.

* ''Marching Through Georgia'' (set in the opening hours of the Drakan entry into the Eurasian War, the alternate equivalent of our UsefulNotes/WorldWarII)
* ''Under the Yoke'' (covering Europe's incorporation into the Domination after the Eurasian War)
* ''The Stone Dogs'' (covering the [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar "Protracted Struggle"]] between the Domination of Draka and the remaining democratic nations, now joined into the "Alliance for Democracy")

* ''Drakon'' (a Draka from the 25th century is hurled back to 1990s Earth by a space-warp experiment)
* ''Drakas''! (a collection of short stories set in the Draka timeline, edited by S. M. Stirling but written by other authors)

* SympatheticSlaveOwner: In order to have Draka protagonists readers actually like, this happens. The von Shrakenberg family in particular pride themselves on how benevolently they treat their serfs, with Tanya von Shrakenberg telling her daughter Gudrun that sadism is "a sickness" that she will not tolerate. That said, members of the family other than Eric often don't live up to this. [[spoiler:In ''Under The Yoke,'' Tanya suggests her husband Edward repeatedly rape the French serf Chantal to break her spirit and pimps the nun Marya to whom she thinks is a disabled Draka veteran, while Edward himself can be downright nasty when his old war wound is hurting. In ''The Stone Dogs,'' Eric's sister Johanna forces the serf Ali -- her own nephew -- to beat his friend Marco to death with a shovel when she catches them trying to escape.]]

* SecretPolice: The Draka Security Directorate monitors the serfs for any hint of uprising, and the Draka civilians for any hint of sedition. There are some hints the Alliance for Democracy's OSS is trending that way as well -- executions approved by secret courts, while Alliance officers of a sufficiently high rank have "the power of summary execution."

* SympatheticSlaveOwner: In order to have Draka protagonists readers actually like, this happens. The Von Shrakenberg family in particular pride themselves on how benevolently they treat their serfs, but members of the family other than Eric often don't live up to this. [[spoiler:In ''Under The Yoke,'' Tanya von Shrakenberg suggests her husband Edward repeatedly rape the French serf Chantal to break her spirit and pimps the nun Marya to whom she thinks is a disabled Draka veteran and Edward can be downright nasty when his old war wound is hurting. In ''The Stone Dogs,'' Eric's sister Johanna forces the serf Ali -- her own nephew -- to beat his friend Marco to death with a shovel when she catches them trying to escape.]]