History Main / TheFederation

** The HolyRomanEmpire and the Empire of 1871 also had aspects of a (con)federation, being composed of different states, each with a citizenship of its own (for instance, father Mozart's father saw to it that his son Wolfgang Amadeus had the citizenship of the Imperial Free City of Augsburg even though he was born and raised in the Bishopric of Salzburg) and armies that, depending on the size of the state, were more or less autonomous. In both the Holy Roman Empire and in the one founded by Bismarck there were great differences between the political systems of the individual states, ranging from absolute monarchies to quasi-democratic republics. In the Holy Roman Empire individual states pursued their own foreign policies and often as not formed alliances with foreign powers or amongst themselves (e. g. the Union (Protestant) and the League (Catholic) in the run-up to the ThirtyYearsWar).

* The People's Republic of Haven in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is a very nasty and brutal deconstruction of this trope. Haven starts out as a simple Republic that is referred to as an 'Interstellar Athens' and lived in a perpetual golden age. Then the Havenite government decided to [[AuthorOnBoard jack up the welfare programs]], which in turn [[{{Anvilicious}} causes the economy to collapse]]. Instead of cutting the welfare programs, the Republic instead decides to turn conquistador, [[PlanetLooters conquering and looting]] other planets to put money in their treasury. Fast forward a hundred or so years later, Haven rules a vast interstellar empire of over two hundred star systems, and its citizens are divided into the second-class "Dolists" ruled by the first-class "Legislaturalist" hereditary political families. Then, a revolution kicks off, trying to fix the system. Unfortunately the revolution is [[DaysOfFuturePast modeled after the French Revolution]], complete with a leader ''[[StevenUlyssesPerhero named Rob S. Pierre]]''. Saying that it didn't end well would be a kind of an understatement. Of course, now that [[spoiler:the Havenite version of the Thermidorian Reaction has occurred (Thomas Theisman and Eloise Pritchart)]], and with [[spoiler:their version of Napoleon removed ahead of schedule ([[FanNickname Citizen Admiral Clusterbomb]], AKA Esther [=McQueen=])]], things seem to be [[spoiler:on track for the restored Republic of Haven]]. Aside from [[spoiler:the whole resumption of war with [[TheKingdom Manticore]]]], of course -- until [[spoiler:Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki]] turn up in Nouveau Paris with proof positive that [[spoiler:Manticore and Haven had been manipulated into war with each other]] by an [[spoiler:outside third party with plans for galactic domination]]. This severely annoys [[spoiler:President Pritchart]], who [[spoiler:turns up in the Manticore System at midnight]], sits down with [[spoiler:Queen Elizabeth III]], and ends up not only [[spoiler:putting a permanent end to the war]], but [[spoiler:sealing a military ''alliance'' with Manticore]]. The bad guys are ''screwed'' after that, and the Republic of Haven is once and for all placed firmly on the side of the light.

* The People's Republic of Haven in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is a very nasty and brutal deconstruction of this trope. Haven starts out as a simple Republic that is referred to as an 'Interstellar Athens' and lived in a perpetual golden age. Then the Havenite government decided to [[AuthorOnBoard jack up the welfare programs]], which in turn [[{{Anvilicious}} causes the economy to collapse]]. Instead of cutting the welfare programs, the Republic instead decides to turn conquistador, [[PlanetLooters conquering and looting]] other planets to put money in their treasury. Fast forward a hundred or so years later, Haven rules a vast interstellar empire of over two hundred star systems, and its citizens are divided into the second-class "Dolists" ruled by the first-class "Legislaturalist" hereditary political families. Then, a revolution kicks off, trying to fix the system. Unfortunately the revolution is [[DaysOfFuturePast modeled after the French Revolution]], complete with a leader ''[[StevenUlyssesPerhero named Rob S. Pierre]]''. Saying that it didn't end well would be a kind of an understatement. Of course, now that [[spoiler:the Havenite version of the Thermidorian Reaction has occurred (Thomas Theisman and Eloise Pritchart)]], and with [[spoiler:their version of Napoleon removed ahead of schedule ([[FanNickname Citizen Admiral Clusterbomb]], AKA Esther [=McQueen=])]], things seem to be [[spoiler:on track for the restored Republic of Haven]]. Aside from [[spoiler:the whole resumption of war with [[TheKingdom Manticore]]]], of course -- until [[spoiler:Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki turn up in Nouveau Paris with proof positive that Manticore and Haven had been manipulated into war with each other by an outside third party with plans for galactic domination]]. This severely annoys [[spoiler:President Pritchart, who turns up in the Manticore System at midnight, sits down with Queen Elizabeth III, and ends up not only putting a permanent end to the war, but sealing a military ''alliance'' with Manticore]]. The bad guys are ''screwed'' after that, and the Republic of Haven is once and for all placed firmly on the side of the light.

* The People's Republic of Haven in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is a very nasty and brutal deconstruction of this trope. Haven starts out as a simple Republic that is referred to as an 'Interstellar Athens' and lived in a perpetual golden age. Then the Havenite government decided to [[AuthorOnBoard jack up the welfare programs]], which in turn [[{{Anvilicious}} causes the economy to collapse]]. Instead of cutting the welfare programs, the Republic instead decides to turn conquistador, [[PlanetLooters conquering and looting]] other planets to put money in their treasury. Fast forward a hundred or so years later, Haven rules a vast interstellar empire of over two hundred star systems, and its citizens are divided into the second-class "dolists" ruled by the first-class "legislaturalist" hereditary political families. Then, a revolution kicks off, trying to fix the system. Unfortunately the revolution is [[DaysOfFuturePast modeled after the French Revolution]] complete with a leader ''[[StevenUlyssesPerhero named Rob S. Pierre]]''. Saying that it didn't end well would be a kind of an understatement.
** Of course, now that [[spoiler: the Havenite version of the Thermidorian Reaction has occurred (Theisman and Pritchard)]], and with [[spoiler: their version of Napoleon removed ahead of schedule ([[FanNickname Citizen Admiral Clusterbomb]], AKA Esther [=McQueen=])]], things seem to be [[spoiler: on track for the restored Republic of Haven]]. Aside from [[spoiler: the whole resumption of war with [[TheKingdom Manticore]]]], of course.
** And now with the War with the Solarian League, we seem to be heading for a retelling of a combination of the Crimean War (Britain & France allied against the collosus of Russia) and the American Civil War.

** The Tau Empire, a small but RisingEmpire in the galactic east, are about the only guys in the setting who know the definition of the word diplomacy, let their allies keep their own militaries, and treat the inhabitants of annexed territory fairly well. They're also perfectly willing to use force when asking someone nicely to join the empire fails, keep client states' armies small so they're reliant on Tau support or use their vassals' forces as auxiliaries, and maintain the setting's most centralized government, divided into a caste system rumored to be mind-controlled by the ruling Ethereal class. So depending on how cynical an observer is, the Tau can be seen as either TheRepublic of ''40k'', a proper Federation, or an Empire with good publicity.

* The New California Republic (NCR) in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a neutral example of a Federation. On one hand they are the only major faction in the entire post-Great War America that that improved the standard of living of the common people by rebuilding infrastructure such as railroads, establishing trade routes, and reorganizing the code of law, etc. But they're also selfish and corrupt, bound by countless red tape, and a semi police state that is willing to use all kind of dirty tricks to force other settlements into joining them. Since the only other choices are random anarchic thugs or myopic self-entitled elitist/racist/fascist groups, the NCR's about as good as any functional post-nuclear war government can get. Aside from the [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel]] or an independent wasteland, depending on one's preferences.
** ''Fallout: New Vegas'' goes out of its way to try and paint the NCR as just as bad as the other two factions, a one-man dictatorship enforced by an army of robots and a band of barbarous, misogynist, pseudo-Roman slavers. This is due to [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]]'s ([[ApocalypseNot completely founded]]) belief that the progress made by the NCR has undermined the post-apocalyptic feel of the series, to the extent that he added a "nuke NCR" option in the ''Lonesome Road'' DLC. [[http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisAvellone/status/117371054938263552 He's said on his twitter account]] that if another ''Fallout'' comes to him, he's nuking the NCR for a clean slate in the region.

* The Global Defense Initiative (GDI) in the chronologically later ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games. At the beginning of the series, GDI was simply a multinational military force under the command of the United Nations, but as the timeline progressed the individual countries began to disappear until the UN/GDI was the only political/military force left, making it a sort of traditional-style Federation.
** Also the United States in the ''Generals'' series.

* The Alliance in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' is a fantasy example of this trope. Although it would at first glance appear to be TheAlliance, the only portion of the Alliance that ''doesn't'' fit this trope right down to the letter is its lack of centralized leadership, which appears to be changing with the return of Varian Wrynn and becoming more centralized around the Humans of Stormwind. The Alliance's counterpart, the Horde, resembles a (mostly) good version of TheEmpire due to its thirst for conquest.

* Played with in AxisPowersHetalia. The first episode of the anime shows a "world meeting" that is an obvious parody of the UN. Considering that the entire episode had the characters arguing and doing nothing, it's more of a subversion.
** Except that "arguing and doing nothing" describes the current state of UN spot-on.

* The ''Federación de Planetas Federados'' (Federation of Federate Planets), a sort of parody from the Spanish comic-book {{Fanhunter}}.

* ''Film/StarWars" plays with this trope:

* The United Citizen's Federation of ''Film/StarshipTroopers'' is more of a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny and TheEmpire than a Federation, being a highly militaristic and quasi-fascistic state seemingly run by a military hierarchy, complete with a PropagandaMachine. Civil rights are surprisingly good though, and racism and sexism seems to be almost entirely absent. Although the military itself is very poorly run, the general population seems to enjoy a reasonably comfortable standard of living. However free speech is heavily restricted: anyone speaking against the Federation gets hung. You also only become a full citizen with voting rights after enlisting in the military, or otherwise you're considered a "civilian". Surprisingly, there's no mandatory conscription, or is found unnecessary since people will want to gain full citizenship anyway.

* The United Federation of Planets in ''Franchise/StarTrek'', of course. A fairly accurate example of an ''actual'' Federation, too. While they have a strong Starfleet which combines SpaceNavy and SpacePolice functions, they seem to let member worlds largely manage their own affairs and avoid military opposition to secession.\\
\\
The military opposition to secession is strongly there if there's a treaty involved. The Maquis were formed by Federation colonists in the Demilitarized Zone between Federation and Cardassian space, many of whom had their planets change hands as part of a peace treaty. One group of Indians, who explicitly don't want to be in the Federation, have their planet given away and were in the process of being removed from the Federation in one episode. Military intervention was immediately canceled, however, when said group renounced their Federation citizenship, and agreed to live peacefully alongside Cardassian colonists. It didn't end well in the [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine sequel series]].

** The Tau Empire of might be a bit of a subversion; they're the only ones who know the definition of the word diplomacy, allow their allies to keep their military forces (so long as they don't revolt; the military'll be partially disarmed so it'll ''have'' to rely on the Tau military, should it come to that), treat the inhabitants of their conquered territories rather nicely (if they ''remain'' subsumed into the Empire and swear to uphold the Greater Good - the main Tau belief system). However, they have the most firmly centralized government of all the 40k factions, divided into a caste system that's mind-controlled by the highest class -- Ethereals. Furthermore, practically half of their allies serve as separate military branches for the Tau Empire. Being ''terrible'' in hand-to-hand combat, the Tau employ the avian [[CannibalClan Kroot]] as melee combatants, while the nomadic and spacefaring Nicassar provide ships to scout, fight and explore for the Tau, the insectoid Vespid excel in fighting the Space Marines and the Gue'vesa (human turncoats) reinforce the western half of the Tau Empire, providing information about Imperial military doctrines and the locations of important planets or structures to the Tau commanders. Additionally, the dwarven Demiurg, reputed as miners and traders, are noted for being economic comrades to the Tau, the mammalian Tarellians have "dog soldiers", and nobody knows anything about the Galgs. If nothing else, the Tau are TheRepublic of 40k, with some shades of a federation.
** The Imperium itself fits the trope in a lot of ways; individual worlds are largely allowed to run themselves so long as they pay a tithe of warm bodies for the Imperial Guard, food for the myriad Hive Worlds, and psykers for the Inquisition's Black Ships. Depends mostly ''where'' in the galaxy you live, of course. If you live in the systems that lie close to Terra, it is most definitely TheEmpire, while if you live in some distant system like in Ultramar, it is very likely it would be more like TheFederation. On other places still, like many feral worlds, it resembles neither.
*** The Imperium also consists of a few large and somewhat independent factions: the Adeptus Mechanicus (combation [[MachineWorship technology]] [[ChurchMilitant church]] and industrial MegaCorp) runs many forge-worlds under its own steam, and each chapter of SpaceMarines is autonomous and many, especially the Ultramarines, directly control at least a planet, if not a small sector of space.
* The {{Traveller}}'s Third Imperium is often described as a "feudal confederation". Due to the sheer size of the interstellar empire most planets are left to govern themselves as long as they pay taxes to fund the noble-run Imperial Bureaucracy and military and obey the "no nukes, no interfering with interstellar trade" laws.
** The Terran Confederation in the Intersteller Wars volume of {{Traveller}} is a strange example. Though the sympathies lie with them, they are an ambitious, expansionist and conquering state. However, on the other hand, once they do conquer places they tend to treat them well.

* {{RIFTS}} brings us a subversion in the Federation of Magic, North America's largest gathering of magic-user communities, and the oldest enemy of the Coalition States. Subverted in that the Federation isn't generally better than the CS, nor is it really very unified at all. The head of the so-called "True" Federation, Alistair Dunscon, is an insane, power-mad EvilSorcerer driven by a personal vendetta against the Coalition, but not everyone in the Federation supports him or even acknowledges him as their leader. The other major factions in the divided Federation either wish to be left alone and don't seek conflict (Dweomer), or are actually just in it for convenience's sake while they pursue their own agendas (Stormspire).

* The Earth Federation in ''MobileSuitGundam''
** ...And ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''
* The New California Republic (NCR) in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a neutral example of a Federation. On one hand they are the only major faction in the entire post-Great War America that that improved the standard of living of the common people by rebuilding infrastructure such as railroads, establishing of trade routes, and reorganizing the code of law, etc. However, they are also a selfish, corrupt, bound by countless red tape, and a semi police state that is willing to use all kind of dirty tricks to force other settlements into joining them. Overall they are about as good as any functional post-nuclear war government can get.
** Given that the only other choices are random anarchic thugs or myopic self-entitled elitist/racist/fascist groups, they are the best choice. Occasionally, one might get lucky and stumble upon good independent groups, like the Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel (formerly Columbia chapter), or you can try to forge an independent wasteland, but they're unlikely to hold with the [=NCR=]'s expansion or other groups' own agendas.
** ''Fallout: New Vegas'' really goes crazy trying to paint the NCR as just as bad as the other two options-- one being a complete dictatorship, the other being pseudo-Roman slavers who regard most women as property. It's pretty ridiculous, especially during the sum-up when some of the characters complain about how "badly" the NCR treated them.
** This is because [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]] has been actively trying to make the NCR seem like crap as he feels they have done away with the post-apocalyptic feel of the series. [[ApocalypseNot He's right, of course.]] The NCR is pretty much like modern day America and the post-scavenger world is off to the west and north. He even went so far as to add a nuke the NCR option in Lonesome Road and has said on his twitter account that if another ''Fallout'' comes to him, he's nuking the NCR for a clean slate in the region.[[http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisAvellone/status/117371054938263552]]
* The Terran factions in ''StarCraft'' usually fit this to one degree or another, although in ''StarCraft'' it is a Confederation, which is not nearly so well-intentioned. This is even worse of a misuse then the term 'Federation' tends to be, as a confederation is supposed to have even looser central government, one that wouldn't have the authority to try to retain a region that wanted to leave.\\
\\
Later succeeded by the Terran Dominion, which to all intents in purposes is effectively an [[TheEmpire autocracy]] and much more overt in both name and intentions.
* The UCN (United Colonial Nations) in the Killzone series essentially act as the United Nations. It presides over all the Earth-held colonies in space with Earth itself as its capital.

* The Galaxy Federation in ''Xenosaga''.

* Although mentioned as early as [[OlderThanTheyThink the first game's]] [[AllThereInTheManual manual]], ''{{Metroid}}'''s Galactic Federation rarely got more than a passing mention until ''Fusion''. In ''Prime 3'', it's presented as a fairly typical good-guy federation.
** ''Metroid'''s interpretation of The Federation is starting to subvert this trope with the advent of ''Fusion'', as their goals are becoming more ruthless and self-serving. Samus could also be seen as an enemy of this more sinister Federation following her actions in ''Fusion'' as well.

* The Alliance in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' is a fantasy example of this trope. Although it would at first glance appear to be TheAlliance, the only portion of the Alliance that ISN'T this trope right down to the letter is its lack of centralized leadership, which appears to be changing with the return of Varian Wrynn and becoming more centralized around the Humans of Stormwind. The Alliance's counterpart, the Horde, resembles a (mostly) good version of TheEmpire with its thirst for conquest.
** There is some split among the remaining human powers where the political center of the Alliance should be. The two major competitors are Stormwind and Theramore.
** Or there was, it became fairly clear that Theramore was subservient to Stormwind, with Jaina calling Varian "my king" in Icecrown Citadel. Also, after funneling troops into the Barrens, Theramore was nuked to oblivion by the Horde, ending the issue.
** Before that, the split mainly came from Warcraft III nostalgia and the now non-canon RPG book series. In WoW, it was always Stormwind (though it was Ironforge gameplay-wise for a time), though Jaina's StopPokingMe quotes mirrored Thrall's.

* ''GalacticCivilizations'': the Terran Alliance has traits of this, and forming one from everyone present is a win condition. Something similar can also happen in larger games when the weaker or more violent races have been wiped out and all the computer players team up with all the ''other'' computer players and murder you/get murdered by you [delete as applicable].

* The U.E.A. of RegistryOfTime.

** ...And ''SuperRobotWars''

* The ''Federal'' Republic of Germany consists out of [[TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland sixteen states]]. ([[WestGermany Eleven older ones]][[hottip:*:Or just ten, the status of (West) {{Berlin}} was a bit complicated.]] + [[EastGermany five new ones]] [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp since 1990]]). This is partly because in its history, [[AllTheLittleGermanies Germany has consisted out of many de-facto independent states for a long time]], and partly in order to avoid too much centralism like during those [[NaziGermany certain dreadful twelve years]].

* The HarryPotter series has the "International Confederation of Wizards", which is only really mentioned as background information. Apparently the "Supreme Mugwump" is an important position.

** This is because [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]] has been actively trying to make the NCR seem like crap as he feels they have done away with the post-apocalyptic feel of the series. [[StrawmanHasAPoint He's right, of course.]] The NCR is pretty much like modern day America and the post-scavenger world is off to the west and north. He even went so far as to add a nuke the NCR option in Lonesome Road and has said on his twitter account that if another ''Fallout'' comes to him, he's nuking the NCR for a clean slate in the region.[[http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisAvellone/status/117371054938263552]]

* Before we move on to the various federations of TheCommonwealth, we must mention that the Commonwealth itself is conceptually descended from the idea of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Federation Imperial Federation]]: those parts of the TheBritishEmpire with "responsible government" (Canada, Australia, Newfoundland,[[note]]at the time separate from Canada[[/note]] New Zealand, and South Africa, plus of course the United Kingdom itself) would become a single, actual federation with an Imperial Parliament and Government at Westminster to set Imperial foreign, military, and colonial policy and regulate relations among its members, while each member would still have control over its internal affairs. This idea actually got a lot of traction, but ultimately the logistics of executing it in early 20th century conspired with [[WorldWarI events]] to change it into the rather more toothless Commonwealth.

** Given that the only other choices are random anarchic thugs or myopic self-entitled elitist/racist/fascist groups, they are the best choice. Occasionally, one might get lucky and stumble upon good independent groups, like the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel, or you can try to forge an independent wasteland, but they're unlikely to hold with the [=NCR=]'s expansion or other groups' own agendas.

** This is because [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]] has been actively trying to make the NCR seem like crap as he feels they have done away with the post-apocalyptic feel of the series. [[StrawmanHasAPoint He's right, of course.]] The NCR is pretty much like modern day America and the post-scavenger world is off to the east and north. He even went so far as to add a nuke the NCR option in Lonesome Road and has said on his twitter account that if another ''Fallout'' comes to him, he's nuking the NCR for a clean slate in the region.[[http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisAvellone/status/117371054938263552]]

* The HumanxCommonwealth, in the SpaceOpera series of the same name by AlanDeanFoster.

** The Tau Empire of might be a bit of a subversion; they're the only ones who know the definition of the word diplomacy, allow their allies to keep their military forces (so long as they don't revolt; the military'll be partially disarmed so it'll ''have'' to rely on the Tau military, should it come to that), treat the inhabitants of their conquered territories rather nicely (if they ''remain'' subsumed into the Empire and swear to uphold the Greater Good - the main Tau belief system). However, they have the most firmly centralized government of all the 40k factions, divided into a caste system that's mind-controlled by the highest class -- Ethereals. Furthermore, practically half of their allies serve as separate military branches for the Tau Empire. Being ''terrible'' in hand-to-hand combat, the Tau employ the avian [[CannibalClan Kroot]] as melee combatants, while the nomadic and spacefaring Nicassar provide ships to scout, fight and explore for the Tau, the insectoid Vespid excel in fighting the Space Marines and the the Gue'vesa (human turncoats) reinforce the western half of the Tau Empire, providing information about Imperial military doctrines and the locations of important planets or structures to the Tau commanders. Additionally, the dwarven Demiurg, reputed as miners and traders, are noted for being economic comrades to the Tau, the mammalian Tarellians have "dog soldiers", and nobody knows anything about the Galgs. If nothing else, the Tau are TheRepublic of 40k, with some shades of a federation.

** In addition there's The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations and the Advanced European Union (AEU). Averting the franchise trend, both groups are actually pretty nice, save for the occasional political turmoil with it's members.

* Several in the ''{{Franchise/Gundam}}'' series. Very few of the Federations in Gundam are particularly benevolent:

*** The Federation gets worse in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', with the [[StateSec Titans]] - A corrupt branch that ruthlessly suppresses any opposition, including gassing a whole colony. After the Titans are purged, the Federation becomes more benevolent than before (and partly led by the heroes of the One Year War), but continues to have its ups and downs.

** In addition there's The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations and the Advanced European Union (AEU). Averting the franchise trend, both groups are actually a pretty nice, save for the occasional political turmoil with it's members.

* In ''CodeGeass'', the [[TheEmpire Holy Empire of Britannia]], was opposed by two other superpowers, the Chinese Federation and the Euro Universe, the latter was later smacked silly, and only Britain (surprise), Germany and the Norse islands as well as the Congo and Ukraine remained free. And to add salt to wounds, no named characters exist from the EU. They only served to be [[ThrowAwayCountry a throw away country]].
** Subverted in ''CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled, where the EU is the focus country.

Compare and contrast TheAlliance, usually a more temporary union of nations against a common enemy.

** The Earth Federation in ''MobileSuitGundam''. It does not allow citizens in space colonies to vote or have any say in politics, leading to many, many independence groups forming. It get's worse in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', with the [[StateSec Titans]] - A corrupt branch that ruthlessly suppresses any opposition, including gassing a whole colony.

* The Galactic Federation in ''Series/BlakesSeven'' is very corrupt and oppressive. It was conceived as an Alliance but became an Empire. The main villain of the series, Servalan, plans to capture the Liberator so that she can create a fleet with which to take over the Federation and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMean restore it to]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist its former glory]].

* Before we move on to the various federations of TheCommonwealth, we must mention that the Commonwealth itself is conceptually descended from the idea of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Federation Imperial Federation]]: those parts of the TheBritishEmpire with "responsible government" (Canada, Australia, Newfoundland,[[note]]at the time separate from Canada[[/note]] New Zealand, and South Africa, plus of course the United Kingdom itself) would become a single, actual federation with an Imperial Parliament and Government at Westminster to set Imperial foreign and colonial policy and regulate relations among its members, while each member would still have control over its internal affairs. This idea actually got a lot of traction, but ultimately the logistics of executing it in early 20th century conspired with [[WorldWarI events]] to change it into the rather more toothless Commonwealth.

* Canada is a strange case. Starting off as a collection of British colonies with varying degrees of self-government and cultural autonomy, it was unified together in a process known as ''Confederation''. However, the Dominion government had much more power than the provinces at first, due to the concerns by many Canadian authorities that giving the provinces power like the US states would lead to a civil war just like the ones the Americans had recently fought. However, a lot of successful court cases and legislation by politicians (especially one from Ontario) led to the provinces gaining ''far'' more autonomy than was originally intended. During different periods of the 20th century (such as the Trudeau era), the Federal Government gained more powers in various areas, coinciding with the development of the welfare state during that time. However, Quebec had also started moving towards more autonomy and possible sovereignty, and won many concessions. Other provinces (such as Alberta and Newfoundland) also found themselves challenging the Feds. The end result is a Federation where the Central Government has a fair amount of power in many areas, but where the provinces are also given a surprising amount of autonomy in others. This is a really good example of how, while many nations may use the terms "Federation" and "Confederation", the actual mechanisms of government can be very different from each other.