GACA

Stands for Grand Army Charter Alliance. Created in 24 WR with the signing of the Grand Army Charter, establishing the Grand Army to fight the Dark Gods in the Great War. The Charter also provided for the House of Lords to serve as political overseer. Also established was the post of Generalissimo, Following the Great War, GACA encompassed almost all of the nations of the Web. Notable founding countries included the Tasnica Republic, Pandora, Figaro, Doma, the Underground Kingdom, Eblan, and the various free cities of the Esper Dimension. GACA grew throughout the war, adding the various Transbaron countries (who were governments-in-exile), Winlan, Hyrule, and Ticondera. At the end of the war GACA encompassed virtually the whole Web; the KMT War proved the futility of a conventional alliance opposing it.

Despite the fact that GACA was almost everywhere, the limitations of GACA became painfully clear during the Age of Imperialism. The desperate bargain to create a force to end the Great War had morphed into a a focal point for Web politics, but the machinery of the Alliance was still stuck in the past. This had bloody implications culminating in the Leviathan War. The role of GACA was still mired in its minimalist origins; although the House of Lords would still meet for matters of grave import, the Alliance had only the power to pay for the Grand Army and to send the Grand Army to war. As part of the New Peace, the leadership of GACA was reformed. The Alliance Congress, based in the new space station of Nova Pax, was introduced with the mandate to "create the peace". Unlike the House of Lords, it would be a body in continuous session, and it have representation proportional to a country's population and power. The Alliance Congress created a variety of committees dealing with trade, science, medicine, social welfare, and emergency relief. The House of Lords, a meeting of all the sovereigns of GACA, still exists and can over-ride the Alliance Congress, but it has yet to do so--though they came close during the first round of GA budget cuts. The Alliance Congress has slashed the military budget in order to give money back to its members and pay for its various other programs. The Generalissimo still has supreme control over all military operations, but it is subject to what the Alliance will pay for.

The ability to declare war is still explicitly reserved for the House of Lords, though, in an emergency, no one expects Celiose Cole to wait to beat the tar out of extradimensional space bugs or whatever.

The political leadership of GACA is vested in the title of Sovereign Executive. Rhodes Palmerston has held this post, and he kept the duties of it somewhat ill-defined, mainly so he can use it to justify doing whatever he wants.

Admission to GACA is still essentially flexible. The Scandian League started a really big debate over admissions guidelines to keep the Viper District from getting in, while simultaneously pulling enough political hijinks to support the entry of Medina. The FTSR had already been attending as Ticondera. Being part of GACA is an important part of being part of the Web's political community. A demonstrated ability to pay membership dues, signing the Hosluftgrad Conventions, and the recommendation of the Generalissimo are all important parts of accession.

Notable Non-GACA nations

• Viper District
• Dwarven Skull Empire, one of the only nations ever kicked out of GACA