House of Lords

Overview

The House of Lords represents the supreme political authority in the the Grand Army, and consists of the heads of state of all of the member countries. The House of Lords was the only political entity in the original Grand Army Charter. The House of Lords had the authority to determine the GA's levels of funding, hire and fire the Generalissimo, and determine whether or not the GA should go to war with an entity. The House of Lords also had the power to declare wartime conditions, a state which grants the Generalissimo enormous powers such as the right to unlimited conscription from member states; this was in effect for much of the Great War as well as the Hivan War. In the Age of Imperialism the House of Lords decided that the power of the Grand Army ought not to be used against a member state, a precedent that weakened the GA's ability to intervene in later conflicts including the Leviathan War.

Significantly, the House of Lords began to grow from mere GA political oversight to a forum for all of the Web's nations; it was the desire to expand this role of GACA that led to the creation of the Alliance Congress.

Voting and Structure

Each member nation of GACA recieves only one vote in the House of Lords; decisions are held by a simple majority. By tradition, theTasnica Republic serves as chairman, a largely honorific role except for the power to call for the vote. In theory the House of Lords could meet anywhere, but most often met at Albrook, location of GAHQ.

The Generalissimo of the Grand Army attends but does not vote. Sometimes other military commanders attend as well to issue reports.

Important Decisions and Debates

During the Great War, the House of Lords was relatively inactive. Celiose Cole was occassionally required to give them updates on the status of the war, and ask for more money, but since the Great War was relatively clear cut and the situation was urgent politicking between the nations was put on the backburner for the duration of the war; which, it should be pointed out, was the intention of the Charter in the first place.

The KMT War was little different after Caidin launched a failed Ultima attack on Trianable, believing the communism in the Web would overtake everything and that the Grand Army was his enemy. (This is in contrast with the more prudent Travin Rumanski) The KMT War was remarkable in that it was the last time the Grand Army had to contend with nations in the Web who were not members: following the war, all three nations had joined the Charter. When that happened the House of Lords took on a much greater significance, as it became an open forum for world leaders to discuss their problems with one another, and hold each other to resolutions that more or less passed for international law during this period.

Probably the largest debate in the House of Lords was over the proper response (if any)to the OmniSent. Celiose derided them as merely a "bunch of reporters", certain nations (like the Tasnica Republic) believed the OmniSent's agenda should be allowed to flourish, and many nations (notaby the Kingdom of Guardia and the beginnings of the Esper Union) viewed it as a potential threat. (The House of Lords was largely unaware at the time that the OmniSent had its own internal power struggle between Rudra Tairen's peaceful agenda, and Roland Boderick's much more militant anti-GA stance). This debate reached its pinnacle after an attempt was made on the lives of Doan Pendouris, then King of the Kingdom of Guardia, and Lord Skull, the Prime Minister of Medina. Although the attempt was unsuccessful it left this king comatose and his son, Derik Pendouris, on the throne. It also shocked and galvanized many nations who were originally neutral or apathetic to take a more hardline stance against the OmniSent. Derik soon earned the nickname "the Firebrand" for his heavy rhetorical style; the one person who argued for some restraint against the OmniSent was Celiose Cole. In response, Derik convinced the House of Lords to fire the Generalissimo and replace him with a more pliable general, Jomini Benedek. It is interesting to note that Derik's principal supporter in his move to fire Celiose was Travin Rumanski of Scande. Although Celiose was recalled to duty to fight the Hivan War, the debate over the Omnisent was soon settled by Cylinder attacks on Geno Dome and Centwerp. The Omnisent Conflict had begun.

Another major debate of the House of Lords was in response to the Imperialist War, when the Esper Union invaded Figaro and Doma. These nations appealed the House to allow the Grand Army to intervene. Some argued that the GA had a responsibility to defend its members against aggressions; most nations of the Web, however, were horrified by notion that the GA's horrible weapons would be used against any member nation over a provocation by its political rivals. The debate produced rare agreement between Travin Rumanski and Hannibal de'Zama, who both admitted that they would probably try to turn the GA on the other if it were a possibility. The House of Lords adopted the principle that the GA ought to remain neutral with respect to its member states, which legitimated a new era of international warfare in the Web culminating in the Leviathan War.

Criticisms and reform

The horrors of the Leviathan War made it clear that the Grand Army and GACA were somewhat out-of-date with their thinking; the greatest threat was not something from beyond the Web, but war between the stats of the Web. A major flaw with the House of Lords was that it only met during a time of crisis, sometimes too late to address the problem. It still had a purview that was too limnited. As part of his plans for a New Peace, Rhodes Palmerston proposed the creation of the Alliance Congress, an entity which has largely supplanted the House of Lords and has some of the House's old power, such as the ability to budget the funds of GACA. The House of Lords as an institution still technically exists but has rarely met since the creation of the Congress. Nonetheless, it is still likely that the House would be called into session should a major Web threat erupt.