Factions of the Cosmic Era

In the Cosmic Era of Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, Gundam Seed Astray, the nation-states of modern Earth are replaced with a number of national superblocs. There are also numerous political factions.

The Earth Alliance

The Earth Alliance is the group of anti-ZAFT superstates on Earth. It is made up of four political entities: the Atlantic Federation, the Eurasian Federation, the Republic of East Asia and the South African Union. The Earth Alliance also conquered the PLANT-friendly United States of South America, which are now engaged in a revolution to regain their independence. The Earth Alliance was officially founded on 7 February CE 70. The combined military forces of the Earth Alliance are called OMNI Enforcer, but are more frequently simply called the Earth Military (Chikyuu Gun).

The Earth Alliance and ZAFT started war on 11 February CE 70 after the EA's predeccessor, the United Nations was wiped out by a terrorist attack in the Tragedy of Copernicus that resulted in the Alaska Declaration which formed the Earth Alliance. On 14 February, the Alliance used nuclear weapons to destroy the PLANT colony at Junius Seven, in what became known as the Bloody Valentine Incident.

Unlike the Earth Federation of the Universal Century era which was a relatively unified body, the Earth Alliance is more of a Blue Cosmos-controlled loose international military confederation of entities that are often working at cross purposes to each other and it is headed by a Secretary-General. It is not uncommon for each of the factions to not reveal the key workings of their weapon and armor technologies with their erstwile allies – when the Atlantic Federation battleship Archangel docked at the Eurasian military base Artemis, the commander attempted to acquire by force both the ship and its mobile suit contingent in order to acquire the secret behind their design. Later, when the Alliance headquaters, JOSH-A in Alaska, controlled by the Atlantic Federation, was mostly abandoned as a trap for ZAFT's invasion force, the token defense force left behind as "bait" (completely unaware of the trap) consisted almost entirely of Eurasian troops.

The Alliance developed several important military innovations during the war: the second-generation Mobile Operating System, Phase Shift armor, light wave shielding, beam weaponry and the Mirage Colloid stealth system.

In the wake of the Junius Seven colony drop disaster in CE 73, the Earth Alliance declared war again on ZAFT, on the grounds that the drop represented the true intentions of the Coordinators toward Naturals, intending to wipe out the PLANTs and with them all Coordinators. However, the initial attempt to destroy the PLANTs with nuclear missiles resulted in a disasterous defeat when ZAFT's Neutron Stampeder destroyed an entire Alliance fleet with a single shot.

Atlantic Federation

The Atlantic Federation is the largest and most powerful member of the Earth Alliance. Although allied against ZAFT, the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations have long been rivals, and a strong undercurrent of mistrust remains between them. The Atlantic Federation is a future version of the United States of America and the Organization of American States, its capital is Washington DC and its president still lives and works at the White House. In an extra-textual sense, the Atlantic Federation serves as a device for the series' directors and writers to criticize the present-day political culture and policy framework of the United States.

The Atlantic Federation provides the largest segment of the Earth Alliance's military, and pioneered the efforts to develop advanced mobile suits to counter those of ZAFT. The Atlantic Federation also has broader and deeper anti-Coordinator sentiment than the rest of the Alliance, and has been more thoroughly infiltrated by Blue Cosmos. While the Atlantic Federation solidified its position as the dominant force in the Earth Alliance with its large mobile suits force which tried to hold the Alliance together, the heavy losses it suffered in the final months of the war could provide the Eurasian Federation the opportunity it has been waiting for to supersede them as the leaders of the Alliance.

The Atlantic Federation attacked and annexed the United States of South America in the pretense of fighting ZAFT during CE 70. After the cease-fire at Jachin Due, however, the United States of South America rebelled against the Atlantic Federation. The most prominent member of this rebellion was former Earth Alliance ace Edward Harrelson, also known as "Ed the Ripper".

Eurasian Federation

The Eurasian Federation is a member of the Earth Alliance, second only to the Atlantic Federation in power and influence. The Eurasian Federation is a fusion of the European Union with the Russian Federation. Although allied against ZAFT, the Eurasian and Atlantic Federations have long been rivals, and a strong undercurrent of mistrust remains between them.

The Eurasian Federation resents its inferior position to the Atlantic Federation, which has been exacerbated by the Atlantic Federation's successful development of mobile suits. Eventually, the Eurasian Federation produces newer, even more advance mobile suits of its own. And with the heavy losses the Atlantic Federation suffered in the last months of the war, the Eurasian Federation's influence in the Earth Alliance seemed poised to grow.After the first war they lost large amounts of territory to the Equatorial Union and ZAFT controlled African Community.

During the colony drop of Junius Seven, the Eurasian Federation suffered heavily, with severe damage to many historical cities including Rome, London and Athens. Rome and Athens were especially hard hit; the Basilica of St. Peter and the Acropolis were both destroyed by debris hits.

At the beginning of the subsequent second EA-PLANT war, many factions within the Eurasian Federation sought to withdraw from the Earth Alliance, which resulted in Atlantic Federation forces being deployed against the technologically superior but drastically outnumbered forces of Eurasia.

Republic of East Asia

A Federation consisting of the present-day nations of China, Japan and Korea (North and South) and the third largest power of the Earth Alliance. Its spaceport at Kaoshiung, Taiwan was captured by ZAFT forces during the Bloody Valentine War.

South African Union

Although a member of the Earth Alliance, the SAU is virtually powerless other than its possession of the Victoria massdriver. At the end of the first war the SAU controlls most of Africa.The SAU is a puppet of the Atlantic Federation.

OMNI

OMNI Enforcer (Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion) is the military force of the Earth Alliance. Unlike ZAFT, the military of OMNI Enforcer is tightly organized on a traditional model. Many members of OMNI Enforcer, mostly those from the Atlantic Federation (which dominates the Alliance after the disastrous Battle of JOSH-A) are also members of the Blue Cosmos anti-Coordinator group.

OMNI Enforcer's space fleet is large and well-equipped, though their warships are slightly outdated compared to ZAFT's powerful fleet. Their mobile weapons until the Battle of Porta Panama are primarily limited to the Moebius mobile armor, a distinctly outdated design. Five Moebius MAs are required, on average, to engage a single ZGMF-1017 GINN with any significant chance of victory. At and after Porta Panama, the Alliance quickly replaces the Moebius with the GAT-01 Strike Dagger and related mobile suit models, redressing the balance and turning the tide against ZAFT.

Known OMNI Enforcer space fleets are the 8th Fleet (decimated during the Battle of Orbit) and the 7th Fleet (decimated during the Second Battle of Jachin Due).

Blue Cosmos

"青き清浄なる世界のために(Aoki seijou naru sekai no tame ni!)" (for a blue and pure world!) – Motto of Blue Cosmos

Blue Cosmos is the most radical of the anti-Coordinator activist groups formed by resentful Naturals and is the ruling force behind the Earth Alliance. According to the Blue Cosmos ideology, genetic modification is a violation of the natural order, and all Coordinators must be exterminated "for the preservation of our blue and pure world."

Though the political opinions of the Earth Alliance senior leadership generally varied, the Atlantic Federation was primarily dominated by Blue Cosmos members, and after the elimination of most of the Eurasian military at the Battle of JOSH-A, Blue Cosmos controlled Alliance OMNI Enforcer by default. After this point, the Alliance's war effort changed from one of conquest to one of extermination, a change that a Patrick Zala-led ZAFT was only too happy to emulate.

Blue Cosmos was originally an environmental pressure group, but after George Glenn revealed his secret in CE 15, they changed their emphasis to terrorizing and killing Coordinators. Many of the top echelon of Blue Cosmos, including its leader Murata Azrael, were killed during the closing battles at Jachin Due.

Unfortunately, this did not affect Blue Cosmos in any meaningful way – Cagalli Yula Athha's visit to ZAFT at the start of Gundam Seed Destiny is due in large part to pressures on the Orb Union from the Atlantic Federation, which is still controlled by Blue Cosmos, under the control of its new leader, Lord Jibril. In addition, there is growing evidence that Blue Cosmos may be nothing more than a catspaw for a shadowy military-industrial organization known only as Logos.

PLANT

In the Cosmic Era, the present-day United Nations funded the idea of constructing new space colonies originally as manufacturing and research facilities. Known as PLANTs (Productive Location Ally on Nexus Technology) these hourglass shaped colonies were primarly manned by Coordinators. Over time, they became a haven and eventually the permanent home of the vast majority of the Coordinator population, fleeing persecution and when the war begin, they became an independent nation. The PLANTs are divided into 12 groups known as "cities," each one named for a month of the Roman Calendar (i.e. Aprilius, Junius).

The government of the PLANT cities is the PLANT Supreme Council which was originally formed to deal with the UN directorate of PLANT-sponsored nations, and their military is Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty or ZAFT for short. The PLANTs are described as one nation by some characters, but they are in fact several different nations (each PLANT city can be considered an independent nation) united in their common heritage and the need for protection. The word "PLANT" is actually sometimes used to referred to all the PLANTs as a whole (again as if they were a single nation), and the term ZAFT is also used to (incorrectly) describe the PLANTs.

There are currently around 119 PLANTs located at L5, following the Bloody Valentine War. One PLANT, Junius Seven, was destroyed early in the war by a nuclear attack. As of late Cosmic Era 73, there is at least one PLANT located at L4, Armory One, a ZAFT military base.

ZAFT

ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty) is a political, economic, and military alliance of PLANT colonies. Specifically, ZAFT usually refers to the military side of ZAFT. ZAFT was originally formed as the political alliance known as the Zodiac Alliance to peacefully fight for the rights and independence of Coordinators.

ZAFT is well-equipped with Nazca-class and Laurasia-class warships in space, Lesseps-class and Petrie-class vessels on land, and Vosgulov-class submarines at sea.

ZAFT fights the Earth Alliance to a standstill in the Bloody Valentine War of Cosmic Era 70–71. During the late weeks of the war, ZAFT's "moderate faction" of leaders is wiped out in a bloody purge by radical extremist military leader Patrick Zala, who blames all Naturals for the death of his wife in the Bloody Valentine Incident. Zala plans to wipe out all human life on Earth, eliminating, he believes, Naturals who are the cause of all warfare and establish Coordinators as the master race, a "new humanity".

ZAFT's military is organized as a militia rather than the Earth Alliance's OMNI Enforcer military force, using positional titles as ranks rather than more traditional ones. In addition, command is assigned based on personal connections as skill – it is made clear at several points that a large part of why Athrun Zala is given command of the Le Creuset team on Earth is because of his father's position.

A ZAFT soldier's position can be told by his or her color coded uniform:

Green: Common Soldier/MS pilot
Olive: Terrestrial soldier
Red: Elite soldier/MS pilot, these "elites" are presumably graduates with top marks from ZAFT's training academy.
Black: Junior Officer
White: Command-level Officer
Purple: General/Member of the PLANT Supreme Council/FAITH operative (with FAITH emblem)

Following the Junius Seven colony drop disaster, the Earth Alliance demands that ZAFT demilitarize and its government disperse; the obvious refusal results in the second war between ZAFT and Earth in four years.

ZAFT has consistently proven itself to be on the cutting edge of nuclear technology, producing the Neutron Jammer, the Neutron Jammer Canceller, and the Neutron Stampeder. In addition, they developed the Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, which allows a battleship to recharge its mobile suits' batteries without them having to return to the ship.

Earth nations controlled by ZAFT

Oceania Union

A nation composed primarily of Australia and New Zealand. The Oceania Union is allied with ZAFT, and one of ZAFT's two primary military bases on Earth, Carpentaria, is located there. At the end of the first war New Zealand became a part of the Atlantic Federation.

African Community

A loosely-affiliated group of nations and tribes, the African Community is one of only two nations on Earth openly allied with PLANT, though there are resistance movements, including Desert Dawn. Supposedly its territory includes Gibraltar, where the second ZAFT's main military base is located. At the end of the first war the African Comunity gained the Iberian Peninsula from Eurasia, but almost all of the territory ended under the rule of the South African Union.

Neutral entities

Orb Union

The Orb Union (also known as the United Emirates of Orb) is a small Pacific island nation which is neutral in the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Orb's government consists of both an elected legislature and an aristocracy of five noble families (most notably the Athha, Sahaku, and Seiran families), and has a mixed population of both Naturals and Coordinators. Though small, Orb is both wealthy and militarily powerful, and the local Morgenroete, Inc. is one of the world's top producers of advanced weaponry. Orb also has, unusually for its small size, a considerable presence in space, including the space colony Heliopolis, the space fortress Ame-no-Mihashira, and at least two powerful Izumo-class battleships. At the start of Bloody Valentine War, the chief representative of Orb's government was Uzumi Nara Athha, who declared the nation's neutrality in the conflict.

Unfortunately, the Earth Alliance did not respect that neutrality, and conquered Orb in CE 71, resulting in the death of Representative Athha. Orb's remaining forces, including the Izumo-class battleship Kusanagi and the defecting Earth Alliance assault ship Archangel, escaped to space under the command of his daughter Cagalli Yula Athha, and joined forces with the stolen ZAFT warship Eternal to form what would become known as the Tri Ships Alliance, and would play a critical role in the end of the war.

In the second Earth-PLANT war, the Seiran noble family manages to usurp the Parliament and violate Orb's neutrality with predictions of a repeat of the Atlantic Federation attack on the Union. However, some Orb soldiers remain loyal to the Athha family, including Captain Todaka of the 2nd Defense Fleet.

Kingdom of Scandinavia

The largest independent and neutral nation, Scandinavia composes the old Earth nations of Sweden, Norway and Finland (but not Denmark, which is traditionally considered a Scandinavian nation). The Kingdom of Scandinavia is the birth place of former PLANT president Siegel Clyne. At the beginning of the Second Bloody Valentine War the Archangel hides underwater at the coast of Scandinavia.

Equatorial Union

A union of weak Equatorial nations in South Asia, led by India and Viet Nam. The Equatorial Union is largely neutral because its military is not worth incorporating into the Earth Alliance, with no space forces and no mobile weapons. After the first war they had gained land from Eurasia and at the beginning of the second war they have joined OMNI probably to prevent a war with Eurasia.

Clyne Faction – Three Ships Alliance

The Clyne Faction started as a underground rebellion faction of ZAFT officials, spawned as a result of ZAFT's extremist genocidal politics towards the Naturals. The Clyne Faction was commanded by Lacus Clyne, daughter of Siegel Clyne, leader of the moderate faction in the PLANT Council. Another prominent figure was Andrew Waltfeld, a pluridecorated ZAFT commander.

Their first major actions were the theft of the ZGMF-X10A Freedom unit (given to Kira Yamato) and soon after the hijacking of the newest ZAFT battleship, the support ship Eternal, assigned by ZAFT to Andrew Waltfield. Shortly thereafter they were joined by the remaining space forces of Orb, in the Izumo-class battleship Kusanagi, and the defected Earth Alliance assault ship Archangel. Both the newest ZAFT mobile suit units, Freedom and ZGMF-X09A Justice, had already joined the Archangel but were soon transferred to the Eternal, which was equipped with the METEOR System, specifically built for those two units.

The new battle force, known as the Three Ships Alliance, secretly headquartered on the abandoned Mendel colony. Their purpose was to put an end to the war before it got out of hand, as both the Earth Alliance (Now under the Control of Blue Cosmos) and ZAFT (Under the command of Patrick Zala and the radical extremists) were willing to commit genocide to the other group.

This small fleet succeeded in saving the PLANTs from the nuclear missiles fired by the Blue Cosmos-dominated Alliance fleet, and Earth from the ZAFT's superweapon GENESIS. The real winner of the Bloody Valentine War was thus the Three Ships Alliance, which not only managed to counteract the threats on the civilian population, but actively disabled both warring factions and put and end to the war, in November, Cosmic Era 71.

After the war, the Clyne Faction went again underground, their ships were hidden. Most of the crew moved to Orb, under pseudonyms.

see also 三隻同盟|三隻同盟|三隻同盟

Non-governmental organizations

Junk Guild

The Junk Guild is an NGO devoted to the upkeep, maintenance, and salvage of the technology forming the infrastructure of Cosmic Era society. Thanks to the work of Reverend Malchio, the Junk Guild has non-aggression treaties with all three major factions (Earth Alliance, ZAFT, and Orb) – any person or vessel that bears the emblem of the Junk Guild cannot be denied entry to any treaty signatory, as long as they obey the laws within. The Junk Guild is rather decentralized – while there is an overseeing body that governs the Guild as a whole, most of the work is done by small teams of technicians who act independantly.

Most Junk Guild teams spend their days either going through battlefields salvaging usable equipment or working under contract. Contracts can vary from salvage operations to repair to recovery of equipment. Large contracts may necessitate multiple Guild teams – it is not uncommon to see a large contingent of Guild techs working on major projects, such as the Giga-Float mobile mass driver. The Guild espouses non-violence – Guild techs will only fight to defend themselves, and even then will refrain from killing unless there is no other option.

Unlike the nations of the world, who prefer to standardize their equipment, Junk Guild equipment is an eclectic mix of whatever they can afford/repair/salvage. It is not uncommon to see a Guild team using an assortment of repair pods and salvaged ZAFT mobile suits for work in space. Teams tend to stick with lightly armored and armed vessels as bases of operation in space, as they place a premium on cargo space as opposed to combat ability. On Earth, retrofitted military transports are often used – the Lesseps-class transport is popular with the Guild, thanks to its large cargo bay and ease of retrofitting for repair duties – the turrets on the top deck can easily be replaced with manipulator arms.

The Guild acquires new recruits from all walks of life, Natural and Coordinator alike. New recruits undergo basic training and indoctrination, then are sent to a team for on the job training. After a probationary period, the Guild then accepts the recruit as a Guild tech, and they are assigned to a team.

see also: ブルーコスモス

Morgenroete

Morgenroete, Incorporated (its name is German for "dawn") is a military contractor based in the Orb Union, with facilities in both the Orb Union proper and at the Orb-owned space colony of Heliopolis. Though part of the neutral nation of Orb, Morgenroete, Inc. has been secretly collaborating with the Earth Alliance's, Atlantic Federation, in its work on its new prototype mobile weapons called Gundams. Though during construction, Morgenroete did get special information, but it cost Orb its space colony of Heliopolis, when a ZAFT commando team entered and escaped with four of five Gundams.

Beam weapons, second-generation Mobile Operating Systems, the Lohengrin positron blaster gun (later adapted by ZAFT as the Tannhäuser installed in the bow of the experimental assault ship Minerva), Phase Shift armor and the Mirage Colloid cloaking device were all developed at Morgenroete either entirely or in part during the war or immediately after, partly under the aegis of chief designer Erica Simmons. More esoteric technologies were also developed at Morgenroete under the aegis of the Sahaku twins, including energy-draining weaponry.

see also:

• 地球連合軍
• 三隻同盟
• ブルーコスモス
• 地球連合軍