The Hegemony was a global government formed immediately following the conclusion of the First Formic War.[1]
History
Creation
After the end of the First Formic War, the nations of the world came together to establish multiple governments, militaries, and leadership positions to defend Earth from future attacks from the Formics. Along with the creation of the International Fleet and the offices of Polemarch and Strategos, the Hegemony was formed to govern every country on Earth. Ukko Jukes was chosen to be the first Hegemon, as he was a citizen of Luna and had no ties to any Earth nations.[1]
The Swarm
Shortly following the end of the war, Jukes and the rest of the Hegemony conducted extensive research into discovering how the Formics communicated instantaneously over vast distances. Six months after the war, they invented a primitive form of the Ansible, which could send out instantaneous communications, but at a low bandwidth. Over time, they refined the Ansible, making it smaller, faster, and more stable. To distribute the devices with the other heads of the Fleet, they built Zipships that moved incredibly fast.[2]
Because it was considered essential that all human activities be centered on the war against the Formics, the Hegemony Council instituted strict population laws, allowing parents to only have two children or face exorbitant fees. A child born to a family with two children was called a Third. Failure to comply with the law resulted in fines or loss of property. However, some nations resisted, mainly in countries with large Catholic or Muslim populations.[2]
The Hegemony and the International Fleet also instituted the use of Common, a language based on American English with minor changes that would serve as the basic language shared between all members of the Fleet.[2]
Three years later, Ukko was seen to have aged greatly from the stress of his position as Hegemon. In a vid, he announced that one of the eight Parallax Telescopes, Copernicus, was destroyed by a Formic fighter ahead of the main alien fleet. To assure the human race of the Fleet's strength, he informed them and showed a video of two International Fleet fighters tracking down and destroying the lone alien ship.[2]
Post-Third Invasion
Immediately following the annihilation of the Formics by Ender Wiggin, the Polemarch and several other rebels attempted to take control of the Hegemony and the International Fleet, initiated by the Second Warsaw Pact. After several days of fighting, the League War ended with the Locke Proposal. However, the Hegemony began rapidly losing power and money, and the then-current Hegemon resigned soon afterwards.[3]
Peter Wiggin, the architect of the Locke Proposal, was elected to become the Hegemon as a sort of joke, but he quickly began to strengthen the title with the help of Bean and several other Battle School graduates.[4]
After he vanquished Achilles de Flandres, Peter reformed the Hegemony into the Free People of Earth. At first, only weak and small countries joined, but soon enough the entire world (excluding the United States of America) became a part of the FPE. Peter made it a democratic system and sponsored the Dispersal Project. Peter made sure that he would be the last Hegemon, with the title being abolished after his death.[5][6]
Known Hegemons
- Ukko Jukes (First Hegemon)
- Unnamed Hegemon during Ender's Game
- Peter Wiggin (Last Hegemon)