Under the Yoke

by S. M. Stirling

  Diskarapur [Newcastle, South Africa]: founded 1798. 1990 pop. 3,500,

  First, and for 100 years largest, heavy-industrial center. Located on inland plateau near headwaters of Tugela river. Iron and steel (1990 output in excess of 6,000,000 tons yearly); castings and forgings; locomotives; machine tools; general engineering, esp. heavy, mining machinery, large mine ventilation systems, power systems, nuclear reactors. Ordnance factories; tank assembly plants; turbocompound engines; autosteamers, esp. military-logistics vehicles. Basic chemicals. Headquarters of Ferrous Metals Combine, Trevithick Autosteam Combine. Metallurgical Research Institute

  Covers central plateau between eastern mountains and Kalahari desert on the west, Orange river on the south, Limpopo on the north.

  The discovery of diamonds and gold in the 1780's forced early settlement. The landscape south of the Whiteridge [Johannesburg area, South Africa] is essentially a flat plain sloping to the west; the eastern third is subhumid, shading off into semiarid and then the arid, sandy bunchgrass savannah of the Kalahari and the absolute desert of the Namib on the Atlantic coast.

  Large-scale mixed farming in the east, shading off into sheep/cattle/antelope ranching on the west and south. Local irrigation where possible, with arable areas fattening stock shipped in from drier ranching territory. The areas north of Archona [Pretoria, South Africa] are rougher and usually drier, and warmer due to lower altitudes; fairly extensive irrigated areas supply the cities with fresh produce. There are numerous local specialties, eg. tea in the wet foothills of the Northern Malutis, or cherries, apples and peaches in the mountain valleys of the southeast [Lesotho]. Despite intensive production, this is a food-deficit area due to the unusually large urban/industrial population.

  Principal products: maize, wheat, potatoes, oilseeds (esp. sunflowers), sorghum, fodder crops, livestock (sheep, cattle, antelope), fruit (citrus, other tropical, temperate-zone), market gardening.

  Minerals: Besides precious metals and diamonds (both gem and industrial), the area proved to be a treasure-house of industrial raw materials; coal in the thousands of millions of tons; iron in unlimited quantities, copper, zinc, platinum, manganese, rutile, titanium, chrome, uranium, and others too numerous to mention.

  Domination

  Demobilization of the Citizen Force from its wartime peak of 4,200,000 began immediately before the end of formal hostilities in 1946. By 1948, Citizen Force strength was down to about 1,150,000, normal peacetime level with a free population of 40,000,000. The Janissaries were kept at their war strength of 6,500,000 on an indefinite basis.

  The Supreme General Staff defined the postwar military tasks of the Draka armed forces as follows:

  1. Pacification of the conquered territories and internal security.

  2. Deterrence of an Alliance attack.

  3. Preparation for the final war with the Alliance.

  Pacification required a drastic switch in the "mix" of the ground forces. The armor-heavy mechanized Legions which had fought the open-country battles of the Eurasian war were as unsuited to guerrilla warfare as a sledgehammer would be for swatting mosquitos.

  The Janissaries were, as had been the case after the Great War of 1914-1919, tasked with the primary responsibility for garrison and routine patrol/counterinsurgency work. For these purposes the motorized-rifle format was retained by most units, with an increase of the infantry component and some modification of equipment; eg. a shift from gun-howitzer to more mobile rocket and mortar support weapons. Chemical weapons— mostly nerve gases—were given increased emphasis, as insurgents rarely had the capacity to retaliate in kind or use counter-measures. A number of Legions were converted to specialist mounted infantry, mountain or other configurations.

  The standing units of the Citizen Force were also partially restructured. A core of armored formations was maintained; many others were converted to airmobile configurations. The perfection of transport helicopters (1940s) and tiltrotor VTOL transports (1950s) was given high priority, and they were used to form integrated "air-shock" legions. These were all-arms formations oriented to the speed and mobility of air transport, as the armored legions had been to the protection and cross-country capacity of the tank; they included organic helicopter-gunship and ground-attack aircraft units.

  Areas of high-intensity counter-insurgency operations were under War Directorate control, although Security Directorate liaison and specialist units would also be present, particularly for intelligence, infiltration and interrogation work. Measures were based on intensive patrolling, reconcentration of civilian populations for easier control, relentless pursuit of organized guerrilla units and in really difficult areas (e.g., Finland) creation of "death zones" by mass deportation and sterilization of the evacuated areas. Sterilization involved the destruction of all structures, removal of all food sources and roundup and slaughter of any groups or individuals who resisted relocation. Quieter areas, and those slated for immediate settlement, were under joint War and Security Directorate authority, tending towards the latter as conditions improved, pending inclusion in the Police Zone, the area of civil government. Security Directorate forces included:

  Intervention Squads: cohort (battalion) sized rapid-deployment forces [Roughly analogous to our timeline's SAS]. Used for brushfire operations, suppression of terrorism and Alliance infiltration, etc. No fixed configuration; some are tasked for urban counterterrorist work, others for border-patrol, etc. All armed personnel are Citizen volunteers; serf auxiliaries for routine clerical, support functions. Total (Citizen) strength, c. 35,000.

  Order Police: a militarized police force or gendarmerie, organized in units of up to Hierarchy (regimental) size. Serf personnel under Citizen officers and senior NCO's, recruited on the same basis as the Janissaries, equipped mainly as light infantry but including some heavy-weapons units for emergencies. Used for perimeter guard, patrol and general policing duties; units can be detached as labor-camp guards, for dealing with Compound unrest and so forth. Total strength c. 1,250,000.

  Regular Police: the police proper; again, mostly serfs under Citizen direction, although there are some all-Citizen units—only a Citizen may arrest another Citizen. Armed with light weapons and organized regionally; has authority over private security forces such as Combine compound-guards, etc. Includes detective components, central record-keeping operations etc. and carries out a number of functions (for example, neck-tattooing and registering serfs). The Regulars handle ordinary maintenance of law and order and "civilian" crime.

  Compound and Camp Guards: Much of the industrial work force of the Domination is "compounded," permanently enclosed in compounds, walled residential enclosures. These are usually owned by the industrial combines, or by government administrative directorates (eg. Transportation or Land Settlement). Organizations which maintain compounds have their own internal police forces, usually not armed except for their Citizen directors; however, the Security Directorate provides training and performs a general supervisory function. (Ex-members of the Order Police are commonly "rented" as cadre for these organizations.) Policing measures can range from the quite formal (in the larger mining or factory compounds, which may have up to 10,000 inhabitants) to the makeshift (e.g., in a 20-man forestry "compound" in the Ituri).

  Punitive deportation to labor-camps is a common measure in the Domination; prisoners of war, political suspects, hardened criminals, people found to be inconvenient, and anyone not quite troublesome enough to kill outright. Private owners may sell troublemaking serfs to the camps, or ordinary laborers may be levied/bought for special projects and housed in mobile camps— this is the common pattern for large-scale road/railway/irrigation works. Punitive camps are generally in remote areas, and the laborers are either worked under direct Security Directorate control or rented on a per-head basis to the relevant civilian organization, being delivered and picked up daily. Internal security in the camps is provided by "trustees," auxiliaries usually recruited from the criminal-prisoner elements and armed with trun
cheons and whips. Order Police units, or individuals on detached service, provide cadre and supervision, and guard perimeters. (Most camps are surrounded by razor wire and guard towers with automatic weapons.)

  Krypteria: the secret police proper, and the "senior service" within the Security Directorate, entitled to commandeer and direct units from any other Security organization. Different divisions of the Krypteria are tasked with foreign and domestic intelligence (in cooperation with the War Directorate), covert operations abroad, countersubversion and counterespionage. Employs both Citizen and serf personnel, the latter especially as infiltrators, informers etc. The Krypteria has absolute powers of arrest, torture and execution over all serfs not in Janissary uniform, and broad powers of arrest over Citizens as well (although arbitrary treatment of Citizens can result in political repercussions; however, evidence of genuine political disaffection—e.g., dissent over the serf issue—repeals all protection). Enforces censorship and handles disinformation campaigns. Agents of the Krypteria may be found anywhere; the diplomatic service is a Security Directorate "cover" and under Krypteria control.

  Note: There is very little in the way of special "riot control" equipment or training. Any overt resistance is treated as rebellion, for which there is only one punishment—death. Truncheons, electroprods and whips are only used to enforce obedience and for minor punishment; rioting would be suppressed by indiscriminate use of automatic and heavy weapons. A "succesful" revolt in a compound, mine or factory would usually be dealt with simply by gassing or napalming the area in question, and impaling any survivors. The ultimate example of this attitude was the city of Barcelona, where a revolt succeeded in temporarily overrunning the police HQ. All Citizens within reach were evacuated and the city destroyed with a nuclear weapon.

  Land Tenure and Plantation Life…

  There are essentially four types of land in the Domination:

  1. Urban

  Urban land tenure is closest to what Western civilization understands by private property, although Municipal governments own extensive areas and have strong zoning authority.

  2. State Reserve Land

  National parks, State forests, wildlife reserves. About 15 percent of the Domination's territory before the Eurasian War, rather more thereafter. The whole complex is managed by the Conservancy Directorate, which also oversees forestry—forest land is leased out to "private" firms on a sustained-yield management basis. Most desert and mountain areas are State Reserve; agriculturally marginal areas in the territories conquered in 1941—46 are generally turned over to this category.

  A sub-category is land used for State installations— schools, military bases, firing ranges, research installations —which is leased and administered by the institution in question.

  3. Settlement Reserve Land

  Land suitable for plantation or urban development but not yet so distributed. Granted (in newly conquered areas) or auctioned (if physically reclaimed, e.g. through irrigation or drainage). Until then usually run by the Agriculture and Land Settlement Directorate.

  4. Rural/Agricultural Land

  a. The countryside in productive use is split into what are formally known as "plantation landholdings." These are technically leased from the State rather than owned; they may be sold (although there is a heavy sales tax when this is outside the family of the landholder) but are subject to certain restrictions on use: a. The landholder must be resident at least 3/4 of the year, unless on State service (e.g., in the armed forces). Persistent violation will result in the property being adjudged "abandoned" and it will be released or put up for compulsory sale, usually to another member of the family.

  b. The land must be properly managed; this implies first careful prevention of soil erosion, salination etc. Second, it must be managed as a single productive unit and the serfs kept "in order"; mostly confined to a single Quarters village and not allowed to wander abroad, etc. Penalties for violation as above.

  c. A certain ratio of free to serf inhabitants must be maintained, and a plantation (except in emergency situations) can never be left without a free adult to oversee it; wages and working conditions of overseers are also State-mandated, and this is enforced by the Overseers Guild (informally known as the Brotherhood of the Lash). The effective maximum number of serfs per plantation is around 1,000; the average is between 600-1,000.

  d. No individual may lease more than one plantation landholding; attempting to do so is a serious offense. Subdivision is forbidden except with government authorization; this is allowed in cases where changes in land usage (e.g., irrigation or conversion from pasture to arable) make the original units unwieldy.

  Plantation Life—general.

  Plantation size varies considerably with geography, soils, climate, predominant crop etc. The general rule is to adjust size to allow for full employment of a labor force of average numbers; thus a ranching operation in the sub-Saharan zone or Mongolia might be hundreds of thousands of acres, while an irrigated plantation in the Nile delta growing fruit and vegetables might be as little as 1,000-2,000 acres.

  Whatever the product, the estate is run as a single large farm controlled from the manor or "Great House." The central settlement is divided into three parts:

  i. The Great House proper, containing the living quarters of the landholding family and free staff (overseers, etc.), administrative serfs (bookkeepers, etc.), the domestic servants, the armory, kitchens, laundry, House stables and garages, and so forth. Two- to three-story buildings around a series of courtyards are the most common, with adjustments for climate. Any well established plantation will include park-grounds (up to 20-30 acres), kitchen gardens, a bath-wing (on the Roman model but with embellishments), libraries, sports facilities, a salle d'armes, etc. Domestic staffs are usually between 30 and 70.

  ü. The Quarters, or serf village. Individual family cottages are grouped around a central green; piped water, sewage (linked to methane-generation systems), electricity and gas (methane-generated) have become increasingly common. Around the common will be the communal facilities: a bathhouse (daily bathing is usually compulsory), bakehouse (for breads and roasts), laundry, infirmary and lying-in clinic (with a trained nurse's aide and midwife), storehouse, and possibly a small church, mosque, or temple depending on the region.

  Normal cottages are (with variations) four-room with attics; building materials vary widely, and are usually locally-produced. The headman, priest, gang-foremen and skilled serfs (blacksmiths, mechanics, livestock specialists, vintners etc.) may have larger houses; unmarried wenches and bucks past 18 are often separately housed.

  Small kitchen gardens, and sometimes chicken-coops and rabbit-hutches are attached to the cottages. Cats are common, but only privileged serfs are allowed to keep dogs.

  The grange, or working areas. This would include barns, storehouses, machine and blacksmith's shops, possibly a methane or hydro power system, the sewing-shop where plantation clothing is made, equipment stores, holding pens for live-stock and any other necessary establishments. Very large plantations (ranches, for example) may have outlying granges, and groups of serfs may be assigned for periods of up to several weeks; however, permanent residence away from the Quarters is very rare.

  Primary processing, such as crushing grapes or olives, drying coffee, shearing and sorting wool, crushing sugar, etc. is carried on in the grange; there are also facilities for bulk storage. Final processing—grain milling, cotton ginning and baling, meat-packing—is usually carried on by the Landholder's League at central points; the raw or semi-processed products are picked up by League steamtrucks, and graded, and the Landholder's account credited.

  Labor Management

  Workers (hands) are graded as full (healthy adult) or partial, in increments of 1/4. Worknorms are set by time-and-motion study methods, sometimes by professional consultants furnished by the Landholder's League. Dossiers are kept on each individual serf (this is required by law) with a full medical and disciplinary history, ready for quick refer
ence.

  Routine work is "tasked," usually by the week, to serf-gangs or combinations of gangs. Each gang (usually 10-20 hands, for field workers) has a driver or bossboy, appointed by the overseers, who is responsible for output and immediate discipline. Section bosses may be appointed to superintend larger operations; a pen-boss for the sheep pens, for example, a winery-boss for the grape-pressing sheds, a herd-boss for a group of animals; they would have a permanent staff and gangs of unskilled labor assigned as needed. Output for a particular task may be set individually or by gang—a certain area hoed clear of weeds, for example, would be done by gang, while picking cotton or fruit would be individually graded against the preset norm.

  Skilled serfs, such as smiths or carpenters, are usually employed in or at least based out of the grange and work alone or in small groups; training is by apprenticeship.

  Permanent gangs exist, sometimes with specialized functions. For example: building gangs, fence-repair gangs, stock gangs etc., although for harvests or emergencies everyone is mobilized.

  Hours of labor are seasonal. The usual procedure is for a bell to be rung at dawn; hands have an hour to eat, dress and assemble in their gangs for the day's work; fieldworkers either walk or are trucked to their tasks. An hour is provided for the midday meal; those working about the settlement eat in their homes, while lunch is carried to those in the fields. At harvest or in emergencies the evening meal may also be eaten in the fields and work continue into the night; usually the day ends after about 10 hours of labor, the hands return to the Quarters, bathe, eat the evening meal and have until about 11:00 for private activity. At "lights out" all serfs must be in their cottages, and no movement outside is permitted except in urgent situations (e.g., sickness fire, a woman going into labor). Most plantations grant Sundays and half Saturday off, with other holidays at customary intervals—after harvest, Christmas, and on occasions such as a marriage or birth in the Great House.