Fiction:March of Stekeveelia

The March of Stekeveelia is a medieval-style "march", or, militarized autonomous zone, located in the Quadrant 82. It is composed of the former territories of the Heer Stevekel Confederacy and is ruled by the Jivirik dynasty directly, as opposed to a being a Drodo territory. It is currently being ruled by Margrave Kirvan Jivirik, the young son of current Drodo premier and Archduke Fiihar Jivirik III.

History
The March was formed immediately after the Heer Stevekel Confederacy agreed to its unconditional surrender in late 2803, which brought the Second Heer Stevekel War to a close. Fiihar, seeing that such a territory would almost double the size of the Quadrant colonies and be a nightmare to administer, instead created the March of Stekeveelia, and put his 18-year old son in charge, who he thought would make an excellent puppet.

However, it would seem that the young Kirvan was in fact a brilliant administrator, and a devout liberal, two very undesirable traits as far as puppets for a conservative government go. After researching the colonial histories of other civilizations, especially the Terran "Scramble for Africa", he began to see the flaws in such brutal measures and instead went the other way; Going against his traditionalist father's wishes, he carefully had the provinces divided along ethnic and family lines, and allowed the provinces to mostly-self govern. He also put in place laws that respected local customs. This was a risky experiment, but it did, at least, placate the populace in the short term. Had it not been for his son's brilliance, good policies, and good rhetoric being the only things that kept the March together, Fiihar would've had him removed.

Government
The government is basically absolute aristocratic rule, with the Margrave at the top. The Margrave's children (preferably sons) would take over after his abdication or passing, or alternatively a new Margrave can be appointed.

The government relies heavily on the local, Heer Stevekel aristocracy. Already well-established (even with Drodo settlers coming in), they form the backbone of the administration and it requires a strong personality within the Margrave to navigate the minefield of loyalties and intrigue inherent of any monarchy, let alone one where you are a foreigner.

Military
The military of the March is a mixed one. Relying heavily on local levies of native Heer Stevekel troops, with a strong core of professional troops closely based off of the Colonial Model serving as federal troops. While rather unreliable, this sort of system means the March can amass a large army almost instantly, and can amass more and more armies of levies quickly as well.