The Federation is a government entity in the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.
History
Prelude
The race of Man was the only race that wasn't affected by the devastation that had been brought about by the Great Wars. This was because they resided in what would become known as the Southland, which somehow was sheltered from the mass destruction. Once it was safe to venture outside of the Southland, men discovered that there were new races of beings: Dwarves, Trolls and Gnomes. These were all descendants of men who had been affected by the Great War's devastation. Also, the Elves of the time of Fairie also reemerged, though many at the time thought they were also a race of mutated men. The races fought many battles with each other until they were stopped by the founding of the Druids. The Druid Council wanted to help the races live together in peace, and for a while managed to do so.
However, a group of renegade Druids eventually broke away from the Druid Council so they could use magic to subjugate all the races. Led by Brona, they went south and started a civil war among the race of Man. Brona's followers eventually gained control of the entire race, and formed an army that was unleashed on the other races. The combined power of the Druid Council and the other races eventually crushed the rebellion, and the remnants of the race of Man fled back South. The Druid Council then decided to partition the known world into four parts, each meant to be the home a single race. The south became known as the Southland, and became the home of the race of Man.
After the war, the race of Man divided into many different city-states and kingdom. The race of Man also entered an isolationist period, and didn't become involved in the affairs of the other races. The isolation was somewhat allowed by the Border kingdom of Callahorn, which shielded the rest of the Southland from the other lands. The race of Man was so cut off from the other races that most people in the Southland didn't even know about the Second War of the Races until it was long over.
Founding
The Southland's division and isolation would come to an end in the aftermath of the Third War of the Races. After the war, its stories eventually made its way to the Southland. The cities of the deep Southland, upon hearing about the war, realized just how close they had come to being conquered by the Warlock Lord. Acting in a haste born out of fear, they formed an alliance that quickly grew into a unified government: the Federation.
The Federation decided that, for the betterment of man-kind, the race of Man needed to be brought under a single government, which would be the Federation. Therefore, it sent out offers to join it to the cities and kingdoms of the Southland. Many accepted the offer, but there were some who didn't. One of these was Callahorn: Callahorn had long believed that the rest of the Southland would come to its aid if a serious threat ever came, but the Third War of the Races had ended that line of thinking. Therefore, Callahorn no longer saw itself as part of the Southland. The decision to turn down the Federation's offer of unification resulted in much tension between the two governments.
The Federation was interested in nothing but its own agenda, and cared nothing for the other races or their problems. When the Elves called for aid in the War of the Forbidding, the Federation refused unless the Demons attacked Federation territory. The Federation also had no role in the war against the Mord Wraiths.
Gaining Power
Over the years, the Federation expanded its territory to all of the Southland. The remaining kingdoms that had refused to join were either conquered or bullied into submission. With the rest of the Southland secured, the Federation once again turned its attention to Callahorn. The Federation invaded the Borderlands, frightening Callahorn's government into becoming a protectorate.
Around this time, rumors of magical fiends known as the Shadowen started to emerge. The people of the Federation came to fear these fiends, and the Federation outlawed magic as a result. To enforce this, the Federation created a group of secret police known as the Seekers, led by Rimmer Dall. Unknown to the Federation, the Seekers were in fact the Shadowen themselves, who were manipulating the Federation to serve their own means.
The Federation eventually mounted an expedition to the Westland, under the guise that the Elves had created the magic that the Shadowen used and needed to be subdued. However, they found the Westland deserted except for the Rovers. With no one to challenge their authority, the Federation claimed the Westland as a protectorate. The Federation then turned its attention to the Eastland and the Dwarves. Saying that the Dwarves had aided Callahorn in resisting it for years, the Federation mounted an invasion. Although the Dwarf cities fell relatively easy, the Dwarf army waged a guerilla war against the Federation army. After five years, the Seekers developed a dangerous weapon: Creepers. The Creepers made short work of the Dwarf army. The Gnomes, who had watched the Federation conquer the Dwarves, surrendered their lands without a fight. With no more threats in the Eastland, the Federation claimed it as a protectorate. The Federation was also thinking of conquering the Trolls of the Northland, but the Dwarf campaign made them realize that the Trolls would be too difficult to conquer. Therefore, the Federation agreed to leave the Trolls alone if they left them alone, something the Trolls agreed to do.
With the majority of the Four Lands under its control, the Federation built a fortress to celebrate its success. This fortress was called Southwatch, and it became the Seekers' headquarters. The Federation's rule saw many hardships in its conquered territories: Callahorn's people were treated as second-class citizens, the Federation used the Dwarves as slaves in a genocidal labor campaign, and even the land itself sickened due to the Shadowen's magic.
But despite the Federation's power, there were still those who resisted its control. There were resistance movements among the Dwarves and Gnomes. There were also several resistance movements found in Callahorn, and one was led by a man named Padishar Creel. After losing most of his family in a fire started by Seekers, Padishar became determined to see the Federation driven from Callahorn. He united the groups and formed a single resistance movement known as the Free-born. Eventually, the Federation saw the Free-born as a real threat and made it a top priority to defeat it.
The Shadowen War
During the Federation's campaign to destroy the Free-born, several members of a brave family]] were summoned by the shade of the Druid Allanon. Allanon told them of the Shadowen, and gave them tasks that would defeat them: Par Ohmsford was charged with retrieving the lost Sword of Shannara, Wren Ohmsford was charged with returning the Elves to the Four Lands, and Walker Boh was charged with reviving the Druids. Although some were more determined to succeed that others, the Ohmsfords all set out to fulfill their tasks.
During this time, the Federation gained knowledge of the Free-born's main base due to a Shadowen who had been planted among their ranks, and sent an army there to eradicate the resistance. A siege ensued, which saw the fall of the Free-born base, but the movement had managed to escape through a secret passage. The Federation also managed to capture Padishar on multiple occasions, but he escaped each time.
Some time later, the Federation became aware that their claim to the Westland was being challenged: Wren had found the Elves, become their queen, and returned them to the four Lands. The Federation responded by rallying its army to destroy them. After several skirmishes, the Elves and Federation met on the Valley of Rhen. During the battle, reinforcements for the Elves arrived in the form of the Free-born and an army of Northland Trolls who had allied with Padishar. The Federation was defeated and forced to retreat, but met up with reinforcements and prepared to attack again.
But while the battle with the Elves was going on, another battle was taking place at Southwatch. The other Ohmsfords had succeeded in their tasks and met to finish the Shadowen. Led by Walker, the Ohmsfords and their allies fought their way into the fortress and confronted Rimmer Dall. During the confrontation, Par released all the magic the Shadowen had drained from the land, which destroyed the Shadowen and all their creations. This resulted in a significant loss of power to the Federation army, which was forced to flee from the Valley of Rhen.
The Federation's defeat in the Westland marked the beginning of the end of its rule of the Four Lands. The Dwarf resistance managed to drive the Federation out of the Eastland and Padishar Creel and the Free-born managed to liberate Callahorn. Eventually, the Federation realized that it couldn't win, and gave up the idea of expansion. It retreated to the Southland, leaving everything from the small kingdom of Leah northward free once again.
The Federation-Free-Born War
For 130 years, there was peace in the Four Lands. However, there were still some in the Federation government who didn't give up the idea of expansion. There was also those who said Callahorn needed to be reclaimed as a protectorate. The Federation made another attempt to take control of Callahorn, and when the Free-born refused, the Federation declared war. The Dwarves and Elves, remembering the Federation's cruelty, joined the Free-born to keep history from repeating itself. The war saw the rise of Sen Dunsidan, a Federation government official who eventually became Prime Minister. Dunsidan was determined to see Federation domination of the Four Lands.
For many years, the war was a stalemate. Even the advent of airships did little to tip the balance. Eventually, two things happened that appeared to tip the balance in the Federation's favor. First, leadership of the new Druid Order had been usurped and the new leader promised Druid support to the Federation. Second, a Federation engineer developed a new weapon: a laser-like blaster known as the Fire Launcher. This was used to destroy the Elven air-fleet after the Elven monarch made a foolish decision to attack without listening to reason or crucial military information. The destruction of the airfleet was followed up with the Federation army breaking through the Free-Born lines. For a moment, it looked like the Federation would win.
However, this success was incredibly short lived. Pied Sanderling, the Captain of the Elven Home Guard, had been relieved of his position because he publically challenged the Elven's monarch's decision to attack. However, upon hearing of the Fire Launcher, he took a small airship and went after the king. While he was too late to save his ungrateful cousin, his tiny ship managed to damage the Federation's capital ship, forcing it to land. Pied landed as well, and managed to rally the retreating Elven army and counter-attacked, defeating the Federation pursuers. Pied later led the Elven army through the heights and managed to break through to reunite with the Free-born and Dwarven armies.
Pied later led a surprise attack on the airfield the prototype Fire Launcher was destroyed. Dunsidan ordered the creation of another one, but he was soon taken over by an unknown enemy: when the leader of the rebel druids sent Grianne Ohmsford into the Forbidding, she unknowingly played into the hands of a demon known as Tael Riverine. The straken, while seeking Grianne as a mate, had managed to place one of its own kind in the four lands when Grianne was sent into the forbidding: a shape-shifter known as the Moric. The moric possessed one of the rebel druids, traveled to the Southland, and became Dunsidan's advisor. After the airfleet was destroyed, the moric tried to convince Dunsidan to use the fire launcher to attack Arborlon. If Dunsidan did this, the Ellcrys which kept the forbidding in place would be destroyed and Riverine's kind would be able to escape. However, Dunsidan was determined to win on the front lines. Eventually, the moric became frustrated with Dunsidan and took over his body, destroyed the lab where the fire launcher's plans and equipment were kept, and ordered for the airship carrying the new fire launcher to head for Arborlon.
However, Grianne Ohmsford managed to return to the Four Lands, retake control of her order, and send the Moric back into the Forbidding. Around this time, the Federation army was dealt a crushing defeat by the Free-born: thanks to Pied Sanderling, the allies managed to combine their armies and overrun the Federation lines. With their army defeated, the Federation government surrendered. The treaty that followed was negotiated by Grianne Ohmsford, and saw harsh restrictions put on the Federation, but it finally ended the war.