Anti-Traction League

In Philip Reeve's "Mortal Engines Quartet", the Anti-Traction League is an organization opposed to the prevalence of Traction Cities and Municipal Darwinism. Its symbol is that of a broken wheel.

Geography

The League controls most of Central Asia and Eastern Asia, including northern India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and the Himalayas. These lands are protected from the Traction Cities of Europe by a massive mountain range, which includes the Himalayas. The only pass through these mountains is protected by the "Shield Wall", a massive fortress of steel several kilometres high, protected by missile batteries and a fleet of military airships. The interior of the Shield Wall houses the garrison city of Batmunkh Gompa; the two names are often used interchangeably.

The League is made up of many nations and kingdoms, whose people live in towns that do not have a motor, ranging from tiny villages and farms to massive cities. The principal nation is Shan Guo (山国, lit. 'mountain nation' in Mandarin), located in Central Asia. It was founded by Chinese refugees of the Sixty Minute War. Shan Guo also houses Tienjing, the League's capital. Tienjing is the location of the Jade Pagoda, where the ruling High Council resides.

History

The League was founded by a man named Lama Batmunkh in the aftermath of the Black Centuries which followed the Sixty Minute War. As Traction Cities became increasingly common and began to consume static settlements for fuel, Batmunkh realised that the static settlements scattered across Asia would not survive long unless they united. This resulted in the formation of the League. For most of the Traction Era, the League continually held the upper hand against the Traction cities, preventing their spread into Asia.

In "Mortal Engines", Thaddeus Valentine (an agent from the Traction City of London) destroys the League's Northern Air-Fleet in Batmunkh Gompa and kills Anna Fang, a hero of the League, in preparation for London's planned breach of the Shield Wall. Fortunately for the Anti-Traction League, London was then destroyed during when an attempt to use a superweapon called MEDUSA (a remnant of the Sixty Minute War) to destroy the Shield Wall backfired, as the weapon overloaded and destroyed London.

The rise of the Green Storm

Although the Shield Wall remained intact, the Anti Tractionists suffered heavy losses over the following years for other reasons - including the destruction of the "Spitzbergen Static", an enormous static metropolis in the Arctic by the Traction City Arkangel. As a result, a fanatical splinter group was formed: the Green Storm. It was created by young members of the League who were angry at the League failures which led to the death of Anna Fang and the destruction of the Northern Air-Fleet.

Unlike the League however, the Green Storm was prepared to use more radical means to end Municipal Darwinism (such as terrorism) and constructed Stalkers and combat airships so that it could wage open war on the Traction Cities. Two years after the Green Storm's formation, it overthrew the League's ruling body in a military coup, and began to implement its own militant ideology (Mainly involving the neglect of the citizens in favor of better feeding the Green Storm's troops and military assets). This included waging a massive war against Traction Cities across the globe, which took place in the final two books of the series, "Infernal Devices" and "A Darkling Plain".

At the end of the series, with the war over and the rulership of the Green Storm destroyed, the Asian nations return to the name "Anti-Traction League" and their old, peaceful ways.

Associations

Notable Members

*Lama Batmunkh - Founder of the Anti-Traction League.
*Anna Fang - One of the League's top agents, considered a hero by its people.
*Ermene Khan - Governor of Batmunkh Gompa.
*Captain Khora - An African captain in the League's military forces from Zagwa, a static enclave in the Mountains of the Moon in Africa. After the Green Storm takeover he returns to Zagwa and becomes the marshall of its air force.
*Sathya - Wing Commander in the Northern Air-Fleet and a founding member of the Green Storm.

Locations

*Batmunkh Gompa
*Batmunkh Tsaka
*Tienjing (Capital)
*Shan Guo