Centauri history has been marked by periods of enlightenment and social advancement much like the Renaisance on Earth. A people always interested in the arts and culture, the Centauri were more driven toward a peaceful existance than a conquering attitude. However, in the Earth year of 3000 BC, the Centauri went to war with the other sentient species on Centauri Prime, the Xon. The Xon were viewed to be a missing link that had simply refused to die out, animals who had grasped the ability to speak rather than a race on par with the Centauri themselves. The first contacts were brutal and bloody as both races attempted to lay claim to territory and assert themselves as the dominant power. This was to persist for over twenty-three thousand years as each side took part in border raids and attacks aimed at gathering slaves and securing treasures.
In 647 BC, the Centauri were able to launch a major campaign and crush much of the Xon empire, capturing huge numbers of the Xon as slaves. However, the core of the Xon hierarchy escaped to foment resistance and, in a brilliant move, the Xon were able to stage massive uprisings from within the walls of the Centauri cities and inflict terrible casualties. For the Centauri, this was the final straw and an all-out war of annihilation was declared, the Houses of the Centauri Republic coming together to stand as a united front against the Xon. The Republic was firmly established and the Centarum, the Centauri senate, was organized to insure equal rule of the Houses. As a final measure, an Emperor was chosen from the most powerful House to lead the Republic and insure that the bickering of the Centarum did not cripple the Republic in times of crisis. With the banner of the Republic above them, the Centauri marched to war.
The next thousand years were marked by constant brutality as Centauri and Xon forces clashed repeatedly. In 650 BC, the population of Centauri Prime, both Centauri and Xon, numbered close to eight hundred million sentients. By the time the war ended in 511 with the extermination of the Xon, less than two million Centauri were left alive. With their world in shambles, the Centauri began the long process of rebuilding their society.
The next great landmark in Centauri history came in 1249 when a bright light appeared in the skies over Centauri Prime. A massive fireball streaked through the sky to impact on the Isle of Selini, creating a massive blast area which leveled the meager structure on the island and killed most of the inhabitants. Research teams were quickly sent to investigate and it was there that they discovered the wreck of an alien spacecraft which had crash-landed. It is now hypothesized that this vessel was involved in the first Shadow War and was shot down by Shadow forces in a battle over Centauri Prime which was on the other side of the planet. Regardless, the Centauri teams were able to find a working Jump Engine in the wreck and reverse the technology enough to produce their own Jump Engine and equip vessels with it. In 1249, the Centauri were able to take their first steps beyond their star system and begin their great expansion.
The first steps the Centauri Republic took into space were huge ones. In the first twenty years, the Centauri were able to establish themselves in two other star systems with reasonable success. By the turn of the second Earth millenium, the Centauri Republic rivaled the size of the Minbari Federation and the Vorlon Empire. Of course, with this massive expansion came the problems of any interstellar empire. Dissidents on the various worlds began to agitate for change within the Republic and the Centarum was forced to employ the Republican Fleet to put down several uprisings as the Republic continued to bring in new worlds. Finally in 2109, the Centauri stumbled on the world of Narn and embarked on arguably the most disasterous military endevour of the Republic's history.
The Centauri warships arrived in orbit to find a world which boasted a large population and relatively high level of technology considering that they were an agrarian society. Seeing that conquest of Narn would yeild to the Republic massive resources as well as a populace of intelligent slaves much like the Xon, the Cruiser Adamant moved into position over the major Narn city and fired her Mass Driver into the planet. The resulting explosion wiped the city from the face of the planet and killed millions of Narn. Troops were then dispatched to land on the planet and inform the Narn that they had defeated an enemy which had threatened to conquer Narn and enslave the population. Overjoyed, the Narn welcomed the Centauri as liberators and willingly joined the Centauri Republic as workers and farmers. However, the illusion lasted barely longer than twenty years and by 2132 the Narn Resistance was making trouble for the Centauri occupation forces. This constant battling to last until 2209 when the Centauri withdrew from the surface of Narn, having lost most of their empire to internal strife and battling between the Noble Houses.
The other major event of this era came in 2155 when a Centauri trading fleet encountered the Earth Alliance in the Sol System. Beleiving that the Humans were in fact a lost Centauri tribe which had somehow been taken offworld by other powers, the Centauri opened negotiations quickly. However, this mistake was soon corrected and the Earth Alliance was welcomed as an equal partner rather than another power to be enslaved. Treaties were quickly drawn up and the Earth Alliance was allowed to use Centauri Jump Gate in return for fees and trading pacts. Otherwise, the period between 2109 and 2209 was marked by increasing strife within the Republic as greed and corruption began to rule the upper echelons and bring ruin to the common people. The loss of Narn proved to be a massive blow to the internal stability of the Republic and was the cornerstone of a massive shift in public opinion against the regime in power. World after world fell into anarchy as the Centauri fleets were spread thin to put down the unrest. This, in turn, allowed the Narn Imperial Fleet to surge forth and sweep up yet more worlds that had once rested within the Centauri sphere until the Narn Regime rivaled in size to that of the once-mighty Republic. Seeing the tide turning against them, the Centauri reached out to other governments and in 2229 were able to secure a non-agression pact with the Dilgar Empire, freeing them from worry about their flank while fighting the Narn. The Dilgar War was able to divert Narn attention further, decimating battle fleets that would otherwise have smashed the Centauri and ripped apart the Republic. This breathing room allowed the Republican Fleet to regroup and resettle the defense lines, making a stand against the Narn in the Tarantis System and driving them back to Ragash where an assault spearheaded by three Heavy Cruiser was able to break the system defenses and land enough troops to retake the colony. For the next thirty years the border wars continued with raids and the assorted full attack, culminating in the Narn attack on Ragash III which ended in the brief Narn occupation of the planet. Seeing that the wars were pointless and were leading to the death of the Republic, Emperor Turhan decided to offer the Narn a solution: peace.
In 2259, Turhan traveled to Babylon 5 where he met with Ambassador G'Kar and several other high diplomats including the secretive Ambassador Kosh Naranek of the Vorlon Empire. On the verge of peace, Turhan died of a massive heart failure which coincided with an attack on a Narn outpost in Sector 37 near the D'griel System. When the Kah'ri learned of this and a Narn fleet sighted Centauri vessels in the area, the Narn Regime declared a total war to the death against the Centauri Republic. As something of a slap in the face, it was later learned that the attack was carried out by Shadow forces liasing with Lord Refa and Prime Minister-in-exile Londo Mollari and not in fact with the Centauri Republic proper. Whatever the case, the stage had been set for the next three years.
With the Centarum in an uproar, the nephew of Turhan, Cartagia, was chosen to be seated on the throne as the new Emperor. However, few people suspected that Cartagia was in fact quite insane and had been propped up by several Nobles within the Republic. Cartagia quickly began listening to Lord Refa as his main advisor and within two months had enlisted the aid of the Shadows on a permanent basis through Lord Refa and his associate, Mr. Morden. The aid of the Shadows was to prove one of the decisive factors in the coming war with the Narn.
The Narn-Centauri War was to be tradgically short as the Centauri fleets proved themselves to be superior to the Narn vessels sent to face them. While the Centauri suffered setbacks at the beginning of the war, the cunning use of Heavy Cruisers as raiders and Starfighters to overwhelm the Narn Capital Ships payed off in dividends. Within three months the Narn had been pushed back into their own space and the main battle fleets had been scattered. Seeing one last chance at victory, the Narn launched a massive attack against the Centauri supply base in the Gorash System. The Narn beleived that the Centauri had made a critical blunder in leaving their supply lines undefended and that the invasions could be turned back with one quick blow. However, Warmaster G'sten failed to see the Centauri trap and his vessels left hyperspace only to be annihilated by Shadow warships lying in wait. With the last of the Imperial Fleet gone, the Centauri were able to successfuly attack Narn and lay waste to the defenders before troops landed to take control. Within four months, the Centauri once again stood on the surface of Narn.
The reoccupation was a brutal affair, the Centauri troops taking their chance to repay the Narn for the years of brutality and the destruction of so many Republic worlds. All of Narn's resources were subsequently stripped from the surface and the world left a blasted ruin and the population forced to live in Centauri internment camps. However, the Narn Resistance once again began to take its toll on the occupation forces which in turn began to take its toll on the morale of the Centauri population.
At the same time that Narn was being pacified, the Shadow War had broken out and Cartagia had openly allowed Shadow warships to be based on the Isle of Selini in the south of Centauri Prime. While some saw this as a sound tactical move considering the current state of affairs in the galaxy, many saw this as a final sign of Cartagia's insanity and a secret underground movement within the Centarum began to build momentum. To add to the confusion, the Vorlon Empire had also joined the Shadow War and had begun attacking worlds that had been influenced by the Shadows and their associates, using the power of their terrifying Planet Killers to annihilate whole planets at once.
When Cartagia finally visited Narn to celebate the conquest, the Resistance made its move and in the matter of a few minutes Cartagia was dead at the hands of G'Kar and Londo Mollari had been named Prime Minister and successor to Cartagia until another Emperor could be chosen by the Centarum. The Centauri occupation forces then pulled back from Narn and returned to Centauri Prime to fortify the world against the coming Vorlon attack.
When the coalition of Nobles returned to Centauri Prime, Londo Mollari and his allies moved quickly to secure the planet as a safe base of operations against the Shadows. In a dramatic move, Centauri troops planted nuclear explosives near the Shadow base on the Isle of Selini and detonated them while the Shadow warships were still on the ground, destroying them utterly. However, the Vorlon fleet exited hyperspace over the planet and prepared to fire, still convinced that the planet had been unduely influenced by the Shadows.
In the end, Centauri Prime was saved by the efforts of Captain John Sheridan and his Army of Light as they joined the battle at Coriana VI and diverted Vorlon attention away from Centauri Prime. With the Republic finally safe from the Shadows and the Vorlons, the Centarum began to rebuild. However, internal politics soon began to take their toll as Londo Mollari was driven from his position as Prime Minister on charges of committing crimes against the Republic. To back up these charges and further discredit Mollari, news of his part in the assassination of Emperor Cartagia was allowed to leak out, sending the Republic into further disorder. With the flight of Londo to Babylon 5, the Republic has cut most diplomatic ties to the League of Non-Alligned Worlds and, as a show of force, the Republican Fleet has begun to patrol the borders more heavily and the Centarum has begun to make serious demands for the return of Mollari so that he can stand trial.
Structure of the Centauri Republic
Republican Fleet of the Centauri
Republican Army of the Centauri
Centauri Republic Shipyards
The Centauri go to war with another indigenous species of Centauri Prime, the Xon
-647
The Centauri pacify large numbers of the Xon, taking them as slaves
The Xon begin a massive campaign aimed at exterminating the Centauri and conquering their lands
511
The Xon are completely removed from the surface of Centauri Prime through extermination
1249
Centauri scientists discover a crashed alien vessel and reverse-engineer it, giving them space faring technology
2109
Centauri troops land on Narn and occupy the planet
2155
The Centauri Republic makes contact with the Earth Alliance
The Centauri Republic allows Earth Alliance vessels to use Centauri jump gates in return for fees and trade agreements
2209
Centauri troops withdraw from Narn
2229
The Centauri Republic signs a non-agression pact with the Dilgar Empire
2258
The colony of Ragash III is briefly occupied by Narn forces
2259
Emperor Turhan dies onboard Babylon 5
Cartagia is named Emperor and sucessor to the Centauri throne
The Centauri Republic enters into a secret treaty with the Shadows
The Narn-Centauri War begins
2260
Centauri troops re-occupy Narn after a lengthy bombardment from orbit using Mass Drivers
Emperor Cartagia dies while visiting Narn
Londo Mollari is appointed Prime Minister of the Centarum
Centauri troops withdraw from Narn
The Centauri Republic declares war on the Shadows on destroys a Shadow fleet while it is based on the Isle of Selini
2261
Londo Mollari is exiled on the order of the Centarum for crimes against the Centauri
Callistin takes the throne as Emperor with the backing of the Centarum and Centauri nobles