Future of Defence in changing times, Defence Whitepaper 2183

The 2183 defence whitepaper outlined an approximately 34.5% cut in defence spending throughout The Colonies, despite the many reservations of military officials and the public in general.

Effect
It has been widely debated whether the defence cuts contibuted towards the failure in the late 22nd century to secure the recently established Outer Colonies against internal threats such as the Independance For The Colonies group which caused the deaths of well over 2,000 men and women in the Battle of Outpost Station - Ross 248.

Many deep space stations were abandoned, leaving only an extremely small military presence in the Outer Colonies, with most personel and ships being concentrated in the Home System.

Reversal
In 2231 the whitepaper was officially reversed by Colonial Defence Order 300, which as well as reversing the funding cut, also added an extra £400bn of funding for the Colonial Military.