(Apologies if I get some basic elements of chronology wrong; I must admit that I do not know how long the Houses have been at war in the present day, so some of the pre-war story may be nonsensical)
Hubert Gruber was born on Stuttgart, the oldest child of a large family. With eight children to attend to, Gruber's mother had her hands full as a full-time mother and housekeeper, relying entirely on the income of her husband, Pieter, a farm labourer. Although times were trying and the family only barely survived the hardship that followed Rheinland's economic depression following the Nomad War, disaster was to strike when Hubert reached the age of seventeen. Synth Foods' latest tier of expansion encompassed Pieter's farming cooperative and improved mechanisation and automation resultant from the Liberty firm's efficient technologies resulted in the labourer losing his job. For Pieter, who had long watched the injustices enacted upon Stuttgart's labour, resultant from the economic liberalisation of the Rheinland economy, this was the last straw; Hubert's disgruntled father threw his lot in with the Landwirtrechtbewegung, trusting his eldest son to assume his place as the family's breadwinner: As much as his wife may have despaired at him for his decision, Pieter maintained that the good of the nation came before that of his family. The episode left Gruber with severely conflicting emotions and thoughts: On the one hand, his father was correct; the economic reforms of Rheinland and the predatory corporate policies of the Liberty auslanders did indeed seem to be destroying his planet's very way of life, yet this did not warrant a man abandoning his family to almost certain poverty. Indeed, Gruber's bitterness was only fed further as he was unable to find work and his family lost their home, whilst all the while yet more of his friends, relatives and associates were unable to work: Yet this could not translate into nationalist fervor or a desire to see the fatherland rise once more, as ultimately it was because of the Landwirtrechtbewegung that his father had deserted them and worsened his loved ones' ordeal, yet this man was still Hubert's father and he loved him; even as the very sentinels that Gruber believed should be helping the people of Stuttgart and, by extension, the Landwirtrechtbewegung, were hunting him. Gruber was never to hear from his father again and eventually came to accept he was likely dead; the military crackdowns evidently were at least partly effective; thusly, Gruber did and likely would have continued to hold the Rheinwehr in scant regard if events did not transpire the way they did. Indeed, other youths in his situation would have jumped at the chance to enlist if it meant steady pay, accommodation and a pension.
The war changed everything. Although Hubert had only known the economic impact of the Nomad War, the new War Between the Houses would change everything: Suddenly the Libertonian foe was fair game, when the war was declared, the property belonging to Synth foods burned: Landwirtrechtbewegung sympathisers across the planet descended upon the various Liberty enclaves and destroyed all that was before them. The newly liberated land was placed once more under Rheinlander ownership and the new ownership at once set toward expansion to meet the demands of wartime; Hubert's siblings that were old enough were able to find work and he was no longer tied down as the only breadwinner. This was a time for introspectiveness for Hubert, his nation was standing on his feet once more and for the first time in his life he had the power to decide what he was going to do. As much as he may have detested the military, there was an opportunity to further support his mother, to finally get back at those who had ravaged Stuttgart and to fly, safe in the knowledge that for once the military was fighting the auslanders and not men like his father.