The Global War was in many ways the end of Korsgaardism as a political force in the world. As part of the peace settlements for the Eastern Powers (excepting Russia), the defeated nations were required to disband the Korsgaardian single-party rule they had established and allow dissenting parties and politicians to operate in their nations. Truth be told, this was not a hard sell to the former Korsgaardian dominated nations as it had become obvious that their self-deluding national chauvanism and top-down, reality divorced economic policies had led to both military and financial ruin.
Zeus Korsgaard himself lived to see both the heights of Korsgaardian grandiosity and the depths of its failure. He lived out the remaining days of his life in Russia under the protection of the aging Tsar. It is rumored that his death was due to his excessive drinking after the Global War. His own bitter yet insightful critique of Korsgaardian theory, "The Blindness of the Juggernaut," published posthumously, is seen by many as the final nail in the coffin of Korsgaardist thought. Neo-Korsgaardist fringe groups often claim the work was a forgery, but literary and political analysis upholds it as a true Korsgaard work. Even though Zeus Korsgaard in the end disowned his own creation, he did defend a number of positives that had come from the Age of Korsgaard, such as the breaking of the stranglehold of the aristocracy on power and the establishment of protections by the state for workers in industry from the exploitation of industrialists (which of course led to the detractors of labor rights organizations as labeling them as 'quasi-Korsgaardists').
Korsgaardism, both for good and ill, had been the political philosophy that shaped the history of the late 19th century.
I have to ask, where did you get the symbol?
Glen
Moderator
A fair question, my friend. I have a few things that need attention in OTL, so I'm behind (not to mention working a bit on my genealogy - long story). I might try to get in an update this weekend, but things we'll be a bit on the slower side for a bit, tis true.
Glen
Moderator
The ancients had believed in a Terra Australis as a counterbalance to the lands of the north. British explorer James Cook was the first to confirm the existance of an actual landmass there. While he was unable to make landfall, his sightings spurred the imaginations of the British public in particular. As the British extended their exploratory and colonization efforts in the southern hemisphere, the draw of the Antarctic was never far from the mind of explorers. Sir John Ross and his son, Sir Robert Ross, were the most prominant early explorers of the Antarctic region. It is true that in the early 1800s France, Russia, and even the UPSA sent naval expeditions to the Antarctic Sea, it was the British who most consistently and seriously mapped the seas and islands of the Antarctic, aided by their proximity in Patagonia, South Africa, and the Australias. By 1850, the coast of the Antarctic continent, including the George and Wellington Ice Shelfs, and been completed. However, piercing the interior and reaching the Southern Pole would remain a more difficult prospect. While other nations would race to reach the Northern Pole, it would be left to the British Empire to reach the Southern one. In 1899, Sir Edwin Lowe with a mixed team of British (including Southrons and Australians) and Scandinavian personnel made his triumphant march on the South Pole. His use of airships for scouting, preplacement of supplies, and monitoring of the mission were credited as a major innovation at the time (even with the loss of one of his airships due to inclement weather). By 1900, none disputed Britain's claim to the Antarctic continent.
Huzzah! an update!
I do doubt how useful that claim to Antarcitca might be - will we see people live there TTL?
I do doubt how useful that claim to Antarcitca might be - will we see people live there TTL?
Useful? British Antarctica? Of course it will be useful! You shall see....
Perfect place to test weapons!
Poor Penguins
Glen
Moderator
Perfect place to test weapons!
Poor Penguins
Ah, but think of the mutations! Gives Emperor Penguin a whole new meaning, don't you think?
Useful? More pink on The Map is always useful! In shear square mileage the British Empire shall go unmatched forevermore!
Glen
Intriguing update. Could see Britain monopolising the continent although given its weather I suspect Lowe was amazingly lucky to only lose one airship. Even modern a/c have problems a lot of the time with the climate and their a lot more secure and reliable than airships. Although thinking about it I believe some use have been made of them in the past. [Got this memory of someone losing an airship down there, in the 20's or 30's I think?]
Steve
Intriguing update. Could see Britain monopolising the continent although given its weather I suspect Lowe was amazingly lucky to only lose one airship. Even modern a/c have problems a lot of the time with the climate and their a lot more secure and reliable than airships. Although thinking about it I believe some use have been made of them in the past. [Got this memory of someone losing an airship down there, in the 20's or 30's I think?]
Steve