Alternate Draka Timeline
For your enjoyment (yeah right) and criticism (much more likely), here's my very quick, very rough attempt at a more "realistic" Draka timeline, in which I try to make things rather more realistic while sticking as close to the original as possible despite that. It diverges from the published version more and more over time.
This is a somewhat revised version of an earlier timeline. Note that this AH keeps the core assumptions of Draka culture (that they very rapidly develop a slave society, independant ethnic identity, susbtantial militarism, and a very cohesive, cooperative society. None of these are actually given, and some are in fact rather on the improbable side if they happen to any great extent, but they're kept basically intact in this timeline. This is an excercise in alternate history based on the Draka, not the creation of a new society). I've had to modify some of the timeline's early events to get this end result.
1700s - Dutch establish Cape Colony in South Africa. For reasons I'm too lazy to come up with right now, a full-scale colony of over ten thousand is soon established, rather than an isolated outpost. Could be that the Spanish beat on them more, and there is an exodus of refugees to the various Dutch colonies.
1776 - Outbreak of American revolution. Major Patrick Ferguson invents early breechloading rifle, an effective weapon which is nevertheless somewhat difficult to manufacture and maintain. It's deployment is only substantially more effective than existing technologies in the more elite regiments who are trained well in its use and maintenance.
1779 - France, Spain, Netherlands declare war on Great Britain.
1782 - British naval victories in Caribbean, occupation of Haiti and Trinidad.
1783 - Second Peace of Paris. Britain gains possession of Dutch Cape Colony.
1783 - Loyalty Acts passed by British parliament. Cape is renamed the Crown Colony of Drakia, all loyalists are offered land grants in various British colonies. As an incentive to shore up control of the Cape colony, free transport is offered to Drakia.
1782-84 - First Loyalist refugees begin to arrive, supplemented by an enlarged British Army garrison. Tens of thousands of loyalists and their families arrive, creating tension with the approximately forty thousand Dutch Afrikaaners. Within a few years, the population is roughly half dutch, half immigrant (mostly American loyalists), and early Drakian society absorbs a notable Dutch-Afrikaaner component.
1784 - Founding of Durban and Liverpool. Volcanic eruptions devastate Iceland, and twenty thousand Icelanders receive asymlum in the British Empire. Most head to British North America or the US, but seven thousand are given free passage to Drakia as part of an ongoing British effort to cement control of Cape Horn.
1786 - Founding of York (Pretoria, South Africa). Gold discovered in Whiteridge, substantial mineral exploration begins in Drakia.
1788 - Gold discovered in the Transvaal, diamonds discovered in the northern Interior. The new mineral boom renews immigration, and stimulates the Drakian economy substantially. Within several years, Drakia moves from an agrarian colony and outpost of a hundred thousand, to a bustling, rapidly growing mining center. First steam engines imported.
1790 - Drakian Legislative Assembly passes Indentured Labor and Master and Servant acts, regulating slavery in the colony as a method of exploiting the native populace conquered during the constant expansion of Drakian fronteirs.
1790-95 - Rapid growth of economy and population, export trades established. Growth of Drakian shipping, expansion of several British shipbuilding concerns to Drakia. Zanzibar and Aden seized. Free population exceeds 150,000, slave population nears 500,000. Significant expansion of the slave trade, beginnings of the formation of a slave-based plantation and mining society. There is a substantial surplus of slaves, and Drakia becomes a major exporter, to the discomfort of some Drakians and many British.
1793 - Conquest of Northmark (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe) by Drakian militias underway. A tradition of armed landholder militias and mercenary units arises, contributing more to the expansion of the colony than the more conservatively deployed British Army.
1793 - Outbreak of French Revolutionary Wars.
1794-97 - French population of Santo Domingo/Haiti flees before a slave revolt, ten thousand arrive in Drakia. A scattering of Royalists from France follow, attracted to the isolation and prosperity of the colony.
1797 - The massive and loosely regulated expansion of slavery contributes to several bloody slave revolts. Slave Cold grants all freemen power of life and death over slaves, Militia Act establishes substantial citizen militias and reserve service. First Janissary Legion is soon recruited, though it is over a decade before experience in managing and recruiting them allows the Janissaries to be effective, stable fighting forces.
1799 - British African Mining Company founded, soon given a monopoly on large-scale mining. Richard Trevithick soon arrives from Cornwall, appointed to the position of Inspector-General of Steam Engines.
1800 - Free population reaches 250,000. First local industries started as the wars render imports uncertain, cotton becomes a major crop. Conquest of Egypt, French West Africa by British Army forces supported by the Drakian Expeditionary Force, the brainchild of the Drakian governer who mounts an expedition at substantial expense, convincing the British to lend armed support. He is later granted governorship of the Crown Colony of Egypt, encompassing most of old French North Africa.
1805 - High-pressure steam engine perfected by Trevithick, construction of first railway line begins three years later.
1807 - Ottoman Empire declares war on Britain following British refusal to evacuate Egypt. Britain seizes Cyprus, Tunisia.
1812 - Ill-prepared American forces invade British North America, are held off in Upper Canada and Quebec, and eventually defeated.
1815-16 - Congress of Vienna confirms Southern Africa and Egypt as British. Many British veterans and Napoleonic refugees immigrate to Africa. Egypt established as a British possession (including Cyprus and areas of French West Africa).
1820-30 - Rapid growth of export agriculture and transport. Substantial anti-slavery sentiment arises in Britain, produces tension with Drakia and defiant anti-bourgeois sentiment in the colony. Increasing restrictions on slavery in many parts of the Empire, many slaveholders immigrate to Drakia. Drakia becomes elided to Draka in popular usage. The 1826 slavery acts are narrowly defeated under strong pressure from Drakia, causing a backlash against the colony in popular opinion.
1832 - Slave trade banned in the British Empire despite Drakian protests, major impact on Drakian slave economy. British attempts to enforce this meet with resistance. Rise of the concept of the indentured serf as a method of abiding by the letter, but not the spirit, of the law. Antislavery movements in Britain and elsewhere begin widely publicizing the Drakian treatment of slaves and "serfs", notable for its systematic brutality
1834 - Passage of the Reform Act by British Parliament, abolishing outright slavery and mandating humane treatment of bondservants. Drakian animosity sparked, also extends to issues of mineral wealth being drained from the colony to little direct local profit. Clashes between Drakian militias and British forces over enforcement of the act lead to slaveholder revolts.
1835-36 - The Draka Rebellion begins, eventually succeeds after substantial mobilization of the local populace overcomes slowly-reinforced British forces. The rebels rename York to Archona, after the head of the new government. The Republic of Draka is formed, a slavery-promoting, militaristic authoritarianism with many of what would today be called fascist tendencies. Despite this, sentiment in much of the US is decidedly pro-Draka. Within a short period, the first real Draka navy arises to protect shipping, though Britain is largely successful in restricting the slave trade.
1840-50 - Draka forces begin large-scale conquest of Central Africa, 20% of the population mobilized for years on end, women's auxiliaries gain in popularity. Difficulties with disease in the central jungles prove prohibitive to settlement, which proceeds slowly. Organized collection and repression of slaves under the new system leads to large-scale expansion of slavery, now legally referred to as serfdom. The Republic of Draka is geographically and politically isolated, but gains industrial self- sufficiency and begins organized encouragement of immigration and settlement of the fronteir areas under a system of land grants to plantations. Rise of the two-part Draka society (self-sustaining fronteir plantations and monopolistic industrial Combines), as well as the entrenchment of universal military service.
1852-53 - Mexican-American war, annexation of all Mexico forced by Young America faction. All of British North America joined as the Dominion of Canada, British presence in Canada and the Crown Colony of Egypt increased in response to American and Drakian activity (the continuing difficulties in settlement of Central Africa, despite great effort, and the social drive to ownership of plantations, combine to support various military expeditions and adventurism in West Africa).
1854 - Cuba, Phillipines, Hawaii annexed by United States, attempt by Southern adventurers to conquer Central America fails.
1859-63 - American Civil War. Republic of Draka provides large-scale "clandestine" (preferential sales of large amounts of arms) aid to Confederacy. Combined with simmering British popular oppostion against slavery from the days of the Draka Rebellion, Britain is soon swayed to heavily pro-Union sentiment. Following the Emancipation Acts in 1862, and clashes with Draka ships at sea, the British Empire joins the war against the Confederacy and the Royal Navy establishes an effective blockade against Draka supplies. American/British relations reach a new height, their best since the Revolution. Draka industry, in support of the Confederacy, gains its first experience with large-scale war industry. Sale of repeating rifles, gatling guns, steam warships to the Confederacy. Experimentation with steam-powered warcars (not particularly effective). Union casualties exceed 500,000, and sentiment in the Republic waffles on the edge of overt assistance to the Confederacy, but following British intervention and the abandonment of the pro-Confedaracy French position, the Domination is forced to back down to avoid being drawn into a losing battle.
1860-70 - Germany united, mosquito vector of malaria established. Large scale efforts to combat the tsetse fly in central Africa finally begin to achieve real success, expansion of Draka settlement northward begins to catch up with military conquests. Concerted efforts to bypass the disease-breeding jungles of Central Africa underway due to strategic desires for expansion into Northern Africa. 300,000 Confederate refugees welcomed to Draka under a deliberate emigration program, more refugees arrive during the period of Reconstruction in the southern US. Dominion of Australia unites Australia, New Zealand.
1879-82 - Anglo-Russian War, fought primarily in Bulgaria and Afghanistan. British forces eventually win a hard-fought victory. Draka attack in Northern Africa against Portuguese colonies, Draka forces successfully conquer Angola, Mozambique, establish foothold in North Africa. Skirmishes with British forces near the Crown Colony of Egypt, war avoided at the effort of both sides, especially due to British committments in Asia against Russia. Excepting British-controlled Northwestern Africa, most of the continent is either a part of, or under the control of, the Republic of Draka. Peace with Portugal established in 1881.
1889 - First transatlantic flight by Draka dirigible. Autosteamers achieve popularity as vehicles of the wealthy, especially in the Domination. Free population of Republic is growing much more slowly than serf population, leading to several bloody revolts and the imposition of the harshest measures yet for slave control. Rise in popularity of impaling, widespread worldwide condemnation and enmity against the Draka leads to rise of Militarist government of Archon Jameson. Government resources allocated to mass industrialization, formation of a fully modern military including naval and dirigible air forces. Security Directorate formed, movement to promote substantially higher Citizen birth rate, combination of traditional racism with intense Draka nationalism. Powers of the Archon increased, Republic of Draka effectively renamed Domination of Draka, Militarist emblem of a dragon holding a sword and a chain becomes that of the Domination. The Militarist government of the Domination, and it's early successes, leads to what is later referred to as Militarism around the world (very similar to OTL Fascism).
1894 - Libyan and Algerian oil fields discovered, submachine gun developed by Technical Section of Draka armed forces under the new emphasis on an extensive military-industrial complex.
1900-10 - Increasing tension between the European powers leads to a system of interlocking alliances and guarantees. Britain, France, Italy, and Russia face off against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. The Domination of Draka is closely affiliated with the Central Powers, though not a direct member, while Japan and the United States are friendly to the Allied powers. Development of heavier than air flight in Domination, France, US, Dominion of Canada within a few years of each other. Internal combustion engine technology applied to the steam warcar concept in Britain, leading to the Tank (rapidly copied in Germany and the Domination), a tracked armored vehicle carrying machine guns, largely in response to the conditions of trench warfare which evolved in the abortive Austro- Italian War.
Women declared liable for peacetime conscription into support positions in the Domination, women's suffrage movements gain strength around the world (the two are not directly related).
1908 - Japan becomes bogged down in a war in China, Russian intervention defeated. The abysmal performance of the Russian armed forces in 1908-1909, combined with social unrest, leads to a revolution in Russia. A true constitutional monarchy is established under Czar Alexander IV, and several noted Westernizers are established in top government positions.
1917 - Domination of Draka has free population of nearly 20 million, and 180 million serfs, with the citizen population growth rate stimulated to nearly 4% per annum (enough to triple in 30 years). Use of serf nannies for all Draka families and universal boarding school (with heavy emphasis on military related skills) for all citizen children is the norm since the early 19th century. The Draka school system, a universalized military version of the traditional Drakian boarding schools and reserves training, is one of the primary brainchilds of the Militarist government. By 1917 it is praised in many nations for creating the new leaders and warriors of the world. Germany adopts a more militarized national school system.
1917-22 - Great War between the Triple Alliance and the Central Powers. Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire attack Russia, invade France. Britain, Italy declare war on the Central Powers. The Ottoman Empire contents itself with providing limited nonmilitary aid. Germany and Austro-Hungarian empire bog down in Russia, but German forces aided by aircraft and tanks advance within sight of Paris before being halted by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force. Severe fighting on the Eastern and Western fronts, Russian military ill-trained and underequipped. The battle in France bogs down into positional warfare in late 1917, with the new tanks present in insufficient numbers to be decisive. In 1918 the Domination enters the war on the side of the Central Powers, invading and annexing the British North Africa in a lightning campaign utilizing cannon-equipped tanks. Captured British citizens are put into concentration camps following bloody fighting, Draka forces advance to the Suez Canal.
The Draka invasion triggers US entry into the war on the side of the Allies, and American troops fight in Europe for the first time in 1918. In 1920 the fall of France is barely averted by reinforcements from the United States and across the British Empire, and Russia's forces in the field are in danger of collapse. A combined Allied fleet meets and destroys the main German battle line, aided by the first aircraft carriers, and the Draka fleet is savaged in the Mediterranean by the Italian and French navies as the Domination attempts to establish a supply line to Austria-Hungary. Increased use of tanks by both sides, but employed with great success by the Allies in 1920, pushing German forces nearly to the Rhine in a massed offensive, stopped finally by antitank defenses in depth. In 1921, frustrated by its inability to conquer at the expense of the Allies, the Domination abandons the Central Powers and declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1922 - The Peace of Versailles. With the Germany the only truly intact member of the Central Powers, France surviving only due to the large British and American forces present, Russia and Austria-Hungary on the verge of collapse, and the Ottomans fighting a losing battle against the Domination, an end is negotiated to most of the Great War. Central Powers forces withdraw to their prewar boundaries, and agree to pay collective reparations to those countries which were the initial victims of their aggression. (This Peace of Versailles, unlike that of OTL, is less harsh on Germany in terms of reparations, and leaves Austia-Hungary mostly intact)
1923 - Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire into multiple constituent states. The Draka have conquered the majority of the Ottoman Empire in armored assaults, and begin enserfing the populace of the conquered Ottoman territories, the first real non-black serfs, and systematic looting of various treasures. The Draka expansion stalls, surrounded by enemies, but not under threat of immediate invasion after the collapse of offensive operations by the Austro-Hungarian military. A peace is soon established, due predominantly to the inability of the Allies to mount any significant offensive against the Domination. Widespread embargo against Domination begins, Domination enters enforced isolationist phase, heavily fortifies conquered areas. Beginning of what soon comes to be known as the War of Words between the Domination and the Western powers.
1923 - Formation of the Assembly of Nations, a diplomatic and international law organization. Members include all major powers except the Domination. Extensive industrialization programs begin in Russia, prompted by the new proximity of the Domination of Draka.
1926 - Treaty of Berlin signed by Britain, United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia. Establishes limits on the militaries of the signatory nations, but the limits are not set as low as some of the powers wished due to others' proximity to the nonsignatory Domination of Draka.
1927 - Protests lead to government reform in Russia, establishment of a new constitution, restriction of the powers of the monarch. Militarist coup in Germany leads to civil war, anarchy, triggering a second postwar recession in Europe.
1928 - French, Italian forces intervene in Germany, Democratic-Socialist alliance victorious. Establishment of the German Republic.
1929 - Continued Draka military buildups lead to the formation of the Pact of Paris between Britain, France, and Italy as an anti-Draka defensive alliance. The primary strategic goals of the Pact are control of the Mediterranean Sea and prevention of Draka expansion into Asia.
1933 - Pervasive economic recession in Europe and North America, Argentine industrialization program stalled. Nationalist movement unifies China, tension along borders with Japanese-controlled Manchuria/Korea. Rise of Authoritarian (Fascist) movements in Italy, Spain, Hungary.
1937 - Unification of Germany and Austria following tensions with Hungary. Increased French-German tensions leads to military buildup.
1938 - Britain, Germany begin research into the possibility of utilizing nuclear fission in weapons. Russia, France, and the Domination follow suite within a few years, but their programs suffer from a lack of sufficient scientific talent.
1940 - Japanese militarists sign a secret pact with the Domination of Draka,
agree to coordinated invasion and partition of China (Draka to
invade through Afghanistan). Domination-German Nonaggression
Pact signed, Domination agrees to Southeastern Europe as German
sphere of influence. Militarists in Japan and the Domination push for war,
seeing their power ebb as the conquests that brought them popular
support fade into the past. Assisted by government propaganda, the
public opinion of the Domination sways toward a highly ethnocentric,
might makes right ideology supporting the right of the Draka to
subjugate and/or enserf its enemies.
1942 - Japanese offensive into China, Draka attack into Persia, Afghanistan. The Pact of Paris is activated, and Italy, France, and Britain declare war on the Domination. The US begins sending aid to China. Japanese and Domination ground forces advance swiftly, Pact nations focus on enhancing the defenses of their colonies in Asia and establishing control of the Mediterranean. Draka naval elements destroyed in Battle of Suez, Pact establishes air superiority. Pact jet aircraft savage mostly prop-driven Draka air force, begin sporadic bombing raids. Substantial Royal Navy and French Fleet forces sail to the Indian Ocean via the long route through the Panama Canal. Pact, United States establish embargo against Japan, Russian forces moved to Chinese border. Draka close the Suez Canal, make passage around Cape Horn virtually impossible.
1943 - The air war over the Mediterranean heats up - strategic bombers launched from Italy and France attack Draka cities in Northern Africa. Draka overrun Afghanistan, advance into Western China. Royal Navy, French Fleet task forces in the Indian Ocean inflict several defeats on the Draka navy, primarily due to carrier-launched jets. Extensive Draka use of submarines in the Atlantic and Indian oceans against the long Pact supply lines threatens to cut off Pact forces in Asia from most of their supply. Japan, suffering from an oil shortage due to the embargo, attacks British and French colonies in the Pacific. Imperial Japanese Navy destroys a British carrier task force off Singapore, Japanese overrun various Pacific islands, invade Malaya. US declares war on Japan, American Pacific Fleet begins sporadic operations. British-American cooperation on the Atomic Bomb project begins, American scientists and resources arrive to aid the British project, which begins to pull ahead of the German effort in actual plutonium extraction. British and French ground forces battle the Draka armies near the Chinese border, suffer several major defeats, begin fighting retreat.Southeast Asia fortified against the Japanese.
1944 - The Japanese navy is largely defeated by Allied naval forces, and ground counteroffensives begin aided by American troops, as Pact forces enter a full-scale war with the Draka in China and Afghanistan. Draka offensive into India halted, but the Domination has by far the shorter supply lines and can bypass Allied naval superiority. Pact naval and air forces assault the Suez Canal region in massive force, hampering the supply lines between Africa and Asia. Landings in Turkish province of the Domination across the Dardanelles. Russia enters into an agreement with the Pact of Paris nations to transfer their military forces across the Trans-Siberian railway to attack from the north info Afghanistan, Siberian forces attack Manchuria. Britain test detonates a plutonium-implosion bomb in october 1944.
1945 - A British Vindicator jet bomber launches from a carrier in the Atlantic Ocean in March 1945, destroying Archona with an atomic bomb. Under the aegis of the atomic bomb, the Grand Alliance is formed between Britain, France, Italy, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Socialist Republic of Spain, against the Domination of Draka and Japan. Japanese forces in the Pacific are defeated, and Russian and Chinese military forces launch an offensive against Manchuria. Destruction of Yokahama with an atomic bomb fails to elicit Japanese surrender. Two nuclear weapons employed against Draka forces in Turkey, Allied landings in the Middle East coincide with a Russian offensive through the Caucasus. American forces begin deploying to Italy. Germany detonates atomic bomb. Draka begin large-scale offensive use of nerve gas in an attempt to counteract the Allied atomic bomb.
1946 - Japan surrenders. Draka forces throughout Asia are crushed by Allied military forces and several nuclear attacks. Several major Domination industrial centers destroyed by nuclear and conventional air attack. Italian, British, and Canadian forces land in Palestine, seize the Sinai under heavy naval and air support and cut Domination forces in Asia off from Africa. Massive Draka counteroffensive nearly pushes them out. Heavy Allied reinforcements move into the area, with a primarily defensive posture. The last Domination forces in Asia and the Middle East are eventually destroyed. St. Petersburg Conference held, final Allied war aims established as the unconditional surrender and total dismemberment of the Domination, including the freeing of all slaves. Germany declares war on the Domination, limiting its involvement to sporadic air raids and the "combat testing" of a nuclear weapon.
1947 - Last Domination forces in Asia are destroyed or surrender. Allied offensive from the Sinai held off, Allies prepare for amphibious landings in North Africa. Multiple Draka cities and military units are destroyed by nuclear weapons, and the social order of the Domination begins to break down beyond the Draka ability to control. Massive serf revolts occur, very bloodily suppressed (several cities are seized, and require the use of nerve gas to destroy the revolts). Draka industrial and agricultural output falls significantly, supply lines to the front are sporadic at best, and military units must be kept back to quell serf revolts.
Massive Allied offensive through the Sinai and amphibious landings in North Africa, several nuclear attacks. Allied forces sweep across the desert, destroying demoralized Draka units. In various last-ditch efforts, the Draka throw the majority of their military against the Allied positions in North Africa. The attempt fails, and the social order of much of the Domination begins to break down beyond the Draka ability to control. Massive serf revolts occur, suppressed bloodily (often with poison gas), but Draka agricultural and industrial output falls catastrophically.
1948 - The Draka are soon reduced to armed camps defending against rioting and rebelling serfs, and the Domination collapses into Anarchy. In the end, the Domination failure to surrender before total defeat is due less to their "win or die" attitude, and more to the fact that all semblance of centralized leadership is gone.
1949 - The Capetown Trials (named after one of the largest trial centers) try surviving Draka (barely half of the prewar population of 70 million) for war crimes, crimes against the peace, and crimes against humanity. Following great legal and international debate, it is decided not to hold most Draka responsible for the actions of slavery itself, but only those actively involved in large-scale brutality. Members of various organizations are liable to punishment subsquent to a trial of the organization under the illegal institutions measures. Eventually, over ten thousand Draka are executed, and over a million interned in Allied prison camps.
1951 - The continent of Africa is divided into approximately a dozen independant republics, temporarily administrated by the Alliance powers until the reconstruction of the infrastructure and the establishing of the new governments is completed. One of these, the South African Zone, is the destination of the thirty million surviving free Draka, who are deported there en masse from the rest of the former Domination, under Allied military government.