As far as I can tell (and after discussing this with a coworker born in Hong Kong) Cantonese is by far the most spoken language in the *world* never to have been the language of an independent state.
Glen
Moderator
Yes indeed - while we've seen conflict between Chuen China and the USC, this is the first time we've seen it spread to Manchuria and Korea...
Glen
Moderator
The Clash of the Chinas during the Population War highlighted a strange fact in the War in the East, and that was the ubiquity of some form of Mandarin Chinese in several of the opposing nations. While dominant in traditionalist Chuen China, it also was spoken by higher officials in Manchuria since the Qing diaspora there, partially displacing Manchurian (not shown below), and was usually the default common language in the south even after the formation of the United States of China due to the multiplicity of well respected and vibrant tongues spoken in the South. Influenced by the US Constitution and it's Bill of Rights, the United States of China's Constitution explicitly forbade the federal government to adopt any one language as the 'official' language of China, though several of the Chinese states within the USC recognized their own version of 'Chinese' as their official spoken language, much as Quebec and other Francophone dominant states in the US had done. However, it was common at the federal level for the common language to be Mandarin given the history of the Chinas, and while there was no official spoken tongue, the USC did standardize an official written script for the United States of China, which was possible given its ideographic base. This may explain why the United States of China became an early leader in the practice of printing the dialogue on the images of their Kinees, and having local actors record in the local dialects over the scenes in the kinees. This would be especially prominent in the Population War propaganda films. Incidentally, the most common form of Chinese in the expatriot population in the United States of America would be noted to be Yue (sometimes referred to as Cantonese).
Glen
Moderator
Good question - and the answer is mixed. There are a lot of USC nationalists who see themselves as distinct from the northerners, but there are a sizable faction who do see them as 'brothers and sisters' and would love to see them (or at least more of them) embraced in a greater USC. Somewhere between how Americans viewed Canada and West Germans viewed East Germany, but not as extreme as say Irish Nationalists viewed Northern Ireland.
Glen
Moderator
The Kingdom of Siam had developed it's own brand of Buddhism as much influenced by Deism via the United States of China (and ultimately America) as it was the traditions of Siam and of classical Buddhism. In addition, Siam had enjoyed close trade relations with the United States of China and the British Empire. So it was no surprise when Siam refused to join the Malthusian Manifesto nor any of the efforts of the Malthusians against the USC once it defected from the Malthusian camp. Siam found itself thrown into the Population War, fighting off advances from United Nationalities of India forces from the West, and Spanish forces from Spanish Indochina. Siam had enjoyed relative peace until the Population War, but would go on to acquit itself well in the conflict once supplies and advisors began to arrive.
Glen
Moderator
Lalli^ Isn't they're the TTL version of a "Meiji" country? They should at least hold enough territory to hold themselves up and possibly...
Annex some Goddamn territory.
Okay, got it now!
Glen
Moderator
The Dutch East Indies had enjoyed the fruits of Liberalism in the 19th century, and while the Netherlands sometimes was heavy handed in exerting control over their sphere in the islands, they also eradicated a number of odious practices such as slavery and cannibalism. While in the first half of the 19th Century the Netherlands had mostly taken from the wealth of the East Indies, in the second half and into the 20th Century, Dutch governance followed a policy of infrastructure development, and matched with the wealth of natural resources the East Indies enjoyed a boom in prosperity. The Dutch East Indies had also been spared from any threat during the Global War due to being surrounded by lands that were either neutral or Entente.
However, the strategic situation was more complicated in the Population War. The only close territories under the control of allies of the Netherlands was French Greater Australia and the Spanish Philippines. The population and resources of the French Australias were meager, but the Spanish Philippines could provide some support to Dutch East Indies forces.
The British Australias on the other hand had a reasonable sized population that included a number of men who could be called to service. Thus the fight for the Dutch East Indies was joined, led mostly by the Australians on behalf of the British Empire.
However, the strategic situation was more complicated in the Population War. The only close territories under the control of allies of the Netherlands was French Greater Australia and the Spanish Philippines. The population and resources of the French Australias were meager, but the Spanish Philippines could provide some support to Dutch East Indies forces.
The British Australias on the other hand had a reasonable sized population that included a number of men who could be called to service. Thus the fight for the Dutch East Indies was joined, led mostly by the Australians on behalf of the British Empire.
So... Australia invading Indonesia, and definitely not as "liberators." Not something I have seen before.
Will we be seeing a conquest (or at least attack) of French Australia by Britain as well?