Rememberences of Map Contests Past
- Thread starter B_Munro
- Start date
MOTF 115: Weird World War II
The Challenge
Make a map showing the second world war in an alternate timeline which is radically different from our own Second World War in some manner
The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.
"World war" is defined as a military conflict (either one conflict, or numerous directly related conflicts) that immediately involves and affects most of the world.
The Challenge
Make a map showing the second world war in an alternate timeline which is radically different from our own Second World War in some manner
The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.
"World war" is defined as a military conflict (either one conflict, or numerous directly related conflicts) that immediately involves and affects most of the world.
SaveAtlacamani:
Rise and Fall of the Radicals
Of Commies, Fundies and Surgies
POD: 1859
Histories by State, buildup inspired by ChaoticBrilliance:
Confederate States of America (1861-...):
Originally, a state that never seemed plausible. Or if, then as a failed state with continuous rebellions, uprisings and revolutions. But this was not to be after the British, the French, and the Prussians, with whom the British had allied, supported the CSA rebels. The Union had to concede defeat after a crushing defeat of President Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election, commonly attributed to failures in the war against excellent generals of the South. Also, Mexico had come to the help of the CSA after the latter requested it, in return for being granted access to the Pacific.
In the 1870s-1890s, the CSA, a state built on the idea of slavery and on the idea of states' rights, did indeed have problems. Massive ones, with dissenting states and slaves rising up repeatedly. The Mexican states, though, stabilised the balance and brought Latinos up to the rank of whites. And border skirmishes, more fought like petty wars, with the USA brought Confy (as an equivalent to "Yankee") control to all of Missouri and to North Kentucky. This was only possible because the one point where all citizens of the CSA could agree was on going to war with the USA. The fact that the Mormons were successfully recruited by the CSA and started one of their first uprisings in a timely manner (which got the state of Utah reunited with the Nevada territory) didn't help the USA.
Nevertheless, the peculiar institution hurt the economy and industry of the CSA more and more. And as nearly everything was a matter of the states, §12 of the CSA constitution was scrapped and slavery was put into the hands of the states. After slavery was abolished by state after state (the last one to do so was, fittingly, Georgia who had first seceded, in 1902), the CSA had an identity crisis. A deep one, this was.
But in 1902, just after the state of Georgia had abolished slavery, young and charismatic Gregorio P. Arrondo, the most decorated general not to have seen the Civil War, was elected. He was of the newly strengthened Christian Radicals, and he steered the CSA onto a course of identifying with Christian ideals.
An alliance with Christian Germany, which had succeeded in reaching a Großdeutsche Lösung with Austria, and had managed to puppetise Hungary, came to be, and the United Kingdom, their old ally, joined them anyway. And then, in 1914, the First World War came.
After years of trench fighting, Germany turns to another, more subtle method: they supported Marxist-Zhrakovist rebels in Russia and succeeded in inciting a civil war, which brought them to a Brest-Litovsk-like treaty, recognising the independence of Baltica, Poland, and a rather big Finland. Britain, in the middle of the war, changed sides, which caused Canada to do the same back to the CSA.
But after the war, the tactic came home to roost and the CSA turned staunchly aginst the "godless Reds in Berlin". But this was not to last. In 1932, stock markets crashed and a vast depression began. It was worse in the USA than in the rather more agrarian, self-sustainable and, in a way, "socialist" (i.e. not big-business-dominted) CSA, but also many CSA citizens, mainly the black (and poorer white) underclass, were hit. And when radical communist Karl-Heinz Freiherr von Traben-Trarbach tried to shoot President-Elect George R. Lee (yes, a fictitious son of Robert E. Lee), the CSA was suspected to be on the brink of Proletarian revolution. But George R. Lee was not shot, and soon enough, "Risorgimentistas", French "Résurrection nationale", Ottoman "New Liberation Party", British "Radical nationals" and American "New Freedom" parties were in power. Well, theRisorgimentisti, with failed unifier Giuseppe Garibaldi as their hero, had already been uneventfully in power for nearly a decade, but now, the new nationalists are the new threat. Diverse countries are annexed or partitioned, among them the "buffer state" of Belgium, and on May 5, 1939, war comes to Europe.
The "New Nations Compact" or "Surgies" as they are colloquially called, lost the war, and they were mostly partitioned or dismembered.
together with Canada, the CSA occupied areas of the USA and, within a few years, formed several puppet states. All the states which are in the CSA's sphere of influence are Iran-like theocracies, although they are pro forma all democratic. Imagine the Tea Party governing a totalitarian state...
United States of America (1776-1950):
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was the beginning of the end for the USA, which was only to exist for another ninety years. Lincoln made many mistakes in the war, but these are often overblown as most of the loss is to be blamed on Lincoln's generals more than on Old Abe himself. And ever since his crushing defeat of 1864, there were many smaller wars. Britain was always allied with the CSA and, as disunited as this state may have been, it was united when it was to go against the Yankees. These small wars brought CSA control to Northern Missouri and the rest of Kentucky, and, maybe more importantly, they time after time stymied the reforms that POTUS after POTUS tried to implement. And during the third such war, when the CSA managed to bring West Virginia into it's fold, the Mormons of Utah rose up for the first time, wanting to go independent and were supported by the CSA in this endeavour. The USA, now a thoroughly militarised and bitter society didn't take kindly to this and united the State of Utah with the Nevada territory.
WWI was thoroughly lost by the USA's alliance, and on the USA, some of the harshest trety restrictions were placed: The Lake Corridor was to connect Canada and the CSA and divide the US in two, harsh reparations were demanded, and the size of the army and navy limited. the Great Lakes, for example, were fully demilitarised.
United Kingdom (1707/1801-1950)
Kingdom/Empire/Republic of France (987-1950)
Vereinigte Europäische Arbeiterrepubliken (VEAR) (1918/1921-...)
Kingdom of the Seven Sicilies (or: Heptarchy) (1815-...):
United Russian Soviets (URS) (1916/1919-...)
Heavenly Christian Empire of China (1861-...)
Rise and Fall of the Radicals
Of Commies, Fundies and Surgies
POD: 1859
Histories by State, buildup inspired by ChaoticBrilliance:
Confederate States of America (1861-...):
Originally, a state that never seemed plausible. Or if, then as a failed state with continuous rebellions, uprisings and revolutions. But this was not to be after the British, the French, and the Prussians, with whom the British had allied, supported the CSA rebels. The Union had to concede defeat after a crushing defeat of President Abraham Lincoln in the 1864 election, commonly attributed to failures in the war against excellent generals of the South. Also, Mexico had come to the help of the CSA after the latter requested it, in return for being granted access to the Pacific.
In the 1870s-1890s, the CSA, a state built on the idea of slavery and on the idea of states' rights, did indeed have problems. Massive ones, with dissenting states and slaves rising up repeatedly. The Mexican states, though, stabilised the balance and brought Latinos up to the rank of whites. And border skirmishes, more fought like petty wars, with the USA brought Confy (as an equivalent to "Yankee") control to all of Missouri and to North Kentucky. This was only possible because the one point where all citizens of the CSA could agree was on going to war with the USA. The fact that the Mormons were successfully recruited by the CSA and started one of their first uprisings in a timely manner (which got the state of Utah reunited with the Nevada territory) didn't help the USA.
Nevertheless, the peculiar institution hurt the economy and industry of the CSA more and more. And as nearly everything was a matter of the states, §12 of the CSA constitution was scrapped and slavery was put into the hands of the states. After slavery was abolished by state after state (the last one to do so was, fittingly, Georgia who had first seceded, in 1902), the CSA had an identity crisis. A deep one, this was.
But in 1902, just after the state of Georgia had abolished slavery, young and charismatic Gregorio P. Arrondo, the most decorated general not to have seen the Civil War, was elected. He was of the newly strengthened Christian Radicals, and he steered the CSA onto a course of identifying with Christian ideals.
An alliance with Christian Germany, which had succeeded in reaching a Großdeutsche Lösung with Austria, and had managed to puppetise Hungary, came to be, and the United Kingdom, their old ally, joined them anyway. And then, in 1914, the First World War came.
After years of trench fighting, Germany turns to another, more subtle method: they supported Marxist-Zhrakovist rebels in Russia and succeeded in inciting a civil war, which brought them to a Brest-Litovsk-like treaty, recognising the independence of Baltica, Poland, and a rather big Finland. Britain, in the middle of the war, changed sides, which caused Canada to do the same back to the CSA.
But after the war, the tactic came home to roost and the CSA turned staunchly aginst the "godless Reds in Berlin". But this was not to last. In 1932, stock markets crashed and a vast depression began. It was worse in the USA than in the rather more agrarian, self-sustainable and, in a way, "socialist" (i.e. not big-business-dominted) CSA, but also many CSA citizens, mainly the black (and poorer white) underclass, were hit. And when radical communist Karl-Heinz Freiherr von Traben-Trarbach tried to shoot President-Elect George R. Lee (yes, a fictitious son of Robert E. Lee), the CSA was suspected to be on the brink of Proletarian revolution. But George R. Lee was not shot, and soon enough, "Risorgimentistas", French "Résurrection nationale", Ottoman "New Liberation Party", British "Radical nationals" and American "New Freedom" parties were in power. Well, theRisorgimentisti, with failed unifier Giuseppe Garibaldi as their hero, had already been uneventfully in power for nearly a decade, but now, the new nationalists are the new threat. Diverse countries are annexed or partitioned, among them the "buffer state" of Belgium, and on May 5, 1939, war comes to Europe.
The "New Nations Compact" or "Surgies" as they are colloquially called, lost the war, and they were mostly partitioned or dismembered.
together with Canada, the CSA occupied areas of the USA and, within a few years, formed several puppet states. All the states which are in the CSA's sphere of influence are Iran-like theocracies, although they are pro forma all democratic. Imagine the Tea Party governing a totalitarian state...
United States of America (1776-1950):
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was the beginning of the end for the USA, which was only to exist for another ninety years. Lincoln made many mistakes in the war, but these are often overblown as most of the loss is to be blamed on Lincoln's generals more than on Old Abe himself. And ever since his crushing defeat of 1864, there were many smaller wars. Britain was always allied with the CSA and, as disunited as this state may have been, it was united when it was to go against the Yankees. These small wars brought CSA control to Northern Missouri and the rest of Kentucky, and, maybe more importantly, they time after time stymied the reforms that POTUS after POTUS tried to implement. And during the third such war, when the CSA managed to bring West Virginia into it's fold, the Mormons of Utah rose up for the first time, wanting to go independent and were supported by the CSA in this endeavour. The USA, now a thoroughly militarised and bitter society didn't take kindly to this and united the State of Utah with the Nevada territory.
WWI was thoroughly lost by the USA's alliance, and on the USA, some of the harshest trety restrictions were placed: The Lake Corridor was to connect Canada and the CSA and divide the US in two, harsh reparations were demanded, and the size of the army and navy limited. the Great Lakes, for example, were fully demilitarised.
United Kingdom (1707/1801-1950)
Kingdom/Empire/Republic of France (987-1950)
Vereinigte Europäische Arbeiterrepubliken (VEAR) (1918/1921-...)
Kingdom of the Seven Sicilies (or: Heptarchy) (1815-...):
United Russian Soviets (URS) (1916/1919-...)
Heavenly Christian Empire of China (1861-...)
Tsar of New Zealand:
A fairly standard worlda-style map, with a QBAM for the closeup of Central Europe.
It is 1892, and it has been a little over twenty-five years since the Germanic War (or the Great European War, depending on if you include the Spanish Intervention and the Servian Uprising) divided Europe into two opposing, armed camps, capping off a decade which came to be known as the Bloody Sixties (with wars in both Americas, Europe, and China starting and finishing in the decade). The natural result of the aggresive expansion of Prussia under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815 - ???[1]), the war came after Prussia provoked Austria into war throughout 1865-66. So when Prussia and its lackeys in the Confederation declared war on Austria, nobody was surprised to see the nascent Italian kingdom follow suit. No, the real surprise was the resistance of Hannover and the intervention of France. [2] After the destruction of a Prussian army and the capture of the heir to the throne Friedrich Wilhelm at Koniggratz, a rout set in which saw the Prussians defeated later in the year at Kattowitz and the Austrians besieging Breslau. To the south, the Italians took Trento but failed to break through the impressive Austrian fortifications, bleeding themselves on a fruitless campaign. And in central Germany, the Confederate states held out (although Hannover was occupied) until a French army decimated the Prussians at Mainz and the Bavarians held off forays through Thuringia. By March of 1867, the Prussians and Italians had been forced to the table.
The territorial losses codified in the Treaty of Schonbrunn were not as unkind as they could have been, given Prussia's aim to incorporate the entirety of the German Confederation (save for Austria) into their sphere of influence. As it was, the loss of Upper Silesia and territories north of the Ruhr was not taken well, and the French annexation of Luxembourg and Moselleland and Baden's annexation of Hohenzollern were taken as slaps in the national face. Further south the Italians got off only maringally better, receiving a slice of Lombardy but forced to acquiesce to an Austrian-aligned Venetian state and the continued existence of a French-dominated Papal State. In the centre of the German Confederation, several Prussian-allied states were reduced in size and demilitarised, parcelled out as rewards for loyal Austrian allies.
More contentious were the reparations: Austria demanded over half a billion vereinsthaler in reparations, and the lesser German states were to be awarded a similar amount. While these terms were not insurmountable, the loss of Upper Silesia and much of the Rhineland took the wind out of the hitherto-booming Prussian economy, and resentment at the depression which followed in Prussia was directed at Austria, France, and Catholics in general.
After 1867, Austria and France agreed to a German Staatsverband - a loose federation - of the allied German states which would sit in Frankfurt and act as a curb on Prussianvergeltungspolitik. Additionally, Prussia was permitted to build a rail corridor through Waldeck and Lippe-Detmold to maintain ties with the Rhineland. That this provides a useful pressure point for the Franco-Austrian entente is lost on nobody, and Prussia maintains sizable garrisons along the line.
Prussia has also behaved as many feared since the Peace, allying with Russia to dangle a sword of Damocles over the Austrians. With the Hungarians' attempts for autonomy stymied since the German Austrian victories in the Germanic War, this is rather effective.
But perhaps not effective enough; with mainland Europe rather neatly divided between the Franco-Austro-German and Prusso-Russo-Italian blocs and Britain, Turkey, and the Spanish republic [3] watching with detached interest from the sidelines, the situation's stability is quite deceptive. Napoleon IV took over from his father (who wisely abdicated; even beating the Prussians couldn't make him popular) in the early 1870s and has worked to build France's industry (all that Saarland coal helps), military, and colonial empire. In Austria, Franz Josef's recent death has put his son Rudolf on the Imperial Throne, where he must deal with increased Hungarian and Slav demands for representation at the Imperial level [4], and German-Austrian demands for liberal reforms. What worries his ministers is that, as a liberal pro-Hungarian, they might get just that...
Russia, rapidly industrialising under Alexander II with Prussian assistance (if the Russians should decide to pay the Prussians back in hidden armaments factories, what can the Prussians do to stop them?), smells blood in the water at all this. Turkey would have been ripe for plucking if the meddlesome Catholics hadn't gotten involved; if a crisis arose in Austria it might distract them from the Bosphorus long enough to have a go at it - despite British insistence that such a state of affairs not come to pass.
Far to the east of Turkey, of Russia, of distant and rebellious Kashgar, and north of the colonial wars in Indochina and the Indies, an industrialised Japan is champing at the bit to launch its own attack on China. A casus belli, figure the Emperor's advisors, should be easy enough to manufacture in Korea or Taiwan or on the high seas; the question is how to do so when the Europeans are too distracted to interfere with Japan's plans.
Finally, on the other side of the world, America hungrily eyes Cuba, where the constantly-simmering revolt might just make a short, sweet war a possibility, and the towards the Philippines which lie isolated at the end of Spanish supply lines in the Pacific.
And on this lovely summer's evening in Pressburg, a radical Hungarian nationalist is about to fire a pistol at Empress Stephanie, setting the match to the tinder...
[1] When the tide turned on Prussia Bismarck decamped with a sizeable amount of gold, muttering something about South America as he did so. The result of the War of the Triple Alliance may or may not have had something to do with that.
[2] Nappy III decided to snub Bismarck at Biarritz, causing further ill will with Prussia in doing so.
[3] France wasn't keen on having a Savoyard or a Hohenzollern on the throne, and decided after the dust from the Intervention had settled that perhaps a continuation of the interim republican government was the least reprehensible option.
[4] No Ausgleich here, baby.
A fairly standard worlda-style map, with a QBAM for the closeup of Central Europe.
It is 1892, and it has been a little over twenty-five years since the Germanic War (or the Great European War, depending on if you include the Spanish Intervention and the Servian Uprising) divided Europe into two opposing, armed camps, capping off a decade which came to be known as the Bloody Sixties (with wars in both Americas, Europe, and China starting and finishing in the decade). The natural result of the aggresive expansion of Prussia under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815 - ???[1]), the war came after Prussia provoked Austria into war throughout 1865-66. So when Prussia and its lackeys in the Confederation declared war on Austria, nobody was surprised to see the nascent Italian kingdom follow suit. No, the real surprise was the resistance of Hannover and the intervention of France. [2] After the destruction of a Prussian army and the capture of the heir to the throne Friedrich Wilhelm at Koniggratz, a rout set in which saw the Prussians defeated later in the year at Kattowitz and the Austrians besieging Breslau. To the south, the Italians took Trento but failed to break through the impressive Austrian fortifications, bleeding themselves on a fruitless campaign. And in central Germany, the Confederate states held out (although Hannover was occupied) until a French army decimated the Prussians at Mainz and the Bavarians held off forays through Thuringia. By March of 1867, the Prussians and Italians had been forced to the table.
The territorial losses codified in the Treaty of Schonbrunn were not as unkind as they could have been, given Prussia's aim to incorporate the entirety of the German Confederation (save for Austria) into their sphere of influence. As it was, the loss of Upper Silesia and territories north of the Ruhr was not taken well, and the French annexation of Luxembourg and Moselleland and Baden's annexation of Hohenzollern were taken as slaps in the national face. Further south the Italians got off only maringally better, receiving a slice of Lombardy but forced to acquiesce to an Austrian-aligned Venetian state and the continued existence of a French-dominated Papal State. In the centre of the German Confederation, several Prussian-allied states were reduced in size and demilitarised, parcelled out as rewards for loyal Austrian allies.
More contentious were the reparations: Austria demanded over half a billion vereinsthaler in reparations, and the lesser German states were to be awarded a similar amount. While these terms were not insurmountable, the loss of Upper Silesia and much of the Rhineland took the wind out of the hitherto-booming Prussian economy, and resentment at the depression which followed in Prussia was directed at Austria, France, and Catholics in general.
After 1867, Austria and France agreed to a German Staatsverband - a loose federation - of the allied German states which would sit in Frankfurt and act as a curb on Prussianvergeltungspolitik. Additionally, Prussia was permitted to build a rail corridor through Waldeck and Lippe-Detmold to maintain ties with the Rhineland. That this provides a useful pressure point for the Franco-Austrian entente is lost on nobody, and Prussia maintains sizable garrisons along the line.
Prussia has also behaved as many feared since the Peace, allying with Russia to dangle a sword of Damocles over the Austrians. With the Hungarians' attempts for autonomy stymied since the German Austrian victories in the Germanic War, this is rather effective.
But perhaps not effective enough; with mainland Europe rather neatly divided between the Franco-Austro-German and Prusso-Russo-Italian blocs and Britain, Turkey, and the Spanish republic [3] watching with detached interest from the sidelines, the situation's stability is quite deceptive. Napoleon IV took over from his father (who wisely abdicated; even beating the Prussians couldn't make him popular) in the early 1870s and has worked to build France's industry (all that Saarland coal helps), military, and colonial empire. In Austria, Franz Josef's recent death has put his son Rudolf on the Imperial Throne, where he must deal with increased Hungarian and Slav demands for representation at the Imperial level [4], and German-Austrian demands for liberal reforms. What worries his ministers is that, as a liberal pro-Hungarian, they might get just that...
Russia, rapidly industrialising under Alexander II with Prussian assistance (if the Russians should decide to pay the Prussians back in hidden armaments factories, what can the Prussians do to stop them?), smells blood in the water at all this. Turkey would have been ripe for plucking if the meddlesome Catholics hadn't gotten involved; if a crisis arose in Austria it might distract them from the Bosphorus long enough to have a go at it - despite British insistence that such a state of affairs not come to pass.
Far to the east of Turkey, of Russia, of distant and rebellious Kashgar, and north of the colonial wars in Indochina and the Indies, an industrialised Japan is champing at the bit to launch its own attack on China. A casus belli, figure the Emperor's advisors, should be easy enough to manufacture in Korea or Taiwan or on the high seas; the question is how to do so when the Europeans are too distracted to interfere with Japan's plans.
Finally, on the other side of the world, America hungrily eyes Cuba, where the constantly-simmering revolt might just make a short, sweet war a possibility, and the towards the Philippines which lie isolated at the end of Spanish supply lines in the Pacific.
And on this lovely summer's evening in Pressburg, a radical Hungarian nationalist is about to fire a pistol at Empress Stephanie, setting the match to the tinder...
[1] When the tide turned on Prussia Bismarck decamped with a sizeable amount of gold, muttering something about South America as he did so. The result of the War of the Triple Alliance may or may not have had something to do with that.
[2] Nappy III decided to snub Bismarck at Biarritz, causing further ill will with Prussia in doing so.
[3] France wasn't keen on having a Savoyard or a Hohenzollern on the throne, and decided after the dust from the Intervention had settled that perhaps a continuation of the interim republican government was the least reprehensible option.
[4] No Ausgleich here, baby.
Reagent:
POD: Second Boer War is averted
With the outbreak of the First Great War in Europe, the Boer states were presented an opportunity. For the past decade, the British government had been encroaching on both nations sovereignty, demanding greater rights for the Uitlanders of the territory, and various railroad concessions. Now, with British armies occupied in Europe, the Boer States could forever throw off British influence, and liberate the Cape and Natal from British control. Accordingly, the Orange Free State and Republic of South Africa opted to join the Central Powers. The British could not spare any significant force to defend her South African possessions, instead relying on Anglo South Africans, and the ANZAC corps from Australia and New Zealand to oppose the Boers. While much of northern Natal, Mafeking, and Kimberley fell to the Boers, their advance soon stalled, as the Boers were put on the defense, resting their ultimate fate on the war effort of the remainder of the Central Powers. While Russia capitulated to the Central Powers in 1917, the other Central Powers themselves collapsed in 1918, leaving the Boer States alone. In addition, Lord Balfour had promised the Africans of the Boer states "majority governance after a reasonable period of time" prompting a number of uprisings and strikes of natives within the Boer States. As American troops began to arrive in British Cape Colony in late 1918 to bolster the allied effort, the Boers were left in a conundrum as to how to proceed. Some generals advocated an all or nothing gamble to throw out the Allies, but the civilian government (with agreement from renowned general Jan Smuts) recognized the futility in this, and accepted defeat to prevent more blood from being spilled needlessly. Thus, in January of 1919, the Boer Republicans would be the last of the Central Powers to surrender. The British and Americans promptly occupied the territories and abolished the Boer Republics, replacing them with the mandate of Transorangia.
Within the new mandate, a low level guerrilla war begun, with a number of extreme Boers hoping to expel the British, lest "their land" be handed over to the Africans. Boer guerillas attacked African villages, prompting retaliatory actions from various African groups. The net result of this was a migration of some Boers from more isolated areas, to areas of greater European concentration like the Witwatersrand. These Boers were joined by some conservative Cape Dutch (while much of the Afrikaner population had remained loyal, the Cape Colony Government viewed them as a fifth column and passed certain discriminatory measures against them) and even a few Germans from South-West Africa (now annexed to the Cape). As the decade concluded, violence began to escalate between Africans and Boers, with the latter demanding a "Vrystaat" for the Afrikanners, separate from African lands. The groups advocating for a separate Afrikaner state were disunited, ranging from far-right seperatists, to more moderate influences like the well-respected Jan Smuts. The British remained resolute against this demand. The 1930s would be marked by a continuing escalation of violence, with previously ethnically mixed areas becoming homogenized. A number of White settlers from other nations moved into Transorangia (including 50,000 Dutch Jews fleeing Anti-Semetism who the British government let in at the behest of Jan Smuts) and largely sided with the Boer demands for a separate state (the settlers were not supportive of Afrikaner nationalism, but did not want to live in a state dominated by Africans, as the mandate was slated to become). The British government would continue to maintain their position of opposition against the "Vrystaat", but events in Europe would soon force their hand otherwise.
A resurgent nationalist Germany was quickly showing itself to be a threat to European security. First, in taking German populated territory and voiding treaties, and then invading non-German territory. The Second Great War would be started when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and the United Kingdom and France came to Polish aid. In a move that would send shock-waves around the world, Germany successfully invaded France and forced a capitulation from them in 1940 during a period of 6 weeks. The new British government under Winston Churchill remained resolute against the German (now joined by the Italians and a number of Balkan nations) threat of invasion (which never materialized), and began seeking new allies. This offered an opening for the Boer nationalists in South Africa. While some Boers sought to stage a revolt and ally with the Germans, others pursued a more prudent course. Jan Smuts secretly negotiated with Churchill, to guarantee a Boer state in return for the Boers raising military regiments to fight with the British. The British for their part saw this as a win-win situation, given that it reduced the likelihood of a Boer revolt (as Smuts was a popular figure nearly all of the Afrikaner population trusted), and provided manpower for the fight against Fascism. Jan Smuts made a plea for Boers to sign up to fight the Nazis (and managed to get Far-Right groups to agree not to cause problems for the duration of the war). The Boers would raise a number of regiments which would serve with distinction in many theaters of the Second Great War, including against the Italians in East Africa, in North Africa, in Sicily and Italy, and an elite corps of Boer soldiers even participated in the landings at Pas de Calais to liberate Europe from the Nazis. At the conclusion of the Second Great War, Prime Minister Churchill announced his support for a separate Boer state (but with no border commitments), which was met with euphoria from the Afrikaners of Transorangia, and horror from the African population there.
Violence began to pick up after 1945, with the Africans (now being covertly supplied by the Soviet Union) trying to scare the Boer civilian populace to flee the mandate. By 1948, the violence was reaching extreme levels, and neither side was able to come to a compromise. The British decided to quit themselves of the situation, and put forward a partition plan. The Afrikaners, while hoping for more territory, accepted the partition plan (secretly, most believed that accepting the partition now would leave them in a better position to acquire further territory in the future) while the Africans denied the plan (as the Boers had gotten some of the most valuable land while being under 30% of the population). Jan Smuts declared the establishment of the "Afrikaner Vrystaat", and the Boers soon faced off against the African states also established in the partition (and Basutoland, Swazi Kingdom, and Bechuanaland, who engaged the Boers in support of their ethnic brethren). The Boers, although being landlocked, were able to obtain weaponry from the outside world through a sympathetic Natal (which was dominated by a reactionary White minority). The newly established State of Israel provided material aid and support for the Boers as they were in a similar position just a year ago, and were forever grateful for Jan Smuts advocating for the taking in of Jewish refugees fleeing extermination (when few in the Western World were willing to do so). The "Afrikaner Vrystaat" gained quite a bit of territory from neighboring African states before a ceasefire was declared.
Much of the African population within the new boundaries of the "Afrikaner Vrystaat" were expelled or fled on their own accord. Similarly, the White population remaining in African territory was expelled or left to the Vrystaat. African Nationalist movements across the Continent expressed solidarity with the African states that had fought the wars, and demonized the White populations of territories (accusing them of trying to create their own White States). While this had little immediate effect, as soon as decolonization hit Africa, European populations were expelled from African nations almost as soon as they were granted Independence or Majority rule (with few exceptions, notably the Cape). Most of these Europeans returned to their native country when possible, though more conservative and poorer White settlers moved to the Vrystaat, which accepted them with open arms. In the 1973, the White minority government of Natal collapsed. Much of the White population fled to the Vrystaat which soon committed a decent portion of their army into Natal, which then much of northern Natal (which had a historic Boer population) and a corridor to the sea. The African states which had lost to the Vrystaat in 1949 (and were now under Soviet influence, while the Vrystaat was under American influence) saw this as an opportunity to strike and regain their territory, while KwaZulu (the successor of Natal) tried to regain the sea corridor. The 1973 war was a disaster for the African States, which were defeated in a course of 6 weeks (the Afrikaner Vrystaat occupied even more territory). A few years later, Israel and the Vrystaat (in a joint program) successfully developed and tested nuclear weapons in secret. White settlers moved into these occupied lands to secure the Vrystaat's claim to the area. The African States tried in vain to combat the Vrystaat, and eventually realized the futility of that effort. In their "historic compromise", the African leaders of bordering states agreed to accept the "1949" borders" and even a corridor to the sea, provided the other land was returned. The Vrystaat rejected these terms, but did agree to put some areas of occupation under African control.
Today, the Vrystaat has still not vacated the "occupied territories" and has continued settlements deemed illegal under international law. Many African states still do not recognize the "Vrystaat" diplomatically. Attempts by the native Africans in occupied territories to express their democratic desire have been suppressed violently. Many European nations (who historically backed the Vrystaat due to siding with the Capitalists during the Cold War) are currently distancing themselves from the Vrystaat. Politically, the Vrystaat is one of the most right-wing democracies in the Western world (while rights are denied to Africans in occupied territories, Africans living within the Vrystaat's borders passing a certain wealth qualification are able to vote). While being economically moderate as far as Western democracies go, the Vrystaat is very socially conservative. Many far-right Europeans and Americans have been moving to the Vrystaat in recent years, as the Vrystaat to them remains a bastion of "true Christian values". The official language of the Vrystaat is Afrikaans, though English, Portuguese, and French are commonplace and recognized on some level (due to the presence of settler refugees from Natal, Rhodesia, and British Africa; Angola and Mozambique; the Belgian Congo and Algeria respectively).
At many College Campuses around the world, student organizations are encouraging disinvestment and embargo of the Vrystaat (and Israel). The below poster was created by one of these student organizations.
POD: Second Boer War is averted
With the outbreak of the First Great War in Europe, the Boer states were presented an opportunity. For the past decade, the British government had been encroaching on both nations sovereignty, demanding greater rights for the Uitlanders of the territory, and various railroad concessions. Now, with British armies occupied in Europe, the Boer States could forever throw off British influence, and liberate the Cape and Natal from British control. Accordingly, the Orange Free State and Republic of South Africa opted to join the Central Powers. The British could not spare any significant force to defend her South African possessions, instead relying on Anglo South Africans, and the ANZAC corps from Australia and New Zealand to oppose the Boers. While much of northern Natal, Mafeking, and Kimberley fell to the Boers, their advance soon stalled, as the Boers were put on the defense, resting their ultimate fate on the war effort of the remainder of the Central Powers. While Russia capitulated to the Central Powers in 1917, the other Central Powers themselves collapsed in 1918, leaving the Boer States alone. In addition, Lord Balfour had promised the Africans of the Boer states "majority governance after a reasonable period of time" prompting a number of uprisings and strikes of natives within the Boer States. As American troops began to arrive in British Cape Colony in late 1918 to bolster the allied effort, the Boers were left in a conundrum as to how to proceed. Some generals advocated an all or nothing gamble to throw out the Allies, but the civilian government (with agreement from renowned general Jan Smuts) recognized the futility in this, and accepted defeat to prevent more blood from being spilled needlessly. Thus, in January of 1919, the Boer Republicans would be the last of the Central Powers to surrender. The British and Americans promptly occupied the territories and abolished the Boer Republics, replacing them with the mandate of Transorangia.
Within the new mandate, a low level guerrilla war begun, with a number of extreme Boers hoping to expel the British, lest "their land" be handed over to the Africans. Boer guerillas attacked African villages, prompting retaliatory actions from various African groups. The net result of this was a migration of some Boers from more isolated areas, to areas of greater European concentration like the Witwatersrand. These Boers were joined by some conservative Cape Dutch (while much of the Afrikaner population had remained loyal, the Cape Colony Government viewed them as a fifth column and passed certain discriminatory measures against them) and even a few Germans from South-West Africa (now annexed to the Cape). As the decade concluded, violence began to escalate between Africans and Boers, with the latter demanding a "Vrystaat" for the Afrikanners, separate from African lands. The groups advocating for a separate Afrikaner state were disunited, ranging from far-right seperatists, to more moderate influences like the well-respected Jan Smuts. The British remained resolute against this demand. The 1930s would be marked by a continuing escalation of violence, with previously ethnically mixed areas becoming homogenized. A number of White settlers from other nations moved into Transorangia (including 50,000 Dutch Jews fleeing Anti-Semetism who the British government let in at the behest of Jan Smuts) and largely sided with the Boer demands for a separate state (the settlers were not supportive of Afrikaner nationalism, but did not want to live in a state dominated by Africans, as the mandate was slated to become). The British government would continue to maintain their position of opposition against the "Vrystaat", but events in Europe would soon force their hand otherwise.
A resurgent nationalist Germany was quickly showing itself to be a threat to European security. First, in taking German populated territory and voiding treaties, and then invading non-German territory. The Second Great War would be started when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and the United Kingdom and France came to Polish aid. In a move that would send shock-waves around the world, Germany successfully invaded France and forced a capitulation from them in 1940 during a period of 6 weeks. The new British government under Winston Churchill remained resolute against the German (now joined by the Italians and a number of Balkan nations) threat of invasion (which never materialized), and began seeking new allies. This offered an opening for the Boer nationalists in South Africa. While some Boers sought to stage a revolt and ally with the Germans, others pursued a more prudent course. Jan Smuts secretly negotiated with Churchill, to guarantee a Boer state in return for the Boers raising military regiments to fight with the British. The British for their part saw this as a win-win situation, given that it reduced the likelihood of a Boer revolt (as Smuts was a popular figure nearly all of the Afrikaner population trusted), and provided manpower for the fight against Fascism. Jan Smuts made a plea for Boers to sign up to fight the Nazis (and managed to get Far-Right groups to agree not to cause problems for the duration of the war). The Boers would raise a number of regiments which would serve with distinction in many theaters of the Second Great War, including against the Italians in East Africa, in North Africa, in Sicily and Italy, and an elite corps of Boer soldiers even participated in the landings at Pas de Calais to liberate Europe from the Nazis. At the conclusion of the Second Great War, Prime Minister Churchill announced his support for a separate Boer state (but with no border commitments), which was met with euphoria from the Afrikaners of Transorangia, and horror from the African population there.
Violence began to pick up after 1945, with the Africans (now being covertly supplied by the Soviet Union) trying to scare the Boer civilian populace to flee the mandate. By 1948, the violence was reaching extreme levels, and neither side was able to come to a compromise. The British decided to quit themselves of the situation, and put forward a partition plan. The Afrikaners, while hoping for more territory, accepted the partition plan (secretly, most believed that accepting the partition now would leave them in a better position to acquire further territory in the future) while the Africans denied the plan (as the Boers had gotten some of the most valuable land while being under 30% of the population). Jan Smuts declared the establishment of the "Afrikaner Vrystaat", and the Boers soon faced off against the African states also established in the partition (and Basutoland, Swazi Kingdom, and Bechuanaland, who engaged the Boers in support of their ethnic brethren). The Boers, although being landlocked, were able to obtain weaponry from the outside world through a sympathetic Natal (which was dominated by a reactionary White minority). The newly established State of Israel provided material aid and support for the Boers as they were in a similar position just a year ago, and were forever grateful for Jan Smuts advocating for the taking in of Jewish refugees fleeing extermination (when few in the Western World were willing to do so). The "Afrikaner Vrystaat" gained quite a bit of territory from neighboring African states before a ceasefire was declared.
Much of the African population within the new boundaries of the "Afrikaner Vrystaat" were expelled or fled on their own accord. Similarly, the White population remaining in African territory was expelled or left to the Vrystaat. African Nationalist movements across the Continent expressed solidarity with the African states that had fought the wars, and demonized the White populations of territories (accusing them of trying to create their own White States). While this had little immediate effect, as soon as decolonization hit Africa, European populations were expelled from African nations almost as soon as they were granted Independence or Majority rule (with few exceptions, notably the Cape). Most of these Europeans returned to their native country when possible, though more conservative and poorer White settlers moved to the Vrystaat, which accepted them with open arms. In the 1973, the White minority government of Natal collapsed. Much of the White population fled to the Vrystaat which soon committed a decent portion of their army into Natal, which then much of northern Natal (which had a historic Boer population) and a corridor to the sea. The African states which had lost to the Vrystaat in 1949 (and were now under Soviet influence, while the Vrystaat was under American influence) saw this as an opportunity to strike and regain their territory, while KwaZulu (the successor of Natal) tried to regain the sea corridor. The 1973 war was a disaster for the African States, which were defeated in a course of 6 weeks (the Afrikaner Vrystaat occupied even more territory). A few years later, Israel and the Vrystaat (in a joint program) successfully developed and tested nuclear weapons in secret. White settlers moved into these occupied lands to secure the Vrystaat's claim to the area. The African States tried in vain to combat the Vrystaat, and eventually realized the futility of that effort. In their "historic compromise", the African leaders of bordering states agreed to accept the "1949" borders" and even a corridor to the sea, provided the other land was returned. The Vrystaat rejected these terms, but did agree to put some areas of occupation under African control.
Today, the Vrystaat has still not vacated the "occupied territories" and has continued settlements deemed illegal under international law. Many African states still do not recognize the "Vrystaat" diplomatically. Attempts by the native Africans in occupied territories to express their democratic desire have been suppressed violently. Many European nations (who historically backed the Vrystaat due to siding with the Capitalists during the Cold War) are currently distancing themselves from the Vrystaat. Politically, the Vrystaat is one of the most right-wing democracies in the Western world (while rights are denied to Africans in occupied territories, Africans living within the Vrystaat's borders passing a certain wealth qualification are able to vote). While being economically moderate as far as Western democracies go, the Vrystaat is very socially conservative. Many far-right Europeans and Americans have been moving to the Vrystaat in recent years, as the Vrystaat to them remains a bastion of "true Christian values". The official language of the Vrystaat is Afrikaans, though English, Portuguese, and French are commonplace and recognized on some level (due to the presence of settler refugees from Natal, Rhodesia, and British Africa; Angola and Mozambique; the Belgian Congo and Algeria respectively).
At many College Campuses around the world, student organizations are encouraging disinvestment and embargo of the Vrystaat (and Israel). The below poster was created by one of these student organizations.
I had a pretty good run there in early 2015. Back to back wins and a couple of fairly close second places.
.
Saturday, I meant Saturday. 
MoTF 116: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Challenge
Make a map showing a buffer state.
The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.
The buffer state should be at least de jure independent from any other state. It may be created specifically to be a buffer state or it may just be a nation that happens to act as a buffer state.
First, Tsar of New Zealand:
With respect and credit to Tom Colton; a map (my first non-worlda; be nice) depicting the Free State of Alsace-Lorraine in his excellent TL Weber's Germany: The Totalitarian Veterinarian, which I encourage you all to check out.
"This is no peace. All we have ensured to day is that the next war will begin in ten years' time."
"Ten years is all we need."
- German Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath to Führer Friedrich Weber, after the signing of the Treaty of Gutenberg.
At the start of June 1940, Germany stood triumphant. Under the leadership of Friedrich Weber (and more importantly, the best generals of their generation) the Wehrmacht had broken through at Sedan like the Prussians seventy year earlier and - unlike the Prussians or the Second Reich - making it to the sea and encircling the BEF at Dunkirk.
The British didn't roll over and play dead, of course; oh, Prime Minister Halifax was tempted, certainly, but Britain could not be seen to be abandoning the French. He thus authorised a plan by his Minister of War Winston Churchill to evacuate all forces possible from Dunkirk with the Royal Navy and an armada of irregular "Little Boats."
It almost paid off. Almost.
The Germans turned north and shredded the lines around Dunkirk like crepe paper. Although the British evacuated 70,000 men from the area by the time Dunkirk fell on May 22nd, it still left 340,000 men trapped on the Continent, almost all of whom had by now fallen into German hands. Churchill took the fall for Dunkirk (though it wouldn't stop him becoming PM later on) and as Paris came under German fire the Allies were brought to the batgaining table (Liechtenstein has its uses after all).
On the first day of June, Germany and Italy presented their demands, which were designed by Weber to be negotiated down by Halifax and Pétain and thus more easily accepted. In the end the British and French acquiesced to: recognition of German occupation of Poland and Denmark, reduction of the French military to a quarter-million, Germany regaining Togoland and Kamerun, establishment of a Free City of Narvik as an autonomous German enclave, demilitarisation of the Low Countries and Malta, German and Italian naval vessels to be permitted use of Corsican ports, and - most relevant to this map - that a demilitarised Free State of Alsace-Lorraine was to be established and administered by a Franco-German commune to enforce its neutrality.
Alsace-Lorraine was, to be blunt, a buffer state; that it contained practically the entirety of the pre-war Maginot Line was not even close to a coincidence: with the Low Countries demilitarised the Germans could sweep into France again, and they knew it - the Free State existed to stop the French getting ideas while the Germans geared up for the Gread Crusade Against Bolshevism. Inside the Free State, German and French security forces rubbed shoulders uneasily as France and Germany competed for cultural dominance, to the detriment of the Alsatian population. The German Stasi hunted down draft-dodgers and conscientious objectors who took their chances across the Rhine; the French Deuxiéme Bureau, on the other hand, took its pick of Alsatian spies as it built a new line of defences within its truncated borders to counter the expansion of the Siegfried Line.
By 1941, then, Alsace-Lorraine was an immense No-Man's-Land in the Cold War between West and East which served only to demarcate German and Allied spheres of influence while both sides prepared for their inevitable return to arms.
MoTF 116: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Challenge
Make a map showing a buffer state.
The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.
The buffer state should be at least de jure independent from any other state. It may be created specifically to be a buffer state or it may just be a nation that happens to act as a buffer state.
First, Tsar of New Zealand:
With respect and credit to Tom Colton; a map (my first non-worlda; be nice
) depicting the Free State of Alsace-Lorraine in his excellent TL Weber's Germany: The Totalitarian Veterinarian, which I encourage you all to check out. "This is no peace. All we have ensured to day is that the next war will begin in ten years' time."
"Ten years is all we need."
- German Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath to Führer Friedrich Weber, after the signing of the Treaty of Gutenberg.
At the start of June 1940, Germany stood triumphant. Under the leadership of Friedrich Weber (and more importantly, the best generals of their generation) the Wehrmacht had broken through at Sedan like the Prussians seventy year earlier and - unlike the Prussians or the Second Reich - making it to the sea and encircling the BEF at Dunkirk.
The British didn't roll over and play dead, of course; oh, Prime Minister Halifax was tempted, certainly, but Britain could not be seen to be abandoning the French. He thus authorised a plan by his Minister of War Winston Churchill to evacuate all forces possible from Dunkirk with the Royal Navy and an armada of irregular "Little Boats."
It almost paid off. Almost.
The Germans turned north and shredded the lines around Dunkirk like crepe paper. Although the British evacuated 70,000 men from the area by the time Dunkirk fell on May 22nd, it still left 340,000 men trapped on the Continent, almost all of whom had by now fallen into German hands. Churchill took the fall for Dunkirk (though it wouldn't stop him becoming PM later on) and as Paris came under German fire the Allies were brought to the batgaining table (Liechtenstein has its uses after all).
On the first day of June, Germany and Italy presented their demands, which were designed by Weber to be negotiated down by Halifax and Pétain and thus more easily accepted. In the end the British and French acquiesced to: recognition of German occupation of Poland and Denmark, reduction of the French military to a quarter-million, Germany regaining Togoland and Kamerun, establishment of a Free City of Narvik as an autonomous German enclave, demilitarisation of the Low Countries and Malta, German and Italian naval vessels to be permitted use of Corsican ports, and - most relevant to this map - that a demilitarised Free State of Alsace-Lorraine was to be established and administered by a Franco-German commune to enforce its neutrality.
Alsace-Lorraine was, to be blunt, a buffer state; that it contained practically the entirety of the pre-war Maginot Line was not even close to a coincidence: with the Low Countries demilitarised the Germans could sweep into France again, and they knew it - the Free State existed to stop the French getting ideas while the Germans geared up for the Gread Crusade Against Bolshevism. Inside the Free State, German and French security forces rubbed shoulders uneasily as France and Germany competed for cultural dominance, to the detriment of the Alsatian population. The German Stasi hunted down draft-dodgers and conscientious objectors who took their chances across the Rhine; the French Deuxiéme Bureau, on the other hand, took its pick of Alsatian spies as it built a new line of defences within its truncated borders to counter the expansion of the Siegfried Line.
By 1941, then, Alsace-Lorraine was an immense No-Man's-Land in the Cold War between West and East which served only to demarcate German and Allied spheres of influence while both sides prepared for their inevitable return to arms.
Check out the text and timeline. It explains thighs quite well. I enjoyed the timeline immensely bpmyself because it doesn't have things just be gobbled up. Hegemony over some tends to work out better than genocide over next to all.
All hail the Canada that rules two warm water ports and the dirt that connects them and Alsace&Lorraine.