Of Droughts And Flooding Rains
Not amazingly. Slightly better than OTL.
Yes.
The issue is the language barrier. Auralian Aboriginals, for example, primarily speak their native language, French (or French creole), and perhaps a neighbouring Aboriginal language. So for them to move to Australasia (or New Holland, or Tasmania) would entail learning another language, and often it's not worth the effort and cost of moving there, with a cost of living ten times higher than in the town down the (non-existent) road.
Pretty close to what I was planning. I'll see what I can do.
Fixed that. And thanks for the compliment - I really appreciate it. There are heaps of timelines out there, so for it to be counted as one of your favourites means a lot.
Republic of Kidulia
Kidulia, officially the Republic of Kidulia, is a sovereign state in northern Australia, south of the Indonesian archipelago, the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The country is a unitary, presidential, constitutional republic with an elected parliament. It is bordered to the west by New Holland, to the south by Auralia, and to the east by Australasia and Costa Norte. Despite its large area, much of the country is sparsely populated, with much of the population concentrated in the subtropical north, bordering the Timor and Arafura Seas.
Kidulia’s history begins over 40,000 years ago when Aboriginal Australians settled the region. Makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the region for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards. The coast of the territory was first seen by Europeans in the 17th century, beginning with Willem Janszoon. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to attempt to settle the region, with an abortive colony established on the Ratuati Irara Islands, abandoned a few years later, faced with hostility from the Tiwi people. The region then saw minimal attention until 1816, when a Dutch penal colony was established, in the process of suppressing revolts in the remainder of the Dutch East Indies. Following decades of colonialism, a number of Kidulians signed the National Proclamation in Batavia in 1949, seeking a united Indonesian state. Instead, phased decolonisation in the region saw Kidulia become independent in 1952. The Indonesian region became a theatre of the Silent War, with Kidulia and Nusantara competing for influence in the region. The period of National Guidance saw a period of authoritarianism in Kidulia, ultimately ended in 1981 with a return to democracy. Kidulia consists of hundreds of ethnic groups, however, ethnically Indonesian people make up a majority, followed by the Yolŋu people and the many other Aboriginal groups spread across the country.
Kidulia is a mid-sized economy, with a moderate HDI but high inequality. The largest city is Yirrkala, a city of seven million inhabitants, not far from the specially built capital, Pelabuhan-Baru. Kidulia is a member of several multilateral organisations, including the Union of Nations, WTO, IMF and G50. It is also a founding member of the Association of Australian Nations and Asian Community.
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Nice! A few questions:
How large is The Dutch speaking population in Kimberley/diemensland? Are they ethnically Dutch, aboriginal, mixed race? Why didn’t they simply declare indepdance separately in 1952 and how strong is their struggle for recognition? Does it affect relations with New Holland?
In the Australian union info box you said that the largest city if the continent is Nhulunbuy, but the actual town irl would be in Kidulia, is it a different place? I guess in Costa Norte?
I’d love to learn more about this silent war, also the Indonesian countries ittl, this seems very interesting, which one is Nusantara ( I guess the one centered on Sumatra and java)?
Thanks for the compliments!
The Diemensland region has a population of about 150,000, almost entirely Dutch-speaking and mostly ethnically Dutch, descendants of former administrators of the East Indies offered land in Australasia on which to retire, and then most of them never left. The reason why they didn't declare independence in 1952 was:
- They were too small, economically, politically and populationally (?) to form a sustainable independent nation;
- Their identity had diverged too much from the New Holland identity for them to feel comfortable with joining them, and most importantly;
- Being the bureaucrats and diplomats who negotiated/managed/controlled/restricted the independence of the East Indies, they managed to secure significant powers for themselves at independence. The time of National Guidance (aka autocracy) included a policy of Indonesianisation, from which the Diemenslanders managed to exempt themselves thanks to their power in the country's political system.
Same city, I retconned the name because I felt it fit better. So yes, it is in Kidulia, it just got renamed, and slightly bigger.
The Silent War is an alt-Cold War, but between different countries. Any guesses? (More to come on the Silent War soon.)
Indonesian countries are a fair bit different ITTL, partly because no Japanese invasion in WW2 and the East Indies' larger size stunted the growth of an "Indonesian" identity, resulting in many independent nations instead of just one. And yes, Nusantara is the Javanese/Sumatran one.
Thanks for your answers!
I guess you could say demographically?
Also considering this: “Russia, practically obliterated from the war, rose from the ashes as a reactionary Orthodox dictatorship. With the last of the Kuomintang’s forces disbanded, the Communists rose to power in China. Britain ended the war as one of the world’s superpowers, rivalled only in strength by the United States, who had established a strong tradition of neutrality” and “he Orthodox regime in Russia fell in 1998, and communism was replaced by democracy in China in 1989. The past two decades have been unusually peaceful; but now Ulster is boiling over, China is sliding towards dictatorship again”
From the parallels, a China-Commonwealth Cold War? With a neutral America, and uh, where could Russia be in it? Even weakened it would still be a great power...
Kidulian presidential election, 2017
Presidential elections were held in Kidulia on 20 August 2017, with six candidates contesting the election for the position of Kidulia's President, the head of state and head of government. Sandiaga Uno attempted to be elected for a second term, but he was defeated by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama of the People's Justice Party, becoming the first ethnically Chinese President, and Kidulia's first president from the country's Christian minority. All other major parties contested the election, thanks to the preferential voting system used in Kidulia's presidential election. The Orange Party also contested the election for the first time, having previously chosen another candidate to endorse, instead running their own candidate to "raise the profile of the issues facing Dutch-Kidulians today". The election saw a turnout of 68.7%, the second highest since the country's first free elections in 1992.
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Good guess, but I'd like to think I'm a little more creative than that. China certainly plays a part, but is a lesser power that really is its own side, as is Russia. Both, however, ally with one of the larger powers.
Two more hints:
- There's a "Blue Scare", and
- There's a very old rivalry coming to the fore.
I want to do this one really well, so it might take a while, but I hope it will be worth the wait. But don't worry, I've got other ideas as well, although I'd be interested in hearing about what you want to see as well, so keep firing ideas at me, and I'll try to do as many as I can.
I never want to see another lake in my life.
In all seriousness, though, it's coming along quite well. I've got bodies of water complete now, so while I decide how many rivers to show, I'll get to work on the fun part: the cities and towns.
And on another note, I'd like to make sure the timeline focuses on other parts of the world too, and while I have some well-developed ideas for some parts, I don't have a great understanding of American politics and history beyond the basics. I have a rough idea of what's going on, but if anyone has a better understanding of American history and politics than me and would like to help, it would most certainly be appreciated. Thanks!
In all seriousness, though, it's coming along quite well. I've got bodies of water complete now, so while I decide how many rivers to show, I'll get to work on the fun part: the cities and towns.
And on another note, I'd like to make sure the timeline focuses on other parts of the world too, and while I have some well-developed ideas for some parts, I don't have a great understanding of American politics and history beyond the basics. I have a rough idea of what's going on, but if anyone has a better understanding of American history and politics than me and would like to help, it would most certainly be appreciated. Thanks!
ABC News: 23/12/2018
This is one I’ve been working on for a while now (the images were surprisingly complicated), but I wanted to get it out now, so a couple of the articles are copied from the ABC IRL (although ITTL, it’s called the Australasian Broadcasting Commission). Anything that interests you that you’d like to see more of? Any other questions? Comments? Requests?
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This is one I’ve been working on for a while now (the images were surprisingly complicated), but I wanted to get it out now, so a couple of the articles are copied from the ABC IRL (although ITTL, it’s called the Australasian Broadcasting Commission). Anything that interests you that you’d like to see more of? Any other questions? Comments? Requests?
Oof, volcanoes don’t care about butterflies
Do the monarchist have any chance to win the Auralia referendum?
Also it seems that several pictures in the thread (including both world maps) have dead link, where are you hosting them? Imgur shouldn’t have any problem
No they don’t.
The monarchists have a surprisingly good chance, although they’re still behind, polling at about 40%.
I think I’ve fixed that, although they were showing up fine on my PC. I’m currently hosting them from where I post them on DeviantArt, because I’ve had a couple of issues with Imgur. Please tell me if it happens again, it’s quite annoying.
Thanks! That was my intention - I think it makes it a lot more relatable.
That should be fixed now. I've gone through and reuploaded them all to Imgur, and managed to work around all the problems. If it goes wrong again now, I'm not sure what I'll do.
But thanks for the heads up!Sorry for my late reply to this. I was away from my computer over Christmas and the New Year, and it's hard to answer questions in detail from a phone.
Australasia celebrates Christmas in a fairly traditional Western fashion, with the caveat that being in the Southern Hemisphere, it's summer, often prompting barbeques or visits to the beach. Not too dissimilar from an OTL Aussie or Kiwi Christmas, and most definitely recognisable to other Anglophones, although the heat can be off-putting. For the slight majority of the country identifying as religious, it will involve going to church, but almost everyone has lunch or dinner with family and friends.
New Holland mostly celebrates Christmas in a traditionally Dutch fashion, with Sinterklaas being the main festival of that time of year, although the blackface traditionally associated with Zwarte Piet is very rarely seen due to the more multicultural nature of New Hollander society. Christmas Day usually involves mostly just a family meal. Said multiculturality, however, means that in parts of the North and Outback, Christmas isn't celebrated much at all.
Tasmania functions as an unusual hybrid of the two above, due to its mixed culture. Sinterklaas and Christmas are celebrated roughly equally, and most Tasmanians now celebrate both, with December being one long holiday season.
Auralia and Baudinia both celebrate Christmas with French traditions adapted for the southern Australian climate. Besides the language barrier, an Australasian would feel quite at home at an Auralian Christmas.
Kidulia, with the vast majority of the population adhering to Islam of traditional religions, doesn't make much of Christmas - it is the only Australian nation where it is not a public holiday. The Christian population celebrates by going to church services and family dinners.
Costa Norte has a very strong rural-urban divide, with the urban, mostly Catholic population celebrating Christmas in much the same way as it might be in the Philippines or Timor-Leste OTL, while the rural population, mostly adhering to traditional faiths, don't care at all.
Rhenish Republic; Rhenish political parties
You're welcome. Here's the first. Stuff on the other two (in reverse order) coming soon.
The Rhenish Republic, otherwise known as the Rhineland or Rhenia, is a country in Western Europe, situated on the middle part of the Rhine valley and its surrounding regions. It is bordered by the Netherlands, Moresnet, Belgium, and Luxembourg to the west, France to the south and Germany to the east. Its capital is Köln, the largest city, while the largest urban area is the Ruhr, with its main centres of Dortmund and Essen. Other significant cities include Aachen, Bonn, and Mainz.
Rhenish nationalism existed within the German Empire for many decades, however, the idea of an independent Rhenish nation came to the fore during the German Revolution and subsequent civil war, where a number of factions, mostly aligned with the Red movement, sought Rhenish independence. The most notable of these was the Rhenish People's Union, although even it attracted very little broad support. Following the end of the civil war and the establishment of the German State, the Rhineland became an independent administrative district carved out of the Prussian Rhine Province, but remained an integral part of Germany until after the end of the World War, where at the Bergen Conference, the Rhenish Republic was established as a French client state, separated from the remainder of Germany, which would go on to ally with Britain in the Silent War. Thus a country that began as primarily an artificial construct imposed by a victorious power would go on to develop an independent identity of its own.
Today, the sovereign Rhenish Republic is a semi-presidential republic led by a State President and Prime Minister. It is a regional power with a strong economy and significant influence in the Low Countries region. A highly developed country, it has low inequality in part thanks to its maintenance of social security and universal health care systems.
The Rhenish Republic was a founding member of the Union of West European Nations, or the Charleroi Union, and maintains open borders and a shared currency with other Charleroi nations. It is also a founding member of the Union of Nations and Union Pact, and holds membership in the G22, and the OECD.
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Anyway, stay tuned for something a bit different on Germany, and in the meantime, feel free to ask questions about anything you'd like!
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Oh, and have a party system. The Rhenish Republic (or Rhenia, which is the official English name used by the government) has historically just used FPTP, and only recently switched to preferential voting. So the system was and is still two-party based.
Kommunistische Union der Republik: Communists, socialists, even a couple of anarchists. They're all here in the Rhenish Republic's main far-left party, that supports RSDP governments in minority surprisingly often.
Rheinische Sozialdemokratische Partei (RSDP): Your garden variety social-democratic party. Not much to say here. More left wing than their (OTL and TTL) German counterparts.
Liberal Demokratische Partei (RSDP): Small and centrist. Occasionally holds the balance of power, but most people don't pay much attention to them.
Rheinische Volksdemokratische Partei (RVDP): The main centre-right party, currently in government. Does most of the things you'd expect a centre-right party to do, with a decidedly Christian and pro-French bent.
Deutsche Nationale Freiheitspartei (DNFP): Basically Nazis. Not anti-Semitic, and slightly less extreme, but basically Nazis. Despite the thousands of accusations of neo-Populism hurled at them, they have remained in Rhenish politics advocating the union of all German-speaking peoples, reclaiming lost territory, the expulsion of non-Germans and an aggressive foreign policy favouring other 'white' nations. Very, very, awful, and constantly millimetres from being banned, but they're disturbingly popular in Rhenia and other German-speaking nations, given their policies.
Despite this seeming preponderance of extremist parties, the two main ones hold a vast, vast majority of seats in the Staatskammer. Like 90%. But occasionally, one of them gets into the position of kingmaker, and... well.
Let's just say the Rhenish Republic is no stranger to the idea of a GroKo.