Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

[CosmicAsh]

Well! It's certainly been an uneventful contest. With the submission period now closed, we have two to vote on:

1: "Their Unfair Country" by Onerom
2: "Eagles of the Fair Country" by KanonenKartoffel

Cast your ballots now! As there are only two entries, this is a FPTP election. The voting shall commence until August 31st.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Well, that's interesting. Is this the first we've heard of British involvement in Vietnam? What drove the UK to involve itself in a former French Colony?

With Britain's experience in fighting insurgencies and, well, having a healthy supply of Gurkhas, it's no wonder Vietnam went better for the Commonwealth than the OTL US involvement. I'm assuming that as with the War in Burma, forces from other Commonwealth nations and colonies were used alongside the UK force?

Actually, speaking of which, without any Fall of France ITTL, what precipitated the French collapse in Indochina?

The whole peculiar relationship really makes TTL's Cold War period fascinating.

It's not! The British war in Vietnam had previously been alluded to in various snippets, most notably the French infobox series, which included information on it. The British primarily became involved as a means to stop the spread of Communist influence (the primary reason as to why they believe India was lost).

France's major reasoning for pulling out of Vietnam was to focus on maintaining Algeria and their other African holdings. Vietnam was too far away and Britain agreed to assist in ensuring the joint Franco-British friendly government remained in power.

 

[TheKutKu]

Well! It's certainly been an uneventful contest. With the submission period now closed, we have two to vote on:

1: "Their Unfair Country" by Onerom
2: "Eagles of the Fair Country" by KanonenKartoffel

Cast your ballots now! As there are only two entries, this is a FPTP election. The voting shall commence until August 31st.

Congrats to the participant!

I would suggest adding some verification to the vote as it can be easy to rig it right now, maybe have it so that you need to put your ah.com/discord username

 

[CosmicAsh]

 

[Aeqouria]

I'm guessing the Chinese exclusion acts weren't a thing

 

[Analytical Engine]

So, this is SocCal.

 

[CosmicAsh]

I'm guessing the Chinese exclusion acts weren't a thing

Indeed! There were no Chinese Exclusion Acts passed by the national Government. However, California introduced their own restrictions and limitations, which were *just* able to skirt around constitutional problems. With the passage of the 18th Amendment, freedmen had actually flooded into Hamilton and the Central Valley, as the Government promised them more land in the west than they confiscated from former Confederates. This, combined with the guaranteed right to vote, gave Hamilton an early, liberal, outlook on politics. Coupled with Hamilton's very slow growth compared to California (San Diego was the western terminus for most of the country's rail network until the 1890s/1900s), there was really no appetite to protect jobs and employment using racist policies in Hamilton. Chinese immigration was actually encouraged by the government, which saw it as cheap labour to construct railroads and work in mines, and African-American landholders saw an opportunity to employ workers who would not otherwise take a job offered by an African-American in the Central Valley.

 

[Wings]

What countries dispose of aircraft carriers ITTL ? Also I must have missed the part where this was explained but which countries dispose of atomic weapons here ? The US, USSR, UK, France and India I assume, but anybody else ?

 

[CosmicAsh]

The Sinkiang Autonomous Province is an autonomous region of the Republic of China located in the country's northwest. The province has a reputation of being the strongest supporter of the Kuomintang in the new Democratic Era in China, due to the agreement between Chiang Kai-shek and Burhan Shahidi which established Sinkiang as an autonomous province within China, allowing them usage of the Uyghur language, and self-government on most issues except foreign policy affairs and external border control. The agreement cemented support for the Kuomintang regime in China, and Uyghurs often volunteered for the national army, despite being the one province where service was not mandatory. After the Revolution of the 90s overthrew the Kuomintang rule over the country, Sinkiang has been looked upon with suspicion by many Chinese politicians, believing that it could harbour anti-government sentiment and attempt secession in the future. In recent years, Chinese immigration to the province has picked up, rising from its historical fifteen per cent to around twenty-one percent.

Due to its remote nature, Sinkiang is only linked to the rest of China through a single highway, but has a single railway link to the Soviet Union and one into Mongolia, which connects it to the rest of China. Like China as a whole, the province claims territory currently occupied by its neighbours. Mongolia, the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and India all occupy regions considered by the national and provincial government to be integral parts of Sinkiang, and the provincial government has agreed in recent years, despite fears of increased central control, to allow a stronger Chinese military presence in the border regions. The Chinese-Indian Border Dispute is one of the few active military hotspots on the planet, with casualties being common in most months between the two sides.

 

[Wings]

What countries dispose of aircraft carriers ITTL ? Also I must have missed the part where this was explained but which countries dispose of atomic weapons here ? The US, USSR, UK, France and India I assume, but anybody else ?

In case this was lost in transition @Kanan

 

[gunnerkite]

What countries dispose of aircraft carriers ITTL ? Also I must have missed the part where this was explained but which countries dispose of atomic weapons here ? The US, USSR, UK, France and India I assume, but anybody else ?

countries that we know have aircraft carriers are UK (10), USA (5) and New England (3) from the royal New England Navy post. I think we can assume other big beasts also have them, soviet union, France. I could also see Brazil and Canada maybe having one (national pride and all that).

As far as nuclear weapons, not much to go on, although I admit I haven't read all the posts. We can assume USA, UK, USSR and France all posses them, and we know South Africa does from here; https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-of-new-england.434287/page-119#post-17109556.

 

[CosmicAsh]

BOSTON - As we near the one-year term in office for the Conservative government, their approval ratings continue to languish, and Labour continues to show high popularity among the electorate. Interim leader Maggie Hassan also polls highly with party members and the general public, far more than Opposition Leader Bernie Sanders, whose party looks to be greatly diminished in the polls. His performance as opposition leader has widely been panned as ineffective, and the Social Democratic Party, which had been established hastily, has been suffering from organisational issues. Labour also obtained high marks on bipartisanship, they have continued to be the main benefactor of the Prime Minister's troubles within her own party, as the Independence Group continues to try and stall legislation they see unfit and not sufficiently conservative. There has been enough data to determine that the Conservatives have hit their floor, with it being unlikely that they will fall much more.

Another notable rise is the Greens, polling over ten per cent for the first time in the party's history. Many believe that disgruntled SDP supporters have not all gone back to supporting Labour, but instead have lent their support to the Greens under Kathleen Williams. Our polling has found her leadership has been a boon for the party, with thousands of new party members. The party has been on a steady rise after a speech she made in Parliament went viral over the Conservative's decision to ban the production and sale of ethanol-burning motor vehicles -- which make up nearly half of new car sales in the Commonwealth. After she was able to work with other opposition and Tory moderates to stop the legislation, she briefly topped preferred Prime Ministerial polling.

The Acadian Party has seen further trouble, with their vote share all but vanishing and their party without a leader for a record nine months. The party's woes have deepened after the final provincial branch of the party was shut in late July, and the party's federal branch closed all their offices except in Adirondack, Maine, and New Brunswick.

While the next election is not projected for several years, the current signs are worrying for the governing Conservatives. Since polling began in earnest in the 1950s, only two governments have come back from such a severe polling shortage this early in their term: George Bush's surprise victory in 1987 and Paul Kirk's 2013 election in the midst of a difficult first term.

There remains a silver lining for the Prime Minister. All polls have showed that should the rebel Tories of the Independence Group decide to split from the party, they would fare extremely poorly at the polls. So while the Prime Minister may have trouble getting her caucus to vote cohesively, it is unlikely they would force an early election. She also remains more popular than Bernie Sanders, edging out the Opposition Leader by nearly six points in the preferred Prime Minister ranking. Both trail Ms. Hassan and Ms. Williams respectively.

 

[CosmicAsh]

What countries dispose of aircraft carriers ITTL ? Also I must have missed the part where this was explained but which countries dispose of atomic weapons here ? The US, USSR, UK, France and India I assume, but anybody else ?

Sorry for missing this!

The United Kingdom has the largest number of carriers, at 10. The United Stats comes in second with 5, and New England in third with 3. France has 2, Australia has 2, and Brazil has 1. No other nations maintain carrier capability, but Italy has discussed building one in recent years.

The powers with nuclear weapons are:
Brazil
China
France
Germany
India
Israel
Italy
South Africa
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
United States

All countries, except South Africa, are signatories to the treaties to eliminate nuclear weapons. Israel does not recognise they are a nuclear state.

 

[Wings]

Thanks a lot for the clarifications !

 

[Spens1]

Huge turnaround for Labour, clearly their interim leader is a lot better than whoever they had running at the election. I mean them polling at 49% is huge

As for the SDP, bit dissappointed that they've fallen so far, thought Sanders would be able to lead the opposition well enough. Clearly though if Sanders goes, the SDP goes with him at this point.

The Canadian comparison hasn't escaped me either (the fall of the SDP is similar to the new democratic party and the rise of the New England Greens is similar to the otl Canadian Greens).

Any chance that the rebel tory group breaks away and form their own party at all (or even be forced/kicked out) or are they going to just hold firm for now.

At least the tories have a massive majority at the moment though so they could always turn it around.

 

[Pokemon Master]

As for the SDP, bit dissappointed that they've fallen so far, thought Sanders would be able to lead the opposition well enough. Clearly though if Sanders goes, the SDP goes with him at this point.

I'm afraid they're just gonna become Socialist Alternative 2.0

 

[CosmicAsh]

A rather unique patreon request for September (and yet it's still August!) But here we are: a screen capture from a phone for New England's most listened to political podcast, CapitolCast!

 

[Analytical Engine]

Somehow, this TL still has not achieved peak awesome.

I'm going to have to re-adjust the scale on my awesome-meter again.

 

[Rosa Luxemburg]

A rather unique patreon request for September (and yet it's still August!) But here we are: a screen capture from a phone for New England's most listened to political podcast, CapitolCast!

Next step is actually producing that and putting it on Spotify

 

[CosmicAsh]

With 36 Responses I am pleased to announce that "Eagles of the Fair Country" is the winner of Our Fair Summer Contest! Congragulations to both @KanonenKartoffel and @Onerom for entering. "Eagles of the Fair Country" won with an impressive 77% of the vote! I thank you both for entering and everyone who has voted.