One of the prior updates mentions that Jews are being blamed for Illuminism, Fascism, AND Beutelism, so it's basically the same canards as OTL, just even wider ranging somehow.
"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
Hell he could even play up the enlightenment (relative to the time period) of the Kievan Rus as a means of political propaganda. The descent of Russia (and the world in general) into authoritarianism isn't presented as a divinely mandated inexorable decline, but rather an adaptation to environmental and social pressures fostered by the secular and religious nobility. Freed of those pressures, the People's Illuminated Republic of the Rus has relieved itself of the khanist yoke, and is recovering to its former health and vibrancy under the urgent pressure exerted by the people. Every man a god!
*Edit- I also really like the suggestion of propaganda about Russians being strong because of adaptation! It's conceptually the exact opposite of the Strong Man Theory but has the same basic result (Illuminism in a nutshell I guess)
So this could basically be Illuminist version of the New Soviet Man which will square off against the Yankee's Naziesque Pinnacle Man. I somehow feel like TTL is leading us to the most screwed up Cold War ever. The Ruskies are pushing nationalist Jacobin pseudo-socialist spiritualism, while the Yankees are pushing Commie-Nazi-Dominionism. It's just terrifying to think about.
Unrelated, I have some Europa related questions:
1. Any hints/ideas regarding the development of Evolainism? I know Napo has the rule that no ideology can be the same as OTL. Perhaps it's even more class and caste oriented, and has a very strong Indian influence?
2. Do you think that Europa can survive the Second Great War? Personally, I'm skeptical. I just don't think the Empire has the resources to contend with the combined Illuminist powers of Russia and Germany, or the globe straddling Fascist/Authoritarian Protestant "Free World." They have North Africa, part of the Middle East, Western Europe, and India. Lots of these said territories are either ripe pickings for their enemies or are prone to revolt.
EDIT: Maybe a complement to Evola could be Savitri Devi, a French-Greek-Italian woman who admired Hinduism and Nazism OTL, and combined the two in a lot of weird ways.
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I still can't get over how fundamentally KIND the RU is to Jews TTL. Yeah the concern is born out of a condescending "one Chosen people to another", but it's a damned sight better than the rest of the world which seems steeped in even more pervasive antisemitism than OTL. No wonder they're so loyal to the state! One thing's for sure, there's definitely going to be a major wave of Jewish immigration to the Union, and the founding of the Zionist Union or whatever is going to be intense to say the least.
Also would an eventual Illuminati Bloc call itself a Federation, since the RU and the fascist sphere have thoroughly tainted the term Union?
Yeah, their treatment of Jewish and Black people is the Union's Pet the Dog moment.
Also, I legitimately can't wait for Fascist Israel. It's going to be a horrifying shitshow, but it's also going to be supremely entertaining.
I think the Illumanists would be more like Revolutionary Catalonia as seen through a drug fuelled nightmares of George Orwell.
Vuu
Banned
Oy vey you antisemite, how dare you propose such a small Israel, the RUMP and ORRA gonna visit you today. West hemisphere to America, east hemisphere to Israel, except Britain, subsaharan Africa and Oceania of course, those are holiest Anglo-Saxon territoriesNile to Euphrates time.
Don't worry, this TL is the TL it is, you know very well the thing I said won't last long before it goes even worse
At the endgame of this TL I honestly expect it to be almost identical to our prehistoric conditions, except everyone walks around with handheld recreational McNukes(tm) while beheading the guy who learns to walk for not being *anprim enough, before beheading the guy who did the first beheading, for discovering beheading
I'm loving all the new changes and looking forward to a postwar cultural update once the Illuminists/Eduists/Egoists finally carve out their spheres. Don't worry, I'm not going to nag you about a freaking rounders chapter Napo!
Slight correction: his daughter Catherine would be doing that.
SuperZtar64
Banned
You just reminded me. How could I not think of it earlier?
We need the most glorious economic system to ever exist in the history of mankind, nay, the universe: the immortal science of Anarcho-Capitalism.
NO GOVERNMENT AND NO ARCHDUKES
HURRAH, HURRAH!
JUST RECREATIONAL MCNUKES
HURRAH, HURRAH!
AND LET NO MAN EVER PAY A TAX
WHICH MAKES THE STATIST'S HEART RELAX
AND WE'LL ALL FEEL GREAT WHEN MONEY COMES MARCHING HOME
ANARCHY AND THE NAP
HURRAH, HURRAH!
WILL GUARANTEE MY LIBERTY
HURRAH, HURRAH!
MEXICANS I WILL UNDERPAY
WITH ROSES THEY SHALL STREW THE WAY
AND WE'LL ALL FEEL GREAT WHEN MONEY COMES MARCHING HOME
GET THE HELL OFF MY PROPERTY
HURRAH, HURRAH!
OR GET A TASTE OF MY M-60
HURRAH, HURRAH!
MY LEGAL WRATH IS READY NOW
TO PLACE A BULLET IN YOUR BROW
AND WE'LL ALL FEEL GREAT WHEN MONEY COMES MARCHING HOME
It's perfectly suited for the madnessverse, and I think it would lend itself well to any sort of conflict between the sects of Illuminism that are going to be popping up soon, all debating which kind of anarchy is best.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Solar_Temple
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_of_Sion
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiéron_du_Val_d'Or
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Mistery
These could have some good ideas for the coming insanity in Europa. Maybe if some part of the Jacobin society still exists, they could engage in a secret war?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priory_of_Sion
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiéron_du_Val_d'Or
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Mistery
These could have some good ideas for the coming insanity in Europa. Maybe if some part of the Jacobin society still exists, they could engage in a secret war?
That could be a good vehicle to talk a little about the different French Revolution
This TL is already pretty dark, found this pic, here's something to lighten things up:
Pinnacle Man and Atheling President Steele wearing an easter bunny suit during easter celebrations while Britannic Premier Winston Churchill visited Philadelphia (1947 colorized).
Unbeknownst to observers, this was all a calculated move by Steele to throw his enemies off guard by looking silly while he plotted the beginnings of the Second Great War (1948-1953).
Obviously non-canon.
Pinnacle Man and Atheling President Steele wearing an easter bunny suit during easter celebrations while Britannic Premier Winston Churchill visited Philadelphia (1947 colorized).
Unbeknownst to observers, this was all a calculated move by Steele to throw his enemies off guard by looking silly while he plotted the beginnings of the Second Great War (1948-1953).
Obviously non-canon.
Plot twist. Steele starts the SGW because he was suppose to lead the bunny hop and got pissed when he was snubbed.
Vlad Ulyanov as a ruthless businessman was really ironic, but Viktor fleeing Moscow...that was fucking amazing! It was about time that the bastard's empire crumbled. However, I wonder what the new Russian government will be like. Surely it can't be worse that Viktor's, can it?
I mentioned it in my story over in the EU thread, but I'll also throw in the 'Enochian language' as something that could crop up again in the postwar world, particularly in the RU and England. It's supposed to be the occult language of the angels (even though it's pretty obviously based on English), and is the basis for a whole discipline of esotericism.
We should also be on track to invent LSD proper pretty soon, if it hasn't already happened, so that should be fun. I can't wait for some local AFC bishop to start advocating for tap water lysergification as an alternative to fluoridation.