Map Thread VII

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I don't have a full explanation for this map yet, unfortunately, but I'd rather it didn't just sit around rotting on my hard drive, so I'm posting it. This was made according to Ynnead's suggestion that I make a map of a plausible monarchical America. I think this is plausible, but I don't have the full details worked out yet. Despite this, I will still manage to ramble on in the way I have come to before every single map I post, so bear with me here.


The point of divergence centres around the Seven Years War, which goes a bit differently in terms of America. Britain beats France and takes all of New France, including Louisiana west of the Mississippi, which IOTL was given to Spain. This means that the Acadian French don't flee en mass to Louisiana in the belief that it will remain French, and instead attempt to either return to France, or remain in Acadia.

British policy, however, is to dilute the French Acadian population with English-speaking colonists. This takes place both in a drive to colonise Acadia with British colonists, and in a brutal campaign to drive Acadians out of Acadia and into areas already predominantly English-speaking (primarily the New England colonies and New York).

Instead of diluting possible rebellious sentiments, this spreads the unrest to New England and New York. The region was already unstable due to the imposition of various "Intolerable Acts", but Acadian leaders masterfully add their own expulsion and the massacre of many hundreds of Acadians as another of Britain's many crimes against its colonies. This sparks an earlier American revolution, one where the colonies' populations are much more divided over the issues. Whilst some of the thirteen colonies were considered to be loyal to the British crown in our timeline, in this one no state can be considered to be steadfast in their loyalty; a significant portion of all their populations supports revolution and independence.

The British respond to the revolution in force, and George Washington is appointed by the Continental Congress to lead the Continental Army against their oppressors. Washington makes some early blunders, and is forced to retreat to Virginia to regroup. This is one of the major reasons why he is not considered the almost messianic figure he was in our timeline. This retreat, whilst it was certainly the sanest thing to do in Washington's position, was seen as a slight by the people of Maryland in particular, and the population of all states north of Virginia in general. It was seen as an abandonment of Washington's responsibilities to all the separate states, and this fostered a belief that Washington, as a Virginian, was out to protect Virginia above all others.

Washington's retreat to Virginia was also a blow to the Congress' and France's confidence in his abilities. France was waiting for Washington to prove his worth and win a battle against the British, and therefore show that the Americans could win this war with French help. Washington later advanced and fought an almost phyrric battle against the British forces. It was a victory, if a poor one, and it was enough for France to throw their lot in with the revolutionaries and declare war on Britain.

With France's help the American rebellion had become a war between two great powers, a war that the Americans and the French would go on to win.

What had begun with a riot in Boston had ended with the independence of over half of Britain's American empire. France had gained Louisiana west of the Mississippi back, and the satisfaction of knowing that it had managed to knock Britain down a notch or two.

The newly independent states were far from united, however. Border disputes with each other and with colonies still under Britain's control were common, and occasionally broke out into small conflicts between the militia of the different states. The central government was too weak to do anything to stop the conflict and unite the states. A new constitution was written, but it was rejected by many of the states; it placed too much power in the hands of men they simply could not trust. The Congress ignored the will of the states, and the states ignored the Congress. Chaos reigned.

It became clear that the republican form of government that the Founding Fathers aspired to was either flawed or would simply not work in such an atmosphere of regional conflict.

Another constitution was written, calling for a King to rule the American States. The issue was with who this King was to be; if the American people could not decide on a President to rule them for a few years, they could hardly decide on a King to rule them for the rest of his life. The King could not be an American, as no American could appeal to all states, but then who could he be? That was when a German noble put himself forward for the position.

In our timeline Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander of the House of Hohenzollern had no children, but in this world he did. Christian Alexander died in the mid-1780s, leaving the Margravates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth to his son, William Augustus.

William was a learned man, with a good head for organisation and a silver tongue that could speak German, Dutch, French and English. He had sold his Margravate to Prussia in 1790, and so had no obligations in Europe. Further still, he was married with a young son; a young son that could be brought up to be a truly American King. As a candidate he seemed perfect, but several state legislatures still rejected the new constitution, that was until William paid them each a visit.

William spoke English with no discernible German accent, and he spoke it fluently. He had been keeping up with developments in the American colonies since the end of the Seven Years War, and was able to quote many of the great men who fostered the revolution. His oratory skills were not always enough to convince everyone that confirming him as King would be in their best interests, but William was a keen political negotiator, and he exploited his knowledge of the different states' histories to make enough promises to convince those last few crucial legislators. The new constitution was passed, and William made the first King of the American States.

William was certainly not a man to sit about idly, and he quickly made good on many of his promises, negotiating treaties between states in order to confirm their borders and even negotiating the Treaty of Albany with Britain, cementing the American States' borders with British North America, most importantly the confirmation of the control of the Ontario area by New York.

Regional rivalries persisted, however, and various voting blocks persisted despite the newly found national unity. Seeing this, William talked with members of the Continental Congress on the possibility of demanding certain frontier territories from the various states, and reforming them as new states. The idea was to balance out the regional blocks, and to create neutral states that belonged to none of them. The idea was approved, and various new states popped up overnight. New York lost the Ontario area, but gained the State of Ontario's legislators and Congressmen as closely-aligned voters. Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia lost various inland territories, but gained Kentucky, Tennessee and Montgomery as allies in Congress. In 1800 the new state of Erie was created, and quickly fell in line with most North-East states in terms of voting.

Now, it is 1801, and interesting events are taking place in France...


To cut a long story short: a different Seven Years War leads to a different American revolution. America's "experiment" in republicanism fails leading to an enlighted, constitutional monarchy, but regional differences persist and all is not well in Europe.


And now, finally, the map itself:

It's a nice map, but the USA? A kingdom? :eek: :( *Suddenly feels sick and rushes to the nearest trash can to puke for the next 30 seconds.* :rolleyes:
 
Ok, another B_Munro/Tormsen production...

In this TL, some different currents in 19th century thought led to the development of a more radical and alienated Left in Germany by the early 20th century (there had been some nasty political clashes with the Right and center), while in Russia neither Lenin nor Trotsky ended up as leading figures of the Left. A longer WWI in which the US stayed out led to full-blown revolution in Germany as well as in Russia, and in this world the Socialists established a far more "radical" regime than the Weimar Germany of OTL, if still not full-blown Leninist/Stalinist type Communism. With revolution breaking out in France and Italy as well, the remnants of the Entente were unable to crush the German People's Republic in its crib, and a reluctant armistice was concluded with Red Germany and its Austrian and Hungarian Red allies.

In Russia, without the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, the far Left didn't do as well as OTL: OTOH, the Whites had no great popular legitimacy, and with less of a Far Left threat, were less able to rally moderates to their side. So the Russian civil war dragged on even longer than OTL, and finally ended with a shaky left-center coalition in power, with narrower bounds than OTLs pre-WWII Soviet Union (a larger Poland, and a fairly solid left-wing Caucasian Federation under the leadership of a certain mustachioed Georgian).

Meanwhile, in the East, other development were going on: influenced by some of the more influential non-Marx socialist thinkers of this TL, a Chinese scholar developed his own version of "Communism with Chinese characteristics", a plan for revolution and reform in a mostly peasant, not rural proletariat, nation, also containing some healthy dollops of Confucianist thought. This new model proved very popular with the Chinese intelligentsia, and by the late 20s the leftish elements of this world's equivalent of the Nationalist Chinese had been converted to Li-ism. As OTL, a clash between the Left and Right took place, but here the Confucianist Communists came out on top (not Confucianist-Marxist: Marx is just one figure here in a more intellectually diverse Socialist spectrum).

A Great-Depression equivalent took place, and led to the radicalization of the German Reds, as the semi-capitalist model they had been following so far did not work out at all well and Italy and later France (after the hard left, with German aid, won the Spanish *Civil war) went *Fascist. A major war eventually ensued, with Poland, Italy, France, the Rhineland Republic and Yugoslavia and Romania vs. Spain, Germany, and Hungary (Austria had been "Anschlussed" by this time, and Bohemia-Moravia was a German puppet). Thanks in part to the Russians coming in (they had serious ideological conflicts with the Germans, but Poland had stolen waay too much of the Rodina) the Red states survived the initial attacks and the war dragged on until the Germans dropped a crude nuclear device on a French city.

Meanwhile, in the East, the Japanese as OTL attacked a China seemingly becoming too strong and united: compared to OTL, the Red Chinese regime was a lot better at handling guerilla and Fabian warfare, drawing the Japanese into a deepening quagmire that war for European colonies (guarded here by an undistracted US and UK) could not relieve them from. Economic disaster strikes, mass anger becomes a bit much for the Kempetai, there is a military coup, a navy-led countercoup, and Japanese forces withdraw north into Manchuria. Japan enters a period of political turmoil, assassinations, unrest on the left, etc. China is bloodied and exhausted, but victorious.

In Europe, the UK, France and Russia move into an alliance, terrified by German power. In the 60s another war breaks out over the French Missile Crisis (the UK secretly supplying France with its own atomic arsenal, something forbidden by the Germans since the last war): Germany is hurt badly, (the capital was moved to Vienna from devastated Berlin) but the UK, France and Russia are hit worse, and Germany and their Red allies proceed to remake Europe. Far from the combat fronts, Eastern Russia breaks away under a radical-nationalist regime, which the Germans let be (occupying European Russia is a massive pain as it is).

Time goes on.

By 2010, the US leads a coalition of democratic nations, one of the major power blocks. The US is more economically left-wing than OTL (but then so is everyone in this world: even the *Fascist states believe in a lot of government intervention in the economy) but also somewhat more religious-minded (a more “centrist” and less politicized Christianity than today’s Fundamentalist right), a bit poorer but with a less polarized income distribution. It is currently allied with the Chinese, who have evolved into a regime no more autocratic that say early 1980s Mexico, and have a lot of free-market activity, in mutual protection against some of the nastier regimes out there.

Germany never really recovered from the human and material losses of the Atomic War, and nowadays the leadership of the European Socialist Union is genuinely multi-national, with something of a coalition of Germans, Italians and Magyars dominating the Assembly and Inner Council. (A “Slavic” counter-block is often troublesome). Harsh measures put in place during the protracted recovery from the War are still in place (the relative poverty of the Union compared to the US is generally explained as being due to the effects of said War).

The French and British Empires survive in exile, white rule in Africa bolstered by millions of refugees from radioactive France and the UK, and the atomic-armed French and British regimes are Not Nice people, although the British still have (some) democracy for white people. (Ironically, the more openly autocratic “free” French regime is actually rather more tolerant: a black Muslim who keeps his nose clean and speaks good French can go very high in the French regime, if not all the way to the top.) A second atomic clash between Communist Europe and the Empires took place in the 80s over the war-torn Congo, but proved limited due to the difficulties in targeting the major cities of the enemies over such great distances (missile technology is less advanced than OTL) and mostly just led to a large part of central Africa getting chewed up.

Japan’s current dictatorship has developed its own national ideology, a weird mix-up of leftism, nationalism, and good old Emperor Worship: finally driven from the mainland in the late 70s, Japan has forged its own, anti-Chinese SE Asian alliance and promoted itself as a champion for various Peoples Who Wish to Breathe Free. The current regime is actually pro-immigration, which annoys many its subjects, who thinks those Indonesians and, worse, Africans are stinking up the place. Said leadership doesn’t care: they will maintain Japanese greatness by hook or by crook, and if that means importing foreign labor to replace Japanese who aren’t reproducing themselves, then they’ll make them into Japanese.

The Japanese get along fairly well with the Islamicist regimes, which have arisen in reaction to Socialist official atheism and renewed colonial oppression: the Japanese are big buyers of oil, after all, and are uninvolved otherwise in Middle Eastern affairs.

The Free French are aligned with the British in an anti-Communist pact, but otherwise don’t like each other much: the French Secret Services, considered the best in the world, are busy trying to strengthen pro-*Fascist forces in Latin America, where they already have allies, in hopes of creating a greater “Latin” block (this is a constant worry for the US in the region). The British look down on the French and their fondness for miscegenation, and don’t think much of the *Fascist Latin Americans, either: the Siberian Russians dislike the British but get along fairly well with the French.

The Caucasian Federation, what with the collapse of Russia and the Second Civil War, and the end of European colonialism in the Middle East, has become the nucleus of a strong left-wing local alliance, united against the ESU Menace. Jughashvili has a lot of statues in his name here and there, and if he did have quite a few of his enemies murdered, that is considered simply good politics among many of the inhabitants of this unhappy timeline.

Currently, the European Socialist Union is in deep trouble: aside the aforementioned internal national divisions, the economy has been in a slump for over a decade (the basic limitations of a Command Economy caught up with them a bit later than OTLs USSR, but caught up they have) and suppressing the revolt in Russia is turning into a serious cluster-Fword. Some abroad fear a nuclear war between the Russian Republic and the ESU: others fear the prospect of a ESU civil war even more. This is, after all, a nervous world: there are no less than 14 atomic powers…

Bruce
 
And here's the map.

Bruce

ConfucianMarxist.png
 
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June- December 1914

-First confusion and then panic ensues as the majority of the Russian Empire is replaced by the USSR. Imperial Russian troops in Finland mistake Red Army units for rebels and attempt to arrest them, triggering conflict.

-Once the full extent of the ISOT becomes clear to Moscow (this takes several days), Stalin gleefully orders the Red Army forward into the Russian Empire remnants. The Soviet Air force proves highly effective, the army less so but the disorganized and unprepared Imperial troops are rapidly being beaten.

-Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich begs the Kaiser for help, citing the godless communists who are have somehow taken Moscow and wiped out most of the empire. Disregarding reports that the Soviets are from the future Kaiser Wilhelm agrees to send help crushing what he believes to be rebels in exchange for Mikhail promising to make a number of political and economic concessions.

-German forces under Paul von Hindenburg cross into Poland where they are delivered a decisive defeat by Red Army tanks and planes at the battle of Warsaw. However lack of initiative by the Russian leadership keeps the defeat from becoming a route and Hindeburg is able to cary out a fighting retreat into Prussia.

-Germany starts to frantically mobilize as the full extent of the Soviet Union's power becomes clear. Austria-Hungary and Italy follow suit as part of the Triple Entente. The rest of Europe is terrfied by the Communists and starts discussing aid.

-Proclaiming an intention to liberate China from imperialism Stalin also sends Russian troops into Manchuria and Mongolia to drive out the Imperial Russians and Japanese. Japan declares war only to be beaten at sea and driven back to Korea.

-In addition Soviet forces invade the Russian sphere of influence in Iran and clash with Ottomans in the caucaus mountains. Britain declares war on the USSR to protect Persian and Chinese soverignty.

-Worldwide communist movements get a boost in membership.
more on this please..
 
January-June 1915

-The feeling in the Kremlin is jubuliant as Soviet Polikarpov I-16s swat German, Austro-Hungarian, French and British aircraft from the sky and BT-7 and T-27 tanks crush smash the desperate western defensive lines. It is as if they cannot fail. Stalin orders the creation of the Finish SSR and sends Russian troops forward accros all borders.

-In Rome the European powers agree to a defensive alliance against the Red Menace. It includes Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Britain, Sweden, Portugal, Montenegro, and Albania.

-Despite allied efforts the Red Army under Marshal Kliment Voroshilov plows forward. Austro-Hungarian troops fall back as they are pummeled from the air and broken apart by formations of tanks. In Germany von Hindenburg uses tear gas in an attempt to slow the Russian advance, the shortage of gas masks gives him a temporary respite that is ended when Voroshilov starts using mustard gas.

-Germany produces its first tank, the Burstyn Mk I is slow and easily dispatched by Soviet anti-tank rifles. By March British and French troops are assisting the Germans. There are plans for a Von Hindenburg Line, since Soviet infantry aren't any better than their Allied counterparts and machine guns are effective against anything short of a tank, and Russian tanks are in short supply.

-In Austria-Hungary a particularly clever infantryman figures out how to make gasoline and parafin bombs.

-Lenin is arrested by the German government before he can make it to Switzerland, they've gathered enough history of the USSR to not want to let him go.

-The Soviets smash into Romania and Sweden.

-In the Middle East Ottoman lines have essentially collapsed despite efforts by the British to help them hold. But the British have their own worries in Afghanistan and Northern India.

-Georgy Zukhov, recently promoted to full general, spearheads the push into China. Japanese forces are barely holding on in Korea and the Red army is right outside Peking.

-With naval victories (thanks to airpower) having essentially wiped out the Japanese and British navies in the China Sea Stalin orders the invasion of the Japanese islands to commence.

-The United States is worried by Communist successes, there is a movement to enter the war.

-Conscription is announced in the USSR as Russian industry strains to supply its troops in the field.

Soviet Map Series III.png
 
From "Congress Kingdom" timeline, that I participate in on polish historical forum. PoD is that, after Vienna Congress Constantine became a king of Poland (Kingdom of Poland consisting most of former Duchy of Warsaw), which becomes a Russian protectorate (later it will evolve into more like close alliance of two independent states). And I know, it near pole-wank.
Timeline here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=71090 (in polish), and discussion topic here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=67895 (in polish, and very long).
__congress_kingdom____alliances_by_jeremak_j-d341q0b.png
 
From "Congress Kingdom" timeline, that I participate in on polish historical forum. PoD is that, after Vienna Congress Constantine became a king of Poland (Kingdom of Poland consisting most of former Duchy of Warsaw), which becomes a Russian protectorate (later it will evolve into more like close alliance of two independent states). And I know, it near pole-wank.
Timeline here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=71090 (in polish), and discussion topic here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=67895 (in polish, and very long).

That seems very interesting... Can you tell me how Germany ended up being the way it is? Y'know, Prussia and all that junk?
 
January-June 1915

-The feeling in the Kremlin is jubuliant as Soviet Polikarpov I-16s swat German, Austro-Hungarian, French and British aircraft from the sky and BT-7 and T-27 tanks crush smash the desperate western defensive lines. It is as if they cannot fail. Stalin orders the creation of the Finish SSR and sends Russian troops forward accros all borders.

-In Rome the European powers agree to a defensive alliance against the Red Menace. It includes Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Britain, Sweden, Portugal, Montenegro, and Albania.

-Despite allied efforts the Red Army under Marshal Kliment Voroshilov plows forward. Austro-Hungarian troops fall back as they are pummeled from the air and broken apart by formations of tanks. In Germany von Hindenburg uses tear gas in an attempt to slow the Russian advance, the shortage of gas masks gives him a temporary respite that is ended when Voroshilov starts using mustard gas.

-Germany produces its first tank, the Burstyn Mk I is slow and easily dispatched by Soviet anti-tank rifles. By March British and French troops are assisting the Germans. There are plans for a Von Hindenburg Line, since Soviet infantry aren't any better than their Allied counterparts and machine guns are effective against anything short of a tank, and Russian tanks are in short supply.

-In Austria-Hungary a particularly clever infantryman figures out how to make gasoline and parafin bombs.

-Lenin is arrested by the German government before he can make it to Switzerland, they've gathered enough history of the USSR to not want to let him go.

-The Soviets smash into Romania and Sweden.

-In the Middle East Ottoman lines have essentially collapsed despite efforts by the British to help them hold. But the British have their own worries in Afghanistan and Northern India.

-Georgy Zukhov, recently promoted to full general, spearheads the push into China. Japanese forces are barely holding on in Korea and the Red army is right outside Peking.

-With naval victories (thanks to airpower) having essentially wiped out the Japanese and British navies in the China Sea Stalin orders the invasion of the Japanese islands to commence.

-The United States is worried by Communist successes, there is a movement to enter the war.

-Conscription is announced in the USSR as Russian industry strains to supply its troops in the field.

Love it :)
Although a German Tank this early in the war? Or was it like "oh, you could do this? let's imitate!"

And a naval landing by the russians in the far east? How developed were these kinds things back then? I kind of doubt the rapidness of the whole thing, afterall the USSR was still severely weakened by the purges and all.

Anyway, a really interesting scenario. Please continue!
 
January-June 1915

-The feeling in the Kremlin is jubuliant as Soviet Polikarpov I-16s swat German, Austro-Hungarian, French and British aircraft from the sky and BT-7 and T-27 tanks crush smash the desperate western defensive lines. It is as if they cannot fail. Stalin orders the creation of the Finish SSR and sends Russian troops forward accros all borders.

-In Rome the European powers agree to a defensive alliance against the Red Menace. It includes Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Britain, Sweden, Portugal, Montenegro, and Albania.

-Despite allied efforts the Red Army under Marshal Kliment Voroshilov plows forward. Austro-Hungarian troops fall back as they are pummeled from the air and broken apart by formations of tanks. In Germany von Hindenburg uses tear gas in an attempt to slow the Russian advance, the shortage of gas masks gives him a temporary respite that is ended when Voroshilov starts using mustard gas.

-Germany produces its first tank, the Burstyn Mk I is slow and easily dispatched by Soviet anti-tank rifles. By March British and French troops are assisting the Germans. There are plans for a Von Hindenburg Line, since Soviet infantry aren't any better than their Allied counterparts and machine guns are effective against anything short of a tank, and Russian tanks are in short supply.

-In Austria-Hungary a particularly clever infantryman figures out how to make gasoline and parafin bombs.

-Lenin is arrested by the German government before he can make it to Switzerland, they've gathered enough history of the USSR to not want to let him go.

-The Soviets smash into Romania and Sweden.

-In the Middle East Ottoman lines have essentially collapsed despite efforts by the British to help them hold. But the British have their own worries in Afghanistan and Northern India.

-Georgy Zukhov, recently promoted to full general, spearheads the push into China. Japanese forces are barely holding on in Korea and the Red army is right outside Peking.

-With naval victories (thanks to airpower) having essentially wiped out the Japanese and British navies in the China Sea Stalin orders the invasion of the Japanese islands to commence.

-The United States is worried by Communist successes, there is a movement to enter the war.

-Conscription is announced in the USSR as Russian industry strains to supply its troops in the field.
Wouldn't they jam Finland with the territory of the old Finno-Karelian SSR? And will Svalbard be ignored for now do to being a freezing hellhole only good for a desperate last stand? And will Stalin at any point ask about the others joining "willingly"? And do you plan on showing the Imperial Russians in World War Two? What will be done about the contents of the gulags? Enough room in the trains to ship loot and prisoners into Russia while shipping the more complient Soviet criminals and prisoners South and West to run the police, factories, and such? And I'm practically drooling at the potential here. If only the Muslims got back in their Jihadist groove earlier. Then there are the Buddhists hoards with their feudal pikes at the ready. And if any foreigner who escaped Russia from the future tolded about the art of Kamikazes... Enough violent Muslims, heavily trained Prussians, fueding Danubians, constantly revolting Chinese, Bushido-prone Japanese, and revolutionary Americans in the Gulags... Anyways, I look forward to the inevitable revolts throughout the world.
 
From "Congress Kingdom" timeline, that I participate in on polish historical forum. PoD is that, after Vienna Congress Constantine became a king of Poland (Kingdom of Poland consisting most of former Duchy of Warsaw), which becomes a Russian protectorate (later it will evolve into more like close alliance of two independent states). And I know, it near pole-wank.
Timeline here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=71090 (in polish), and discussion topic here: http://www.historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=67895 (in polish, and very long).
Very nice style you have there, it looks like what I'd expect a mid twentieth century news magazine to produce.
 
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