"What Madness Is This?" - A Timeline
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
Yeah, feel free to post it! Like I've told others in the past, I can't guarantee it will be canon, but I'll take a look.
I would think ASB. I'm not too sure though. I could be wrong.
Thanks for reading!
Very compelling work here! I was interested if there's a list of parallels of things of our timeline and this one, or at least the interesting ones
Thanks a lot, Maron!
Yeah, I've actually been thinking about making a list of all the weird parallels and such (I've done that with other TLs before). I'm waiting for Zoid's next chapter about the Middle East before I write a new chapter myself, but maybe I'll create a list like that while I wait. Zoid would the man for the ethno-linguistic maps. There will be a LOT of French and American-English, that's for sure. Yep, that's basically the extent of it (though the Muslims are still a wild-card at the moment). This world, though insisting it's still the torch-bearer of the 18th Century Enlightenment, is actually devolving into crazed, fanatical, medieval religious zealots willing to stop at nothing to achieve victory over the other faiths.
Whether nukes or no nukes, they're going to really eff-up the planet forever. If they had had nukes at the beginning of this conflict, literally everyone on the planet would have died, no doubt.I've actually considered writing an ASB mini-TL about OTL crossing over with TTL.
Once, say, OTL NATO or the UN realize how completely and mind-bogglingly bloodthirsty TTL's citizens are, they'd probably nuke the Republican Union and possibly a few other places at least. The Republican Union is as powerful as the OTL Soviet Union at its zenith (Stalin-Khrushchev years).
I apologize to you readers for the eventual grammatical errors and to H.P. Lovecraft,may he rest in peace.
LIFE AND TIMES OF H.P. LOVETTE
When the Manifest Destiny Party took power in 1890, not all of the americans were happy.
Some people saw it as a monster that could potentially destroy the country, and since they feared what could happen to those who dared to oppose it, they left the Union in search of a better place. Among these there was a man named Winfield Scott Lovecraft.
Lovecraft firmly believed that the Union had taken a bad course in the last years, so, when Custer became First Chief Consul, he took his family and went to California. To make things easyer, he changed his name to Lovette.
Some months later, his wife gave birth to a son, who they called Henri Philippe.
FIRST YEARS
Not being particularly social, H.P. Lovette spent most of his childhood alone, despite there being two or three kids who he called friends.
Introverted and melanchonic, his delicate health sometimes forced him to stay at home, with only his father's vast library to keep him company. There, he became fond of the old classics, expecially the stories of spirits and monsters from the european and african tradition.
These stories would fill him with nightmares, but would help him later in the future.
ADULTHOOD
After he graduated at the Imperial Law School in Saint Francois, Lovette started a firm with one of his father's friends, Michel LeRoi (originally Michael King, another immigrant from the Union), whose daughter he married in 1918.
He had a good carreer and an happy family, but he was still haunted by nightmares.
Sometimes he found relief putting them on paper, and he even thought to publish them, but his family always discouraged him, thinking of the ridicolous that would come.
However, he had an unexpected occasion in 1955....
RISE AS A WRITER
When the war started, at first the Kingdom of California decided to just keep the army ready in case of an invasion. However, many in the press started to shout for an "intervention to help our quebecoise and marylander friends", as a newspaper put it, and many artists started drawing caricatures of the Union's leaders.
When Lovette saw a picture of a demon resembling Joe Steele, he had an idea: he decided to make something similar, combining the tales of his nightmares with a satire of the Union. He sent to a newspaper a revised version of his first story (a tale about the tragic consequences of the reopening of an ancient tomb) under the pen name of Henry Armitage.
It was an immediate success, and he started to write a series of stories.
Mocking the Union's media habit of portraying the "inferiors" as villains, he created a hero of irish/spanish ancestry, Diego O'Connell, and made him fight against an host of monsters, of which the most evil were: the Swearing Fool Nix-Sothoth, Oswalthothep the Dark Beast, and the worst of all: Sthuulhu, Devourer of Worlds.
To say that the Union was irritated would be an euphemism: they were so enraged that they even thought of invading California.
However, since they were immersed in the columbian front, they decided to just send some cover agents to kill "this bastard son of a filthy whore who calls himself a writer", to use Steele's words.
Strangely, this agents never found their man, and some of them disappeared.
In fact, the californian government decided that Lovette's work was of great importance, and protected him with every means possible. They even managed to smuggle his works to Canada throug Alaska.
LATER CAREER
When the war ended, Lovette stopped writing for a while.
Needing some time to rest, and being his horror satires now useless, he left the firm to his son Jean-Luc, and travelled around the columbian nations and even Europe.
When he came back, he decided to explore a new genre: science-fiction. He then wrote "A mountain of madness", the first of the "Imperium" series: set in "a grim and dark future", the novel told the story of a star spanning human empire's struggle against a race of shapeless monsters from another dimension: the Shogothi.
The story hadn't the same success of his previous works, but it was well received, expecially in Virginia, and it gave him new fame.
END AND LEGACY
On March 2nd 1980, Lovette died of a sudden heart attack while working on the 7th novel of the Imperium series.
Luckily for his fans, his legacy was gathered by his georgian friend and disciple Stanley George Lee.
LIFE AND TIMES OF H.P. LOVETTE
When the Manifest Destiny Party took power in 1890, not all of the americans were happy.
Some people saw it as a monster that could potentially destroy the country, and since they feared what could happen to those who dared to oppose it, they left the Union in search of a better place. Among these there was a man named Winfield Scott Lovecraft.
Lovecraft firmly believed that the Union had taken a bad course in the last years, so, when Custer became First Chief Consul, he took his family and went to California. To make things easyer, he changed his name to Lovette.
Some months later, his wife gave birth to a son, who they called Henri Philippe.
FIRST YEARS
Not being particularly social, H.P. Lovette spent most of his childhood alone, despite there being two or three kids who he called friends.
Introverted and melanchonic, his delicate health sometimes forced him to stay at home, with only his father's vast library to keep him company. There, he became fond of the old classics, expecially the stories of spirits and monsters from the european and african tradition.
These stories would fill him with nightmares, but would help him later in the future.
ADULTHOOD
After he graduated at the Imperial Law School in Saint Francois, Lovette started a firm with one of his father's friends, Michel LeRoi (originally Michael King, another immigrant from the Union), whose daughter he married in 1918.
He had a good carreer and an happy family, but he was still haunted by nightmares.
Sometimes he found relief putting them on paper, and he even thought to publish them, but his family always discouraged him, thinking of the ridicolous that would come.
However, he had an unexpected occasion in 1955....
RISE AS A WRITER
When the war started, at first the Kingdom of California decided to just keep the army ready in case of an invasion. However, many in the press started to shout for an "intervention to help our quebecoise and marylander friends", as a newspaper put it, and many artists started drawing caricatures of the Union's leaders.
When Lovette saw a picture of a demon resembling Joe Steele, he had an idea: he decided to make something similar, combining the tales of his nightmares with a satire of the Union. He sent to a newspaper a revised version of his first story (a tale about the tragic consequences of the reopening of an ancient tomb) under the pen name of Henry Armitage.
It was an immediate success, and he started to write a series of stories.
Mocking the Union's media habit of portraying the "inferiors" as villains, he created a hero of irish/spanish ancestry, Diego O'Connell, and made him fight against an host of monsters, of which the most evil were: the Swearing Fool Nix-Sothoth, Oswalthothep the Dark Beast, and the worst of all: Sthuulhu, Devourer of Worlds.
To say that the Union was irritated would be an euphemism: they were so enraged that they even thought of invading California.
However, since they were immersed in the columbian front, they decided to just send some cover agents to kill "this bastard son of a filthy whore who calls himself a writer", to use Steele's words.
Strangely, this agents never found their man, and some of them disappeared.
In fact, the californian government decided that Lovette's work was of great importance, and protected him with every means possible. They even managed to smuggle his works to Canada throug Alaska.
LATER CAREER
When the war ended, Lovette stopped writing for a while.
Needing some time to rest, and being his horror satires now useless, he left the firm to his son Jean-Luc, and travelled around the columbian nations and even Europe.
When he came back, he decided to explore a new genre: science-fiction. He then wrote "A mountain of madness", the first of the "Imperium" series: set in "a grim and dark future", the novel told the story of a star spanning human empire's struggle against a race of shapeless monsters from another dimension: the Shogothi.
The story hadn't the same success of his previous works, but it was well received, expecially in Virginia, and it gave him new fame.
END AND LEGACY
On March 2nd 1980, Lovette died of a sudden heart attack while working on the 7th novel of the Imperium series.
Luckily for his fans, his legacy was gathered by his georgian friend and disciple Stanley George Lee.
Stan Lee!Also, I think that's really cool, and would fit perfectly ITTL, but its up to Napoleon to decide.
I've actually considered writing an ASB mini-TL about OTL crossing over with TTL.
The Republican Union is as powerful as the OTL Soviet Union at its zenith (Stalin-Khrushchev years).
Folk RUSSIA would HAPPILY work with NATO to destroy the Union is like Nazi Germany once aain (they just lack the concentration camps) by yeah high tech without social advancement is bad (think about us with out tech but with 50s era thinking)
Still the Union going "Oh Shit" against NATO and allies would be good but there is a problem OTL militaries are smaller than th TTL militaries because we just ended our Cold War and scrapped some of it but if you give OTL time we can arms ourselves again and crush the TTL timeline (after all our equipment curbstomp theirs)
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Hi, Napoleon. I had some free time in these days, so I’ve written another chapter about Lovette. I hope you’ll like it.
I’m also thinking to write something about Italy, but I need some information :
1-The italian capital: is it Turin, Milan or another city ?
2-Who’s fighting against Italy, just Greece or some more nations ? And when did they begin to fight ?
3oes Italy have airships ?
Thanks for your kind attention.
From Dr. Stephen King’s lesson about 20th century literature, October 31 2013, Thomas Jefferson State University, Richmond, Virginia
I’ m sure you all have read at least one of H.P. Lovette’s books….good, which one do you remember the most ?
Ah yes, “The call of Sthuulhu”, my favourite. Have you ever heard of “The man in the dark castle”(1), instead ?
No ? Well, I’m not surprised. You are too young to remember. But don’t worry. I’m not making an official examination. I just wanted to tell you about one of the most controversial novels ever written.
“The man in the dark castle” was born as a spin-off of the “Imperium” series. As you’ll remember, in the 6th novel the main characters, Randolph Whateley and Wilbur Carter, accidentally travel to a parallel universe while looking for the Shogothi home dimension.
Upon their arrival, they are greeted by a nightmarish sight: a pile of burning bodies.
They soon discover that that world is under one of the worst dictatorships possible, and, after a series of troubles, manage to go back to their own universe.
The fans were so intrigued by the setting that they wanted more: unfortunately, Lovette died before he could satisfy them. So, Stanley George Lee, who would later complete the series, began to work on the spin-off basing himself on Lovette’s notes, and completed it in 1981.
An example of the alternate history genre, this story starts to differ from our world in 1955, when the Austrian painter Adolf Hiedler (who worked secretly as a spy for the prussians) is able to kill Napoleon VI (luckily, in our world he was stopped by the imperial bodyguards before he could fire).
This starts a chain of events that leads to the year 2000, in a world ruled by the Union and its allies, where the only free nations are Portugal, Sardinia, Russia and Japan, who have formed the Alliance for Freedom against Fascism.
As you can imagine, this world is on the brink of destruction: in fact, the novel ends with a speech by the king of Sardinia where he tells his people about the Alliance decision to stop the american threat with nuclear weapons.
Surely you are wondering why this novel is considered controversial: you must first know that unfortunately, even years after the war, there were still some people who sympathized for the Union.
Terrorist groups like the Fist of Steele and the Sons of Oswald interpreted the book in their own way, and took inspirations for their atrocities, like the murder of congressman(2) Hugh Heffner in 1982 or the Charlotte Massacre the following year, when five families of irish origin were killed in the most brutal ways imaginable.
And so, to stop this bloodbath, the book was forbidden for some time in North America. Some in the government tried to convince the europeans to do the same, but they were unsuccessful.
According to recent announcements, we will not be able to read the book until 2050….
NOTES:
(1):The dark castle of the title refers to the AFC “Pastoral Castle”.
(2):I didn’t know how to call a member of the virginian House of Burgesses, so I chose congressman. I hope I’ve not made a mistake.
I’m also thinking to write something about Italy, but I need some information :
1-The italian capital: is it Turin, Milan or another city ?
2-Who’s fighting against Italy, just Greece or some more nations ? And when did they begin to fight ?
3
oes Italy have airships ?Thanks for your kind attention.
From Dr. Stephen King’s lesson about 20th century literature, October 31 2013, Thomas Jefferson State University, Richmond, Virginia
I’ m sure you all have read at least one of H.P. Lovette’s books….good, which one do you remember the most ?
Ah yes, “The call of Sthuulhu”, my favourite. Have you ever heard of “The man in the dark castle”(1), instead ?
No ? Well, I’m not surprised. You are too young to remember. But don’t worry. I’m not making an official examination. I just wanted to tell you about one of the most controversial novels ever written.
“The man in the dark castle” was born as a spin-off of the “Imperium” series. As you’ll remember, in the 6th novel the main characters, Randolph Whateley and Wilbur Carter, accidentally travel to a parallel universe while looking for the Shogothi home dimension.
Upon their arrival, they are greeted by a nightmarish sight: a pile of burning bodies.
They soon discover that that world is under one of the worst dictatorships possible, and, after a series of troubles, manage to go back to their own universe.
The fans were so intrigued by the setting that they wanted more: unfortunately, Lovette died before he could satisfy them. So, Stanley George Lee, who would later complete the series, began to work on the spin-off basing himself on Lovette’s notes, and completed it in 1981.
An example of the alternate history genre, this story starts to differ from our world in 1955, when the Austrian painter Adolf Hiedler (who worked secretly as a spy for the prussians) is able to kill Napoleon VI (luckily, in our world he was stopped by the imperial bodyguards before he could fire).
This starts a chain of events that leads to the year 2000, in a world ruled by the Union and its allies, where the only free nations are Portugal, Sardinia, Russia and Japan, who have formed the Alliance for Freedom against Fascism.
As you can imagine, this world is on the brink of destruction: in fact, the novel ends with a speech by the king of Sardinia where he tells his people about the Alliance decision to stop the american threat with nuclear weapons.
Surely you are wondering why this novel is considered controversial: you must first know that unfortunately, even years after the war, there were still some people who sympathized for the Union.
Terrorist groups like the Fist of Steele and the Sons of Oswald interpreted the book in their own way, and took inspirations for their atrocities, like the murder of congressman(2) Hugh Heffner in 1982 or the Charlotte Massacre the following year, when five families of irish origin were killed in the most brutal ways imaginable.
And so, to stop this bloodbath, the book was forbidden for some time in North America. Some in the government tried to convince the europeans to do the same, but they were unsuccessful.
According to recent announcements, we will not be able to read the book until 2050….
NOTES:
(1):The dark castle of the title refers to the AFC “Pastoral Castle”.
(2):I didn’t know how to call a member of the virginian House of Burgesses, so I chose congressman. I hope I’ve not made a mistake.
I think it's fair to explain my plan in a better way,Napoleon:I would like to write four chapters about the italian efforts against Greece.Each chapter would cover an year(from 1955 to 1958).After the first chapter,I would wait for you to complete 1956,then I would write the second chapter,and so with the other two.
So,what do you think,Napoleon,can I do it ?
So,what do you think,Napoleon,can I do it ?
Okay I just caught up with everything and I gotta say, This world is royally screwed.
Woah, I totally missed this stuff 'cause I've been so busy. Sorry, john; I'll get back to you tonight.
In other news, Zoid has one more guest chapter to do before I take over again and continue the war chapters.
Sorry, john; I'll get back to you tonight. In other news, Zoid has one more guest chapter to do before I take over again and continue the war chapters.
Okay Napo, my next guest chapter is finished. I PM'd it to you, so it is good to post and everything?
Also, I love the little side in timeline vignettes that John Spangler's posted. A few spelling/grammar erros, but other than that their great.
In fact, heres a map I made for H.P. Lovette's “The Man in the Dark Castle”, or what could very well be the future of the timeline itself if the Grand Alliance wins, which it very well might.
Also, I love the little side in timeline vignettes that John Spangler's posted.
A few spelling/grammar erros, but other than that their great. In fact, heres a map I made for H.P. Lovette's “The Man in the Dark Castle”, or what could very well be the future of the timeline itself if the Grand Alliance wins, which it very well might.
Deleted member 14881
Dear God the Union would have to go full Pol Pot to keep that. It's like the 1984 map.
It's like the 1984 map.
Okay Napo, my next guest chapter is finished. I PM'd it to you, so it is good to post and everything?
Also, I love the little side in timeline vignettes that John Spangler's posted.
In fact, heres a map I made for H.P. Lovette's “The Man in the Dark Castle”, or what could very well be the future of the timeline itself if the Grand Alliance wins, which it very well might.
The Grand Alliance nations are insane, totalitarian states. That map would be very possible if the Union commits mass genocide (which, considering their mentality, very likely).
I love the Lovette story! Great work. Like Zoid said, there are a few spelling/grammar errors, but it's still good.
@Zoid: Dat map. Wow.
I'm going to say Venice is the capital, with Milan and Turin claiming next-to-most-important.
Italy is probably mostly involved in defending its Balkan allies at the moment, and hasn't confronted foes on its own doorstep yet.
Italy most certainly has airships. A good number. Probably in the hundreds if not 1000+. It's a powerful nation.
And that sounds awesome, man! Go for it!
@Zoid: Dat map.
Wow.I’m also thinking to write something about Italy, but I need some information :
1-The italian capital: is it Turin, Milan or another city ?
2-Who’s fighting against Italy, just Greece or some more nations ? And when did they begin to fight ?
3
Thanks for your kind attention.
I think it's fair to explain my plan in a better way,Napoleon:I would like to write four chapters about the italian efforts against Greece.Each chapter would cover an year(from 1955 to 1958).After the first chapter,I would wait for you to complete 1956,then I would write the second chapter,and so with the other two.
So,what do you think,Napoleon,can I do it ?
I'm going to say Venice is the capital, with Milan and Turin claiming next-to-most-important.
Italy is probably mostly involved in defending its Balkan allies at the moment, and hasn't confronted foes on its own doorstep yet.
Italy most certainly has airships.
A good number. Probably in the hundreds if not 1000+. It's a powerful nation.And that sounds awesome, man!
Go for it!I love the Lovette story! Great work. Like Zoid said, there are a few spelling/grammar errors, but it's still good.
@Zoid: Dat map.
Thanks. I'm glad you found my map shocking. I take that as a compliment.
If this were to be a map for the potential future of TTL, all that would need to be changed is the Dutch Empire, as it fell apart ITTL. I assumed one out of many POD's for the Man in the High Castle was that the Dutch joined the Grand Alliance before the Great War, hence why their on the map. So can I post the new chapter Napo?
Heres part one of the Middle East Chapter, approved by Napo. Part Two should be up soon.
Oh I don't think I mentioned this, but the flag of Iraq IITL form the last chapter was made by me. Just thought I'd mention that.
Anyways, enjoy.
The Islamic Republic of Turkey was born out of a political crisis in the Turkish Republic following the death of the republic’s first Grand Vizier Ahmed Muhtar Pasha on June 8, 1915. Shortly before his death, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha named one of his right hand men and his and the republic's first Prime Minister Mehmed Talaat Pasha as his successor, with the title Grand Vizier. Talaat Pasha, a Liberal-Republican like Muhtar Pasha, ascended to become Grand Vizier a day after Muhtar Pasha's death. However, almost as soon as he got into office, Talaat Pasha (*) got into tense conflicts with the Islamist Prime Minister and leader of the Islamist faction, the charismatic Elvan Terzi Pasha, a former general in the Ottoman Army. Relations had already been tense between the two men and factions due to their near opposite political views, and also due to the fact that Terzi Pesha had defeated Talaat Pasha for the office of Prime Minister back in 1908, the latter particularly bitter over his loss.
(*Ahmed Muhtar Pasha and Mehmed Talaat Pasha are real, but the other Turkish leaders are fictional)
Mehmed Talaat Pasha
Aside from tension with the Islamists, the first year of Talaat Pasha's Liberal administration was mostly quiet. However in the 1916 Parliamentary elections, a number of Islamist politicians gained many new seats, with a few of the Nationalists making modest gains as well. The Islamists were now a true force to be reckoned with. The reason why the Islamists--and to a lesser degree the nationalists--were so successful was due to the fact that many Turks, both prominent and common, were disillusioned the state of the country was in and how little progress was made toward rebuilding prosperity and stability since the Empire's fall. Many were also angry at the republic's perceived turn to Western ideals and a turn away from traditional Turkish and Muslim values. Some even favored a restoration of the Caliphate. Due to the power of the Islamists, elections for a new Grand Vizier were called for in January of 1917. For the election, the Islamisits under Terzi Pasha went into a coalition with the Nationalists, the latter fascists whom borrowed many ideals from the fascist states of the Balkans, as both parties quickly discovered they had similar political views. Terzi Pasha won the election and also won the office of Grand Vizier. As a result, Terzi Pasha became Grand Vizier and Prime Minister of Turkey at the same time. With this new power, he declared that a new constitution would soon be drafted. The said constitution was officially ratified in October of 1917; combining the offices of Grand Vizier and Prime Minister into one office of "Grand Leader" of which Terzi Pasha was the first of, and turning Turkey into a fascist Islamic theocracy. The Islamic Republic of Turkey was born. Just two months later, Terzi Pasha declared himself Caliph of Islam, a claim which some in the Middle East recognized and also a claim which most did not.
Terzi Pasha
Turkey now became the first fascist state in the Middle East. While elections still existed, they were purely symbolic, and they all but ended by around 1930 when Terzi Pasha had most of the nation in his pockets anyway, with all other factions being reduced to nothing. The country was strictly Islamic, under Sharia law, and against any forms of social progressivism. Non-Muslims were also made second class citizens by a number of government decrees issued through 1918 and 1919. In the late 1910's and early 1920's the Islamist/fascist government of Turkey continued to deal with the question of minorities, but this time once and for all. Towns with a large or medium sized numbers of minorities were segregated between Muslims and non-Muslims, and large numbers of Turkish Army units were sent to these towns to prevent minorities from acting out against the Turkish/Muslim majority. Lastly, all separatist parties were banned. One particular threat in Terzi Pasha's eye was the relatively new Zionist movement. The movement, founded around 1905 by a Rhinish Rabbi, historian and writer named Anshel Mendelsohn, advocated a return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land of Palestine. The ideology became quite popular amongst a number of European Jews, but by 1920, only about 30% of Jews came to believe in the ideology, with Rabbis against the new Zionist movement still having most of the authority and influence in Jewish communities worldwide. Still, the movement was seen a threat by the Turkish government and quickly subdued. While the Turk's sought to suppress the minorities in the Levant, genocide was not on their agenda, and they just wanted the hold onto the Levant for prestige and power. Still, most major European powers, including Pope Innocent IX and his Papal successors, condemned these persecutions due to their abuse and reduction of Christian peoples and defiance of the Treaty of Antioch. This outcry against the Islamic Republic of Turkey (IRT) would not lead to any war, as European Powers were more concerned elsewhere, but would lead to sympathy between the European powers and the suppressed peoples, with many nations gladly accepting refugees from the region. Subsequently, during the 1920's and 1930's, the Islamic Republic of Turkey went on a large scale military reform program and general buildup of armed forces, as the army was a large priority for Terzi Pasha. A number of new landships, artillery and state-of-the-art guns were purchased from the Prussian Empire, a lukewarm supporter of the IRT due to Turkey's recently begun rivalry with the pro-Tripartite Empire Egyptian Empire. Over the years these new technologies would see the Turkish army make quite some progress in size and power.
However, this would not stop the IRT from losing the Egypto-Turkish War (1939-1944), a war which saw the death of Terzi Pasha, the loss of all of Turkey's land in the Levant to the Egyptian Empire, and Terzi Pasha's successor as Grand Leader Barış Bardakçı being forced to renounce the title of Caliph of Islam. After Turkey's humiliating loss in the war, Grand Leader Bardakçı turned his country's policies inward while still keeping Turkey a fascist and fundamentalist state, focusing on internal issues rather than foreign ones, as he knew Turkey could no longer be an important player in the world of Middle Eastern politics. With almost no more minorities to persecute, the government instead began to blame Turkey's many foreign enemies for its problems, and just left it at that. As a result Turkey became an increasingly isolationist state, and remained neutral in the Great War, due to the fact that though the IRT was sympathetic to Prussia and the Grand Alliance, it could not compete with any of the LOR states in the region, did not want to ally with the hated Greece, and could not compete with the potential threat of Russian invasion. As such, Barış Bardakçı remained in control of his backwater and isolationist nation well into the 1960's, when his all time worse nightmare, a Russian invasion, went and came true.
By the 20th century, Persia was a very weakened nation, and was no longer a power to be reckoned with in the Middle East. It was but a quiet and troubled backwater, with their centuries-old enemy, mighty Russia and its hordes, always looming threateningly on the horizon.
This process of decline first began back in the in the 17th Century, but the most major blow to Persian power was Persia's loss of the Third Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) to the Russian Empire. As a result of this loss, Persia was forced to hand over a number of disputed territories to the Russian Empire. A famine in the early 1870's further weakened the nation, and then in 1892 the Fourth Russo-Persian War (1892-1895) broke out soon after Mad Czar Viktor came to power. When the Russians invaded Persia, entire towns were massacred and other genocidal and near genocidal policies were used by the Russian invaders with impunity. Scorched earth tactics were heavily used as well, leading to much Persian land being ruined for decades to come. By the time of the 1893 "Moscow Coup" against Czar Viktor, the Persians had started to put up a resistance to the invasion, and the Russian soldiers, not far from Tehran, withdrew hastily from Persia, seeing the conflict as hopeless and as little more than the idea of a mad and psychopathic monarch. Russia however, was able to hold on to Afghanistan and Baluchistan, two nations conquered by Russia in two other separate conflicts.
The Battle of Kashmar during the Russo-Persain War, by Anton Pugatov, 1901
However in Persia, the damage was done. In 1895, the war officially ended when Russian (now representing the Russian Republic) and Persian diplomats signed the Treaty of Samarkand. Persia lost no territory, but Persia had to recognize the neighboring kingdoms of Afghanistan and Baluchistan as Russian Protectorates. Persia reluctantly gave in. In truth, this made Russia even more of a threat to Persia, as Russia now had a warm water ports, the largest of them being in the town of Pasni (In the following years Russian Republican Navy ships would begin patrolling much of the Indian Ocean with their already established Imperial and Prussian counterparts). With much destroyed land, villages and resources, Persia would be in an economic pit for years to come. All the blame fell on the Persian Shah, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who was assassinated by a disgruntled and insane Persian veteran on January 9, 1895. Persia continued to remain in this state of decline and irrelevance during the reigns of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (1895-1907) and Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (1907-1925). During the reign of the latter, a number of rebellions, led by followers of Muslim Modernism, a movement advocating for a synthesis of the Islamic religion with modern, progressive values, in 1907, 1913 and 1919. Then in 1925, Ahmed Shah Qajar came to the throne, and found a complete mess on his hands. As a result on January 5, 1926, a constitution, with some small inspiration from Islamic Modernism, was adopted. However by this time it was too little too late for the Sublime State of Persia.
Ahmed Shah Qajar
In the following years the new Shah attempted to reform and modernize the military and modernize the countries peasantry, with mixed results. Persia's main ally was the Tripartite Empire, a nation eager to befriend any nation hostile to Russia, a long-time and increasingly tense rival of the Empire. The Empire supplied Persia with some landships and naval vessels, but these would end up doing little in the long run, as most would be neglected and mishandled in the years to come. Persia remained a backwater with a less-than-wonderful economy and second-rate military for decades to come. Ahmed Shah Qajar died in 1954, a year before the Great War, and was succeeded by his son, Fereydoun Mirza Shah Qajar. However little changed for Persia, and the nation was just as week as ever. When the Russians and Persians went to war for a Fifth time, it would also be for the last time....
In the years after its independence, the Arab Republic of Iraq had a promising future. It had a reasonably democratic government, and was the main state in the Middle East adhering to and spreading the popular ideology of Arab nationalism. As a result, many Arab nationalists in other nations looked to Iraq with hope. Iraq itself developed greatly during its first twenty five years of independence, and President Abdulrashid was so popular he was elected again and again, running so many times knowing that without him the nation would potentially be a very unstable one.
However, things came to a head on May 30, 1929, when President and founder Nadir Abdulrashid died of a heart attack at the age of 80. After a brief power struggle, he was succeed by Iraqi Army General Hammed Saab, the hero of Iraq's war of independence against the Ottomans, and a son of the famed Arab-Ottoman General Saddam Sabb, the latter known for his campaigns during the Balkan Wars (*). Saab steered Iraq into a authoritarian direction, and Saab used this new power to go through with a series of reforms in the bureaucracy, army, urban infrastructure and communications, among others, all of which would greatly benefit Iraq in the long run. All the while President Saab would stay true to the Pan-Arab Ideology. Despite turning Iraq into an authoritarian dictatorship, he never turned Iraq into a fascist nation, and was willing to cooperate with non-Arab nations to meet his goals and ideals.
(*Saddam Saab was a character from Napoleons other timeline, American King II. I decided to have him here just for the hell of it. For the record, Adelphos Demetrios, who was mentioned in the Fall of the Ottoman Empire update, was a character from Napoleon's first incarnation of the American King timeline)
Hammed SaabSaab on October 25, 1950 after a long illness, and was succeded by his son Muhammad Saab, who immediately held elections, which he lost to a a young politician and businessman named Adnan El-Amin. With the El-Amin presidency, Iraq returned to being a more or less democratic state, and the country continued to be stable. El-Amin would remain president well into the 1960's, and it was also during his term that Iraq became a close ally with one power in the region which took quite a liking to Pan-Arabism, this nation being none other than the Egyptian Empire.
Meanwhile, the Free State of Kurdistan gradually evolved into a fascist state. Grand Leader Bahman Muhammad's regime, with its strong Kurdish nationalist rhetoric and hostility to most of its neighbors, particularly Turks and Arabs, began turning fascist by the mid-1920's, when the nation was on the brink of civil war between Bahman Muhmmad's Nationalists and a number of other factions. Bahman Muhammad himself took inspiration from other fascist nations such as Greece and Romania, and at that same time began to model his country's government on theirs. In the coming years, the Kurdish Military, however small, doubled as the nations police force, and non-Kurds were persecuted with impunity. Despite this, Kurdistan was an isolated and backwater nation, its only true friend being with the weakened Sublime State of Persia, a friendship which amounted to almost nothing. The fascist government in Kurdistan lasted well into the 1960's, Bahman Muhammad having died in 1947, his successor Said Bidisi, a former general and old friend of the old Grand Leader. It was during the leadership of Grand Leader Bidisi, in the latter years to be more exact, that Kurdistan would finally have an ally, albeit it one it was completely subservient to, this ally being the Russian Republic.
Oh I don't think I mentioned this, but the flag of Iraq IITL form the last chapter was made by me. Just thought I'd mention that.
Anyways, enjoy.
THE MIDDLE EAST
Part One
Islamic Republic of Turkey
Part One
Islamic Republic of Turkey
The Islamic Republic of Turkey was born out of a political crisis in the Turkish Republic following the death of the republic’s first Grand Vizier Ahmed Muhtar Pasha on June 8, 1915. Shortly before his death, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha named one of his right hand men and his and the republic's first Prime Minister Mehmed Talaat Pasha as his successor, with the title Grand Vizier. Talaat Pasha, a Liberal-Republican like Muhtar Pasha, ascended to become Grand Vizier a day after Muhtar Pasha's death. However, almost as soon as he got into office, Talaat Pasha (*) got into tense conflicts with the Islamist Prime Minister and leader of the Islamist faction, the charismatic Elvan Terzi Pasha, a former general in the Ottoman Army. Relations had already been tense between the two men and factions due to their near opposite political views, and also due to the fact that Terzi Pesha had defeated Talaat Pasha for the office of Prime Minister back in 1908, the latter particularly bitter over his loss.
(*Ahmed Muhtar Pasha and Mehmed Talaat Pasha are real, but the other Turkish leaders are fictional)
Mehmed Talaat Pasha
Aside from tension with the Islamists, the first year of Talaat Pasha's Liberal administration was mostly quiet. However in the 1916 Parliamentary elections, a number of Islamist politicians gained many new seats, with a few of the Nationalists making modest gains as well. The Islamists were now a true force to be reckoned with. The reason why the Islamists--and to a lesser degree the nationalists--were so successful was due to the fact that many Turks, both prominent and common, were disillusioned the state of the country was in and how little progress was made toward rebuilding prosperity and stability since the Empire's fall. Many were also angry at the republic's perceived turn to Western ideals and a turn away from traditional Turkish and Muslim values. Some even favored a restoration of the Caliphate. Due to the power of the Islamists, elections for a new Grand Vizier were called for in January of 1917. For the election, the Islamisits under Terzi Pasha went into a coalition with the Nationalists, the latter fascists whom borrowed many ideals from the fascist states of the Balkans, as both parties quickly discovered they had similar political views. Terzi Pasha won the election and also won the office of Grand Vizier. As a result, Terzi Pasha became Grand Vizier and Prime Minister of Turkey at the same time. With this new power, he declared that a new constitution would soon be drafted. The said constitution was officially ratified in October of 1917; combining the offices of Grand Vizier and Prime Minister into one office of "Grand Leader" of which Terzi Pasha was the first of, and turning Turkey into a fascist Islamic theocracy. The Islamic Republic of Turkey was born. Just two months later, Terzi Pasha declared himself Caliph of Islam, a claim which some in the Middle East recognized and also a claim which most did not.
Terzi Pasha
Turkey now became the first fascist state in the Middle East. While elections still existed, they were purely symbolic, and they all but ended by around 1930 when Terzi Pasha had most of the nation in his pockets anyway, with all other factions being reduced to nothing. The country was strictly Islamic, under Sharia law, and against any forms of social progressivism. Non-Muslims were also made second class citizens by a number of government decrees issued through 1918 and 1919. In the late 1910's and early 1920's the Islamist/fascist government of Turkey continued to deal with the question of minorities, but this time once and for all. Towns with a large or medium sized numbers of minorities were segregated between Muslims and non-Muslims, and large numbers of Turkish Army units were sent to these towns to prevent minorities from acting out against the Turkish/Muslim majority. Lastly, all separatist parties were banned. One particular threat in Terzi Pasha's eye was the relatively new Zionist movement. The movement, founded around 1905 by a Rhinish Rabbi, historian and writer named Anshel Mendelsohn, advocated a return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land of Palestine. The ideology became quite popular amongst a number of European Jews, but by 1920, only about 30% of Jews came to believe in the ideology, with Rabbis against the new Zionist movement still having most of the authority and influence in Jewish communities worldwide. Still, the movement was seen a threat by the Turkish government and quickly subdued. While the Turk's sought to suppress the minorities in the Levant, genocide was not on their agenda, and they just wanted the hold onto the Levant for prestige and power. Still, most major European powers, including Pope Innocent IX and his Papal successors, condemned these persecutions due to their abuse and reduction of Christian peoples and defiance of the Treaty of Antioch. This outcry against the Islamic Republic of Turkey (IRT) would not lead to any war, as European Powers were more concerned elsewhere, but would lead to sympathy between the European powers and the suppressed peoples, with many nations gladly accepting refugees from the region. Subsequently, during the 1920's and 1930's, the Islamic Republic of Turkey went on a large scale military reform program and general buildup of armed forces, as the army was a large priority for Terzi Pasha. A number of new landships, artillery and state-of-the-art guns were purchased from the Prussian Empire, a lukewarm supporter of the IRT due to Turkey's recently begun rivalry with the pro-Tripartite Empire Egyptian Empire. Over the years these new technologies would see the Turkish army make quite some progress in size and power.
However, this would not stop the IRT from losing the Egypto-Turkish War (1939-1944), a war which saw the death of Terzi Pasha, the loss of all of Turkey's land in the Levant to the Egyptian Empire, and Terzi Pasha's successor as Grand Leader Barış Bardakçı being forced to renounce the title of Caliph of Islam. After Turkey's humiliating loss in the war, Grand Leader Bardakçı turned his country's policies inward while still keeping Turkey a fascist and fundamentalist state, focusing on internal issues rather than foreign ones, as he knew Turkey could no longer be an important player in the world of Middle Eastern politics. With almost no more minorities to persecute, the government instead began to blame Turkey's many foreign enemies for its problems, and just left it at that. As a result Turkey became an increasingly isolationist state, and remained neutral in the Great War, due to the fact that though the IRT was sympathetic to Prussia and the Grand Alliance, it could not compete with any of the LOR states in the region, did not want to ally with the hated Greece, and could not compete with the potential threat of Russian invasion. As such, Barış Bardakçı remained in control of his backwater and isolationist nation well into the 1960's, when his all time worse nightmare, a Russian invasion, went and came true.
Sublime State of Persia
By the 20th century, Persia was a very weakened nation, and was no longer a power to be reckoned with in the Middle East. It was but a quiet and troubled backwater, with their centuries-old enemy, mighty Russia and its hordes, always looming threateningly on the horizon.
This process of decline first began back in the in the 17th Century, but the most major blow to Persian power was Persia's loss of the Third Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) to the Russian Empire. As a result of this loss, Persia was forced to hand over a number of disputed territories to the Russian Empire. A famine in the early 1870's further weakened the nation, and then in 1892 the Fourth Russo-Persian War (1892-1895) broke out soon after Mad Czar Viktor came to power. When the Russians invaded Persia, entire towns were massacred and other genocidal and near genocidal policies were used by the Russian invaders with impunity. Scorched earth tactics were heavily used as well, leading to much Persian land being ruined for decades to come. By the time of the 1893 "Moscow Coup" against Czar Viktor, the Persians had started to put up a resistance to the invasion, and the Russian soldiers, not far from Tehran, withdrew hastily from Persia, seeing the conflict as hopeless and as little more than the idea of a mad and psychopathic monarch. Russia however, was able to hold on to Afghanistan and Baluchistan, two nations conquered by Russia in two other separate conflicts.
The Battle of Kashmar during the Russo-Persain War, by Anton Pugatov, 1901
However in Persia, the damage was done. In 1895, the war officially ended when Russian (now representing the Russian Republic) and Persian diplomats signed the Treaty of Samarkand. Persia lost no territory, but Persia had to recognize the neighboring kingdoms of Afghanistan and Baluchistan as Russian Protectorates. Persia reluctantly gave in. In truth, this made Russia even more of a threat to Persia, as Russia now had a warm water ports, the largest of them being in the town of Pasni (In the following years Russian Republican Navy ships would begin patrolling much of the Indian Ocean with their already established Imperial and Prussian counterparts). With much destroyed land, villages and resources, Persia would be in an economic pit for years to come. All the blame fell on the Persian Shah, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who was assassinated by a disgruntled and insane Persian veteran on January 9, 1895. Persia continued to remain in this state of decline and irrelevance during the reigns of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (1895-1907) and Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (1907-1925). During the reign of the latter, a number of rebellions, led by followers of Muslim Modernism, a movement advocating for a synthesis of the Islamic religion with modern, progressive values, in 1907, 1913 and 1919. Then in 1925, Ahmed Shah Qajar came to the throne, and found a complete mess on his hands. As a result on January 5, 1926, a constitution, with some small inspiration from Islamic Modernism, was adopted. However by this time it was too little too late for the Sublime State of Persia.
Ahmed Shah Qajar
In the following years the new Shah attempted to reform and modernize the military and modernize the countries peasantry, with mixed results. Persia's main ally was the Tripartite Empire, a nation eager to befriend any nation hostile to Russia, a long-time and increasingly tense rival of the Empire. The Empire supplied Persia with some landships and naval vessels, but these would end up doing little in the long run, as most would be neglected and mishandled in the years to come. Persia remained a backwater with a less-than-wonderful economy and second-rate military for decades to come. Ahmed Shah Qajar died in 1954, a year before the Great War, and was succeeded by his son, Fereydoun Mirza Shah Qajar. However little changed for Persia, and the nation was just as week as ever. When the Russians and Persians went to war for a Fifth time, it would also be for the last time....
Arab Republic of Iraq and Free State of Kurdistan
In the years after its independence, the Arab Republic of Iraq had a promising future. It had a reasonably democratic government, and was the main state in the Middle East adhering to and spreading the popular ideology of Arab nationalism. As a result, many Arab nationalists in other nations looked to Iraq with hope. Iraq itself developed greatly during its first twenty five years of independence, and President Abdulrashid was so popular he was elected again and again, running so many times knowing that without him the nation would potentially be a very unstable one.
However, things came to a head on May 30, 1929, when President and founder Nadir Abdulrashid died of a heart attack at the age of 80. After a brief power struggle, he was succeed by Iraqi Army General Hammed Saab, the hero of Iraq's war of independence against the Ottomans, and a son of the famed Arab-Ottoman General Saddam Sabb, the latter known for his campaigns during the Balkan Wars (*). Saab steered Iraq into a authoritarian direction, and Saab used this new power to go through with a series of reforms in the bureaucracy, army, urban infrastructure and communications, among others, all of which would greatly benefit Iraq in the long run. All the while President Saab would stay true to the Pan-Arab Ideology. Despite turning Iraq into an authoritarian dictatorship, he never turned Iraq into a fascist nation, and was willing to cooperate with non-Arab nations to meet his goals and ideals.
(*Saddam Saab was a character from Napoleons other timeline, American King II. I decided to have him here just for the hell of it. For the record, Adelphos Demetrios, who was mentioned in the Fall of the Ottoman Empire update, was a character from Napoleon's first incarnation of the American King timeline)
Hammed Saab
Meanwhile, the Free State of Kurdistan gradually evolved into a fascist state. Grand Leader Bahman Muhammad's regime, with its strong Kurdish nationalist rhetoric and hostility to most of its neighbors, particularly Turks and Arabs, began turning fascist by the mid-1920's, when the nation was on the brink of civil war between Bahman Muhmmad's Nationalists and a number of other factions. Bahman Muhammad himself took inspiration from other fascist nations such as Greece and Romania, and at that same time began to model his country's government on theirs. In the coming years, the Kurdish Military, however small, doubled as the nations police force, and non-Kurds were persecuted with impunity. Despite this, Kurdistan was an isolated and backwater nation, its only true friend being with the weakened Sublime State of Persia, a friendship which amounted to almost nothing. The fascist government in Kurdistan lasted well into the 1960's, Bahman Muhammad having died in 1947, his successor Said Bidisi, a former general and old friend of the old Grand Leader. It was during the leadership of Grand Leader Bidisi, in the latter years to be more exact, that Kurdistan would finally have an ally, albeit it one it was completely subservient to, this ally being the Russian Republic.
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Thanks,Napoleon.I hope you'll like my contribution.
I've also included a revised version of my chapters about Lovette.
A warning to the people
The good and the evil
This is war
To the soldier, the civilian
The martyr, the victim
This is war
-30 Seconds To Mars, This Is War
***
Naples, Empire of the Two Italies
Nunziatella Military Academy (1)
It was a normal day in the ancient Neapolitan palace. Some soldiers were training, others were talking bad about their mothers-in-law and, in a small area behind the kitchens, two soldiers were playing a little game of soccer. Their names were Carlo Leone and Aldo Longhi.
They had begun the game instead of completing their task of peeling potatoes, without letting their comrades know: one of them could have called an officer, and then they would have been in serious troubles.
Aldo was trying frantically to breach Carlo's defense, but he wasn't successful: he had never been too good at soccer. He tried to kick the ball into his opponent's makeshift door (two planks leaned on the wall, like on his side), but Carlo was able to dodge him and to stop the ball with his left foot. He then threw it with all of his strength into Aldo's door, winning the game.
"Yes! 3 to 1, I've won!"
"Maybe this time. But the next game will be mine, terrone!" (2)
Carlo chuckled. Aldo's father had moved from Milan some months before his son's birth, so technically he was a Neapolitan, but sometimes he talked like a Milanese.
They began to remove all the traces of their game, but suddenly they heard a voice:
"Well, well, well. What do we have here ?"
They turned their heads to see Lorenzo Baldini, one of their comrades, standing by the door with a sadistic grin on his face.
Baldini was the most hated man in the Academy: unlike them, he had been forced to join the army by his family, and he gave vent to his anger and frustration by being a complete asshole. His comrades, in exchange, treated him with coldness (at best. At worst, they prayed fervently for his death).
"What do you want, Baldini ?"
"Nothing. I was just looking for something to eat, but now I think I'll have a talk with the sergeant, unless you are willing to pay for my silence...."
"Don't dare, you son of a...."
They soon started to brawl. After some minutes, they were interrupted by a voice that everybody at the Academy feared....
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING ?!"
There, with a face that would have scared Satan, stood Colonel Michele D'Annunzio.(3)
"Ehm....we can explain, sir.." said Carlo.
"They were playing soccer instead of doing their duty, sir!"
"And why didn't you come to warn me ?"
"I wanted, but...."
"He wanted to blackmail us, sir!”
"No, sir, he's lying...."
"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!”
He then grabbed them by the ears and started to shout a series of swears and threats of corporal punishments, but he too was soon interrupted....
"COLONEL D'ANNUNZIO!!!"
Then his aide-de-camp appeared. He had a worried expression and trembling hands.
"It h-h-happened, sir! It happened!"
"Wait, calm down, soldier! Take a deep breath....good. Now tell me why you are in such a panic."
"T-t-the Union has invaded Quebec. We're at war!"
***
The first days after the arrival of the news from North America were days of panic for Italy, especially in Apulia, the region nearest to Greece.
Emperor Massimiliano mobilized the army to cover every front, with the help of troops from the Vatican and Lucca. To tranquillize everybody, he appointed Admiral Antonio DeCurtis (4) as commander of the Ionian Fleet.
DeCurtis was beloved by everybody: a charming man and one of the best tacticians in Europe, he was a close friend of both the current and the previous Emperor, who had appointed him Admiral in 1942 after he successfully ended the African Rebellion (5). When he arrived in the Fleet's headquarters in Taranto, the people greeted him with immense joy, to the point that the soldiers had to fire a few shots in the air to keep some overexcited women from suffocating him with their hugs.
The Admiral confirmed his worth some days later, when a Greek fleet appeared in the Gulf of Taranto. From his flagship, the Julius Caesar, he ordered to launch his special weapon: a squad of frogmen tasked with placing explosive charges under the enemy flagship. Then, after the ship exploded, he ordered the rest of the fleet to start firing. Some hours later, the Greeks had to retreat.
Things went like this for a little more than two months. The Italians were able to land on Corfu, but they were pushed back two weeks later.
At the end of November, the Italians had lost 13 ships and 870 soldiers. The Greeks, on the other hand, had lost 47 ships, 925 soldiers and 21 airships, both on the Ionian and the Adriatic Sea. So, they decided to stop the attacks for a while, sending only some airships to keep the enemy occupied while they reorganized themselves.
Meanwhile, in Italy, people began to get swollen-headed, with some officers making plans for the occupation of the Greek mainland and even the Emperor relaxing a bit too much, thinking they were safe behind their impassable Ionian Wall.
Unfortunately, like all good things, this situation couldn't last long....
NOTES:
(1): Originally destined to the novice Jesuits, in 1767 this palace became the seat of the Royal Ferdinand College, then of the Royal Military Academy. Currently it's a military college.
(2): This is a word used in northern Italy to indicate people from the south, usually with a negative meaning (although Aldo, here, is just joking).
(3): This is an ATL son of Gabriele D’Annunzio (who IOTL was childless).
(4): IOTL Antonio DeCurtis was a great Neapolitan actor, better known as Totò.
(5): The Rebellion started in 1939 in Sicilian East Africa. The natives thought to take advantage of the confusion following the death of Carlo I, thinking that the Sicilians would have been too busy with the succession problem.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From "History of 20th century literature" by Stephen King(1) (Thomas Jefferson State University Press, 2013)
Henri Philippe Lovette was born in Saint Francois on August 20th, 1890. His father, whose original surname was Lovecraft, had arrived from the Republican Union some months earlier, after the election of George Armstrong Custer as First Chief Consul.
...Firmly believing in the evilness of the new government, Lovecraft (and many others) decided to look for a better place for his family. Upon his arrival, he changed his name to Lovette, in order to better insert himself in the Californian society.
...H.P. Lovette spent most of his childhood alone. Sometimes, it was because of his shyness and melanchonic personality, but most of the times it was because of his delicate health. He was often forced to stay at home because of a fever, or a flu. One day, with nothing else to do, he began to explore his father's vast library. At first, he was bored by the dusty tomes about economy and history, but then he found something that caught his attention: a book about the myths of the Old World.
There, he learned of the European legends about werewolves. Of the spirits of the African nights. Of the Chinese stories about vampires.
This book had a double effect on his young mind: at first, he was just fascinated. But later he began to have nightmares, often about bloodthirsty monsters. Trying to help him, his parents brought their son to many famous psychologists, and went so far as to forbid him from entering the library. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done: the seeds of imagination and horror had been planted in his brain.
...After graduation, Lovette started a firm with one of his father's friends, Michel LeRoi (originally Michael King, another immigrant from the Union), whose daughter he married in 1918. This part of his life can be considered a prologue of his later carreer: during his free time, Lovette wrote many short stories about his nightmares, to find some kind of relief. These stories, although not exceptional, were enjoyable, and Lovette even considered to publish them, but was constantly discouraged by his family (they believed that his carreer as a lawyer would have been ridiculized).
However, he had an unexpected occasion in 1955: during the first weeks of the War, the Kingdom of California decided to just keep the army ready in case of an invasion. Meanwhile, many newspapers started to shout for an "intervention to help our Quebecois and Marylander friends", denouncing the atrocities of "the Antichrist and his minions", and publishing caricatures of the Union's leaders.
When Lovette saw one of these caricatures (a picture of a demon resembling Joe Steele) he had an idea: he decided to make something similar, combining the tales of his nightmares with a fierce satire of the Union. He then sent to "The voice of California" a revised version of his first story (a tale about the tragic consequences of the reopening of an ancient tomb) under the pen name of Henry Armitage.
It was an immediate success: the readers were so intrigued that they filled the newspaper's offices with letters demanding more stories, and Lovette received an offer from the publishers to sign a contract. He accepted, and began what became the work of his life.
Mocking the Union's media habit of portraying the "inferiors" as villains, he created a hero of Irish/Spanish ancestry, Diego O'Connell, and described his fights against a trio of evil monsters: the Swearing Fool Nix-Sothoth, Oswalthothep the Dark Beast, and the worst of all: Sthuulhu, Devourer of Worlds.
To say that the Union leaders were irritated would be an euphemism: they were so enraged that they even considered to invade California. However, they couldn't afford to place their troops on too many fronts, so they decided to just send some under cover ORRA agents to "kill this bastard son of a filthy whore who calls himself a writer", to use Steele's words.
Unfortunately (for the Union), this agents never found their man, and all of them died mysteriously. In fact, the Californian government decided that Lovette's work was of great importance, and protected him with every means possible. They even managed to smuggle his works to Canada throug Alaska.
...After the war, Lovette stopped writing for a while. Needing some time to rest, and being his horror satires now useless, he left the firm to his son Jean-Luc, and travelled around the Columbian nations and Europe. When he came back, he decided to explore a new genre: science-fiction. He then wrote "A mountain of madness", the first novel of the "Imperium" series: set in "a grim and dark future", it told the story of a star spanning human empire, and of its struggle against a race of shapeless monsters from another dimension: the Shogothi.
The story hadn't the same success of his previous works, but it was well received, expecially here in Virginia, and it gave him new fame.
...In the 6th novel of the series the main characters, Randolph Whateley and Wilbur Carter, accidentally travel to a parallel universe while looking for the Shogothi home dimension. Their arrival is greeted by a nightmarish sight: a pile of burning bodies, surrounded by men in dark suits. They soon learn that that world is under an American dictatorship and, after a series of troubles, manage to go back to their own universe.
This setting made the fans curious, and they asked for more material. Unfortunately, on March 2th, 1980, Lovette died of a sudden heart attack before he could satisfy them. Luckily, his legacy was gathered by his Georgian friend and disciple Stanley George Lee (who would later complete the "Imperium" series).
Basing himself on Lovette’s notes, in 1981 Lee wrote “The man in the dark castle”(2): an example of the alternate history genre, this novel tells the story of a world where, in 1955, the Austrian painter Adolf Hiedler (who worked secretly as a spy for the Prussians) is able to kill Napoleon VI (luckily, in our world he was stopped by the imperial bodyguards before he could fire). This starts a chain of events that leads to the year 2000, in a world ruled by the Union and its allies, where the only free nations are Portugal, Sardinia, Russia and Japan, who have formed the Alliance for Freedom against Fascism.
...In the last chapter, the king of Sardinia is shown thinking over a message from his brother-in-law, the king of Portugal. The message is about the Alliance decision to stop the American threat with nuclear weapons. As the novel ends, the king begs God to not let his people suffer too much.
At first, this novel was a great success all over the world, but, like all good things, this situation wouldn't last long.
In fact, unfortunately, even years after the war, there were still some people who sympathized for the Union. Terrorist groups like the Fist of Steele and the Sons of Oswald interpreted the book in their own way, and took inspirations for their
atrocities, like the murder of congressman(3) Hugh Heffner in 1982 or the Charlotte Massacre the following year, where five families of Irish origin were killed.
So, to stop this bloodbath, the government decided to ban the book from North America. Some people tried to convince the Europeans to do the same, but they were unsuccessful.
NOTES:
(1):ITTL Stephen King teaches literature at the Thomas Jefferson State University in Richmond, Virginia. This is the only book he has written. He lives in a cottage with his wife and wears a long beard.
(2):The dark castle of the title refers to the AFC “Pastoral Castle”.
(3):I didn’t know how to call a member of the Virginian House of Burgesses, so I chose congressman. I hope I’ve not made a mistake.
I've also included a revised version of my chapters about Lovette.
THE ITALIAN SIDE OF THE WAR
PART ONE: 1955
A warning to the people
The good and the evil
This is war
To the soldier, the civilian
The martyr, the victim
This is war
-30 Seconds To Mars, This Is War
***
Naples, Empire of the Two Italies
Nunziatella Military Academy (1)
It was a normal day in the ancient Neapolitan palace. Some soldiers were training, others were talking bad about their mothers-in-law and, in a small area behind the kitchens, two soldiers were playing a little game of soccer. Their names were Carlo Leone and Aldo Longhi.
They had begun the game instead of completing their task of peeling potatoes, without letting their comrades know: one of them could have called an officer, and then they would have been in serious troubles.
Aldo was trying frantically to breach Carlo's defense, but he wasn't successful: he had never been too good at soccer. He tried to kick the ball into his opponent's makeshift door (two planks leaned on the wall, like on his side), but Carlo was able to dodge him and to stop the ball with his left foot. He then threw it with all of his strength into Aldo's door, winning the game.
"Yes! 3 to 1, I've won!"
"Maybe this time. But the next game will be mine, terrone!" (2)
Carlo chuckled. Aldo's father had moved from Milan some months before his son's birth, so technically he was a Neapolitan, but sometimes he talked like a Milanese.
They began to remove all the traces of their game, but suddenly they heard a voice:
"Well, well, well. What do we have here ?"
They turned their heads to see Lorenzo Baldini, one of their comrades, standing by the door with a sadistic grin on his face.
Baldini was the most hated man in the Academy: unlike them, he had been forced to join the army by his family, and he gave vent to his anger and frustration by being a complete asshole. His comrades, in exchange, treated him with coldness (at best. At worst, they prayed fervently for his death).
"What do you want, Baldini ?"
"Nothing. I was just looking for something to eat, but now I think I'll have a talk with the sergeant, unless you are willing to pay for my silence...."
"Don't dare, you son of a...."
They soon started to brawl. After some minutes, they were interrupted by a voice that everybody at the Academy feared....
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING ?!"
There, with a face that would have scared Satan, stood Colonel Michele D'Annunzio.(3)
"Ehm....we can explain, sir.." said Carlo.
"They were playing soccer instead of doing their duty, sir!"
"And why didn't you come to warn me ?"
"I wanted, but...."
"He wanted to blackmail us, sir!”
"No, sir, he's lying...."
"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!”
He then grabbed them by the ears and started to shout a series of swears and threats of corporal punishments, but he too was soon interrupted....
"COLONEL D'ANNUNZIO!!!"
Then his aide-de-camp appeared. He had a worried expression and trembling hands.
"It h-h-happened, sir! It happened!"
"Wait, calm down, soldier! Take a deep breath....good. Now tell me why you are in such a panic."
"T-t-the Union has invaded Quebec. We're at war!"
***
The first days after the arrival of the news from North America were days of panic for Italy, especially in Apulia, the region nearest to Greece.
Emperor Massimiliano mobilized the army to cover every front, with the help of troops from the Vatican and Lucca. To tranquillize everybody, he appointed Admiral Antonio DeCurtis (4) as commander of the Ionian Fleet.
DeCurtis was beloved by everybody: a charming man and one of the best tacticians in Europe, he was a close friend of both the current and the previous Emperor, who had appointed him Admiral in 1942 after he successfully ended the African Rebellion (5). When he arrived in the Fleet's headquarters in Taranto, the people greeted him with immense joy, to the point that the soldiers had to fire a few shots in the air to keep some overexcited women from suffocating him with their hugs.
The Admiral confirmed his worth some days later, when a Greek fleet appeared in the Gulf of Taranto. From his flagship, the Julius Caesar, he ordered to launch his special weapon: a squad of frogmen tasked with placing explosive charges under the enemy flagship. Then, after the ship exploded, he ordered the rest of the fleet to start firing. Some hours later, the Greeks had to retreat.
Things went like this for a little more than two months. The Italians were able to land on Corfu, but they were pushed back two weeks later.
At the end of November, the Italians had lost 13 ships and 870 soldiers. The Greeks, on the other hand, had lost 47 ships, 925 soldiers and 21 airships, both on the Ionian and the Adriatic Sea. So, they decided to stop the attacks for a while, sending only some airships to keep the enemy occupied while they reorganized themselves.
Meanwhile, in Italy, people began to get swollen-headed, with some officers making plans for the occupation of the Greek mainland and even the Emperor relaxing a bit too much, thinking they were safe behind their impassable Ionian Wall.
Unfortunately, like all good things, this situation couldn't last long....
NOTES:
(1): Originally destined to the novice Jesuits, in 1767 this palace became the seat of the Royal Ferdinand College, then of the Royal Military Academy. Currently it's a military college.
(2): This is a word used in northern Italy to indicate people from the south, usually with a negative meaning (although Aldo, here, is just joking).
(3): This is an ATL son of Gabriele D’Annunzio (who IOTL was childless).
(4): IOTL Antonio DeCurtis was a great Neapolitan actor, better known as Totò.
(5): The Rebellion started in 1939 in Sicilian East Africa. The natives thought to take advantage of the confusion following the death of Carlo I, thinking that the Sicilians would have been too busy with the succession problem.
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From "History of 20th century literature" by Stephen King(1) (Thomas Jefferson State University Press, 2013)
Henri Philippe Lovette was born in Saint Francois on August 20th, 1890. His father, whose original surname was Lovecraft, had arrived from the Republican Union some months earlier, after the election of George Armstrong Custer as First Chief Consul.
...Firmly believing in the evilness of the new government, Lovecraft (and many others) decided to look for a better place for his family. Upon his arrival, he changed his name to Lovette, in order to better insert himself in the Californian society.
...H.P. Lovette spent most of his childhood alone. Sometimes, it was because of his shyness and melanchonic personality, but most of the times it was because of his delicate health. He was often forced to stay at home because of a fever, or a flu. One day, with nothing else to do, he began to explore his father's vast library. At first, he was bored by the dusty tomes about economy and history, but then he found something that caught his attention: a book about the myths of the Old World.
There, he learned of the European legends about werewolves. Of the spirits of the African nights. Of the Chinese stories about vampires.
This book had a double effect on his young mind: at first, he was just fascinated. But later he began to have nightmares, often about bloodthirsty monsters. Trying to help him, his parents brought their son to many famous psychologists, and went so far as to forbid him from entering the library. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done: the seeds of imagination and horror had been planted in his brain.
...After graduation, Lovette started a firm with one of his father's friends, Michel LeRoi (originally Michael King, another immigrant from the Union), whose daughter he married in 1918. This part of his life can be considered a prologue of his later carreer: during his free time, Lovette wrote many short stories about his nightmares, to find some kind of relief. These stories, although not exceptional, were enjoyable, and Lovette even considered to publish them, but was constantly discouraged by his family (they believed that his carreer as a lawyer would have been ridiculized).
However, he had an unexpected occasion in 1955: during the first weeks of the War, the Kingdom of California decided to just keep the army ready in case of an invasion. Meanwhile, many newspapers started to shout for an "intervention to help our Quebecois and Marylander friends", denouncing the atrocities of "the Antichrist and his minions", and publishing caricatures of the Union's leaders.
When Lovette saw one of these caricatures (a picture of a demon resembling Joe Steele) he had an idea: he decided to make something similar, combining the tales of his nightmares with a fierce satire of the Union. He then sent to "The voice of California" a revised version of his first story (a tale about the tragic consequences of the reopening of an ancient tomb) under the pen name of Henry Armitage.
It was an immediate success: the readers were so intrigued that they filled the newspaper's offices with letters demanding more stories, and Lovette received an offer from the publishers to sign a contract. He accepted, and began what became the work of his life.
Mocking the Union's media habit of portraying the "inferiors" as villains, he created a hero of Irish/Spanish ancestry, Diego O'Connell, and described his fights against a trio of evil monsters: the Swearing Fool Nix-Sothoth, Oswalthothep the Dark Beast, and the worst of all: Sthuulhu, Devourer of Worlds.
To say that the Union leaders were irritated would be an euphemism: they were so enraged that they even considered to invade California. However, they couldn't afford to place their troops on too many fronts, so they decided to just send some under cover ORRA agents to "kill this bastard son of a filthy whore who calls himself a writer", to use Steele's words.
Unfortunately (for the Union), this agents never found their man, and all of them died mysteriously. In fact, the Californian government decided that Lovette's work was of great importance, and protected him with every means possible. They even managed to smuggle his works to Canada throug Alaska.
...After the war, Lovette stopped writing for a while. Needing some time to rest, and being his horror satires now useless, he left the firm to his son Jean-Luc, and travelled around the Columbian nations and Europe. When he came back, he decided to explore a new genre: science-fiction. He then wrote "A mountain of madness", the first novel of the "Imperium" series: set in "a grim and dark future", it told the story of a star spanning human empire, and of its struggle against a race of shapeless monsters from another dimension: the Shogothi.
The story hadn't the same success of his previous works, but it was well received, expecially here in Virginia, and it gave him new fame.
...In the 6th novel of the series the main characters, Randolph Whateley and Wilbur Carter, accidentally travel to a parallel universe while looking for the Shogothi home dimension. Their arrival is greeted by a nightmarish sight: a pile of burning bodies, surrounded by men in dark suits. They soon learn that that world is under an American dictatorship and, after a series of troubles, manage to go back to their own universe.
This setting made the fans curious, and they asked for more material. Unfortunately, on March 2th, 1980, Lovette died of a sudden heart attack before he could satisfy them. Luckily, his legacy was gathered by his Georgian friend and disciple Stanley George Lee (who would later complete the "Imperium" series).
Basing himself on Lovette’s notes, in 1981 Lee wrote “The man in the dark castle”(2): an example of the alternate history genre, this novel tells the story of a world where, in 1955, the Austrian painter Adolf Hiedler (who worked secretly as a spy for the Prussians) is able to kill Napoleon VI (luckily, in our world he was stopped by the imperial bodyguards before he could fire). This starts a chain of events that leads to the year 2000, in a world ruled by the Union and its allies, where the only free nations are Portugal, Sardinia, Russia and Japan, who have formed the Alliance for Freedom against Fascism.
...In the last chapter, the king of Sardinia is shown thinking over a message from his brother-in-law, the king of Portugal. The message is about the Alliance decision to stop the American threat with nuclear weapons. As the novel ends, the king begs God to not let his people suffer too much.
At first, this novel was a great success all over the world, but, like all good things, this situation wouldn't last long.
In fact, unfortunately, even years after the war, there were still some people who sympathized for the Union. Terrorist groups like the Fist of Steele and the Sons of Oswald interpreted the book in their own way, and took inspirations for their
atrocities, like the murder of congressman(3) Hugh Heffner in 1982 or the Charlotte Massacre the following year, where five families of Irish origin were killed.
So, to stop this bloodbath, the government decided to ban the book from North America. Some people tried to convince the Europeans to do the same, but they were unsuccessful.
NOTES:
(1):ITTL Stephen King teaches literature at the Thomas Jefferson State University in Richmond, Virginia. This is the only book he has written. He lives in a cottage with his wife and wears a long beard.
(2):The dark castle of the title refers to the AFC “Pastoral Castle”.
(3):I didn’t know how to call a member of the Virginian House of Burgesses, so I chose congressman. I hope I’ve not made a mistake.
"Burgess", perhaps?
It's not like the term has any kind of wider use in post XVIII century anyway. And kudos for having used Antonio DeCurtis in an important military role: now I wish we could have had a "Totò ammiraglio" movie IOTL.This is just a post to express how awe-struck I am at seeing how flawlessly other users can fill the blank parts of our Dear Leader (no irony intended) Napoleon53's timelines.
The author really had a great idea when he started leaving fellow alt-historians the chance to expand his fictional universes!