Ah... Sorry for the generalization. @Wings might be able to explain it then
A Yellow Lys on Azure Main
- Thread starter Wings
- Start date
Because according to the Acts on Overseas Posessions every Overseas possession of Denmark-Norway needs to have a regional language. For the Faeroes and Greenland it was straightforward, but Hjaltland and Gold Coast it was harder. Gold Coast was given Akan, and Hjaltland was given Gaelic for lack of another language to give them (they didn't want to give English, and the Shetland dialect wasn't really understood by the Danes as a seperate language)
No it was more of a trading outpost, only 7% of the population of the Gold Coast colony are settlers, although many Dano-Norwegian companies have their headquarters there.
Last edited:
Ah ok
But that makes little sense, as I said before shetlands have no tradition of speaking Gaelic (and even today some shetlander want to remove optional Gaelic teaching in some schools there), there probably wouldn’t even be anyone able to speak it at the time on the islands.
A standardised Shetlandic English/Scot writing is more probable, even a revived Norn language is more probable, considering it was actually the language people spoke there, and especially given the islands have been renamed. With your POD you could easily make it so more informations about Norn survives which enabled a revival.
True. I hadn't thought about a revived Norn language to be honest, I'm not much of a linguistical expert. I'll modify the Gaelic to Shetland Nordic.
Africa: Gold Coast
The Republic of the Gold Coast (Guldkysten) is a small nation on the Gulf of Guinea, which borders only the Ashanti State, and the sea. Originally founded as Fort Christianborg, the small Dano-Norwegian colony soon found itself encircled by British colonies. However, due to the increased friendliness between both Denmark-Norway and the British, Fort Christianborg was never bothered, and was even expanded as the British funded many projects to expand the Christianborg harbour to supply their Ashanti colony. As such Christianborg held much of the traffic of goods between Ashanti and London, and acted as a stopover between the colonies of Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
However, when the World War struck, the importance of the small port suddleny skyrocketed. As the closest port to the Huntziger line, the port of Christianborg was once more expanded to accomodate warships from the West Africa Squadron, and supply a large amount of troops in the area. However, with the failure of the Accords invasion of Europe, and the North African Campaign turning awry, the British quickly evacuated Ashanti as it fell into civil war. Only the Free Danish Forces held Christianborg with 4,500 men, welcoming refugees from a now war-torn Ghana and Nigeria. As such, after the war, the Gold Coast became a safe haven and one of the only stable places east of the Huntziger line along with Cameroon, Gabon and Cabinda. However, despite achieving autonomy, much of the population wanted independence from Denmark-Norway heading into the 1970s, as the Gold Coast had managed to take some distances with Copenhagen. A referendum was passed in 1969, with 60.5% in favour of independence. It was a slow process, with the Gold Coast achieving Crown Protectorate status first, but the Gold Coast finally achieved final independence in 1978. Two years later, Ashanti tried to reunify with the small country by force, but were immediately put down when the frigates HDNMS Amundsen and HDNMS Christian IX sent a few missiles the way of the disorganized Ashanti forces, ending the short-lived war.
Today, the Gold Coast lives up to its name, as Christiansborg is one of the three main ports along the Atlantic Coast of Subsaharan Africa along with Abidjan (1st) and Port-Gentil (3rd). It has a very high standard of living for an African country and is one of the best countries to live in, as such many refugees from Nigeria, Ashanti, Dagbo or Benin seek asylum in the Republic, leading to tight controls on immigration.
However, when the World War struck, the importance of the small port suddleny skyrocketed. As the closest port to the Huntziger line, the port of Christianborg was once more expanded to accomodate warships from the West Africa Squadron, and supply a large amount of troops in the area. However, with the failure of the Accords invasion of Europe, and the North African Campaign turning awry, the British quickly evacuated Ashanti as it fell into civil war. Only the Free Danish Forces held Christianborg with 4,500 men, welcoming refugees from a now war-torn Ghana and Nigeria. As such, after the war, the Gold Coast became a safe haven and one of the only stable places east of the Huntziger line along with Cameroon, Gabon and Cabinda. However, despite achieving autonomy, much of the population wanted independence from Denmark-Norway heading into the 1970s, as the Gold Coast had managed to take some distances with Copenhagen. A referendum was passed in 1969, with 60.5% in favour of independence. It was a slow process, with the Gold Coast achieving Crown Protectorate status first, but the Gold Coast finally achieved final independence in 1978. Two years later, Ashanti tried to reunify with the small country by force, but were immediately put down when the frigates HDNMS Amundsen and HDNMS Christian IX sent a few missiles the way of the disorganized Ashanti forces, ending the short-lived war.
Today, the Gold Coast lives up to its name, as Christiansborg is one of the three main ports along the Atlantic Coast of Subsaharan Africa along with Abidjan (1st) and Port-Gentil (3rd). It has a very high standard of living for an African country and is one of the best countries to live in, as such many refugees from Nigeria, Ashanti, Dagbo or Benin seek asylum in the Republic, leading to tight controls on immigration.
Sports: UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Championship is a football championship pitting the best European nations against each other. So far it has had a total of 16 editions, in 16 different countries, with two more editions bringing five new countries to hosting duties. The record of wins goes over to France, with 5 wins (1956, 1960, 1984, 2000 and 2016), with the Netherlands and Germany trailing far behind with two wins (1988 & 2004 for the Dutch, 1980 & 1992 for the Germans), while England, Croatia, Russia, Czechia, Catalonia and Italy all have one win. The next edition is scheduled for 2020 and should take place on the Adriatic Sea, as it will be hosted by Croatia, Venice and Slovenia. 24 participants are expected to attend.
European Defence Force
The European Defence Force is a multinational military alliance. Founded after the World War by the founding members of the ETU, the European Defence Force was a military alliance that would allow European states to contest U.S domination and fight for the interests of the ETU abroad. It is required for any ETU state to adhere to the EDF as well. Usually seen as second fiddle to the United States, after Walter Mondale's election and the withdrawal of the US from much of world affairs, the EDF became the primary peacekeepers in the world. With the strongest navy in the world from 1982 on, and one of the most modern air forces, it intervened in bloody conflicts such as the Indian Conflict or the South African Civil War. Even with the involvement of the United States following the Millenium Attacks, the EDF remains a strong military power. It has been deployed to Africa notably, to quell unrests and islamic revolutions since the 1960s and the brutal post-World War civil wars plaguing the continent, and is the only armed forces with a permanent presence on all 5 continents. Today, it still ranks as the third largest military by active force size, behind the U.S and China, and is one of the best equipped, in addition to having access to half of France and Germany's nuclear arsenals under dual-key activation system, which are deployed both on EDF bases across Europe, but also on EDF nuclear submarines around the globe.
Philip
Donor
Why are the official languages English and French? The alliance is headquartered in Berlin, and it looks like England isn't even a member.
English is still widely used in Europe for communicating between countries as it's the main language for maritime and Air traffic communication as in OTL. I just forgot to add that German is an official language as well.