With a POD after New Years Day 1900, have Britain be the world's most powerful country by 2015. The Royal Navy must be the world's largest and have more aircraft carriers than the rest of the world combined. The RAF must also be the world's largest. The naval bases at Esquimalt, Simonstown, Singapore must still be in operation by the Royal Navy. Britain must also have the world's largest nuclear stockpile and the world's most advanced space program. Lastly, Britain should also have the world's largest merchant marine. You also have to maintain the connection between Britain and the Dominions.
AHC: Rule Britannia!!!
- Thread starter Emperor Palpatine
- Start date
Given the population disparity with other major nations in existence at the time; and that weren't going away any time soon (USA, Russia, China, etc), it would require a per-capita economic/industrial/intelligentsia/etc contribution advantage that would be very difficult to achieve and even harder to maintain for any given period of time.
Not impossible, but I'm not sure how.
This is a real tough challenge:
While it is true that Britain was the World's #1 Economy in 1900, with an Empire spread far enough to keep the Sun from setting on it, the fact is that - AFAIK - the seeds to the decline were set in the mid-1850s, with an obsessive focus on just a few small areas of economic importance (finance) over all others. The resource richness of the US and the active governmental policies of Germany meant that by 1903, both were snapping at the heels of Britain.
It would be much easier, to have the British Empire/Commonwealth be the most powerful force on the planet, and having a central governing body for it that decides Empire/Commonwealth-wide policies.
While it is true that Britain was the World's #1 Economy in 1900, with an Empire spread far enough to keep the Sun from setting on it, the fact is that - AFAIK - the seeds to the decline were set in the mid-1850s, with an obsessive focus on just a few small areas of economic importance (finance) over all others. The resource richness of the US and the active governmental policies of Germany meant that by 1903, both were snapping at the heels of Britain.
It would be much easier, to have the British Empire/Commonwealth be the most powerful force on the planet, and having a central governing body for it that decides Empire/Commonwealth-wide policies.
Absolute minimum, you need 'Britain' to be the Empire, not the islands. You need it to be an Imperial Federation (with a strong federal structure). That can be done, but it's tough.
It needs to, AT MINIMUM, have all the white Dominions, and then some.
The best bet is to raise the living, economic and educational standards of large chunks of the brown and black portions of the Empire to European levels (possibly Greece or Portugal, but still). How you go about doing that, I'm sure I don't know, as the prejudices of the time were pretty fierce.
Basically 'Britain' here is going to be a Greater India in this scenario, and I don't see anyway the whites will accept that.
A second scenario would be that other nations decide to join the Empire, e.g. Argentina (as a country that iOTL at least thought about the Commonwealth, iirc), maybe Portugal, a couple of the Indian princely states. Maybe Japan, or at least Taiwan...
That's going to be even tougher (why do these places want to become 'British'?), but at least it would give an Empire where British stock was perhaps a plurality of the Empire, and you might possibly be able to get the necessary population and industry. But this nears ASB.
Britain becomes a racist, ultra right-wing dictatorship in the early 1900s maybe as a response to a failed Communist revolt or terrorist attack/assassination. They then get the bomb first and destroy the USA and their continental European rivals as well.
TFSmith121
Banned
Actually, in terms of manufacturing output
Actually, in terms of manufacturing output, the US had outpaced Britain in 1900; figures are from Bairoch via Kennedy:
US - 23.6 percent
UK - 18.5
GE - 13.2
RU - 8.8
FR - 6.8
AH - 4.7
IT - 2.5
JA - 2.4
Total industrial potential (different measure, but UK in 1900 = 100):
US - 127.8
UK - 100
GE - 71.2
RU - 47.5
FR - 36.8
AH - 25.6
IT - 13.6
JA - 13
So the reality is the UK is already been surpassed economically by the US in 1900; and using the same measurements, Germany had surpassed the UK by 1913, and the USSR had almost caught up by 1938 - again, using the UK in 1900 as 100:
US - 528 (1938)
GE - 214
UK - 181
RU - 152
JA - 88
FR - 74
IT - 46
Best,
Actually, in terms of manufacturing output, the US had outpaced Britain in 1900; figures are from Bairoch via Kennedy:
US - 23.6 percent
UK - 18.5
GE - 13.2
RU - 8.8
FR - 6.8
AH - 4.7
IT - 2.5
JA - 2.4
Total industrial potential (different measure, but UK in 1900 = 100):
US - 127.8
UK - 100
GE - 71.2
RU - 47.5
FR - 36.8
AH - 25.6
IT - 13.6
JA - 13
So the reality is the UK is already been surpassed economically by the US in 1900; and using the same measurements, Germany had surpassed the UK by 1913, and the USSR had almost caught up by 1938 - again, using the UK in 1900 as 100:
US - 528 (1938)
GE - 214
UK - 181
RU - 152
JA - 88
FR - 74
IT - 46
Best,
hipper
Banned
for the aims of the initial post to be carried out have Britain avoid involvement in two world wars
Get Germany involved in war against Russia instead of a First World War then get America involved in a Pacific war against Japan followed by empire building in China.
The German and American empires fall apart during the 60s and 70s in a rush of anti colonialist enthusiasm while the British empire has transitioned to financial dominance with the pound Sterling as the worlds reserve currency.
You'd probably have to have Philby recommend the UK as the Saudi's favoured oil exploiters back in the 20's
That should do it
Get Germany involved in war against Russia instead of a First World War then get America involved in a Pacific war against Japan followed by empire building in China.
The German and American empires fall apart during the 60s and 70s in a rush of anti colonialist enthusiasm while the British empire has transitioned to financial dominance with the pound Sterling as the worlds reserve currency.
You'd probably have to have Philby recommend the UK as the Saudi's favoured oil exploiters back in the 20's
That should do it
Redbeard
Banned
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=143305
Not quite there yet, but might end there...
...when I get the time
Not quite there yet, but might end there...
...when I get the time
Cryhavoc101
Donor
Not quite Britain but......
I would imagine a 'British' Empire that Grants universal suffrage to all of its citizens 1 person = 1 vote and works to ensure as far as possible a similar standard of living and education as well as legal rights might achieve this.
This of course would make India probably the most powerful member.
This of course would be difficult - racism was alive and well during the time when all this had to happen - so certainly the White Mindset has to change - basically it has to be a sort of 1990s or later liberal in 1930 at the latest.
There is also racism + religious intolerance with in many of the cultures that make up the Commonwealth - the caste system in India would also prove to be an issue.
I agree with other posters - The Empire or Commonwealth has to walk a fine line and possibly not getting directly involved in the major wars of the 20th C while maintaining a world wide trading Empire (this generating the need for a large navy capable of seeing off any challenge).
The other thing that has to happen is building up of heavy industry across the entire Empire/Commonwealth and not trying to keep Britain as the sole producer with the Empire limited to supplying resources and buying back the British made goods.
As for being the most powerful military - have - post the Great war and other upheavals - the Commonwealth become effectively the worlds policeman and despite not getting involved in major wars - it is almost constantly deploying units from across the commonwealth to hot spots around the globe or conducting relief ops in disaster areas (man made or natural).
Being largely un-spoiled by war in the 20th C many of the greatest minds from those nations that were impacted migrated to one of the Commonwealth nations and effectively like so many others fleeing oppression and war, became citizens.
This allowed by 1950 the New Universities in New Delhi, Sydney, Vancouver and Freetown to become along with Oxbridge the great centres of learning
Computers, Jet engines, Nuclear power, nuclear weapons, Rockets and space programs along with breakthroughs in Medicines and agriculture
The United Commonwealth Space Program (born out of the ICBM program of the 40s and 50s) - first sought to place Communication and Spy satellites into orbit - then by 1960 people before landing on the moon in 1975 as well as the rolling 15 year mission to Mars (based on the Mars Direct Plan) - which started in 1995 and ended in 2010 - a more permanent base in partnership with the Russian Empire, France, Greater Germany, the USA and Brazil is expected to start in 2030 with Japan and China planning on their own joint venture mission.
The Royal Commonwealth Navy uses a number of universal designs that are built at multiple facilities with the largest being in Halifax, Sydney, Singapore, Barrow upon Furness, Rosyth and the four main site in india Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata, Kochi and Mumbai.
Many smaller ship yards and industrial centres around the commonwealth contribute to these major shipyards - all of the larger modern ships are modular and brought together at one of the 9 large shipyards.
This allows for fairly rapid construction of larger vessels - for example the "Empress of India" class of Super carriers (basically OTL Queen Elizabeth class) which represents the current design are into their 3rd batch - which when completed will easily allow the Commonwealth a 3 or more to one advantage over the larger US Navy's 6 Admiral Kimmel Class and 4 Admiral Halsey class super carriers as well as the 2 IJN Yamamoto mega carriers and 5 Amagi (Mountain class) Super carriers.
Both the Royal Commonwealth Army and Royal Commonwealth Navy have their own air forces - the Army Air Corps is responsible for CAS, Antitank Helos and Drones, Battlefield recon, Transport (Fixed wing, rotary and heavy VTOL) as well as maintaining the fighter command Wings based around the entire planet.
The Navy mainly operates a mix of Fixed wing and rotary wing air groups for its carriers although unmanned drones have recently been introduced as a replacement for both the AEW and LRMP ASW platforms.
The main fighter bomber of both forces is the Āndhī or Typhoon (basically a P.125) which is a universal design built across the commonwealth - just over half of the 3000 made so far have been built in India.
A larger twin engined version, the Bavaṇḍara or Tornado is currently undergoing trials but several setbacks have threatened its continuation.
This had led to the continuation and life extension of the two seater Bijalī or Lightning Interceptor which first entered service in the 70s as a bomber and then the airframe was used as a interceptor.
Having the first Nuclear bomb and maintaining a 15 year lead over its rivals the Commonwealth currently has a large stockpile of Strategic and Tactical weapons.
The Navy operates a much reduced Strategic bomber force that used to be the back bone of the Nuclear deterrence with its large fleet of Supersonic Delta winged Victory bombers - now it operates 50 Boomerang Stealth Bombers. The Main nuclear deterrence however is the commonwealths fleet of 22 Missile subs. Smaller tactical nukes are also capable of being deployed by the current Āndhī (Hindi: Typhoon) strike fighter that forms the backbone of the Commonwealth Naval and Army air forces as well as by Rocket artillery Regiments.
The current Seat of the Commonwealth parliament is in Singapore (2012 -2016) the next Parliament will be based in Kenya (2016 - 2020) after that it returns to London for the first time in 50 years.
I would imagine a 'British' Empire that Grants universal suffrage to all of its citizens 1 person = 1 vote and works to ensure as far as possible a similar standard of living and education as well as legal rights might achieve this.
This of course would make India probably the most powerful member.
This of course would be difficult - racism was alive and well during the time when all this had to happen - so certainly the White Mindset has to change - basically it has to be a sort of 1990s or later liberal in 1930 at the latest.
There is also racism + religious intolerance with in many of the cultures that make up the Commonwealth - the caste system in India would also prove to be an issue.
I agree with other posters - The Empire or Commonwealth has to walk a fine line and possibly not getting directly involved in the major wars of the 20th C while maintaining a world wide trading Empire (this generating the need for a large navy capable of seeing off any challenge).
The other thing that has to happen is building up of heavy industry across the entire Empire/Commonwealth and not trying to keep Britain as the sole producer with the Empire limited to supplying resources and buying back the British made goods.
As for being the most powerful military - have - post the Great war and other upheavals - the Commonwealth become effectively the worlds policeman and despite not getting involved in major wars - it is almost constantly deploying units from across the commonwealth to hot spots around the globe or conducting relief ops in disaster areas (man made or natural).
Being largely un-spoiled by war in the 20th C many of the greatest minds from those nations that were impacted migrated to one of the Commonwealth nations and effectively like so many others fleeing oppression and war, became citizens.
This allowed by 1950 the New Universities in New Delhi, Sydney, Vancouver and Freetown to become along with Oxbridge the great centres of learning
Computers, Jet engines, Nuclear power, nuclear weapons, Rockets and space programs along with breakthroughs in Medicines and agriculture
The United Commonwealth Space Program (born out of the ICBM program of the 40s and 50s) - first sought to place Communication and Spy satellites into orbit - then by 1960 people before landing on the moon in 1975 as well as the rolling 15 year mission to Mars (based on the Mars Direct Plan) - which started in 1995 and ended in 2010 - a more permanent base in partnership with the Russian Empire, France, Greater Germany, the USA and Brazil is expected to start in 2030 with Japan and China planning on their own joint venture mission.
The Royal Commonwealth Navy uses a number of universal designs that are built at multiple facilities with the largest being in Halifax, Sydney, Singapore, Barrow upon Furness, Rosyth and the four main site in india Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata, Kochi and Mumbai.
Many smaller ship yards and industrial centres around the commonwealth contribute to these major shipyards - all of the larger modern ships are modular and brought together at one of the 9 large shipyards.
This allows for fairly rapid construction of larger vessels - for example the "Empress of India" class of Super carriers (basically OTL Queen Elizabeth class) which represents the current design are into their 3rd batch - which when completed will easily allow the Commonwealth a 3 or more to one advantage over the larger US Navy's 6 Admiral Kimmel Class and 4 Admiral Halsey class super carriers as well as the 2 IJN Yamamoto mega carriers and 5 Amagi (Mountain class) Super carriers.
Both the Royal Commonwealth Army and Royal Commonwealth Navy have their own air forces - the Army Air Corps is responsible for CAS, Antitank Helos and Drones, Battlefield recon, Transport (Fixed wing, rotary and heavy VTOL) as well as maintaining the fighter command Wings based around the entire planet.
The Navy mainly operates a mix of Fixed wing and rotary wing air groups for its carriers although unmanned drones have recently been introduced as a replacement for both the AEW and LRMP ASW platforms.
The main fighter bomber of both forces is the Āndhī or Typhoon (basically a P.125) which is a universal design built across the commonwealth - just over half of the 3000 made so far have been built in India.
A larger twin engined version, the Bavaṇḍara or Tornado is currently undergoing trials but several setbacks have threatened its continuation.
This had led to the continuation and life extension of the two seater Bijalī or Lightning Interceptor which first entered service in the 70s as a bomber and then the airframe was used as a interceptor.
Having the first Nuclear bomb and maintaining a 15 year lead over its rivals the Commonwealth currently has a large stockpile of Strategic and Tactical weapons.
The Navy operates a much reduced Strategic bomber force that used to be the back bone of the Nuclear deterrence with its large fleet of Supersonic Delta winged Victory bombers - now it operates 50 Boomerang Stealth Bombers. The Main nuclear deterrence however is the commonwealths fleet of 22 Missile subs. Smaller tactical nukes are also capable of being deployed by the current Āndhī (Hindi: Typhoon) strike fighter that forms the backbone of the Commonwealth Naval and Army air forces as well as by Rocket artillery Regiments.
The current Seat of the Commonwealth parliament is in Singapore (2012 -2016) the next Parliament will be based in Kenya (2016 - 2020) after that it returns to London for the first time in 50 years.
WILDGEESE
Gone Fishin'
With regards to population, how about bringing on a population boom with a earlier "family allowance" scheme as brought out by the UK govt in the 1970's, ie paying families money for each of their children.
Don't know if this would work or if it's financially possible with the amount of money required, but if it did you could easily get a 3% growth rate per year.
Not only that but if you expanded it to Australia, Canada, white S.Africa and N.Z as well you could easily end up with a huge population, greater than the USA, USSR, Germany & China, all of people of a British origin.
Don't know if this would work though.
Regards filers
Dogger bank Incident leads to British DOW on Russia.
France does not support Russia. This breaks Franco-Russian alliance.
Germany and Russia form an alliance (poor Poland). Russia normalizes relations with THE EMPIRE (end of great game) -
During the 1910s UK and Germany agree on fleet limitations - and together force limits on other nations fleets (Britain gets as three ocean power the largest fleet allowance). Industrialisation of India/Russia
Basically all this prevents WWI.
During the 20-30s India gets Dominion Status (I assume Dominion Forces are considered part of RN Structure)
UK, Russia and Japan slowly turn China into their backyard.
This leads to an economic war of the Continental powers + Japan vs US. US loses...
France does not support Russia. This breaks Franco-Russian alliance.
Germany and Russia form an alliance (poor Poland). Russia normalizes relations with THE EMPIRE (end of great game) -
During the 1910s UK and Germany agree on fleet limitations - and together force limits on other nations fleets (Britain gets as three ocean power the largest fleet allowance). Industrialisation of India/Russia
Basically all this prevents WWI.
During the 20-30s India gets Dominion Status (I assume Dominion Forces are considered part of RN Structure)
UK, Russia and Japan slowly turn China into their backyard.
This leads to an economic war of the Continental powers + Japan vs US. US loses...
Part 1
As others have said, the only way to achieve this is to have Britain effectively create a system of federal government, but this immediately runs into the (major) problem that even by 1900 India's population easily surpassed the rest of the British Empire combined and simple majority-rule democracy in such a nation will effectively turn it into the Indian Empire, not the British one.
The only real way I can see this working on a governmental level is to have each of the individual nations have their own autonomy but also have an Imperial government above that that would have to be decided in a way other than liberal democracy. I'm thinking that the best way of doing this is to have the number of seats in the Imperial Parliament decided by influence on the Empire, which would put Britain at the top and India a fairly close second, with say 105 seats reserved for the UK and 75 for India. All of the other dominions have seats here as well - Canada 35, Australia 30, South Africa 24, Ireland 16, New Zealand 12, Malaya 12 and all of the others a smaller number. This parliament's powers would be largely confined to trade and economic issues, relations between the different dominions, foreign policy and defense, leaving most domestic affairs to each of the individual nations within reason, namely not violating a basic set of rights, freedoms and responsibilities that would be universal across the nations.
As far as making it possible, best post-1900 POD plan I can see starts at the Boer War. Germany decides to back up the Boers during the war to a sizable extent - never deploying troops (I doubt that could be done even if Berlin wanted to) and America's tendency to be against the European powers causes them to look down heavily on Britain for the war, particularly once word of Lord Kitchener's concentration camps comes out. Britain calls for help from the other dominions and gets it, and defeats the Boers, but the involvement of the Germans results in a need for Britain to do a better job in taking care of its global colonies, knowing of America's distaste and Germany's wish to push London around. This also emboldens Germany, which manifests itself in the First World War.
World War I starts badly for the Allies, but a stalemate eventually forms. America stays out of it entirely, and Britain is soon well aware that it cannot overwhelm the Entente without help from its colonies. The RN eventually comes out on top on the high seas, allowing Britain to call up troops from other parts of the world. After much debating, London calls on Indian troops and sends them to Europe. The culture shock is enormous, but the huge size of the British-trained Indian Army when combined with Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African and other empire troops eventually destroys the Germans. WWI ends with a similar result, though about a year later than OTL and with France considerably more badly damaged.
The ideas of the Commonwealth being a single unified state had existed before WWI, but after the Indians and White Dominions proved to be the equal of the British (and superior to the Germans), the Imperial plans of before the war soon start getting hammered out. India at first isn't a big fan of this....but when it becomes clear that they will be by and large an independent nation as a result, they begin enthusiastically supporting it. After the war, Britain's damage is such that their best way to rebuild their power is to grow the colonies, causing wide-scale development in the colonies both of the British-based firms and ones from home. The first Imperial Parliament is convened in 1924 with the United Kingdom joined by Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with India taking its seats in the parliament the following year. Between the World Wars, Palestine, Egypt, Malaya, Malta, Cyprus, Newfoundland and Hong Kong become part of the Parliament, in essence accepting a number of basic standards and an over-arching (but as it turns out almost entirely benevolent) authority, with many of the smaller dominions joining out of thinking that having even a little bit of influence on the Empire is better than having none.
Beyond that, though, Britain's societal shifts in the interwar period manifests itself in less consideration of skin color and more of consideration for the customs and traditions of the United Kingdom, thinking that the Empire could rule the world if it could educate and develop its colonies to be loyal, prosperous parts of said empire. This also manifests itself in legislation from the Imperial Parliament calling for the greatest societal equality possible for all in the individual nations, even though in the 1920s this creates numerous problems, the ugliest ones regarding India's caste system and relations between the English and Afrikaners in South Africa. Despite these problems, those of such persuasions spread out across the world in the 1920s and 1930s, and even the Great Depression doesn't slow matters down - indeed thanks to intelligent economic decisions, the Empire recovers from the Depression far faster than the United States or other parts of the developed world. This attempt to spread the Empire causes a steady erosion of social barriers - economic barriers were all but eliminated by the actions early in the Great Depression - and it also causes alliances to form among portions of the Empire, with the Indians in particular being loudly pushy for the rights of minority groups. India's persistence in this is matched by the desires of London.
After Hitler's rise to power, the appeal of fascism has to be fought in much of the developed world, and India's demand for the allowing of Jews fleeing Germany to go someplace ends up being one of the first big divisions in the Parliament, but in the end the Empire does end up absorbing hundreds of thousands of Jews who flee Europe - and among these are the creators of the atomic bomb, something that proves to be immensely valuable during WWII. Hitler kicks off WWII on schedule, but he is loath to fight the British, fearing a repeat of the first World War - but after Hitler's 1930s diplomatic machinations, London is not about to let his garbage slide.
In July 1940, as France is falling and at the suggestion of Jawaharlal Nehru (the Imperial Foreign Minister in 1940) and with the approval of Prime Minister Churchill and King George VI, France is offered entry into the Empire and the French armed forces are invited to flee France for Britain. Most of the Army fights the German to the last, but the French Navy and Air Force true to form retreats to fight another day, and indeed does do so. Hitler is incensed by this and seeks to subdue Britain, but the Battle of the Britain ends up being a turning point in the war - it does immense damage to both sides, but the British can replace their losses from abroad. But what shifts history is Washington - Roosevelt and his predecessors had seen Britain's actions to create greater levels of rights and independence for its colonies, and by the war Washington's view of the Imperial Parliament was one of approval, and so after Pearl Harbor, Washington is happy to help the British replace their losses. Hitler eventually turns his attention to attacking the Soviet Union, while the job of eradicating German troops in North Africa and southern Europe, as well as killing the Kriegsmarine, takes up their attention. Japan's decision to attack British territories in Malaya and Hong Kong sees a declaration of war against them, and when the Japanese attack British India and bomb Darwin in the late summer of 1942, London dispatches the by-now-massive Imperial Army to drive them out of India (which they do). After the destruction of the Tirpitz in Norway in December 1942 by the RAF, the Royal Navy dispatches its big guns to the Indian Ocean to relieve Australia and eradicate the Japanese Navy, though by this time the Americans are already doing a rather good job of that.
Operation Barbarossa turns into a nightmare for Hitler, but lingering distrust of communism (combined with the Empire's intense distaste for Stalin) sees not a lot of help reach Stalin, but regardless of that the war on the Eastern Front turns into a bloody, ugly stalemate for nearly two years, but by early 1944 the Red Army is moving West, and the invasions first of Italy and then France result in a two-front war which the Axis powers simply cannot stop. The discovery of the actions against Jews is shocking to the Empire - and those who had battled for the Empire being used as a sanctuary use the horrible images of it to drive home their point - and the by-now multiracial and multilingual but immensely powerful Imperial Army has no issues using troops of other colors in units to wreck the Germans. The images of the much of northwestern France being liberated by Second Indian Army are stunning ones, and dozens of units of the Imperial Army of minority origin - Iroquois and Mohawk Natives from Canada, black-skinned Native Australians, the Malay Divisions, Maoris from New Zealand, Afrikaners and colored South Africans, the three-quarters black West Indian Infantry - serve with honor and distinction in World War II. The Imperial Army wins the race to Berlin, resulting in all of Germany being united under the rules of the Western powers, though Hamburg and Munich face the destruction of the Royal Air Force's nuclear bombs.
Perhaps the biggest single creation of WWII, however, was the sense of unity. Millions of war vets of many different colors and ethnicities go back to their homes with stories of men very different than them who had been their friends and allies. Likewise, the Imperial War Cabinet made up of men from across the Empire had proven its worth, and the immediate aftermath of the war was soon one of asking that if the Empire could so thoroughly devastate a war machine as powerful as the one created by Hitler, how could they not make damned sure that life was as good as possible for all of the people within the Empire? That viewpoint is one massively approved of pretty much across the Empire....
As others have said, the only way to achieve this is to have Britain effectively create a system of federal government, but this immediately runs into the (major) problem that even by 1900 India's population easily surpassed the rest of the British Empire combined and simple majority-rule democracy in such a nation will effectively turn it into the Indian Empire, not the British one.
The only real way I can see this working on a governmental level is to have each of the individual nations have their own autonomy but also have an Imperial government above that that would have to be decided in a way other than liberal democracy. I'm thinking that the best way of doing this is to have the number of seats in the Imperial Parliament decided by influence on the Empire, which would put Britain at the top and India a fairly close second, with say 105 seats reserved for the UK and 75 for India. All of the other dominions have seats here as well - Canada 35, Australia 30, South Africa 24, Ireland 16, New Zealand 12, Malaya 12 and all of the others a smaller number. This parliament's powers would be largely confined to trade and economic issues, relations between the different dominions, foreign policy and defense, leaving most domestic affairs to each of the individual nations within reason, namely not violating a basic set of rights, freedoms and responsibilities that would be universal across the nations.
As far as making it possible, best post-1900 POD plan I can see starts at the Boer War. Germany decides to back up the Boers during the war to a sizable extent - never deploying troops (I doubt that could be done even if Berlin wanted to) and America's tendency to be against the European powers causes them to look down heavily on Britain for the war, particularly once word of Lord Kitchener's concentration camps comes out. Britain calls for help from the other dominions and gets it, and defeats the Boers, but the involvement of the Germans results in a need for Britain to do a better job in taking care of its global colonies, knowing of America's distaste and Germany's wish to push London around. This also emboldens Germany, which manifests itself in the First World War.
World War I starts badly for the Allies, but a stalemate eventually forms. America stays out of it entirely, and Britain is soon well aware that it cannot overwhelm the Entente without help from its colonies. The RN eventually comes out on top on the high seas, allowing Britain to call up troops from other parts of the world. After much debating, London calls on Indian troops and sends them to Europe. The culture shock is enormous, but the huge size of the British-trained Indian Army when combined with Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, South African and other empire troops eventually destroys the Germans. WWI ends with a similar result, though about a year later than OTL and with France considerably more badly damaged.
The ideas of the Commonwealth being a single unified state had existed before WWI, but after the Indians and White Dominions proved to be the equal of the British (and superior to the Germans), the Imperial plans of before the war soon start getting hammered out. India at first isn't a big fan of this....but when it becomes clear that they will be by and large an independent nation as a result, they begin enthusiastically supporting it. After the war, Britain's damage is such that their best way to rebuild their power is to grow the colonies, causing wide-scale development in the colonies both of the British-based firms and ones from home. The first Imperial Parliament is convened in 1924 with the United Kingdom joined by Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with India taking its seats in the parliament the following year. Between the World Wars, Palestine, Egypt, Malaya, Malta, Cyprus, Newfoundland and Hong Kong become part of the Parliament, in essence accepting a number of basic standards and an over-arching (but as it turns out almost entirely benevolent) authority, with many of the smaller dominions joining out of thinking that having even a little bit of influence on the Empire is better than having none.
Beyond that, though, Britain's societal shifts in the interwar period manifests itself in less consideration of skin color and more of consideration for the customs and traditions of the United Kingdom, thinking that the Empire could rule the world if it could educate and develop its colonies to be loyal, prosperous parts of said empire. This also manifests itself in legislation from the Imperial Parliament calling for the greatest societal equality possible for all in the individual nations, even though in the 1920s this creates numerous problems, the ugliest ones regarding India's caste system and relations between the English and Afrikaners in South Africa. Despite these problems, those of such persuasions spread out across the world in the 1920s and 1930s, and even the Great Depression doesn't slow matters down - indeed thanks to intelligent economic decisions, the Empire recovers from the Depression far faster than the United States or other parts of the developed world. This attempt to spread the Empire causes a steady erosion of social barriers - economic barriers were all but eliminated by the actions early in the Great Depression - and it also causes alliances to form among portions of the Empire, with the Indians in particular being loudly pushy for the rights of minority groups. India's persistence in this is matched by the desires of London.
After Hitler's rise to power, the appeal of fascism has to be fought in much of the developed world, and India's demand for the allowing of Jews fleeing Germany to go someplace ends up being one of the first big divisions in the Parliament, but in the end the Empire does end up absorbing hundreds of thousands of Jews who flee Europe - and among these are the creators of the atomic bomb, something that proves to be immensely valuable during WWII. Hitler kicks off WWII on schedule, but he is loath to fight the British, fearing a repeat of the first World War - but after Hitler's 1930s diplomatic machinations, London is not about to let his garbage slide.
In July 1940, as France is falling and at the suggestion of Jawaharlal Nehru (the Imperial Foreign Minister in 1940) and with the approval of Prime Minister Churchill and King George VI, France is offered entry into the Empire and the French armed forces are invited to flee France for Britain. Most of the Army fights the German to the last, but the French Navy and Air Force true to form retreats to fight another day, and indeed does do so. Hitler is incensed by this and seeks to subdue Britain, but the Battle of the Britain ends up being a turning point in the war - it does immense damage to both sides, but the British can replace their losses from abroad. But what shifts history is Washington - Roosevelt and his predecessors had seen Britain's actions to create greater levels of rights and independence for its colonies, and by the war Washington's view of the Imperial Parliament was one of approval, and so after Pearl Harbor, Washington is happy to help the British replace their losses. Hitler eventually turns his attention to attacking the Soviet Union, while the job of eradicating German troops in North Africa and southern Europe, as well as killing the Kriegsmarine, takes up their attention. Japan's decision to attack British territories in Malaya and Hong Kong sees a declaration of war against them, and when the Japanese attack British India and bomb Darwin in the late summer of 1942, London dispatches the by-now-massive Imperial Army to drive them out of India (which they do). After the destruction of the Tirpitz in Norway in December 1942 by the RAF, the Royal Navy dispatches its big guns to the Indian Ocean to relieve Australia and eradicate the Japanese Navy, though by this time the Americans are already doing a rather good job of that.
Operation Barbarossa turns into a nightmare for Hitler, but lingering distrust of communism (combined with the Empire's intense distaste for Stalin) sees not a lot of help reach Stalin, but regardless of that the war on the Eastern Front turns into a bloody, ugly stalemate for nearly two years, but by early 1944 the Red Army is moving West, and the invasions first of Italy and then France result in a two-front war which the Axis powers simply cannot stop. The discovery of the actions against Jews is shocking to the Empire - and those who had battled for the Empire being used as a sanctuary use the horrible images of it to drive home their point - and the by-now multiracial and multilingual but immensely powerful Imperial Army has no issues using troops of other colors in units to wreck the Germans. The images of the much of northwestern France being liberated by Second Indian Army are stunning ones, and dozens of units of the Imperial Army of minority origin - Iroquois and Mohawk Natives from Canada, black-skinned Native Australians, the Malay Divisions, Maoris from New Zealand, Afrikaners and colored South Africans, the three-quarters black West Indian Infantry - serve with honor and distinction in World War II. The Imperial Army wins the race to Berlin, resulting in all of Germany being united under the rules of the Western powers, though Hamburg and Munich face the destruction of the Royal Air Force's nuclear bombs.
Perhaps the biggest single creation of WWII, however, was the sense of unity. Millions of war vets of many different colors and ethnicities go back to their homes with stories of men very different than them who had been their friends and allies. Likewise, the Imperial War Cabinet made up of men from across the Empire had proven its worth, and the immediate aftermath of the war was soon one of asking that if the Empire could so thoroughly devastate a war machine as powerful as the one created by Hitler, how could they not make damned sure that life was as good as possible for all of the people within the Empire? That viewpoint is one massively approved of pretty much across the Empire....
Lateknight
Banned
Nuclear war everyone else blows each other up, Britain's empire is the largest power left. Besides that I don't really see a way of doing this with a after 1900s pod.
Part 2
After the defeat of Japan in September 1945, the victorious Americans and British Empire set about rebuilding the world, despite the paranoid Soviet Union and its naked hopes to spread communism being a problem. In absolutely no shape to really reclaim its colonies and facing a daunting reconstruction task, France chooses to remain part of the Empire after the war and is rewarded with the third-largest number of seats in the Imperial Parliament.
The post-war years see France's entry joined by numerous nations - Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies from the Americas, Rhodesia, East Africa, South-West Africa and Somalia from Africa join by 1954. India's push for a secular state results in massive civil violence in the late 1940s, but the separatist movements are defeated by 1955, while the ideas of apartheid first created by hard-line Afrikaners in South Africa and Ketuanan Melayu by the UNMO in Malaysia both get quickly denounced by the Imperial Parliament and multiple battles between these groups and the governments both in their respective capitals and in London result in their defeat. Universal suffrage is reality across India and the White Dominions aside from South Africa by 1960 (South Africa catches up in 1964) and across the Caribbean by 1965 and in the Asian portions of the Empire by 1968. Intermittent battles between Jews and Arabs in Palestine causes another round of bitter battles in 1947-49, but this one is solved by huge deployments of Imperial troops and a power-sharing system of government which also results in Palestine having two separate Prime Ministers with equal powers.
Despite early troubles, massive educational efforts and economic development efforts are the order of the day, with efforts ranging from the small to the immense. The first nuclear power reactor in the Empire begins operation at Calder Hall in Britain in May 1949, beating Canada's Chalk River power station by mere weeks. Rural services are one of the biggest sources of efforts, while massive urban renewal in major cities is also a hallmark in many places. The fall of China to communism in 1949 sees Hong Kong rapidly grow into a massive commercial center, joining Singapore in this regard - indeed, both of them would be among the richest places in the Empire by the 1980s. Perhaps notable was that the baby boom of the White Dominions was joined into by many of the wealthier dominions, while in India it was the exact opposite, as India's birth rate dropped precipitously as the nation's wealth grew rapidly and its infant mortality dropped like a stone in the years after WWII. More notable was the decision in 1950 that any citizen of any of the Imperial Realms can travel to any of the others and live and conduct their affairs there without a visa, a move that resulted in vast population movements throughout the Empire starting in the 1950s.
Perhaps more than the social movements was the development of technology. Nuclear energy, jet propulsion, modern computers, sonar and radar technology, rocket programs, vast advancements in medicine, wireless broadcasting and communications, satellite technology, modern materials science and huge advancements in design all come out of corporations in the Empire, and not just in Britain itself - the Indians lead the way in the development of the wireless communication technology and many elements of medicine, while Britain and Canada run parallel nuclear programs and jet propulsion programs, as well as Canada's revolutionary DATAR sonar system for submarine hunting. India and Australia team up on many elements of agricultural science, while the vibrant colors and designs of African and Indian stylists soon are aped pretty much everywhere. The best companies of the Empire rapidly rise to prominence everywhere, and by the 1960s the vast developments of the great cities of the Empire proved to be visions of what was to come. London and Paris found themselves with one great rising rival after another for power and influence. Bombay (which become Mumbai in 1985), Kolkata, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Karachi, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, Zanzibar, Nairobi, Kingston, Lagos....one city after another was staking its claim to power and influence within the Empire, and few made poor cases for it.
Standards began to evolve out of desires to allow goods and services to be used abroad. Standards for everything from which side of the road cars drive on (Canada had switched to driving on the left in 1910s, most of the rest of the Empire already did so) to power transmission and plugs and sockets (240V, 60 Hz pretty much across the board) made sure that products used in many places could be used in other places, while other such big moves was in rail transport standards (Canada had the most efficient rail transport system in the Empire by the early 1950s, and as much of the Empire already used similar track gauges, their standards got expanded to other parts of the Empire) and vehicle sizes. By the early 1960s, the cultural aspects of the empire were also evolving, with the whole empire fighting for supremacy at football and rugby (even Canada, which had had far more interest in gridiron football than rugby, got good at football and rugby by the 1980s, and the ice hockey so loved in Canada found supporters in other parts of the Empire), and films, music, clothes and even mannerisms soon began to be seen in many places, including such amusing ones as traffic lights being referred to as 'robots', a trend that originally began in South Africa but became common across the Empire. The love of the outdoors that was so prevalent in South Africa, Australia and Canada swelled in many other places, and the cooking of various parts of the Empire spread across many parts of the rest of it.
Economic growth in the Empire at first didn't pay much attention to its less-than-desirable effects, but the Great Smog of 1952 and the Delhi Smog of 1954 made sure the Empire paid attention by teaching it hard lessons of why that needed to be done, though air pollution was only the first way the environment would be improved in many places. Canada quickly took from Britain the honor of being the best power engineers in the Empire, thanks to advanced hydroelectric power, the development of heavy-water nuclear reactors (which replaced the Magnox designs that Britain had pioneered) and the advancement of high-voltage direct current power transmission systems, all of which soon had marked effects on air pollution. Water pollution was also recognized a problem early on, and one of the world's first set of standards for water quality was enacted by India in 1962.
The Empire may have been focused on its own advancements, but that didn't leave them immune to the world around them. Communism's spread in many European colonies was a source of frustration particularly for France, which despite its membership in the Imperial Parliament tried hard to chart its own course for its colonies but frequently found the going difficult. The fall of China in 1949 to Mao saw General Chiang Kai-Shek move to Taiwan, and the bitter division in Korea led to the Korean War of 1950-52, while the North Koreans under Kim Il-Sung attacked South Korea, initially being more than a little successful until a massive counterattack by American and Empire forces as well as the Republic of Korea Army drove the Communists out, and a massive Chinese attack on the Allies saw the Allies, particularly the 5th Canadian and 1st Australian divisions (who took the brunt of the Chinese attack but managed to hold positions despite taking nearly 50% casualties in the process) have to fight for every inch. The success of clearing Korea of the communists stung Stalin, but after his death in 1953, the Communist world began to look inward, though the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 made for a real problem as the United States and Soviet Union stared each other down. Japan and the Empire formally restored ties with each other as independent nations in 1952 and restored their old alliance in 1962.
One result of the post-war era was the massive development of the new armed forces of the Empire. The development of the Vickers VC-7 and VC-10 jetliners in the 1950s and the building of a huge fleet of aerial refueling and transport aircraft out of these backed up the pair of V-bombers, the legendary Avro Vulcan and Handley-Page Victor, whose long legs combined with the refueling tankers gave the RAF a long reach. While the British worked on the large aircraft, India's spectacular HAL Tejas fighter and effective HAL Jaguar light attack aircraft proved to be as capable as any on Earth, while the Canadian Avro CF-105 Arrow proved to be the greatest interceptor of its time and ultimately had a long life in the RAF. The Royal Navy, after establishing its worldwide fleet bases after the war - Portsmouth, Devonport, Faslane and Rosyth in the UK were joined by Singapore, Sydney, Esquimault, Halifax, Simonstown, Garden Island, Akrotiri, Malta, Visakhapatnam, Karwar and Providenciales as the major bases for the Royal Navy - also established a growing carrier fleet, while steadily rejuvenating its fleet over the course of three decades after the war. The Empress class nuclear-powered supercarriers, first commissioned in 1964, would be the tool that retired the huge fleet of older carriers. The RN did, however, maintain a surface gun fleet longer than most - the last RN battleship, HMS Vanguard, was decommissioned in 1971 - and did maintain a massive fleet for both the purposes of amphibious assault operations.
After the defeat of Japan in September 1945, the victorious Americans and British Empire set about rebuilding the world, despite the paranoid Soviet Union and its naked hopes to spread communism being a problem. In absolutely no shape to really reclaim its colonies and facing a daunting reconstruction task, France chooses to remain part of the Empire after the war and is rewarded with the third-largest number of seats in the Imperial Parliament.
The post-war years see France's entry joined by numerous nations - Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies from the Americas, Rhodesia, East Africa, South-West Africa and Somalia from Africa join by 1954. India's push for a secular state results in massive civil violence in the late 1940s, but the separatist movements are defeated by 1955, while the ideas of apartheid first created by hard-line Afrikaners in South Africa and Ketuanan Melayu by the UNMO in Malaysia both get quickly denounced by the Imperial Parliament and multiple battles between these groups and the governments both in their respective capitals and in London result in their defeat. Universal suffrage is reality across India and the White Dominions aside from South Africa by 1960 (South Africa catches up in 1964) and across the Caribbean by 1965 and in the Asian portions of the Empire by 1968. Intermittent battles between Jews and Arabs in Palestine causes another round of bitter battles in 1947-49, but this one is solved by huge deployments of Imperial troops and a power-sharing system of government which also results in Palestine having two separate Prime Ministers with equal powers.
Despite early troubles, massive educational efforts and economic development efforts are the order of the day, with efforts ranging from the small to the immense. The first nuclear power reactor in the Empire begins operation at Calder Hall in Britain in May 1949, beating Canada's Chalk River power station by mere weeks. Rural services are one of the biggest sources of efforts, while massive urban renewal in major cities is also a hallmark in many places. The fall of China to communism in 1949 sees Hong Kong rapidly grow into a massive commercial center, joining Singapore in this regard - indeed, both of them would be among the richest places in the Empire by the 1980s. Perhaps notable was that the baby boom of the White Dominions was joined into by many of the wealthier dominions, while in India it was the exact opposite, as India's birth rate dropped precipitously as the nation's wealth grew rapidly and its infant mortality dropped like a stone in the years after WWII. More notable was the decision in 1950 that any citizen of any of the Imperial Realms can travel to any of the others and live and conduct their affairs there without a visa, a move that resulted in vast population movements throughout the Empire starting in the 1950s.
Perhaps more than the social movements was the development of technology. Nuclear energy, jet propulsion, modern computers, sonar and radar technology, rocket programs, vast advancements in medicine, wireless broadcasting and communications, satellite technology, modern materials science and huge advancements in design all come out of corporations in the Empire, and not just in Britain itself - the Indians lead the way in the development of the wireless communication technology and many elements of medicine, while Britain and Canada run parallel nuclear programs and jet propulsion programs, as well as Canada's revolutionary DATAR sonar system for submarine hunting. India and Australia team up on many elements of agricultural science, while the vibrant colors and designs of African and Indian stylists soon are aped pretty much everywhere. The best companies of the Empire rapidly rise to prominence everywhere, and by the 1960s the vast developments of the great cities of the Empire proved to be visions of what was to come. London and Paris found themselves with one great rising rival after another for power and influence. Bombay (which become Mumbai in 1985), Kolkata, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Karachi, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, Zanzibar, Nairobi, Kingston, Lagos....one city after another was staking its claim to power and influence within the Empire, and few made poor cases for it.
Standards began to evolve out of desires to allow goods and services to be used abroad. Standards for everything from which side of the road cars drive on (Canada had switched to driving on the left in 1910s, most of the rest of the Empire already did so) to power transmission and plugs and sockets (240V, 60 Hz pretty much across the board) made sure that products used in many places could be used in other places, while other such big moves was in rail transport standards (Canada had the most efficient rail transport system in the Empire by the early 1950s, and as much of the Empire already used similar track gauges, their standards got expanded to other parts of the Empire) and vehicle sizes. By the early 1960s, the cultural aspects of the empire were also evolving, with the whole empire fighting for supremacy at football and rugby (even Canada, which had had far more interest in gridiron football than rugby, got good at football and rugby by the 1980s, and the ice hockey so loved in Canada found supporters in other parts of the Empire), and films, music, clothes and even mannerisms soon began to be seen in many places, including such amusing ones as traffic lights being referred to as 'robots', a trend that originally began in South Africa but became common across the Empire. The love of the outdoors that was so prevalent in South Africa, Australia and Canada swelled in many other places, and the cooking of various parts of the Empire spread across many parts of the rest of it.
Economic growth in the Empire at first didn't pay much attention to its less-than-desirable effects, but the Great Smog of 1952 and the Delhi Smog of 1954 made sure the Empire paid attention by teaching it hard lessons of why that needed to be done, though air pollution was only the first way the environment would be improved in many places. Canada quickly took from Britain the honor of being the best power engineers in the Empire, thanks to advanced hydroelectric power, the development of heavy-water nuclear reactors (which replaced the Magnox designs that Britain had pioneered) and the advancement of high-voltage direct current power transmission systems, all of which soon had marked effects on air pollution. Water pollution was also recognized a problem early on, and one of the world's first set of standards for water quality was enacted by India in 1962.
The Empire may have been focused on its own advancements, but that didn't leave them immune to the world around them. Communism's spread in many European colonies was a source of frustration particularly for France, which despite its membership in the Imperial Parliament tried hard to chart its own course for its colonies but frequently found the going difficult. The fall of China in 1949 to Mao saw General Chiang Kai-Shek move to Taiwan, and the bitter division in Korea led to the Korean War of 1950-52, while the North Koreans under Kim Il-Sung attacked South Korea, initially being more than a little successful until a massive counterattack by American and Empire forces as well as the Republic of Korea Army drove the Communists out, and a massive Chinese attack on the Allies saw the Allies, particularly the 5th Canadian and 1st Australian divisions (who took the brunt of the Chinese attack but managed to hold positions despite taking nearly 50% casualties in the process) have to fight for every inch. The success of clearing Korea of the communists stung Stalin, but after his death in 1953, the Communist world began to look inward, though the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 made for a real problem as the United States and Soviet Union stared each other down. Japan and the Empire formally restored ties with each other as independent nations in 1952 and restored their old alliance in 1962.
One result of the post-war era was the massive development of the new armed forces of the Empire. The development of the Vickers VC-7 and VC-10 jetliners in the 1950s and the building of a huge fleet of aerial refueling and transport aircraft out of these backed up the pair of V-bombers, the legendary Avro Vulcan and Handley-Page Victor, whose long legs combined with the refueling tankers gave the RAF a long reach. While the British worked on the large aircraft, India's spectacular HAL Tejas fighter and effective HAL Jaguar light attack aircraft proved to be as capable as any on Earth, while the Canadian Avro CF-105 Arrow proved to be the greatest interceptor of its time and ultimately had a long life in the RAF. The Royal Navy, after establishing its worldwide fleet bases after the war - Portsmouth, Devonport, Faslane and Rosyth in the UK were joined by Singapore, Sydney, Esquimault, Halifax, Simonstown, Garden Island, Akrotiri, Malta, Visakhapatnam, Karwar and Providenciales as the major bases for the Royal Navy - also established a growing carrier fleet, while steadily rejuvenating its fleet over the course of three decades after the war. The Empress class nuclear-powered supercarriers, first commissioned in 1964, would be the tool that retired the huge fleet of older carriers. The RN did, however, maintain a surface gun fleet longer than most - the last RN battleship, HMS Vanguard, was decommissioned in 1971 - and did maintain a massive fleet for both the purposes of amphibious assault operations.
Apologies for being our petty little squabble into this, but for a possible pod consider this possible suggestion.
In the vote in the Irish parliament for the 1801 Act of the Union 52% of the Protestant vote was against. Only 9 of the catholic PM's were against.
With this in mind come post WW1. Irish Volunteers fought along side and died beside their UVF comrades. Men who served in the 10th, 14th and 36th divisions come home from the trenches together as brothers-in-arms. Carson & Redmond get together and Ireland becomes a Dominion, British enough for us and in dependant enough for the republicans.
This leads to an earlier Balfor Declaration and the formation of a Federal Commonwealth between Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
The Royal Navy has the responsibility of policing the British Federation so retains the RNAS and the Royal Marines for this purpose. Each of the dominions are taxed 2.5% of their GDP to support this. Each retains the right to have is own army formed as a TA regiment but with full-time and part-time companies.
The Federal Parliament being elected on 4 year terms 1 vote per 1 adult over 21. This at the start would be English dominated, but perhaps with unrestricted travel for its citizens Australia and Canada could quickly become the dominant regions.
Built upon the principle of free trade and common language smaller regions suck as Singapore, the Chanel Islands, Gibraltar, Malta etc could apply to join.
I have left out India due to their problems but could become completely in dependant but as principal trading partner status followed by other former colonies who would prefer independence which would therefore include the USA as a former colony.
The biggest problem though would be getting the Canadians to drive on the proper side of the road.
In the vote in the Irish parliament for the 1801 Act of the Union 52% of the Protestant vote was against. Only 9 of the catholic PM's were against.
With this in mind come post WW1. Irish Volunteers fought along side and died beside their UVF comrades. Men who served in the 10th, 14th and 36th divisions come home from the trenches together as brothers-in-arms. Carson & Redmond get together and Ireland becomes a Dominion, British enough for us and in dependant enough for the republicans.
This leads to an earlier Balfor Declaration and the formation of a Federal Commonwealth between Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
The Royal Navy has the responsibility of policing the British Federation so retains the RNAS and the Royal Marines for this purpose. Each of the dominions are taxed 2.5% of their GDP to support this. Each retains the right to have is own army formed as a TA regiment but with full-time and part-time companies.
The Federal Parliament being elected on 4 year terms 1 vote per 1 adult over 21. This at the start would be English dominated, but perhaps with unrestricted travel for its citizens Australia and Canada could quickly become the dominant regions.
Built upon the principle of free trade and common language smaller regions suck as Singapore, the Chanel Islands, Gibraltar, Malta etc could apply to join.
I have left out India due to their problems but could become completely in dependant but as principal trading partner status followed by other former colonies who would prefer independence which would therefore include the USA as a former colony.
The biggest problem though would be getting the Canadians to drive on the proper side of the road.