Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)
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Interesting scenario, but I'm curious why Germany hasn't reunified and there are so few members? I would've thought if the UK and Ireland are part of it, Denmark, Spain and Portugal would be too at least.
In this TL the federalization of Europe took place more quickly and explicitly than in reality before the end of the 1970s. Denmark, however, refused to explicitly join a federal state. The country became very centred around its core European megalopolis and the Liverpool-Milan urban axis and reluctant to expand because of the disruption of the institutional and economic balance that this would represent.
Austria was exceptionally able to join the federation at the end of the 1980s thanks to strong political mobilisation.
The end of the military dictatorships in the Mediterranean and democratisation was accompanied by the accession of these countries to a customs and cooperation union, but not to the federation itself, like the Nordic countries and Switzerland. There is thus a Western Europe that is evolving in different circles of integration.
The Cold War also ended, just less dramatically than in reality with the Soviet Union surviving its democratisation and transition to a market economy but becoming a moribund regional power.
German reunification remains a taboo subject since it is politically possible. The member countries of the federation were afraid of upsetting the delicate balance between the 'big four' (Germany, the UK, Italy and France) and consistently vetoed German reunification throughout the 1990s despite the frustration of the German people. Instead of a rapid reunification, a 50-year investment plan "Deutschland 2040" was introduced, with the elimination of inequalities between the two Germanies as a condition for a reunification within the federation.
In parallel with Deutschland 2040, the FRG has taken symbolic steps such as moving its capital to West Berlin (the Berlin wall was also destroyed, just in a more institutionalized way) and creating several pan-German cooperation organisations, but with the 2040 deadline approaching, inequalities still far from being bridged, and eastern German politics turning to OTL Visegrad-like conservative and illiberal rhetoric, German reunification remains a sensitive issue that is losing its appeal and is a source of political frustration for many.
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Cursed as hell, how's this not-quite-out-of-Apartheid South Africa's economy doing though, since it's a destination for immigrants?
At this point, the economy is performing relatively well. UN sanctions and an international embargo resulted in a brief yet dramatic slump during the 90s. This was rectified with the post-Cold War political re-alignment. Israeli, Chinese and Russian investment supplied South Africa with a much needed lifeline in return for the Federation's alignment with the Shanghai Pact. The National Conservative led government has subsidised and facilitated immigration from Eastern Europe (ironically to the chagrin of much of its voter base) in an attempt to increase the demographic concentration of Whites and provide new financial and political opportunities such as: the use of former Soviet personnel in the military; cheap labour to serve as an alternative to striking African workers etc.
Deleted member 107190
Extract from a speech delivered by William Joyce, March 28th 1940
"Today, our country rejects, finally, the forces of satanic communism. In this blessed city our new fascist state shall rise to rejoin the world! Let us bury forever that hated name - the Union of British Socialist Republics!"
Extract from Hitler's Hangman: The Life of William Joyce by Andy Roberts
"...by 1942, the German Army was in full retreat from British territory. Chairman Orwell had overseen preparations for Operation Conqueror, a series of lightning offensives that would strike towards the Channel. Emile Von Manstein ordered Joyce to wind down his government and withdraw from his provisional capital of Worth Matravers. Joyce, reluctantly, gave orders for his cabinet, and what remained of his army, to evacuate to the continent on April 13th. He did briefly consider relocating his government to Ulster, however, intransigence from Eoin O'Duffy's Kingdom of Ireland made that infeasible. Instead German authorities gave him control of the settlement of Harbrinkhoek in Holland, where he established a government-in-exile..."
Extract from a telegram sent by Heinz Schlesinger to Emile Von Manstein, June 10th 1944
"We must do something about the Hangman. He's turned that city (Harbrinkhoek) into a camp. There are thousands of our collaborators all stacked on top of each other there, and they're suffering from lack of supply. Not to mention those show trials and public beheadings he's got going on. It's one thing to have them behind closed doors, but there are skulls piled up in the street!"
Extract from Hitler's Hangman: The Life of William Joyce by Andy Roberts
"...as General Gatling's First Scottish Army closed in, panic spread. British civilians abandoned Harbrinkhoek en masse, with the wealthier among them heading for Germany, and the poor going to ground in the local countryside. Joyce, desperate to salvage the situation, made for the city of Almelo to take charge of its defense, about 700 British-SS forces joined him. They were no match for Gatling's battle-hardened veterans and the city fell within days. Joyce was injured during an artillery strike on his home, and recovered from the debris shortly thereafter. His trial was infamously short and overseen by the general himself..."
"Today, our country rejects, finally, the forces of satanic communism. In this blessed city our new fascist state shall rise to rejoin the world! Let us bury forever that hated name - the Union of British Socialist Republics!"
Extract from Hitler's Hangman: The Life of William Joyce by Andy Roberts
"...by 1942, the German Army was in full retreat from British territory. Chairman Orwell had overseen preparations for Operation Conqueror, a series of lightning offensives that would strike towards the Channel. Emile Von Manstein ordered Joyce to wind down his government and withdraw from his provisional capital of Worth Matravers. Joyce, reluctantly, gave orders for his cabinet, and what remained of his army, to evacuate to the continent on April 13th. He did briefly consider relocating his government to Ulster, however, intransigence from Eoin O'Duffy's Kingdom of Ireland made that infeasible. Instead German authorities gave him control of the settlement of Harbrinkhoek in Holland, where he established a government-in-exile..."
Extract from a telegram sent by Heinz Schlesinger to Emile Von Manstein, June 10th 1944
"We must do something about the Hangman. He's turned that city (Harbrinkhoek) into a camp. There are thousands of our collaborators all stacked on top of each other there, and they're suffering from lack of supply. Not to mention those show trials and public beheadings he's got going on. It's one thing to have them behind closed doors, but there are skulls piled up in the street!"
Extract from Hitler's Hangman: The Life of William Joyce by Andy Roberts
"...as General Gatling's First Scottish Army closed in, panic spread. British civilians abandoned Harbrinkhoek en masse, with the wealthier among them heading for Germany, and the poor going to ground in the local countryside. Joyce, desperate to salvage the situation, made for the city of Almelo to take charge of its defense, about 700 British-SS forces joined him. They were no match for Gatling's battle-hardened veterans and the city fell within days. Joyce was injured during an artillery strike on his home, and recovered from the debris shortly thereafter. His trial was infamously short and overseen by the general himself..."
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