An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government

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The Imperial Company
This is my cover of @Whiteshore’s EEUSG entry, the French Outremer Company. Many thanks to him for providing the information I needed to finish this. The entry does a good job of explaining the history of the world, so the only extra information I will provide is sparse.
  • PoD is OTL’s Mary I of England being born a boy, and England staying Catholic. France adopted Protestantism instead.
  • Revivalism is a pseudo-fascist ideology, seeking to “revive” the past glories of a nation. Except for the more extreme Inka regime, most Revivalist countries are closer to Fascist Italy or a right-wing modern China.
  • The Portuguese government retreated to the colonies. While officially a republic, one that was established right before the current Collectivist Lusitanian government, the Portuguese monarchy also fled and they have an unofficial ceremonial role in government. The government is based in Angola.
  • Russia is a weak, corrupt and shaky democracy, with major changes in government in between one or two years of political stability.
  • The Ottoman Empire has major issues with its numerous ethnic groups, particularly as Turks are a minority. The Ottomans are trying to use Sunni Islam fused with Revivalist politics as a means of gluing together their massive empire.
  • China and Korea are ostensibly on the same side, but they have major issues with one another. This is not ideological – the two schools of Oriental Revivalism are almost identical – but over historical disputes and whether Korea has surpassed China in greatness.
  • Vinland is comparable to a much stronger OTL Canada, and most of the population lives in the southeast of the country. They really fear the Mexican Collectivists.
ImperialCompanyFinal.png
 
The Imperial Company
This is my cover of @Whiteshore’s EEUSG entry, the French Outremer Company. Many thanks to him for providing the information I needed to finish this. The entry does a good job of explaining the history of the world, so the only extra information I will provide is sparse.
  • PoD is OTL’s Mary I of England being born a boy, and England staying Catholic. France adopted Protestantism instead.
  • Revivalism is a pseudo-fascist ideology, seeking to “revive” the past glories of a nation. Except for the more extreme Inka regime, most Revivalist countries are closer to Fascist Italy or a right-wing modern China.
  • The Portuguese government retreated to the colonies. While officially a republic, one that was established right before the current Collectivist Lusitanian government, the Portuguese monarchy also fled and they have an unofficial ceremonial role in government. The government is based in Angola.
  • Russia is a weak, corrupt and shaky democracy, with major changes in government in between one or two years of political stability.
  • The Ottoman Empire has major issues with its numerous ethnic groups, particularly as Turks are a minority. The Ottomans are trying to use Sunni Islam fused with Revivalist politics as a means of gluing together their massive empire.
  • China and Korea are ostensibly on the same side, but they have major issues with one another. This is not ideological – the two schools of Oriental Revivalism are almost identical – but over historical disputes and whether Korea has surpassed China in greatness.
  • Vinland is comparable to a much stronger OTL Canada, and most of the population lives in the southeast of the country. They really fear the Mexican Collectivists.



Man, that is one REALLY big Korea. How did Korea get to colonize an area that is as big as OTL India?
 
Hello Everybody:

@Ephraim Ben Raphael gave me permission to post this.

Lusotropicalism And A Managed Transition


Lourenco Marques, The Overseas Mandate of Mozambique, Estado Novo, 2019

The first stop on my journey is Salisbury, the capital of the Rhodesian Commonwealth [1]. If not for the African and Indian faces, I would think I would be walking around in an English city, with red phone booths, pubs, teenagers in school uniforms, cricket, and old school British architecture everywhere.

Of course, Rhodesians have not merely emulated their former colonial power.. I also see lots of A-Pop [2], shamans in traditional garbs, and old-fashioned market places where farmers sell their produce. Here in Salisbury, European and Indian tradition walks hand in hand with Indigenous culture, while forming a distinct Rhodesian culture alongside the other three.

At a semi-legal grill restaurant in the Chitungwiza district [3], I meet my host. He insists on some secrecy, fearing that Lisbon's agents might be out to get him.

I go to the back of the restaurant, and shake hands with Mr. Aleixo Savimbi. Clad in sweatpants and a sweatshirt to present an obscure image, he looks at me with a very serious eye, as he prepares me for my trip.

“Do not let them fool you,” Savimbi warns. “These people are masters of propaganda.” His tone indicates he has no pity for the unprepared. After coaching me on what to expect, and who to meet, I ask him personal questions about his time as a member of the "assimilados", the indigenous elite supposedly being groomed to prepare Mozambique for independence. I will explore his answers as I explore the land that he left.

Savimbi is an exiled political dissident from Mozambique. In this world, he is notorious for exposing the grim reality behind what has been portrayed as a compromise between the white minority and indigenous needs in a book called My Necktie was My Chain.

The plane trip to Mozambique can only be believed by those who have seen it. The advertising is a far more in-your-face then on my original flight to Salisbury, with numerous references to “Beautiful Portugal,” “Cherished Portugal”, and pictures of supposedly content Africans on the plane and on the in flight video. Security here is far more intrusive. Instead of the usual “business and pleasure” question I was asked by the customs official in Salisbury, the Estado Novo customs asked me various personal questions, as well as if I have any plans to overthrow “the great Portuguese society.” I am forced to declare all my personal items, which makes me glad I took Savimbi’s advice to disguise my cameras.

The planes are more luxurious then the Rhodesian Air cabin I took. I also notice the stewardesses, all of them of Portuguese ancestry, are incredibly beautiful. In fact, they are quite scantily clad despite this being a society that promotes "Catholic values."

Also, strangely enough for this multi-racial utopia, there isn’t a single black passenger on this plane.

Africa is always a place full of surprises. In many worlds, Africa has been the chessboard upon which major powers battled for supremacy, due to its distinct geographic and economic disadvantages preventing the formation of large, industrial societies that could resist outside interference. This leaves them with a variety of cultures, languages, and traditions. It also has led to unspeakable acts of horror committed by the so-called "civilized powers".

In many worlds, however, independence often became inevitability, as the colonial elites learned that the natives can easily learn the same subversive political ideas that lead to nationalistic movements in Europe, and they can also learn to pick up rifles and make the suppression of dissent incredibly costly. The choice was either independence by negotiation or independence by bullet for European powers.

In this world, independence for African nations arrived largely by the 1980s. In some cases, independence led to a successful transition, with Rhodesia and Algeria becoming thriving independent, multiethnic societies. For some African nations, however, independence was bloody and tragic. German Mittelafrika, for example, descended into a bloodbath due to decades of exploitation and divide and rule tactics.

Mozambique, is, shall we say, a mixed bag.

“Mozambique, we have avoided the Mittelafrika mistake", says Antonio Nikebaka, my tuxedo wearing tour guide (who I suspect was hired by the government to put a black face on their "transition policy") who greets me at Salazar Airport in Lourenco Marques. “We are managing a proper transition, ensuring the black majority can be prepared for independence.” Though I insisted on my own tour, he strongly suggested I ride with him in his Rolls-Royce, a luxury brand in many of the worlds I have visited.

We tour the wealthy districts of Mozambique, as well as the bustling downtown business district. In both areas, it appears that the future is bright, with skyscrapers going up like crazy, and the streets full of luxury cars and well-to-do people.

“Lourenco Marques has been rated as a number one in African business in many magazines”, Antonio says to me with a smile, as I stare out the window.

But one thing you notice as you drive through this bustling city is that almost all the people living in these well-to-do districts are white. The few black faces I've seen in these upscale areas seem to be manual laborers.

After 30 minutes of seeing flashy buildings and hearing endless pro-Portuguese bromides, we arrive at his house in a modest middle-class neighborhood a few blocks from the downtown. We get out of the Rolls Royce his chauffeur gives him a greeting with a smile that is unusually robotic.

Antonio enjoys a good bit of luxury, with a pool and some servants, who also behave in the same robotic matter then the chauffeur does. We chat over a lunch of caldo verde [4] , where I ask him my questions after I politely respond to his questions about how "great" Mozambique is.

Here in Mozambique and the rest of Portuguese Africa, old-school colonialism reigns over the land under a different name and the hooks of power still strongly rest in the metropole of Portugal.

Portugal in this world is a mess of contradictions: it is technically a republic, but it is in fact a one-party republic, and far less democratic than Hohenzollern Germany[5]. It has secularism in its constitution, but it is very theocratic and clerical, even to the very staunchly pro-Vatican Irish. The Estado Novo government speaks of modernism, but the rural areas are so poor, that a Portuguese farmer from the early 20th century wouldn't feel out of place.

The reigning ideology of Portugal dates back to the 1930s, when Antonio de Oliveira Salazar became the reigning autocrat in all but name, and his reactionary ideology and image dominate Portuguese politics to the present.

“Salazar was a good man who knew that God’s word needed to be spread,” Antonio says with unusual conviction.

One aspect of Salazar's ideology is luso-tropicalism. While most colonial powers saw their presence in Africa as a civilizing mission, Salazar argued that colonies were a crucial part of the Portuguese national identity, and that it was the destiny of the Portuguese to maintain their colonies.

As most nations prepared their colonies for independence or gave up futile colonial wars, the Estado Novo regime stepped up colonization, offering land-grants and other benefits to Portuguese and other Catholic people. By 1990, 35% of Mozambicans were white, which meant there was a large colonial population that had little interest in letting go of their privilege.

When the African wave hit, Portugal fought back hard. By the 1990s, however, Portugal realized it couldn't keep the African wave down without either revolt by young Portuguese or stepping up the atrocities that would bring international scrutiny. In 1999, the Lisbon regime instead promised what has been dubbed " a managed transition", whereby they would prepare the colony for independence by created "assimilados" or a class of natives who could rule the country. This quieted domestic dissent and made the international community far less critical, especially those nations who wanted to enjoy their investments in Portuguese Africa without shame.

Under the assimilado system, supposedly, indigenous Mozambicans could gain voting rights, once they had adopted "Portuguese values" and could be trusted with independence.

“You learn to accept God, family, and the Portuguese language,” Antonio says with simplicity, “and you can get voting rights.” As he says this, one of Antonio’s indigenous servants come in, pouring more caldo verde into his bowl. The woman, dressed in a maid's outfit smiles and nods in a way that seems almost sycophantic, due to the strained smile on her face.

"Mittelafrika was because the Kaiser didn't prepare a nation to declare itself independent," Antonio said. "The natives should be thankful to the Portuguese trying to prevent this calamity."

Mittelafrika was indeed a massive disaster. The large territory, united under German rule, broke down amidst the sudden withdrawal of German forces, the eruption of tribal rivalries, and the withdrawal of German advisers. Mittelafrika has long been the propaganda tool used by colonial elites to maintain control over Africa.

I bring up some of Ronaldo’s claims, which contradict the idea that Portugal is doing much to help out the natives.

“What do you say to those people who say the system is just Portugal’s excuse to prolong colonialism?” I ask and he immediately gives me a smile, while giving me a hard look.

“The Portuguese are our friends,” he says in a way that makes it seem like he is reading a script. “They only want to be sure that we are ready.”

“Well,” I stated, “it has been about 20 years-,”

“And you think Brazil was ready in that time,” Antonio says, his voice replaced with anger. “All our delays are the result of godless nationalists who want to unleash Mittelafrika.”

I almost want to point out that Brazil gained independence after three centuries, while Mozambique has been part of Portugal for about five centuries, but this display by my host prevents me from asking uncomfortable questions.

After some small talk, I graciously leave Antonio's house. I go on a special tour of my own that the authorities don't know about.

I arrive in the Mengeke district, one not shown on my tour, for a good reason. While business magazines and pro-government papers do boast about Mozambique’s “economic competitiveness”, the benefits are not seen here.

This district, which is largely indigenous, looks like a slum, with narrow, filthy streets, poor lighting, bad sanitation, and tired people. Many of the workers are migrants from rural areas, who have been denied promises wages.

"I left the North to come looking for work," yells one man, "and when I arrive, I only get half of what I was promised! Lisbon is a bunch of bandits."

I arrive in specific shack, and after a special knock, I arrive and meet Aleixo again.

“Economic competitiveness,” Aleixo repeats with contempt. “Economic competitiveness means that people should be poor so that the rich can have nicer balances on their accounting reports.”

In Mozambique, the trade-off for managed transition falls on indigenous workers. Many of them work long hours with little pay. With no voting or collective bargaining power they have little legal recourse.

For Aleixo, his experience as an assimilado shielded him from this squalor.

“Assimilado meant becoming a slavedriver while living inside of a golden prison,” Ronald says with disgust and shame.

Aleixo, being the son of an assimilado, avoided the poverty and hardship that a lot of Mozambican natives faced. However, when he had to take the test himself, he soon realized how hypocritical it was.

The tests themselves cost about $3000 to take, which precludes the vast majority of native Mozambicans from taking it. Not to mention that many wealthy foreigners can simply buy citizenship and “assimilado status” without even jumping thorough hurdles, with the only requirement being that have to profess a vague belief in Roman Catholicism. Only about 3% percent of black Mozambicans qualify as assimilados, yet 90% of non-Portuguese expatriates do.

On paper, the assimilado exam seems almost like a citizenship test: one just has to answer specific questions. However, there are quite a bit of asterisks involved.

“The test is itself pointless,” Aleixo says. “The grader can arbitrarily decide if you past or not. The real test is seeing whether or not you kiss his feet, or how much you praised Family and God. He can fail you for not wearing the right shoes, or for even showing up early.”

Aleixo says these actions have a sinister motive: training him into kowtowing to authority.

“I am basically taught to see any white man as lord. The examiner isn’t there to teach me anything, except to heed my place.”

Even when Aleixo did gain assimilado status, he still found himself under the microscope of what he calls an “assimaldo officer,” well into his thirties.

“This man basically reports on anything I do,” Aleixo said. “Any action that I do that is seen as abnormal-not going to church, not eating the right thing-he can report me, and take my status away.”

His first job as an assimilado is what prompted his defection. He was told to be a police officer in these very slums, which he hadn’t noticed until his first assignment.

“Here I learned that the Portuguese didn’t provide for the people of Mozambique,” Aleixo said with anger. “here I learned the lie about how the Lisbon pigs push for Christian compassion.”

After being accosted by an angry slum dweller, Aleixo was forced to confront the unequal system he lived under. He snuck his way out of the country and ended up Rhodesia, where he has lobbied against international support of the Lisbon government and pushed for the end of Portuguese colonialism.

“The world needs to stop putting people above profit, and realize the assimilado program is just colonial exploitation under a different name.”

As I drive to the airport, once again accompanied by Antonio, I bring up Aleixo's name without having mentioned visited him the night before. His face immediately turns sour, showing that Ronaldo’s name is indeed infamous.

“Aleixo is just ungrateful,” Antonio says with bile, “he was shown the glory of God and Family, and he spat on that because he believed he desired more, the man is nothing but an atheist liar.” His repeats the same spurious accusations that other Portuguese officials have spat at him, as they demand his extradition for treason.

[1] OTL Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi.

[2] African Pop. I figure a richer African nation ITTL might have a middle class that can create its own pop.

[3] OTL, one of the Harare slums that was destroyed by Mugabe's slum clearance.

[4] A Portuguese soup.

[5] Germany won World War I in this TL. The Hohenzollern eventually became constitutional.

saf-mozambique-company-map-e1367542406375.jpg
 
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Additionally in the Imperial Company, the "Tibet" of the map seems to go a bit too far in the Southwest corner, going into Kashmir, which it would seem to have little in common with including trade route connections, the Mughals probably should control it.
 
Man, that is one REALLY big Korea. How did Korea get to colonize an area that is as big as OTL India?
Well, until the Han migrated, Manchuria AFAIK was relatively sparsely populated. Besides, the rest of mega-Korea is what in OTL would be the Russian Far East, which was even more sparsely populated by natives.
 
Very interesting. One question, what’s stopping the international community from smashing Portugal’s Empire? Too costly or is Portugal nuclear armed? What’s the US, France, and Spain like ITTL?

Well, one the anti-colonial violence has mostly died down.

Two is that this world is far more conservative and has not seen a Hitler-style madman. Thus human rights are not really a priority as they are OTL..

Three is that Mozambique TTL has more colonial settlers and thus a white population that is both Mozambican born and Portuguese. Portugal is seen as defending a large number of citizens and not just a small colonial elite.

Four is that there isn't a Soviet bloc funding anticolonial rebellion.

Five is that Mozambique is business friendly.

The US is like a Jim Crow progressive: left on economics, but very socially conservative. America TTL doesn't pass civil rights legislation until the 1980s.

France is a Republic, but also more involved in its colonies, with a French style commonwealth.

Spain is like Estado Novo, minus colonial ambitions.
 
Confederated States of America
The city of Anaheim, California has long been part of the greater Los Angeles area. While the original city was founded by German settlers, every trace of the original settlement had been wiped away. The modern Anaheim resembles the other new cities in the Confederated States: arranged in the neo-Antebellum style. Although outwardly beautiful, based on what I heard of the Confederated States, I dreaded visiting the city.

Slavery is a topic that is personally distressing for me, not in the least because of my personal history with the institution. I avoid discussing this because I want readers to approach my work in an unbiased manner. I endeavor to approach every entry with objectivity, and give even those people whose opinions I strongly disagree with an opportunity to make their case. However, because of my strong feelings on slavery, I felt it is necessary to inform the reader of my own biases.

It was difficult to believe that over half of the people in this city of nearly two hundred thousand people was enslaved. Being a city where the rich and powerful lived, and one with many tourists and transient migrants, Anaheim had a somewhat higher percentage of free people than many other Confederate cities. Here, I was meeting one of the few slave owners willing to speak to me: Mr. Montgomery Vincent. Living in the entertainment capital of the Confederated States and owning one of the major film studios, Mr. Vincent had experience with defending the “peculiar institution,” and this is likely why he agreed to speak with me. Mr. Vincent insisted that we conduct the interview at his “modest” second home, but when I arrived, the home was nothing but palatial.

I was greeted, not by Mr. Vincent, but a well-dressed valet who introduced himself to me as Charles. I asked for his surname, and he helpfully replied that he did not have one; surnames were the privilege of free men. Given what I heard about the Confederated States and its history, I was surprised to see that Charles was of European descent.

The Confederated States originated as the United States of America, a federal republic composed of numerous formerly British colonies on the Atlantic Coast of the North American continent. From its inception, the United States had to tackle the issue of slavery: numerous states to the north of the country opposed slavery and outlawed it within their own states prior to the formation of the United States, while numerous southern states not only allowed slavery, but their economies ran on it. Numerous American founders, including several early presidents, owned slaves.

This issue grew worse with the country’s expansion westward, as the addition of each new state threatened the balance of pro-slavery and anti-slavery legislators in the American Congress. The defeat of Mexico, and the annexation of large swathes of North America, made matters worse. Slave owners desired these western lands for themselves, while abolitionists were dead set in stopping them. The passage of the Yucatan Bill, allowing for the annexation of the Yucatan as a slave state, led to the passage of the Missouri Compromise bill, forcing the annexation of states in pairs: one free, and one slave, to maintain the delicate balance of power in the Senate. A second war with Mexico led to the annexation of more territory, and growing concern among abolitionists that all of Mexico will be admitted as a group of slave states that cannot be balanced by the free states to the north.

Charles took me through Mr. Vincent’s palatial estate. Between the entrance to the estate and Mr. Vincent’s study, I had plenty of time to ask Charles a few questions. He was very unhelpful, answering my questions tersely, if he answered them at all. I finally asked him if he wanted his freedom, and he shrugged.

“I’ve considered it. I have enough money to buy my own freedom, but what would I do with it?”

He refused to speak from that point on.

Mr. Vincent was waiting for me in the study, two alcoholic beverages in hand. He handed me a glass; when I refused the offer, he drank the drink himself. Mr. Vincent was the very image of the ideal American businessman: wealthy and not afraid to show it, yet polite and welcoming. His demeanor seemed pleasant enough, almost enough to make me forget that he owned human beings as property.

I was not impressed by the act, and I did not want to be in Mr. Vincent’s presence any longer than I had to be. I immediately asked Mr. Vincent a pointed question.

“What makes you think slavery is justifiable?”

Mr. Vincent answered the question with ease. I could tell this wasn’t the first time he was asked.

“What makes you think that freedom is an unqualified good? Freedom is a burden. Look north, Mr. Chana. Everyone up there is free, or so they claim. But are they really? Can these so-called free men get whatever they please whenever they want? I don’t think so. Some do, of course. The rich and the powerful, people who have deep pocketbooks and friends in every police station and courthouse. But that’s the same in every country, in every universe, isn’t it? The rich and powerful always have it pretty damn good.”

I told Mr. Vincent that I suspected he did not believe the same about his own life. He smiled and shook his head.

“I won’t deny that my life has been blessed, and I won’t say that my problems are worse than those of my property, but life as an owner is not easy. Mr. Chana, you must understand that I have an obligation to my property. I have to feed them, clothe them, house them, train, or even educate, them. While my wealth may be considerable, much of that money goes back into taking care of my property. Not just for their sake, but for mine as well! Starving, mistreated slaves don’t do good work.”

The slavery issue finally ended in the division of the United States. A bloody dispute over whether the State of Kansas would be admitted as a free or a slave state ended with the secession of the states dominated by the abolitionist Republican Party, all of which were in the north of the country. These states formed the Federal Union of America, a move immediately declared illegal by the United States government. While the Union was initially victorious against the Federals, British and French support for the rebels ultimately forced the United States to negotiate an end of the war with Federals.

With abolitionists no longer part of the United States, the federal government fell under the control of pro-slavery factions. The Missouri Compromise was rescinded, and all American territories became open to slavery. Mexico was forced to cede more territory to the United States and expanded into the Caribbean and Central America, particularly after its victories against the Mexican, Central American, and Spanish governments.

However, the American government was still unstable. Although the Southern-based Democratic Party was dominant, it was opposed by more liberal groups such as the Populist and the Free Silver movements. As the 19th century ground on, Marxists also became popular, particularly among the enslaved. But among the slaveholding elites which dominated American politics, a more radical idea became popular.

“But back to life up north. The average, working stiff? He’s a slave, just as much as the legal slaves living here. The only difference is, he has no master, no owner, to take care of his problems when they inevitably happen. On account of him being a ‘free’ man, his own person is his own responsibility. Sure, he may get employee benefits or handouts from the government, but these aren’t a guarantee. They’re crumbs, to keep the wage slaves from an uprising. That’s why down here, we take every precaution to ensure that our slaves have nothing to gain and everything to lose by rising up. We treat them well, we keep them comfortable. If we don’t…”

Mr. Vincent moved his thumb across his neck.

I politely informed Mr. Vincent that slavery, in essence, robs people of their dignity and autonomy. That for all the ills that could happen to a free man, that does not outweigh the fundamental immorality of a system that treats human beings like animals. Mr. Vincent shrugged in response.

“We must agree to disagree, Mr. Chana. Some people, most people, they’re nothing more than clever animals. They’re driven by animal instincts, animal desires, and animal fears. Only exceptional individuals can bear the burden of true responsibility. You, Mr. Chana, strike me as one of them. Why don’t you try owning a slave for a little while and see how you feel about that?”

The suggestion deeply offended me, and it took tremendous self-control not to lash out at Mr. Vincent right then and there. I did stop the interview and walked out, and fortunately Mr. Vincent made no efforts to stop me.

I took a flight to the Federal Union of America, where a more moral individual was waiting for me. Mr. Shane Johnson, a professor of political science teaching in Harvard.

Mr. Johnson explained the ideology of the Confederated States to me.

“The founding fathers of the Confederated States were influenced by the writings of mid-19th century author George Fitzhugh, slaveholders began to consider slavery a moral good if practiced properly, and freedom a lie that caused more suffering.”

I asked Mr. Johnson to explain further. How could slavery, an obvious evil, be considered moral?

“Fitzhugh believed that a “moral slavery” would place responsibility for the slave in the hands of their masters, ensuring their economic security and education. Although slave owners have argued that black slaves needed to be enslaved because they were racially incapable of taking care of themselves for decades, Fitzhugh made the leap of applying this logic with no racial boundaries. Fitzhugh believed that the ‘weak’ were predisposed to slavery, and the ‘strong’ predisposed to ownership, and that almost every human was ‘weak’ and should be enslaved, regardless of color.”

I noted that Fitzhugh was ironically progressive on the issue of racial equality. Mr. Johnson chuckled.

“In a way, yes. His ideas were unpopular during his own time, when biological racism was in vogue. But in the late 19th century, the slave owning elites of the United States quickly saw their power threatened by the growing opposition movements. It wasn’t just the enslaved involved, it was free, white, voting men. Rather than give up power, the elites of the South adopted Fitzhugh’s ideology for their own purposes, and used their working class opponents as ‘proof’ that the masses should not be free. They grew to reject the founding ideas of the United States, and so they moved to replace the government entirely.”

The Great War, fought predominantly against the British and the Federal Union of America, served as the catalyst for the end of the United States and the beginning of the Confederated States. While the Americans had the numerical advantage, the Federals had a highly industrialized economy and were able to counter the Americans’ numerical advantage. The massive casualties from the war necessitated the use of slave soldiers and conscription, and the war caused major damage to the American economy. This fueled unrest and violent riots, as well as putting many people in dire economic straits. As a means of “helping,” slave owners began to offer contracts for indentured servitude to the most desperate. These contracts were initially for a short term, but gradually grew longer until they became lifetime contracts. Slave owners even bought children from desperate families.

Although the Americans won the Great War, the domestic situation did not improve immediately, and the work of enslaving America continued. Past restrictions on slavery, mostly made along racial lines, were abolished. Civil rights were severely curtailed, justified on the grounds of continued political unrest in the country. Eventually, the old United States Constitution was abolished, replaced with a new constitution for the Confederated States of America.

“The Confederated States still claims to be a democratic republic,” Mr. Johnson explained. “But it is a self-classified Fitzhughian republic. George Fitzhugh had great disdain for the ideals behind the United States, and his followers were no different. In text, the Confederated States Constitution is not much different from the United States Constitution, differing in that it removes all references to individual liberty and instead enshrines the division between slaves and free men. But that is not what makes the Confederate Constitution interesting.

Naturally, I asked Mr. Johnson to elaborate.

“The Constitution gives rights to free peoples, and of course all political power, but it also has guaranteed rights for slaves. Most of these rights pertain to rights against abuse and punishment. Even right to fair compensation; while slaves are property, they do earn some money for work, and can use that money to buy their freedom. This seldom happens, because the slave owners have ways of keeping their slaves poor.”

How strongly are these rights enforced?

“It depends on the situation. Slaves who commit crimes have the same rights to a fair trial as free people, and their owners need to pay for their representation and can even be held liable for crimes their slaves commit. But abuse still happens, mostly through psychological means. We have several million escaped slaves here in the Federal Union, and some of their stories are horrific. Happiness in slavery is a despicable lie.”

dde0otm-71f12155-0428-49c1-b70f-1e1c97bc3ef2.png


Credit for the borders and the history of the country goes to EBR and his Rebel North series, used with permission.
 
An interesting work on an alternate world, Bookmark! :)

I have a few comments:
Lourenco Marques
I know that keyboards in English speaking countries don't have accents, but it should be "Lourenço Marques".

It should be kept in mind that Ronaldo is not a common name among Portuguese speakers. IRRC, Otl soccer player Ronaldo has that name in homage of Ronald Reagan.
The Estado Novo government speaks of modernism, but the rural areas are so poor, that a poor serf from 1890s Russia wouldn’t feel out of place
I think it should be more clear (it could be because it's very late and me feeling very tired) if you're referring to ATL European Portugal or ATL Mozambique.
My parents grew up in the rural Portugal of the 1930's and 1940's and while the countryside was poor, it should not be compared with tsarist Russia.

You learn to accept God, family, and the Portuguese language,” Antonio says with simplicity, “and you can get voting rights.
That seems to capture well the concept of the assimilado.
 
This particular CSA felt like the one from that mockumentary of the same name. This makes the (Con)Federated States of America from Dystopian Wars look like heaven for anyone not Anglo...
 
An interesting work on an alternate world, Bookmark! :)

I have a few comments:

I know that keyboards in English speaking countries don't have accents, but it should be "Lourenço Marques".

It should be kept in mind that Ronaldo is not a common name among Portuguese speakers. IRRC, Otl soccer player Ronaldo has that name in homage of Ronald Reagan.
I think it should be more clear (it could be because it's very late and me feeling very tired) if you're referring to ATL European Portugal or ATL Mozambique.
My parents grew up in the rural Portugal of the 1930's and 1940's and while the countryside was poor, it should not be compared with tsarist Russia.

That seems to capture well the concept of the assimilado.

Why Ronald Reagan, of all people?
 
Confederated States of America

-snip-

The Vincent guy reminds me of the Ford family from 12 Years a Slave. The Ford family are the first people to own Solomon Northup. And they seem like a genteel Southern family. Unfortunately, they embody the "kindest slaveholder" mentality: they ultimately have little problem with perpetuating an unjust institution due to their upbringing.

Both characters show how otherwise decent people, due to their upbringing, can support such heinous cruelty.

An interesting work on an alternate world, Bookmark! :)

I have a few comments:

I know that keyboards in English speaking countries don't have accents, but it should be "Lourenço Marques".

I know. I didn't know how to add it on my laptop. Sorry.

It should be kept in mind that Ronaldo is not a common name among Portuguese speakers. IRRC, Otl soccer player Ronaldo has that name in homage of Ronald Reagan.[/QUOTE]

Oh. I'll just edit to give "Ronaldo" a more common Portuguese name.

I think it should be more clear (it could be because it's very late and me feeling very tired) if you're referring to ATL European Portugal or ATL Mozambique.
My parents grew up in the rural Portugal of the 1930's and 1940's and while the countryside was poor, it should not be compared with tsarist Russia.

Sorry. I remember reading about Portugal remained incredibly poor well into the 1950s, so I indulged in a bit of hyperbole.

That seems to capture well the concept of the assimilado.

Well, this TL seems to be devoted to all kinds of political frauds and scams. And the "assimilado" program, along with the "evolue" system that existed in Belgian and French colonies, was an especially grotesque fabrication.

These colonial regimes were, almost always, brutal thefts on a societal scale. Forced labor, a system that prevents people from rising, remained in various forms through colonial Africa up until independence. The regimes did little to actually create a middle class that had the skills and education needed to govern a country.

And it was a shame. These colonies, while not fun places to live, had the potential to BECOME economically prosperous nations. Mozambique and other colonies has pretty developed economies by the time of independence. But partly because of the corruption of colonial elites and the manipulations of outside powers, these colonies crumbled soon after the Europeans departed.

This particular CSA felt like the one from that mockumentary of the same name. This makes the (Con)Federated States of America from Dystopian Wars look like heaven for anyone not Anglo...

Yeah. This is perhaps the most realistic way that superpower CSA that existed in the movie could've happened in real life.
 
The State of the Church

-snip-

The pope in this TL is my favorite character on this thread.

He is one of the few characters with any real self-awareness about the absurdity of his position, let alone being secure enough to joke about it. Forget Pope Francis, this is the kind of pope I'd grab a beer with.
 
Why Ronald Reagan, of all people?
I think it could have been because hisparents might have seen Ronald Reagan as representing strength and confidence.
I know. I didn't know how to add it on my laptop. Sorry.
Don't worry, :) I only talk about it to try to make things more accurate.
Oh. I'll just edit to give "Ronaldo" a more common Portuguese name.
Aleixo is not very common, but it's a more traditional Portuguese name, and perfectly plausible. :)
Well, this TL seems to be devoted to all kinds of political frauds and scams. And the "assimilado" program, along with the "evolue" system that existed in Belgian and French colonies, was an especially grotesque fabrication.

These colonial regimes were, almost always, brutal thefts on a societal scale. Forced labor, a system that prevents people from rising, remained in various forms through colonial Africa up until independence. The regimes did little to actually create a middle class that had the skills and education needed to govern a country.

And it was a shame. These colonies, while not fun places to live, had the potential to BECOME economically prosperous nations. Mozambique and other colonies has pretty developed economies by the time of independence. But partly because of the corruption of colonial elites and the manipulations of outside powers, these colonies crumbled soon after the Europeans departed.
You can't do much to improve a country/colony with the minds that guided the Estado Novo.
 
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