Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Interesting map, rvbomally!
How strong is the CPC in electoral capacity?
Still essentially dominant, their challenges are mostly coming from a rival CPC faction.
An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government
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Still essentially dominant, their challenges are mostly coming from a rival CPC faction.
Once again rvbomally does not fail to impress with his covers.
I want to know more about what happened in the USA/NAU after Butler. What happened after Butler fled that started the civil war, and how long did the war last?
Who was the NAU's first president?
Does a citizen of Utah have a say on how the NAU should be run?
As for before Butler, I think the text says Obama was the president after Clinton but it's somewhat unclear.
I want to know more about what happened in the USA/NAU after Butler. What happened after Butler fled that started the civil war, and how long did the war last?
Who was the NAU's first president?
Does a citizen of Utah have a say on how the NAU should be run?
As for before Butler, I think the text says Obama was the president after Clinton but it's somewhat unclear.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
He does not, does he?
It was Butler who inadvertently started the war, when people began refusing to follow his orders after he became a mass murderer. His fleeing pretty much ended the war. The states got together to write a new constitution and rebuild the union, but not everyone got on board.
The NAU's president is elected by congress and functions essentially as a Prime Minister would in another country. The first NAU president would have been the leader of the Democrats... so either Jerry Brown or Obama who was Veep for Clinton and briefly Acting President ITTL.
Yes and no. The non-federalized NAU members have a say regarding things like the currency union, joint tariffs, movement of labor, the American Defense Organization, etc. Things that affect them. They don't get a say in the administration of the federalized NAU states.
He was Acting President until the next election, when he was defeated by Butler in the general.
Thank you.
One of the things that I like about rvbomalley's covers is how the actual country that the original oneshot focused on is often fairly unimportant on the world stage. I don't like "planet of the hats" .That's pretty much the case OTL. After the fall of the Soviet Union the rump Communist party has become a pretty classically conservative, nationalist party. They still support leftist economics though.
Thanks!
Thank you.
Yeah, that's a theme I like to stick to with these covers. My mindset is that, if an OTL state were to show up here, it would be the DPRK, considering just how strange it is. But it would be inappropriate to conclude that, since the DPRK was featured, then that entire world must be like the DPRK, or that the DPRK is a great power, or what have you. Nowadays, ISIS would be a good contender, or maybe the RoC if the theme is international recognition.
Actually, I half-expected the DPRK to show up when you were doing communism, without explaining at all that it's from OTL.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Yeah, that's a theme I like to stick to with these covers. My mindset is that, if an OTL state were to show up here, it would be the DPRK, considering just how strange it is. But it would be inappropriate to conclude that, since the DPRK was featured, then that entire world must be like the DPRK, or that the DPRK is a great power, or what have you. Nowadays, ISIS would be a good contender, or maybe the RoC if the theme is international recognition.
Actually, I half-expected the DPRK to show up when you were doing communism, without explaining at all that it's from OTL.
Ha, that's not a bad idea- using an OTL state without explanation. I'd want to find something obscure enough that didn't become immediately obvious.
I'd also have to start writing for this thread again.
EBR is on hiatus for now, but he has told me he intends to write for this thread again when he gets back.
Hey everybody!
Ephraim ben Raphael is back, and he will update this thread again. In the meanwhile, he's given me permission to make some entries for the monarchy chapter, before he starts a brand new chapter. Enjoy!
Ephraim ben Raphael is back, and he will update this thread again. In the meanwhile, he's given me permission to make some entries for the monarchy chapter, before he starts a brand new chapter. Enjoy!
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Qing Dynasty (Kowloon)
I walk through the crowds of Kowloon, sipping a cup of green tea in a Styrofoam cup. While most of the chatter I hear around me is in Cantonese or English, I can pick up the occasional conversation in Russian, Arabic or Japanese. Occasionally, the scream of a jet engine drowns out everything, as another plane lands or takes off from the nearby airport. The freewheeling, cosmopolitan nature of one of the British Empire’s richest cities is famous throughout this world.
I am with my contact, Professor Harry Lau of the University of Hong Kong’s political science department. We spent much of the morning touring the Kowloon district, discussing everything from the street vendors to our personal lives. Dr. Lau was born in Hong Kong, but raised in England; his accent would have given that away, even if he hadn’t told me. He tells me that he returned to his place of birth, not for personal reasons, but to study what is perhaps both the oldest and smallest country in the world.
We reach the intersection of Junction and Carpenter, and I am immediately taken aback by what I see. It is a medieval Chinese fort, surrounded by barbed wire, sandbags, and several mesh fences. Inside, I can see well-dressed figures moving about. We walk along Junction, my eyes glued to this relic of history. I see occasional checkpoints, manned by British troops on one side, and Chinese on the other. I knew this was the place.
“This is the last remaining piece of the Chinese Empire,” Dr. Lau tells me. We continue down the road, avoiding the occasional motorcycle or street cart. I follow Dr. Lau as we twist and turn on the roads surrounding the “Chinese Empire.” Before I knew it, we were back where we were: on Junction and Carpenter.
“Congratulations, Mr. Chaná, you have just circumnavigated the Middle Kingdom,” Dr. Lau says with a laugh. “It’s great morning exercise.”
It was almost heartbreaking to think about. The Qing Dynasty, which once ruled an empire of over five million square miles, now ruled only six and a half acres.
I ask Dr. Lau who the people behind the fences are. He tells me they are businessmen, politicians, generals, spies and crime lords.
“They are there to do business, away from the prying eyes of their nation’s law. Some are permanent residents, the Emperor’s ‘honored guests,’ if they can pay the rent.”
I ask him what fueled his interest in such a small, seemingly insignificant locale, filled with unsavory characters.
“The Chinese monarchy is one of the oldest surviving institutions in human history. Our word for ‘China’ comes from the first dynasty, the Qin, founded in the 220s BCE. Dynasties have risen and fallen, but today mainland China is a republic.” He points to the fortress. “That keeps the flame of old China burning.”
We take a seat at one of the cafés opposite the Qing Empire. I keep my eye on the characters chatting without a care behind the mesh fences. I bring up the topic of how much danger we are in. Dr. Lau laughs and tells me not to worry.
“This district is full of spies. There are probably half a dozen in this café. But they won’t do anything rash. The tensions are too great.” He points at the men I’ve been staring at for the past five minutes. “They have much more to worry about, and they are relaxed. You should relax, too.”
After our orders come in, Dr. Lau tells me the history of modern China.
The Qing Dynasty was founded by Manchu invaders in 1644, being one of the many foreign dynasties to rule China. For much of its rule, the Qing Dynasty was the most powerful state on Earth, but a lack of reform and technological stagnation allowed the European powers to overtake China by the 19th century. The Qing lost a series of wars to the European powers, notably the Opium Wars, which gave Hong Kong to the British. During the extension of the Hong Kong Treaty in 1898, the New Territories were ceded to Britain, but the Qing Dynasty was allowed to maintain certain military outposts, so long as they did not interfere with British rule.
The military outposts were largely ignored by the British, until the Xinhai Revolution, which saw the Chinese people rise up and overthrow the Xuantong Emperor, the 12th Qing emperor. The Xuantong Emperor was only a child, and he was secreted away by his loyalists to Hong Kong, where they planned to escape to Britain and launch a counterrevolution later. The British refused to intervene at all in the ongoing crisis, and once discovered, the British demanded that the Emperor and his loyalists leave British territory immediately. In response, the loyalists fled to the Kowloon fortress, and refused to leave. The new government of the Republic of China demanded that the British arrest the Xuantong Emperor, but the British refused, arguing that the Xinhai Revolution was an internal Chinese matter, and the Xuantong Emperor was now in Chinese territory. The British refused to allow Republican troops to enter Hong Kong, giving the Republic no choice but to accept the awkward state of affairs.
As early as 1916, the Kowloon fortress had become a curiosity. Desperate for funds, the Chinese Empire welcomed foreign tourists. The fortress was rebuilt as a palace, a miniature of the Forbidden City that had been destroyed by the ongoing Chinese Civil War. Some Chinese loyalists managed to escape the mainland and make it to the Empire; if they were sufficiently rich, they were admitted entry, and even given citizenship.
As nation-states around the world accepted the sovereignty of the Republic of China, the Qing Dynasty became isolated from the world political system. The Empire was given no opportunity to join the League of Nations, and that seat was given to the Republic governing from Nanking. It was not long before nefarious characters used the Chinese Empire’s diplomatic status. Throughout the 1930s, a number of Hong Kong crime bosses fled to the Kowloon fortress, and were permitted entry after paying exorbitant “travel fees.” British authorities demanded that the Qing turn them over, but the Qing answered that the British had no extradition treaty with the Emperor’s government. The Republic of China opposed any British attempt to attack or invade the fortress, which it considered a military installation of the Chinese republic. The Chinese, on the other hand, could not retake the fortress without crossing over British Hong Kong, and the British were unwilling to allow the Chinese republic to establish military forces in the middle of their colony. Neither side could do anything about the criminals.
News about the Kowloon fortress and its immunity spread throughout the world. Wanted but wealthy criminals from around the world flocked to the Qing Empire. Most stayed only for a short while, as a more permanent settlement was arranged elsewhere. A handful of desperate and extremely wealthy criminals stayed. The Qing took advantage of illicit activities by expanding their “services.” The Qing established banks for secreting away illegal money, and even established a vault for storing whatever a paying customer wished to hide from the law. Soon, nation-states began to take advantage. For a short while, even documents relating to the American Manhattan Project were stored by Soviet spies within the Kowloon fortress’ vault. The loyal advisers to the Xuantong Emperor became involved in crime themselves, keeping the Emperor in the dark about the extent of his country’s illicit activities. The Emperor was a mere figurehead, a tourist attraction.
In 1967, the Xuantong Emperor died, succeeded by his son, who rules today. The new emperor was aware of the criminal activities used to maintain his empire, but was an active participant. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Qing actively invited deposed dictators to flee to their fortress, so long as they brought enough of their riches with them. A few African and Middle Eastern generals took the offer, opening another chapter in the Empire’s activities: housing aging war criminals. This led to protests by the international community, but the British could not come to a settlement with the Chinese and their Soviet allies. In response, the British constructed a blockade around the Kowloon fortress, and forbade trade between the Qing Dynasty and the rest of Hong Kong. Facing starvation, the worst war criminals were turned over to British hands in exchange for a lifting of the blockade, but the fortifications and the tense relationship continue.
The Qing Empire is managed more like a household than a proper state. The Emperor is theoretically the head, but the actual positions of “governance” fall to his advisers and caretakers. These are some of the richest men in the world, managing not only the affairs of the Emperor and the Kowloon fortress, but also the massive underground financial empire the Qing manage for their clients. Only a few hundred people are born as subjects of the Qing Emperor; the guards and the advisers are descendants of the original loyalists and those who lived in the fortress prior to 1911. Concubines are brought in, both for pleasure and to mitigate incest. A considerable number of the Qing Dynasty’s subjects are foreigners who have purchased “citizenship.” Entry is barred for all non-citizens, unless they can pay the tremendous fee to visit.
The Qing Dynasty remains diplomatically isolated. The British considered recognizing it in lieu of the People's Republic of China, but finally recognized the communist government along with the rest of the Western world in 1968. Less scrupulous regimes have recognized the Qing Dynasty, in order to take advantage of its illicit activities. In exchange, the Qing's "subjects" are granted immunity from extradition when traveling in these nations. Most of these regimes are unpopular, authoritarian states in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Most were aligned with the West, with the communist world preferring the People's Republic. The countries that recognize the Qing Dynasty are Chile, Honduras, Nicaragua, South Vietnam, Somalia, Sudan, Mauritania, Togo, Sierra Leone and Rhodesia.
Before I leave, I ask Dr. Lau one last question: despite its criminal reputation, would he want to visit the last Chinese empire?
He tells me without hesitation. “Of course I would! It is my dream to be in the presence of this living history and traditional culture, especially after the Japanese and the communists.... But I will never have enough money to enter.”
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Who are you and what have you done with rvbomalley?
I'm not going to be having nightmares over that nation.
I'm not going to be having nightmares over that nation.
Excellent stuff, rvbomalley.
Thanks! It's always good to receive approval from the original author of the thread.
Who are you and what have you done with rvbomalley?
I'm not going to be having nightmares over that nation.
I match the theme of the work I'm writing for.
Yep.
Much worse relations with the People's Republic of China, and a more intense Cold War overall (no Sino-Soviet split, for one). The British, rather than handing over Hong Kong, held a referendum in Hong Kong to decide whether Hong Kong should stay with Britain, join the PRC, or become independent. They voted to stay with Britain. The PRC objected, but the British pointed out that it never made a deal with the communist government, but with the Qing government, and that government is in no position to govern Hong Kong.
Nice update, rvbomally!
What's the status of Taiwan ITTL?
It's part of the PRC.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Alright; this is a little out of order (it might have gone better with the Monarchism chapter)- but what the heck.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Unlike other alternate versions of Pyongyang that I’ve visited while compiling material for this book, this city in the year 2331 of the Common Era is glowing with life. New skyscrapers reach for the heavens and the streets are crowded with traffic. Young people busy themselves with paper-thin portable computers, and “living” walls flash advertisements to the passersby. In the sky above automated drones zip to and fro on errands, carrying deliveries and passengers. A driver-less taxi drops me off in front of the Ryongsong Residence- a huge sprawling complex with enormous gorgeous gardens circling around man-made lakes. Once it stood in the countryside beyond the city, but now Pyongyang has grown and the traditional residence of the country’s leaders is enveloped by suburbs.
A security guard at the entrance confirms my identification and I am escorted in by a somber butler in immaculate white gloves. He escorts me through rooms of astonishing luxury, plush furniture and expensive chandeliers, rare artwork and ornate crystal. We pass by three separate tour groups whose guides point out items and rooms of interest. We descend in an elevator protected by a retinal scanner and the butler shows me into a series of underground corridors. I know that this was once a military bunker, heavily reinforced against nuclear attack, now it serves as the private suite of the North Korean head-of-state. We enter a large room with a long table at the center, the walls sporting paintings of familiar-looking men and women.
“Welcome, Mr. Chana!” The greeting is in Mandarin Chinese as I don’t speak Korean.
I bow respectfully to the young man in an anachronistic (for this universe’s 24th century) military uniform. At twenty-four Kim Jong-il is the third member of the Kim Dynasty to hold his name and the 26th Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He shows me the paintings on the walls- all are of his predecessors.
“The Eternal President, il-Sung founded the country, my namesake Jong-il- he brought us through the end of the Cold War, he’s the Eternal General Secretary. Jong-un is the Eternal First Secretary of the party, my namesake, he only ruled for seven years. There-” his finger stabs towards a painting of a severe looking woman, “- is Yong-Hui the first woman to be Supreme Leader, only served for a year, she’s the Eternal President of the Presidium. Her son was the second Jong-il, he saw us through the Chinese Crisis. He’s Eternal Supreme Commander of the Army.”
For the long moment the hereditary dictator is silent, looking at the images of his ancestors.
“It’s a hell of thing.” He tells me as we sit down. “My father is the Eternal Deputy Chairman of the Party- I’m Vice-Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly which I suppose I’ll hold forever myself. When you’re a Kim you get used to belonging to a cabinet of ghosts.”
I comment that he doesn’t sound very happy.
“Oh I’m just in a bad mood.” Jong-il shakes his head as he stares at the wall. “I’ve only held my post for two years, and how am I supposed to build my legacy? My ancestors had power, they could do things, build things. I can’t even raise taxes if I want to. Really I’m just mad at the revisionists.” He adds, “The revisionist historians, trying to repaint our country’s history so that our heroes were all villains- as if my namesake were some kind of monster.”
I ask if he thinks political reforms are likely in his nation’s future.
“I doubt it.” He gives me a wry grin. “That’s one thing about the Republic- we’re a people of tradition.”
The Democratic People’s Republic- known colloquially as “North Korea” is an old country in this universe. Established in 1948 it has survived almost four centuries of turmoil and changes in the world around it. Despite the protests of the most recent Kim Jong-il, I can state from personal experience that my visits to earlier versions of the DPRK revealed an oppressive totalitarian state. Original a communist state state under its founder Kim Il-Sung, North Korea transitioned to the ideology juche, under his son after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War between Communism and Capitalism. The original ideals of juche called for isolation, self-sufficiency, and a powerful military, which Kim Jong-il strived for while constructing a cult of personality around himself and his father. The Korean Workers Party was the sole true political party in the country, the supposed Social Democratic and Chondoist Chongu parties acted solely as fronts for the dominant organization. In elections voters were legally required to participate, and government repression ensured that the KWP routinely received 100% of the vote. Hundreds of thousands of political prisoners worked from birth to death in forced labor camps while the “Hermit Kingdom” as it was called in the west had little contact with the other countries of the world, save for its ally China.
Although no legal hereditary succession existed, nor was there any official office of Supreme Leader, the scions of the Kim family ruled as absolute dictators of North Korea under a variety of titles and offices. Reigning leaders designated their successors from within the family line, and usually their wishes were obeyed. The first Kim Jong-il began the practice of naming former Supreme Leaders to offices for eternity when he affirmed his father to the office of Eternal President after his death in 1994.
The totality of the dictatorship weakened in the early 22nd century under the eighty-year reign of Kim Tu-bong. Tu-bong lived to be a hundred and suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease for the last thirty years of his tenure in office, which allowed factions and cliques to arise and compete for power in the military and the Supreme People’s Assembly. The country went from being a dictatorship to more of an oligarchy, until a civil war between the brothers Kim Jong-nam and Kim Bo-hyon saw a victorious Bo-hyon begin a slow path towards liberalization. Bo-hyon did not permit free general elections, but he did allow relatively competitive primary elections for the Korean Worker’s Party and its fronts as a way of moving traditional conservatives who had initially supported him out of power once they formed a block to criticize his policies.
These initially very minor freedoms were expanded on under subsequent Supreme Leaders, eventually resulting in the current system.
Legally the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains a dictatorship, with every single seat in the Supreme People’s Assembly held by a member of the Korean Worker’s Party. Voting is mandatory, and while voters can vote against the KWP list relatively few do- approximately 89% voted for it in the last election and it has never been voted out of power. However party primaries are fully free and fair and what are technically factions within the party compete and function as political parties do elsewhere. Legally the State Security Department has the power to function as a secret police agency, hunting down criticism and dissent of the government, in practice it abides by strict standards of evidence and testimony and confines its investigations to organized crime. The office of Supreme Leader is still an informal one, still held by a member of the Kim family who fulfills various ceremonial duties, while in practice legislative and executive power are exercised by the Majority Leader of the Supreme People’s Assembly (itself an unofficial position).
Periodically proposals are made to change this, but sincere love of tradition coupled with bureaucratic inertia keep the institutions of the state the same on paper as they have been for centuries.
While most of this world has joined the World Union, a loose confederation that grew out of an association of European states, the DPRK remains one of a handful of countries to be staunchly independent in the 24th century. A devoted neutral since the late 22nd century, it has a reputation as a tax haven and a welfare state with extremely stringent immigration laws. By the standards of this world North Korea is deeply conservative, its culture retains many late 22nd century cultural norms and is openly hostile to the trans-humanist movement that has become overwhelmingly accepted within the World Union. Despite this relations between the DPRK and the WU (particular the Republic of Korea, a union member state) are cordial and polite. A referendum seven years ago over the question of closer integration with the union failed by forty percent, and the country retains its own military, its own currency, and its own tariff system. Ironically the de facto system of social democracy within North Korea is itself old-fashioned by the standards of the rest of the world, which is in the process of shifting over to a version of Neo-Demarchism that eliminates elections and political classes in favor of randomly selected “Population Samples” that they hold is more fairly representative of the public. Most North Koreans are theists, either part of the juche faith (the distant descendant of that old political ideology) that reveres the former leaders of their country, followers of traditional Korean Shamanism that has largely died out in the south, or members of one of the large protestant mega-churches that moved over the border from South Korean a century ago.
Supreme Leaders tend to be fairly popular, partly because they aren’t responsible for policy decisions that the elected politicians get blamed for, and partly because of their role in the modern juche ancestor worship.
“Oh, I can see how it might seem a little silly to an outsider.” Choe Wan-su is a sitting member of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, these days a symbolic body for older statesmen and women.
“Why not just open up the Assembly to other parties? Why not abolish the post of Supreme Leader altogether? Why not sweep out all the old institutions that have no relevance in our modern age?” The corners of his mouth turn up.
“The same reason the British still have a monarchy, and the Americans still use the Electoral College. The same reason the Pope still sits in Rome, and the Emperor reigns from Tokyo. A country is its traditions, it is its old institutions and memories. Our Supreme Leader is part of what makes our country our country- what separates us from the union and its members, or the other independents. This is what makes us a link in that unbroken chain back to our ancestors.”
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