An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government
- Thread starter Ephraim Ben Raphael
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Nice, but how the poop did Poland get all of Silesia?
A war between France and Russia vs. Germany, with the Russians doing well until Lenin starts trouble, and the French winning at the very end. Poland is the only surviving anti-Bolshevik state that the French supported in the East at the end of the war, and is still a strong French ally against Nationalist Germany (now an aging autocracy resembling the Brezhnev-era Soviet Union) and the Soviet Union (more a modern China deal, but hostile to the West; they're making bank in the East).
My world map "cover" of the Qing Dynasty world. Yes, the Qing Dynasty is on this map!
The Last Emperor
- The PoD, of course, is Puyi fleeing to Hong Kong and ending up in what was IOTL the Kowloon Walled City. The Chinese Revolution and events after that are different. Yuan Shikai never tries to crown himself emperor (with an actual emperor in Kowloon, it would have been far too unpopular), but the Republic of China collapses into warlordism nonetheless.
- WWI happens, but under different circumstances. Italy remained neutral, the Germans were stronger, and they moved Lenin to Russia earlier and won in the East earlier. Austria-Hungary collapsed shortly after the Russian Revolution (this time happening in 1916). The Entente and Germans agree to an armistice to secure against the communist revolution, which was now spreading in Germany and France, as Marx predicted. In the end, communism is contained to the USSR, with a strong Poland propped up by both the Entente and the Germans (which never lost territory to Poland).
- The post-war German Empire is more militarist and conservative, but this helps snuff out the Nazis early on. Union with a battered Austria happens so long as the Germans agree to join the Entente, which is now an anti-communist organization. Germany remains under the Kaiser, albeit with the Reichstag gaining more power as it became clear during the war that Wilhelm II is incompetent. This fortunately keeps the Nazis (which remained named the German Workers' Party) from gaining power outside a few seats in local Bavarian government. Hitler becomes nothing more than a street artist in Munich.
- The Ottoman Empire lost its peripheral territories after the Great War, but managed to keep control of Anatolia.
- A weaker China in the 1930s leads to earlier and more intense Japanese intervention. The Japanese never bother setting up a puppet Manchurian government, instead going straight for the heart of the RoC in Peking. The Chinese are busy fighting their own civil war against the warlords and the Communist Party of China at this time, so the Chinese buckle under the assault.
- The Spanish Civil War ends with the Stalinists winning. The French, British and Germans sent troops to support the Spanish government (the right-wing faction ITTL), but divisions among the Spanish right allowed the more focused Stalinists to win. The Spanish would be a thorn in the side of the Entente.
- The Japanese rampage through China, eventually finding itself fighting Soviet-backed troops in the north. This escalates into full-scale war between the Soviets and the Japanese by the 1940s. The Soviets resoundingly trounce the Japanese in China, in the process purging Mao and allowing their communists to take over the Communist Party, and installing a communist government in Peking. There's a lot of brutal fighting in Korea and Manchuria, until the Soviets manage to succeed where the Tsar failed: launching an amphibious assault against the Japanese Home Islands. The Entente consider assisting Japan, but the horrors of the Japanese invasion of China are still fresh in the public's mind. The Soviets fight a brutal war against the Japanese, sustaining massive casualties (although nothing compared to the OTL Eastern Front), and the Japanese themselves are almost firebombed to extinction. The Emperor and his government are arrested and executed after a show trial in Moscow. The Soviets establish a puppet government - the Workers' Republic of Japan - which is modeled along Stalinist lines. It remains a hardline Stalinist police state. The Asiatic War (1935-1944) is one of the bloodiest in human history.
- The British detonate their first atomic weapon in 1947, in the sands of Western Australia. The Soviets detonate their own in 1949.
- India was given independence. Plans to create a separate Muslim state never reached fruition, on the belief that a united Indian state would create a united Indian identity. That was wrong. Very wrong. Bangladesh broke off later in the 1980s. It was impoverished and filled to the brim with pro-independence rebels. The Indians decided to jettison it and cut their losses.
- Destalinization occurs in both the Soviet Union and China. There was never a Sino-Soviet split, in part because the Soviets had control of the Chinese Communist Party from the start, and in part because of the Entente "encircling" the communist world and becoming far more aggressive with its proxy wars. Entente attempts to bring America into the game ultimately fail, with the Americans taking a very Washingtonian stance on the entire thing. In secret, the Americans are very much party to the Red Scare, and there are agreements for American intervention in Europe should the Soviets decide to do something and invade. Fortunately, atomic weapons prevent that.
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Broke off later in the 1980s. It was impoverished and filled to the brim with pro-independence rebels. The Indians decided to jettison it. I'll add this to the description, thanks for catching it.
Still expect them to keep the connection even if they have to expel Bengalis to the new state. Because that makes the new "East India" completely surrounded by other states.
The communist world has reformed similar to OTL China, except for the Japanese which are like the late 80s GDR.
Richer than OTL. For one, there wasn't a genocidal maniac running roughshod over Europe that required six years and the three most powerful nations on Earth to put down in the most violent conflict in history. The USSR has a much larger population than OTL Russia, and is also much richer.
-So, does Zion being smaller than OTL Israel mean it get's along better with it's neighbors?
-What's the US like?
-What're the ethnic demographics of Japan like?
-How do the three Islamic Republics in Africa get along?
-Wht're Togo and Sierra Leone like, and how are they important enough to be counted as Rogue States?
-What's the US like?
-What're the ethnic demographics of Japan like?
-How do the three Islamic Republics in Africa get along?
-Wht're Togo and Sierra Leone like, and how are they important enough to be counted as Rogue States?
Yes. It's still viewed as an evil Zionist plot by parts of the Arab community, but those attitudes are relegated more to rhetoric. The Arab states are at peace with Zion and have never invaded it.
More interested in domestic politics than the OTL US. Communism is still a boogeyman, but it never got to OTL levels.
Almost purely Japanese.
They don't really pay each other mind.
Honestly, they're just nasty president-for-life deals that are on the map because I mentioned them in the Qing Dynasty entry.
They are classified as rogue states. I can understand Rhodesia being white man's land that is probably a refuge for nasty bigoted white asshole folks fleeing from South Africa. But the Kingdom of Spain? Is it under some kind of Francoist-like society that fell out of favor with everyone?
The West recognized communist Spain eventually, because it had more economic opportunities.
IOTL, recognizing the PRC doesn't make Taiwan a Rogue State, nor does recognizing Palestine make Israel a Rogue State.
A rogue state is one that is considered an active threat to global peace, that no one wants anything to do with except in an attempt to get them to stop being creepy.
Fair point, I'm using the term in this specific context to refer to states which have recognized the Qing Dynasty.
My cover for the DPRK's world. Again, many thanks for EBR for helping me out of this one; he also wrote all of the text below except for the PoD stuff and the stuff on Antartida. It's a rather optimistic view of the future, so I was a bit out of my element. Nonetheless, it's a very interesting world and I'm glad to have worked on it.
Glass Half Full
- The PoD is the Brexit vote failing, and that result becoming a catalyst for greater integration within the EU.
- Uzbekistan, Free Pakistan, and Central Africa are the world's only remaining dictatorships. That said they're really awful and authoritarian.
- New Brunei is the world's only non-ceremonial monarchy, they have an elected parliament but the Sultan can still veto legislation, propose legislation, call referendum, and dissolve the government.
- Arabia is a non-denominational Muslim theocracy akin to Vatican City- they have a very good human rights record and local governments run along Neo-Demarchist lines.
- The big social issue of the day involves Transhumanism- people with money can afford better enhancements than those without, and those with better enhancements will be more successful in life and make more money while those with less enhancements can't compete and this stifles social and economic mobility. How to solve the problem is an ongoing debate. Other issues include the fact that people may be living a little bit too long (also a problems when it comes to social mobility, etc.), is it okay to let people own artificially created non-sentient beings for the purpose of sex (can I have my own catgirl?), and does letting theists (now only 5% of the population) opt to have non-designer babies who may end up having disabilities count as child abuse, and should it be banned? (Most of these are not major issues in North Korea, where transhumanism is so strictly regulated that rich people getting too many enhancements isn't yet an issue, having sex with anything other than a human being is strictly illegal, and thesists are still in the majority).
- Laos, New Brunei, Afghanistan, Oman, and Ethiopia are part of the League of Sovereign States- sort of a club of non-WU members. They co-operate primarily on issues involving trade, currency, and bankin
- Uzbekistan and Free Pakistan have a mini-United Nations called the Community for Freedom and Democracy, which it is not.
- The Republic of Antartida is a former Argentine colony, established as the ice began to melt in the mid-21st century, and gained independence after the Argentine Civil War in the 2120s (that also saw the fall of the Argentine junta and the rise of a pro-World Union government). The Antartidans are made up of the descendants of the first settlers, who form the country's ruling class, and subsequent waves of settlers, particularly from sinking areas, political and religious minorities, and - most recently - transhumans who are discriminated against in their home countries. Antartida still has a strong Argentine/Hispanic culture, and because of its origins, a strong independence streak that keeps it well away from World Union membership.
- Most of the colonization of the solar system was conducted by private corporations, and as a consequence while the inhabitants of the off-world colonies are eligible for World Population Sample and enjoy pretty much the same rights as people on Earth, most of these colonies are still run as large company towns. Lose your job, and you get a one-way ticket back to Earth. All of the company-colonies are legally WU territory.
- The only notable state-established extra-terrestrial colonies are on the moon, where there are some smaller operations run by Mongolia, Israel, and the Congo. There are also several Lunar colonies established by governments that later joined the World Union (America, China, etc.) which are still administered as part of their respective WU constituents. The only non-WU, non-WU associate colony is prestige Lunar settlement run by the Central African Republic.
- Extra-terrestrial operations are actually more focused in the moons of the Gas Giants than the in the Inner Planets- Mars is important for its position as a way-station between between the two and has an economy based on services and processing raw material from Ganymede, Callisto, Io, etc, for shipment to Earth and the Moon. Mars also has the only non-corporate colony outside of Luna- a former ESA base on the equator now administered by Germany as part of the World Union.
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Sometimes it is nice to not be crappy.
However as rightful King of the Uzbeks and autocrat of Central Asia I must object to what is labeled as Turkministan being placed in what should be Uzbekistan.
However as rightful King of the Uzbeks and autocrat of Central Asia I must object to what is labeled as Turkministan being placed in what should be Uzbekistan.
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