An Examination of Extra-Universal Systems of Government

Status
Not open for further replies.
An approved submission by yours truly. Fair warning, while nothing too graphic occurs, this chapter includes slavery, brutality against slaves, and brief mentions of rape.

People's Republic of the Antilles
République Populaire des Antilles

The man at the counter next to me at the airport, a Ghanaian on vacation, glares at me as I pick up my ticket. I cannot blame him, the country I am now visiting is despised by nearly everyone else in the universe. I do not blame them, even coming here stretches me to my limits, especially as I am to be a guest of the government.

When I arrive at the Marx-Engles Airport in the former city of Le Cap, now called Liberty, I am greeted by my official People’s Republic of the Antilles guide. His name is Henri, and he gives me a warm smile as I approach. A slave tries to take my luggage, but I insist on carrying it myself. There are some lines I will not cross, even to be courteous to my hosts. Henri looks puzzled.

“Monsieur, that is what they are for.” He says.

I tell him I am capable of carrying my own luggage for a bit. Henri smiles in a patronizing way.

What was once the colony of Saint Domingue was settled by Frenchmen over the course of the 1500s-1700s. Eventually, it developed a plantation economy exporting sugar, coffee, and indigo back to Europe. To sustain itself the colony used a hideously brutal system of chattel slavery wherein nearly 90 percent of the population was enslaved people of African descent. When the Kingdom of France lost most of its American colonies, Saint Domingue was kept and made the transition with France to constitutional monarchy in 1791. The vast slave economy continued paddling along, with the French government bribing their way into an exception to the British led banning of the slave trade.

However, in 1859 a group of reform-minded liberals took power in Paris and voted an abolition of slavery through the legislative assembly. This was naturally unacceptable to the plantation owners, who quickly declared independence as the Republic of Saint Domingue. The whites took advantage of the opportunity to reenslave or expel all of the Free people of color in the country, ending what had once been a vibrant community. France was sucked into a war with Austria at the same time, and so by the time they turned back east, Saint Domingue was firmly established. The Republic was largely supported by the Empire of Brazil, one of the few other slave states still existing. But even after the end of slavery in Brazil, Saint Domingue kept the institution. Most other nations found it distasteful, and the nation was cut off from the slave trade, but in an era of racist colonialism little was done. The heinous slave republic continued on for several decades until 1923.

The poor whites of Saint Domingue had always envied the powerful slave owners, a mix of whites and free blacks, and viewed themselves as the true oppressed class in the region. By 1923 poor whites outnumbered the plantation owners 4 to 1 (collectively both groups were outnumbered by the slaves nearly 9 to 1). They also made up the vast majority of the army. In April they struck in what was more of a coup than a revolution. It was quick and managed to avoid triggering a slave uprising. The conspirators took inspiration from Marxist ideals and declared a People’s Republic. Saint Domingue was dropped for being “too Catholic” and the Antilles was inserted instead. The property of the wealthy was seized by the government to be put to use by “the people”. This “property” included the slaves.

It is a credit to the international Marxists of the day that they instantly condemned the new state as anti-communist in every way. However, in the wake of the Great Communist War of the 1940s, the Worker’s Russian Republic was the enemy of most of the world. The new generation of leaders had far fewer scruples and the PRA was brought into the fold. For propaganda purposes, the blacks of the island (free blacks had been enslaved after the revolution) were now “wards of the state”, although there was no way to escape that status and they remained enslaved for plantation labor. In 1978 however, this partnership came to an end. Russian allies in Africa, led by Nigeria and Katanga, presented an ultimatum. Drop the Antilles, or lose their allegiance. The Antilles entered into awkward partnerships with The Unitary Republic of the Congo and Apartheid South Africa, who both professed hatred to communism but in the end, hated their minorities more. This unlikely Axis of racism was the basis for the PRA's small but deadly nuclear program, a last resort in case of insurrection. Yet these allies fell as well. The PRA stands alone.

The formal structure of the People's Republic of the Antilles is not terribly extraordinary for a Communist State. It is headed by a President, who is also the General Secretary of the Antillian Communist Party. Currently, the President is Antoine Cabannes. In terms of support, he has more of it than some Communist Leaders. As only whites can be party members, the party is popular with the whites who are terrified of mass insurrection.

But these members make up less than one percent of the population.

The vast majority of the population of the PRA is black and enslaved. Like all "property" they are under the control of the Central Planning Committee. They are forced to work in brutal conditions on plantations. They grow mostly food, as the PRA's isolation makes foreign trade difficult. Local whites proudly speak of working on "communal farms" which is in fact simply overseeing the slaves. Conditions are brutal, with death rates highest among young men.

The central square of Liberty has a tall pillar where a slave market once stood. It commemorates the freedom the Antilles now enjoys from the rich capitalists, who once hoarded the wealth. Government slaves play in a band. Henri sneers.

"They are not festive enough." He notes. "I will have them whipped later."

As we continue our propaganda filled tour, I ask how these men are not part of the "workers of the world" the PRA claims to protect and serve.

"The slaves? Why they are capitalists, not fit to participate in the dictatorship of the proletariat. They were as much a part of the old system as the big whites."

Most wealthy landowners had actually transferred seamlessly into the new system.

Control is maintained through a brutal system of physical abuse and propaganda designed to dehumanize the people held captive by the state. Idleness is punished by whipping and disobedience is a capital offense. With the international slave trade banned by the other, far better states, the PRA has tried to force birth rates to rise to keep up with the high death rate. Contraception is banned for blacks and, as any child with a black mother is a slave, rape is encouraged by the government. Recently the PRA has been moving towards less deadly, but still cruel and horrific methods of punishment.

But isn't a higher population of blacks more likely to rebel?

"Rebel against what?" Henri asks. "Their humane and just treatment?"

I know for a fact that an uprising a few years ago in the far southwest was suppressed via judicious use of chemical weapons. And while officially the People's Republic's first nuclear test was carried out on an uninhabited mountain, there have long been rumors that a community of escaped slaves lived there.

The merciful end of the disgusting tour is at a furniture factory, where slaves are forced to meet quotas or be shocked with electricity. In the factories, weapons for the all-white People's Guard (and the international arms trade) are the most common product, along with inferior copies of outsider luxury goods.

"You see, before the revolution, the proletariat was forced to labor here. The bourgeois hoarded the means of production for themselves. But now the slaves are available for all."

The American State of Santo Domingo also sits on Hispaniola. It is not paradise, but it is a welcome relief after the PRA. The border is heavily militarized, although I do not visit. Santo Domingo City is home to a large number of escapees, such as Dominique Martel. The tall, thin woman greets me in the Grant Memorial Library downtown to discuss the PRA.

"Some of us snuck across the land border. Personally I fled across the Windward Passage in a bus that was refurbished into a boat. Some sought asylum in the embassies. The Irish were expelled, Lord bless them for their aid, but there are still a few smuggling people out. I can't tell you which ones you understand." She says.

I ask what life was like, although I can guess somewhat.

"Terrible. I worked on an indigo farm initially, before I was transferred to a rubber plant in Equality. I was beaten regularly. I have been torn from three sons. One by a lover and two by...forgive me I don't wish to speak about that."

I nod.

"I do some work at the local refugee camps, you know? Help who I can, do what I can. A little arms smuggling on the side just got my first wanted poster, or so I've heard. Hopefully, we can bring it down, and complete the long work of liberation."

2RALJHp.png
 
A slave-holding communist state? Well, that's something different.

To me, such a thing existing isn't all that surprising.

The OTL Soviet party bosses often forgot about their own humble beginnings, and adopted very classist attitudes toward the rural poor. The nasty things they said about the victims of Stalin's collectivization have to be seen to be believed. Of course, many of them were singing a different tune when Stalin uncovered their supposed "treachery and counterrevolutionary activities."

Read about Maduro in Venezuela and how the former bus driver can enjoy overpriced steaks while a famine is sweeping his country.

As Harry Truman said "I find very, very few people remember their original condition when prosperity arises."
 
Last edited:
And while officially the People's Republic's first nuclear test was carried out on an uninhabited mountain, there have long been rumors that a community of escaped slaves lived there.
This makes me interested in how many nukes this insane country has and how far is the range of said nuclear weapons.
 
Looking forward to seeing the world that this Communist Slaveocracy exists in. Oddly enough, the thing that I wonder about most is getting enough non-Africans to the Congo for a functioning state controlled by them.
 
Looking forward to seeing the world that this Communist Slaveocracy exists in. Oddly enough, the thing that I wonder about most is getting enough non-Africans to the Congo for a functioning state controlled by them.
It doesn't need non-Africans to be a slaveocracy, though; after all, AIUI the Gens De Coleur were often slaveholders IOTL, or it could be run by mixed-race folks, or having Africans of one ethnicity enslaving others. Heck, theoretically, it needn't be race-based at all, although it probably is.
 
How about an independent Las Vegas city state from a TL where a civil war broke the US up before Howard Hughes could demobify it. Its still run by a Mafia Commission formally, but to put up a more business and tourist friendly front, instead of mob hits, government and casino positions are gambled for at poker or roulette.
 
It doesn't need non-Africans to be a slaveocracy, though; after all, AIUI the Gens De Coleur were often slaveholders IOTL, or it could be run by mixed-race folks, or having Africans of one ethnicity enslaving others. Heck, theoretically, it needn't be race-based at all, although it probably is.
It indicates "Hated their Minorities more". I'm curious if that is through a USAian lens in which those of Darker skin are "Minorities" because in this Haiti and in South Africa, those of African descent are *Majorities* in the nation. If it is refering to those of darker skin and they represent Majorities of the population, I'd hope the writeup would be redone.
 
It indicates "Hated their Minorities more". I'm curious if that is through a USAian lens in which those of Darker skin are "Minorities" because in this Haiti and in South Africa, those of African descent are *Majorities* in the nation. If it is refering to those of darker skin and they represent Majorities of the population, I'd hope the writeup would be redone.
The whites in the Congo managed to maintain control of areas nearer to the coast, think Apartheid but Belgian.
 
United States of America

Washington D.C is a city I am familiar with in many timelines. However, what I didn’t expect was the monumental architecture of the city with the America First Party’s reconstruction of America’s capital after the Second American Civil War creating a city more like the monumental capital cities of Europe.

I contemplate what my subject matter is like as while one-party states are dime a dozen in the multiverse, the country I am studying for this entry is unique is that it is a “one-party democracy” where the factions of the single party engage in competitive elections and a degree of political pluralism exists within the framework of the ruling party.

My taxi then stops at my destination as I meet my contact, the 48-year old Senator Freya Sharpe, a former astronaut (and the first woman on Mars in this world) and aviator turned politician who is part of the Moderate faction of the America First Party. Senator Freya Sharpe, I am told, is considered amongst the rising stars of the America First Party, being recently elected a Senator from the State of Maryland, having taken advantage of her public image to win the elections for the Senate seat.

I exchange greetings with Senator Freya Sharpe before I begin my interview with her. I ask her “What makes the form of democracy practiced in the United States since the rise of Huey Long unique?”

She replies, “Well, the New Democracy that was implemented after the Second American Civil War by Huey Long and refined by Sid McMath in his reforms in the late 1950s is unique in that we acknowledge that while the people have a right to choose their own leaders, a single dominant party is needed to guide the people, a role filled by the America First Party. However, pluralism is guaranteed via how the America First Party has functioned since McMath’s reforms.”

I ask Senator Sharpe how a system under a single political party could guarantee pluralism, especially with the one-party system that had been implemented under the America First Party ever since the Second American Civil War.

“When President McMath succeeded President Long, he adopted a system which had been tried out in several states within the Union of having multiple candidates representing factions of the America First Party run in elections throughout the country as part of his reforms, which allows for pluralism within the framework of the America First Party.”

The early history of this American state is a largely familiar story which I would not repeat but this world’s America is shaped by Germany’s triumph in the First Weltkrieg over the Entente and the British Revolution, which combined led to a 11-year economic crash which culminated in the Second American Civil War, triggered by Douglas MacArthur’s attempted coup against President Huey Long, which was a four-way conflict between the Military Junta, the American Union State, the Combined Syndicates of America, and the Sacramento Government with the civil war being eventually won by Huey Long and his American Union State, which reunited the United States except for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Alaska, the Philippines, and New England.

After Fmr. Senator Henry Ford and William Dudley Pelley tried to launch failed coup attempts against Huey Long in the aftermath of the triumphant conclusion of the Second American Civil War with Ford leading a failed Business Plot and Pelley trying to overthrow Huey Long via the Silver Shirts, Huey Long adopted a series of reforms under the broad agenda of the “Share Our Wealth” program which aimed to make “Every Man a King”. These economic and social reforms would help build a populist base for the ruling America First Party, winning the America First Party a strong popular base of support due to how said policies reduced social inequality and made life for many working-class Americans easier.

While popular for his reforms, Huey Long had a darker side as the America First Party ruled a one-party system of government with political opponents harassed by the Minutemen and a populist political machine being set up to shore up Huey Long’s powerbase. However, he was able to effectively steer America through the post-Second Weltkrieg Reconstruction and the Second Weltkrieg with the United States in the aftermath of the Second Weltkrieg aligning with the German Empire, the Danubian Federation, and the nascent United Provinces of China (or South China) against the Russian State and their allies in the Saratov Pact (which absorbed an increasingly right-wing Entente and formed an alliance of convenience with the Cairo Pact) during the Kalterkrieg.

Huey Long’s death on March 5, 1953, a day in many other universes is known for the death of Joseph Stalin, from a sudden heart attack would lead to a power struggle in the United States of America with the power struggle leading to the rise of Sid McMath, considered by many to be a “dark horse” candidate as many expected Earl Long to succeed Huey Long, being his younger brother. McMath’s tenure as President would see a degree of liberalization of the system which would see the rise of the current “one-party democracy” in the United States

The McMath Reforms that would be implemented would include a restoration of many civil liberties which were restricted under Huey Long’s government, a return to a limited degree of federalism, the abolition of the Electoral College, and most importantly, the institution of a system of elections which involved multiple candidates representing the various factions of the America First Party, which would be a system which would return a degree of democracy to the United States.

By the present-day, the United States of America has become essentially a de facto multi-party state as the various factions and cliques of the America First Party are essentially political parties in their own right with the liberal-progressive (with vague social democratic leanings) Progressive Faction, the centrist Moderate Faction, the conservative/”status quo” Longist Faction, and the hardline Nationalist Faction being the main factions of the America First Party with the President of the United States having to build a coalition of factions of the America First Party to maintain power.

However, the fact the United States of America is still notionally under the one-party rule of the America First Party has led to quite a degree of corruption with 3 of the 8 Presidents who succeeded Sid McMath after he retired in 1964 having been brought down by corruption scandals and current President Michelle Wayland, a former tech billionaire turned politician, being in the midst of a corruption scandal involving bribes by her company and her personal friends along with rumors of ties to the Russian State and its current Vozhd Lana Antonova (who’s mother, Tatiana, was the long-time Foreign Minister of the Russian State in the late 20th Century and Vozhd for a while in the 1980s) with the cyberattack on Weiss Industries, a major rival to Wayland Tech led by Siglinde “Schnee” Weiss, being connected to the Russian State.

I talk to Freya about what she thinks of the current situation right now with how the America First Party’s leaders are currently walking a tightrope with how President Michelle Wayland and her dominant Progressive Faction has been reported to be involved in a series of corruption scandals.

She then replies “Well, the scandal involving President Wayland means that the America First Party is in need of broad reform, which the Moderates would provide.”

I then ask her about what she sees as the greatest problem facing the America First Party going forward into the future, which she replies “The corruption of the dominant Progressive Faction with this scandal being revealed by the murder of an actress who was connected to President Wayland, for crying out loud! We need fresh blood and reforms to rescue the America First Party.”

I ask her one last question regarding her future plans, especially as the Moderates, with many Progressives defecting to them over Wayland’s corruption, are seen by many to be on the ascendancy.

“I plan to one day hopefully become President and use the position to implement reforms to modernize the America First Party with an anti-corruption campaign implemented. While our system has flaws and it is a system in need of reforms to improve it, it for the most part has been a successful one since the Second American Civil War.”

I then say goodbye to Senator Sharpe and wish her well as I leave the room.
 
Last edited:
Top
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top