"Why did America win the Cold War? It was pre-destined to succeed."
I think California (the U.S. State, not Alta and Baja combined) is one of the more perfect places to house an independent nation.
Isolated (in a good way), surrounded by mountains, deserts, and more mountains, and more deserts, it's difficult for an army to get in.
Fertile, the Central and Imperial Valley offer some of the best farmlands on the continent, with some irrigation you can have a huge surplus of fruit and grain and livestock. Even the hilly coasts could easily be turned into grazing land, which much of it is today.
Defensible. The land on the coast is rugged and the Sierra Nevada are a natural border, an invading army Would be harassed by dense population and rugged terrain.
An amazing harbor. I may be San Franciscan, but let's be honest, is there a more perfect natural harbor than San Francisco Bay? I'm sure there is, but not on on the Pacific! San Francisco, which is fed by rivers coming from hundreds of miles allowing for easy transport, allows for trade dominance in the Northern Pacific.
Honestly, if you're looking for a rich, small nation, go Cali.
West Coast is Best Coast.
Any independent 'natural' Californian state would have to give up the Southland though. The Transverse Ranges aren't easy to cross, the Ventura bypass is steep and narrow, and there aren't any defensive features south of LA.
America may have won the civil war, but they also lost it, too.
As a San Diegan, I have no idea what Southlands is. Are you referring to Southern California? The state is best kept as a unit. And I have found people suggesting it should be partitioned are non-Californians. Anyways, if we go with a state that never joined the U.S., it should still be in one unit. alta and Baja California had been split for which religious orders got to set up missions, and therefore the administrative divisions were already being set up, while also depopulating large tracts of areas by forcing people into Missions. One of the more monstrous things to happen in the history of the area, but it would help in the views of a heartless man to colonize and organize the region.
Honestly, looking at California as a geographic entity, presuming some ATL where advanced civilization arose (or after a fall in civilization thousands of years from now) I'd expect that the Central Valley + The Bay Area would be one state, and Southern California would be another.
I'm unsure how that's germane to my rhetorical point about the Cold War, but sure.America may have won the civil war, but they also lost it, too.
Personally I believe that England, Scotland and Wales are nations which are destined to be regions, but that opinion is controversial...
I'd largely agree. While certain geographical regions are more likely to be united for various reasons (Mesopotamia, despite the conflict there today, has been united for thousands upon thousands of years), nothing in history is destined. Looking at a map, one would think that Portugal would be "destined" to be a part of Spain, considering the few natural barriers between the two and the cultural similarities. Similarly, why would the mountainous and more diverse areas of Southern China necessarily be destined to be in a state with the North?So no... There is no nation on earth that was destined to be.
So no... There is no nation on earth that was destined to be.