Commonwealth, Confederation and Concert - The Rise and Transformation of the British Empire

[Indifference Engine]

Commonwealth, Confederation and Concert
The Rise and Transformation of the British Empire

Or

Not Your Standard Britwank TL
​

Prologue

BAe News “Daily Briefing” dgram - Monday Forward Look - 23rd November 2020 [1][2]

Following the devastating earthquakes on Saturday in Persia an HDC Taskforce has arrived in the country to support immediate rescue efforts and restoring critical infrastructure. The Department for Development Co-operation said they are already in talks with the Persian government about medium to long term recovery assistance.

Today marks the final week of campaigning for the Principality Assembly election in Mercia following the collapse of the coalition there in August. Polls are indicating a particularly tight contest - a sufficiently strong by the Democratic Socialists could not just allow them to retake the Premier’s Mansion there but also control of the Congress in Hulmes.

The Senate will be publishing an independent review of the implementation of the recommendations of the Millennium Report. Just over two decades after it was published, the Report was commissioned to examine the lasting harmful legacies of the Empire’s colonial past. Analysts say whilst there has been a marked reduction in the gap for economic development several cultural questions, as well as reconciliation with former parts of the Empire outside the Concert, are still far from resolved.

The Foreign Secretary will be flying to Rio Grande to hold tripartite talk with the Mexican Government and Continental Congress representatives about Mexico’s potential admission into the Continental Compact. A major potential stumbling block is the still unresolved question as to whether Mexican admission would also require it to join the Concert.

The first section of the UK Ultraspeed Maglev network will see shakedown tests ahead of its formal opening next month. The route links Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Tyne and Wear. The second section extending it to the Metropolis and joining it to the Channel Tunnel is due to be completed early 2022, with Stage 3 linking it to Scotland opening in 2023. When the entire scheme is finished, it will allow passengers to travel from Glasgow to Vienna in just over 7 hours.

A fullsize mockup of the lead-unit made open to the public at the launch event. Source: Wiki Commons​

Apple is expected to unveil its latest Origami scalables and Turing slates in an event in Manchester on Tuesday. Purported highlights include further advancements to the Friday AI assistant, new live collaboration features, and a consolidated d-comms app.

The Imperial Economy Secretary will make a statement on Wednesday to Convocation with the annual revision to the forecasts and Economic and Manufactures Strategy. Expected points include being ahead of schedule for circular economy targets and additional measures to hit the government’s ambition of moving to absolute carbon neutrality by 2035.

Liberty Day is this Thursday, which this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Affirmation of Fundamental Rights and Liberties in the aftermath of the Decade of Hell. The Queen-Empress will be inaugurating the new Liberties Plaza and Monument on the eastern terrace of Whitehall Palace before a broadcast address.

The Southern Terrace, immediately in front of the east wing of Whitehall Palace. Source: Wiki Commons​

The final launch for the Ares Infinity mission will take place on Saturday. It will provide the last components needed to finish orbital assembly of the Ares vehicle before it sets off on its 6 month journey to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.

The Premier returns to work this week after a formal leave of absence for illness. In a statement she thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for covering her duties and said:

“I am feeling much recovered and thank everyone, in and out of Parliament, for their well wishes and statements of support over the past two weeks. I think this is an important opportunity to remember that I am far from alone in this, and to the millions of other people who suffer from chronic mental health conditions I encourage you to be open once you feel able, take the time you need, and remember you are stronger than you think.”

[1] BAe - the British Aether Trust, TTL equivalent of the BBC
[2] dgram, short for “digital telegram”, or in other words, email

---

Preamble to the “Declaration of the Fundamental Principles of Confederation and Concert” 1941

The course of human history proves certain incontrovertible facts, namely that the rights of all Humanity, when respected, have allowed men to flourish through the triumph of reason, rationality, ingenuity, compassion and solidarity with our fellow man.

But it has also proved that where this respect is absent, so too is the dignity and development of mankind, and it is all too easy for our flourishing to be found hollow and give way to suffering. Recent events have shown us the worst, darkest predilections of Humanity. It has also shown us our most noble and pure instincts, and it is these, not our frailties, which have endured and ultimately triumphed. The long, dark shadow that has fallen over us is finally receding, and we now stand on the precipice of a new era. The character of that era is ours to decide.

We are ultimately the guardians of our own fate. Whether or not dignity and liberty is the birthright of mankind, ensuring its reality is the responsibility of all men. Through our acts, presently and in the future, and the organisation of society and its affairs we ordain, we embrace the full weight of those responsibilities. Only we can guard against our own frailties. Only we can be the shepherds of our civilisation, and we will do so with ever greater vigilance.

Having seen the scourge of war, malignant manufactures and commerce, tyranny and man’s oppression and inhumanity to his fellow man, we unyieldingly resolve that we will do all we must to ensure it shall never again blight ourselves and our posterity. We plant our flag firmly for democracy and freedom, and through it the fullest justice, the broadest liberty and the greatest security for all mankind.

That flag will mark our new era, and it will be birthed by the renewal of our finest instincts, traditions and accomplishments and the founding of a New Order. Our recent victories were made possibly only through our enduring co-operation and unity, reminding us of that which we have long known: through our common endeavour we achieve far more together than we do alone. In that spirit the character of this New Order will be everlasting Brotherhood between all peoples, nations and cultures.

Our Brotherhood, as with the Phoenix, will emerge from the ruins and ashes, restored and brighter than before. It shall be the crucible for the fire of humanity, kindling our highest faculties, pursuits and passions and the development of all men and civilisation. It shall serve as the foundations of a free, tolerant, equitable and just society where no one will be enslaved by chains or by squalor; by his his fellow man, poverty, ignorance or conformity. A society that champions the well being of the individual, the freedom of their conscience, and provides the opportunities to develop their talents to their fullest extents in a community where power and agency is dispersed to all and our rights are tempered only by reverence of our responsibility to our fellow man.

In our eternal pursuit of ever greater freedom, justice and peace for all, we, the Peoples and Parliaments of the Empire, and its most revered fraternal partners, therefore Renew and Declare our Confederation and Concert and Resolve these Fundamental Principles.

 

[Indifference Engine]

So, what do we have here? Timeline as the very first post?

Long time lurker - first time stander upper poster. Also, are we really doing this whole "question yourself to establish the premise of the timeline"?

It's obligatory for the sake of the meme and I think I can still see part of the horse twitching.

...Fine. Anyway, very first timeline, but one that I've been kicking around in my head for far too many years. Given a predeliction for legal matters, the original idea behind this was "how much could I do to describe a history and world using just constitutional history". This isn't quite sticking to that, but it will still play a big part, as you can see by the preamble included in the prologue. Otherwise, the name of the game is just to create an interesting world and make the journey there as plausible as I can given the end result.

And the subtitle?

I don't think I'm giving too much away by revealing that this is going to be a Britwank/Imperial Federation timeline of sorts, but with at least a few twists thrown in there for good measure - but I won't say too much about those for now. Let's just say that whilst there is a surviving Empire/Commonwealth in modern day it's going to look radically different in several ways.

So this bears no resemblance to any other timeliens whatsoever?

No, it's going to see some similarities too. Heavy inspiration, both for facets of the timeline and just as excellent writers, go to Analytical Engine, Rattigan, Aelita and Major Crimson, and any similiarities should be taken as blatant theft and hackery the greatest, sincerest flattery.

Otherwise, I hope everyone enjoys.

 

[Ironshark]

interesting start!
queen emperess lizze eh?

so the divisble crown isn't a thing ITTL?

 

[Drunkrobot]

Interesting, there is still a monarchy, but apparently a Senate rather than the House of Lords. If the 'Democratic Socialists' manage to be at least a major party in the middle of England, then I guess the country is substantially more to the left?

I'm betting the 'Decade of Hell' is version to some version of World War II, perhaps something even nastier in terms of the British/Commonwealth experience of it, perhaps more in the realm of that received by the Soviets.

In any case, I look forward to seeing where this goes!

 

[Indifference Engine]

interesting start!
queen emperess lizze eh?

so the divisble crown isn't a thing ITTL?

Thanks, and not quite Lizzie. On divisibility, it is and it isn't. Each title is legally distinct, but succession is an Imperial matter and there are also two "joint" crown titles.

Interesting, there is still a monarchy, but apparently a Senate rather than the House of Lords. If the 'Democratic Socialists' manage to be at least a major party in the middle of England, then I guess the country is substantially more to the left?

I'm betting the 'Decade of Hell' is version to some version of World War II, perhaps something even nastier in terms of the British/Commonwealth experience of it, perhaps more in the realm of that received by the Soviets.

In any case, I look forward to seeing where this goes!

The country is indeed further to the left, in ways I hope to show off later.

On the Decade of Hell, I can neither confirm nor deny.

 

[Kosh]

Interested to see where this goes and looking forward to more. Subscribed.

 

[N7Buck]

"Report was commissioned to examine the lasting harmful legacies of the Empire’s colonial past."
This makes no sense, in an imperial federation scenario, the federation is built on colonialism, so it is unlikely that society would have an anticolonial mentality.

" and Continental Congress representatives about Mexico’s potential admission into the Continental Compact."
"The second section extending it to the Metropolis and joining it to the Channel Tunnel is due to be completed early 2022,"
An Imperial Federation that includes BNA is centred everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A Channel tunnel is about connecting Britain to Europe, it weakens the Empire as it draws Britain closer to other countries, whereas a Continental Compact (NAFTA) draws the American "colonies" closer to Mexico,

I think the timeline is heavily influenced by the modern world. I think it is good you are doing a BNA/Imperial Federation timeline, and will continue to read it as it is updated.

 

[Dr Dee]

"Report was commissioned to examine the lasting harmful legacies of the Empire’s colonial past."
This makes no sense, in an imperial federation scenario, the federation is built on colonialism, so it is unlikely that society would have an anticolonial mentality.

" and Continental Congress representatives about Mexico’s potential admission into the Continental Compact."
"The second section extending it to the Metropolis and joining it to the Channel Tunnel is due to be completed early 2022,"
An Imperial Federation that includes BNA is centred everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A Channel tunnel is about connecting Britain to Europe, it weakens the Empire as it draws Britain closer to other countries, whereas a Continental Compact (NAFTA) draws the American "colonies" closer to Mexico,

I think the timeline is heavily influenced by the modern world. I think it is good you are doing a BNA/Imperial Federation timeline, and will continue to read it as it is updated.

I guess it depends on whether this is an actual Imperial Federation or a United Commonwealth. If it's the latter, as the OP's title might suggest, then I can easily imagine that one of the pre-requisites for ongoing participation will be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission of sorts. It will require the sort of humility and internationalism from the original centre (i.e. England) that might be borderline ASB in OTL...

If we have a very strong Commonwealth, I wonder if a Chunnel ITTL will actually lead to France or the rest of Western Europe being pulled into the orbit of that Commonwealth rather than Britain being pulled in the direction of Europe.

 

[Drunkrobot]

This makes no sense, in an imperial federation scenario, the federation is built on colonialism, so it is unlikely that society would have an anticolonial mentality.

Many countries are built on colonialism, but that doesn't mean there are non-negligible voices within them calling for the negative consequences of colonialism to be addressed (like reparations to American Indian and African American communities in the US, for example). All of the former 'white dominions' IOTL have some level of repudiation of white supremacism and of the colonialist mindset that led to atrocities against non-Europeans, why shouldn't the sum of them have the same?

 

[N7Buck]

Many countries are built on colonialism, but that doesn't mean there are non-negligible voices within them calling for the negative consequences of colonialism to be addressed (like reparations to American Indian and African American communities in the US, for example). All of the former 'white dominions' IOTL have some level of repudiation of white supremacism and of the colonialist mindset that led to atrocities against non-Europeans, why shouldn't the sum of them have the same?

Well in this scenario, it isn't specific countries looking back at their colonial history, and viewing it negatively, it is an empire built on colonial states, and if that empire (Imperial Federation) views its own creation negatively, there aren't pillars to hold it together.

Also modern western states are heavily influenced by the World Wars and social revolution after Vietnam, this caused ethnic identity to be repudiated in western countries, so if those wars and social revolution don't happen, well the empire could end up as ethnocentric as China or India.

There are many countries on the planet, and most of them have committed atrocities, but they have not apologised to the same extent that the former settler colonialist countries have, so it is possible in an alternate timeline, if there is not the change of social views that happened after the world wars, that the settler colonialist countries wouldn't apologise. So I don't think it is a forgone conclusion that the settler colonial states would apologise.

 

[sarahz]

Interesting, there is still a monarchy, but apparently a Senate rather than the House of Lords. If the 'Democratic Socialists' manage to be at least a major party in the middle of England, then I guess the country is substantially more to the left?

I'm betting the 'Decade of Hell' is version to some version of World War II, perhaps something even nastier in terms of the British/Commonwealth experience of it, perhaps more in the realm of that received by the Soviets.

In any case, I look forward to seeing where this goes!

Well mercia does contain Birmingham and other major urban areas That OTL have often been not
very Tory

 

[Indifference Engine]

"Report was commissioned to examine the lasting harmful legacies of the Empire’s colonial past."
This makes no sense, in an imperial federation scenario, the federation is built on colonialism, so it is unlikely that society would have an anticolonial mentality.

" and Continental Congress representatives about Mexico’s potential admission into the Continental Compact."
"The second section extending it to the Metropolis and joining it to the Channel Tunnel is due to be completed early 2022,"
An Imperial Federation that includes BNA is centred everywhere and nowhere at the same time. A Channel tunnel is about connecting Britain to Europe, it weakens the Empire as it draws Britain closer to other countries, whereas a Continental Compact (NAFTA) draws the American "colonies" closer to Mexico,

I think the timeline is heavily influenced by the modern world. I think it is good you are doing a BNA/Imperial Federation timeline, and will continue to read it as it is updated.

On colonial legacies, I would say it's in the same vein as OTL US dealing with continued legacies of slavery and segregation or the treatment of Native Americans - so not unimagineable. But then the point of the timeline is to see how well I can steer a course that these unlikely things to us seem a little less so - we'll have to see just how well I do that.

On the other points, you make me realise the phrase "Imperial Federation" might have been a tad misleading. Suffice to say this is not a straightforward CANZUK and there may be just a few reasons why a channel tunnel is viewed as integral to imperial unity.

 

[wwbgdiaslt]

I enjoyed - but it bothered me that the Maglev links "Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Tyne and Wear ..."

Or, three cities ... and a county. So is the terminus in Sunderland, South Shields, Newcastle, North Shields or Gateshead?

 

[Indifference Engine]

I enjoyed - but it bothered me that the Maglev links "Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Tyne and Wear ..."

Or, three cities ... and a county. So is the terminus in Sunderland, South Shields, Newcastle, North Shields or Gateshead?

It's in Newcastle. It's referred to as Tyne and Wear because the whole area is a lot more developed, forming much more of a single conurbation and earlier on, but somethings are true in any timeline, like the refusal of Sunderland to be lumped in under Newcastle . So for inhabitants of TTL, referring to the Tyne and Wear station as Newcastle would feel as weird as us referring to Paddington as London station as Westminster.

 

[Indifference Engine]

Part I - Orange is the New Pink
Chapter I​

Regina: A History of the Queens of the United Kingdoms - Chapter 5 (1)

Princess Mary the year she was married. Source: Wiki Commons​

…The newly weds, as was not uncommon for marriages of their sort, had a marriage of two lives. The nature of Stadholder meant that even though William was not the full sovereign he longed to be, he nonetheless was preoccupied with military engagements for long stretches of their marriage, and was oft away on campaigns.

This did nothing to add to Mary’s woes. Even whilst considered usual at the time Mary was bethroed at the young age of fifteen - clearly unthinkable now. Troubled by her estrangement from her father, the marriage further added to her stresses and mental trials. William, with but a single mistress in the early years, was positively restrained by the standards of the time and a paragon of virtue compared to several Stuarts. But this would have been little comfort to her, as someone who was incredibly dutiful and committed to her faith.

Things were mercifully tempered somewhat by her reception in the Provinces. Mary was highly charming, quickly winning over much of the local elite to the approval of William. She had received a limited education in Richmond, learning mainly of creative pursuits (beyond her committed religious studies) but she took to Dutch arts with great appreciation. Not only did this provide a fruitful avenue to indulge and explore these pursuits, but further ingratiated herself to the local populace.

But things would take a turn for the worse the next year when, unexpectedly, their first child was stillborn. [1] Tragic enough in it’s own right, it sadly wouldn’t be the last time she experienced such heartbreak. Some solace would be found in her correspondence with her sister Anne - already reasonably close it helped reinforce their relationship and subdue the pain somewhat, a pain that would sadly become shared some years later...

---

[1] And here we have our principle Point of Divergence.

 

[Indifference Engine]

Chapter II​

Andrew Marr’s “A History of Britain” - BAe Documentary - 2004

“…It was a momentous moment in the history of the Crown. Even with the Protectorate [1] in living memory, it was an audacious display of power by Parliament. In any other situation, to have a foreign ruler march into England with thousands of soldiers to take the crown would be outright conquest, but in England it became a revolution, and whilst William was the one to initiate it, it would be finished by Parliament.

“With the Bill of Rights, in the same stroke that it formally wrote out James and installed William and Mary on the throne, it placed them under codified constraints not seen since Magna Carta. So great were the restrictions that William threatened to decline the throne and return to the Netherlands. But the situation could have been even more radical - acclaiming William and Mary was the moderate middle way between the Tory preference for naming William regent, and sections of the Whigs wanting to elect William as King.

“But even though they declined the latter option, much the same principle was established - the monarch was not above the law, and derived their mandate not from God but, at least in some way, a grant by the people…” [2]

"The Deposed King" James II and VII. Source: Wiki Commons​

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[1] TTL historiography uses Protectorate as the go-to term for the entire Interregnum/Commonwealth, to avoid confusion with the many other uses of commonwealth within Concert history.
[2] The Glorious Revolution takes place more or less identically as OTL - the main differences are what historians and the public later take away from it and the broader narrative it is placed into.

---

Regina: A History of the Queens of the United Kingdoms - Chapter 5 (2)

…The Act of Succession wrote out James’s son and confirmed Anne as next in line after the co-monarchs. Though she was based in Copenhagen with her husband King George of Denmark [1] she maintained a British base in her childhood home of Richmond Palace [2] and visited frequently. This didn’t just maintain the strong relationship between the sisters but helped birth the long lasting alliance between Britain and the then Denmark…

---

[1] Spoilers...

[2] The better relationship between the sisters and her distance from London paradoxically mean that unlike OTL she is granted use of Richmond Palace following the Glorious Revolution.

 

[Indifference Engine]

And now as a little interlude, the logos of the present day Departments of Her Imperial Majesty's Confederal Government.

 

[Indifference Engine]

I realise I got some of my years mixed up with regards George of Denmark, and also decided that it warranted more than a footnote, so I've slightly edited the previous posts and covered more in the next one.

I've also decided that though I've mentioned a couple of other posters on the board, I should actually link to the particular timelines in question, so people can see what the exact inspiration is if they so desire and because any extra views of them are more certainly derserved.

Analytical Engine - The Britwank Empire - I would regard as the premier example of the no holds barred Empire wank, especially in ASB, and I think holds the dubious distinction of being the only Strangerverse TLs that was completed.
Rattigan - The Anglo-Saxon Social Model - A great timeline in general, and also an example of a light-Britwank with a progressive bent that creates a world that is positive yet plausible.
Major Crimson - Fear Nothing But God - Again, a great "plausible but progressive" timeline that I alo love as a particular example of world building, especially in its alternate political idoelogies/compasses, and use of alternate vocabulary. (I also rate for similiar reasons and for being an excellent example of a 'TL told through a single election night'.)
Aelita - Reds - Interesting in its highly original fleshing out of what might seem to be a standard "What If" that I particularly draw inspiration from for the "scrapbook" story telling and the comprehensiveness of its world building.

 

[Indifference Engine]

Chapter III​

Minerva article for “George of Denmark”

King George of Denmark circa 1705. Source: Wiki Commons​

George (Danish: Jørgen; 2 April 1653 - 12 November 1706) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1706.

He was the first king to receive the crown automatically after his father ended the elective monarchy. There was little warning that George was to become King; only the second son of Frederick III, the death of his otherwise healthy elder brother Prince Christian of a hunting accident without issue came mere months before his father’s demise.

George was famously a man of low ambition and ego, traits which helped lead to him being extremely well regarded by the common people. This led to an extremely high level of influence and agency for his wife Anne, sister of Queen Mary II of Britain, later inspiring the expression “behind every great man there is an even greater woman”. This relationship birthed the long term alliance between Denmark and Britain, and also strengthened the alliance with the Netherlands (by virtue of Mary’s husband, William III).

Historians often date his reign as a critical stage in the development of full parliamentary democracy in Scandinavia. His father had been a strong absolutist, centralising power at the expense of the nobility. George maintained that centralisation institutionally, such as retaining hereditary selection of the monarch. But he conceded much of the governing day-to-day to a restored but reconstructed Rigsråd, and allowed a greater voice for the estates, which together would evolve into the Rigsdag, the modern parliament of Denmark. He also accelerated his father's practice of allowing Holstein nobles and Danish and Norwegian commoners into state service.

[…]

George first met Anne when she accompanied her father James, Duke of York on a diplomatic visit to Copenhagen in 1683. The two were somewhat taken with one another, and Charles II were keen to encourage a relationship to further develop ties with Denmark-Norway. Following correspondence between the two, Charles’s advisors negotiated a marriage treaty in secret, and they were wed in 1685.

[…]

Succession was a fraught issue for many years. The mast majority of Anne’s pregnancies ended in miscarriages or stillbirths. Only three children survived past early infancy: two daughters and a son, Sophie, Margarethe and Christian. All three would suffer from a bout of smallpox. Margarethe and Sophie recovered but Christian was a sickly child and died, to the anguish of his parents.

His death and further failures to produce a surviving son prompted George to institute male preference primogeniture instead of agnatic primogeniture. (All George’s surviving siblings were sisters and there were no other remotely near male relatives, and a change was felt necessary to avoid a fraught succession dispute.) This meant for a time Sophie was both first in line to the crown of Denmark and Norway and second in line to the throne of England, Scotland, and Ireland…

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A People’s History of the Constitution of Britain - Chapter 3

…The Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights share several similarities. The first is that they are not so much a part of the Concert or British constitution as a spiritual predecessor. They represented a key point in the historical development of political institutions by placing legal constraints on the power of those that presumed to govern - a key features of any modern constitution. But most of their provisions were repealed or supplanted in further legislation long before the Constitution further gestated.

The second is that, frankly, their provisions are something of an embarrassment when actually examined. The top line principles form part of the core historical narrative, and they did represent steps forward, but many of the provisions don’t stand up to modern scrutiny. Whilst the Magna Carta is heralded as a boon of liberty it was mainly about the liberty of the barons, not the common man, and certainly can’t claim to be any great foundation of a feronian freedom. [1] The Bill of Rights, whilst casting its net wider, was just as much a Bill of Oppression for Catholics, and one could at best describe the ‘right to bear arms’ as an idea that ‘has not aged well’…

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[1] Derived from Feronia, the Roman god of wilderness and liberty, especially of freedmen and plebeians.

---

Sample of previous tripos questions - School of Politics and Sociology, University of Oxford - 2020

Government and Institutions of the Concert

Is the Concert Parliament unicameral, bicameral, tricameral, or tertracameral?

Was the Council of the Concert made redundant by the creation of the Council of the Realms?

“There is no significant difference between the office of the Empress and an equivalent acoronal head of state.” Discuss.

Comparative Government

“Standing legislatures adds nothing to effective governance.” Discuss.

“Lack of constitutional codification or entrenchment undermines the rule of law.” Discuss.

Is it feasible or worthwhile to have legislatures without political parties?

British and Concert Constitutional History

“The Bill of Rights was the first step towards the ‘Polithianisation’ of the British monarchy”. Discuss. [1]

What event best marks the ‘birth’ of the Concert? Is it the same as the birth of the Confederation?

Which is more important to republicanism - the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty or the notion of the coronal contract?

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[1] Polithia - retrospective name for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

 

[Indifference Engine]

I'm plotting out the next few updates. I think I want to do a couple of flash forwards capturing slices of present day TTL - would anyone have any particular areas they would want to see covered in these?