Hmm, not sure that the population of TTL America will be higher than OTL US. They simply lack the numbers of South (I think that you underestimated their numbers) and Mexican part.
English Canada/French Carolina: A Timeline
- Thread starter Gabingston
- Start date
The Commonwealth of America has a population of 170 Million as of 1930, compared to 120 Million for OTL's U.S. in the same year. The higher population is because the British settlers that went to Canada ITTL had a higher population growth rate than those that went to the South IOTL. I may have highballed the population growth rates (a more reasonable estimate might be around 150 Million by this point in the TL), but I'm too far into the TL to retcon it (if I ever do a spinoff Maps & Graphics TL once I complete this, I may lower the population a bit).
Part 104: The Great North
Part 104: The Great North
I know I just did an update on The Commonwealth, but I decided on a whim to do one more, this time on the sparsely populated northern part of the country. While there may not have been much here but bears, moose and trees, I still find it quite an interesting region to talk about, as well as a perfect opportunity to add to my ever-growing list of locations. I think it’s time to start the update for real now, so I’m just gonna get right into it, starting out east and heading west.At the very eastern edge of the great north was Northern Laurentia and the Northeastern Territory. Laurentia only stretched as far north as the Atlantic-Hudson Bay continental divide and the 52nd Parallel (with the exception of a small coast on the Hudson Bay), but pretty much everything north of the Laurentian Mountains and the Saguenay River (with the towns of Shecootimee and Tadosack along its shores) was incredibly sparsely populated. The North Shore of the Gulf Of St. Lawrence was home to some small fishing and forestry-based towns like Manicoogan, Seven Isles and Mickan along it’s shores, but was otherwise very sparse. In the vast forests and hills of Northern Laurentia were places like the resort town of Trembling Mountain and the mining towns of Gold Valley and Copper Lake. The Northeastern Territory, a vast expanse of Taiga, Tundra and innumerable lakes, lies north of the Laurentian frontier and was mainly inhabited by native tribes and a few brave prospectors and settlers. The coast was home to scattered, mainly Inuit villages, and the only major town was the territorial capital of Goose Bay, and even that only had a few thousand residents.
Further west into Gitchigami (OTL Northern Ontario), the two largest cities in the province were the capital of Bawitigong and Gaminstigwea, but there were other cities and towns in the province as well. The city of Portage was built at an important stop on the fur trade route, and retained that role when a northern railroad was built. The Canadian Shield is rich in mineral resources, and the cities of Sudbury and Mattagami grew up around mineral deposits. Finally, the old trading post of Moose Factory grew into a small, isolated port town on the Hudson Bay.
Going into the Prairies, settlements were stretching further north than they were out east. The province of Winnipeg went as far north as the Saskwaton River, while the provinces of Saskwaton and Athabasca went as far north as the Unjegah River and 60th Parallel north, further north than Oslo or Stockholm. In Winnipeg, the capital and largest city in the province was also named Winnipeg, while some other cities and towns included Grand Forks, Queensfort and Pascoya. In Saskwaton and Athabasca, the Prairie went further north than it did elsewhere, and the transitional Aspen Parkland was especially suited to farming. Because of the cold climate, settlers from Scandinavia and to some extent Eastern Europe were recruited to settle in the region, giving the high plains a quite significant Nordic and Slavic influence on the region. Apart from the provincial capitals of Saskwaton and Edmonton, some towns in Saskwaton and Athabasca were Catepwas, Battleford, Wascana, Swift Current, Redcliff, Bowville and Elkford. Oil was discovered in Athabasca, leading to a surge of settlers coming out to strike it rich and forming the basis of the province’s economy (in addition to farming and eventually tourism), whereas Saskwaton remained primarily agricultural and pastoral.
Across the Rockies, we get to the province of Columbia. While most of the population in Columbia ended up residing in the area around the Salish Sea, there were also many towns scattered around the forested and mountainous interior of the province. The main city of inland Columbia was Kamloops, but there were other cities and towns like Fort George, St. James, Clearwater and Penticton. The northern border of Columbia was expanded a bit further north during the 1930s, forming a new northern tripoint between Columbia, Athabasca and the Northern Territories. Hey, speaking of that…
We finally now get to the Northern Territories, the furthest north and most inhospitable portion of the Commonwealth. If the Northeastern Territory was remote and desolate, the Northern Territories took that and put it on a much larger scale. As with the Northeastern Territory, the Northern Territories were mainly populated by the various Native tribes and populations of the region, including the Inuit along the frozen shores of the Arctic. Other than that, Anglo-American settlement in the region was mainly limited to small outposts. For example, the former Hudson’s Bay Company trading post of York Factory had grown into a small port town on the shores of the Hudson Bay (much like the aforementioned Moose Factory). While technically at the very northern edge of Athabasca, the town of Fort Vermilion (also a former fur trading post) served as a gateway to the far north, as did the town of Fort St. John, whose area had some of the only arable land in the Northern Territories.
The part of the Northern Territories that was becoming the most important, however, was the western part. Much of this area had been part of the Russian colony of Alyeska, which gave the area a preexisting base to work from. In addition, Gold rushes in the region like at Hammerstone and at Nome drew tens of thousands of prospectors to the region, and while most of them went home after the gold dried up, some of them stuck around permanently. Seeing this rush of people into the area, construction of a railway connecting the area to the rest of the Commonwealth soon began. While a short railway was built from the port town of Shakagey into the interior, the railway from the aforementioned Fort George was the one that most travelers took to Alaska. Winding its way across over a thousand miles of endless taiga and mountains, the Alaska Railway connected the mainland Commonwealth to Alaska all the way to the Kenai Peninsula. Alaska had grown so much that there were even proposals to admit it as the newest province of the Commonwealth, but that’ll have to wait for the time being. I’m kind of surprised that I found so much material from some frozen tundra and forests, but that’s just how it turned out, and I’ve got to post the update already, so farewell for now, I’ll see you next time!
Considering that French rule in Floride only brought them defeats and loss of territory, I wonder could they rebel against France earlier and proclaim neutrality?
On the other hand, I presume that the big majority of British colonists will still settle in the OTL North US, because of climate? Also, the French will probably settle in the South as well?
A more splintered Indian independence might be interesting, could result in several Indian 'tiger' economies arising in the future? Or a more violent post independence history, with ethnic movement? Lots of possibility in a splintered India!
British Northern India and French Southern India will be separate at the very least.
What about relations between Floride and Commonwealth of America? Is Florida Finlandised/Canadianised or?
Was Bengal a part of the Raj that was on better terms with the British IOTL (in spite of the multiple famines)?
I believe so? Before the famines at least, Bengal started as the core of the British presence in India. And hey, you've got a whole history. Maybe with America as a core part of the Empire, Britain doesn't incidentally cause some famines?
Yeah, good point. American grain could be exported to the Raj, thus making any famines that occur less devastating.
Part 105: The Subcontinent, Part 2
Part 105: The Subcontinent, Part 2
It’s been a year and a half since I did a full update on the Indian Subcontinent, so how about I do that? As I said in the first update on India from way back when, India is a big region that can’t be boiled down to a single update, but that’s just what I’m gonna do.Going from North to South, we’ve first got to talk about the British Raj. Covering the entirety of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the British Raj occupied the old heart of Indian Civilization, and on it’s own would be one of the most populated countries in the world. The original main base of the Raj was in Calcutta, but it was eventually moved to Delhi to be more centralized in the country. Britain ruled much of its territory indirectly through Princely States, run by Maharajas who would pledge fealty to London but otherwise ran themselves. Britain also gained control of the coast of Burma, including the important coastal city of Rangoon. The rest of Burma was made into a British protectorate, joining the protectorats of Nepal and Bhutan. I’ll get back to British India to talk about some of the developments that have emerged there, but I’ve got to move on for now.
Going south across the Mahanadi River, we’ve got French India. France had gained control first over the Coromandel Coast, and then further extended their influence to cover the Deccan Plateau. In addition, France had acquired the Malabar Coast from Portugal after the First Global War, with the exception of the Goa area. Apart from the main French base of Madras, the French also had important secondary bases at Pondichéry, Yanaon and Mahé. Direct French rule was largely concentrated on the coasts, while the interior was mainly run by the French equivalent to Britain’s princely states.
Aside from the juggernauts of Britain and France, there were three more minor European colonial powers in India, those being Portugal, The Netherlands and Denmark. Aside from the aforementioned Goa, Portugal controlled the Kathiawar Peninsula from their main base of Diu. The Netherlands still controlled the island of Ceylon, although it was secondary to the main Dutch colony of the East Indies. Finally, Denmark still had their small territory around Trankebar and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This is repeating a lot of stuff from the old update on India, but it’s been so long that I think it’s worth a reminder.
Now for what has changed since the last update. In the 80 years that have passed since the first update on India, there have been two massive global wars, both of which saw extensive fighting in India. Millions of Indians on both sides had fought and died in the two wars, and were becoming increasingly restless and angry. While there’d been pro-independence sentiment for the entire history of the British and French Indian colonies, the Second Global War was the big spark for Indian nationalism and independence movements. Both Britain and France had promised increased autonomy after the war, but that’s just it, increased autonomy, not full independence. While both London and Paris knew that they couldn’t hold onto their Indian colonies indefinitely (India was just getting too populous and restless), they were gonna ride until they can’t no more. The British Raj started hosting general elections, but that’s it, it was still the British Raj, not a native Indian regime. Indian Nationalists in the Raj got in contact with the Russian Republicans, who pledged their support for Indian independence, and they decided to form the National Union of Hindustan, which advocated for a fully independent, united and republican Northern India. Russian Republicans also came in contact with South Indian nationalists, who wanted independence from the French. With that said, the nationalists movements did have internal divisions, such as between Hindus and Muslims and how to govern an area that was so large and diverse. In addition, groups like Christians and those of mixed European/Indian heritage were concerned that they would be punished for having ties with the Europeans, which added another complication to the matter. Either way, once those elections in the British Raj rolled around, the NUH won a strong majority of the seats, sending a message to the Britishers that the sun was, at one point or another, going to set on the British Empire, at least in India. Whatever happens in India over the coming years and decades is certain to be interesting, and I’ll be there to cover it, but for now, I’ve got to say goodbye.
I'm gonna start writing it today, and it should be done within the next week or two.