I doubt Napoleon III would have been so ignorant; his main adviser on Algeria was Ismayl Urbain who past the major part of his lifetime in Algeria, even converting to Islam, and knew well enough of the country.
Malê Rising
- Thread starter Jonathan Edelstein
- Start date
I doubt Napoleon III would have been so ignorant; his main adviser on Algeria was Ismayl Urbain who past the major part of his lifetime in Algeria, even converting to Islam, and knew well enough of the country.
Then again, a KOA consisting of the rest of Algeria that wasn't populated by French settlers (rendering it in the coastless interior) WAS proposed by Napoleon III IOTL
I wonder, with this KOA's lasting legacy and French influence in Algeria how this would affect an alternate form of "Arab" identity? Especially in the Francophone sphere, but as Algeria transitions to the Ottomans...One wonders
Algeria transitioning to the Ottomans is by no means a certainty; the Ottoman Empire is still overextended, and during the 20s and 30s will be preoccupied with internal issues. An independent Algerian state may well be friendly to the Ottomans, but has changed enough under a century of French rule that it's unlikely to rejoin the empire.
I could see Arab identity in TTL going several ways: a more inclusive view of an Arab cultural sphere, a dissolution into a patchwork of regional identities, or maybe both at once. The stronger Islamic identity that exists due to the continuing role of the Sultan as Caliph may dampen Arab identity, or on the other hand may reinforce it.
I'd guess it's similar to OTL: about 15 to 20 percent European at this point (with many of the Europeans from Spain, Italy or eastern Europe) and local European majorities in several cities. The European part of the population might actually be a bit higher than OTL, given that the Algerians are free to live in metropolitan France (in fact, they often face less discrimination there than at home) and many have gone there to study or work. There's also a small West African population in urban Algeria, who came with the military or civil service, but they aren't a large or politically significant minority the way they are in France itself.
The European population is, as in OTL, eroding due to the Algerians' later demographic transition; however, there's also considerably more intermarriage than in OTL. It's still rare, but it's getting less so.
Yes, of course, I can't believe I made that mistake.
The trans-Saharan railroad has certainly made the region more accessible, and depending on when the potential for exploration is recognized, the Hassi Messaoud field could be discovered in the 1940s or even the 30s. The oil wealth would have a much greater impact on the relatively small KOA population than it would if the fields were part of Algeria as a whole - in the 1930s, there were only about 600,000 people in the Saharan regions of Algeria, so there'd be plenty of oil money to go around. The KOA might become Saudi-level rich and attract guest workers, which would in turn have some unsettling effects on the regional balance of power.
Fair point about Napoleon III's adviser, but as Essam says, he did propose a Royaume arabe in OTL. Maybe the European ethnography of the mid-19th century considered Berbers to be Arabs, much as the term "Semite" at the time meant "Jew" and "Caucasian" or "Aryan" meant "white."
In TTL, the kingdom might take on a new name after decolonization, possibly Tinariwen ("The Deserts") or some variation on "land of the Imuhagh."
I like how the Ethiopian Kingdom of Kush contains exactly none of the historical region or Kingdom of Kush.
Was the name chosen for reasons similar to Ghana's in OTL?
I like how the Ethiopian Kingdom of Kush contains exactly none of the historical region or Kingdom of Kush.
Was the name chosen for reasons similar to Ghana's in OTL?
Yeah, pretty much. They didn't want to name the kingdom after any single ethnic group, they wanted something with more historical resonance than "Kingdom of the Nile," and Alodia was both too obscure and also ahistorical. That, and "Kandake" sounded really good as a title for Anastasia.
Interlude: Africans abroad, 1926
Raj Kindanda’s hut on the outskirts of Mysore City was made of mud-brick and thatched in the Congolese style. All the houses in his ward were. And if the ward was called Svātantrya – freedom – there was good reason for it: the people who lived there had been slaves, and were now free.
And that, in turn, was why Raj Kindanda had come to the temple in Svātantrya’s square, the only building in the ward that was made of stone. Like many of the Mysore Sidis – and, he’d heard, like those in Madras and Nagpur too – he had taken the gods of this land as his own, and added the ancestors from Africa to them. He would give thanks to them in Kannada, a language he’d been slower to learn than English but which had settled more firmly as his mother tongue had slipped away. But he was sure somehow that they would understand, and that even across the ocean, they would hear him.
Montgomery, Alabama:
The hard-faced clerk behind the counter stared at Tom Ellison all the time he filled out the voter registration form. He kept on staring as Tom brought the paper over and handed it to him. Then he took his eyes off Tom and fixed them on the paper instead. He held it in his fingertips as if it were some unpleasant insect and, without a word, tore it up and threw it in the wastebasket.
“You can’t do that…” Tom began.
“Hell I can’t. Law might say I’ve got to let you nigras register, but it don’t say a thing about what I have to do with the damn form.”
“That ain’t the law and you know it.”
“It ain’t? Well, boy, if I’m breaking the law, maybe you should go call the cops.”
Yeah, I can do that, and probably get myself arrested for my trouble. The Federal courts had thrown out all the old dodges that Alabama used to keep black people from voting, and the new ones had an air of desperation to them, but the folks in power were clinging to them as long as they could. The Camellia primaries – white folks picking their candidate before the actual voting happened – might work in some counties, but here in the Black Belt, they had to throw the forms out if they wanted to stay in power.
Tom started to walk out of the office, but there was something about the clerk’s smirk that made him turn around at the door. “You know, mister, if you don’t deal with me, you’ll have to deal with the Freedom Riders or the Crescent people, and they won’t just turn and walk away.”
“Think we’re afraid of nigras with guns? We’ll deal with them and we’ll deal with you. You’re on a list now, boy, count on it.”
“Wouldn’t be a man if I wasn’t on some buckra list or two,” Tom said, and he was out the door and gone before the clerk could answer. But he still shivered at the man’s words. Anyone black who’d grown up in Alabama during the past forty years knew what getting on a list could mean: it could get you fired, harassed, arrested, maybe burned out or lynched. And lynchings still happened, even with the Federals finally enforcing the Tubman Act. He didn’t approve of the Freedom Riders’ methods, but if things got hairy, he might need to go to them or the Crescent Sword for protection.
The street outside bore silent witness to what the Freedom Riders had been up to: the courthouse façade bore the scars of a recent bombing, and there were bullet holes on the buildings across the way from where the Riders had fought the Knights of the Yellowhammer. There weren’t as many people on the streets as there would have been a few years ago, and those stayed close to the walls and moved quickly from one building to the next. White and black both moved the same way – the whites were running scared, whatever the clerk might have said.
Maybe they’ve always been scared of us – why else would they have kept us down so hard for so many years? But it’s something new for them to be scared this way. That hasn’t been the case since the Redeemers took over.
In a way, Tom couldn’t help enjoying the way the tables had turned, but a low-grade war was no way to run a county. Better to march, like the Citizens’ League did: to set an example like the women in Java and Igboland, and to fight the state with its shame…
He was looking up from the ground. He wondered why he was there, and then realized that he had a recent memory of a blast, which was funny because he couldn’t hear anything now. People were running, and one of them kicked Tom as he passed; he realized that he’d better get up or he’d be trampled. He got to his feet – didn’t seem like anything was broken – and ran with the others. He didn’t know if the Riders or the Crescent Sword had planted the bomb, or if the Yellowhammers had done it to kill some blacks, and right now he didn’t care.
He ducked into a doorway as soon as he could. A white woman was already there with blood running down her face; she must have been closer to the bomb than Tom had been. He could see she wasn’t badly injured, but she was too terrified to realize that, and she stood there like she was paralyzed.
All Tom’s instincts told him never to touch a white woman, but he had other instincts as well. He tore off a corner of his sleeve and wiped the blood away carefully, holding it on the cut to stop the bleeding. With his other hand, he took hers and guided it to the piece of cloth. “You ain’t hurt bad,” he said. “Just sit down and hold it here for a few minutes, and you’ll be all right.”
He realized he’d better get out of there quickly, before one of the people running past looked in the doorway and saw what he was doing. But as he turned to go, he saw her smile.
*******
Oxford:
Tiberio Abacar was no stranger to Europe: he’d lived in Germany and France as a child, and gone traveling elsewhere. But that had been with his parents, or with Uncle Amadou when they and Aunt Funmi were off marching, and for the past few years, home had been Zanzibar. To be at Magdalen College alone, with no one to guide him through an unfamiliar place, made him feel like a child again rather than the eighteen-year-old he was.
It was no accident, then, that he’d gone to the West Africa Society’s first meeting of the term; he’d needed to be in a room full of faces that reminded him of where he’d been born. And it was no accident that he’d stayed, even though the sole item on the agenda had been organizing the football team. He’d joined it, even; he wasn’t bad at football and rugby, even if he was a total loss at the capoeira, and the practices would keep him from growing moss in the lecture halls.
But now, when the meeting was breaking up, came something unexpected: a woman’s voice at his shoulder, and the words “You’ve the look of an Abacar to you.”
He turned, startled, and saw one of the white people who’d come to the meeting, a girl – no, a woman eight or nine years older than himself. There was something naggingly familiar about her, but he couldn’t place it.
“I’m afraid you have the advantage of me, Miss…”
“Carole. Carole Alexander.”
“Pleased to meet you, then, Miss Alexander…”
“I said Carole twice and Alexander once, didn’t I? Come, let’s find a place to sit down.”
“Carole, then,” he agreed, and followed her. She was forward even by French standards, but he’d heard that was what had happened after the Imperial Government fell: that British women had gone from the shyest in Europe to the boldest. And all at once, he remembered where the boldness must have come from. “My aunt has very fond memories of your… grandmother?”
“Yes. Grandmother Dione. She’s passed now, but at least she lived to see the Imperial bastards go down. Had something to do with it, too…”
Tiberio sensed there was a story there, but there would be plenty of time to learn it. “You’re a lecturer here?”
“Oh, no, a student.” She took his speechlessness in stride, understanding it perfectly. “Many of the women here are my age, or even older. The Imperials kept us out, so we’re going now because we can. Not that I didn’t get an education beforehand – I was in the women’s underground with Grandmother, and we organized classes for each other – but it’s the degree that everyone listens to, isn’t it? Got to get the piece of parchment.”
“My aunt’s said the same thing. Of course in her day, women had to go to Lady Margaret Hall.”
“So did we, my first year. We had to fight to get into all the colleges, even after the Socialists and Liberals came in. But we won, didn’t we just.” She smiled, and her eyes reminded Tiberio of Aunt Funmi’s when she spoke of battles won. “Enough of that, though. What’s your family up to? We haven’t heard from them in many years.”
“My aunt’s still in the corps législatif – she was one of the socialists who survived the ’25 election. My father’s in Zanzibar again – he’s back in the Sultan’s good graces, and he’s negotiating treaties with India. My mother’s with him, practicing medicine. Half the women in the city come to her: it’s easier for them to keep their modesty with a woman doctor. She’s talking about setting up schools already…”
“Never satisfied, is she? A true member of the family.”
“… and I’ve apparently got a cousin in India who’s staying at Sarah’s.”
“Well, I’ll need to know about that, won’t I? Let’s go over there and eat. I’m always hungry after a bloody meeting.”
Boldest in Europe indeed. But Tiberio followed where Carole led.
*******
Tokyo:
The battle was over; the corpses of bear-demons were strewn all around the warrior woman, and her katana hung loosely from her hand, dripping blood on the snow. She stood unseeing as the unnatural demon-light faded and dawn broke over the boreal Kamchatka forests.
The shamisen player beside the screen struck a triumphant chord. “The spirit-sight the raven-kami gave to the Crimson Maiden was gone, and she was once again a blind woman,” he sang. “But the peace she restored to the emperor’s domains will last forever.” As he sang the last note, a raven flew from behind the warrior maid and became one with the clouds above, and the Itelmen tribesmen and Russian prospectors who the demons had enslaved emerged into the day. The scene faded slowly, and as the shamisen played a farewell, the house lights came on.
Omar rose from his seat, extending a hand to help his parents do so in turn, and they made their way out to the lobby. “So was it worth the trip?” he asked as, like the Itelmens in the movie, they emerged into the day.
“It wasn’t like the movies at home,” his father said, but his eyes were still drinking everything in. Omar had been back to Paris a few times, but this was the first time his parents had ever made the trip to Japan. Maybe it would be the last time; his father would turn eighty this year, and nine days on the train through Russia followed by the series of rails and ferries that linked Sakhalin and Tokyo would tax a much younger person. Or maybe it wouldn’t; his parents had arrived in Tokyo two weeks late because Souleymane had insisted on stopping at several of the towns on the way.
They walked down the street toward the market, attracting smiles and more than a few wide-eyed stares. The people in this neighborhood were used to Omar by now – he was Umaru-sensei, their doctor – but the whole family was something new to them. Senegalese father, French mother, Japanese wife and children who were a bit of all three: a spectacle like this didn’t come along every day, and the people were enjoying it. The feeling was a bit unsettling, reminding Omar of his first days in Japan, but ti had its advantages: among other things, the merchants practically fought to get the family to their stalls.
“Who are they?” Souleymane asked, looking across to an open field as Chiara and Mariko shopped. Omar followed his father’s eyes, coming to rest on a group of men drilling in vaguely military uniforms.
“Renewal Party, I think. One of the parties, anyway. They’ve all got militias like that, especially since the quake.” The parties had organized the rebuilding of the city after the earthquake three years past, but at the cost of turning many neighborhoods into fiefdoms. They’d even fought each other, at the time, over who would rebuild each block, and now they defended their territory jealously at elections. Candidates who didn’t have a private army behind them stood no chance of winning, and raising such a force required the favor of the navy and merchant families that ran the country behind the scenes…
“Like it was at home in the eighties. You’re too young to remember most of it, but you were there for Leclair, and you know it didn’t end well.”
“It won’t end well here either.” For a second, Omar cursed his friend Kishida for letting the Prosperity Party mobilize the war veterans back in ’14, but he knew the parties would just have gone about it some other way if Kishida had denied them. At least this way the veterans had got something out of it…
“Let’s not worry about it today, though.” Chiara had returned to them with three brush paintings for the apartment in Paris, and they were slowly drifting out of the bazaar. “We’ll stop at the baths before we go home – you’ll like that. And then – well, by now half the neighborhood knows you’ll be making dibi and jollof rice tonight, so expect to have guests…”
*******
Mysore:
Raj Kindanda’s hut on the outskirts of Mysore City was made of mud-brick and thatched in the Congolese style. All the houses in his ward were. And if the ward was called Svātantrya – freedom – there was good reason for it: the people who lived there had been slaves, and were now free.
Seven years ago, before he’d ever heard of India or taken an Indian first name, Kindanda had lived in the eastern Congo. Then had come the day when the British soldiers arrived. His village was a nest of rebels, they’d said, and it would be punished: the punishment was to be driven east to Kilwa at the point of bayonets, and then to India to build roads and make munitions and uniforms for the troops.
He’d been nearly two years a slave in Mysore – they hadn’t called it slavery, but that was what it was. He’d learned to survive on even less than a bad year’s harvest in the Congo, and he’d learned enough English to avoid the attention of men with whips. He’d learned to avoid the prostitutes with Congo fever, and how to do just enough work to please the British officers. Those who hadn’t learned those lessons, and there were many, were buried across two hundred miles of Mysore kingdom.
He had learned to endure: that, most of all, was what he’d learned. And he’d endured long enough to see another day come: the day when Mysore had made peace with the Indian Republic and expelled the British advisers. The British had left the Congolese behind, discarded them like spent casings – free, but with no money and no way to get passage home.
Which was why Kindanda lived in Svātantrya ward, and all the other survivors with them. The Indians were kinder than the British had been: they called the Congolese “sidis,” like black men were called farther north, and treated them as one caste among many. They’d let them clear land to build their houses and sell their gardens’ produce in the city markets. They were shudras, low on the social scale, but they had a place there, and it was not altogether at the bottom.
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Ah yes, Pressburg... It used to be a historic Hungarian capital as well (back when it was divided between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans). Quite the fascinating place. Košice would probably be the best replacement then. It always was a rather significant city in the region, though also within reach of Hungary... Petike would be a good candiate to go further into this
I'm very late to the party, but what the heck, I'll comment on this.
I think the choice of Košice as an ATL capital is completely reasonable and well-founded. (And no, this isn't just the easterner within me tooting his horn of smug satisfaction.
) I'm not sure about the status of the economy and transport networks in this ATL Slovakia, so I'll refrain from commenting on how strong Košice's industries or railway lines are. Note, though, that some of the other big cities might receive part of the national governmental institutions instead of the capital. This would be a reasonable and predictable move, it had also been implemented numerous times during OTL, in various configurations. I could see the Constitutional Court being in Žilina, some of the lesser tourist-frequented public institutions might end up in Martin or Levoča or some other smaller city that is considered culturally lively. Prešov will remain the second city of east Slovakia in this timeline as well, and might be considered a cultural and political centre for the country's Rusyns and Greek Catholics. Prešov could also be seen as a city with a long musical tradition, and as a springboard for visiting the various tourism-friendly regions of the northeast.
I am very curious how the more size-diminished status of western Slovakia might influence the culture and society of the ATL state. There's obviously the possibility of things skewing more to the midlander and easterner way of seeing and doing things. If ATL Slovakia has little of the Danubian lowland within its territory, the impact of the missing local folklore and agriculture from that region on the country's cultural and economic landscape could be very peculiar. In some ways, maybe quite far-reaching. This might extend even to geographic stereotypes, both domestic and foreign - for one, if ATL Slovakia only has most of the Záhorie and East Slovak lowlands in its hands, I could imagine a lot of people playing up the whole "mountainous, rustic country in the heart of Europe" spiel.
For better or worse. If this ATL Slovakia has no connection to the Danube, some of its foreign trade and especially trade routes will suffer as a result. You can also kiss the ship-building and shipping industries goodbye, unless there might be some smaller goods-transporting ships on the lower-lying and deeper stretches of the Váh and the Bodrog. I guess this all might mean that the state will try to do its best to further improve and finish the rail and road network, probably even many decades earlier than in OTL (particularly if the country gains enough prosperity and a few decades of peaceful and democratic development).
As a personal aside, I kind of wonder which country my village belongs to in this timeline...
P.S. Found it funny that one of the soldiers in the chapter had the surname "Počiatek".
That's like naming a Polish character Kwaszniewski. If Jon will ever need any more advice on Slovak, Czech or Hungarian surnames, he can contact me without hesitation. 
Sulemain
Banned
An excellent update. Making the Freedom Riders use armed resistance ITTL is a nice touch, as is the mention of the other civil rights movements. Burning Alabama, though, is not cool . Not for anyone; I suspect the Army would be deployed at some point a la Little Rock Nine if things got out of control. Is there an FBI equivalent yet? Good to see lynching is being cracked down upon though, another positive legacy of Miss Tubman. I suppose the Crescent people are the Islamic group to the secular Freedom Riders... hang on, Islamic Liberation Black Freedom Fighters? If Rick Santorum read that, he'd explode!
Post-Imperial Britain is a new and refreshing place, it seems. Perhaps Miss Alexander would consider a career as a Raven? Or maybe with the woman's branch of the RFH?
. Not for anyone; I suspect the Army would be deployed at some point a la Little Rock Nine if things got out of control. Is there an FBI equivalent yet? Good to see lynching is being cracked down upon though, another positive legacy of Miss Tubman. I suppose the Crescent people are the Islamic group to the secular Freedom Riders... hang on, Islamic Liberation Black Freedom Fighters? If Rick Santorum read that, he'd explode!Post-Imperial Britain is a new and refreshing place, it seems. Perhaps Miss Alexander would consider a career as a Raven? Or maybe with the woman's branch of the RFH?
That's the kind of approach I subscribe to in my own timelines as well.
Well played, sir.
Keep up this timeline, it's honestly fascinating in a lot of ways.
*gasp*
IT HAS HAPPENED. MALÊ RISING HAS OFFICIALLY JOINED WITH THE CRESCENT ABOVE US. WHAT A JOYOUS DAY.
OK, seriously though, neat update! I wonder what the Muslims abroad would view of their brethren's activities in America; would they see the Crescents as crazy and unruly, or acceptable given the circumstances?
Also, is that some cultural food-assimilation I see in Japan? I wonder if some Japanese chef in Omar's neighbourhood would try and make some sushi with West-African flavours...
A few comments about the map in the post before last (the last being fantastic).
1. What is the current status of Obock? The map seems to suggest it's midway between a French and Ethiopian vassal.
2. When did Germany give up direct control over a portion of Madagascar?
More generally, I do wonder if Sudwest-Afrika will stay in the German empire indefinitely. Yes, they are administering the colony better, settling it more heavily, and including indigenous groups in governance to a greater extent. But even without Namaland and Rehoboth, there's still a lot of Coloureds in the southern half of the state (possibly even a majority), who will look to South Africa with a lot more warmth than they did IOTL. And more broadly, South Africa is just going to (presuming it works) look like an increasingly more attractive option than being integral territory of Germany. I expect some sort of post-Westphalian solution here, with direct German incorporation more likely in places like Kamerun.
1. What is the current status of Obock? The map seems to suggest it's midway between a French and Ethiopian vassal.
2. When did Germany give up direct control over a portion of Madagascar?
More generally, I do wonder if Sudwest-Afrika will stay in the German empire indefinitely. Yes, they are administering the colony better, settling it more heavily, and including indigenous groups in governance to a greater extent. But even without Namaland and Rehoboth, there's still a lot of Coloureds in the southern half of the state (possibly even a majority), who will look to South Africa with a lot more warmth than they did IOTL. And more broadly, South Africa is just going to (presuming it works) look like an increasingly more attractive option than being integral territory of Germany. I expect some sort of post-Westphalian solution here, with direct German incorporation more likely in places like Kamerun.
My. Respects.
It is an AWESOME timeline, simply fantastic... And I'm going to read it 'til the end...
Keep it up!!
It is an AWESOME timeline, simply fantastic... And I'm going to read it 'til the end...
Keep it up!!
I believe I mentioned that Žilina was the provisional capital until Košice was taken, so it would make sense for some government institutions to stay there. Beyond that, I'm not sure - my knowledge of OTL Slovak affairs during this period runs to their discontents within the Czechoslovak republic but not to regionalism within Slovakia itself, so I'm not certain what kind of balance the government would want to maintain between provinces. Your insight would of course be appreciated; I'd be interested in what the folklore of TTL's Slovakia would look like.
How politically significant were these minorities? Is it likely that there would be separatism among them, or did they get along well within the Slovak state?
It didn't lose that much of the west compared to OTL; the western border follows the Malý Dunaj and then passes south of Nové Zámky. That does cut Slovakia off from the Danube, though, and I don't know how navigable the Malý Dunaj is or if a port on that river can replace Bratislava/Pressburg. At any rate, you're correct that Slovakia would want to improve its rail network, given that (like its neighbors) it will be tied into the German economy and much of its foreign trade will go through Bohemia and Poland to Germany.
Unless it's (a) in the southwest, (b) within a few kilometers of the southeastern border, or (c) in one of the northern areas ceded to Poland in exchange for its support (Poland essentially got all the border disputes resolved in its favor), it will still be Slovak in TTL.
P.S. Found it funny that one of the soldiers in the chapter had the surname "Počiatek".
Well, I went to school with a Krasniewski (spelled the American way) who was a pretty good football player.
But yeah, one of the ways I troll for surnames is lists of cabinet members and legislators - among other things, it's usually possible to tell where in the country such people are from, so I can minimize the risk of regional solecisms. The next time I need a Slovak surname, I'll let you know.An excellent update. Making the Freedom Riders use armed resistance ITTL is a nice touch, as is the mention of the other civil rights movements. Burning Alabama, though, is not cool
No it isn't, and both black and white are suffering. What we have there, though, is (a) a civil rights movement that draws its inspiration from the Great Rising of '63 and the Indian revolution, and which was forced to develop a cell structure due to TTL's Jim Crow on steroids; and (b) a ruling class that feels even more threatened and less ready to give up power than in the 1950s-70s OTL. So there's a lot more militancy and willingness to use violence on both sides, although there are also nonviolent groups. Alabama's Black Belt counties, where African-Americans are in the majority, are the scene of a particularly bitter struggle.
Whether to send in Federal troops is a major debate in Congress right now.
Yes. They're a relatively small minority, but they're Abacarist with a vengeance - they see Jim Crow as a form of slavery that must be destroyed, so they're very militant.
They aren't the only two groups, BTW; we'll see more of the civil rights movement when we catch up with the United States in the 1930s.
Two Muslims, three opinions - some consider their methods indiscriminate and excessive, others consider them necessary. There's quite a bit of debate about that within the group itself, BTW, and the internal disputes about rules of engagement will have resonance outside the United States.
Miss Alexander could end up doing any number of things, including giving some courage to a fourth-generation Abacar who's a much younger eighteen than his ancestors were.
Not so much assimilation as Omar's neighbors knowing that his father's in town and plans to cook something exotic. But it's certainly possible that some of it might catch on.
Obock is a French colony, but one in which Ethiopia has considerable privileges due to it going to bat for France during the post-Great War peace talks.
The Germans ceded Bala and Antandroy to the Malagasy kingdom during the late 1910s - ruling that area as a colony wasn't profitable, so they figured it would be more convenient if it were administered by a loyal vassal state.
Given South Africa's multi-layered sovereignty, it may be possible to do both - for instance, if SWA were a German state but also part of the South African customs and railroad union. And while you're correct about the Coloured population having pro-South African sympathies, both the German settlers and the Herero will be wary of joining a federation dominated by Afrikaans-speakers. I won't say now what SWA's ultimate fate will be, but several paths are open.
Thanks! The British West Africa update will be next: I actually planned to write that one before the narrative one, but the narrative was in my head.
Sulemain
Banned
You know, I don't know why this didn't strike me earlier but:
Alabama is TTL's NI. The State Government are the Unionists/Loyalists, the African-Americans are the Nationalists/Republicans and the Federal Government is the UK Government, to complete the metaphor. Hopefully the Feds do better then we did in OTL.
Although having several southern states under direct law with bombings and shootings would be an interesting fly in the ointment.
Alabama is TTL's NI. The State Government are the Unionists/Loyalists, the African-Americans are the Nationalists/Republicans and the Federal Government is the UK Government, to complete the metaphor. Hopefully the Feds do better then we did in OTL.
Although having several southern states under direct law with bombings and shootings would be an interesting fly in the ointment.
Excellent update! Another one of my favorites, especially the part about Omar's mixed family. Reminds me of my own very diverse family.
Where did the name of the Yellow Hammer come from? Can't remember if you described it before or not. Either way it's good to see a peaceful civil rights movement beginning. Should be quite a ride considering how The Great Rising brought about a sterner reactionary movement in other parts of the south.
And I can't wait for the Abacar reunion.
Where did the name of the Yellow Hammer come from? Can't remember if you described it before or not. Either way it's good to see a peaceful civil rights movement beginning. Should be quite a ride considering how The Great Rising brought about a sterner reactionary movement in other parts of the south.
And I can't wait for the Abacar reunion.
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Sorry, thinking about the U.S. here. Some of this might have been covered, but I wonder about the U.S. demographic history.
Mainly, I'm supposing the U.S. ITTL avoided anything like the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Thus the huge level of immigration which the U.S. saw in the late 19th and early 20th century has not dropped off. Thus U.S. culture will not have the "assimilation interregnum" it did during the mid 20th century, and continue to be quite diverse all through the 20th century.
I think we discussed earlier that Britain probably had a fairly large outflow of migrants to the U.S. during the Imperial Party era (and probably a few years thereafter). But it seems like the world is now heading into a time of reconstruction and renewal. Maybe you can elucidate.
Still, the combination of continued immigration to the U.S., along with the absence of world wars the U.S. took part in, means you will not see anything like OTL's Great Migration (or, for that matter, the smaller migration of rural whites from Appalachia to the Midwest) in the U.S. This probably bodes well for black political power in the South, because by the time Civil Rights is adequately enforced, the black belt won't be emptied out to anything like the degree it did IOTL.
Mainly, I'm supposing the U.S. ITTL avoided anything like the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Thus the huge level of immigration which the U.S. saw in the late 19th and early 20th century has not dropped off. Thus U.S. culture will not have the "assimilation interregnum" it did during the mid 20th century, and continue to be quite diverse all through the 20th century.
I think we discussed earlier that Britain probably had a fairly large outflow of migrants to the U.S. during the Imperial Party era (and probably a few years thereafter). But it seems like the world is now heading into a time of reconstruction and renewal. Maybe you can elucidate.
Still, the combination of continued immigration to the U.S., along with the absence of world wars the U.S. took part in, means you will not see anything like OTL's Great Migration (or, for that matter, the smaller migration of rural whites from Appalachia to the Midwest) in the U.S. This probably bodes well for black political power in the South, because by the time Civil Rights is adequately enforced, the black belt won't be emptied out to anything like the degree it did IOTL.