Malê Rising

[Jonathan Edelstein]

The updates - the last ones, other than the epilogue - are on the previous page at posts 6796 and 6797.

Thanks to everyone who has offered praise as Malê Rising draws to a close, and I've taken note of the requests for epilogue scenes. We're not quite done yet; there will be a present-day Africa map and world map (so luis3007, you will get your wish), and the epilogue will be posted between December 5 and 19. It looks like I'll meet my goal of finishing by the end of the year - just under the wire, but I'll meet it.

A Nigeria that stretches from OTL Cameroon to Ghana!?

Instant Great Power, indeed.

Northern Cameroon, anyway. Also a bit of what we'd know as Niger and extreme eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The referendum area includes all the countries that were in the British orbit during the colonial era, as well as those parts of German Kamerun that had strong reformist Muslim movements and developed ties to the Malê corridor after independence. The whole is somewhat less populous than OTL - 160 million as opposed to ~225 - but it's considerably richer.

Nupe, the Wukari confederacy and the Mossi kingdom voted against the referendum, but all except the last will become second-tier members by 2015.

I'm worried about Mauritania. Hell, if they don't get their anti-drought projects going again, the desertification might end up "outflanking" the neighbor's defenses!

There have been some anti-desertification measures in Mauritania since the 1992 intervention, although the security situation means that these have been fragmentary. Also, the neighboring countries built their network around Mauritania during the 1970s and 80s, so there are lines of defense against a "flank attack."

Mauritania is certainly one of the Court of Arbitration's biggest security headaches, though, and the prospect of conflict refugees being followed by climate refugees isn't one that the surrounding countries welcome.

Y'know, despite the large presence of religion and monarchies, and the lack of countries explicitly calling themselves "socialist" or whatever, there's actually a very high incidents of communes and worker-owned factories compared to OTL. I suppose that's good news, progress without anyone harping on about "ideological purity" or whatever.

It's more that the cooperative economy grew out of several different ideologies - Abacarism and Labor Belloism, the Red Twenty in France, the narodniks, Italian anarchism, even Fraternalism - and therefore wasn't associated with any particular one of them when other countries experimented with the model. Ideologies in general have been bastardized as much ITTL as IOTL, although maybe TTL is a little more willing to acknowledge that.

I wish good luck for the 9th great power, NIGERIA!

Eleventh - India was ninth and Brazil tenth. Nusantara will be twelfth and last, sometime between 2020 and 2025.

And now you know, BTW, why I had Evans choose that particular name for the Nok culture.

Any other thoughts? Conversation is the coin in which I'm paid.

 

[CarlAlbertForPresident]

What a lovely end to a great timeline.

Can't wait for the map.

the Cape Republic

When did the Cape become a republic?

 

[Sulemain]

A wonderful, fitting ending to a wonderful TL.

You're writing, not just as an Alternate Historian, but as a science-fiction, fantasy and romance writer continues to inspire and enthral JE. You're vision is an amazing thing, and I'm so, so glad you shared it with us.

Onwards to the epilogue and a map.

 

[SenatorChickpea]

A fitting end- hope tempered by harshness. It seems appropriate for the timeline to be ending with a contrast between those places where people can work together to become something greater than themselves, and those whose fragmentation ends up putting them in the path of the desert.

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

When did the Cape become a republic?

My mistake - it didn't. It's still the Cape Colony, an archaic name but one they never changed, and the reference in the update should have reflected that.

A fitting end- hope tempered by harshness. It seems appropriate for the timeline to be ending with a contrast between those places where people can work together to become something greater than themselves, and those whose fragmentation ends up putting them in the path of the desert.

Yes, TTL has collective security structures and political systems that make it easier for people to work together, but that doesn't mean everyone will. The human tendency to conflict hasn't gone away and probably won't do so in the foreseeable future, although more and more of it will be sublimated.

A wonderful, fitting ending to a wonderful TL... Onwards to the epilogue and a map.

Thank you, and here you go:

​

 

[leopard9]

Well that's a beautiful map of Africa. Very interesting with much better strategic borders compared to OTL. Now I'll have to read your whole story .

 

[Benevolent]

Bravo, this is the only African ATL I have and will show friends. They've heard me speak about it quite a lot and are very interested in reading it of they haven't already begun.

 

[B_Munro]

A delightful map to finish off a delightful thread. Bravo. Bravo.

Bruce

 

[The Uchronian]

*snip*

*snip*

And wow, Jonathan. That.....that was a rather well-done end to what is, IMHO, one of *the* most fascinating timelines ever crafted for AH.com, and thank you for sharing it with us. It has been quite a journey.

 

[Iserlohn]

I will miss this TL... And this final Africa map is just fascinating. I reckon that pink in Sierra Leone indicates that it still has clue ties to Britain, right?

Also that Nigeria... Simply gorgeous to finally see it realized.

 

[Vespasian]

As someone of Nigerian descent, THAT is how Nigeria should have formed. Just beautiful.

 

[Witch0Winter]

Great map, though I have to admit I'm entertained by the fact that Tanganyika doesn't actually touch Lake Tanganyika.

 

[Neoteros]

Bornu, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa are huge.

It's almost impossible to make out which polities are autonomous/internal subdivisions of a larger state and which ones are actual sovereign states, though. Correct me if I'm wrong... Yellow means fully independent state/member state of an international organization, every other colour means federation, and a lighter shade of colour means second tier member of a federation/state in the sphere of influence of one?

I remember one of the first posts you made here, in which you had some historian state that the Sokoto Republic was, despite what Paulo Abacar himself thought about it, a colonial state. Well, almost two centuries later, the "Union of Nigeria" might as well be called "Anglo-Malê Guinea".

 

[Al-numbers]

I'm just... jaw-dropping at all the countries and states on that map. Now that I think about it, I wonder whether this TL's cartographers would see a "draw a political map of Africa!" assignment as a blessing or a curse.

 

[Analytical Engine]

Phew, now that was EPIC!

I have updated Africa's 2015 borders on my world map - I was waiting on the borders for ex-Portuguese Central Africa.

The world map shouldn't be much longer - just need to add a key and notes, a few tweaks here and there and get JE to sign it off.

 

[omi]

Great Ending of the timeline I can't see the map

 

[Haaki]

It's good to see Nigeria finally unite, after all this time. It only took about 100 years (since the idea was first proposed ITTL).

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

As someone of Nigerian descent, THAT is how Nigeria should have formed. Just beautiful.

Also that Nigeria... Simply gorgeous to finally see it realized.

And wow, Jonathan. That.....that was a rather well-done end to what is, IMHO, one of *the* most fascinating timelines ever crafted for AH.com, and thank you for sharing it with us. It has been quite a journey.

This was always the way the main timeline was going to end - in case you haven't noticed, I have a pretty major soft spot for the country. I've had a version of this scene planned for a couple of years, although many of the details have changed as it became clearer how Nigeria would form and what territories it would include (Laila, for instance, was a fairly late addition, although there was always going to be some member of the Abacar family involved in the process).

Vespasian, if I may ask, what part of Nigeria is your family from?

It's good to see Nigeria finally unite, after all this time. It only took about 100 years (since the idea was first proposed ITTL).

Putting together a federation across so many cultures, some of which have at times been enemies, will inevitably run into conflict. The first proposal for a European union was made in 1814, so if anything, Nigeria set a speed record.

Bravo, this is the only African ATL I have and will show friends.

Thanks! There have been some other African ATLs here, though, such as leopard9's (which is currently being rebooted), one a while ago that involved Songhai, and others.

A delightful map to finish off a delightful thread. Bravo. Bravo.

Well that's a beautiful map of Africa. Very interesting with much better strategic borders compared to OTL.

Congo is still a kludge, as are a few of the other Central African post-colonial states, but in most case they couldn't easily be otherwise.

I will miss this TL... And this final Africa map is just fascinating. I reckon that pink in Sierra Leone indicates that it still has clue ties to Britain, right?

Correct. Many of the Nigerian and South African member states also belong to the Commonwealth, but their federal status takes precedence on the map.

Great map, though I have to admit I'm entertained by the fact that Tanganyika doesn't actually touch Lake Tanganyika.

Nor does Kivu have a shoreline on Lake Kivu. Tanganyika is a remnant of a colony that once did touch Lake Tanganyika, and Kivu started out as the Congolese province of South Kivu.

It's also been pointed out that the Kingdom of Kush includes none of the territory that the pharaohs would recognize as Kush. They wanted a name with historic resonance, much like Ghana IOTL, and the fact that ancient Kush had a tradition of ruling queens (at least for part of its history) was a convenient excuse for giving its throne to Anastasia.

The Toucouleur Empire doesn't include the Toucouleur homeland, and its culture isn't very Toucouleur by this time aside from the dynasty and parts of the army and imamate, but that was the result of the fortunes of war.

Bornu, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa are huge.

Well, a lot of Bornu is desert.

It's almost impossible to make out which polities are autonomous/internal subdivisions of a larger state and which ones are actual sovereign states, though. Correct me if I'm wrong... Yellow means fully independent state/member state of an international organization, every other colour means federation, and a lighter shade of colour means second tier member of a federation/state in the sphere of influence of one?

Yes, the yellow states are those that are neither members of a regional treaty union nor integral parts of another (although some are in looser associations, such as Mali with France, Kazembe and Barotseland with Germany, and the Central African Accords and Afro-Atlantic Common Market states with each other). Congo and East Africa should probably also be yellow, but I've kept them in their prior colors due to their size and importance. And lighter colors do mean outer-tier membership.

As for which ones are sovereign states, both "sovereign" and "state" are nebulous concepts by now. The members of the Nigerian and South African federations, and to some extent the polities affiliated with Bornu, consider themselves states and have that status in international law, but they've all ceded or shared powers that would have been considered essential for statehood in the nineteenth century. Divisible sovereignty and the acceptance of a continuum of autonomy will do that.

I remember one of the first posts you made here, in which you had some historian state that the Sokoto Republic was, despite what Paulo Abacar himself thought about it, a colonial state. Well, almost two centuries later, the "Union of Nigeria" might as well be called "Anglo-Malê Guinea".

I bet there are some contrarians who actually call it that, although by now, at least 90 percent of the people who call themselves Malê have no Afro-Brazilian ancestry. Once "Malê" became primarily a cultural marker, issues of colonialism didn't become entirely moot, but they became less acute.

I'm just... jaw-dropping at all the countries and states on that map. Now that I think about it, I wonder whether this TL's cartographers would see a "draw a political map of Africa!" assignment as a blessing or a curse.

"Come on, Africa's not so hard. Look at Steve over there - he got Russia."

Great Ending of the timeline I can't see the map

If you PM me your email address, I can send you a copy.

The world map shouldn't be much longer - just need to add a key and notes, a few tweaks here and there and get JE to sign it off.

Thanks in advance, and there may also be a more detailed map of Nigeria coming.

 

[yboxman]

It's good to see Nigeria finally unite, after all this time. It only took about 100 years (since the idea was first proposed ITTL).

But compared to OTL the unification is by the choice of the inhabitants and their elites, and for reasons they view as good. It is not imposed from above on mutually hostile populations who lack political experience working together and compromising.

The TL is beautiful Edelstein. Just beautiful.

 

[generalurist]

You know, While I have a desire to spread this TL around, I think I need to be careful where I show this thing. You see, while you HAVE created a hopeful, well-made, exiting timeline, you have also committed what is probably the mother of all ideological heresies in many leftist and social-justice circles: Having much of Africa genuinely benefit from European Colonialism.

While it is very true that there is a lot of Male and native Islamic influence in what happened here, the idea that Europeans could do something good for the Africans is an idea so tainted with revisionist ideology that the mere mention of the idea might violently turn quite a few people off this timeline. Stupid if you ask me, it would be nearly impossible for Africa to have overall better living conditions than in TTL without a pod before the 15th century.

(inevitably some idiot is gonna rant about how tribal societies were supposedly Utopian and so much better than us silly westerners)

Y'know what, lets settle this comrade Edelstein, Tell me: What is the overall retrospective on colonialism in TTL? With what the Male pulled "colonialism" may not even have exactly the same meaning as OTL... What I am really curious if what ideas a TTL and OTL person might end up exchanging.