A 1950 map based on a Darkest Hour Kaiserreich scenario where I was Austria > Danubian Federation. Like the dynamics they came out so far so I decided to summarize a TL.
Here the main highlights.
- Wrangel seized power in Russia following the death of Kerensky in 1936. Imposed a Romanov restauration a year later. However the recovery of the lost parts of the Empire initially invested only the Don-Kuban Union.
- The Ausghleit of 1937 reached the agreement to federalize the A-H Empire in US fashion. The Danubian Federation was born.
- Poland tried to seize Galicia, but was invaded and an Hapsburg King was imposed. Then Serbia was neutralized with the imposition of a pro-Hapsburg ruler.
- Crisis in North Italy following the death of Pious IX caused the Danubian Federation to intervene. However Otto of Hapsburg offered a surprised proposal to the defeated North Italians: if they will join the federation, he would revert Venetia, Trent and Triest, plus the promise to free South Italy as well. The North Italian accepted and Otto was crowned King of Italy. France and South Italy were really pissed.
- Soon after the Italian war, the Federation allied with the Germans. To further secure its position in the Balkans, an invasion of Romania was taken, removing the dictatorship and restoring the kingdom.
- The International seemed to enter in a progressive decline. In America, the American Union State prevailed in the Second Civil War (and despite the growing authoritarianism of Huey Long, the country kept certain civilian freedom due to the imposition of the progressive faction of Charles Lindbergh), and invaded Syndicalist Mexico; in Spain, the CNT-FAI was defeated by the reactionary forces of the Carlist faction (however despised by Wien which supported the legitimate government); in India, the Delhi government was progressively defeating the Bhartiya commune. Their only meagre success was a syndicalist revolution in the Netherlands. In a desperate move to breat their encirclement, the French attacked the Germans for Alsace Lorraine, triggering a large conflict.
- The Germans quite struggled to keep the initial International advance, but the day was saved by the Danubian Federation, smashing easily the South Italians first then invading South France and sending reinforcements in the same Germany. Between 1937 and 1939, despite various problems, the entire country managed to compact enough around the Imperial/Danubian presidency throne and to modernize and industrialize fairly well. Plus the various past wars forged a well trained Federative army. Lastly great impulse was given to the navy, modern vessels coming out the Italian arsenals.
- France in the end capitulated in mid 1940, just a year later since the start of the war. The country was divided in a German controlled Republic of France in the North, and a Republic of Occitania controlled by the Federation (which relinquished also Savoy and Nice to this new state but holding Corsica). Lastly a Republic of Brittany, still Pro-Danubian, was created (in fact the Federation armies swept up to the entire French Atlantic coast, but part of it was returned to North France). The main reason for the Federation to create a Breton nation was to have an operational base to invade Britain.
- In fact the German navy ruled in the end the waters, but the Reich was exhausted to plan an amphibious invasion: this was taken in 1941 by the Federation after creating the first extensive paratrooper corps and a large marines army. After a constant coast shelling and air bombardment campaign, the Federation invaded at the height of Dover and from there swept across a Britain collapsing after the fall of London.
- Like France also Britain was split in a kingdom of England and one of Scotland leaded by two Stuart branches. Wales became a Republic.
- In the meanwhile, the hopes of Qing China to become a unified country felt after the Japanese invasion. Allying with Siam, the Rising Sun invaded German Indochine. Germany managed to hold in Malesia, but only the alliance with Russia brought to the invasion of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. Lots of Federation soldiers now went to fight in the Far East. Rather surprising, the Russians vouched for a Republic of China, which despite the economical ingerence of Moscow found the basis of a modern democracy. Germany subdued Siam and marched into Korea; but it was the Federation which took the decisive step to invade Japan and, after cutting in two the archipelago landing near Kyoto, at cost of heavy losses forced its enemy to capitulate.
- After the war with Japan ended, the Federation intervened in Spain to restore the legitimate government - The Carlist dictatorship leaded an exausted country to create any attempt of resistance. Gibraltar passed over Danubian control, the Morocchian colonies were granted to Morocco, one of the satellite states Germany after the war created across Africa and Asia to partially disengage from those territories through the Kaiserbund bill. The Federation also incorporated Albania and put in line Greece, and lastly intervened in Lybia occupying it.
- The Ottoman Empire holded well, defeating the Kurd insurgence, the Arabians and the Egyptians. Plus they kept control over Armenia and obtained from Berlin the administration of Crete. However they lost Albania, Lybia and Oman in the process and they were in a phony war with Cyprus.
- In South America ascended the star of La Plata, which defeated Brasil and Bolivia again and that time imposing friendly regimes, and then helping Peru to defeat Equador and Columbia resulting the great winner of the "Second Great South American war". They even forced Chile (ruled by another dictatorship) to cede their part of Patagonia and convinced the United Provinces to cede Panama to Columbia while entering in an alliance with them, being still the menace of syndicalist Centroamerica and Venezuela around. Aside from those two countries, the only remnant syndicalist country around in the world is Georgia, nervously watching its borders especially when Russia invaded Finland, making it a country in union with Russia, the other being Mongolia.
- Indonesia is ruled by the Dutch Royal government in exile. Because due to the past German disarray they occupied all of Sarawak, relations between Berlin and Batavia became tense to the point the Germans imposed a republic in the Netherlands.
- The Danubian Federation is the second industrialized nation of the world, the first being the AUS which prospered of a world in war. Germany is the third industrialized country but with its commonwealth was almost in par with the AUS. Follows Russia, China, and India, the only hope for the meek Entente (the frustated former British dominions and the rather useless French Empire in Africa) forces...
- Ukraine was the only member of the Mittleuropean alliance to be rather equidistant: after the brief period of Chruscev's reforms, a more moderate government runs the country. an Hapsburg ruler was appointed as successor for Vasili I. Bulgaria is not a hostile country for the Federation, but Romania, Serbia and Greece pressured Wien for a war to reclaim their territories...
- The question is now, the tripartite Danubian-German-Russian alliance will hold for the future, or their own agendas will drift them away and bring the world towards a cold war between multipolar blocks?
