Map Thread XIII
- Thread starter Pragmatic Progressive
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Is rvbomally legally allowed to do anything aside from dystopias?
I hope so.
I can do non-dystopias, but I'm contractually obligated to make ten dystopias for every non-dystopia I make.
I know I mostly post WiPs nowadays (sorry about that) but here's my most recent one. Didn't work too much on Europe, even though the POD is based there. Basically Nicholas I of Russia dies somehow, somewhere between late 1847 and early 1848 and is succeeded by his more liberal son Alexander II way earlier compared to OTL. Alexander, seeing the 1848 Revolution in Hungary as an opportunity to weaken Austrian influence over the Balkans as well as acquiring rich Austrian Galicia leads to him supporting the Hungarian revolutionaries. An independent Hungary and a more Europe-focused Russia ensue (also an Ameri-wank and Austria finally being able to get into the colonialism business).
The current year would be around 1913 (75 years after the POD).
PS: You can literally see all Austrian overseas possessions on this map right now. Also China still needs some extra details but the basic gist of it is already on there.
The current year would be around 1913 (75 years after the POD).
PS: You can literally see all Austrian overseas possessions on this map right now. Also China still needs some extra details but the basic gist of it is already on there.
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Nice work. That is one VERY retro future. I had hoped that after 400 years we would have finally said good riddance to CSA nostalgia, as well as Stalin apologism.
The Sagitarian state looks promising - it has a nice mix of cultures.Cool! How is life in the Union of Socialist Planetary Systems? What is Marx like as a world, and what differences does it have to Lenin, Liebknecht, Mao, Castro, Guevara or other communist worlds?
Are all the worlds terraformed or naturally habitable? Do conditions in general vary within acceptable ranges, or are all worlds really more or less exactly like Earth? Are there worlds with strange plants or other conditions?
CannedTech
Banned
I second the curiosity re: the red worlds, especially Fourier and Proudhon (them being utopian socialists, I'm especially wondering if they're planets run by networks of phalanxes).
Other than that, what is the Hanseatic League like?
Also, Hells Kitchen?
With a lasting Bavarian inheritance and the same ethnic issues in the Sudetenland as OTL, that's a pretty standard Austria. Still interesting.
Thanks.Nice work. That is one VERY retro future. I had hoped that after 400 years we would have finally said good riddance to CSA nostalgia, as well as Stalin apologism.
This is set so far into the future that a lot of history's been distorted, so the Confederation of Perseus is less about white supremacism (in fact, due to their Latino/Carribbean roots being mixed in with those of the US, they're generally rather brown themselves), but they're heavily human supremacist and practice a form of "industrial slavery" on aliens that they conquer (similar to the slaves currently in states like Dubai). They're also a metiocracy, and an oppressive one at that. it sort of combines the worst of the Roman Republic with the worst of the CSA, in a way.
Don't be fooled by the Sagittarians' pretty face - they may be an egalitarian democracy, but they're aggressive expansionists, and the Confederation was actually formed as a check on its aggression (before they went off the deep end and started their slavery schtick, anyway). They embrace diversity, which is good, but they like to add to that diversity violently.
EDIT: Also, I almost forgot - this isn't 400 years in the future, it's the better part of three thousand years. Quite a difference.
It would be about 4700 AD in this setting.The USPS is heavily centralized (as far as interstellar empires go), and its system is more akin to a mix of syndicalism and Marxism-Leninism rather than Stalinism. The advent of advanced AI has made collectivization easier, but computer glitches can, and have led to, entire minor worlds being deleted from databases and starving to death. Since all the nations except for the Anglyskiyan Dominion started out as loose alliances of star systems banding together, there are major cultural differences, but the Marx system (all the systems and worlds were renamed by the Socialist government after the "Glorious Revolution") has tried to promote a certain "Socialist nationalism" whose ideology is basically "Cultures who embrace Socialism are enlightened, those who do not must be conquered and taught." There's elements of a futuristic "white man's burden" in their ideology. It's not bad to live there, as long as you vote for the Central Socialist Party and don't break the law.
The older worlds tend to be inhabitable (Marx Prime, Svoboda Prime, Lee in the Charleston system, et cetera), whilst the newer ones tend to be terraformed. Like the legend says, the only systems mentioned are those with populations of a billion or higher, so a lot of the un-terraformed but claimed worlds aren't shown on the map.
The Hanseatic Republic was founded by the remnants of several corporations that scraped together enough funds to flee to space when Terra went to hell. They're a Halliburton executive's wet dream and a social democrat's worst nightmare. Think Illium from Mass Effect, without the slavery and mercenary wars.
EDIT: Hell's Kitchen was named so because its star was rather ornery, to say the least. As a result, the habitable zone is on the far edges of the system, and the star's temper tantrums only net the system's leaders some tourism money.
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Seraphiel
Banned
You wouldn't happen to k owthe exact holdings of House Velaryon at the start of the Dance?
CannedTech
Banned
Thanks.
This is set so far into the future that a lot of history's been distorted, so the Confederation of Perseus is less about white supremacism (in fact, due to their Latino/Carribbean roots being mixed in with those of the US, they're generally rather brown themselves), but they're heavily human supremacist and practice a form of "industrial slavery" on aliens that they conquer (similar to the slaves currently in states like Dubai). They're also a metiocracy, and an oppressive one at that. it sort of combines the worst of the Roman Republic with the worst of the CSA, in a way.
Don't be fooled by the Sagittarians' pretty face - they may be an egalitarian democracy, but they're aggressive expansionists, and the Confederation was actually formed as a check on its aggression (before they went off the deep end and started their slavery schtick, anyway). They embrace diversity, which is good, but they like to add to that diversity violently.
EDIT: Also, I almost forgot - this isn't 400 years in the future, it's the better part of three thousand years. Quite a difference.
The USPS is heavily centralized (as far as interstellar empires go), and its system is more akin to a mix of syndicalism and Marxism-Leninism rather than Stalinism. The advent of advanced AI has made collectivization easier, but computer glitches can, and have led to, entire minor worlds being deleted from databases and starving to death. Since all the nations except for the Anglyskiyan Dominion started out as loose alliances of star systems banding together, there are major cultural differences, but the Marx system (all the systems and worlds were renamed by the Socialist government after the "Glorious Revolution") has tried to promote a certain "Socialist nationalism" whose ideology is basically "Cultures who embrace Socialism are enlightened, those who do not must be conquered and taught." There's elements of a futuristic "white man's burden" in their ideology. It's not bad to live there, as long as you vote for the Central Socialist Party and don't break the law.
The older worlds tend to be inhabitable (Marx Prime, Svoboda Prime, Lee in the Charleston system, et cetera), whilst the newer ones tend to be terraformed. Like the legend says, the only systems mentioned are those with populations of a billion or higher, so a lot of the un-terraformed but claimed worlds aren't shown on the map.
The Hanseatic Republic was founded by the remnants of several corporations that scraped together enough funds to flee to space when Terra went to hell. They're a Halliburton executive's wet dream and a social democrat's worst nightmare. Think Illium from Mass Effect, without the slavery and mercenary wars.
EDIT: Hell's Kitchen was named so because its star was rather ornery, to say the least. As a result, the habitable zone is on the far edges of the system, and the star's temper tantrums only net the system's leaders some tourism money.
Cool concepts. It's nice to see space opera socialists w/o rabid totalitarianism (though the added concept of the "white man's burden" is a pretty interesting addition). I hope I don't trouble you too much, but I'm generally curious about the names of the loner systems in the Galactic north (Pan, Hawking, Outsider, etc), and I'm wondering if the Confederates conquered any systems near them, cause' some names (Tenochititlan namely) seem out of character for them.
Edit: forget my second question, I just read the top half of your response, d'oh!
Yeah, as much as I like grimdark settings sometimes (40K, AAPA), I think that sometimes we need a lighter and softer universe in opposition to all the EVERYTHING IS PAIN universes.
I'd like to give a story about how I thought out each system name and came up with a background for each one, but it'd be blatant lies.
I basically just plopped down whatever sounded "spacey" to me.Suffice it to say, those are small, independent systems, not all of whom are even fully united. Just under half of the human diaspora (about a trillion and a half people) lives in these systems, and the quality of life varies wildly.
Rhand
Banned
Map for one of my mini-timelines: a Reverse Civil War! I've thought about it until 1920. This is the map in 1864, after the war ended.
Right now it's similar to OTL because there are few butterflies to happen here, but it will change markedly pretty soon.
Basically, we have a more expansionist United States that annexes all of Mexico after the war (in OTL, some Southerners talked about doing this, but they rejected it because Mexico had too many brown people...seriously). Instead of the Compromise of 1850 or the Kansas Nebraska Act, in TTL we have something different:
1) California admitted as a free state, with Baja California given to California.
2) Missouri Compromise line extended to the Pacific.
3) End of Slave Trade in Washington DC.
4) Reorganization and Establishment of larger Mexican territories, to be organized and admitted as slave states, one being admitted each time a Free State is admitted to avoid upsetting the balance in the Senate.
5) Outlawed Americans from enslaving any Mexicans.
And things were fine and dandy...until Southern Expansionists started talking about the Brussels Plan (ATL's Ostend Manifesto) to "wrest" Cuba from Spain, by any means necessary. As in OTL, it caused a diplomatic row, but here, the USA and Spain went to war for the island. Due to logistical reasons, the USA won.
Additionally, the Southern expansionists were trying to find ways to bring slaves to populate the lands acquired from Mexico. The slave trade was illegal, but that didn't stop them from skirting the rules. They aligned themselves with pro-USA figures in the Dominican Republic, and during one of the wars with Haiti, intervened, annexed it and started enslaving prisoners of war and various poor people. The Dominican Republic then petitioned to the USA for annexation.
Abolitionist sentiment flowered in ATL's North. People didn't like bleeding in wars to expand an institution they abhorred. They also were horrified by reports of a new slave trade coming from Hispaniola.
So in 1861, various groups of people met in Philadelphia and proclaimed the Free States of America. New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, all hotbeds of abolitionism, instantly joined them. Michigan and Wisconsin came later.
Oregon and California, due to geographical issues, had to remain in the Union. They opposed slavery, but had no strong feelings about abolitionism either.
Indiana and Illinois were the big issues. The Southern areas of their states leaned towards the South culturally and historically, but the Northern areas (especially Chicago), and wanted to go with the Free States of America.
Robert E. Lee quickly rose to command the armies of the USA, but against a much stronger rebellion than OTL's CSA was, he had some trouble making progress. Additionally, the USA lost ground in the West. Seeing that the FSA was doing well enough, Britain (as in OTL, abolitionism was strong in Britain) and Spain (hoping to retake Cuba) recognized the FSA and threatened to use force of arms to make the USA to do the same.
The USA called their bluff, and both Britain and Spain first blockaded the ports, and then sent expeditionary forces.
The South's armies had been gaining ground, but the coalition outnumbered, flanked, and defeated Lee at a battle south of Philadelphia. After that, the peace settlement was much harsher than it would have been had the USA called it quits at the start.
The USA had to recognize the FSA, return Cuba to Spain, allow the independence of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (both of which Britain immediately started exerting influence in), and allow Illinois and Indiana to be partitioned.
Internally, the USA now states that all new states will allow slavery, but they will not interfere with the policies of the existing Free States.
It is now 1864. Revanchist Southrons vow a return to glory, slaves run to Ohio and Pennsylvania looking for freedom, and a new power is rising east of the Rhine...
Right now it's similar to OTL because there are few butterflies to happen here, but it will change markedly pretty soon.
Basically, we have a more expansionist United States that annexes all of Mexico after the war (in OTL, some Southerners talked about doing this, but they rejected it because Mexico had too many brown people...seriously). Instead of the Compromise of 1850 or the Kansas Nebraska Act, in TTL we have something different:
1) California admitted as a free state, with Baja California given to California.
2) Missouri Compromise line extended to the Pacific.
3) End of Slave Trade in Washington DC.
4) Reorganization and Establishment of larger Mexican territories, to be organized and admitted as slave states, one being admitted each time a Free State is admitted to avoid upsetting the balance in the Senate.
5) Outlawed Americans from enslaving any Mexicans.
And things were fine and dandy...until Southern Expansionists started talking about the Brussels Plan (ATL's Ostend Manifesto) to "wrest" Cuba from Spain, by any means necessary. As in OTL, it caused a diplomatic row, but here, the USA and Spain went to war for the island. Due to logistical reasons, the USA won.
Additionally, the Southern expansionists were trying to find ways to bring slaves to populate the lands acquired from Mexico. The slave trade was illegal, but that didn't stop them from skirting the rules. They aligned themselves with pro-USA figures in the Dominican Republic, and during one of the wars with Haiti, intervened, annexed it and started enslaving prisoners of war and various poor people. The Dominican Republic then petitioned to the USA for annexation.
Abolitionist sentiment flowered in ATL's North. People didn't like bleeding in wars to expand an institution they abhorred. They also were horrified by reports of a new slave trade coming from Hispaniola.
So in 1861, various groups of people met in Philadelphia and proclaimed the Free States of America. New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, all hotbeds of abolitionism, instantly joined them. Michigan and Wisconsin came later.
Oregon and California, due to geographical issues, had to remain in the Union. They opposed slavery, but had no strong feelings about abolitionism either.
Indiana and Illinois were the big issues. The Southern areas of their states leaned towards the South culturally and historically, but the Northern areas (especially Chicago), and wanted to go with the Free States of America.
Robert E. Lee quickly rose to command the armies of the USA, but against a much stronger rebellion than OTL's CSA was, he had some trouble making progress. Additionally, the USA lost ground in the West. Seeing that the FSA was doing well enough, Britain (as in OTL, abolitionism was strong in Britain) and Spain (hoping to retake Cuba) recognized the FSA and threatened to use force of arms to make the USA to do the same.
The USA called their bluff, and both Britain and Spain first blockaded the ports, and then sent expeditionary forces.
The South's armies had been gaining ground, but the coalition outnumbered, flanked, and defeated Lee at a battle south of Philadelphia. After that, the peace settlement was much harsher than it would have been had the USA called it quits at the start.
The USA had to recognize the FSA, return Cuba to Spain, allow the independence of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (both of which Britain immediately started exerting influence in), and allow Illinois and Indiana to be partitioned.
Internally, the USA now states that all new states will allow slavery, but they will not interfere with the policies of the existing Free States.
It is now 1864. Revanchist Southrons vow a return to glory, slaves run to Ohio and Pennsylvania looking for freedom, and a new power is rising east of the Rhine...
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I like this idea, but why weren't Iowa and Minnesota included in the F.S.A.? Culturally, if not politically, both states were very similar to both Wisconsin and northern Ill. in many areas, including with pro-abolitionist sentiment.
Rhand
Banned
That's a good point. Tbh, I left them out for the sake of pretty borders.
I guess if we're going with the theme of a Reverse Civil War, they could be the Free States that stayed in the Union, much like Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, etc.
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