Map Thread XVII
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fashbasher
Banned
A Million Little Pieces
Grimdark future in which technology + economic stagnation + racism + extremism leads to the end of liberal democracy and most of the world being balkanized into something called "The Ruin", which is a Mad Max-like mixture of anarchy and minor feudal states.
In Europe, the Ruin spread about because of the continued rise of nationalism and its counterweight, radical Islam, in a "post-truth" world full of online propaganda and balkanization. The implosion of the Baltics and the monthslong riots in the Nordic countries and Germany (pitting Islamists, antifa, neo-Nazis, and police in a battle royale), along with equivalent riots between nationalists, Russophiles, and the establishment in Eastern and Central Europe, saw most of the venerable European civilization collapse. Some argue that the drastic cuts to and effective collapse of European universal healthcare systems in the 2030s is what began the age of chaos, though others disagree. The French government was forced into exile in Réunion and Guyane and the British government in exile now operates out of Belfast; a united Ireland de facto exists, with Britain and the Republic being in a sort of hypostatic union. Spain and Portugal have been able to hold the line for now, and iron-fisted regimes have been able to survive and even take advantage of the chaos in Switzerland, Britain proper, and most of Russia (the east is lost to the Ruin).
Africa was also badly affected by the Ruin, although not so horribly. Namibia, Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Botswana, and southern Ghana all have managed to keep some semblance of law, order, and democracy. With their relative lack of xenophobia and multiethnic Creole societies, the islands of Southeast Africa have generally been able to regroup as they do not have the deep ethnic divides that often form the genesis of Ruination.
The Middle East, perhaps the first region to fall to Ruin, remains a mess. Notably, warlords operating in the former Israel, Lebanon, and Sinai have formed a state of sorts.
Asia is almost as ravaged as the Middle East. Aside from a few outlying Japanese islands (a combination of ultranationalism, population decline, and North Korean nukes brought down mighty Nippon), the only states based in Asia are Bhutan (now an absolute theocratic monarchy) and what was left of China after the nuclear war between the Koreas (capital currently in Shanghai). Even Australia fell victim to the chaos as a result of a drought and a horrific bushfire season that ruined much of the country's crops, although New Zealand and most of the Pacific Islands have been able to hold off the Ruin for now.
There are two major spots of hope, though. The Canadian-led Alliance of Freedom, based around one of the few officially multicultural nations on earth, has been able to reach into parts of the Northwest and Northeast of the US as well as New Zealand and much of the Pacific Islands. With its long history of immigration, tourism, and tax havens, the West Indies has done about as well as global warming will let them (excepting Venezuela, although there are some promising signs of reorganization in the northeast). The most fortunate region economically has been the Scratch, an area centered upon the Andes that is so named because it looks like a cat's scratch on maps. The Scratch has enough climatic diversity to weather any survivable climate change, and its mountains and valleys both fortify it from outside chaos and allow for long-distance communication. Even the peace with FARC has been valuable; FARC and Cuba have managed to be effective middlemen between the somewhat liberal, somewhat democratic states of the world, authoritarian dictatorships, and even left-leaning chaos lords.
Grimdark future in which technology + economic stagnation + racism + extremism leads to the end of liberal democracy and most of the world being balkanized into something called "The Ruin", which is a Mad Max-like mixture of anarchy and minor feudal states.
In Europe, the Ruin spread about because of the continued rise of nationalism and its counterweight, radical Islam, in a "post-truth" world full of online propaganda and balkanization. The implosion of the Baltics and the monthslong riots in the Nordic countries and Germany (pitting Islamists, antifa, neo-Nazis, and police in a battle royale), along with equivalent riots between nationalists, Russophiles, and the establishment in Eastern and Central Europe, saw most of the venerable European civilization collapse. Some argue that the drastic cuts to and effective collapse of European universal healthcare systems in the 2030s is what began the age of chaos, though others disagree. The French government was forced into exile in Réunion and Guyane and the British government in exile now operates out of Belfast; a united Ireland de facto exists, with Britain and the Republic being in a sort of hypostatic union. Spain and Portugal have been able to hold the line for now, and iron-fisted regimes have been able to survive and even take advantage of the chaos in Switzerland, Britain proper, and most of Russia (the east is lost to the Ruin).
Africa was also badly affected by the Ruin, although not so horribly. Namibia, Senegal, Gambia, Cape Verde, Botswana, and southern Ghana all have managed to keep some semblance of law, order, and democracy. With their relative lack of xenophobia and multiethnic Creole societies, the islands of Southeast Africa have generally been able to regroup as they do not have the deep ethnic divides that often form the genesis of Ruination.
The Middle East, perhaps the first region to fall to Ruin, remains a mess. Notably, warlords operating in the former Israel, Lebanon, and Sinai have formed a state of sorts.
Asia is almost as ravaged as the Middle East. Aside from a few outlying Japanese islands (a combination of ultranationalism, population decline, and North Korean nukes brought down mighty Nippon), the only states based in Asia are Bhutan (now an absolute theocratic monarchy) and what was left of China after the nuclear war between the Koreas (capital currently in Shanghai). Even Australia fell victim to the chaos as a result of a drought and a horrific bushfire season that ruined much of the country's crops, although New Zealand and most of the Pacific Islands have been able to hold off the Ruin for now.
There are two major spots of hope, though. The Canadian-led Alliance of Freedom, based around one of the few officially multicultural nations on earth, has been able to reach into parts of the Northwest and Northeast of the US as well as New Zealand and much of the Pacific Islands. With its long history of immigration, tourism, and tax havens, the West Indies has done about as well as global warming will let them (excepting Venezuela, although there are some promising signs of reorganization in the northeast). The most fortunate region economically has been the Scratch, an area centered upon the Andes that is so named because it looks like a cat's scratch on maps. The Scratch has enough climatic diversity to weather any survivable climate change, and its mountains and valleys both fortify it from outside chaos and allow for long-distance communication. Even the peace with FARC has been valuable; FARC and Cuba have managed to be effective middlemen between the somewhat liberal, somewhat democratic states of the world, authoritarian dictatorships, and even left-leaning chaos lords.
ST15RM
Banned
cool, but I think if you want to go down that "almost all the planet has collapsed", I think there would be almost no borders, and the few borders that would exist would be color borders since they would be nomadic tribal-ish states, so I would erase the borders that are there.
Very interesting scenario... you've covered the fall of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, but you left out the Americas - how did the Ruin spread there?
fashbasher
Banned
Brazilian corruption + spillover from Venezuela that was very hard to clean up (jungles and stuff, yo)
It depends upon whose perspective you're looking at it from, really. For the Irish it sucks, for the English it's not so great, for the Russians it's a sort of Warring States period, and for the French it's just one embarrassment after another - but for Eastern Europe and most of Latin America, the Sobelverse is inestimably more prosperous and peaceful than OTL.
Not better, not worse, just different.
The European Union, previously known as the Union of Britain and France or more simply The Union, came about in 1940 with the Declaration of Union between France and the United Kingdom. Union formally merged the two nation's militaries and offered an alternative to French seeking a separate peace with Germany in the opening salvos of the Second World War. Following the Union, the French government relocated to Algiers.
There was during the Second World War little high-level formal discussion about the shape which The Union would take, if indeed it took any shape, in the post-war world. Following the final German surrender in 1944, multiple summits convened in the extended London Conferences of 1944-46. The conferences ended with the publication of the Instrument of Union, in which the United Kingdom and France would agree to maintain the single command of their militaries as well as a single market, single currency, single foreign policy, single monetary policy, and a common policy on trade and agriculture. The Instrument proved controversial, and was rejected by the National Assembly of France before amendments were made to ensure the protection of the French legal code, to require bilingualism as a qualification for the position of Chancellor, and to introduce a single assembly which would hold the central government accountable and authorise all of its spending.
The Union is credited with the rapid economic revival enjoyed by Britain and France following the Second World War, but was also endangered on numerous occasions amid the twilight of European colonialism. French actions in Transjordan, Indochina, and Algeria in aid of maintaining imperial rule were all opposed by Britain and contributed to the French referendum of 1956 on whether to withdraw from the Union entirely. The referendum failed to pass, triggering a serious political crisis in France from which emerged the government of Charles de Gaulle and the independence of Algeria. Throughout the 1960s, the Union appeared to find greater purpose with a deepening of economic integration and the pursuit of an independent foreign policy, especially amid the Vietnam War being waged by the United States.
After many years of debate over potential expansion of the Union, it finally took place on January 1st, 1970 when Belgium and the Netherlands became official members to create the European Union. The Belgian and Dutch economies were integrated into the Union while their militaries were formally abolished and existing formations incorporated into the Union Armed Forces. Following a prolonged economic crisis throughout the 1970s, fueled by the international oil crisis, Belgium and the Netherlands were particularly badly affected which was widely blamed for dragging Britain and France into recession. This triggered much debate about the merit of future expansion and led to the publication in 1984 by the government of Chancellor Valentine Charbonneau of the Points of Accession which laid out stringent terms for potential future members. With the merging of militaries being a particular sticking point, major European powers such as Spain and Italy elected not to join which led to the creation in 1987 of the European Free Trade Association of which most European states are now a member and which has been credited with maintaining European unity and disparaged for allegedly turning Europe into a "captive market" to the benefit of the Big Four (Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands).
In 1994, Denmark chose in a public referendum to join the European Union and became its newest member on January 1st, 1997. With the end of the Cold War the following year, the security outlook of the Union shifted from working alongside the United States in the Defence Organisation of the West to a far more internationalist outlook. Under the liberal interventionist government of Chancellor Joseph Nightingale the European Union undertook unilateral military interventions in Albania, Afghanistan, and Haiti while condemning the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Iran. The European Union undertook its most recent military expedition in 2016 with the Falklands War against Argentina and Brazil, achieving victory.
The EU government is presently undergoing initial talks regarding potential future accession with Iceland, Luxembourg, and, crucially, Canada, which opens up enormous new possibilities for the future of the Union.
At an estimated 2018 value of US$7.1 trillion, the European Union possesses the third-largest gross domestic product in the world after Japan and behind the United States and China, and has been described as a potential superpower, though some analysts have argued that it already fits the term for its substantial economic, military, and cultural power internationally. It is also the most populous country in Europe with 192,000,000 residents as of the 2012 census. It has been a recognised nuclear power since 1950 and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Last edited:
Skallagrim
Banned
What a fascinating map! But surely Latin was also spoken in many places that remain unmarked here? Surely there were Latin-speakers in Greece, Egypt, the Levant etc. -- and what of that empty bit in central Gaul? And I imagine Latin was widely spoken in all major towns along the full stretch of the North African coast. Have these been left unmarked for a particular reason?
I present the Greater Bulgarian Empire as it appeared on the eve of the second Great war, 1942.
In late 1907 Serbia, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria sign a treaty which set out the provisions to divide the Remaining ottoman lands in Europe betwixt the three of them Bosnia would go to Austria-Hungary, Serbia would get Montenegro and Macedonia, Greece would get Albania and Bulgaria would get Thrace. The First Balkan War began in 1908 and was successful and only Constantinople itself remained of Ottoman hands in Europe, however, the Bulgarians took much of the brunt of the casualties and after the war was over they demanded extra concessions from the other nations. But the other powers refused to even give them as much land as they were promised. Bulgaria only managed to gain Eastern Thrace and some other small gains. Austria-Hungarian forces never entered the war and Serbia refuses to hand over Bosnia, which it occupied during the course of the war. In 1911 The Second Balkan war breaks out when Bulgaria invades Serbia. Greece and Romania retaliate invading Bulgaria. Times look grim for Bulgaria but Austria-Hungary joins the war on their side in 1912 and invades Serbia. Russia threatens war with Austria but eventually backs down and an agreement is struck that Russia will be allowed to have Romania in its sphere of influence in exchange for neutrality.
After the war, Albania is made independent from Greece and Bulgaria takes its concessions that it was promised. Serbia is split between Bulgaria and Hungary and only a rump buffer state remains.
In 1915-1920 the Great War breaks out with the Quadpartite pact emerging victorious (Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Italy (joined in 1916),Germany; joined by Japan (1916) and the USA (1919) over the Entente (Romania(1915-18), UK, Russia(1915-1919), France and Empire of China (1916-1919), Greece (1915-1918)
Ottomans initially in the entente but Bulgaria promises them the Aegean islands which they accept and occupy after Greece is defeated.
After the war Ferdinand the I declares himself Emperor of the Bulgarians. In 1925 Austria-Hungary collapses and Bulgaria becomes the most powerful country in the region, Followed by Bosnia-Hungary which emerges from the ashes of the Habsburg collapse.
The Ottomans have a revolution in 1934 and a revanchist Islamic republic takes power in a violent revolution.
Today in 1942 war is on the horizon France, Russian Republic, Turkey are allied together and seek to regain lost territory. Without Austria-Hungary and an Italy who looks to remain neutral the situation looks grim for Bulgaria, Hungary and the German Empire, but they have prevailed before, maybe they can again.
.
Tell me what you think about the scenario and the map itself.
I am pretty new to this kind of mapmaking.
In late 1907 Serbia, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria sign a treaty which set out the provisions to divide the Remaining ottoman lands in Europe betwixt the three of them Bosnia would go to Austria-Hungary, Serbia would get Montenegro and Macedonia, Greece would get Albania and Bulgaria would get Thrace. The First Balkan War began in 1908 and was successful and only Constantinople itself remained of Ottoman hands in Europe, however, the Bulgarians took much of the brunt of the casualties and after the war was over they demanded extra concessions from the other nations. But the other powers refused to even give them as much land as they were promised. Bulgaria only managed to gain Eastern Thrace and some other small gains. Austria-Hungarian forces never entered the war and Serbia refuses to hand over Bosnia, which it occupied during the course of the war. In 1911 The Second Balkan war breaks out when Bulgaria invades Serbia. Greece and Romania retaliate invading Bulgaria. Times look grim for Bulgaria but Austria-Hungary joins the war on their side in 1912 and invades Serbia. Russia threatens war with Austria but eventually backs down and an agreement is struck that Russia will be allowed to have Romania in its sphere of influence in exchange for neutrality.
After the war, Albania is made independent from Greece and Bulgaria takes its concessions that it was promised. Serbia is split between Bulgaria and Hungary and only a rump buffer state remains.
In 1915-1920 the Great War breaks out with the Quadpartite pact emerging victorious (Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Italy (joined in 1916),Germany; joined by Japan (1916) and the USA (1919) over the Entente (Romania(1915-18), UK, Russia(1915-1919), France and Empire of China (1916-1919), Greece (1915-1918)
Ottomans initially in the entente but Bulgaria promises them the Aegean islands which they accept and occupy after Greece is defeated.
After the war Ferdinand the I declares himself Emperor of the Bulgarians. In 1925 Austria-Hungary collapses and Bulgaria becomes the most powerful country in the region, Followed by Bosnia-Hungary which emerges from the ashes of the Habsburg collapse.
The Ottomans have a revolution in 1934 and a revanchist Islamic republic takes power in a violent revolution.
Today in 1942 war is on the horizon France, Russian Republic, Turkey are allied together and seek to regain lost territory. Without Austria-Hungary and an Italy who looks to remain neutral the situation looks grim for Bulgaria, Hungary and the German Empire, but they have prevailed before, maybe they can again.
.
Tell me what you think about the scenario and the map itself.
I am pretty new to this kind of mapmaking.I believe that Massif Central served as the refuge for the Celtic speakers, which could have survived well until the Frankish Empire. I agree, that coastal parts of contemporary Algeria could have been shown, indeed. However, the area seems to have had a strong Berber element, although a particulr dialect could have evolved there... of which we know little or none.
With Koiné Greek being a prestige language I doubt that any Latinate language would evolve in the already Hellenized areas...
Except for Beirut, which I saw speaking a Romance language on one map.
Really messed up migration period?Someone give me a scenario for my next map
Skallagrim
Banned
Someone give me a scenario for my next map
...and that's how we ended up with a map depicting the great migrations of the dystopic cyberpunk near-future.
This is how ALL timelines come into existence!...and that's how we ended up with a map depicting the great migrations of the dystopic cyberpunk near-future.
The European Union, previously known as the Union of Britain and France or more simply The Union, came about in 1940 with the Declaration of Union between France and the United Kingdom. Union formally merged the two nation's militaries and offered an alternative to French seeking a separate peace with Germany in the opening salvos of the Second World War. Following the Union, the French government relocated to Algiers.
There was during the Second World War little high-level formal discussion about the shape which The Union would take, if indeed it took any shape, in the post-war world. Following the final German surrender in 1944, multiple summits convened in the extended London Conferences of 1944-46. The conferences ended with the publication of the Instrument of Union, in which the United Kingdom and France would agree to maintain the single command of their militaries as well as a single market, single currency, single foreign policy, single monetary policy, and a common policy on trade and agriculture. The Instrument proved controversial, and was rejected by the National Assembly of France before amendments were made to ensure the protection of the French legal code, to require bilingualism as a qualification for the position of Chancellor, and to introduce a single assembly which would hold the central government accountable and authorise all of its spending.
The Union is credited with the rapid economic revival enjoyed by Britain and France following the Second World War, but was also endangered on numerous occasions amid the twilight of European colonialism. French actions in Transjordan, Indochina, and Algeria in aid of maintaining imperial rule were all opposed by Britain and contributed to the French referendum of 1956 on whether to withdraw from the Union entirely. The referendum failed to pass, triggering a serious political crisis in France from which emerged the government of Charles de Gaulle and the independence of Algeria. Throughout the 1960s, the Union appeared to find greater purpose with a deepening of economic integration and the pursuit of an independent foreign policy, especially amid the Vietnam War being waged by the United States.
After many years of debate over potential expansion of the Union, it finally took place on January 1st, 1970 when Belgium and the Netherlands became official members to create the European Union. The Belgian and Dutch economies were integrated into the Union while their militaries were formally abolished and existing formations incorporated into the Union Armed Forces. Following a prolonged economic crisis throughout the 1970s, fueled by the international oil crisis, Belgium and the Netherlands were particularly badly affected which was widely blamed for dragging Britain and France into recession. This triggered much debate about the merit of future expansion and led to the publication in 1984 by the government of Chancellor Valentine Charbonneau of the Points of Accession which laid out stringent terms for potential future members. With the merging of militaries being a particular sticking point, major European powers such as Spain and Italy elected not to join which led to the creation in 1987 of the European Free Trade Association of which most European states are now a member and which has been credited with maintaining European unity and disparaged for allegedly turning Europe into a "captive market" to the benefit of the Big Four (Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands).
In 1994, Denmark chose in a public referendum to join the European Union and became its newest member on January 1st, 1997. With the end of the Cold War the following year, the security outlook of the Union shifted from working alongside the United States in the Defence Organisation of the West to a far more internationalist outlook. Under the liberal interventionist government of Chancellor Joseph Nightingale the European Union undertook unilateral military interventions in Albania, Afghanistan, and Haiti while condemning the U.S. interventions in Iraq and Iran. The European Union undertook its most recent military expedition in 2016 with the Falklands War against Argentina and Brazil, achieving victory.
The EU government is presently undergoing initial talks regarding potential future accession with Iceland, Luxembourg, and, crucially, Canada, which opens up enormous new possibilities for the future of the Union.
At an estimated 2018 value of US$7.1 trillion, the European Union possesses the third-largest gross domestic product in the world after Japan and behind the United States and China, and has been described as a potential superpower, though some analysts have argued that it already fits the term for its substantial economic, military, and cultural power internationally. It is also the most populous country in Europe with 192,000,000 residents as of the 2012 census. It has been a recognised nuclear power since 1950 and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
I literally was just about to make the same thing, but without Denmark and some colonies like North Algeria and Djibouti staying with Europe
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