Hmm...a democracy, albeit a weak one under Chiang eh? What pushed Chiang to loosen his grip on power? And why didn't he push the weakened state of his neighbours and conquer Mongolia and Tibet like being leader of a relatively rightist KMT ?
Map Thread XVII
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China is a weak democracy but is is hoped that they can be a partner to the Allies and help keep a lid on things in Asia. The experience of American/Commonwealth soldiers fighting alongside the Nationalist forces has increased public sympathy for China. Massive pro-Chinese propaganda offensives were also launched in the late stages of the Pacific war to justify American boys dying in Manchuria. In Hollywood, the "Plucky Chinaman" would become a popular trope and the narrative of China being the "First victim of Fascism" is within the public consciousness. Allegations of corruption and the fact that Chiang's elite divisions were initially German armed and trained is ignored by popular history.
Washington is eager to ensure China doesn't slip into the orbit of the Reich (though the Chinese experience fighting Japanese armed with German tanks and gas weapons soured relations significantly) and a lot of the funds that in OTL would be sent to rebuild Europe, have been redirected towards China. This however comes with caveats and there is pressure to assume more democratic principles. It's a fine game of mutual agreements, lip-service and genuine reform.
Tibet is autonomous part of China as per the 1947 Constitution, I just haven't colored it properly. Mongolia has been left alone mostly because the Chinese are exhausted by war and the country has fallen into China's orbit by default anyway.
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TBH the most interesting thing about this map is the Turageg Empire
Out of the many unique elements of this map, I'm intrigued by the American protectorate(?) of Tibet. Nice job all around on this map.
The scientists of the Trillion Worlds Project have discovered a multitude of exotic Alternate Earths. Many Alternate Earths are quite similar to one another, while others diverge very quickly from the norm. In studying these Earths, our scientists found what they term "eigentropes", or reoccuring patterns which become remarkable if only for their regularity. Given the infinite diversity of the infinite Alternate Earths, one may naievely expect certain events and conditions to be rare across the multiverse, and yet they still happen in a disturbingly large number of worlds. Examples of this effect include:
1) The Scramble for Africa occurs in nearly every timeline, with European powers dividing Africa in nearly the same way each time.
2) The remarkable stability of Chinese and Indian history, remaining entirely identical to the Average Earth across far too many timelines to be coincidence.
3) A conflict-prone mid-20th Century, pitting at least two of the contemporaneous ideologies (Communism, Fascism, Democracy) against each other.
The most famous example of an eigentrope is, of course, the Mormons in Deseret. In nearly every timeline, the history of the LDS Church (informally "Mormons") is identical to the Average Earth until Mormon settlers arrive in what they call Deseret in 1847, often becoming Utah shortly thereafter. So many tiny, individual, insignificant choices must take place in each timeline for exactly this result to occur. The probability of all those events going just right boggles the mind and integer-overflows the calculators.
In this Special Report, we examine the Outlier Earths, with histories much different from the Average Earth. In each Outlier, the fate of the Mormons took wildly diverging paths. These Outliers are often more instructive than the vast and unvaried spectrum of Average Earths.
(end of Part 1)
1) The Scramble for Africa occurs in nearly every timeline, with European powers dividing Africa in nearly the same way each time.
2) The remarkable stability of Chinese and Indian history, remaining entirely identical to the Average Earth across far too many timelines to be coincidence.
3) A conflict-prone mid-20th Century, pitting at least two of the contemporaneous ideologies (Communism, Fascism, Democracy) against each other.
The most famous example of an eigentrope is, of course, the Mormons in Deseret. In nearly every timeline, the history of the LDS Church (informally "Mormons") is identical to the Average Earth until Mormon settlers arrive in what they call Deseret in 1847, often becoming Utah shortly thereafter. So many tiny, individual, insignificant choices must take place in each timeline for exactly this result to occur. The probability of all those events going just right boggles the mind and integer-overflows the calculators.
In this Special Report, we examine the Outlier Earths, with histories much different from the Average Earth. In each Outlier, the fate of the Mormons took wildly diverging paths. These Outliers are often more instructive than the vast and unvaried spectrum of Average Earths.
(end of Part 1)
(Part 2)
Please Note: This map series is inspired by a number of discussions I've had on this board. In all too many Alternate Histories, Mormons end up in OTL Utah. Mormon history is rich and complex, with many small decisions which could have made a big difference in history. The first five maps in this series show realistic and plausible fates for Mormons. Each map was based on real, historical possibilities. The next six, not so much. Those are totally ASB and just for fun.
Please Note: This map series is inspired by a number of discussions I've had on this board. In all too many Alternate Histories, Mormons end up in OTL Utah. Mormon history is rich and complex, with many small decisions which could have made a big difference in history. The first five maps in this series show realistic and plausible fates for Mormons. Each map was based on real, historical possibilities. The next six, not so much. Those are totally ASB and just for fun.
Zioneer
Banned
You have no idea how happy almost all of these AH map ideas make me. I think I might come up with an AH map idea myself..
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Final look at the map I've been working on. You can probably guess what it is, but can you guys guess what the POD is before I release everything else to accompany this?
@rexnerdorum I love this. I love this so much. I'd love to make a similar "trillion worlds" type series, or even "franchise" this. Plus your worldbuilding is amazing! Each one feels fleshed out.
Map of "It Started Here", Directly before the Great War, or the People's War, depending on which side you were on. Taking place in 1912.
The POD here is in 1848. Martin Van Buren declines to run on the Free Soil ticket. This upset results in a loss for the Whigs, as historically Van Buren's influence ensured New York went for Taylor, giving him the election. The Democrats, now under Lewis Cass of course support the Compromise of 1850 and enforce the Fugitive Slave Act as per historically, leading the Whigs to surge in popularity in the 1852 election. Cass is renominated, and much like historically, the 1852 election comes to be a contest of personalities. Winfield Scott proves to be much more popular than Cass, and as result wins. The popular and physically massive military figure takes a more anti-slave stance, as the Whig Party was becoming the more "Anti-Slave" party at the time (until the Kansas-Nebraska Act). When the Kansas-Nebraska Act comes up this time, Scott vetos it, and thus "Bleeding Kansas" never grows to the out-of-control situation it does historically, with only very minor skirmishes. The 1856 election sees Scott ride to re-election, with the Republican Party never truly forming. By now the Whigs are generally the "Anti-Slave" party, while the Democrats are the "Pro-Slave" party. However, many Southern Whigs and Northern Democrats are unhappy with this state of affairs. Scott doesn't seek re-election in 1860, and the Democrats nominate James Buchanan and the Whigs nominate Millard Fillmore. A large segment of Southern Whigs and Northern Democrats thusly break away from the two parties, instead forming the "Constitutional Union Party", former Democrat Stephen Douglas is nominated, and successfully wins the election, if just barely. At the same time the Radical Democracy Party starts pulling a sizable portion of voters under John C Fremont, gaining a good chunk of votes due to it's proto-socialist ideals, as the Panic of 1857 had triggered it's creation, as well as it's extreme anti-slavery stance. During Douglas' presidency Immigration continues to flow into the U.S., and many feel the pressure as jobs become increasingly scarce for the poor immigrants on the West Coast. This is not helped by Douglas' inability to deal with the 1860 New Englander Shoemaker's strike, and the economic recession that occurred during in 1860. Nonetheless, America continued on. In 1861, hoping to distract the nation from the slavery issue, Douglas authorized William H. Seward to purchase Alaska in 1861. The Russian American Company, who's charter expired in 1861, was brushed aside by the Russian Tsar, and the United States soon acquired the new territory. However, this only raised more discontent, as the whole area was viewed as "nothing more than an Icebox". As the 1864 election rolled around, the Radical Democracy Party made an extremely well showing, winning many industrial centers, However, despite getting a plurality of the popular vote, and the majority of the electoral votes, it was not enough to win, and so the race was deadlocked between the four parties. When the case was brought up in the House of Representatives, the Whigs and Democrats, the Whigs being more fearful of the proto-socialist ideals of the RDP and the Democrats being more fearful of the radical anti-slavery ideals of the RDP, both unable to agree on voting for the other, eventually elected Douglas, despite him getting the lowest popular vote out of all 4 candidates. Outrage ensued as factory workers broke out all across the North in strike. Attempting to put them down, the Union Army was called in, but this merely made things worse. Full scale-civil war eventually broke out, with the Charismatic Alonzo G. Draper, one of the leaders of the New Englander Shoemaker's strike, taking the forefront. The United States rallied against them, yet many soldiers, especially conscripted immigrants found they had more in common with the workers, and would often join them. Soon much of the industry of the North was in rebel hands, and the rebels started moving South, burning down plantations and freeing slaves to join their cause as they went.
During this same period, France, Great Britain, and Spain would launch an invasion of Mexico, hoping to install Maximillian I as Emperor and set up a friendlier pro-European regime in the area. As Napoleon III had longer to think this plan over, he elected to try and keep Britain and Spain in the invasion force as long as possible. By 1867, much of Mexico was occupied, and the Workers had overrun the Southern portion of the United States, now threatening to overwhelm the US, as many former Free-Soilers had begun to rise in rebellion alongside the Workers. Mexican Liberals, pushed to the border of their country had begun to flee into the undefended territories of the United States, with France nearing complete control over Mexico, they decided to let slip their plans to both Britain and Spain, who withdrew from the Coalition. However, as much of the US military, especially in the stubborn area of Texas, started running into Mexico, the Revolution soon followed, the remaining Mexican Liberals joining forces alongside the Nearly victorious RDP, who would exile what remained of the US government to the newly purchased Alaska, only kept afloat with British support. As 1870 rolled around, and increasingly antagonizing, and newly United North German Confederation, began threatening France in Europe, and as result, the French abandoned Mexico, leaving the newly declared "Worker's Republic of America", a union between the Mexicans and Americans to be at peace.
Thus, the quote "It can't happen here", becomes "It started here".
I'll provide more write-ups regarding the delayed Franco-Prussian War, the Rise of Germany and Russia, the worries of Britain, and eventually the Great War, later on.
Feel free to ask questions now if your curious.
Napoleon? I like Nappys-wanks (damn, I should finally do at least one
) However I doubt that with french presence in India there would be Raj (mostly) as we know...
And what happened to Bolivia/Upper Peru? (nice to see some changes in South America... that something I usually struggle really hard
)
Here is a map of the Gallian Empire (or Helviian Empire) during the reign of Rosmerta the First "Mother of Gallia". She did not unite the Empire in itself, her father did, but she created all the institutions during her long reign (from 23 to 65 years old). This war opposed to camps : the Parisiis, the Santonians, and the Helviians against the rest of Hairy Gauls and Armoricans. The Queen tried to organize the Empire inspired by the Phenycian League, with territories having various titles for various roles and importance, but she adaptated this system. Parisiis and Santonians accepted the preeminence of Helvii tribe in the Empire, at the condition that they would have full autonomy.
(I know it's akward and unlikely, but I liked the idea, and in fact the existence of France in itself was very unlikely, so ... )
Questions ?
Skallagrim
Banned
It's actually a very nice idea, but regarding the map itself, might I recommend a plain white background? The current background rather impairs the clarity of the map, especially since various areas have been given rather light colours.
Oh, thank you ... it's nice of you
I would have if I thought of it, the dark grey was because of mapchart. Otherwise I would have to color every piece of France that was not in GalliaIt would be nice to see someone make a more realistic take on this idea (well, 'realistic' hardly applies when you're using magic to swap continents). I mean, all I did was slap a few borders here and there to make it look cool.
Which one of them? There's a few of the fantasy worlds I've done before, and this key is the one I always use for everything.
The answer will remain the same, though: the work on those maps was already finished and I see no reason to return to those settings again. For now.
If I ever decide to continue working on this map and turn into a series (which I probably will), their story will continue, I promise you.
The problem is that it might take me so much time to make any progress, it might as well be comparable to the timeskips in the future maps.
It's always been like this. A lot of historical contrivances occurred to maintain the parallel flow of history and create a twisted mirror of OTL; unreasonable amounts of handwavium were used to resolve the issues of climate and common sense.
Don't mind that Antarctica wasn't changed to match South America. I couldn't find a way to accurately change it without ruining the projection, and decided to not bother with it since nobody cares about that part of the map anyway, am I right?
Swapping landmasses around is fun.
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