Map Thread XVIII

[Al-numbers]

... Hmmm. Should I assume that all the Freedmen and such were made to keep to the coast of Sierra Leone and Liberia while the Brits and Yankees for some reason gave their support to those hinterlands due to not having as much as they do IOTL? Because if they didn't know about IOTL, I would say it looks like the French got quite a lot. Also, Tripolitania seems to have expanded into Egypt, despite the two having pretty much the OTL border at the coast for four hundred years.

A bit of that, a bit of French aggravation, and a bit of tweaking history to the point that Britain and co. are more focued on colonial intrigues elsewhere than Africa. For what it's worth, most of the French colonies here are based IOTL and the whole colonial empire is in fact smaller than our timeline (they haven't nabbed Ouaddai and Kanem-Bornu, for one). As for Tripolitania, I blame my map sources and my liking for stylistic suck.

Not enough Pink on Africa.

Tis Heresy.


PURGE THE HERETIC!!!!!!

Meh, means more money that London can spend on other useless endeavors.

Painting the world pink is the only useless thing a good honest Brit wants thank you

You haven't seen Southeast Asia, and I've become bored of the whole "paint-the-world-British-pink-and-French-blue" maps. Also, GIVE MINOR COLONIAL NATIONS A CHANCE.

The only acceptable Pink on africa is a Pink Map.

plz no

MAY PORTUGUESE AFRICA STRETCH FROM SEA TO SEA!! Just pretend that Yeke and Nyasaland are a part of it all

Indeed. There is far too much blue, and green, and grey, and green, and brown, and yellow.

Who's to say the colors won't change in the future?

We need some more color variation on colonial maps. Belgian Congo plox

Um, I'm sorry to say this but.... King Leopold's dead.

Very nice. I assume the Sokoto Caliphate has some support from the Ottomans? Neither the French nor the British are likely to want it as a neighbor.

Poor Portugal: so near, yet so far.

A bit of support, though it's not enough to prevent the internal emirates from bickering. And the Brits and French are vacillating on whether to keep it as a buffer state or just do away with it all.

And for Portugal, most foreign ambassadors are crossing themselves before entering Lisbon's foreign office. So close indeed.

 

[FesteringSpore]

You haven't seen Southeast Asia, and I've become bored of the whole "paint-the-world-British-pink-and-French-blue" maps. Also, GIVE MINOR COLONIAL NATIONS A CHANCE.

Of course, you're literally writing a TL about SE Asia. Long live the Brookes!

I forgot how Vietnam is doing, but I'll jinx myself and say the French have already colonized the place.

 

[Library of Alexandria]

A bit of that, a bit of French aggravation, and a bit of tweaking history to the point that Britain and co. are more focued on colonial intrigues elsewhere than Africa. For what it's worth, most of the French colonies here are based IOTL and the whole colonial empire is in fact smaller than our timeline (they haven't nabbed Ouaddai and Kanem-Bornu, for one). As for Tripolitania, I blame my map sources and my liking for stylistic suck.







You haven't seen Southeast Asia, and I've become bored of the whole "paint-the-world-British-pink-and-French-blue" maps. Also, GIVE MINOR COLONIAL NATIONS A CHANCE.





MAY PORTUGUESE AFRICA STRETCH FROM SEA TO SEA!! Just pretend that Yeke and Nyasaland are a part of it all



Who's to say the colors won't change in the future?



Um, I'm sorry to say this but.... King Leopold's dead.

A bit of support, though it's not enough to prevent the internal emirates from bickering. And the Brits and French are vacillating on whether to keep it as a buffer state or just do away with it all.

And for Portugal, most foreign ambassadors are crossing themselves before entering Lisbon's foreign office. So close indeed.

There's a reason I like making Mittelafrika and Portugese Rhodesia. Better than infinite Pink and Blue.

 

[Isaac Beach]

The area of the modern Republic of The Saviour had been inhabited by a cohesive culture since at least the Classical Period, the Pipils and Lenca people dominating the area until the Spanish conquest. These peoples were eventually consolidated under the Cuzcatlan Kingdom, which was able to initially rout the Conquistadors in 1524 but were defeated the following year. Their conqueror, Pedro de Alvarado, was responsible for the region’s pious title, and served as governor until his death in 1541.
Following the Napoleonic Wars and the crippling of Spain, El Salvador would be a part of the Mexican Empire that declared their independence in 1821. This new association, however, would be short-lived and following the ousting of the Emperor by a jealous congress El Salvador would secede as a member of the United Provinces of Central America in 1823. However, the UPCA proved even more ineffectual and ungovernable than Mexico, and infighting and civil war would consume the 17 years of the nation’s brief life. It officially ended with El Salvador’s secession from the state, being the last of the nation’s five-member states to do so. From this point, El Salvador was an independent nation. Unfortunately for the new government in San Salvador, this was not to last.

In rainy London there was much consternation as to Britain’s presence (or lack thereof) in the eastern Pacific. With Canada’s attempts to reach the west coast stilted by a pernicious Alyeskan colony and their attempt at an Argentinean conquest failing some decades prior, many ideas were slung about the hallowed halls of Westminster as to a solution. Perhaps a formal incorporation of the Kingdom of Chile? Perhaps another go at Argentina? Perhaps an undercutting of the US’ own Jeffersonian colony? These were all raised and dashed in succession, none satisfying the strategic, jurisprudential, or practical criteria that Britain’s leadership desired.
And then the British consul to El Salvador was murdered.
It is a matter of debate as to why he was murdered, circa 1848, with a wide range of theories from personal vendettas to lovers quarrels to conspiracies that incriminate the British government, but little is concrete and the true reason for the consul’s death remains a mystery. Nevertheless, it provided a unique opportunity that the British were not shy of exploiting. They demanded a full investigation be opened by the British navy and the ports and major cities of El Salvador ‘securitised’ with British regiments to ensure the safety of British citizens (however few they may be), among a string of other spurious demands. San Salvador flatly refused, determining the murder to be an internal matter, unwittingly facilitating Britain’s real aims.
A fleet of 13 corkscrewed ships-of-the-line descended upon Acajualta and then La Union, delivering thousands of soldiers to El Salvador’s shores. Although a valiant defence was mounted, the small nation was still disorganised and poorly martialled, and San Salvador fell in a matter of months.

So began the British period. On the 1st of January 1850 El Salvador was formally incorporated by the War and Colonial Office into the British Empire, much to the consternation Washington and neighbouring Centroamerican states. Namely the Republic of Guatemala, who attempted to rally support from the United States to extradite the British from El Salvador. These provocations were discovered by British informants and resulted in strong warnings against meddling in Britain’s new port. Guatemala ignored these warnings and for it lost what would become known as the Jutiapan Strip in 1853, after a skirmish turned into a general advance by the garrisoned units. The US, meanwhile, were in the throes of their own internal dispute over slavery, most prominently by the New Hanover Act which granted the namesake state a referendum on whether it would become a slaveholding state or not (New Hanover would ultimately be admitted as a free state).
This gave Britain reprieve to develop their new colony, erecting phenomenal port infrastructure around Acajualta, redeveloping San Salvador in the British style (including the erection of the wholly British settlement of Palmead) and building the garrison towns of Fort Adelaide and Tankerville on the border to guard against Guatemalan revanchism. This created an economic boom of some scale that attracted immigration not only from the neighbouring states but the wider British Empire. Between the years of 1855 and 1950 El Salvador received over a million migrants from across the world. This included Cantonese and Bengali civil servants, a large number of English administrators, soldiers and investors looking to exploit El Salvador’s equatorial climate, and with the latter a troupe of Indian coolies (although such plantations would be limited in a locally saturated market). Most famously, however, was the massive wave of Irish immigration that charactertised the late-1800s and early-1900s. Known quite plainly as the ‘Irlandés’ or more romantically as the ‘Hibérnico’ they migrated in large numbers due to ever poorer circumstances back home and the perceived tolerance inherent to El Salvadoran society as a majority Catholic nation. Working in all factories, farms and urban centres the toiling Irish-Salvadoran worker (often with some kind of Hispanic or Indian bride apportioning them iced watermelon or orange juice) became the romantic imagery evoked by republicans in the state’s later history.

The Flag of the Union of The Saviour under Britain​

The state gained a limited form of self-government in the 1910s as the ‘Union of The Saviour’, with a local cabinet dominated by Anglo-Criollo elites. This was just in time for the Great War, which saw Europe descend into a messy, distended conflict that required Britain to draw on the manpower of her colonies. The mostly Catholic, mostly Hispanic brigades mustered by The Saviour participated in some of the worst battles of the war, most infamously in the Battle of Moselle when near the entire 3rd Division of the First Salvadoran Imperial Force, comprising some 12,000 men, were killed or captured while defending Saint-Avold. This would be immortalised in the nation’s eventual national anthem, drawn from a poem written by Indian-Hispanic Lance Corporal Ansh Orellana in a bombed farmhouse by Saint-Avold, known as ‘The Boys and The Ballistics’. The war ended in a scant victory in the west but a crushing defeat for Russia in the east, accelerating the communard revolution there and, as is often disregarded, facilitating a small but notable wave of White Russians and Jews to move to still-loyal Alyeska and further, The Saviour itself. Chalatenango still possesses a notable Russian-speaking minority to this day.
The 20s were known as a time of great introspection for The Saviour, as their economy stalled ahead of the rest of the globe as their historic economic boom ended with the close of the war and they had to face a wave of returning veterans that had their own ideas about how the nation ought to be run. Here the politics of The Saviour crystallised around three major parties: The Unionists, the Federalists, and the Republicans. The depths of the political history of The Saviour are beyond the scope of this piece but in brief the Unionists were a continuation of the laisse-faire Anglo-Criollo administration while the Federalists were dominated by veterans and a number of intellectuals who felt the nation deserved more autonomy and were generally more egalitarian and interventionist economically. The Republicans were considered somewhat radical at the time for their calls to abandon Britain, and were panned for several decades (rather justifiably, given their Washingtonian financial backing) as sock puppets of the United States. The Federalists won government for the first time in 1923 and held it for three terms until 1935 when increasing tensions in Europe and the Pacific repopularised the Unionists and they swept government.
The Second Great War was largely a Pacific conflict for The Saviour and increased the relations of the nation with their cobelligerents in Australia and New Zealand against the war machine of Japan. A large number of Salvadoran ships were destroyed at the Battle of the South China Sea and Salvadoran brigades played a key role in denying Japan control over Papua New Guinea. After the US joined the war the Salvadoran military was at the forefront of the brutal island-hopping campaign that eventually confined Japan to the home islands. When Japan was defeated, soldiers from The Saviour occupied a number of Japanese cities. In particular, the occupation of Fukuoka provided a backdrop for what would become the foundation of Salvadoran cinema, ‘A Fondness for Fukuoka’. Detailing the romance between an Irlandés captain and a local Japanese prostitute, the film was scandalous for its leading interracial relationship, the use of an actual Japanese woman in the leading female role, and the fact that the movie didn’t shy away from her prostitute occupation. As such it was banned in the United States and the United Kingdom, but was an underground smash hit and set a trend in the native movie industry for pushing the boundaries of cinema and sensibility. Today Japanese culture is a distinctive feature of the city of Newport.

Despite their success in leading the nation through two major wars the Unionists suffered a precipitous decline in support over the 40 and 50s and were eventually supplanted by the Federalists and the Republicans as the two primary parties. This was befuddling for the British government, as though the Federalists were technically unionist they were also quite socialistic and while the Republicans were capitalist they wanted to sever ties with the crown. This conflict, too, affronted the US and they soon withdrew support for the Republicans. Even the Eurasian Soviet Socialist State (ESSS), a notable saboteur in Central America, were decidedly absent from Salvadoran politics.
This problem ultimately resolved itself in 1954 when American fruit companies that had wormed their way into the country since the 1920s called upon the United States and subsequently the United Kingdom to pressure the Federalist government into relaxing its strict labour protections so as to cease undercutting their profits. Initially refusing, the Federalists were ultimately threatened with violence when an American aircraft carrier passed into the Bay of La Union. Ironically, this caused the Federalists to pass legislation to become a republic before the Republicans could even take government, and the support for the latter dwindled due to their initial support for the American fruit industry’s grievances.
To say that this upset the United States government would be an understatement, and in 1955 an insurgency along the Jutiapan Strip suddenly flared into action as CIA-trained insurrectionists flooded in from Guatemala. However, unlike that neighbour which had suffered an American-sponsored coup some years prior the newly minted Republic of The Saviour were prepared for such an eventuality and local military forces brutally suppressed the insurgency in the provinces of Jutiapa and Esquipulas. However, this conflict would continue in some form for over two decades, with multiple bombings of numerous cities, the city of Jutiapa constantly contested, and American and British spies clashing with The Saviour’s own opaque Ministry for Administrative Safety (MSA).
This conflict was only resolved in the late 1970s with a wider détente between the USA and ESSS, and a UN negotiated ceasefire in the Jutiapa Strip, with the insurgents being confederated into government and the state seeing real peace for the first time in thirty years. Though the wider global détente evaporated with the US invasion of the Congo the peace proved sustainable in The Saviour and the state deliberately withdrew from global affairs in order to keep its own house in order, joining the growing number of third way countries globally, which notably warmed relations with India and many African nations.

The ugly logo of Mesías during the 80s, the world's largest telecommunications company​

Economically The Saviour boomed in this period, entering the 80s with a renewed confidence and stability and friendly relations with the Third World. There was a renewed uptick in immigration, particularly from Ireland, India and Japan, and the government took on a portion of the hundreds of thousands of refugees produced in the conflicts that rattled Central Africa throughout the decade. It was in this period that the Chinese began to use the neutral ports of The Saviour as a thoroughfare for their goods, and with the most well developed port infrastructure on the western side of the Americas aside the United States shipping boomed in the nation. There was a renewed friendship with the Commonwealth nations of Australia and New Zealand, who in turn facilitated The Saviour’s return to the Commonwealth. This created even more trade, and soon the Port of Newport was among the busiest in the world.
Tariffs from this shipping were funnelled into tourism, cinema and telecommunications technology, the latter a bespoke industry at the time which would soon grow to become the largest private employer by the end of the millennia. This was a double-edged sword, as while The Saviour’s population quickly grew rich off of software development and mobile phone production (Mesías is the largest phone producer in the western hemisphere even in 2020) the Modem Bubble of the late 90s hit the country hard and cut short its historic growth. As such the nation has a relatively subdued 2000s and were fortunately spared many of the economic shocks that rattled the rest of the world on account of being more involved with developing African and Asian economies than the West (and indeed the strength of the Salvadoran Colón is considered an indicator of the health of developing markets).
The Saviour has benefited in modern times from a new generation of Americans that don’t associate the state with the conflicts of the 60s and 70s (and indeed a number of socialist Americans that do), and has enjoyed a boom in tourism and investment from the US, as well as continued support from China and the African Union. It houses the world’s largest mobile phone producer, Mesías, a confidence in its institutions and economics, and has a reputation as a truly successful multiracial society with a wide variety of faiths, cultures and ethnic groups coexisting in the small, Pacific-facing nation.

~

Ran out of steam at the end there but I’ve not really been feeling the drive to write these descriptions recently, so this was quite a trial to be frank. The tone and convergent timeline of this map was inspired in large part by Ceejay’s Palmera timeline, which I’ve actually made a map for in the past. The idea is that history still follows our own pretty closely, albeit with a few aesthetic changes and some reversals from time to time (for instance, the US breaking the détente in the late 70s rather than the USSR). In any event wider global events aren’t the focus, which is why some things such as the ESSS drop off unexpectedly without another mention. I’m of course happy to take questions. I also threw in a couple of extra graphics for the 'AH release', just to break up the wall of text.

P.S. If there are any weird errors or artifacts in the description that's probably because my cat sat on the keyboard for about ten minutes and wouldn't let me move her.

 

[Vylon Disigma]

@B_Munro with regards to ww2 Braitain and France lose the 39-40 war in the normal way sickle CET ect. As a result a peace is signed to prevent British and French Intervention in the future war in the east. Eastern front starts up just before the second half of 1941 does, result however is that while Germany is doing better than OTL it can no longer prevent French Rearmament. By the Start of 1943 the red army is in shambles and the eastern front a guerilla war, the western front restarts after Britain and France send a force to occupy Baku clashes with Germans coming in from the north. Ultimately the Allies succeed but due to the condition of the red army Britain and France see fit to liberate western part of the Soviet Union.

With Regards to the commonwealth of Nations it is essentially This timeline's equivalent to the United Nations. The reason parts of the US are not members is that they have not applied for membership. The southern and eastern parts of the US have not joined as they are the continuation government of the 1933 dictatorship that never joined in the first place. The other parts of the US that are not members basically have just not gotten around to it yet.

@Red Arturoist

Spain; Crises is regarding the future of the government after Franco's imminent death. Crisis in Greece is due to continued Italian Occupation there.

With regards to the US Civilwar 2; the small US army becomes Unable to to Prevent ever-expanding student movement/Civil Rights protests and riots in the mid 60's. While harsh action is effective in suppressing Civilian Unrest it results in Commonwealth of Nations trade sanctions which seriously damage the Economy. This, along with Foreign Media Being almost universally anti-US government, results in the Gov't being slow to take decisive action and protesters/rioters being encouraged. The results of this are that Local Militias, often spontaneously organised and very illegal, are formed to protect against the frequent rioting. Violence of these groups provokes a symmetrical response by students Movement groups, civil rights groups, black nationalist groups and others. Ultimately a harsh response comes from the central government to curtail armed civilian armed groups but wind up having to fight even anti-student movement militia causing them to lose their allegiance to the DC Government if that want to protect their communities. UK and French air intervention and sanctions makes seriously precarious the government's situation in certain areas. Ultimately a ceasefire is organised along occupation lines which, are necessarily ethnic/cultural lines. Due to universal acknowledgement that the US dictatorship is a failed state, stable successor states, so long as they are nominally democracies are accepted into the Commonwealth of Nations. Potential global crisis is that the Civil war might restart, especially concerning is that the Continuation Government has nuclear weapons that is has so far opted not to use.

 

[Vylon Disigma]

US partition map, state names are not official names but more like descriptions. Democracy indicates a progressive Government, "Republic" Indicates anti-student movement and or ant-Civil rights government. colour scheme also indicates such.

 

[Faeelin]

That partition makes no sense and the end result is a nationalist USA who uses the resources of a continent to get revenge on whoever decided that "Pueblo" was a country.

 

[Vylon Disigma]

@Faeelin Help Me out, tell me why you think it makes no sense.

 

[Faeelin]

@Faeelin Help Me out, tell me why you think it makes no sense.

There is no regional nationalism to support the "Fresh Water Democracy," even if it has a fancier name. Why would its inhabitants not want to be Americans?

 

[Vylon Disigma]

There is no regional nationalism to support the "Fresh Water Democracy," even if it has a fancier name. Why would its inhabitants not want to be Americans?

Right, so just a reminder the Washington government in this timeline has been a more or less reactionary dictatorship since 1933, so in the case of the "Freshwater Democracy," and in most cases they are more or less happy to be americas, however they do not to be governed by the government in washington. As I mentioned in a previous post the individual break away states are in general the result of unauthorized and anti government militias, TTL the region is pro reform and so (a) pro reform militia(s) was capable of maintaining dominion over the region, the government came after an internationally imposed ceasefire, as they did not want to rejoin any of their neiboring rival governments as they are against reform and were spawned out of initially pro government militias. They have joined the international community as a separate entity not because they wish to remain separate but because they believe it will prevent the rump US government from conquering them.

 

[rexnerdorum]

US partition map, state names are not official names but more like descriptions. Democracy indicates a progressive Government, "Republic" Indicates anti-student movement and or ant-Civil rights government. colour scheme also indicates such.

It's funny how all these maps always put the author's political allies in the "good democracies" category and all their political enemies in the "anti-Civil Rights dictatorship" category. Even when the POD is most of a century ago, the boundaries will generally line up with modern-day voting patterns.

 

[Cool-Eh]

The Missing Dozen

Nations disappeared on November 1st 2018:

Algeria, Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, North Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria,

(2046)



Pop stats: 1,416,970,134 + 143,955,855 + 25,652,601 + 202,107,294 + 36,370,000 + 267,758,248 + 18,289,498 + 15,328,554 + 197,524,968 + 42,244,197 + 211,409,621 + 131,309,871



Total: 2,708,920,841



November 2nd was a very bad day. The population had dropped overnight by 2.7 Billion people. Millions were left homeless and stateless. The world economy collapsed. Israel and Jordan went to war.



Eventually though a new normalcy took effect. A few months later countries were squabbling over the devision of “administrative duties” in the virgin land which de facto and later de jure conveyed the right to annex the territory. A few years later economies began to pull themselves out of depression, fulled by the exploitation of refilled mines and oil wells. Shortages of both staple foods and luxury items would persist for decades however. The partition of the Virgin Lands while not always amicable was conducted generally peacefully, a few exceptions being the aforementioned Israeli-Jordanian war and the American intervention in Guatemala. In almost every case each country bordering those disappeared got a chunk of new territory. Some areas were divided through negotiated treaties while others were split along terms effectively dictated by one country. A few countries which have made especially significant territorial gains are Morocco, Cameron, Finland, Ukraine, the EU*, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, India, Korea, and most of all the United States of America (more about them later).



The Israeli-Jordanian war was a product of confusion in Israel after the disappearance of the Golan heights (initially assumed to be an Arab invasion) and Jordan attempting to press the advantage to “liberate” the West Bank. Jordan incorrectly believed that Egypt would also attack and failed to properly coordinate with them. With the world being rather preoccupied the war played out to its conclusion, two weeks later Israel was fully back in control of the West Bank and occupying roughly a third of Jordan proper. The terms were harsh. Jordan recognized complete Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, all land west of the Jordan river and Dead Sea, committed to accepting and providing for any refugees from Israel, and granting those refugees citizenship and permanent residency in Jordan. After a further two months of occupation Israeli forces were withdrawn from Jordan. The West Bank was subsequently dissolved as an administrative entity and organized as part of Israel proper. Over 3/4 of Palestinians would end up fleeing to Jordan, most settling in the region of former Syria annexed.



The response to the absence of certain countries and the options available to their citizens overseas varied greatly, of the twelve only three were re-established. In most cases nationals of those countries overseas when the event happened were granted at least refugee status and in some cases as much as full citizenship wherever they were stranded. Also in most cases governments annexing territories made free land grants available to the former residents of those areas if they wanted to move back.

In Mexico and Brazil, smaller independent states in free association with the USA were re-established. Most of Mexico and half of Brazil were annexed as US territories. Guatemala was allowed by the USA to annex Chiapas after the new government took power while significant border regions of Brazil were annexed by every one of its former neighbours.

Former Algeria was partitioned in its entirety with border area concessions going to Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and Mali. Morocco took the interior as well as the remaining land of Western Sahara (with almost of the the population living in refugee camps in Algeria there was effectively no one left to dispute that) while France reclaimed the central coastal areas.

Nigeria is the great success story of the African Union, UN, and especially ICOJ. Contrary to expectations of violence over the resource rich Nigerian land Benin, Niger, and Cameroon established a temporary condominium to keep out foreign interference and submitted a case regarding its devision to The Hague. It’s ruling was accepted by all involved and Cameroon (which acquired the oil reserves) is one of the richest countries in Africa today.

Somalia was split between Ethiopia and Kenya (who’s Somali minorities have been restless as of late), with a relatively small American territory in Puntland.

Syria is an example of a devision of territory that was effectively dictated by one country. Turkey drew a line in the sand through the middle of Syria and threatened war on anyone who crossed north of it. Southern Syria was split three ways and Jordanian Syria is populated mainly with by Palestinians.

Russia, once the largest country in the world, no longer even the largest in Europe. Russia nowadays is a nearly landlocked rump state consisting of Moscow and a large stretch of thinly populated wilderness to the northeast. It was built from the ground up by European Union bureaucrats and populated mainly by Russians from the countries of the former USSR in Eastern Europe. Territorially former Russia was split up with Finish Karelia, St Petersburg, and a stretch of arctic coast, considerable eastern territories for Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus, large stretches of the south to both the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, a European Union joint territory straddling the Ural mountains and land east and finally Mongolia and the USA in Siberia and the Far East. Sakhalin went to Japan. The EU joint territory however has always been controversial and it will likely end up eventually ceded to Russia as sovereign territory, the German, French, etc. companies will always own the mines and oil wells though.

Afghanistan and Pakistan were missed by few, with India in particular rejoicing at their good fortune. They were split roughly down the middle between India and Iran, with small areas of north Afghanistan going to the Central Asian republics. Oman attempted to assert a historical claim to Gwadar but was refused.

The former PRC was partitioned 11 ways. Inner Mongolia and some other small border areas went to Mongolia which has seen a resurgence of the nomadic life style due to the abundance of open land. The Beijing region however is not integral Mongolian land but rather a dependency, providing important functions as Mongolia’s only port but not truly part of the country. About half of Xinjiang is controlled by the central asian countries. The bulk of the interior is Indian (Nepal is in a bit of a Lesotho situation), East Manchuria is American, and South Manchuria is Korean. Myanmar and Vietnam each annexed the nearest provinces to them and a bit more while the Philippines moved into the Pearl River Delta. China proper was allowed to reclaim the bulk of the Central-Eastern areas, everything between the Philippines and Mongolia. Taipei dropped their claims to the rest.

North Korea was reattached to South Korea.

Last but not least Indonesia, western New Guinea went to PNG and remains almost untouched wilderness with selling most of it to Australia to bail out their bankrupt country being seriously considered. Java, the Celebes, and the Moluccas Islands are all Australian territories, as is the southern half of Sumatra, the north being American to control the straits and keep an eye on Malaysia. Timor consists of the entire island and the Philippines snagged a few small archipelagos in the north. Malaysia has annexed the rest of Borneo and unfortunately embarked on an increasingly authoritarian path with worsening discrimination against its minorities cumulating in an American invasion in the late 2020’s. The young Malay-Bornean republic is much better though.



The United Nations was hit hard by the event, losing three security council members, two of them permanent with veto power, significant financial contributions coming from China, Brazil, and Russia and Peacekeeping troops in Pakistan and Syria. Those two security council seats remain empty with serious applications coming from Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada, and India. The present security council members the US, the UK, and France are in no hurry to expand their ranks, but India it threatening to force the issue. While the UN provided a forum for discussion regarding what to do after the event its official position of still recognizing all 12 of the disappeared as members for several years afterward tied its hands quite a bit. While the UN still does important work and there remain several ongoing peacekeeping missions in Africa it has lost some respect there and in Asia due to the complete western domination of the security council.



The European Union had to act fast. With Russia empty Europe needed to be in control of their resources (especially petrochemical) to keep their own economies functioning. A crash course integration of Belarus and the Ukraine was implemented with the Balkans being put on the back burner. Eventually though the EU did expand to encompass the balkans (and the caucuses) along with a few other expansions. While six other countries qualify for membership based on geography and several others could be admitted on cultural grounds of those only one (the UK) has any meaningful movement to join up and even that remains unlikely in the near future. Euro adoption is universal and a new pan-European military alliance has taken shape amongst the former NATO members. This alliance is run by the EU itself but not mandatory for members, sort of like the Euro used to be.



Perhaps of more interest to those reading would be the American reaction to the event. Many Americans interpreted the event as an act of god in their favour vanquishing their enemies from the face of the earth (ironically two of them are designated as major non NATO US allies). Yet many also challenge this interpretation, the US has no particular quarrel with (for example) Indonesia, yet Iran on the other hand remains. The American response to the event was (like most countries) to claim as much land as they could, but with an emphasis on worldwide military reach. Since then they have developed a desire to flex their muscles, invading by turn Guatemala, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Yemen to force regime changes and build democracies. Ironically it was the second term of the Trump administration that oversaw the deconstruction of the border walls and fences as America annexed most of former Mexico.



The Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO dropped the N) still exists but it’s makeup has changed significantly. Europe has withdrawn but some growth has been seen amongst African and Latin American states. Without any serious challengers to American hyper power status it’s largely a formality though.



While the fate of the “Disappearing Dozen” as they have come to be remembered had yet to be conclusively proven most leading scientists investigating the event believe that they were sent to a virgin world like the land they were replaced by, probably in a parallel dimension. Who or what caused the even remains a great unknown.



Nuclear map

Green = None
Red = Nukes
Yellow = In development or sharing

 

[BCATR]

The Missing Dozen
View attachment 451105

Nations disappeared on November 1st 2018:

Algeria, Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, North Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria,

View attachment 451104
(2046)



Pop stats: 1,416,970,134 + 143,955,855 + 25,652,601 + 202,107,294 + 36,370,000 + 267,758,248 + 18,289,498 + 15,328,554 + 197,524,968 + 42,244,197 + 211,409,621 + 131,309,871



Total: 2,708,920,841



November 2nd was a very bad day. The population had dropped overnight by 2.7 Billion people. Millions were left homeless and stateless. The world economy collapsed. Israel and Jordan went to war.



Eventually though a new normalcy took effect. A few months later countries were squabbling over the devision of “administrative duties” in the virgin land which de facto and later de jure conveyed the right to annex the territory. A few years later economies began to pull themselves out of depression, fulled by the exploitation of refilled mines and oil wells. Shortages of both staple foods and luxury items would persist for decades however. The partition of the Virgin Lands while not always amicable was conducted generally peacefully, a few exceptions being the aforementioned Israeli-Jordanian war and the American intervention in Guatemala. In almost every case each country bordering those disappeared got a chunk of new territory. Some areas were divided through negotiated treaties while others were split along terms effectively dictated by one country. A few countries which have made especially significant territorial gains are Morocco, Cameron, Finland, Ukraine, the EU*, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, India, Korea, and most of all the United States of America (more about them later).



The Israeli-Jordanian war was a product of confusion in Israel after the disappearance of the Golan heights (initially assumed to be an Arab invasion) and Jordan attempting to press the advantage to “liberate” the West Bank. Jordan incorrectly believed that Egypt would also attack and failed to properly coordinate with them. With the world being rather preoccupied the war played out to its conclusion, two weeks later Israel was fully back in control of the West Bank and occupying roughly a third of Jordan proper. The terms were harsh. Jordan recognized complete Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, all land west of the Jordan river and Dead Sea, committed to accepting and providing for any refugees from Israel, and granting those refugees citizenship and permanent residency in Jordan. After a further two months of occupation Israeli forces were withdrawn from Jordan. The West Bank was subsequently dissolved as an administrative entity and organized as part of Israel proper. Over 3/4 of Palestinians would end up fleeing to Jordan, most settling in the region of former Syria annexed.



The response to the absence of certain countries and the options available to their citizens overseas varied greatly, of the twelve only three were re-established. In most cases nationals of those countries overseas when the event happened were granted at least refugee status and in some cases as much as full citizenship wherever they were stranded. Also in most cases governments annexing territories made free land grants available to the former residents of those areas if they wanted to move back.

In Mexico and Brazil, smaller independent states in free association with the USA were re-established. Most of Mexico and half of Brazil were annexed as US territories. Guatemala was allowed by the USA to annex Chiapas after the new government took power while significant border regions of Brazil were annexed by every one of its former neighbours.

Former Algeria was partitioned in its entirety with border area concessions going to Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and Mali. Morocco took the interior as well as the remaining land of Western Sahara (with almost of the the population living in refugee camps in Algeria there was effectively no one left to dispute that) while France reclaimed the central coastal areas.

Nigeria is the great success story of the African Union, UN, and especially ICOJ. Contrary to expectations of violence over the resource rich Nigerian land Benin, Niger, and Cameroon established a temporary condominium to keep out foreign interference and submitted a case regarding its devision to The Hague. It’s ruling was accepted by all involved and Cameroon (which acquired the oil reserves) is one of the richest countries in Africa today.

Somalia was split between Ethiopia and Kenya (who’s Somali minorities have been restless as of late), with a relatively small American territory in Puntland.

Syria is an example of a devision of territory that was effectively dictated by one country. Turkey drew a line in the sand through the middle of Syria and threatened war on anyone who crossed north of it. Southern Syria was split three ways and Jordanian Syria is populated mainly with by Palestinians.

Russia, once the largest country in the world, no longer even the largest in Europe. Russia nowadays is a nearly landlocked rump state consisting of Moscow and a large stretch of thinly populated wilderness to the northeast. It was built from the ground up by European Union bureaucrats and populated mainly by Russians from the countries of the former USSR in Eastern Europe. Territorially former Russia was split up with Finish Karelia, St Petersburg, and a stretch of arctic coast, considerable eastern territories for Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus, large stretches of the south to both the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, a European Union joint territory straddling the Ural mountains and land east and finally Mongolia and the USA in Siberia and the Far East. Sakhalin went to Japan. The EU joint territory however has always been controversial and it will likely end up eventually ceded to Russia as sovereign territory, the German, French, etc. companies will always own the mines and oil wells though.

Afghanistan and Pakistan were missed by few, with India in particular rejoicing at their good fortune. They were split roughly down the middle between India and Iran, with small areas of north Afghanistan going to the Central Asian republics. Oman attempted to assert a historical claim to Gwadar but was refused.

The former PRC was partitioned 11 ways. Inner Mongolia and some other small border areas went to Mongolia which has seen a resurgence of the nomadic life style due to the abundance of open land. The Beijing region however is not integral Mongolian land but rather a dependency, providing important functions as Mongolia’s only port but not truly part of the country. About half of Xinjiang is controlled by the central asian countries. The bulk of the interior is Indian (Nepal is in a bit of a Lesotho situation), East Manchuria is American, and South Manchuria is Korean. Myanmar and Vietnam each annexed the nearest provinces to them and a bit more while the Philippines moved into the Pearl River Delta. China proper was allowed to reclaim the bulk of the Central-Eastern areas, everything between the Philippines and Mongolia. Taipei dropped their claims to the rest.

North Korea was reattached to South Korea.

Last but not least Indonesia, western New Guinea went to PNG and remains almost untouched wilderness with selling most of it to Australia to bail out their bankrupt country being seriously considered. Java, the Celebes, and the Moluccas Islands are all Australian territories, as is the southern half of Sumatra, the north being American to control the straits and keep an eye on Malaysia. Timor consists of the entire island and the Philippines snagged a few small archipelagos in the north. Malaysia has annexed the rest of Borneo and unfortunately embarked on an increasingly authoritarian path with worsening discrimination against its minorities cumulating in an American invasion in the late 2020’s. The young Malay-Bornean republic is much better though.



The United Nations was hit hard by the event, losing three security council members, two of them permanent with veto power, significant financial contributions coming from China, Brazil, and Russia and Peacekeeping troops in Pakistan and Syria. Those two security council seats remain empty with serious applications coming from Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada, and India. The present security council members the US, the UK, and France are in no hurry to expand their ranks, but India it threatening to force the issue. While the UN provided a forum for discussion regarding what to do after the event its official position of still recognizing all 12 of the disappeared as members for several years afterward tied its hands quite a bit. While the UN still does important work and there remain several ongoing peacekeeping missions in Africa it has lost some respect there and in Asia due to the complete western domination of the security council.



The European Union had to act fast. With Russia empty Europe needed to be in control of their resources (especially petrochemical) to keep their own economies functioning. A crash course integration of Belarus and the Ukraine was implemented with the Balkans being put on the back burner. Eventually though the EU did expand to encompass the balkans (and the caucuses) along with a few other expansions. While six other countries qualify for membership based on geography and several others could be admitted on cultural grounds of those only one (the UK) has any meaningful movement to join up and even that remains unlikely in the near future. Euro adoption is universal and a new pan-European military alliance has taken shape amongst the former NATO members. This alliance is run by the EU itself but not mandatory for members, sort of like the Euro used to be.



Perhaps of more interest to those reading would be the American reaction to the event. Many Americans interpreted the event as an act of god in their favour vanquishing their enemies from the face of the earth (ironically two of them are designated as major non NATO US allies). Yet many also challenge this interpretation, the US has no particular quarrel with (for example) Indonesia, yet Iran on the other hand remains. The American response to the event was (like most countries) to claim as much land as they could, but with an emphasis on worldwide military reach. Since then they have developed a desire to flex their muscles, invading by turn Guatemala, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Yemen to force regime changes and build democracies. Ironically it was the second term of the Trump administration that oversaw the deconstruction of the border walls and fences as America annexed most of former Mexico.



The Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO dropped the N) still exists but it’s makeup has changed significantly. Europe has withdrawn but some growth has been seen amongst African and Latin American states. Without any serious challengers to American hyper power status it’s largely a formality though.



While the fate of the “Disappearing Dozen” as they have come to be remembered had yet to be conclusively proven most leading scientists investigating the event believe that they were sent to a virgin world like the land they were replaced by, probably in a parallel dimension. Who or what caused the even remains a great unknown.



Nuclear map
View attachment 451103

Green = None
Red = Nukes
Yellow = In development or sharing

Geez... Iran got lucky.

 

[mdc_1957]

Here's another map-profile, partly to get myself back into the thick of things. The DeviantArt version can be found here.

This one, though is a cover of the classic and underrated Empire Earth series. More specifically, it's a combination of the future timelines of Empire Earth I, Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, Empire Earth II and Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy.

Originally developed by Stainless Steel Studios (and later on by Mad Doc Software, now Rockstar New England) the franchise was meant to be a rival to Age of Empires only to fall from grace with the third entry and slide into gaming oblivion outside of dedicated fans.

While I try my best to incorporate as many canon details as possible, I try also to make it as seamless, plausible and detailed as possible. Especially when the source material can either vague or VERY out there. And yes, the Latin at the end is from the first game's theme.

At any rate, and just to be sure, this is a work of fiction. This is not meant to be a political or ideological spiel. All rights belong to their respective owners.

That being said, hope you enjoy!

EDIT: Made some last-minute additions and corrections.

----

Empire Earth: Of Eagles and Machines
AD 2074​

The end of the Cold War should have been the end of history, or so quite a few pundits believed. It wasn't. Rather, it marked the start of a new era, one both like and unlike anything seen before.

The Soviet Union's downfall was a particularly messy affair. Yeltsin's promises of reform and renewal failed to materialise as lawlessness, corruption and apathy won out. The oligarchs and bureaucrats who succeeded him in quick succession seemingly did little to change that state of affairs. Yet in that malaise was born a man named Grigor Illyanich Stoyanovich. Born from poverty, surviving as a thug for the Russian Mafiya and becoming a political activist for the ultra-nationalist Ushi Party, he entered the 2018 elections as a candidate for the presidency only to be persecuted for myriad crimes. It was after this point, however, that this upstart firebrand left obscurity and into the limelight.

Eluding capture, Grigor managed to escape to Volgograd, where his Ushi Party supporters had managed to overthrow the local authorities. Winning over the local military garrisons and even swaying Ukrainian support, he launched several attacks on government loyalist forces, which soon sparked a full-blown revolution. In 2023, Moscow itself had fallen, and with it the Russian Federation. From the Kremlin and under the banner of a distorted Orthodox Cross, Grigor proclaimed the dawn of Novaya Russia. Through popular support, ruthless methods (which had earned him the nickname of "The Crocodile" back in his Mafiya days) and his Black Robes (serving as both police and the heart of a reformed military), he quickly consolidated power and established what could only be described as a Neo-Tsarist autocracy in all but name. While his actions quickly brought his fellow Russians back from the brink within a decade, it came a great price. Rumors began circulating of the country's newfound wealth coming from illegal trade and dealings with other authoritarian regimes. Throngs of dissidents and refugees were spreading tales of atrocities and terror, while rebel movements (led by remnants of the old establishment) persisted in the countryside. It certainly didn't help how the notorious firebrand constantly expressed a desire to not only surpass Stalin but Alexander the Great.

It was no surprise that Ukraine, sensing the danger, had already been forging alliances with the Scandinavian nations, the United Kingdom and a recently unified Europe by 2035, themselves eager to humiliate the Crocodile despite American calls for caution. Coincidentally, it would be the first target of an audacious invasion launched that very year. Citing both grievances against the Russian people and perceived treason, Grigor set his Black Robes forth upon his European foes, knowing too well that the United Nations would not intervene. Through a series of swift strikes and precision bombing campaigns, as well as the deployment of experimental, first-generation "Cybers," Novaya Russia triumped, managing to bring much of the Continent (with a few exceptions like Britain) under either its control or the closely-knit "Berlin Pact." Within a few years, the last of the old guard rebels left fighting surrendered. Thus, while it would take longer before his conquests could be fully secured, Grigor celebrated in achieving what his forefathers could have only dreamed about, but he craved more.

Even as he launched campaigns against the Middle East in the 2040s, however, he realized that his dreams of power couldn't be fulfilled in one lifetime. For all his powers as supreme autocrat, he knew it would be all for nought if those dreams ended with him. So he took extra steps in not only guaranteeing the Stoyanovich line's continued rule (through his son Grigor II) but also made a point to provide his heir an AI "advisor" and co-ruler with which to push Russian glory even further into the future. This proved sound for Grigor's legacy, as an uprising staged by disgruntled members of Novaya Russia's elite following his death in 2064 was thwarted thanks to that AI (since named "Molotov"). Indeed, the country now is as secure and ironclad as ever, its reach stretching from Siberia all the way (through proxies) to the jungles of Africa. While there are still those in the rebellious underground who long to overthrow the regime, few would dare defy the Black Robes or their divisions of Cybers.

Novaya Russia is not without rivals, however. Across the Atlantic, the United States of America still hold firm as a major world power. Despite the hefty economic and political blow dealt by Grigor's exploits, the US was able to rebound. Beyond simply building factories and re-invigorating a country in a way that either Roosevelt or Reagan could have imagined, within a generation it could once more proudly live up to being the defender of the Free World, helping support a sturdy network of allies (from the Brazlians and Australasians to the UK and Francophone remnants). By the 2050s, however, even while independently developing Cybers of their own (called HERCs), the American people grew more weary of escalating any armed response beyond what was deemed necessary to deter threats like the Stoyanovich line. This didn't sit well with some elements of the military-industrial complex, notably Gen. Charles Blackworth, who saw such sentiments even in the halls of government as a threat to their influence. Thus, defying orders to shut down "Project CENTRI" in 2058, he and his supporters set into motion one of the darkest conspiracies in American history, ironically in the name of guaranteeing their future defence. This culminated in a coup attempt in Washington, DC in 2063. Failing to assassinate President Martin Goodman and secure Congress, he and his now-renegate forces fled deep into the Amazon, where they continue to plot and evolve (further encouraged by discreet aid from Moscow). Yet even battered, America remains as confident and reslient as ever.

Then, there's the so-called African-Asian Sphere. The League of Asian Republics holds sway over much of the Far East, led by the prosperous United Chinese Federation (forged from the ashes of the People's Republic of China in 2029). And more specifically by Hu Kwan Do and his successors, who despite their democratic pretensions and reforms have fashioned themselves as a new Imperial Dynasty in all but name. Few would deny the tremendous efforts made to make China and the rest of the LAR as potent alternative to the Americans (complete with ambitious plans to colonize Mars), while fewer still would pretend that their vast armies and Cybers (supplied by a similarly powerful Japan) are an ample match of the Black Robes across the long border. In Africa, meanwhile, the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania rebelled against GloboCorp and its mercenaries. Forging the East African Union in 2035, the Maasai and their allies soon became a beacon of defiance against any would be participant in the new Great Game, inspiring other Africans to rise up and supporting proxy wars against either Novaya Russia's puppets or the other corporate-dominant states on the landmass.

Together, these seemingly disparate blocs could threaten Grigor's dreams. Though them working together is a relative rarity. More often than not, their on-and-off rivalries have made it easier for Novaya Russia to consolidate its power even further. On the other hand, the Americans' nuclear arsenal remains a clear and present danger, especially with all the enhanced upgrades done over the 21st Century. Not even the most refined cyborgs or reinforced Cybers can withstand a prolonged atomic exchang of global proportions. Meanwhile, the Chinese, East Africans and US are rumored to be developing some sort of experimental system known only as "Project CHRONOS," which seems to be some last-ditch deterrent in the event of another global war.

But the time may soon come when such a war becomes inevitable. Perhaps as soon as America's 300th Anniversary. Though who can say for certain? The destiny of the world is in the hands of eagles and machines. This is a time of statesmen, warriors and tyrants. As the Romans would have said...

Terra imperium
Terra imperium
Armipotentis
Hostilis
Formidabilis
Sanguinis
Aedifico
Exploro
Imperator
Supera
Terra tua
Terra tua.

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

This one, though is a cover of the classic and underrated Empire Earth series. More specifically, it's a combination of the future timelines of Empire Earth I, Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, Empire Earth II and Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy.

Oh, I played this for years!

I liked Empire Earth I better, to be honest. There, cyborgs were really, really useful - especially an army of Ares and Apollo Cyborgs! I also found Paladin really useful, Titan Bombers of course if you wanted to nuke something,...

 

[Planita13]

This may or may not be the beginnings of a new timeline, but I would like to explore this idea.

So there is a region called the Salton Sink in Southern California where a rather large region sits below sea level. Right now it contains the much smaller Salton Sea which was created by accident in the early 20th century. However in the past, the Colorado River once emptied directly into the Sink, creating a massive lake
. It last dried up in the 16th century when the Colorado River shifted from emptying into the lake.

The river naturally shifts its course through natural processes, but here I made a scenario where the Colorado continues to empty into the Salton Sea into the modern era. Now with technology we can build infrastructure to prevent it from draining directly into the ocean as per OTL.

 

[mdc_1957]

Oh, I played this for years!

I liked Empire Earth I better, to be honest. There, cyborgs were really, really useful - especially an army of Ares and Apollo Cyborgs! I also found Paladin really useful, Titan Bombers of course if you wanted to nuke something,...

That shit REALLY takes me back.

It's really a pity how that franchise went south with III.

 

[WheelyWheelyLegsNoFeely]

That shit REALLY takes me back.

It's really a pity how that franchise went south with III.

What made III so bad?

 

[mdc_1957]

What made III so bad?

III went for the exact opposite of II and made everything "simple." And by simple, I mean "dumbed down to the lowest common denominator as understood by stereotypical executives." Complete with bugs, horrible voice acting and just looking like a disgrace.

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

That shit REALLY takes me back.

It's really a pity how that franchise went south with III.

In Empire Earth II? I used to "invade" islands with a "fleet" of transporters. I always took some citizens with me, build some factories etc., and then produce soldiers, cavalry, tanks, artillery etc. pp. locally.
Was also a strategy of EE 1. Always take some citizens with you on an invasion. If there is a wall around a city, then build some facilities in "empty" terrain a bit outside of the wall.

Ideally, have enough citizens with you to upgrade a Siedlung (settlement?) to a city centre (in German Stadtzentrum). Then you can produce citizens locally, too.