Thomas27
Banned
I love it. It's both innovative and interesting and would deserve more development, like a short story / novella.
Map Thread XXI
- Thread starter fluttersky
- Start date
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Continuing with the time zone ISOTs, UTC-06:00, Central Time Zone.
UTC-06:00
Regions transported: Canada (central Nunavut, most of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, part of Ontario), United States (most of North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, part of Michigan, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, part of Indiana, most of Kansas, Missouri, western Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, western Tennessee, most of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida panhandle), Mexico (exc. northwestern states and Quintana Roo), Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador (Galápagos Islands), Chile (Easter Island)
In a flash, Canada was no more, replaced by the sovereign states of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the scattered communities of central Nunavut and northwestern Ontario, and vast areas of wilderness stretching from the Arctic to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Embracing their independence, Saskatchewan and Manitoba looked to the new wilderness to the west and east respectively, and while Regina saw vast rolling plains just waiting to be turned over to profitable agri-business, Winnipeg was faced with desolate taiga reachable beyond the isolated communities of what had been Ontario's Kenora and Rainy River districts. Thus while Saskatchewanians grew rich from grain and energy, Manitobans faced the issues of not only how to provide for themselves, but also their eastern and northern neighbours. Trade deals were therefore struck with Saskatchewan and the United States, while internally a new Nunavut government was created at Rankin Inlet, later officially changed to its Inuktitut rendering of Kangiqliniq, with similar administrations set up covering Kenora and Rainy River. As Manitoban settlement proceeded along the the Great Lakes' northern shores new municipalities were carved out of the western unincorporated areas. Inuit settlement similarly spread across the Arctic, and the decision was made in Winnipeg and Kangiqliniq for Nunavut to go it alone as the third nation to emerge from what had been Canada.
Manitoba's eastward settlement of the northern Great Lakes region however eventually met an irritating American shaped roadblock as the way to the St Lawrence River was stopped by the newly admitted US state of Niagara. While the land was technically terra nullis, and therefore open to American settlement, many Manitobans viewed it as rightfully theirs thanks to being Canadian prior to the Event. No matter how annoyed Manitoba was with the situation though, they recognised that any attempt to take the area would be a suicide mission.
For the United States, the years immediately following the Event were marked with widespread civil unrest with protests against issues old and new thanks to the painful economic effects and many Americans' feeling that their politicians were far too busy trying to make their city the new federal capital and not enough time actually listening to their concerns. With this backdrop, several groups advocating either complete separation from the United States or greater local control over own affairs. Finally after years of federal deadlock, a series of measures were passed reviving the idea of a "western DC" near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the construction of a new federal capital city to be named New Washington. The country was also divided into a number of regions which would act as a level of government between state and federal level to facilitate more local decision making, successfully placating most secessionist demands, with the notable exception of Texas.
The violence that unfortunately accompanied many of the protests faced by the United States, while longer lasting, paled in intensity to the full scale war which followed Guatemala's invasion of Belize, mounted in the hope of taking advantage of the unexpected global situation to secure their claim the majority of the country. As the fighting between the invaders and the Belizean defenders intensified, many civilians fled north Mexico where they were housed in camps set up in the southern half of what had been Quintana Roo. Military aid was also supplied the Belize by the Mexicans and Americans, helping to completely stall Guatemala's advance and bring them to the negotiating table. Although not completely reflective of the facts, a feeling that their bigger, more powerful neighbours had unjustly intervened in Central American affairs, and that further acts of "Mexican-American aggression" could follow, grew amongst Guatemalans and other central Americans that greater regional defence co-operation was needed to counter this threat leading to the formation of the Centroamerican Defence Pact.
While predictions of a Mexican attack proved false, the CDP nevertheless provided a nucleus for the acceleration of Central American integration, transforming into the Centroamerican Federation. The settlement of the area around Lake Maracaibo brought an oil boom the Centroamerican economy, and further expansion came with the admission of Ecuador. Discussion of expansion further south to Chile, Rapa Nui or even Mangareva crops up occasionally, however the south Pacific nations seem happy on their own and in any case, there is still ample unsettled land in the Caribbean and northern Andes much closer to home.
UTC-06:00
Regions transported: Canada (central Nunavut, most of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, part of Ontario), United States (most of North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, part of Michigan, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, part of Indiana, most of Kansas, Missouri, western Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, western Tennessee, most of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida panhandle), Mexico (exc. northwestern states and Quintana Roo), Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador (Galápagos Islands), Chile (Easter Island)
In a flash, Canada was no more, replaced by the sovereign states of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the scattered communities of central Nunavut and northwestern Ontario, and vast areas of wilderness stretching from the Arctic to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Embracing their independence, Saskatchewan and Manitoba looked to the new wilderness to the west and east respectively, and while Regina saw vast rolling plains just waiting to be turned over to profitable agri-business, Winnipeg was faced with desolate taiga reachable beyond the isolated communities of what had been Ontario's Kenora and Rainy River districts. Thus while Saskatchewanians grew rich from grain and energy, Manitobans faced the issues of not only how to provide for themselves, but also their eastern and northern neighbours. Trade deals were therefore struck with Saskatchewan and the United States, while internally a new Nunavut government was created at Rankin Inlet, later officially changed to its Inuktitut rendering of Kangiqliniq, with similar administrations set up covering Kenora and Rainy River. As Manitoban settlement proceeded along the the Great Lakes' northern shores new municipalities were carved out of the western unincorporated areas. Inuit settlement similarly spread across the Arctic, and the decision was made in Winnipeg and Kangiqliniq for Nunavut to go it alone as the third nation to emerge from what had been Canada.
Manitoba's eastward settlement of the northern Great Lakes region however eventually met an irritating American shaped roadblock as the way to the St Lawrence River was stopped by the newly admitted US state of Niagara. While the land was technically terra nullis, and therefore open to American settlement, many Manitobans viewed it as rightfully theirs thanks to being Canadian prior to the Event. No matter how annoyed Manitoba was with the situation though, they recognised that any attempt to take the area would be a suicide mission.
For the United States, the years immediately following the Event were marked with widespread civil unrest with protests against issues old and new thanks to the painful economic effects and many Americans' feeling that their politicians were far too busy trying to make their city the new federal capital and not enough time actually listening to their concerns. With this backdrop, several groups advocating either complete separation from the United States or greater local control over own affairs. Finally after years of federal deadlock, a series of measures were passed reviving the idea of a "western DC" near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the construction of a new federal capital city to be named New Washington. The country was also divided into a number of regions which would act as a level of government between state and federal level to facilitate more local decision making, successfully placating most secessionist demands, with the notable exception of Texas.
The violence that unfortunately accompanied many of the protests faced by the United States, while longer lasting, paled in intensity to the full scale war which followed Guatemala's invasion of Belize, mounted in the hope of taking advantage of the unexpected global situation to secure their claim the majority of the country. As the fighting between the invaders and the Belizean defenders intensified, many civilians fled north Mexico where they were housed in camps set up in the southern half of what had been Quintana Roo. Military aid was also supplied the Belize by the Mexicans and Americans, helping to completely stall Guatemala's advance and bring them to the negotiating table. Although not completely reflective of the facts, a feeling that their bigger, more powerful neighbours had unjustly intervened in Central American affairs, and that further acts of "Mexican-American aggression" could follow, grew amongst Guatemalans and other central Americans that greater regional defence co-operation was needed to counter this threat leading to the formation of the Centroamerican Defence Pact.
While predictions of a Mexican attack proved false, the CDP nevertheless provided a nucleus for the acceleration of Central American integration, transforming into the Centroamerican Federation. The settlement of the area around Lake Maracaibo brought an oil boom the Centroamerican economy, and further expansion came with the admission of Ecuador. Discussion of expansion further south to Chile, Rapa Nui or even Mangareva crops up occasionally, however the south Pacific nations seem happy on their own and in any case, there is still ample unsettled land in the Caribbean and northern Andes much closer to home.
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Emperor-of-New-Zealand
Kicked
I've been messing around with mapping again lately, just simple WorldA's. I have a few WIP's on the go, but this is a basic one I finished. Believe it or not, the premise is a Central Powers Victory, through a combination of American and Ottoman neutrality and other random factors I didn't put a whole lot of thought into. Immediately after the war, we would have seen the usual German-wank. Germany got their Mittelafrika, but through separate peace dealings they lost Tanganyika to Britain, Sudwestafrika to South Africa, their Asian territories to Japan, and their Pacific territories to New Zealand. They managed to regain Kamerun and Togoland from France, and also gained the Belgian Congo and Dahomey.
Thereafter, history happened. Various interventions in the Russian Civil War caused a bad economic collapse all over the world, resulting in - eventually - a German Civil War, and the collapse of Austria-Hungary along ethnic lines. The Russian Tsars wound up back in power in Kyiv, and formed an alliance out of ex-Russian states in the Caucasus for defence against the ultranationalist Russian Republic. The independent republics of Baden, Wurttemburg, and Bavaria are all more recent additions to the world map, via referendum.
Mittelafrika became the Central African Republic (the OTL Central African Republic is the Republic of Ubangi-Chari), and since independence it has developed into a prosperous, economically dominant force in Africa, with a strong democratic tradition. The peripheral states are members of the African Congress, basically an African EU with high standards of entry. What this implies is that all the members of the AC are very stable (although I didn't develop the idea much, South Africa for example avoided Apartheid and too much ethnic tension, and even interevened in the Rhodesian Race War - as nasty as it sounds).
On the flipside, the colonial empires never fully went away. Italy still controls Eritrea and the country is now around 30% Italian (and other European ethnic groups). France still has Cap Bon in Tunisia, Portugal still controls Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Cabinda, and Gambia is a constituent country of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain, Ireland, Newfoundland, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Guyana, Hong Kong, New Zealand*, Fiji, and the Overseas Territories (various islands)).
*Although New Zealand had dominion status at the POD, like all the dominions it had a referendum on whether to join the new 'federal' British Empire or go fully independent, and chose the former.
The year of the map is 2022. The Russian Republic has been amassing troops at the border of the Russian Empire (usually just called the Kyivan Empire, Ukrainian Empire, or Tsardom). Nusantra, which has been a one-party dictatorship since independence, is pushing into New Guinea and raining bombs on Darwin (Australia left the Commonwealth of Nations after a pretty nasty racial policy became internationally public, and is currently devoid of true allies, though arms and money is flooding in). Nuclear weapons also do exist, and are currently in the hands of the US, Peru-Bolivia (another historical fluke - there was a South American War in the 50's which saw Brazil get gut-punched by Peru and Venezuela and saw the return of Peru-Bolivia to the map), the UK, France, Germany, the CAR, Ottoman Empire, South Africa, Japan, Iran, and Nusantra.
Oh, and America is currently in the midst of a Second Civil War. Like in our world partisan tensions have been really bad, only here they're a lot worse; the war started after a left-wing political rally was attacked by a right-wing militia and a coup orchestrated at the same time, that was actually successful. The elected VP is now President, but there is also the other President. It looks like the Right is winning, but that isn't the case. Texas went "pox on both your houses" and declared independence, but is aligned with the Right and is pretty much a Christofascist hellhole (support for the democratically elected government is high in Texas, though). Everyone is nervous about how many fingers are potentially on how many buttons.
--
Take this all with a big spoonful of "sure". I never try too hard with scenarios, I just like to mess around with concepts and put them on a map. I don't believe 'plausibility' should be a reason not to do something; a lot of history is at times random and based on pure luck/flukes/nonsense. Also, as usual, I got burnt out before starting a key so there's no key.
Thereafter, history happened. Various interventions in the Russian Civil War caused a bad economic collapse all over the world, resulting in - eventually - a German Civil War, and the collapse of Austria-Hungary along ethnic lines. The Russian Tsars wound up back in power in Kyiv, and formed an alliance out of ex-Russian states in the Caucasus for defence against the ultranationalist Russian Republic. The independent republics of Baden, Wurttemburg, and Bavaria are all more recent additions to the world map, via referendum.
Mittelafrika became the Central African Republic (the OTL Central African Republic is the Republic of Ubangi-Chari), and since independence it has developed into a prosperous, economically dominant force in Africa, with a strong democratic tradition. The peripheral states are members of the African Congress, basically an African EU with high standards of entry. What this implies is that all the members of the AC are very stable (although I didn't develop the idea much, South Africa for example avoided Apartheid and too much ethnic tension, and even interevened in the Rhodesian Race War - as nasty as it sounds).
On the flipside, the colonial empires never fully went away. Italy still controls Eritrea and the country is now around 30% Italian (and other European ethnic groups). France still has Cap Bon in Tunisia, Portugal still controls Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Cabinda, and Gambia is a constituent country of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain, Ireland, Newfoundland, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Guyana, Hong Kong, New Zealand*, Fiji, and the Overseas Territories (various islands)).
*Although New Zealand had dominion status at the POD, like all the dominions it had a referendum on whether to join the new 'federal' British Empire or go fully independent, and chose the former.
The year of the map is 2022. The Russian Republic has been amassing troops at the border of the Russian Empire (usually just called the Kyivan Empire, Ukrainian Empire, or Tsardom). Nusantra, which has been a one-party dictatorship since independence, is pushing into New Guinea and raining bombs on Darwin (Australia left the Commonwealth of Nations after a pretty nasty racial policy became internationally public, and is currently devoid of true allies, though arms and money is flooding in). Nuclear weapons also do exist, and are currently in the hands of the US, Peru-Bolivia (another historical fluke - there was a South American War in the 50's which saw Brazil get gut-punched by Peru and Venezuela and saw the return of Peru-Bolivia to the map), the UK, France, Germany, the CAR, Ottoman Empire, South Africa, Japan, Iran, and Nusantra.
Oh, and America is currently in the midst of a Second Civil War. Like in our world partisan tensions have been really bad, only here they're a lot worse; the war started after a left-wing political rally was attacked by a right-wing militia and a coup orchestrated at the same time, that was actually successful. The elected VP is now President, but there is also the other President. It looks like the Right is winning, but that isn't the case. Texas went "pox on both your houses" and declared independence, but is aligned with the Right and is pretty much a Christofascist hellhole (support for the democratically elected government is high in Texas, though). Everyone is nervous about how many fingers are potentially on how many buttons.
--
Take this all with a big spoonful of "sure". I never try too hard with scenarios, I just like to mess around with concepts and put them on a map. I don't believe 'plausibility' should be a reason not to do something; a lot of history is at times random and based on pure luck/flukes/nonsense. Also, as usual, I got burnt out before starting a key so there's no key.
question, what did use use as reference material? And is it accurate?
I feel like some I might've made some of these states a little too small, like could they even exist as functioning nations?
Also, I'm not sure what to do with the striped area. Thoughts?
The ones in the Sahara look like a few oases and the surrounding area and might have a few thousand people at most. Some of the ones in northern Cameroon/northeast Nigeria are probably also too small. Probably just a few tens of thousands of people, most of whom are traditionally nomadic pastoralists. The other Nigerian ones are fine since they correspond to what theoretically could be an actual precolonial state. Same thing with the North African ones.
The striped area includes some of the most empty parts of the Sahara. Generally nobody ruled the Sahara, but trade and occasional military force kept the native Tuaregs peaceful most of history. Incorporating them into a state/colonial system like the French or later the postcolonial states has generally gone poorly.
sorry for the third reply, you shouldn't have just copied the original world-m version. the GIMP version is of a slightly narrower projection and doesn't completely line up roperly with the worlda version. I've already did comarisons on MS paint and still found the discrepancies.
Thoughts and Comments?
Alright, to make things clear, the reason why im asking for antarctica to be filled into the worlda map is becase i just want a custom version of antarctica at 500m sea level rise in worlda format.
the middle lower map.
Mockup using the world-M topographical map
I hope this cleared things up a bit
the middle lower map.
Mockup using the world-M topographical map
I hope this cleared things up a bit
And QuantumBranching seems to be the one capable of making such alternate versions of Antarctica. I've seen it in some of his maps and I wish i could make this request.
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Depends on the time. What is the context for this map?
Very interesting to learn about. The map has a very encyclopedic feel (1) to it that works well with the scenario.
(1) The topographic map is particularly aesthetically pleasing.
Are you using the SUCK color scheme? Good to see Burgundy existing & empire-ing and not-Morocco controlling Algeria & Tunisia is different too. I hope the American Little People don't get totally overrun by the Elfin.
Is there a reason it's called Garnata in the map but Granada throughout the description?Historically, Isabella I during her early years pursued a surprisingly pro-Moorish policy. The growing joint Moorish-Castillian disdain for Moroccan & Berber ambitions in Iberia had united the two old foes diplomatically from 1474 - 1478, especially considering Granada supported Isabella in the War of Castillian Succession. In 1477, Isabella I made the proposal that Granada become a part of Castille, as an official autonomous 'Duchy', with the Emirs of Granada holding the hereditary right of the Dukedom and that islam would be legal within the autonomous duchy. Historically, this proposal was refused with a fiery reply sent to Isabella from Granada. But what if against all expectations, Emir Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada accepted this generous offer in the face of inevitability? In 1480, Granada joins the royal union of Castille-Aragon as an autonomous region, and was *mostly* happy to side with the growing empire until the early 1800s when Napoleon came knocking. The utter shambolic state of the Spanish military meant that Granada fell under French authority without a fight. Taking matters into his own hands, Emir Muhammad XVII revolted against French rule, and with aid from the British aided Wellington in the Peninsular War. After said war however, Emir Muhammad XVII refused to return to Spanish rule, and from 1814 - 1823, the 9 year long Granadan War of Independence took place, which saw Granada gain full independence from the Spaniards, cementing its modern history. It took a minor role in the Rae for Africa, taking the small strip of northern Moroccan territory. Today it is a mildly prosperous nation and is a part of the European Union.
Thoughts and Comments?
Feel free to contact Quantum Branching; This is his DAAlright, to make things clear, the reason why im asking for antarctica to be filled into the worlda map is becase i just want a custom version of antarctica at 500m sea level rise in worlda format.
the middle lower map.
Mockup using the world-M topographical map
I hope this cleared things up a bit
Meantime, this is my last try to give you what you want.
any map will be an interpretation, to get EXACTLY what you want YOU are going to have to put in the time and work.
The striped area looks like a solid base for a Tuareg state. What's up with Nigeria?
Cross-posting from the MotF challenge. As always, comments, questions, anything really, welcomed!
So... I'll admit the background on this one might have overshadowed the maps, but honestly, once I got done with the research and math needed to make this map happen, I was far too excited about the lore not to talk about it, and besides electoral maps are difficult to make exciting.
Trying to find decent party politics in Saudi Arabia was an interesting challenge, considering how... inexistent politics are in the country. I tried my best, considering religious, demographic and political dynamics, and using for inspiration places like Egypt and Iraq. I wanted for sure a stupidly large multi-party democracy, with all kinds of radicalisms coexisting in it, and I think I succeeded in that one, even if I have less parties than in either Egypt or Iraq. Because reality has the possibility to out-crazy fiction, I suppose.
I think this is a rather interesting scenario, even if it's difficult to map out, for various reasons.
By 2032, it was becoming clear that something about Saudi Arabia had to change. Specifically, it was the “Saudi” part of it. The House of Saud had become a symbol of everything that had been wrong and archaic about the country: the despotic absolutism no longer tolerable, the religious fanaticism too oppressive, the petroeconomics no longer feasible and the use and disposal of migrant workers like a sanitary mask no longer maintaining the wheels running on the decaying State.
Now, that is not to say that reform had not been attempted; to say so would be a disservice to King Mohammad who, since his days as Crown Prince, had spearheaded valiant efforts to reform and modernise the country, most importantly through his Saudi Vision 2030 program, meant to diversify the economy, develop public services and promote a better image of the kingdom. The problem was that 2030 had come and gone and the end result of Saudi Vision was… well, not a complete failure, but not particularly impressive either, with the country still lagging behind in modernisation.
So, as if a portent from God Himself, it was when King Mohammad died in Riyadh, leaving his son to succeed him as Salman II, a reign that lasted for five days before falling victim to a palace coup to impose his brother Abdulaziz on the throne, kickstarting the Saudi succession crisis, a brief yet bloody affair that ended with an octogenarian cousin to be made King, in the merit of not arising great passions out of anyone as king.
That proved to be a fatal mistake. The monarchy, already shaken in its popular support, just lost it all as King Mohammad died, his eldest son was couped for another to be used as a puppet, only to then have both of them replaced by a man whose only merit was having no base of support whatsoever. King Mohammad had had, for all his faults, a wide base of support he had built around himself, but by the end, the Saudi monarchy was for them no longer the institution of King Mohammad, but the institution that had probably killed him and then usurped his heir. The façade of legitimacy had fallen.
The first to rise up were, as usual, the Shias, once again contesting the discrimination they still faced in their own country, in the Eastern Province and in the southern regions. The women followed, using International Woman’s Day as a reason to push to the streets themselves and demand full rights once and for all. Soon enough, members of the middle and upper classes were calling for liberal reforms, for elections, for a constitution. Even in the Armed Forces there were talks of mutiny and coup.
The House of Saud and its regime might have survived all of that, and the Revolution might have been quelled yet, if the expatriate workers, the immense masses of migrant peoples, coming from all over Asia and Africa, being worked in exploitation by the Saudi upper class, making by themselves the bulk of the actual working class in the country, had not risen up for their own demands, putting the Saudi economy on a standstill and nailing the coffin of the monarchy, once and for all.
The coup was quick and painless, with most of the royal house having been able to read the writing on the wall and fled to their properties overseas, ready to spend life living off the offshore wealth their dynasty had accumulated. The old king was kept in comfortable home arrest, until dying peacefully in his sleep. A military junta reigned in his place, promising reforms and elections, but first demanding for order to be restored. This was easier said than done, as many of the peoples who had risen up were not ready to lay down their arms so easy. And so, after some shuffling around of some more conservative elements within the junta, concessions were indeed made, including
Giving citizenship rights to all immigrants working in Arabia during the Revolution, including giving them full voting rights
The last point shocked the world but, after weeks of strikes spearheaded by migrant workers who, having suffered the most during the revolutionary upheaval, were now being threatened to return to the precarious oppression of before, it had become a necessity to ensure the restoration of a semblance of order. Of course, the new regime still had to deal with daily sectarian attacks and the occasional mutiny, and as mass political parties came into being, partisan attacks as well, but at least they survived, surprising most of the world, including themselves, by managing to avoid a full-blown civil war to fall upon the country.
Much of this was due to, above all, a remarkable display of tact on their part. The military presented themselves as a caretaker force to hold the country together until proper elections could be held, and one that avoided to make any more political decisions than those already won by the people in the streets. The Hejazi flag of the Arab Revolt, from the 1910s, was dusted off and made to replace the Saudi flag, by then deemed the essence of despotism. As for the name of the country, obviously “Kingdom” and “Saudi” had to go. But what would take their place? Would they be a “Republic”? An “Arab Republic”? An “Islamic Republic”? A “People’s Republic”? A “Democratic Republic”? A “Democratic People’s Republic”? A “People’s Islamic Republic”? The options were endless and the opinions ran high. To avoid offending anyone, a clever mind within the junta came up with the solution of being “Arabia” only, for the time being, and let the elected delegates deal with the formalities.
When political parties started forming, the Junta ensured cooperation with them, holding regular meetings with prominent leaders to discuss policy decisions and have some consensus during the most difficult of times. The parties gradually emerging from the dust of Riyadh were,
After meeting with the various political parties and scoping their opinions and negotiating for a common ground, or at least something as common as possible (forbidding every non-Sunni citizen from voting as the Caliphate Party wanted would by necessity be incompatible with the Hizbollah’s demand to forbid every non-Shia citizen from voting, for example), it was decided that 360 delegates would be elected from the people, 180 of them from party lists elected on a province level, and 180 others on candidatures (by list or independently, if they so preferred) based on the governorates. The point was to allow as much geographic diversity as possible, although some were quick to point out the imbalances this system created.
Ultimately, the results of the election were that of a nation still looking for its new identity. Besides the Toilers’ Party, that could count with the support of the large expatriate community (but with very little support from Arabs), no party went beyond the 15% mark for voting. The results also differed greatly from the two electoral methods: Toilers got 73, or around 40%, of the province-level delegates, but only 39, around 22%, of governorate-level delegates, as both the overrepresentation of smaller, more Arab towns, and the strategic voting of Arabs to prevent the victory of a Toilers’ plurality, contributed to their lower numbers.
No clear majority emerged from the election, even if ultimately, a minority coalition of liberal secular and moderate religious parties managed to create an unstable government, that nevertheless needed occasional Toilers support to see its programs pass. Democracy in Arabia was flourishing for sure, but it was nevertheless as fragile as a flower
Now, that is not to say that reform had not been attempted; to say so would be a disservice to King Mohammad who, since his days as Crown Prince, had spearheaded valiant efforts to reform and modernise the country, most importantly through his Saudi Vision 2030 program, meant to diversify the economy, develop public services and promote a better image of the kingdom. The problem was that 2030 had come and gone and the end result of Saudi Vision was… well, not a complete failure, but not particularly impressive either, with the country still lagging behind in modernisation.
So, as if a portent from God Himself, it was when King Mohammad died in Riyadh, leaving his son to succeed him as Salman II, a reign that lasted for five days before falling victim to a palace coup to impose his brother Abdulaziz on the throne, kickstarting the Saudi succession crisis, a brief yet bloody affair that ended with an octogenarian cousin to be made King, in the merit of not arising great passions out of anyone as king.
That proved to be a fatal mistake. The monarchy, already shaken in its popular support, just lost it all as King Mohammad died, his eldest son was couped for another to be used as a puppet, only to then have both of them replaced by a man whose only merit was having no base of support whatsoever. King Mohammad had had, for all his faults, a wide base of support he had built around himself, but by the end, the Saudi monarchy was for them no longer the institution of King Mohammad, but the institution that had probably killed him and then usurped his heir. The façade of legitimacy had fallen.
The first to rise up were, as usual, the Shias, once again contesting the discrimination they still faced in their own country, in the Eastern Province and in the southern regions. The women followed, using International Woman’s Day as a reason to push to the streets themselves and demand full rights once and for all. Soon enough, members of the middle and upper classes were calling for liberal reforms, for elections, for a constitution. Even in the Armed Forces there were talks of mutiny and coup.
The House of Saud and its regime might have survived all of that, and the Revolution might have been quelled yet, if the expatriate workers, the immense masses of migrant peoples, coming from all over Asia and Africa, being worked in exploitation by the Saudi upper class, making by themselves the bulk of the actual working class in the country, had not risen up for their own demands, putting the Saudi economy on a standstill and nailing the coffin of the monarchy, once and for all.
The coup was quick and painless, with most of the royal house having been able to read the writing on the wall and fled to their properties overseas, ready to spend life living off the offshore wealth their dynasty had accumulated. The old king was kept in comfortable home arrest, until dying peacefully in his sleep. A military junta reigned in his place, promising reforms and elections, but first demanding for order to be restored. This was easier said than done, as many of the peoples who had risen up were not ready to lay down their arms so easy. And so, after some shuffling around of some more conservative elements within the junta, concessions were indeed made, including
- Abolition of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and end of persecution on the basis of religious practice
- Lifting many of the restrictions on women’s rights and promising full suffrage for women in the upcoming elections
- Lifting freedom of speech and assembly restrictions, allowing for the publishing of books, pamphlets and newspapers without restriction
- Allowing for the free formation of political parties
- Immediate release of all political prisoners
Giving citizenship rights to all immigrants working in Arabia during the Revolution, including giving them full voting rights
The last point shocked the world but, after weeks of strikes spearheaded by migrant workers who, having suffered the most during the revolutionary upheaval, were now being threatened to return to the precarious oppression of before, it had become a necessity to ensure the restoration of a semblance of order. Of course, the new regime still had to deal with daily sectarian attacks and the occasional mutiny, and as mass political parties came into being, partisan attacks as well, but at least they survived, surprising most of the world, including themselves, by managing to avoid a full-blown civil war to fall upon the country.
Much of this was due to, above all, a remarkable display of tact on their part. The military presented themselves as a caretaker force to hold the country together until proper elections could be held, and one that avoided to make any more political decisions than those already won by the people in the streets. The Hejazi flag of the Arab Revolt, from the 1910s, was dusted off and made to replace the Saudi flag, by then deemed the essence of despotism. As for the name of the country, obviously “Kingdom” and “Saudi” had to go. But what would take their place? Would they be a “Republic”? An “Arab Republic”? An “Islamic Republic”? A “People’s Republic”? A “Democratic Republic”? A “Democratic People’s Republic”? A “People’s Islamic Republic”? The options were endless and the opinions ran high. To avoid offending anyone, a clever mind within the junta came up with the solution of being “Arabia” only, for the time being, and let the elected delegates deal with the formalities.
When political parties started forming, the Junta ensured cooperation with them, holding regular meetings with prominent leaders to discuss policy decisions and have some consensus during the most difficult of times. The parties gradually emerging from the dust of Riyadh were,
- Al-Sahwa Al-Islamiyya, most commonly known as Sahwa, the inheritor of an old reformist tendency in Arabia, originating in the 1950s and 60s from Muslim Brotherhood exiles fleeing Egypt. They had flourished until the 1990s, when opposition to American presence in “holy land” had led to their curbing by the Saudi regime. Nevertheless, their movement had kept its influence over an educated, Islamic-minded youth, with great presence in social media. The movement would with time lean towards Sururism, the trend of combining “the organisational methods and political worldview of the Muslim Brotherhood with the theological puritanism of Wahhabism”. The members of Sahwa participated in the Revolution, welcoming the political reforms that came with the fall of the House of Saud, but nevertheless are sternly opposed to the more secularising measures they fear might take place, and the lifting of modesty laws on women
- National Assembly, the true inheritor of the liberal tendency under the Saudi regime, was built over several generations of urbanite, intellectual families of the Arab bourgeoisie, who had long clamoured for liberalisation and democratisation of their society, and pushed for peaceful reform to this effect, serving the role of a perennial loyal opposition. Ultimately, the Revolution had to take care of what reform couldn’t, and the liberals mostly served as cheerleaders for the Revolution, calling for a peaceful solution and for the regime to stand down. With the military takeover, the liberals quickly began working to form a political party and pushing the junta to ensure democratic rights. National Assembly runs on a message of constitutionally enshrining the conquests of the Revolution, to modernise the country and establish a healthy liberal democracy in lines similar to Europe, hoping that such a program would serve to restore peace to the country and finally bring freedom and prosperity to Arabia
- Future Alliance, a more loosely-knit coalition than most, that serves to represent the leadership of the military junta as they attempt to continue to have a role in politics after democratic handover. The Alliance runs on a platform of law and order, promising a new republican system capable of bringing prosperity to Arabia and ridding it of the sectarian tensions that have been plaguing it. Its leaders and candidates (many of them running as independents) enjoy a good deal of support for their role in overthrowing the Saudi regime, despite suffering from being an army of generals without soldiers, with each candidate having his own program, often incoherent with that of the Alliance, that of other candidates and even incoherent within itself. Generally, the party is also favourable to having closer relationships with fellow Arabic states, in particular Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, in some cases going so far as to be accused of Nasserism or Baathism
- Party of Hope, formed by the cleric leadership of the Shia community, who had been the first to take to the streets in what would become the Revolution once the rest of the country joined them there. Having always been great opponents of the Saudi regime, which had treated its Shia subjects as second-class citizens, they had already risen during the First Arab Spring, only to be crushed, and now rose again, to be successful in their cause. The Party of Hope was built following the ideals of Nimr al-Nimr, an advocate for Shia interests, for Islamic democracy and for non-violence. He had been very popular among the youth and his ideals survived him to be enshrined in the Party of Hope. You’ll hear its opponents claiming it is a puppet of Iran, but that could not be farthest from the truth: in fact, the Party of Hope is quite possibly one of the most unabashedly pro-American parties running in the election, claiming kinship in the American ideals of liberty and justice
- Hizbollah Al-Hijaz, or just Hizbollah, being precisely everything its Sunni detractors accuse the Party of Hope of being, is a sister-organization of the similar groups, present in Lebanon and other countries, violently seeking Shia supremacy in the country and being backed by Iran’s own regime. A militant group active since the 1980s, the group had been accused of carrying out several terrorist attacks and had been responsible for much of the Saudi-Iran tension. With the fall of the regime, the group had become active once again, using the newfound freedoms of the country to legalize itself, much to the dismay of the liberal groups who had wanted to prevent extremist organizations from arising. The group competes with the Party of Hope for support among the Shia youth, recruiting them not just as voters, but as militants for an organization that, despite competing in democratic elections, is prepared to act by force when the time comes to reclaim their power
- Women’s Coalition, the inheritor of the feminist movement that existed during the Saudi regime and that successfully, and with great effort, carried out several movements for their rights, such as the women to drive movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign. “The most organised and articulate civil society” under the Saudi regime, feminists took an important role in the Revolution, such as the 8 March demonstrations that spread the protests from the Eastern Province to throughout the country. The Coalition was built by the various feminist groups formed before or during the Revolution, to coordinate their efforts nationally and to campaign for women’s presence in the new democracy. It suffers somewhat from being a one-issue party that struggles to agree on a common program on other points, and even within women’s issues faces internal divisions
- Najran Front, representing the Ismaili community present in the Najran region, a community with its special interests and that the Saudi regime had long mistreated. There were attempts by the Party of Hope to insert the Ismaili Shia in their party, but ultimately the community decided to stand on its own, creating the Najran Front to organise themselves and represent them in the democratic institutions of the country
- Believing Youth, often called Houthis, although they detest the use of that name, represent the Zaydis in southern Arabia, who, after being harshly persecuted and having their brethren across the border in Yemen victimised in a Saudi-led coalition war, stood once again during the Revolution to reclaim the rights that had been taken from them. Still upholding many of the values of the original Houthis, the Believing Youth has nonetheless worked towards creating a truly anti-sectarian movement working towards building a country where Sunni and Shia can live together. At least some of its members have, others have taken up arms again, ready to strike when needed
- Liberation Movement, a political association meant to represent the Sufi practitioners in the country against the violence posed by other groups. Sufism had long been persecuted by the Saudi regime, leading its followers to welcome the Revolution as freeing them from their oppression. The Movement leans somewhat to the left, encouraging social activism from its members and for State support for the impoverished in Arabia, although there are also more conservative Sufis whose views are accepted for the sake of unity
- Caliphate Party, the legalised branch of the Hizb ut-Tahrir transnational movement, yet another party whose legalisation befuddled the liberal centre. Openly dedicated to the establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate and the worldwide application of Islamic law, the fact that it was decided open elections would be a feasible and coherent way of achieving this has perplexed many, including its own members, although the party does also run the typical militia operations as far as the military allows them
- Lions of Arabia, formed by the Afro-Arab community of the country, the descendants of the slaves carried from East Africa to serve Arab masters and that, centuries later, remain discriminated against in almost all spheres of life. The community’s leadership centred on imams, the highest post one could hope to achieve when born with black skin, but nevertheless, the social challenges faced by their community has shaped the party into being pretty left-leaning on social matters, essentially embodying an Islamic socialist doctrine. That, combined with some pan-African tendencies from its members, as led to, of all books, Gaddafi’s Green Book to be a popular reading and symbol among party militants of the most radical kind, leading to rather interesting conversations within party circles
- Toilers’ Party, the heir of the militant organisations of migrant workers that were formed during the Revolution and that were able to spark their members into massive strikes that paralysed the country and forced the Saudi regime to surrender at last. Long treated as little more than slaves, as disposable machines to be used, abused and shipped back home, the workers of a plethora of nations have now fought for and won the freedom of the Arabian people. Coming from all over South Asia and Africa, in particular India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, and made up of Muslims, Hindus and Christians, the party represents these New Men, who demand full rights, better working conditions and a sharing of the country’s natural wealth that benefits them too. Certainly, having the most left-wing program and the most agitated base, the party leadership is nevertheless rather moderate and willing to collaborate with liberal secular parties to make positive change possible. Nevertheless, the old chauvinism of Arab society has been proving too stubborn to allow the party to go beyond expatriates to build a truly universal workers’ party in Arabia, and it seems likely this will also make collaboration in governments with other, Arab-led parties, difficult, even among the liberal ones, that try to keep their distance from the Toilers’ Party
- Vision¸ the party that essentially serves to represent those for whom the late Saudi regime, in particular the reign of King Mohammad and the attempts from Vision 2030… were actually good for. The program might have failed in its generality, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t have its successes, and that those successes did not inspire loyalty. The militants of Vision are the generation of Arabians who were liberals when they were students, only to abandon liberalism and become supporters of King Mohammed when he was Crown Prince and started implementing reforms. Ostensibly monarchist, the party has been losing that particular character and has become accepting of the liberalisation efforts, and focuses instead on ensuring these don’t mean reforms straying too much from the economic order set by King Mohammad and Vision 2030. They went economic reform, but in a way that implies infrastructure modernisation and diversification, not really one that implies more equality and higher taxes
- Arabia First, also composed of King Mohammad fans, but these were never liberal to begin with, nor did they care so much about his economic reforms as much as his sponsoring of a Saudi nationalist identity that strayed away from classical Islamist thought or from pan-Arab nationalism. They are fierce supporters of Saudi restoration, as they identify themselves as Saudi, subjects of that house, and fear the Revolution will dilute that, a fear that the massive granting of citizenship to expatriate workers has only fuelled. They are the most aggressively anti-expatriate party, with its militants often conducting attacks against prominent leaders of the Toilers’ Party and other expatriate organisations
After meeting with the various political parties and scoping their opinions and negotiating for a common ground, or at least something as common as possible (forbidding every non-Sunni citizen from voting as the Caliphate Party wanted would by necessity be incompatible with the Hizbollah’s demand to forbid every non-Shia citizen from voting, for example), it was decided that 360 delegates would be elected from the people, 180 of them from party lists elected on a province level, and 180 others on candidatures (by list or independently, if they so preferred) based on the governorates. The point was to allow as much geographic diversity as possible, although some were quick to point out the imbalances this system created.
Ultimately, the results of the election were that of a nation still looking for its new identity. Besides the Toilers’ Party, that could count with the support of the large expatriate community (but with very little support from Arabs), no party went beyond the 15% mark for voting. The results also differed greatly from the two electoral methods: Toilers got 73, or around 40%, of the province-level delegates, but only 39, around 22%, of governorate-level delegates, as both the overrepresentation of smaller, more Arab towns, and the strategic voting of Arabs to prevent the victory of a Toilers’ plurality, contributed to their lower numbers.
No clear majority emerged from the election, even if ultimately, a minority coalition of liberal secular and moderate religious parties managed to create an unstable government, that nevertheless needed occasional Toilers support to see its programs pass. Democracy in Arabia was flourishing for sure, but it was nevertheless as fragile as a flower
So... I'll admit the background on this one might have overshadowed the maps, but honestly, once I got done with the research and math needed to make this map happen, I was far too excited about the lore not to talk about it, and besides electoral maps are difficult to make exciting.
Trying to find decent party politics in Saudi Arabia was an interesting challenge, considering how... inexistent politics are in the country. I tried my best, considering religious, demographic and political dynamics, and using for inspiration places like Egypt and Iraq. I wanted for sure a stupidly large multi-party democracy, with all kinds of radicalisms coexisting in it, and I think I succeeded in that one, even if I have less parties than in either Egypt or Iraq. Because reality has the possibility to out-crazy fiction, I suppose.
I think this is a rather interesting scenario, even if it's difficult to map out, for various reasons.
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