MotF 129: Into the Black Hole

[Krall]

Into the Black Hole


The Challenge
Make a map showing a dystopian country.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me.

Please try to keep images posted in this thread a reasonable size - feel free to post a smaller version of your image and provide link to a full-size version if you want to.

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This round has been extended; the entry period for this round shall now end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday the 27th of December.

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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.

Remember to vote on the previous round of MotF!​

 

[Upvoteanthology]

"The "State of Jersey" was founded in 2376, shortly after the fall of the United States. It was originally a democracy, supposedly in a total war dictatorship due to the apocalypse occurring in North America at the time. From the mid-2500's to the late-2600's (the exact dates are not known due to the poor records given by Jersey itself), Jersey was a member state of the Atlantic Union, but broke away under conservative rebels. As time went on, Jersey (haven had their northern lands taken away from them) slowly grew more autocratic. After the full-on rebellion of "Autonomous Zone #1" (now Rehabilitation Zone 1), Jersey was forced to use banned technology to keep its people in line. Mind wiping technology was used to delete the rebels of their human instincts, dumping the empty shells in Luddite Reserves.

Throughout the 2900's, Jerseyians were allowed to visit these reserves for entertainment, to watch the humans behaving like animals. As the fourth millennium rolled around, Jersey began to implement a system of laws to keep rebellions from occurring. They joined the Strength in Technology Pact (a union of states arguably more corrupt than Jersey is), promising them strength against their many, much more powerful, democratic neighbors. Towns were built for the upper class, while the proles were neglected. The lower class systematically had their consciousness removed, being mentally conditioned from birth to accept the government. Those who were resistant were either put in interment camps (along with Italians and Blacks), or had their minds wiped and were stuck in the Luddite Reserves.

The government itself became heavily robotized, with the humans themselves being programmed to follow a set list of rules. Progress and change was not allowed, and the few new technologies adopted were used to punish the dissidents. By 3400, Jersey had removed any sign of rebellion from inside the nation, and they used their technology on the few tourists who decided to enter the country. This map, put out in 3500, was intercepted by Wajeruian troops stationed in New York. This propaganda map, showing Jersey as a mighty power and leader of their STP, is quite false. They do not show the sheer strength and power of New York, and create the existence of mythical Delmarva (which is a member state of the New United States, not even shown on the map). While the Strength in Technology Pact is arguably the "enemy" of today's world, it's important to see why these autocratic nations have so much internal support.

- National Geographic, 3500 A.D.

Full Map Here

 

[shiftygiant]

Khokkaydo People's Republic
​

The Khokkaydo People's Republic is a country in East Asia, located on the Northern Island of Hokkaido/Khokkaydo on the Japanese archipelago. Initally the Province of Hokkaido in the Japanese Empire, the Island and Northern Honshu were invaded by the Soviet Union during the Allied Invasion of the Home Landings, the sudden invasion and conquest of Hokkaido in less than half a week generally indicated to be the reason of Japanese capitulation to the Allies. Following the Tokyo Agreement, the Soviet Union retreated across the Tsugaru strait with thousands of Japanese Communists and POW's, founding the Khokkaydo People's Republic on April 4th, 1948, under the leadership of the first Chairman Secretary Kyuichi Tokuda (1948-1953),

The first of the New Japanese States (alongside the Republic of Japan, Okinawa Federation, and Hiroshima Free State) to emerge, the KPR saw a strong success throughout the Fifties and Sixties, with high levels of Light Industrial and Agricultural activity yielding profitable revenue, atop being a popular tourist site in the Warsaw Pact. However, following the Czech War of 1969, this success turned sour as the economy took to stagnation and inflation became rampant. During the seventies, the KPR, under the leadership of Chairman Secretary Nosaka Sanzo, turned inwards, effectively cutting itself off from the outside world. This isolation would only become more apparent following the Tsugaru Strait Standoff in 1977, when all tourism, exportation (except to the Soviet Union), and contact outside the KPR's seat in the UN were severed. What would happen during this period is unclear, even to those who lived in the KPD. What is clear is that during this period, a mass campaign of ethnic cleansing against the native Ainu, cultural revisionism, and mass surveillance was undertaken by the Central Authority, with over 1-2 million killed in what became known as the Lost Generation.

The Lost Generation would end with the death of Nosaka Sanzo in 1990, where upon he was succeeded by reformer Kenji Miyamoto, who opened the nation back up to the rest of the world. With this, many within the KPR and outside saw this as the first step to stability, transparency, and perhaps even unification with the other NJS's; however, these hopes were dashed in 1995 when Miyamoto was overthrown and publicly executed by Nosaka's grand-son, Nosaka Akira, who saw Miyamoto's reforms as a direct threat to the existence of the KPR. Nosaka's rule is generally heralded as a return to the Lost Generation period, however this return was done so using a more insidious means- the Points System. Devised in 1989, the Points System was a highly sophisticated social pressure campaign, in which Citizens who showed orthodoxy to the KPR and followed the party lines were rewarded, and those who failed to show Orthodoxy or associated with those who failed were penalized. This system, in conjunction with the mass surveillance efforts, proved highly efficient, and allowed the KPR to return to it's previous state of existence without it being noticed, the new and current period known as the Decades of Friendship. Many of those who scored low in the Points System and deemed unorthodox would be sent to Reeducation Camps that were scattered around Khokkaydo.

These facilities, little more than Extermination Camps, are generally seen as the most blatant and obscene violations of human rights in history. The Camps operate using a special Points System, those ranking high receiving special privileges, such as becoming Guard-Prisoners and being fed regularly, whilst those who ranked low were are starved, used as forced labor and human experimentation, weapons testing, target practice for the militia, and slaves, both chattel and sexual, for those in the general population who rank high enough in the system. People of all ages and genders are sent to the Camps for unorthodoxy, where those who deemed immediately unfit are 'recycled', their remains used in manufacturing products and goods for the general populous.

The KPR is generally seen as one of the most oppressive nations on earth, nicknamed 'The Worlds Largest Prison'. It uses the Khokkaydo Yen, which is valued as 0.005 to the Pound Sterling. The official language of the KPR is 'Khokkaydian', a blend of Russian, Japanese, and Ainu (although most of the native Ainu were killed during the Lost Generation), which was declared and made official in 1983, the syntax constructed as to prevent unorthodox language. The total population (not counting imprisoned) is 4.3 Million, and has a total area of 83,453.57 km2. The flag of the KPR is a navy blue field with the national emblem, a white Anchor in a Red Disk, defacing it. It is currently unknown who the Chairman Secretary is, with many suspecting that Nosaka died of cancer in the late 2000's. If this is true, to the people of the KPR this seems to not matter, as his omnipotent cult of personality has granted him, in a sense, life after death.

The city of Sapporo is open to foreign tourists during the summer, and was the host of 5th Friendship Games in 2004.​

 

[fluttersky]

Democratic Republic of Carolina

From the 1600s to the 1800s, the Confederation of Haudenosaunee had rapidly risen from an unimportant tribal confederation to a great power. This was accomplished by the tribal leaders setting up a robust form of government that promised freedom and equality for all, including white people. It had thus become the case that many European settlers, given the choice between remaining in the colonies where they were treated as second-class citizens by the governments back in Europe, and migrating west to the plentiful lands of the Haudenosaunee, chose the latter option.
During that time, the law system and society of Haudenosaunee became heavily influenced by those of Europe, and Haudenosaunee became a very multiethnic society. (The modern Haudenosaunee language, for example, developed from a creole of English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Irish, German, Cherokee, Spanish, and the Iroquoian languages).

But there are two sides to every coin. Many Europeans did not want to live in an indigenous society where all races had equal rights and slavery was frowned upon. Those people remained in Europe's colonies on the Atlantic coast.

Four European countries managed to retain long-lasting colonies. These were New Sweden, New Netherland, New France, and the various colonies of the United Kingdom. The former three remained part of their host countries, and eventually ended up modernizing, banning slavery, and engaging in democratic relations with the Haudenosaunee.

This did not happen in the UK's colonies. In 1851, the United Kingdom ordered its colonies in America to ban slavery. Those colonies did not want to ban slavery or have to follow orders from a government so far across the sea, and so they decided to band together, declare independence, and form the Democratic Republic of Carolina.

Inevitably, this new nation became increasingly alienated from its neighbors. The Haudenosaunee refused to trade with Carolina due to the latter's practice of slavery; by the 1940s, most of the world had followed suit with the boycott. As some Carolinians grew discontent with their government due to the floundering economy, said government became increasingly repressive.

Nowadays, Carolina is still nominally democratic, but is in practice run as a dictatorship: electoral fraud is widespread at each election. The Carolinian government constantly spews out propaganda about the Haudenosaunee Confederation, claiming that it wants to invade Carolina and enslave the population. (Ironically, Carolina recently received food aid from Haudenosaunee to feed its population during a famine. The government does not tell the people where this food comes from.)

The only reason that Carolina has lasted as long as it has without collapsing is that the fascist Empire of Nippon, which is currently locked in a cold war with the Haudenosaunee, uses Carolina as a puppet state.

The following is a government-made map of Carolina in the year 2000.

 

[CourageousLife]

The People's Republic of Britain

Full Sized Map

Late in the 19th century, the period later known as Pax Britannica begins to fall apart. Following a narrow defeat in the Crimean War, Britain's power wanes as Russia begins to fill the power vacuum left by other declining empires. France also begins to expand its empire. A political revolution within the Empire sees the rise of a Marxist-style government in the British Isles. The royal family, pursued by the new government, flees to Canada to rule what is left of the Empire - Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other smaller settlements. The new government in the British Isles, known as the British Commonwealth, is slowly pulled into the sphere of the rising German Empire.

The first World War kicks off much as it did in OTL, with the British Commonwealth entering on the side of the Central Powers and the British Empire siding with the Allied Powers. The Allies win the war, and de facto rule of the British Isles is returned to the Empire, but the royal family remains in Canada while the Isles are subjected to sanctions from the war. The harsh sanctions lead to a radicalization of the governments Germnay and the British Isles, as well as their allies in Italy and Japan.

World War II begins in the late 1930's. Once again, the Empire and the Commonwealth are on opposing sides. The Commonwealth sides with the Axis - Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Empire joins the Allies - France, the Soviet Union, China, and later the United States. The war drags on for several years as the Allies struggle to gain a foothold in Western Europe. During this time, the British Empire falls apart, as India and South Africa declare independence. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are all that is left of the Empire. At the greatest extent, the Axis Powers controlled almost all of France as well as Central and Eastern Europe, in addition to the British Isles and much of the Mediterranean. The Allies were eventually able to gain footholds in the British Isles, and then liberate France. The development of the atomic bomb by American and Imperial British scientists in the late 1940's led to the end of the war.

After the war, most of the Axis Powers were divided and stripped of their armies. Japan lost all of its Pacific territories, and was forced to return control of Manchuria to China. Italy was spared most harsh sanctions due to their exit late in the war. Germany was divided in four, and divvied up between the Soviets, France, the US, and Imperial Britain. The subject of the British Isles was hotly debated. While Imperial Britain wanted them returned to the Empire, the US and the Soviets argued that the Empire had not been able to control them after the last world war. This debate was interrupted by a short-lived revolt within Great Britain. Eventually, the Isles were divided. Ireland was made an independent republic, and the Isle of Man, the Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands were made internationally governed territories. Great Britain was divided at the 53° 30' parallel, the north being controlled by the Soviets and the south by the Americans. Plans for reunification fell apart when the two halves could not agree on a government. Eventually the United States established the Republic of Great Britain (RGB), colloquially known as South Britain. The Soviet Union quickly followed with the establishment of the People's Republic of Britain (PRB), also known as North Britain. The mid-1960's saw a short war between the two where the North invaded the South. The new borders included the city of Manchester going to the North, as well as the eastern half of the Liverpool metro. A demilitarized zone was also established to lower tensions.

Each of the Britains fell into their respective spheres. South Britain became increasingly capitalist and generally backed the United States on international issues. South Britain also fostered close ties with France, Italy, and West Germany. South Britain reconciled with Imperial Britain and was de facto part of the Empire, but the royal family remained in Canada because of tensions with the North. North Britain became a supporter of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, an evolved communistic ideology promoting self-sufficiency saw North Britain close itself off to the rest of the world.

Not much is known about what happened in North Britain in the following decades. A cult of personality evolved around the 'Leader' of the country, and his son and grandson that came after him. Most food and technology is manufactured within the country's borders, and the infrastructure that once held the country together is falling apart. It is said that the North now has nuclear weapons, and Irish and South British intelligence shows that there have been some missile tests by North Britain in the North Atlantic. Both the North and the South sent delegates to the United Nations in the 1990's.

On the map, the stars represent current and former American and Soviet military bases. To the left are the flags of the three nations. The PRB's flag combines the English and Scottish flags, eliminating the Irish flag. The RGB's flag combines the English and Welsh flags.

 

[Zek Sora]

What Remains

Whew, barely made it in in time.

Full size here​

My entry is inspired heavily by the Victoria 2 Zombie Apocalypse mod, which I highly recommend to anyone who likes getting destroyed by massive rebel stacks. Anyway, I noticed that often in a game of Victoria 2 Zombie Mod, the only surviving states would be the ones on islands. Thus, I've created my own little post-zombie-apocalypse Mediterranean in the year 1908 after an outbreak in the early 1890s, home to most of the last nations of Europe (except for the now-Lutefisk-consuming Brits). Anyway, since that's essentially all there is to the story, I'll just give some background on the states shown in the map.

Spain-in-Balearica: About as close as you can get to a bog-standard state here in the Apocalypse. The Spanish king and government fled to the Balearics after Madrid fell, and have been here ever since, turning away refugees and oppressing peasants as per usual.

Republic of Sicily: Broke off from the Italian government during the Collapse over taking in refugees from the mainland. The Italian government couldn't do much about it, but it is now a sticking point and the cause of constant enmity between the Republic and

Italy-in-Sardinia: With a population swelled somewhat by a fair amount of refugees, and the entirety of the Italian government, Sardinia has the potential to be a powerhouse in the Mediterranean, if not for those pesky secessionist Sicilians and their shipyards. Thankfully for the Sardinians, the British presence in the Mediterranean generally keeps Sicilian ships from shelling Cagliari.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Iceland: You may notice something slightly unfamiliar in the name of this state. During the Collapse, the British made a deal with the Icelanders: Iceland would recognize Queen Victoria as their rightful sovereign and allow British settlement, and in return the British would crush the budding infection in Reykjavik. These days, the Empire is mostly run out of Iceland by the Royal Navy, who still remain the dominant naval power in the world (not many new ships being built, these days). They attempt to "keep the peace" in the Mediterranean while protecting their own interests.

Republic of Venice and Domains: Venice, after pushing refugees and zombies alike away from its canals at gunpoint in order to survive during the Collapse, began to go its old route of a Merchant Republic, trading for money and food to survive. Then, they realized that a) nobody could trade them enough food because b) everyone close enough was dead. Thus, they took over most of the small islands in the Adriatic and began to practice some pretty intense agriculture on them.

Corsican Republic: Long story short: The Corsicans really don't like the French. Which explains all of the refugee bodies drifting in the water between Calvi and Marseilles.

Russia-in-Crimea: About as close as you can get to a bog-standard state here in the Apocalypse. The Russian Tsar and government fled to the Crimea after St. Petersburg fell, and have been here ever since, turning away refugees and oppressing peasants as per usual. (Yes, I copied and pasted the description from Spain-in-Balearica. That should tell you something about these states, and about me.)

Greece-in-Crete: I'm starting to get tired of copying and pasting, so I'll save myself the trouble by telling you to look up one entry.

Empire of Cyprus: While the name may sound overly ambitious, it is in fact a reference to the Great Compromise enacted after the Collapse between the native Greek population of Cyprus and the many Turkish refugees (as well as the Sultan and his government) who had settled there. Essentially, the Sultan would rule as a figurehead, with the real power lying in the hands of an elected Parliament, which sounds like it would work. Unfortunately for the Greeks, Turks don't like them, and there were more Turks than Greeks on Cyprus. So now, it's essentially an Ottoman-Empire-in-Cyprus, but nobody wants to change the stationary.

 

[TapReflex]

Peace and Love

Once a shining beacon of a hopeful future, the Mandate of Israel-Palestine has become one more horror show in a world of nuts.

From 2001-2019 the Israeli-Palestinian peace process looked unsalvageable: There had been three Intifadas, two internal wars, and the rise of uncompromising right-wing factions refusing to acknowledge one another's legitimacy. Around them the Middle East burned, with ISIS, the forefathers of the United Islamic Republic, fighting in the wreckage of the Middle East Washington left behind. Egypt's revolving door government was halted by the military, and a narcotics fueled belt of terrorism raged from Dakar to Benghazi.

However, trends in America would work to push the Israeli and Palestinian states together.

The End of the Drug War in America was a massive factor. Though Cartels in Latin America still clung to the hard-drugs and other criminal pursuits, the drugs which funded a lot of Islamic fundamentalist activities in the Sahel were cut short, or went via drone (sometimes a lot better than mules). Central America's rise, characterized by America's 'Marshall Plan' of the Caribbean, also saw many pacifist ideologies arise in the world stage, given a voice with greater economic clout. Native movements across the region saw big wins socially, economically, and politically. In America itself, the election of Bernie Sanders and the End of the Drug War sparked a win for Libertarians and the Anarchic parts of the political spectrum in addition to the socialist aspects. The Post-colonial gaze gained widespread recognition.

When the Israelis and Palestinians reached the negotiating table, post-colonial anarchism, modeled after the Zapatista government in Chiapas, won, with a gradual economic, political, and infrastructural integration. The Israeli military assimilated it's Palestinian counterpart(s). Protests and revolts from both sides were spun to make the pressure to reach the settlement's goals even more pertinent. Peace came as the Second Green Revolution brought the Palestinian standard of living to par with the average Israeli, with water rights as a non-issue. The United Nations oversaw fair elections across the whole state in 2048, 100 years after both the Yom Ha'atzmaut and Nabk. The Israel-Palestine State was born, though often called the Mandate to avoid the implications of both names among those still containing hard feelings.

Global Climate change has changed the game, though. The Fortress mentality of the IDF remained in the country: the Peace let the Palestinians into the fort, but the fear of those outside still reigned. The United Islamic Republic wanted Jerusalem, and would fight with blood and fire. Egypt had eighty million mouths staring anxiously at the fertile lands of the Levant. The European Union's anti-Semetism returned with a vengeance.

The Fortress Mandate is no friend to any of them, and as the world dries around them, the Mandate begins plotting to spread their Utopia from the Khartoum basin to the Zagros Mountains. And why not? To them, the rest of the Mediterranean basin is filled with war-mongering thugs unworthy of life. The Mandians solved the unsolvable puzzle of human existence long ago: they made peace where others couldn't. They are the Holy Land, where God's children live; the Almighty doesn't care about the lives of the outsiders. They have disavowed their neighbors, keeping only relations with safely distant Algeria and Iran who share their enemies and lust to destroy those enemies. Nuclear-armed piracy for 'human resources', particularly women with 'good features' is building an army to take Egypt (they can't nuke the Aswan dam, it would blow out the levies protecting the Nile). Transgenic weeds are being planted outside their borders to wreck havoc on their neighbors, and if it weren't for the UN, the plagues they unleash would've finished their neighbors off by now.

The UN simply doesn't understand the Mandate's concept of 'peace and love'.

 

[TapReflex]

A collective regime of Peace and Love...