MotF 137: Substitute Scramble

[Upvoteanthology]

MotF 137: Substitute Scramble

The Challenge
Make a map of a region or place where colonization was not fought over in OTL. It can be Antarctica, Asia, or even Arabia, as long as you deem it wasn't fought over colonially. Go nuts!

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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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday the 15th of May.

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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!​

 

[trejiokla]

Helenic Settlements in Atlantis, at the year of the 311 Olympiad

Second Circean War​

The victory of the Notos' League in the First Circean War was not definitive. Kabas, which was forced to join this league, rose twelve years later, and designated supportive regiments in the principal polis of Teinas.

The league reacted quickly, and the synedrion in Farlas sent a military expedition under the command of the estrategos Linamedes. Promt, he defeated Kabian troopers, retoke the control over Zarerion, Euxon and Garen with the citizenship support, and continue by land and sea to Makaris.

The Makarian had request assisstance to the Nesians, which sent a little fleet. However, this was defeated and a 'cup d'Etat' in Neserio overthrew the pro-Filakian polemarc and appoint a pro-Farlian one.

The Mesasebian League was not ready to a new war. Its estrategos, Arestión, recruited a fleet in Filaka and leaf to defense the island of Kybas; meanwhile, Linamedes won over a weak resistence in Karisto and advance without issue until Andropolis.

The Andropolis' citizens hope assisstance from Arestion, and confront Linamedes, but was complete defeated and the city fell before the Filakian estrategos' arrival. Whem arrive, Arestion tried retoke the control over the polis, but fell and must returned at the Serokian peninsula, where strengthed the Gorusa's defense.

However, Linamedes prefered consolidated his positions in Kybas, meanwhile a rebelion in Kolas appoints new pro-Noto's League authorities.




The following year, the synedrion of the Mesasebian League chartered a new fleet, with one hundred seventy tirremes, under Arestion command. He, ineasted went to directly until Kybas, decided attack the core of the Noto's League, bordering the Mexian's coast.

In Salesis collected provisions and potable water, but the Lakarian did not allowed access to the harbour, so he must conquered and sacked the city. Then, he followed by the coast withnot issues in Melinta and Nekores, meanwhile the Alurisian, who knew a Farlian fleet which was near, judged this more powerfull and decided confront Arestion. But the Farlian fleet delay it advance, and Arestion defeated completed the Alurisian fleet; however, decided do not take Alurisa.

The Noto's league's fleet and the Mesasebian League's fleet confront one each other in the Maian Cape; the result was uncertain and the Farlian estrategos Linamedes chose go away to Kolas.

Reluctant, Aerstion followed the suggestion of his advicers and ran after the Farlian fleet until Kolas, where confronted again, with a wide Filakian victory. However, Arestion belived useless take the city, and returned to the continent.

The citizens of Santinea opened the gates, and he could take provisions, potable water and repair his dammages. Even, the Santinian loaned him eighteen tirremes.

In the meantime, the Noto's League drafted a new fleet, which weighed anchor from Lodika under the command of the Socopian navarca Milkos, who sailed the coast of the Miskian Sea. The battle between Arestion and Milkos happened in the delta of the river near Tumelias. Each fleet was similar (one hundred seventy tirremes Arestion and one hundred eighty three Milkos), and the combat was very hard. The pro – Filarkian were able to sink or render sixty seven pro – Farlian tirremes, but they lost more than fourty ships and Arestion judged imposible continue the enterprise and returned Santinea.

Milkos, although injuried, achieved join the rest of the fleet and ran after Arestion.

Linamedes, after his second defeat, retired until Karisto, gathered all ships which can find, because he belived Arestion attack Kolas. When found the Farlian guarnition yet in the place, and noticed that Arestion follow by the coast until the south, chose take Santinea and cut the enemies communications lines. However, he was late and allowed Arestion arrives Santinea.

Few days later, Linamedes and Milkos joined their fleets and blocked Arestion, who was forced to confront them. The Farlian victory is total: from the 180 ships sent by the Mesasebian, only fifty were saved.




The Battle of Santinea was the last combat of the Second Circean War. By mean of the Peace of Tekoris, the Mesasebian League was forced renounce all pretension to the Mar Circean's island. However, the confront between this leagues will restart during the next generation.

 

[Gwrtheyrn Annwn]

'A map from 'Die N.B.B. Geschichte der Welt', a school textbook from Austro-Hungarian, showing the Far East in 1900 after the Vienna Congress on Asia in 1899.'

In the world of this map, Austria retained the Austrian Netherlands and took the Dutch's place as a Asian colonial power. The Netherlands eventually succeeded in breaking free of Austria in 1853, in time to enter the Asian Scramble. By this time Austria had unified the Holy Roman Empire and was now the most powerful nation in Europe. In 1862, the 'Great Asian Scramble' began. Britain, France, the Netherlands and Russia teamed up to try an shut the Austria-Germany out of Asia. they failed to do so completely, but the majority of Asia was colonised by European powers. The Russians invaded Persia and China, whilst the British and French partitioned North India. The Dutch also made moves into Asia, taking southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and northern Japan. After the Vienna Congress of Asia only China remained independent in Asia. Having conquered Asia, the European war for prestige now searched for a new arena...

 

[fluttersky]

The Partitions of Arabia occurred between 1964 and 1978.

During the 1950s, pan-Arabism began to flourish (usually in combination with anti-imperialist and in particular anti-American sentiment), and it was discovered that several members of the House of Saud were secret Soviet sympathizers. As a result, the United States came to the conclusion that Sunni Arabs were not to be trusted in general, and were unreliable allies to the United States, and that as a result the resource-rich Arabia should be governed by other states. Israel and Turkey were in particular considered strong allies of the United States. Hence, in 1964, the United States supported Israeli invasions of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt, with a dubious casus belli; this was successful. It would retroactively be known as the First Partition of Arabia.

After Egypt's humiliating defeat in 1964, Muammar Gaddafi, ruler of Libya, proposed that Libya and Egypt be united into a unified Arab state that would be more capable of resisting "Jewish imperialism". Nasser agreed, and the Great Socialist People's Arab Jamahiriya was declared in 1965.

Over the rest of the decade, pan-Arabism flourished in the rest of Arabia and the Levant, and rebellions sprung up in both the newly-annexed Israeli territories and by the Muslim minority in Lebanon. Several Arab nations began to expel their Jewish communities.

Following a Sunni-led coup in Lebanon in 1971, America encouraged Israel and Turkey to take over parts of the Levant, in the Second Partition of Arabia. Most of what used to be Syria would end up under Turkish control, with Israel occupying the Druze parts of Syria, Lebanon, and Transjordan.
Only seven years later, the entirety of Arabia would end up under the control of Israel and Turkey, when Turkey occupied Kuwait and Iraq, and Israel occupied Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and the Trucial States in the Third Partition of Arabia.

Relationships between America's allies weren't always completely positive; one stumbling block came when the newly-independent Cyprus sought incorporation into Greece in 1977, which angered the Turkish minority. However, the situation de-escalated when American mediators reached an agreement to partition Cyprus into a larger Greek portion and a smaller Turkish portion, which neither side was particularly happy with but accepted without too much fuss.

Situation in Israeli and Turkish Arabia as of 1985

The Turkish annexations of Syria and Iraq were justified under historical grounds, as both countries contained Turkish minorities under the days of the Ottoman Empire. Israeli expansion was likewise justified under both historical and Biblical grounds.

In both Israeli and Turkish Arabia, Sunni Arabs are treated with a great deal of suspicion and discrimination, as many of them support the Soviet-aligned GSPAJ (Great Socialist People's Arab Jamahiriya), which has now expanded to cover Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Sudan. State-sanctioned violence against Arabs is commonplace. As a result of this, 80% of Sunni Arabs in the territories annexed by Israel and Turkey have now fled to the GSPAJ.

Other ethnic groups are largely accepted. Christians in the territories annexed by Israel have been granted Israeli citizenship, as have Druze. Shia Muslims are not favored by Israel, but are treated better than the Sunni.

Following the depopulation of Arabia and the Levant due to the flight of Arabs, the area is now being repopulated by Turks and Jews. Oil wells are making both Turkey and Israel quite wealthy.

The GSPAJ has a territorial claim to all of the regions that have been annexed by Turkey and Israel, but pretty much everyone in the West thinks these claims are crazy.

 

[Islander]

A Little Bit of future.

 

[Rubberduck3y6]

A colonised Japan (click the map for full size).

 

[Doctor President]

This is a map of a scenario in which after its dscovery in the early 1600s, the Dutch explore and settle Australia instead of generally ignoring it. Other European powers soon follow, trying to get their own part of Australia. Six colonies are successfully established:

• New Holland: The first European settlement in Australia. It is managed by the Dutch East India Company, and as a result, many of its settlers are Indonesians.
  
  
• Santa Marina: A colony of Portugal, the second country to settle Australia.
  
  
• New Wales: The British colony in Australia.
  
  
• Willemsland: A second Dutch colony. Unlike New Holland, it is not managed by the Dutch East India Company.
  
  
• Australie: The French colony in Australia.
  
  
• Nueva Galicia: The Spanish colony in Australia. It is part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
  
  

 

[Zek Sora]

What Remains, Part 3: Last of the Vikings

(Click image for full size)

​

Part 3 of my What Remains series, wherein there is a zombie apocalypse in 1898. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. (Yes, this does retcon Part 2's Scandinavian section, but please regard the rest of it as un-retconned until further notice.)

Since the Collapse, Scandinavia has been effectively divided between the regional power of Sweden and the world power of the United Kingdoms of Britain and its local ally/client state/constituent kingdom of Norway. The two powers mostly rule through local protectorates and naval domination (the Swedes of the Baltic, the Brits of pretty much everywhere else) rather than directly administering the various surviving regions, for various different reasons; the British don’t rule directly because they are already overstretched in other parts of the world, the Norwegians don’t because the British don’t, and the Swedes don’t because they’re busy enough already trying to recolonize the mainland and protect their colonies there.

As per usual in What Remains, I’ll do some national summaries.

British Bloc​

• United Kingdoms of Britain: (The fact that the UKB has had a writeup in every single map in the series thus far speaks not just to their high relevance in the post-Collapse world, but also to the increasing irrelevance of said writeups.) In the Scandinavian seas to the west of Denmark, the Royal Navy rules the waves, which gives them a fundamental chokehold on the various fishing-dependent states in the region should they choose to use it. This has allowed the Royal Navy, and by extension the UKB (the difference is highly blurred) to establish protectorates over most of the region.
• Kingdom of Norway: During the Collapse, what remained of the Norwegian government fled to the northern fjords, establishing Narvik as the “temporary” capital, protected by the cold and the mountains. In these mountains, they established a zone of control that would eventually evolve into the directly-ruled Kingdom. However, this was a long time coming, and there was a more immediate issue: rulership. The King of Sweden, Oscar II, was also technically the King of Norway, but the remnants of Sweden were far away in Gotland, and the British could guarantee open fishing waters forevermore, something that was essential to their survival. Thus, they agreed to take Queen Victoria as their new monarch, angering the Swedes and beginning the Swedish-British rivalry.
  • Jointly Administered Territories: Some smaller holdouts had survived in the northern fjords that were eager to rejoin Norway. However, they were disconnected and the Norwegian military (really just a collection of local militias) was having enough difficulty protecting the homeland, so it was the British who re-established control. A joint Anglo-Norwegian Condominium was established in Trondhjem (and the disconnected Varjag), where the Norwegians rule in name, and the British Governor-General rules in actuality.
• Kola: A remnant of the old Russian Empire, Kola was a collection of isolated northern fishing villages that came under British “protection” to secure their fishing waters.
• Romsdal: Romsdal began when local authorities in the Norwegian province of Romsdal managed to fight off the Horde thanks to their isolated mountain location. They were, however, reluctant to rejoin Norway because of their geographic isolation and their localist republicanism. They came under British protection for the same reason as Kola and Norway—fishing security.
• Lappland: Lappland is different from the other states in the bloc for several reasons, the main two of which being 1) that it did not come under British protection for fishing rights, and 2) that it is not a state. Lappland is a collection of nomadic Sami peoples, isolated towns, and snow held together by British military and a single operational railroad.

Swedish Bloc​

• Kingdom of Sweden: Thanks to the broken-up, island-based geography of Stockholm, the pre-Collapse Swedish capital, the Swedes were able to evacuate a fair chunk of its population to the islands of Gotland, Öland, and various scattered others, but more importantly they were able to evacuate the Swedish Navy, a force which now dominates the Baltic and keeps the Royal Navy from entering. The Swedes can be said to be like the United Kingdoms of Britain in that their monarch does not actually rule; the Swedish Navy does.
  • Mainland Territories: The Swedes have begun to extend their rule back onto the mainland. Some surviving villages were contacted, particularly the city of Luleå, which had cut off its peninsula from the Horde with a tall wall. It has been expensive work, but worth it for have the living space to ease the pressure in overcrowded Gotland.
• Kingdom of Denmark: The Danes were not as lucky as the Swedes, and were able to evacuate only a small chunk of their population to the island of Bornholm, not including their King. Long story short, the Swedish monarch is now also the Danish monarch.
• Esthonia: Another remnant of the old Russian Empire, this one not so eager to stay in it. Esthonia broke off from Russia as soon as they could, and took only ethnically Esthonian refugees onto their islands. This had the side effect of not many refugees coming to their islands, which allowed the now far more populous Swedes to establish a protectorate. Estonia is now mostly used for farmland to feed the hungry mouths in Gotland.
• Uleåborg: Uleåborg originated as just the city that shared its name, and a few connected towns and forts. However, the Swedes, after establishing a protectorate over it, extended its rule deep inland, so that they might rule over…even more frozen, underpopulated, individual Horde members wandering around here and there wasteland. They aren’t entirely grateful.

As usual, if you have any questions about this scenario or the world of What Remains, please ask away and I'll be happy to give a detailed answer!

 

[lock]

The Rush for Russia
The 19th century was not a good one for Russia. Napoleon's total victory over the Russian Empire left large parts of the country in ruins. Those areas that were not scorched during Napoleon's advance were pillaged during its occupation.

Not that it was better for France in the long term. The country was overextended. By the time the 1830s ended, nationalist movements were beginning in Germany; and the United Kingdom and Sweden sought payback for the wars of the first two decades of the century.

The First Great War began in 1863. The Coalition countries of UK, Germany, and Sweden faced the Alliance countries of France, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, and French-influenced Russia, with its capitol moved back to Moscow. The war ended in a decisive Coalition victory. The Treaty of Bruges awarded Finland and Norway to Sweden, and created the German-allied countries of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania.

Russia quickly lost control of its eastern lands. Challenged by Kazakhs in central Asia and the Japanese in the east, Russia's core territory extended little further than the Ural Mountains. Sweden made landings near the Ob River in 1878 and settled southward. Dutch colonists landed east of Arkhangelsk in 1880. The "Rush for Russia" had begun.

Canadians expanded westward from Yukon across the Bering Sea into Asia. The Republic of Texas made headway into Mongolia via the country's business influence in the large cities of northern China. The Second Great War of 1892-1895 gave the Ottoman Empire a foothold in southern Russia and the Caucasuses, while Iran moved north and Japan extended its reach into Chinese Manchuria and Kamchatka. St Petersburg, Smolensk, and Rostov-on-Don (as well as Trieste and Marseilles) were granted Free City status.

Americans landed near the Amur River in 1898, coming in conflict with Japan over the Pacific Coast. A greater war between the two countries was avoided when the U.S. and Japan, along with Canada, drew up spheres of influence in northeast Asia. The United States' Sylvania Territory was created in 1902 and Yakutia Territory in 1910.

Germany, having taken most of France's colonies in Africa and South Asia in the wake of both of the Great Wars, made few claims to Russian territory. The one exception was Taymyria on the Arctic Coast, which was established in 1909.

The next 40 years found stabilization in the region. The Chinese Republic was founded in 1922, with Britain keeping control of Guangdong and Hainan. The North China Combine remained independent as well, with the backing of Texas, the U.K., and Germany.

1966 marked the end of the colonization era for former Russian territories. Over the next 30 years, the colonized areas of North Asia were either granted independence or fully integrated into their home countries.