Is it just my lack of detailed knowledge, or does this seem even messier than OTL?
New Deal Coalition Retained III: A New World
- Thread starter Redcoat
- Start date
- Status
The Treaty of Darwin
Thankfully for the world, the war had ended. Nearly two years of war on three continents had met its natural conclusion. And except for one man in Washington D.C., this was met universally with cheers worldwide, making headlines even in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the world was also dealt with disasters from the devastation wrought by the war. Despite being under Ethiopian occupation, Eritrea was devastated, and the mass bombing of its countryside of both itself and in Northern Nigeria left frontlines in both countries looking more like the surface of the moon than its previous state. Many of the rivalries that started the war would likely not end with the conflict. Though with the devastation wrought by the war, any future strife among enemies would likely take non-violent means. Niger was still itching to expand into the territory of its neighbor to the south, Uganda, Zaire, Angola, etc. still bore grudges against Rhodesia and South Africa. And importantly for Europe, Libya was still seen as a threat to European peace. While most European members of the Concordat and the Freyist Pact (except for Greece, and to a lesser extent Croatia and Italy), did not see any important fighting reach their shores or territories, much of the Namib and northern Transvaal regions of South Africa were still reeling from the recent foreign occupations. As was more than half of Rhodesia. Worst of all, of course, was the state of Pakistan. It had now descended into complete chaos in the aftermath of the unspeakable tragedy in Islamabad. Indian and Chinese troops were still storming through the country, and would both prevent chaos and cause it at the same time.
Firstly, Balochistan, already de facto run by separatist rebels, would receive recognition as a sovereign state by all parties involved. This would lead to international recognition and membership in the United Nations shortly in 2000.
China, as a recompense for the loss of so many of their young men, would lease the Port of Gwadar for 99 years, as a port city in the style of Hong Kong. China planned to build up both the port, and a new airport that would become a hub for Chinese business and power. Moreover, the largest Chinese salt company, China National Salt, would gain a monopoly on ex-Pakistan’s enormous Salt reserves. Chinese mining companies would also divide the rights to ex-Pakistan’s Sulfur, Copper, Iron Ore, and Gypsum deposits between themselves. India also agreed to recognize Chinese control over Aksai Chin, which closed this past rift. China initially wanted the territory of Arunachal Pradesh loaned from India as a consequence of its new alliance, but instead settled on control of much of Pakistan’s mineral rights through its various business interests. While this would diminish the value of India’s new territories and puppets, it would bring the two nations closer together.
"Our young boys died so we could have cheap salt"-Anonymous Chinese Mother who had lost her son
Afghanistan, while a relatively weak state, was in an opportune situation. Its materiel support for the Dual Pact had earned itself a chance to partition the rest of Pakistan with India. The Pashtun felt that with superior numbers they could finally assert control over the other tribes, and thus finally achieve long-term stability in a nation that struggled with ethnic division. While other tribes feared this, enough of their leaders were sick of instability, and so were willing to accept Pashtun dominance. (As long as there were minority rights and a degree of federalism in the new nation.)
Initially, it was quickly decided by the negotiating team that all territory annexed from India post-1960 would be returned forthwith along with Gilgit-Balistan, and Aju Kashmir. It was the rest of this territory that would be difficult to ascertain. The old federally administered Tribal Areas were clearly to be under Afghan control. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to its Pashtun population was also to be annexed into this greater Afghanistan. One of Afghanistan’s main political aims from its creation was accomplished with this move. Sindh was to be under joint Chinese-Indian Military administration until 2002, when it would finally be fully absorbed into India. (This was due to the threat of riots in the region.) It was also decided that administering Islamabad under non-Muslim control would be too dangerous, so Afghanistan would also be charged with the temporary occupation of the capital. Dividing Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, would be the most difficult task of all. While Ghandi initially wanted control of the entire province, his military advisors told him that the military would not be able to handle an integration of that size, and that it would be better if instead, the province itself was partitioned. Negotiations split the territory by region. Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Multan, and Dera Ghazi Khan would be annexed by Afghanistan. Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala would become part of India.
However, when the news of this partition leaked, Pakistanis rioted, bringing occupied territories to a standstill. The Pakistani army had failed but the Pakistani people still had a say. A general strike brought the roads to a standstill as ordinary citizens simply sat down in front of military vehicles. Food riots lead to the burning down of a food kitchen. Three “‘collaborating” doctors were killed by a mob outside of a Red Cross Hospital. Clearly, a prolonged occupation was untenable. India chose to annex old Sindh province in addition to territory that had initially been theirs in the partition of 1947, but realized that Punjab was a bridge too far.
Instead, Punjab would be granted independence under a military Junta of old ex-naval Commanders. Their incompetence both in political and economic matters and militarily, (the latter because they were trained for sea operations and not for land), would keep Punjab dependent on India.
This Puppet would fly the flag of the old Princely State of Bahawalpur which had ruled over same Punjab territory, all references to the state of Pakistan were to dissapear.
Some in the Indian secret police worried that Punjabi and Sikh groups in India would want to accede to Punjab, due to lingual ties. An independent, purely Punjabi state would serve as a jumping-off point for separatist movements in India proper, or even an example for Khalistan advocates. This was resolved by the public exile of many independence leaders to the United States. (President Bundy secretly agreed to accept these and other agitators in return for trade concessions, especially for Enron’s famous Dabhol power plant).
Journalists reported that the Enron project in India was mired in corruption, though both the Bundy and Gandhi administrations would ignore most of these complaints.
Those Pakistanis who had stayed throughout the fighting were faced with a difficult situation. Many that felt uncomfortable living under the whims of their Indian Conquerors would move under Afghani or Punjabi control, swelling those countries’ population. 90% of the Pashtun population of Pakistan had now found themselves in territory controlled by Afghanistan. Those that were left in either Punjab or in Indian occupied territory would move en masse, totaling in the millions. Because of this Punjab eventually agreed to cede the Pashtun majority territories of Attock District and Mianwali District to Afghanistan. Many refugees of other ethnic groups would flee elsewhere. UAE and Kuwait accepted many wealthier Pakistanis out of religious affiliation. They had both already had success “recruiting” a sizeable number of Russian workers/refugees to work on their oil fields. Most of these workers lived in isolated “Little Moscow” compounds, armed to the teeth to protect these expats from xenophobic attacks in return for use of their technical expertise. Others would go to Indonesia and the Timurid Empire, although stability in both Afghanistan and Punjab after the initial chaos would quickly cut the flow of refugees.
Another issue dealt with at Darwin was the issue of the Portuguese Empire. With some of the most far-flung holdings of the Concordat nations, many African countries, along with China and India, were spoiling for a piece of the pie. Guinea, São Tome and Principe, and Cape Verde would also remain part of Portugal, in part due to their reliance on EEC tourists who frequented these spots because of the ease of travel.
The rest of the old Portuguese Empire, sacrificed in the name of the French, outside of Africa would go its various ways.
India, capitalizing on this, moved to officially annex Goa, despite the fact that a referendum on the topic had not been held. The city had declared itself an Open City in the conflict, and was untouched by the cannons of war. On January 15th, 2000, Goa, which would have preferred independence or remaining Portuguese, would choose to adopt “One Country, Two Systems” whereby it had significant self-governance, separate and local political parties, and autonomy, while remaining under Indian control.
The Chinese had different thoughts on Macau. While there was a nationalistic desire to regain Chinese territory, the military regime did not want to deal with policing the various (powerful) crime syndicates that inhabited the colony. They felt that a complete annexation would allow the syndicates to spread across South China. Some of the regime’s own military leadership would frequent Macau’s sundry establishments, and didn’t want to be put in the position to have to shut them down under domestic rules. The Chinese arranged it so that the Portuguese would keep the port city but under certain conditions. Chinese passport holders would not have to pay for or obtain a visa, and have exclusive entry through customs without being checked or stopped at all (although the Chinese would inspect them on the way back, for obvious reasons seeing Macau’s reputation.) The various fledgling Chinese airlines would also have exclusive runway space at Macau International (excluding Air Portugal). Overall, the Chinese managed to obtain all the concessions they wanted with Macau (outside of nationalistic flag waving) with the Portuguese continuing to do the dirty work with regards to keeping the crime syndicates on the peaceable side of things. Hardline nationalists in both the military and public would be unhappy, but the compromise would have to do. However, this dissatisfaction would force the regime to “flag wave” in other ways, like pouring massive government funds into sports development programs and promoting classical Chinese art (still recovering from the Cultural Revolution) in order to promote the vision of China abroad. Given that the military dominated government procurement, many of these funds went from non-military education programs, especially in Shenzhen (due to the poor lobbying of local authorities), which would hurt Chinese growth. Regardless, Macau would, somehow, remain Portuguese.
Timor-Leste would also have a referendum on its status. However, the Entebbe Pact leaders, seeing the recent model of the Caribbean Confederation, believed that the nation could not be economically viable on its own. Bob Hawke, a neutral observer to the treaty, despite negotiations happening in his country, said that Timor should be able to choose between remaining part of Portugal, becoming part of Indonesia (who felt the island to be their rightful territory), or to become part of Australia. If no one option reached above 50% there would be a runoff between the top two choices. Northwestern Australia did have a Timorese immigrant population, as Hawke reminded the negotiators, when they asked for Australia to justify its participation in the referendum.
Hawke would lobby Parliament hard for funds to promote Australia as an option to the East Timorese. He even deployed official Labour Party resources for this promotion. He felt that owning the island would help serve as a bulwark against the Indonesians, who despite not being a threat to the nation, would help his chances with older constituents, who were fearful of an invasion from the north. The Portuguese did not devote any serious resources to the referendum, as what many saw as merely propping up money sinks was becoming toxic at home. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government was overconfident that it would overwhelmingly win the referendum that it didn’t even bother to compete vs the Australians. As a result, to the surprise of the rest of the world, East Timor was admitted as a territory of Australia in a narrow 51% victory (ending any need for a second round), with full statehood to come later after a certain stage of development. Hawke was confident that these new territories would help Australia expand its influence and economic strength in the long-term. Moreover, the Timorese would help to diversify the nation culturally. It would go to show that it was more than the majority Anglo-Saxon country it was under the White Australia policy.
The issue of what to do with the situation in Africa would become the most complicated affair in the creation of the treaty.
Tanzania would formally and permanently cede the territories relinquished in its armistice with the Entebbe Pact. It was also agreed the elections would be held, but secret negotiations ensured that Idi Amin and Uganda would hand-pick all of the candidates as puppets of the regime ensuring that Tanzania would enter under Uganda’s sphere of influence.
Cameroon would annex the Spanish Territory of Equatorial Guinea, which while rich in oil, was according to the secretive Spanish about to run out, and thus projected to be a net drain. As such, the Spanish hadn't bothered puttign up more than a token defense force at the start of hostilities. Regardless, Spain had other territory to worry about.
Angola, for its efforts, would annex the eastern half of the Luanda enclave. Zaire would also annex Cabinda from Portugal. Both nations, to their credit, would allow an orderly withdrawal of Portuguese citizens from annexed territories. Portugal would subsidize these individuals to encourage them to move to occupied Brazil, a development that would end up shoring up support for the Estado Novo regime there and remove a money pit from the Empire’s side. However, the state of Rhodesia would annex parts of former Zambia north to Lusaka.
Eccentric as many of these African leaders were, they demanded rather humiliating and ridiculous concessions out of the Concordat. This included Idi Amin’s bombastic demands to annex Pretoria and the rich diamond mines of the country, which were obviously unacceptable. He would also claim the title of “Duke of Burgundy”, while Muammar Gaddafi would claim the title of “Angevin King”. With the French able to afford this rather mundane humiliation, and already sick of the demands of the African potentates, both of them would actually receive these requests. Idi Amin’s presidential palace in Kampala would fly both the Ugandan and Burgundian flag at the start of the new millennium. Strongest among all of these demands were from Muammar Gaddafi, who repeatedly insisted on neutral Switzerland making territorial gains from Germany, France, and Italy.
One such proposed map [A/N:Rather ironic seeing he actually wanted the exact opposite after his son got arrested by Swiss authorities for disorderly conduct]
Of course, these demands were shelved, but they did drag negotiations along and served to weaken the Entebbe Pact’s negotiating position in more serious discussions. In Libya itself, this stunt actually increased Gaddafi's reputation, as they admired how he thumbed the nose of the European powers.
King Bokassa of the Central African Empire, (or Ubangi-Shari, as the French called it), with his mental and physical health failing thanks to old age, would luridly proclaim during a meeting about the future of his country that he was the thirteenth apostle. He would hold a cross which he claimed was given to him by Pope Leo XIV, and yell at the French and Italian diplomatic negotiators for attempting to calm him down. His country would eventually lose (most) of its gains in southern Sudan from World War Three, after it became clear that the country was ill-equipped to handle a rising insurgency in the region. On this, even the most eccentric of King Bokassa’s allies and enemies could agree.
Idi Amin would continue stalling negotiation with further ridiculous proposals, such as a statue of himself or of his allies stomping over his enemies to be erected in Paris. Despite his country being neutral in the war, upon hearing the news of the potentate’s demands, even the King of Britain seemed to be fed up with the leaders of the Entebbe Pact. He reportedly told his aides that he found Amin so annoying, that if he ever visited the British Isles, he’d personally hit him with his sword.
A famous photo of the victorious Idi Amin stuffing his face in front of his enemies, symbolizing his feeling of dominance and his clownish antics
In spite of many of the inane proposals made by the enemies of the Concordat, lasting changes would have an effect on Western Europe as well. The rise of separatist movements in Italy, largely funded by African powers, would lead the ruling Freyist party of the country, LSD, to organize referendums in troublesome provinces, namely Aosta and Sudtirol. The latter would prove successful, leading the country to join Austria as part of the existing province of Tyrol. Belgium, wracked with partisan and ethnic deadlock, would also be forced to hold a referendum to appease separatist Walloons, to be held at some unspecified time in the next year. Needless to say, Mobutu, finally seeing this as his peoples’ revenge for the horrors of the Congo Free State, would back political parties calling for the dissolution of the country.
Meanwhile, the debate over South Africa’s future borders would prove among the most controversial topics of the negotiation process. Unlike Rhodesia, which was going on the offensive into former Zambia, South Africa had only months before beaten back an assault on its capital. Swathes of its inland Namib and Portuguese regions were still held by foreign occupiers, granting its neighbors the advantage on the negotiating table. While some mused ceding its ethnic Tswana-majority territories to the Tswana state of Bechuanaland, [OTL Botswana] the core territories of South Africa would be untouched in the end. The first matter of business would be that of the Caprivi Strip. It was here that the war started, and it would be the first matter to be settled. Simply enough, as it was still occupied by Angolan and Lozi forces, it would be ceded to the state of Lozi. Angola would demand northern Namibia as well. This area was home to nearly half of the province’s population, mostly made up of black Ovambo people. This would end up shifting the balance of the province’s demographic composition. As the remainder of its territory was sparsely populated, it would become the only one of South Africa’s five provinces to have a white plurality outright. Meanwhile, Mozambique pushed through a border adjustment with South Africa in their favor.
South African borders according to the Treaty of Darwin.
In all, the Treaty of Darwin would continue the 20th century cycle of the constantly changing world map. But many would hope that the new millennium would bring stability to the world’s constantly changing political situation.
Thankfully for the world, the war had ended. Nearly two years of war on three continents had met its natural conclusion. And except for one man in Washington D.C., this was met universally with cheers worldwide, making headlines even in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the world was also dealt with disasters from the devastation wrought by the war. Despite being under Ethiopian occupation, Eritrea was devastated, and the mass bombing of its countryside of both itself and in Northern Nigeria left frontlines in both countries looking more like the surface of the moon than its previous state. Many of the rivalries that started the war would likely not end with the conflict. Though with the devastation wrought by the war, any future strife among enemies would likely take non-violent means. Niger was still itching to expand into the territory of its neighbor to the south, Uganda, Zaire, Angola, etc. still bore grudges against Rhodesia and South Africa. And importantly for Europe, Libya was still seen as a threat to European peace. While most European members of the Concordat and the Freyist Pact (except for Greece, and to a lesser extent Croatia and Italy), did not see any important fighting reach their shores or territories, much of the Namib and northern Transvaal regions of South Africa were still reeling from the recent foreign occupations. As was more than half of Rhodesia. Worst of all, of course, was the state of Pakistan. It had now descended into complete chaos in the aftermath of the unspeakable tragedy in Islamabad. Indian and Chinese troops were still storming through the country, and would both prevent chaos and cause it at the same time.
Firstly, Balochistan, already de facto run by separatist rebels, would receive recognition as a sovereign state by all parties involved. This would lead to international recognition and membership in the United Nations shortly in 2000.
China, as a recompense for the loss of so many of their young men, would lease the Port of Gwadar for 99 years, as a port city in the style of Hong Kong. China planned to build up both the port, and a new airport that would become a hub for Chinese business and power. Moreover, the largest Chinese salt company, China National Salt, would gain a monopoly on ex-Pakistan’s enormous Salt reserves. Chinese mining companies would also divide the rights to ex-Pakistan’s Sulfur, Copper, Iron Ore, and Gypsum deposits between themselves. India also agreed to recognize Chinese control over Aksai Chin, which closed this past rift. China initially wanted the territory of Arunachal Pradesh loaned from India as a consequence of its new alliance, but instead settled on control of much of Pakistan’s mineral rights through its various business interests. While this would diminish the value of India’s new territories and puppets, it would bring the two nations closer together.
"Our young boys died so we could have cheap salt"-Anonymous Chinese Mother who had lost her son
Afghanistan, while a relatively weak state, was in an opportune situation. Its materiel support for the Dual Pact had earned itself a chance to partition the rest of Pakistan with India. The Pashtun felt that with superior numbers they could finally assert control over the other tribes, and thus finally achieve long-term stability in a nation that struggled with ethnic division. While other tribes feared this, enough of their leaders were sick of instability, and so were willing to accept Pashtun dominance. (As long as there were minority rights and a degree of federalism in the new nation.)
Initially, it was quickly decided by the negotiating team that all territory annexed from India post-1960 would be returned forthwith along with Gilgit-Balistan, and Aju Kashmir. It was the rest of this territory that would be difficult to ascertain. The old federally administered Tribal Areas were clearly to be under Afghan control. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to its Pashtun population was also to be annexed into this greater Afghanistan. One of Afghanistan’s main political aims from its creation was accomplished with this move. Sindh was to be under joint Chinese-Indian Military administration until 2002, when it would finally be fully absorbed into India. (This was due to the threat of riots in the region.) It was also decided that administering Islamabad under non-Muslim control would be too dangerous, so Afghanistan would also be charged with the temporary occupation of the capital. Dividing Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, would be the most difficult task of all. While Ghandi initially wanted control of the entire province, his military advisors told him that the military would not be able to handle an integration of that size, and that it would be better if instead, the province itself was partitioned. Negotiations split the territory by region. Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Multan, and Dera Ghazi Khan would be annexed by Afghanistan. Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Gujranwala would become part of India.
However, when the news of this partition leaked, Pakistanis rioted, bringing occupied territories to a standstill. The Pakistani army had failed but the Pakistani people still had a say. A general strike brought the roads to a standstill as ordinary citizens simply sat down in front of military vehicles. Food riots lead to the burning down of a food kitchen. Three “‘collaborating” doctors were killed by a mob outside of a Red Cross Hospital. Clearly, a prolonged occupation was untenable. India chose to annex old Sindh province in addition to territory that had initially been theirs in the partition of 1947, but realized that Punjab was a bridge too far.
Instead, Punjab would be granted independence under a military Junta of old ex-naval Commanders. Their incompetence both in political and economic matters and militarily, (the latter because they were trained for sea operations and not for land), would keep Punjab dependent on India.
This Puppet would fly the flag of the old Princely State of Bahawalpur which had ruled over same Punjab territory, all references to the state of Pakistan were to dissapear.
Some in the Indian secret police worried that Punjabi and Sikh groups in India would want to accede to Punjab, due to lingual ties. An independent, purely Punjabi state would serve as a jumping-off point for separatist movements in India proper, or even an example for Khalistan advocates. This was resolved by the public exile of many independence leaders to the United States. (President Bundy secretly agreed to accept these and other agitators in return for trade concessions, especially for Enron’s famous Dabhol power plant).
Journalists reported that the Enron project in India was mired in corruption, though both the Bundy and Gandhi administrations would ignore most of these complaints.
Those Pakistanis who had stayed throughout the fighting were faced with a difficult situation. Many that felt uncomfortable living under the whims of their Indian Conquerors would move under Afghani or Punjabi control, swelling those countries’ population. 90% of the Pashtun population of Pakistan had now found themselves in territory controlled by Afghanistan. Those that were left in either Punjab or in Indian occupied territory would move en masse, totaling in the millions. Because of this Punjab eventually agreed to cede the Pashtun majority territories of Attock District and Mianwali District to Afghanistan. Many refugees of other ethnic groups would flee elsewhere. UAE and Kuwait accepted many wealthier Pakistanis out of religious affiliation. They had both already had success “recruiting” a sizeable number of Russian workers/refugees to work on their oil fields. Most of these workers lived in isolated “Little Moscow” compounds, armed to the teeth to protect these expats from xenophobic attacks in return for use of their technical expertise. Others would go to Indonesia and the Timurid Empire, although stability in both Afghanistan and Punjab after the initial chaos would quickly cut the flow of refugees.
Another issue dealt with at Darwin was the issue of the Portuguese Empire. With some of the most far-flung holdings of the Concordat nations, many African countries, along with China and India, were spoiling for a piece of the pie. Guinea, São Tome and Principe, and Cape Verde would also remain part of Portugal, in part due to their reliance on EEC tourists who frequented these spots because of the ease of travel.
The rest of the old Portuguese Empire, sacrificed in the name of the French, outside of Africa would go its various ways.
India, capitalizing on this, moved to officially annex Goa, despite the fact that a referendum on the topic had not been held. The city had declared itself an Open City in the conflict, and was untouched by the cannons of war. On January 15th, 2000, Goa, which would have preferred independence or remaining Portuguese, would choose to adopt “One Country, Two Systems” whereby it had significant self-governance, separate and local political parties, and autonomy, while remaining under Indian control.
The Chinese had different thoughts on Macau. While there was a nationalistic desire to regain Chinese territory, the military regime did not want to deal with policing the various (powerful) crime syndicates that inhabited the colony. They felt that a complete annexation would allow the syndicates to spread across South China. Some of the regime’s own military leadership would frequent Macau’s sundry establishments, and didn’t want to be put in the position to have to shut them down under domestic rules. The Chinese arranged it so that the Portuguese would keep the port city but under certain conditions. Chinese passport holders would not have to pay for or obtain a visa, and have exclusive entry through customs without being checked or stopped at all (although the Chinese would inspect them on the way back, for obvious reasons seeing Macau’s reputation.) The various fledgling Chinese airlines would also have exclusive runway space at Macau International (excluding Air Portugal). Overall, the Chinese managed to obtain all the concessions they wanted with Macau (outside of nationalistic flag waving) with the Portuguese continuing to do the dirty work with regards to keeping the crime syndicates on the peaceable side of things. Hardline nationalists in both the military and public would be unhappy, but the compromise would have to do. However, this dissatisfaction would force the regime to “flag wave” in other ways, like pouring massive government funds into sports development programs and promoting classical Chinese art (still recovering from the Cultural Revolution) in order to promote the vision of China abroad. Given that the military dominated government procurement, many of these funds went from non-military education programs, especially in Shenzhen (due to the poor lobbying of local authorities), which would hurt Chinese growth. Regardless, Macau would, somehow, remain Portuguese.
Timor-Leste would also have a referendum on its status. However, the Entebbe Pact leaders, seeing the recent model of the Caribbean Confederation, believed that the nation could not be economically viable on its own. Bob Hawke, a neutral observer to the treaty, despite negotiations happening in his country, said that Timor should be able to choose between remaining part of Portugal, becoming part of Indonesia (who felt the island to be their rightful territory), or to become part of Australia. If no one option reached above 50% there would be a runoff between the top two choices. Northwestern Australia did have a Timorese immigrant population, as Hawke reminded the negotiators, when they asked for Australia to justify its participation in the referendum.
Hawke would lobby Parliament hard for funds to promote Australia as an option to the East Timorese. He even deployed official Labour Party resources for this promotion. He felt that owning the island would help serve as a bulwark against the Indonesians, who despite not being a threat to the nation, would help his chances with older constituents, who were fearful of an invasion from the north. The Portuguese did not devote any serious resources to the referendum, as what many saw as merely propping up money sinks was becoming toxic at home. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government was overconfident that it would overwhelmingly win the referendum that it didn’t even bother to compete vs the Australians. As a result, to the surprise of the rest of the world, East Timor was admitted as a territory of Australia in a narrow 51% victory (ending any need for a second round), with full statehood to come later after a certain stage of development. Hawke was confident that these new territories would help Australia expand its influence and economic strength in the long-term. Moreover, the Timorese would help to diversify the nation culturally. It would go to show that it was more than the majority Anglo-Saxon country it was under the White Australia policy.
The issue of what to do with the situation in Africa would become the most complicated affair in the creation of the treaty.
Tanzania would formally and permanently cede the territories relinquished in its armistice with the Entebbe Pact. It was also agreed the elections would be held, but secret negotiations ensured that Idi Amin and Uganda would hand-pick all of the candidates as puppets of the regime ensuring that Tanzania would enter under Uganda’s sphere of influence.
Cameroon would annex the Spanish Territory of Equatorial Guinea, which while rich in oil, was according to the secretive Spanish about to run out, and thus projected to be a net drain. As such, the Spanish hadn't bothered puttign up more than a token defense force at the start of hostilities. Regardless, Spain had other territory to worry about.
Angola, for its efforts, would annex the eastern half of the Luanda enclave. Zaire would also annex Cabinda from Portugal. Both nations, to their credit, would allow an orderly withdrawal of Portuguese citizens from annexed territories. Portugal would subsidize these individuals to encourage them to move to occupied Brazil, a development that would end up shoring up support for the Estado Novo regime there and remove a money pit from the Empire’s side. However, the state of Rhodesia would annex parts of former Zambia north to Lusaka.
Eccentric as many of these African leaders were, they demanded rather humiliating and ridiculous concessions out of the Concordat. This included Idi Amin’s bombastic demands to annex Pretoria and the rich diamond mines of the country, which were obviously unacceptable. He would also claim the title of “Duke of Burgundy”, while Muammar Gaddafi would claim the title of “Angevin King”. With the French able to afford this rather mundane humiliation, and already sick of the demands of the African potentates, both of them would actually receive these requests. Idi Amin’s presidential palace in Kampala would fly both the Ugandan and Burgundian flag at the start of the new millennium. Strongest among all of these demands were from Muammar Gaddafi, who repeatedly insisted on neutral Switzerland making territorial gains from Germany, France, and Italy.
One such proposed map [A/N:Rather ironic seeing he actually wanted the exact opposite after his son got arrested by Swiss authorities for disorderly conduct]
Of course, these demands were shelved, but they did drag negotiations along and served to weaken the Entebbe Pact’s negotiating position in more serious discussions. In Libya itself, this stunt actually increased Gaddafi's reputation, as they admired how he thumbed the nose of the European powers.
King Bokassa of the Central African Empire, (or Ubangi-Shari, as the French called it), with his mental and physical health failing thanks to old age, would luridly proclaim during a meeting about the future of his country that he was the thirteenth apostle. He would hold a cross which he claimed was given to him by Pope Leo XIV, and yell at the French and Italian diplomatic negotiators for attempting to calm him down. His country would eventually lose (most) of its gains in southern Sudan from World War Three, after it became clear that the country was ill-equipped to handle a rising insurgency in the region. On this, even the most eccentric of King Bokassa’s allies and enemies could agree.
Idi Amin would continue stalling negotiation with further ridiculous proposals, such as a statue of himself or of his allies stomping over his enemies to be erected in Paris. Despite his country being neutral in the war, upon hearing the news of the potentate’s demands, even the King of Britain seemed to be fed up with the leaders of the Entebbe Pact. He reportedly told his aides that he found Amin so annoying, that if he ever visited the British Isles, he’d personally hit him with his sword.
A famous photo of the victorious Idi Amin stuffing his face in front of his enemies, symbolizing his feeling of dominance and his clownish antics
In spite of many of the inane proposals made by the enemies of the Concordat, lasting changes would have an effect on Western Europe as well. The rise of separatist movements in Italy, largely funded by African powers, would lead the ruling Freyist party of the country, LSD, to organize referendums in troublesome provinces, namely Aosta and Sudtirol. The latter would prove successful, leading the country to join Austria as part of the existing province of Tyrol. Belgium, wracked with partisan and ethnic deadlock, would also be forced to hold a referendum to appease separatist Walloons, to be held at some unspecified time in the next year. Needless to say, Mobutu, finally seeing this as his peoples’ revenge for the horrors of the Congo Free State, would back political parties calling for the dissolution of the country.
Meanwhile, the debate over South Africa’s future borders would prove among the most controversial topics of the negotiation process. Unlike Rhodesia, which was going on the offensive into former Zambia, South Africa had only months before beaten back an assault on its capital. Swathes of its inland Namib and Portuguese regions were still held by foreign occupiers, granting its neighbors the advantage on the negotiating table. While some mused ceding its ethnic Tswana-majority territories to the Tswana state of Bechuanaland, [OTL Botswana] the core territories of South Africa would be untouched in the end. The first matter of business would be that of the Caprivi Strip. It was here that the war started, and it would be the first matter to be settled. Simply enough, as it was still occupied by Angolan and Lozi forces, it would be ceded to the state of Lozi. Angola would demand northern Namibia as well. This area was home to nearly half of the province’s population, mostly made up of black Ovambo people. This would end up shifting the balance of the province’s demographic composition. As the remainder of its territory was sparsely populated, it would become the only one of South Africa’s five provinces to have a white plurality outright. Meanwhile, Mozambique pushed through a border adjustment with South Africa in their favor.
South African borders according to the Treaty of Darwin.
In all, the Treaty of Darwin would continue the 20th century cycle of the constantly changing world map. But many would hope that the new millennium would bring stability to the world’s constantly changing political situation.
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depends how you look at it but the "yes" argument is strong
His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Defender of the African People, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the French Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular, rightful Duke of Burgundy and Chief Executive of the Glorious Pact for the Progress and Victory of Africa.
Sorry, no referendum of this kind for Italy, unless there is a big constitutional reform as the country is unique and undivisible and honestly SudTyrol has so much autonomy that an union with Austria will mean giving up powers (and a lot of money)
Keep in mind pan-germanism is alive and very strong in this timeline.
Still by constitution Italy can't permit or legalize this kind of referendum...and honestly after a couple of war not only italian nationalism will be on the rise but any group financed in time of war by the two morons will lose a lot of support, not considering that will bring a lot of problem on the Freyst block as Italy will feel humiliated on be forced to giving up South Tyrol to Austria (honestly is more credible that the entire population will be 'gently' invited to go to Austria if they don't feel at home in Italy after 80 years) and second will want some payback from Serbia/Jugoslavia to at least show something
While we make the post-war world map, here's something for you guys:
In the Entebbe Pact update, I made an impromptu map of the brand-new Entebbe pact highway system that came out really ugly and unprofessional. Since then, my mapping skills have improved so I've decided to remake the map as a pamphlet for tourists visiting the Entebbe pact.
Take into account that the map is due to be published around 2004 when construction in the newly-conquered areas is completed.
Information not shown on the map:
In the Entebbe Pact update, I made an impromptu map of the brand-new Entebbe pact highway system that came out really ugly and unprofessional. Since then, my mapping skills have improved so I've decided to remake the map as a pamphlet for tourists visiting the Entebbe pact.
Take into account that the map is due to be published around 2004 when construction in the newly-conquered areas is completed.
Information not shown on the map:
- Bangui-Lagos section of highway #1 that was abandoned after the GSW due to the departure of Nigeria from the Entebbe Pact.
- Mongu-Lusaka section of highway #8 that was abandoned after the GSW due to the annexation of the Lusaka region by Rhodesia.
- Gitega, the shared capital of Hutuland and Tutsiland is not shown as the symbol I chose for capital cities was too big and hide both of the small nations.
- "The African Conflict of 1997" is the official name given to the GSW by the Entebbe Pact nations.
- Besides the 8 major highways that were built in an Autobahn format without speed limits, many smaller roads were built as part of the megaproject to link between the major highways.
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- Because of the lack of funding and higher prices, personal computing hasn't managed to catch the general public's attention ITTL and remained under the control of corporations, the US military, universities and the niche community of computer geeks. As Steve jobs went for the aerospace industry ITTL instead of personal computing, IBM continued to unopposedly rule the computing business with bigger computers for large organizations.
- The internet in the OTL '90s form isn't existant yet and the only connection between computers is done via corporate or military intranets. The GUI hasn't been developed too until the mid-'90s and is not that widespread as in OTL 1999 as the DARPA funding has been slashed at the end of the Wallace administration and was slashed even more during the Rumsfeld wartime administration. The rump DARPA is projected to be shut down completely or being merged with other government agencies under Bundy.
- Most people use pagers in TTL's '90s and the development of other methods of wireless communication seems unrealistic to most tech analysts.
Did video games (in either arcade or home console) emerge as a major form of entertainment ITTL?
Arcades exist ITTL and are as popular as in the OTL's 90s' but home consoles are less common and much more expensive as Japanese firms weren't supportive of "solitary recreational activities" and focused on other projects.
I'm guessing that Nintendo has more or less stayed a toy manufacturer, or alternatively, did release a console similar to the OTL Famicom but left the consumer electronics business after the breakout of WWIII. Another question I have is whether or not Nolan Bushnell founded Atari ITTL and if the early history of video games followed a similar trajectory as OTL ending with the crash of the home console market in 1983. If that is the case, then I could also see American firms continuing to invest in arcades rather than home consoles--especially during WWIII and the post-war years where I believe that such an item would be seen as an unneeded expense and distraction. As such I could probably see that TTL's Atari equivalent having gone out of business in the late 80s/early 90s. Part of me hopes that Sega stayed attached to Gulf+Western and is still a major player in the arcades.
Interesting, I could see comic books benefitting in some small way without the NES as competition for children's allowances.
The electronics market is basically a three-way competition at this point between the US, France, and Japan, while Sanjay Gandhi in India wants to get in on the action
Video games ITTL are going to remain very much arcade based for the time being. Any consoles you find at this point will be something like the Neo Geo, which allows consumers to direct purchase games that would normally be played in a cabinet and play them on a TV screen at home. Nintendo is still making cards, and Atari or something like it never got off the ground.
We actually have a tech and science update planned very soon that should answer a lot of questions.
We actually have a tech and science update planned very soon that should answer a lot of questions.
Bookmark1995
Banned
So OTL smartphones would seem like...science fiction in the world of NDCR?
While we make the post-war world map, here's something for you guys:
In the Entebbe Pact update, I made an impromptu map of the brand-new Entebbe pact highway system that came out really ugly and unprofessional. Since then, my mapping skills have improved so I've decided to remake the map as a pamphlet for tourists visiting the Entebbe pact.
Take into account that the map is due to be published around 2004 when construction in the newly-conquered areas is completed.
Information not shown on the map:
- Bangui-Lagos section of highway #1 that was abandoned after the GSW due to the departure of Nigeria from the Entebbe Pact.
- Mongu-Lusaka section of highway #8 that was abandoned after the GSW due to the annexation of the Lusaka region by Rhodesia.
- Gitega, the shared capital of Hutuland and Tutsiland is not shown as the symbol I chose for capital cities was too big and hide both of the small nations.
- "The African Conflict of 1997" is the official name given to the GSW by the Entebbe Pact nations.
- Besides the 8 major highways that were built in an Autobahn format without speed limits, many smaller roads were built as part of the megaproject to link between the major highways.
This is what many Africans dream their nations will become in the coming century.
I wonder if the Star Trek communicator inspired new Pager designs, like they did with flip phoned OTl.
And I think most African people's would prefer nations with more democracy than the typical Pact member has.
Bookmark1995
Banned
Perhaps, but the Entebbe Pact has managed to build a much stronger economy and TTL Africans can say that their lives have gotten better since the end of colonial rule.
While Mobutu TTL still isn't a good guy, a Zairian who remembers the indignity of Belgian rule will find the megalomania of Mobutu to be far more palatable. Because Mobutu has become powerful world figure, and not just some thieving nutcase.
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