Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

[Deleted member 105545]

I prefer to think of Maine as Maine as *originally intended*, and PEI as New Ireland, considering it was the first proposed one.

I'll admit in my eyes I never really mind the OTL Maine border if only because it was a quite-even middle between the extreme claims both ME and NB had.

Noo! Maine deserves the claimed U.S. border!

 

[Deleted member 82792]

What are the demographics of New England?

 

[Spens1]

The Commonwealth of Natal is a country located in southwestern Africa. Natal is the only white-majority country located in Africa, a result of European colonialisation and the ongoing southern Africa conflict, which saw mass ethnic cleansing of the indigenous African population. Natal, once having been a province of South Africa, declared independence, and formed a biracial democracy, to which it gained worldwide recognition and support in their fight against South Africa. Since its inception, Natal has been engaged in conflict with South African-aligned terrorists within its borders, and up to 1990, an open ground war against the Republic of South Africa.

Since the Gaborone Ceasefire was signed in 1990, Natal has seen explosive economic growth, and a return of the Zulu diaspora, accounting for a majority of the nation's population growth. Natal is a bilingual country, with all schools teaching English and Zulu. Despite all of these efforts and holding the traditional Zulu homeland, of the Zulus remaining world wide, Natal only has twenty percent of them. There are nearly twice as many Zulu refugees living in Europe (~2 million) as there are Zulus living in Natal (~1,000,000). Up until 2014, Natal was considered to be in a state of Humanitarian crisis due to the South African conflict, but economic growth, population stablisation, and major reduction of terrorist attacks caused the United Nations to change the country's status to "unstable."

Natal enjoys diplomatic recognition of most states world-wide, only South Africa and their ally Israel do not recognise their independence. South Africa's Province of Natal claims all of the Commonwealth as its territory, along with the historic borders of the province.

only 4%. Yup the Indians must of packed up and left. Also at 41%, there would have had to be some kind of mass killing/fleeing of the zulu population. That would have been bloody.

 

[Lewie]

Is Ireland still apart of the United Kingdom. And what is the state of Indian-Commonwealth Relations. Also how does Nigeria interact with the Commonwealth and is it a Republic.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Technically, so is New Ireland, but they mis-spelt it as "Maine".

Also, shouldn't Maine still have all of the area disputed with New Brunswick ITTL, given that the New England colonies stayed with Britain?

That dispute only showed up because of strange wording in the Treaty of Paris. The Maine-New Brunswick border was set by the Privy Council upon natural boundaries. Quebec and Maine settled their border independently.

What are the demographics of New England?

You can find that in the Demographic section here.

only 4%. Yup the Indians must of packed up and left. Also at 41%, there would have had to be some kind of mass killing/fleeing of the zulu population. That would have been bloody.

Indeed they did, a lot of people left Natal, and Durbin (the largest concentration of Indians in the province) was a war zone for several years.

Southern Africa has seen better days. Somewhere between 15 and 30 million people have perished in the ongoing conflict.

Is Ireland still apart of the United Kingdom. And what is the state of Indian-Commonwealth Relations. Also how does Nigeria interact with the Commonwealth and is it a Republic.

Ireland is an independent republic.

India has a cordial working relationship with much of the Commonwealth. Britain never divided India, instead it simply granted the entire Raj (and Burma) independence who all subsequently left the Commonwealth.

Nigeria is a Republic, and it left the Commonwealth in protest over the War in Burma. It is not an observer and deals with commonwealth members on an individual basis.

 

[NVB]

Can we see some American election infoboxes? I want to see how Jeffery Skilling avoided the whole Enron mess and became president.

 

[Spens1]

Indeed they did, a lot of people left Natal, and Durbin (the largest concentration of Indians in the province) was a war zone for several years.

Southern Africa has seen better days. Somewhere between 15 and 30 million people have perished in the ongoing conflict.

How did the world react to that. Also popular destinations for people leaving those areas? I'm guessing other countries in the commonwealth

 

[Analytical Engine]

Just to clarify, are the members of the Commonwealth a mixture of republics, commonwealth realms, and native monarchies?

 

[sarahz]

It really is. Hitler never rose to power in this timeline, and was never a Holocaust as a result of no Nazism. Thus, Fascism was never actually discredited and condemned on the widescale it is in our timeline. While this doesn't make mass ethnic cleansing more palatable by any means, it does mean a hyper-radicalised South Africa turned out a bit... different... Basically, everything below Congo (Zaire) minus Angola and Mozambique is in some varying degree of humanitarian crisis.

otl Mozambique applied to join the Commonwealth could this happen ITTl?

 

[CosmicAsh]

Can we see some American election infoboxes? I want to see how Jeffery Skilling avoided the whole Enron mess and became president.

Soon™

How did the world react to that. Also popular destinations for people leaving those areas? I'm guessing other countries in the commonwealth

The United Kingdom is still considered a world Superpower (No WWII to make it go broke), and the Navy never really declined (it's the second largest in the world), so everyone just sorta shrugged and went "It's Britain's problem, terrible! But their problem." The US didn't bankroll it, and the Soviets went to town helping the resistance. Still widescale condemnation, just no action. Most of the refugees left for other members of the Commonwealth, or when they couldn't afford that, other African countries in "walking" distance (e.g. Angola, Mozambique, Congo - not say Morocco or the CAR)

Just to clarify, are the members of the Commonwealth a mixture of republics, commonwealth realms, and native monarchies?

In general, it is dominated by Commonwealth realms, but Republics and native monarchies are allowed. The only native monarchy currently is Sarawak, which is run by the Brooke Dynasty.

otl Mozambique applied to join the Commonwealth could this happen ITTl?

There is nothing preventing a nation from requesting to join to the Commonwealth. None have done so, because it is widely seen as a way to extend British power and Imperialism over their former colonies, which for the most part is not a lie. There's not many countries out there that would willingly submit to Britain's rule with having no colonial ties to them (There are, however, upsides for being in the Commonwealth, such as trade access, immigration rights, special economic status, protection by the Royal Navy (and Army), and some funding from the join Commonwealth treasury for economic advancement; just no one has seen it as possible to overlook the fact they are essentially signing to become a British vassal.)

 

[puerto-nic0]

Who are the current Irish and UK leaders? And is a United Ireland any more plausible ITTL?
Also, what's Elizabeth Warren up to? Still a Harvard professor, without Scott Brown to necessitate her Senate run?

 

[CosmicAsh]

The German-Soviet War was a conflict between Germany and her allies and the Soviet Union between 1938 and 1947, which ended in the economic and military collapse of the Soviet Union, Poland, and Germany, which unleashed the nearly half-decade long civil wars and conflict in Germany and Eastern Europe, which culminated in the Soviet Invasion of the Balkans, Franco-British Intervention into Germany, and the beginning of the Cold War. The time period would encompass the deadliest conflict in human history, with casualties stemming from the German-Soviet War through the 1950s adding up to nearly 50 million.

After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, the Special Presidential Election of 1934 saw Alfred Hugenberg of the DVP (German People's Party) win election on an Anti-Communist and pro-German platform. Hugenberg quickly restored many of the old symbols of the German Empire, rejecting the flag that was approved by the Weimar Parliament, and towards meeting an agreement with the former Allies in the Great War over lifting Germany's army limit from 750,000 to 2 million. Franz von Papen was appointed Chancellor, and the two engaged in a series of reforms and consolidation of power, bringing the Centre party into their fold and uniting the various right-wing parties against the Communists (which were banned in 1937) and the SPD (which was allowed to remain in operation). Despite holding on to "German Territory," Hugenberg and von Papen agreed to the Anti-Comintern Treaty with Poland, solidifying their mutual borders and agreeing to assist civilians who wished to move to either of the two countries.

The move was met with severe backlash, and it seemed as if the DVP would lose power in the next elections. To counter this, Hugenberg and von Papen met secretly with Polish officials to ensure German concessions, a railway and motorway into East Prussia, in exchange for German assistance in an invasion of the Soviet Union, and annexation of territories previously owned by Poland during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In July of 1938, one year before the planned German elections, Poland and Germany launched a surprise Invasion of the Soviet Union dubbed "Operation Hindenburg."

The two countries made quick progress through the Soviet Union, which included an invasion of the Baltic states, where Germany would establish the Lithuanian National Government, which signed away the Memel Territory. Estonia and Latvia would organise defenses throughout the war, with only Estonia collapsing completely. The Soviet Union was plagued with poor communications, a decimated military leadership, and continued defeats on the battlefield. The German-Polish invasion finally stalled in the middle of 1940, as Soviet forces won the Battle of Moscow, and fought the Pact to a draw at the Battle of Stalingrad. The Soviets were able to win, and capture, nearly a million Germans and their Polish allies at the Battle of Leningrad, which culminated in the Soviet Invasion of the Baltics between 1941 and 1944, as the two sides fought for ground in the beleaguered territories.

As time ground on, the Soviet Union started to get more and more troops mobilised and sent to the frontline, beating back the Germans despite their efforts to break into the Caucuses. An attempt to get Italy to join in on the war failed, where they instead launched their own invasion of Ethiopia. The DVP lost nearly all of their seats in the 1944 election, and the SPD won an outright majority in the Reichstag, seeing Kurt Schumacher become Chancellor. While he had promised to work to an end of the war, President Hugenberg refused and Soviet forces were beginning to push into Poland. A counterattack between late 1944 and early 1946 saw Germany and Poland surge back into the Soviet Union and almost, once again, reach the outskirts of Moscow. After a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tula, the Germans were once again on the backfoot.

In late 1946, Poland would experience a Communist coup, and withdrew from the War. The Polish Resistance quickly formed against the coup, which was supported by Germany and Poland's former commanders. Germany attempted to occupy much of Poland to help supply lines, but were hampered by communist forces. As 1947 dawned, Poland was the new front, despite millions of German soldiers still in the Soviet Union. The Germans had to make a fighting retreat through the Soviet Union, employing a scorched earth policy as they left, trying to slow the Soviets. They had to fight through Poland, but could not destroy the communist resistance. As the German army established itself throughout Poland and East Prussia, German communists rose up across the Ruhr and proclaimed a new German Socialist Republic, calling the SPD complacent in the destruction of the worker. As the Soviet Army approached, the weary people of the Soviet Union themselves had enough. Well armed Ukrainians (courtesy of the Germans) were the first to rise, and the Ukrainian National Republic was declared, aimed to free Ukraine. Russian expats and some who had survived the Russian Civil War were called upon to lend their services to the anti-Soviet resistance. Stalin's grip on power was not as strong as believed, and the Soviet Civil War began during the summer months of 1947, as mutiny and desertion became common, and the Russian Republican Army was organised in Crimea and began an offensive into the Don region.

The German-Soviet War ended after Wilhelm Keitel, overall commander of German forces in Poland, signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement with the Soviet Union, as both nations knew they needed to focus on the home front before anything more could be done against the enemy. President Hugenberg or Chancellor Schumacher never signed or agreed to the document, but the 1948 German Coup saw both replaced and the focus put on defeating the Communist uprising in Germany, which would last until 1951. The Soviet Civil War would continue until 1952, with the Soviet Union appearing to begin an invasion of Western Europe in 1953, only stopped by the death of Stalin that year.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Who are the current Irish and UK leaders? And is a United Ireland any more plausible ITTL?
Also, what's Elizabeth Warren up to? Still a Harvard professor, without Scott Brown to necessitate her Senate run?

Andy Burnham serves as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, having defeated the Conservatives under Prime Minister Ian Duncan Smith in the 2015 General Election.

Gay Mitchell serves as the President of Ireland, while Micheál Martin serves as the Taoiseach.

Elizabeth Warren is, indeed, just a Harvard professor. Scott Brown, however, is an MP in the New England Parliament.

 

[Analytical Engine]

In general, it is dominated by Commonwealth realms, but Republics and native monarchies are allowed. The only native monarchy currently is Sarawak, which is run by the Brooke Dynasty.

Are Lesotho and Swaziland not monarchies ITTL?

 

[Philip]

After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, the Special Presidential Election of 1932 saw Alfred Hugenberg of the DVP

Holding the special election before he died? That's rather proactive.

 

[Analytical Engine]

Holding the special election before he died? That's rather proactive.

It's almost as if they knew it would happen beforehand...

 

[CosmicAsh]

Are Lesotho and Swaziland not monarchies ITTL?

They are. Only Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State. The traditional Monarchies exist by being appointed Governor General which they retain most power. It's a very complicated but very British system where both monarchies exist together. Sort of a wink wink nudge nudge of respect to the Crown, because Batshitinsane South Africa is only a few metres away.

Holding the special election before he died? That's rather proactive.

Moral of the story is don't write Alt-Hist during your lunch break at work. You don't proofread as much.

 

[VT45]

What about titles of nobility? If New England is still part of the Commonwealth, are there uniquely New England titles of nobility?

 

[Upper Canadian]

What are the ideologies of the parties in the Commonwealth Parliament?

 

[jkarr]

Canada and Nigeria were the most recent members of the Commonwealth of Nations to leave

First: is Accra all of Ghana or?

Second: WTF CANADA???????