Sorry to hear that
Hope you can get through it OK.Thanks! Might take me a while, but I'll have it up. In the meantime, more pics
Photos of the Kaiserreich
- Thread starter pattontank12
- Start date
Sorry to hear that
Hope you can get through it OK.Thanks! Might take me a while, but I'll have it up. In the meantime, more pics
Redshank Galloglass
Banned
No no, I'm fine! I had a hang of it for a while (managed to serve in the USMC) but now it's just flaring up again.Sorry to hear that
Thanks! Might take me a while, but I'll have it up. In the meantime, more pics
Good pics!
I understand. Still, hope it flares down again
Also...not American, so 'thank you for your service' would be presumptuous, but...thanks for being one of the people who steps between people like me and people who wish us harm. Hope that's OK to say.
Thanks! I enjoy using this as a method of worldbuilding, I have to say.
Redshank Galloglass
Banned
I understand. Still, hope it flares down again
Also...not American, so 'thank you for your service' would be presumptuous, but...thanks for being one of the people who steps between people like me and people who wish us harm. Hope that's OK to say.
Thanks! I enjoy using this as a method of worldbuilding, I have to say.
Well, thank you. I'm not the largest fan of the term, but I do appreciate knowing someone cares
I hope your nation's veterans are appreciated.I hope you enjoy my pics. More will be coming.
We're doing full writeups now?
I'm posting based on a world where Syndicalism got pretty lucky. Everything seemed pretty OK, if unstable under the surface, until '36, where Savinkov seized power in Russia and the notoriously corrupt, incompetent, and just plain weak Hoover administration effectively collapsed in America. Mainstream Syndicalists, banking on solid economic states prior to the Berlin crash, managed to maintain control in France and Britain during their Trade Union Congresses. The Entente went conservative-revanchist and the Kaiser elected to go social-democrat in an attempt to stem the tide of Syndicalism, which led to support from social-democrat Austria.
In '36, Reed won the Presidency despite winning barely 30% of the vote, due to a horrible split between the Democrats and Republicans that led to their 50% becoming 25% each; the end result was an unstable and controversial Syndicalist rule. Huey Long refused to comply, and Dougie Mac tried to coup Reed; however, in the ensuing mess Reed escaped to Chicago, and a General Strike was declared across the Midwest, PA, NJ, and parts of New York. Huey Long, seeing his chance and knowing MacArthur would screw him, rebelled as well. The PSA seceded as well, resulting in a three-way conflict for MacArthur's regime, which was soon forced to relocate to Denver after a Syndicalist conquest of Washington.
Jack Reed insisted on playing nice; he was the legitimate President, after all, the Workers of America were liberating territory held by unjust bourgeois oppression, not conquering cities from the enemies of the American people. Therefore, there would be no looting, no purges (maybe a few imprisonments of notorious Long or MacArthur sympathizers, but no executions), and a general respect for human rights and decency. Inexperienced but bolstered by Franco-British aid and the raw industrial power of the Midwestern heartland, the Combined Syndicates swiftly re-took New England, then moved south to take on the AUS. Facing dissent from many loyalist troops who weren't happy with the apparent rebellion against the President despite not liking Syndies, MacArthur was forced to focus on the PSA and AUS first.
Huey Long was killed, allegedly during the Battle of Richmond, in early 1937. Nat-Pop racist extremist William Pelley took over in his place, and began plans to "get rid of the Negro" once and for all. A campaign of ethnic cleansing, enslavement, and outright murder was his main method of terror, outraging the Syndicalists and sparking major black uprisings. After the Syndicalists seized Atlanta, the USA cut a peace deal with the PSA; recognition of PSA independence in return for pre-war state borders. It worked, but cost MacArthur a lot of support, and several divisions deserted to the Syndicalists, seeing them as the legitimate USA.
MacArthur lasted until October 1939, when the Syndicalists took Denver. The dictator, pressured by Dwight Eisenhower, Admiral Spruance, and Smedley Butler, surrenders to the Combined Syndicates government on October 25th. The Combined Syndicates regime then demands that the PSA recognize their control over the Pacific states; seeing the writing on the wall and facing a major strike, the PSA caves and is annexed on New Year's.
Meanwhile, Europe is about to explode. The Syndicalist victory in America and their petition to join the Third Internationale sends shockwaves across the capitalist world, and the declaration of a socialist republic in Ukraine by Nikita Kruschev draws both Russian and German ire. Boris Savinkov, head of the nightmarish totalitarian Russian State, leads a fanatically revanchist, anti-German (and anyone who might be of Germanic descent), antisemitic, anti-Syndicalist, anti-monarchist regime (literally Russian Nazis), and declares war on Ukraine, followed swiftly by Germany as they intervene.
The Commune of France, having bullied Switzerland into surrendering key lands on the border, sees its chance, but before it can march into Alsace-Lorraine, the Entente, seeking the end of Syndicalism, declares war on the Third Internationale. It is a costly mistake. While the invasion of mainland France by the French Republic inadvertently saves Germany, it is repulsed and ultimately reversed, and the Canadian invasion of Britain is an utter failure that results in Canada being undefended against a massive American invasion with which many Canadian dissidents (sick and tired of British exiles' upper-class lording it about) sympathize. Canada falls dramatically in a matter of mere months, capitulating in February 1942. The rest of the war, however, takes a further 2 years, as the Bharatiya Commune is aided by Red America and France in their conquest of the Dominion of India and Princely Federation. Seeing no way out, the British government-in-exile retreats to Australia and peaces out. The French Republic is dismantled, and the recently-renamed PRUSA finishes off La Plata by sending over a dozen volunteer divisions to help Syndicalist Brazil. A Red flag rises over the Western hemisphere as the Zapatistas in Mexico sign a treaty of eternal friendship with Red America in exchange for a mutual abandonment of border claims. Japan, trying to contain the Syndicalists, gambles on its naval strength to end the Americans' spirits and secure its rule over Hawaii, but is unable to break the American navy quickly enough, launching a grueling conflict in the Pacific.
On the Eastern front, resistance to the monstrous Nat-Pop regime of Savinkov's Russia is stiff but slowly failing against the Russian tide. Austria-Hungary has successfully broken the Hungarian nobility politically and reformed into a more federal, democratic Danubian Federation, but they don't have the troops to handle Nat-Pop Romania and the Russians at once. Meanwhile, the Middle East is disintegrating around the Ottoman-Axis war, and the AOG pulls out of China in the face of revanchist Qing demands. The Communards, pressured by an America that loathes Savinkov and swayed by tales of the Russian despot's perverse cruelties against the Syndicalist Ukrainian people, agree to a temporary ceasefire with Germany. Besides, the Germans have put in some protections for workers, and administering the remains of the French Republic and preparing the new Syndicalist states for independence is a bear of a task.
In 1945, the Internationale declares war on Nat-Pop Portugal after the massacre of a group of striking workers to aide the CNT-FAI in the grueling Spanish civil war. This theater is over by 1946, as American arms and Franco-German man-power take Lisbon in months. Savinkov is losing ideological allies, even as the killing fields of White Ruthenia and Ukraine claim a generation. Then the unthinkable happens; China, reunited under the Qing banner, allies with Boris Savinkov, lending half a billion souls to the Nat-Pop titan. Launching a devastating attack on the German Empire's remaining Indochinese colonies and the Empire of Japan, the Qing advance spurs the Americans into action once more. The Americans land on the Home Islands, the broken shell of the Empire of Japan their staging ground for a strike on Korea and Vladivostok, and the Third Internationale declares war on the Russian State and Qing Empire.
The result is a brutal conflict from 1948-1954. Initial American landings in China are repulsed, but a small force sent into Russia is able to hold off the Chinese with supplies shipped in via Attu for years on end, giving Red America a toehold. Savinkov's desperate attempts to redirect forces finally give Mitteleuropa a bit of breathing room, and they regroup before launching a massive attack into the Russian heartland.
The Second Weltrkieg, popularly known as the Final War of Humankind, officially ends on August 7th, 1954. The ceasefire between the German Empire and Commune of France is maintained, but Russia and China are broken up between the Paneuropa League and the Third Internationale. Bharat controls India but is grumpy about the loss of Ceylon, the Turks lost Istanbul after allying with Savinkov and getting into a fight with Greece, and the former Axis fall to bickering amongst themselves over the remains of the Ottoman Empire. An uneasy peace falls over the world as Paneuropa and the Internationale focus on rebuilding.
The 1960s are marked by (mostly) peaceful decolonization and the strengthening of Syndicalist and Paneuropan ties. Britain, scarred by Mosley's attempted coup, becomes a prominent anti-Totalist voice, and Red America becomes the de facto undisputed leader of the Third Internationale. Counterculture movements in the 1970s lead to a gradual loosening of sexual and gender norms; although trans people still face challenges, gay marriage was legalized by America in 1971 and Germany in '89. The 1980s are marked by gradual detente between Paneuropa and the Internationale, as both sides realize that taking on the other just isn't worth it. By the end of the 1990s, the only real fight is between the Germans and the French, everybody else is too busy trading to really put an effort into spreading THE REVOLUTION! or Suppressing Radical Elements.
The modern world is broadly free and peaceful. The US expects lesser Syndicalist countries to have at the bare minimum a reasonable facsimile of democracy without in-your-face oppression (Bharat, which has become a nasty place comparable to the later Brezhnev era USSR, is currently at risk of being kicked out of the Internationale for this despite its size and economic importance), and about 2/3 of the Internationale genuinely lives up to the ideology's promise or at least makes the effort; most of the rest pay lip service to Syndicalism but really run on corruption (see, Brazil, which still has democracy but you can buy a very expensive bottle of wine and have El Presidente remove a little red tape for you to build your new farm on protected land). The Germans have developed a very robust, democratic constitutional monarchy, and most of their bloc have a similar structure or are, if perhaps populist and a bit authoritarian, at least encouraged to have international observers watch their elections. Former Mittelafrika is a system of grudgingly or willingly German-allied regional federations, and the Germans aren't stupid enough to try to mess around in there again. Australasia is the big neutral, and is a British-style parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. They lifted Emergency Police Rule in the 1960s and never looked back.
The unfreest place on Earth is Turkey, which is still mellowing out from the Nat-Pops (think the reverse of the current trend--the current leader is a bombastic strongman like Erdogan but he's slowly mellowing and even lets the press operate freely now), or perhaps Egypt, which has a lot of bad history with the Arab disputes. The Middle East is broadly better off than OTL, though, with less of a postcolonial mess and less internecine strife.
It's not a perfect world, far from it, and the 1940s and 1950s were basically one long slog of Grey On Black morality, but these days it's kinda noblebright.
I'm posting based on a world where Syndicalism got pretty lucky. Everything seemed pretty OK, if unstable under the surface, until '36, where Savinkov seized power in Russia and the notoriously corrupt, incompetent, and just plain weak Hoover administration effectively collapsed in America. Mainstream Syndicalists, banking on solid economic states prior to the Berlin crash, managed to maintain control in France and Britain during their Trade Union Congresses. The Entente went conservative-revanchist and the Kaiser elected to go social-democrat in an attempt to stem the tide of Syndicalism, which led to support from social-democrat Austria.
In '36, Reed won the Presidency despite winning barely 30% of the vote, due to a horrible split between the Democrats and Republicans that led to their 50% becoming 25% each; the end result was an unstable and controversial Syndicalist rule. Huey Long refused to comply, and Dougie Mac tried to coup Reed; however, in the ensuing mess Reed escaped to Chicago, and a General Strike was declared across the Midwest, PA, NJ, and parts of New York. Huey Long, seeing his chance and knowing MacArthur would screw him, rebelled as well. The PSA seceded as well, resulting in a three-way conflict for MacArthur's regime, which was soon forced to relocate to Denver after a Syndicalist conquest of Washington.
Jack Reed insisted on playing nice; he was the legitimate President, after all, the Workers of America were liberating territory held by unjust bourgeois oppression, not conquering cities from the enemies of the American people. Therefore, there would be no looting, no purges (maybe a few imprisonments of notorious Long or MacArthur sympathizers, but no executions), and a general respect for human rights and decency. Inexperienced but bolstered by Franco-British aid and the raw industrial power of the Midwestern heartland, the Combined Syndicates swiftly re-took New England, then moved south to take on the AUS. Facing dissent from many loyalist troops who weren't happy with the apparent rebellion against the President despite not liking Syndies, MacArthur was forced to focus on the PSA and AUS first.
Huey Long was killed, allegedly during the Battle of Richmond, in early 1937. Nat-Pop racist extremist William Pelley took over in his place, and began plans to "get rid of the Negro" once and for all. A campaign of ethnic cleansing, enslavement, and outright murder was his main method of terror, outraging the Syndicalists and sparking major black uprisings. After the Syndicalists seized Atlanta, the USA cut a peace deal with the PSA; recognition of PSA independence in return for pre-war state borders. It worked, but cost MacArthur a lot of support, and several divisions deserted to the Syndicalists, seeing them as the legitimate USA.
MacArthur lasted until October 1939, when the Syndicalists took Denver. The dictator, pressured by Dwight Eisenhower, Admiral Spruance, and Smedley Butler, surrenders to the Combined Syndicates government on October 25th. The Combined Syndicates regime then demands that the PSA recognize their control over the Pacific states; seeing the writing on the wall and facing a major strike, the PSA caves and is annexed on New Year's.
Meanwhile, Europe is about to explode. The Syndicalist victory in America and their petition to join the Third Internationale sends shockwaves across the capitalist world, and the declaration of a socialist republic in Ukraine by Nikita Kruschev draws both Russian and German ire. Boris Savinkov, head of the nightmarish totalitarian Russian State, leads a fanatically revanchist, anti-German (and anyone who might be of Germanic descent), antisemitic, anti-Syndicalist, anti-monarchist regime (literally Russian Nazis), and declares war on Ukraine, followed swiftly by Germany as they intervene.
The Commune of France, having bullied Switzerland into surrendering key lands on the border, sees its chance, but before it can march into Alsace-Lorraine, the Entente, seeking the end of Syndicalism, declares war on the Third Internationale. It is a costly mistake. While the invasion of mainland France by the French Republic inadvertently saves Germany, it is repulsed and ultimately reversed, and the Canadian invasion of Britain is an utter failure that results in Canada being undefended against a massive American invasion with which many Canadian dissidents (sick and tired of British exiles' upper-class lording it about) sympathize. Canada falls dramatically in a matter of mere months, capitulating in February 1942. The rest of the war, however, takes a further 2 years, as the Bharatiya Commune is aided by Red America and France in their conquest of the Dominion of India and Princely Federation. Seeing no way out, the British government-in-exile retreats to Australia and peaces out. The French Republic is dismantled, and the recently-renamed PRUSA finishes off La Plata by sending over a dozen volunteer divisions to help Syndicalist Brazil. A Red flag rises over the Western hemisphere as the Zapatistas in Mexico sign a treaty of eternal friendship with Red America in exchange for a mutual abandonment of border claims. Japan, trying to contain the Syndicalists, gambles on its naval strength to end the Americans' spirits and secure its rule over Hawaii, but is unable to break the American navy quickly enough, launching a grueling conflict in the Pacific.
On the Eastern front, resistance to the monstrous Nat-Pop regime of Savinkov's Russia is stiff but slowly failing against the Russian tide. Austria-Hungary has successfully broken the Hungarian nobility politically and reformed into a more federal, democratic Danubian Federation, but they don't have the troops to handle Nat-Pop Romania and the Russians at once. Meanwhile, the Middle East is disintegrating around the Ottoman-Axis war, and the AOG pulls out of China in the face of revanchist Qing demands. The Communards, pressured by an America that loathes Savinkov and swayed by tales of the Russian despot's perverse cruelties against the Syndicalist Ukrainian people, agree to a temporary ceasefire with Germany. Besides, the Germans have put in some protections for workers, and administering the remains of the French Republic and preparing the new Syndicalist states for independence is a bear of a task.
In 1945, the Internationale declares war on Nat-Pop Portugal after the massacre of a group of striking workers to aide the CNT-FAI in the grueling Spanish civil war. This theater is over by 1946, as American arms and Franco-German man-power take Lisbon in months. Savinkov is losing ideological allies, even as the killing fields of White Ruthenia and Ukraine claim a generation. Then the unthinkable happens; China, reunited under the Qing banner, allies with Boris Savinkov, lending half a billion souls to the Nat-Pop titan. Launching a devastating attack on the German Empire's remaining Indochinese colonies and the Empire of Japan, the Qing advance spurs the Americans into action once more. The Americans land on the Home Islands, the broken shell of the Empire of Japan their staging ground for a strike on Korea and Vladivostok, and the Third Internationale declares war on the Russian State and Qing Empire.
The result is a brutal conflict from 1948-1954. Initial American landings in China are repulsed, but a small force sent into Russia is able to hold off the Chinese with supplies shipped in via Attu for years on end, giving Red America a toehold. Savinkov's desperate attempts to redirect forces finally give Mitteleuropa a bit of breathing room, and they regroup before launching a massive attack into the Russian heartland.
The Second Weltrkieg, popularly known as the Final War of Humankind, officially ends on August 7th, 1954. The ceasefire between the German Empire and Commune of France is maintained, but Russia and China are broken up between the Paneuropa League and the Third Internationale. Bharat controls India but is grumpy about the loss of Ceylon, the Turks lost Istanbul after allying with Savinkov and getting into a fight with Greece, and the former Axis fall to bickering amongst themselves over the remains of the Ottoman Empire. An uneasy peace falls over the world as Paneuropa and the Internationale focus on rebuilding.
The 1960s are marked by (mostly) peaceful decolonization and the strengthening of Syndicalist and Paneuropan ties. Britain, scarred by Mosley's attempted coup, becomes a prominent anti-Totalist voice, and Red America becomes the de facto undisputed leader of the Third Internationale. Counterculture movements in the 1970s lead to a gradual loosening of sexual and gender norms; although trans people still face challenges, gay marriage was legalized by America in 1971 and Germany in '89. The 1980s are marked by gradual detente between Paneuropa and the Internationale, as both sides realize that taking on the other just isn't worth it. By the end of the 1990s, the only real fight is between the Germans and the French, everybody else is too busy trading to really put an effort into spreading THE REVOLUTION! or Suppressing Radical Elements.
The modern world is broadly free and peaceful. The US expects lesser Syndicalist countries to have at the bare minimum a reasonable facsimile of democracy without in-your-face oppression (Bharat, which has become a nasty place comparable to the later Brezhnev era USSR, is currently at risk of being kicked out of the Internationale for this despite its size and economic importance), and about 2/3 of the Internationale genuinely lives up to the ideology's promise or at least makes the effort; most of the rest pay lip service to Syndicalism but really run on corruption (see, Brazil, which still has democracy but you can buy a very expensive bottle of wine and have El Presidente remove a little red tape for you to build your new farm on protected land). The Germans have developed a very robust, democratic constitutional monarchy, and most of their bloc have a similar structure or are, if perhaps populist and a bit authoritarian, at least encouraged to have international observers watch their elections. Former Mittelafrika is a system of grudgingly or willingly German-allied regional federations, and the Germans aren't stupid enough to try to mess around in there again. Australasia is the big neutral, and is a British-style parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. They lifted Emergency Police Rule in the 1960s and never looked back.
The unfreest place on Earth is Turkey, which is still mellowing out from the Nat-Pops (think the reverse of the current trend--the current leader is a bombastic strongman like Erdogan but he's slowly mellowing and even lets the press operate freely now), or perhaps Egypt, which has a lot of bad history with the Arab disputes. The Middle East is broadly better off than OTL, though, with less of a postcolonial mess and less internecine strife.
It's not a perfect world, far from it, and the 1940s and 1950s were basically one long slog of Grey On Black morality, but these days it's kinda noblebright.
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Redshank Galloglass
Banned
@Worffan101 we dont necessarily have to start making writeups the norm, but it's just something to do if you want to explain your headcanon.
Good job!
Good job!
Well, thank you. I'm not the largest fan of the term, but I do appreciate knowing someone cares
Well, some of my family and friends of my family had military careers, so nothing but respect from me
Definitely
They're awesome, and looking forward to more.Very cool
Awesome write-up!
I usually maintain multiple separate headcanon possibilities (hey, it's an AH mod and we're on an AH site), but knowledge that China is in flux, and uncertainty about which bits of focus tree limitations in the HOI4 versions are genuine lore changes and which are more down to making the focus trees less messy and smoother has kept me from detailing them down for a while (like, I used to have Osman declaring himself Kaisar-i-Hind but then rallying to reform not to autocracy but towards meritocracy and democracy in the more German-successful 'canon', as is DH possible... but not HOI4 possible, which places the declaration at the end of the autocratic tree instead).
I'll probably write up my headcanon tomorrow. Thanks for your service, @The Red Iron Chef, and if you don't mind me asking, did your fellow Marines know your Communist ideology, and if so, what was it like?
Does anyone else think ethnic nationalism would be stronger in Europe, compared to OTL? Not 19th century levels but closer modern day east asian countries.
Chilean President Patricio Aylwin among cheering crows in Santiago in 1994, shortly after becoming the first non-socialist President of Chile since the election of President Salvador Allende, who had recently died at the age of 84 in 1992.
King Abdullah II of the Kingdom of Mashriq. His reign has been marked by numerous progressive and liberal reforms within the kingdom.
Mexican President Vicente Fox with his National Action Party supporters in Mexico City, shortly before the 1994 Mexican general election.
German and Dutch soldiers move cautiously along a jungle track round the town of Grissee in the Dutch East Indies during the Insulandian War of Independence, circa 1950.
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Redshank Galloglass
Banned
Well, I dont identify as a Communist then or now (Syndicalist) but I wasn't really knowledgeable about politics outaide of contemporary American political views. My fellow Marines knew I was pretty strongly left wing though. Most didn't really care since I disliked liberalism nearly as much as conservatism. Some agreed with me. Others didnt but shared my sentiments.
I wouldn't really even call myself a Marxist, really. I like the idea of a state for the people where the people control their own labor. But I'm a huge patriot ( I dont hate other countries though) and I'm not too sold on post scarcity and definitely not on a world government. So I guess you could call me a patriotic Republican Syndicalist?
I'm pretty sure that first one is German!Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ("Honest Krueger and the Crystal Temple" and it shows a Dean named Marcus B.) and the second one is German!Total Recall ("Total Recovery").
My setting uses the last game I played as a base, but there's been stuff added, subtracted, and changed so's to avoid 'game logic' . Not as good as you guys', but I think it gets the general idea.
The Empire of Japan managed to gradually democratise over the course of the 1930s. It wasn't an easy process by any means - revolt in satellite regimes and Korea, nationalist discontent, assassinations - but a somewhat shaky democratic foundation was gradually laid, with Pan-Asian sentiment gradually coming back to the fore as a substitute for the more explicitly imperial-colonialist rhetoric of the hard-right. This, coupled with increased rights for Han Chinese and ethnic Koreans, managed to restore peace to the Empire. Prime Ministers Tsuyoshi Inukai - tragically martyred by a right-wing fanatic - and Yonai Mitsumasa were chiefly to thank for the gradual process, a long, painstaking march during which the Liberal Minseito Party would gradually be established as the leading political movement in Japan, thanks in large part to a programme of land reform and working to curb the influence of the mighty zaibatsu. This would appease the left, while the 'liberation' and regime change in the Philippines and establishment of a protectorate over Hawaii during the Second American Civil War would appease many of the hard-right.
In Europe, meanwhile, what had begun as the dream of freeing workers from their chains had turned into a nightmare of authoritarianism as Sorel and Mosley emerged as the leaders of their nations. Major armament programmes would take place throughout the Western European members of the Internationale, with Britain proving a handy place for the French to test new tank models. It would be a gradual process, though, one that would take the entirety of the 1930s, and that would see proxy wars taking place throughout the decade - Spain, Italy and elsewhere.
Although the growth of Syndicalism worried the German leadership, it had other problems to deal with. Chief among them, the near-collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Unity in the Trans-Danube would only be assured by German arms, and even then, the ancient Empire would ultimately give way to the Danubian Federation, a nation that while united by the House of Hapsburg, would be a far looser affair than the Empire. This distraction, coupled with over-confidence and conservatism by the old guard in the military and internal political division, would be the chief reason for Germany suffering so much when war finally did break out.
The Second American Civil War was a vicious, bloody affair, one that would see everything East of Utah consumed in three-way fighting between Federalist, Syndicalist and the Populist American Union State. The war was one that the Federalists were ill-equipped to deal with: not only did multiple National Guard and regular units defect to both the CSA and AUS; but there was often no clear front, no central heart for the enemy. Often, Syndicalist guerrilla activity would suddenly flare up in areas where it had not been, only to melt away again. It was only in the West that relative peace prevailed, as the state governors initially maintained a state of relative neutrality, watching to see what happened back East. Although many point to the war as the era when the Pacific States were forged, secession was only formally declared after a year of war, when Douglas MacArthur, the 'American Caesar', took power. Although they considered themselves loyal Americans, the leaders and people of the PSA had no desire to submit to dictatorship, and so would move to secure independence - an independence that was originally intended to be temporary, but would come to be sought out following MacArthur's increasingly violent actions (the air bombing of Carson City and Salt Lake City being the leading example). Japan would emerge as an early friend of the PSA, sending weapons, munitions and volunteers to assist the fledgling government in exchange for recognition of the new arrangements in Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii. Ultimately, MacArthur would be forced to agree to a ceasefire - though would never recognise the PSA - following renewed flare-ups of Syndicalist violence behind his lines and the realisation that his forces were exhausted. It would be this that forced him to also not do more than protest at the Canadian occupation of New England and Alaska...and his increasingly authoritarian regime would be the key cause of protest being decidedly muted within those territories.
In Russia, a White resurgence would see the Republic overthrown, and the rise of Pyotr Wrangel. The 'Black Baron' would quickly move to consolidate support behind him: re-armament; whipping up anti-Semitic sentiment; and loud, revanchist rhetoric...these and other measures ensured the short-term loyalty of the Russian populace, and plans were set in motion for more long-term solutions.
By 1940, the world was largely at peace. A sullen, fragile peace, one that few thought would last. And they would be proven right, when on April 4th, 1940, the IJN Combined Fleet would fall upon Singapore in a surprise attack that saw the reinforced German Far Eastern Fleet - built around the new battleships Posen and Tirpitz and the newly-arrived carrier Graf Zeppelin - either sunk or so badly damaged they would require months of repair. Shortly thereafter, land invasions of German-aligned territory in China and Indochina would commence, while the Royal Thai Army would invade south into the Malay Peninsula. The War of Asian Liberation, as it would later be termed, had begun.
For the most part, the war was an unbridled success story for Japan. The invasion of Indochina had seen much groundwork - groundwork done by the graduates of the Nakano Spy School, which would see major uprisings by nationalist Vietnamese and Lao groups. In addition, landings in Southern China were supported by the outbreak of the Second Wuhan Uprising, as the Revolutionary KMT seized its opportunity to finally rid itself of German and Manchu control. It was only further north that things would be more difficult: the attempted drive south from the Fengtien Republic would quickly turn into a bloody slog of trench warfare and heavy bombing.
As Germany grappled with Japan, the Syndicalist powers looked on with interest. By June of 1941, following the catastrophic German defeat at the Battle of the Gulf of Tonkin and the loss of the German fleet sent to the theatre - including four of the Empire's newest battleships - the Commune of France had made its mind up. Germany was weak. Germany was ripe for the taking.
The war began with two major armoured drives, one through Flanders-Wallonia, and one braving the Elsace-Lotheringen border fortifications, one that was helped by uprisings behind German lines. Within two months, Elsace-Lotheringen was largely overrun, and French forces were advancing hard on the Rhine. Germany immediately moved to secure peace with Japan, formally ceding all territory in East Asia in exchange for immediate release of all POWs (Japanese fighting against the Qing Empire would continue for another year before ending in a stalemated ceasefire, largely owing to fear of Russian activity). By September, German forces had managed to slow the enemy advance, though were stymied by continuing Syndicalist agitation and violence behind the lines. At the same time, Germany's Ottoman allies would find themselves embroiled in conflict in the Caucasus, with Russia, meaning that they were a decidedly broken reed on which to lean.
The Defence of the Rhine lasted for a further four months, with German soldiers desperately fighting to give their nation time to re-arm and redeploy its forces. Fighting raged along the Rhine Front on the ground, while both sides bombed cities and bitter dogfighting raged. At sea, the Republican Navy imitated the tactics of the First Weltkrieg, blockading the German coast, while the Marine made extensive use of U-Boat warfare, doing its best to thin out British warships and interdict supplies.
While the Rhine Front would be breached ultimately, they had won their nation sufficient time. From now on, the lighting phase of the war was over, and the war would become a grinding, slow affair from 1942 until 1943, with Anglo-French forces reaching Frankfurt by the end of 1942. Further South, meanwhile, the Danubian Federation confronted Syndicalist Italian forces, with much the same results as the initial Italian entry into the First Weltkrieg. In Africa, UoB and Commune expeditionary forces would attack Morocco, to try to entirely remove the German presence in the Mediterranean. However, owing to placing a lower priority on this theatre of the war, the Syndicalist forces would quickly find themselves routed by Askari troops sent from Mittelafrika.
It was in April 1943 that the Commonwealth joined the war. Their entry coincided with Unternehmen Kaiser Friedrich, a major German counter-attack that would drive the Syndicalist forces back across the Rhine in less than a month. This operation would be where many Panzer aces first gained their fearsome reputations:in particular Michael Wittmann and Friedrich Gold. The Commonwealth entry into the war, coupled with the major victory, would stiffen the resolve of the German people, and make them determined to see the war through to victory.
However, a shadow would emerge on the horizon. It was at this time that the Russian Empire, having triumphed in the Caucasus, would also move into the Ukraine and the Don-Kuban...
The war would finally end in 1945. The last year and a half saw the destruction of the Republican Navy between the Royal Navy and the High Seas Fleet, the Restoration in Britain, the reduction of the Commune of France, and the collapse of Syndicalist Italy thanks to bankruptcy, military incompetence and internal revolt. It also saw the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, and fresh fighting in the Balkans.
Between 1945 and the dawn of the 1950s, the major powers would largely engage in consolidation and rebuilding. Germany, many of its cities gutted by Syndicalist terror bombing, began a long programme of reconstruction, while at the same time working to cement their hegemony over Western Europe - occupying France in conjunction with National French forces and sending troops into Italy - and to try to present a strong face to the restored Russia. To this end, they would finally bury the hatchet with the Commonwealth, and would move to bring Finland and the rest of Scandinavia into their alliance system.
Likewise, Britain would be rebuilt, largely thanks to Canadian money, as countless Exiles returned home. By the early 1950s, the seeds of the 'British Economic Miracle' were sown as manufacturing began to take off once more and as cities were rebuilt. However, the country would be quite different to before the Revolution... The wider Commonwealth would also consolidate, the Conference of London in 1948 formalising the Dominions as a military and economic alliance. In 1949, Canada, South Africa and Australasia would send troops to the Raj - soon to be renamed the Federation of India - to assist them in finally putting down Bharatiya.
Japan, meanwhile, worked to consolidate its new allies into a unified alliance system. In 1946, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere was announced, its membership consisting of Japan; Transamur; the Pacific States of America; Hawaii; the Philippines; the Republic of China (Southern China); Indochina; Malaysia; Thailand and - after some negotiation - Burma. The new alliance would over time see major economic and military growth, though not without its share of storms to weather - the Malaysian Emergency, the Second North American War, hostility with the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire (which would quickly become a Russian ally), etc.
The Second North American War was the result, primarily, of Douglas MacArthur's arrogance. While revanchist rhetoric and 'divide and conquer', chiefly aimed at non-white Americans, had allowed him to retain power in the short-term, the American Caesar knew his hold on power could never truly be unquestioned as long as the country remained divided. So it was that, in 1951, American forces crossed the border into the PSA and Canadian-occupied New England. What followed was two bloody, brutal years of conflict where technologies of war pioneered at the end of the Second Weltkrieg - jet aircraft, missiles, new main battle tanks - would see their full employment, where Britain's New Model Army would receive its baptism of fire, and where Japanese and other East Asian troops would be deployed to the North American mainland to stand with their Western ally. MacArthur's folly in attacking both foes at once would lead to his forces only managing slow advances...and the Canadian use of the atomic bomb would force a halt to the war, though MacArthur would not see it, dying upon hearing the news of the bomb's deployment.
In the aftermath of the war, a cabal of military officers, law enforcement leaders and hard-right politicians would come to power as the National Restoration Council. Though officially only a Department headed by a junior member of the cabinet, the NRC would quickly become the power behind the throne in the post-war United States, using anti-Syndicalist sentiment and language of 'America's betrayal' and 'internal enemies' to consolidate their hold on the nation. Under their control, the largest democracy in the world would become an authoritarian nation, held together by the covert use of internal force, conservative tradition, and by painting 'the other' as the enemy: the external 'other' in the Commonwealth and Asia-Pacific; and the internal 'other' of Syndicalists, non-whites, homosexuals and others of whom the government disapproved, including people who thought too freely.
The rise of the NRC in America ultimately became part of the 'Great Game'. The new Russian Empire was instinctively mistrusted by Germany, Britain and Japan, and for its part was desirous of recovering lost territories from the German and Japanese orbits. As such, the three major powers would move to try to contain Russian growth, while Russia would move to secure allies who could distract its rivals. It found them in Qing China and the United States, as well as a number of minor nations.
The Great Game in Europe never reached the point of war. It was a game of one-upmanship: waged in the shadows on the continent; and only flaring to violence as a matter of proxy. In Asia, tensions between the two Chinas and Russia and Transamur would often flare up, nearing the brink of war in the 1970s before cooler heads prevailed. In North America, meanwhile, border skirmishes were a regular occurrence between the three major nations, while all three would fund proxies in Latin America.
It was in the 1980s that the Great Game would gradually ease, with the rise of progressive elements in the Russian Empire and the United States, and the former's move toward federalism. Qing China, meanwhile, would finally come to an end as the last Emperor died heirless and the ruling elite - knowing that none of them had the necessary charisma or support to take the Imperial title - entered into negotiations with the Republic, ultimately uniting as the Union of China in 1994. However, it would be incorrect to say that the Game ended...The Russian Empire has reformed, but is still eager to maintain its place on the world stage, yet despite federalism separatist elements remain; and while the United States is at peace with its neighbours, all three North American powers keep an eye on each other.
* * *
The world is a multipolar one, with the leading powers being the Commonwealth, the German-led Allianz PanEuropische, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere, and the Russian Empire. The major powers are largely cordial to one another currently, and the Commonwealth and the APCPS have a long history of cooperation, though they all keep a watchful eye on the other.
The first three are democratic, to varying degrees. The Commonwealth is social-democratic - Britain especially, having kept certain elements of the Union (devolved assemblies for the constituent members of the UK, socialised healthcare, etc.) - and has solid manufacturing and service industries. Britain is a hub for consumer electronics - the InterVid industry especially - while Canada and Australasia are major car manufacturers. All with strong protection for workers, and - gradually - strong unions. Germany and her allies are more capitalistic (the Danubian Federation, in particular), but would still have tolerable protections for workers and the unemployed. The Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere has varied. The Home Islands, Hawai’i and the PSA are the most democratic nations, with varying social-democratic institutions, while the South-East Asian members vary from social democracy (Indochina, Myanmar,) to more authoritarian democracy (Malaysia, China, Transamur, the Philippines, Thailand) - though still democratic, though this was not always the case. Thanks to mutual economic treaties, and to command of a wide wealth of natural resources and industry, all are relatively wealthy and their citizens enjoy decent standards of living.
The Russian Empire...is trying. However, corruption, an interventionist military and economic problems mean that the path to democracy has involved many steps backwards as well as forwards.
The United States is democratic now, and has become increasingly social-democratic - and with major military reductions, has a great deal of capital to pay for social programmes. However, more conservative attitudes still prevail in many parts of the nation. The South in particular - as a sop to keep them onside, the NRC had allowed the state governments major latitude in segregationist legislation, and even with an official end to segregation under President Sanders, things are hard in the South for non-whites. And, indeed, professional women and LGBT people.
Lately, the United States has been seeing some resurgence in nationalism and military growth.
The leading three world powers are largely progressive when considering ethnic minorities, women's rights and sexual minorities. The Pacific States were an early trailblazer in terms of women's rights - the embryonic nature of the nation and the shaky economy meant that families where both partners worked remained common throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and from the 1950s onwards women would find it easier to scale the ladders in the world of work. There was never truly a time where it was considered 'wrong' for women to go out working. In addition, following the Second North American War, the PSA would be the first nation on Earth to introduce Universal Conscription. Although initially female conscripts were employed for rear-echelon duties - the idea being that this would allow the nation to maximise the number of men who fought - starting in the 1980s, women would find themselves gradually permitted to join combat units (and even before this, female MPs, truck drivers and the like had found themselves having to defend themselves during border skirmishes or peace-keeping operations). The PSA, the Commonwealth and Europe enjoy fairly good, common equal gender rights, and LGBT rights have been improving gradually since the 1960s, with occasional problems. Same-sex marriage is legal in most European nations, and in all of the old 'White Dominions', as well as in California, Oregon and Washington up until 2019, when the new President managed to pass a bill approving civil marriage on a federal level. The Asian nations tend to be more conservative, but China and Japan both have seen gradual, careful growth in these rights.
Likewise, the Commonwealth and Europe are both multicultural societies, and while individual racism can still be a problem, the law isn't [AN: Slightly better than OTL Europe, about the same as OTL Canada]. The PSA also has a large non-white population, who are largely integrated into the nation. The Asian nations are - again - more conservative and remain resistant to immigration.
The Russian Empire, however, has a long way to go. It also still has a major problem with treatment of minorities, especially Jews. While anti-Semitism is now illegal, it's still a popular attitude, and many Jews have voted with their feet and moved to Western Europe.
Syndicalism, largely as a result of its association with authoritarian regimes, is The Great Evil in history books.
Pop culture is a mix. There is no one dominant cinema: Anglo-Canadian; German; Pacifican and Japanese films are all enjoyed equally by audiences across much of the world, with a great deal of overlap and collaboration between the latter two (one example being the career of Audrey Hepburn and her popularity in both Pacifican and Japanese films). Television programmes can vary from region to region, though the Anglo-Canadian Beyond the Final Frontier has proved a universally-popular show ever since William Shatner first brought it to life.
A popular music form in North America is loca, inspired by Latin American music styles but with electric instruments*. It first emerged in the Pacific States, and spread elsewhere. In Britain, thanks to Caribbean immigration, reggae and dub have been the leading influences on popular music, with both white and black artists performing and creating.
*Rock, but inspired by Latin American music rather than African-American.
Technology has enjoyed steady growth. The space sector in particular, with a permanent observatory on the Moon operated by all three of the major powers and space stations operated by Europe, East Asia and the Commonwealth. Britain and the Pacific States are the global leaders in computer technology (the Pacific States being the more dominant these days) though China has been seeing growth here, with automotive technology being dominated by Germany, Japan and Canada.
. Not as good as you guys', but I think it gets the general idea.The Empire of Japan managed to gradually democratise over the course of the 1930s. It wasn't an easy process by any means - revolt in satellite regimes and Korea, nationalist discontent, assassinations - but a somewhat shaky democratic foundation was gradually laid, with Pan-Asian sentiment gradually coming back to the fore as a substitute for the more explicitly imperial-colonialist rhetoric of the hard-right. This, coupled with increased rights for Han Chinese and ethnic Koreans, managed to restore peace to the Empire. Prime Ministers Tsuyoshi Inukai - tragically martyred by a right-wing fanatic - and Yonai Mitsumasa were chiefly to thank for the gradual process, a long, painstaking march during which the Liberal Minseito Party would gradually be established as the leading political movement in Japan, thanks in large part to a programme of land reform and working to curb the influence of the mighty zaibatsu. This would appease the left, while the 'liberation' and regime change in the Philippines and establishment of a protectorate over Hawaii during the Second American Civil War would appease many of the hard-right.
In Europe, meanwhile, what had begun as the dream of freeing workers from their chains had turned into a nightmare of authoritarianism as Sorel and Mosley emerged as the leaders of their nations. Major armament programmes would take place throughout the Western European members of the Internationale, with Britain proving a handy place for the French to test new tank models. It would be a gradual process, though, one that would take the entirety of the 1930s, and that would see proxy wars taking place throughout the decade - Spain, Italy and elsewhere.
Although the growth of Syndicalism worried the German leadership, it had other problems to deal with. Chief among them, the near-collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Unity in the Trans-Danube would only be assured by German arms, and even then, the ancient Empire would ultimately give way to the Danubian Federation, a nation that while united by the House of Hapsburg, would be a far looser affair than the Empire. This distraction, coupled with over-confidence and conservatism by the old guard in the military and internal political division, would be the chief reason for Germany suffering so much when war finally did break out.
The Second American Civil War was a vicious, bloody affair, one that would see everything East of Utah consumed in three-way fighting between Federalist, Syndicalist and the Populist American Union State. The war was one that the Federalists were ill-equipped to deal with: not only did multiple National Guard and regular units defect to both the CSA and AUS; but there was often no clear front, no central heart for the enemy. Often, Syndicalist guerrilla activity would suddenly flare up in areas where it had not been, only to melt away again. It was only in the West that relative peace prevailed, as the state governors initially maintained a state of relative neutrality, watching to see what happened back East. Although many point to the war as the era when the Pacific States were forged, secession was only formally declared after a year of war, when Douglas MacArthur, the 'American Caesar', took power. Although they considered themselves loyal Americans, the leaders and people of the PSA had no desire to submit to dictatorship, and so would move to secure independence - an independence that was originally intended to be temporary, but would come to be sought out following MacArthur's increasingly violent actions (the air bombing of Carson City and Salt Lake City being the leading example). Japan would emerge as an early friend of the PSA, sending weapons, munitions and volunteers to assist the fledgling government in exchange for recognition of the new arrangements in Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii. Ultimately, MacArthur would be forced to agree to a ceasefire - though would never recognise the PSA - following renewed flare-ups of Syndicalist violence behind his lines and the realisation that his forces were exhausted. It would be this that forced him to also not do more than protest at the Canadian occupation of New England and Alaska...and his increasingly authoritarian regime would be the key cause of protest being decidedly muted within those territories.
In Russia, a White resurgence would see the Republic overthrown, and the rise of Pyotr Wrangel. The 'Black Baron' would quickly move to consolidate support behind him: re-armament; whipping up anti-Semitic sentiment; and loud, revanchist rhetoric...these and other measures ensured the short-term loyalty of the Russian populace, and plans were set in motion for more long-term solutions.
By 1940, the world was largely at peace. A sullen, fragile peace, one that few thought would last. And they would be proven right, when on April 4th, 1940, the IJN Combined Fleet would fall upon Singapore in a surprise attack that saw the reinforced German Far Eastern Fleet - built around the new battleships Posen and Tirpitz and the newly-arrived carrier Graf Zeppelin - either sunk or so badly damaged they would require months of repair. Shortly thereafter, land invasions of German-aligned territory in China and Indochina would commence, while the Royal Thai Army would invade south into the Malay Peninsula. The War of Asian Liberation, as it would later be termed, had begun.
For the most part, the war was an unbridled success story for Japan. The invasion of Indochina had seen much groundwork - groundwork done by the graduates of the Nakano Spy School, which would see major uprisings by nationalist Vietnamese and Lao groups. In addition, landings in Southern China were supported by the outbreak of the Second Wuhan Uprising, as the Revolutionary KMT seized its opportunity to finally rid itself of German and Manchu control. It was only further north that things would be more difficult: the attempted drive south from the Fengtien Republic would quickly turn into a bloody slog of trench warfare and heavy bombing.
As Germany grappled with Japan, the Syndicalist powers looked on with interest. By June of 1941, following the catastrophic German defeat at the Battle of the Gulf of Tonkin and the loss of the German fleet sent to the theatre - including four of the Empire's newest battleships - the Commune of France had made its mind up. Germany was weak. Germany was ripe for the taking.
The war began with two major armoured drives, one through Flanders-Wallonia, and one braving the Elsace-Lotheringen border fortifications, one that was helped by uprisings behind German lines. Within two months, Elsace-Lotheringen was largely overrun, and French forces were advancing hard on the Rhine. Germany immediately moved to secure peace with Japan, formally ceding all territory in East Asia in exchange for immediate release of all POWs (Japanese fighting against the Qing Empire would continue for another year before ending in a stalemated ceasefire, largely owing to fear of Russian activity). By September, German forces had managed to slow the enemy advance, though were stymied by continuing Syndicalist agitation and violence behind the lines. At the same time, Germany's Ottoman allies would find themselves embroiled in conflict in the Caucasus, with Russia, meaning that they were a decidedly broken reed on which to lean.
The Defence of the Rhine lasted for a further four months, with German soldiers desperately fighting to give their nation time to re-arm and redeploy its forces. Fighting raged along the Rhine Front on the ground, while both sides bombed cities and bitter dogfighting raged. At sea, the Republican Navy imitated the tactics of the First Weltkrieg, blockading the German coast, while the Marine made extensive use of U-Boat warfare, doing its best to thin out British warships and interdict supplies.
While the Rhine Front would be breached ultimately, they had won their nation sufficient time. From now on, the lighting phase of the war was over, and the war would become a grinding, slow affair from 1942 until 1943, with Anglo-French forces reaching Frankfurt by the end of 1942. Further South, meanwhile, the Danubian Federation confronted Syndicalist Italian forces, with much the same results as the initial Italian entry into the First Weltkrieg. In Africa, UoB and Commune expeditionary forces would attack Morocco, to try to entirely remove the German presence in the Mediterranean. However, owing to placing a lower priority on this theatre of the war, the Syndicalist forces would quickly find themselves routed by Askari troops sent from Mittelafrika.
It was in April 1943 that the Commonwealth joined the war. Their entry coincided with Unternehmen Kaiser Friedrich, a major German counter-attack that would drive the Syndicalist forces back across the Rhine in less than a month. This operation would be where many Panzer aces first gained their fearsome reputations:in particular Michael Wittmann and Friedrich Gold. The Commonwealth entry into the war, coupled with the major victory, would stiffen the resolve of the German people, and make them determined to see the war through to victory.
However, a shadow would emerge on the horizon. It was at this time that the Russian Empire, having triumphed in the Caucasus, would also move into the Ukraine and the Don-Kuban...
The war would finally end in 1945. The last year and a half saw the destruction of the Republican Navy between the Royal Navy and the High Seas Fleet, the Restoration in Britain, the reduction of the Commune of France, and the collapse of Syndicalist Italy thanks to bankruptcy, military incompetence and internal revolt. It also saw the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, and fresh fighting in the Balkans.
Between 1945 and the dawn of the 1950s, the major powers would largely engage in consolidation and rebuilding. Germany, many of its cities gutted by Syndicalist terror bombing, began a long programme of reconstruction, while at the same time working to cement their hegemony over Western Europe - occupying France in conjunction with National French forces and sending troops into Italy - and to try to present a strong face to the restored Russia. To this end, they would finally bury the hatchet with the Commonwealth, and would move to bring Finland and the rest of Scandinavia into their alliance system.
Likewise, Britain would be rebuilt, largely thanks to Canadian money, as countless Exiles returned home. By the early 1950s, the seeds of the 'British Economic Miracle' were sown as manufacturing began to take off once more and as cities were rebuilt. However, the country would be quite different to before the Revolution... The wider Commonwealth would also consolidate, the Conference of London in 1948 formalising the Dominions as a military and economic alliance. In 1949, Canada, South Africa and Australasia would send troops to the Raj - soon to be renamed the Federation of India - to assist them in finally putting down Bharatiya.
Japan, meanwhile, worked to consolidate its new allies into a unified alliance system. In 1946, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere was announced, its membership consisting of Japan; Transamur; the Pacific States of America; Hawaii; the Philippines; the Republic of China (Southern China); Indochina; Malaysia; Thailand and - after some negotiation - Burma. The new alliance would over time see major economic and military growth, though not without its share of storms to weather - the Malaysian Emergency, the Second North American War, hostility with the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire (which would quickly become a Russian ally), etc.
The Second North American War was the result, primarily, of Douglas MacArthur's arrogance. While revanchist rhetoric and 'divide and conquer', chiefly aimed at non-white Americans, had allowed him to retain power in the short-term, the American Caesar knew his hold on power could never truly be unquestioned as long as the country remained divided. So it was that, in 1951, American forces crossed the border into the PSA and Canadian-occupied New England. What followed was two bloody, brutal years of conflict where technologies of war pioneered at the end of the Second Weltkrieg - jet aircraft, missiles, new main battle tanks - would see their full employment, where Britain's New Model Army would receive its baptism of fire, and where Japanese and other East Asian troops would be deployed to the North American mainland to stand with their Western ally. MacArthur's folly in attacking both foes at once would lead to his forces only managing slow advances...and the Canadian use of the atomic bomb would force a halt to the war, though MacArthur would not see it, dying upon hearing the news of the bomb's deployment.
In the aftermath of the war, a cabal of military officers, law enforcement leaders and hard-right politicians would come to power as the National Restoration Council. Though officially only a Department headed by a junior member of the cabinet, the NRC would quickly become the power behind the throne in the post-war United States, using anti-Syndicalist sentiment and language of 'America's betrayal' and 'internal enemies' to consolidate their hold on the nation. Under their control, the largest democracy in the world would become an authoritarian nation, held together by the covert use of internal force, conservative tradition, and by painting 'the other' as the enemy: the external 'other' in the Commonwealth and Asia-Pacific; and the internal 'other' of Syndicalists, non-whites, homosexuals and others of whom the government disapproved, including people who thought too freely.
The rise of the NRC in America ultimately became part of the 'Great Game'. The new Russian Empire was instinctively mistrusted by Germany, Britain and Japan, and for its part was desirous of recovering lost territories from the German and Japanese orbits. As such, the three major powers would move to try to contain Russian growth, while Russia would move to secure allies who could distract its rivals. It found them in Qing China and the United States, as well as a number of minor nations.
The Great Game in Europe never reached the point of war. It was a game of one-upmanship: waged in the shadows on the continent; and only flaring to violence as a matter of proxy. In Asia, tensions between the two Chinas and Russia and Transamur would often flare up, nearing the brink of war in the 1970s before cooler heads prevailed. In North America, meanwhile, border skirmishes were a regular occurrence between the three major nations, while all three would fund proxies in Latin America.
It was in the 1980s that the Great Game would gradually ease, with the rise of progressive elements in the Russian Empire and the United States, and the former's move toward federalism. Qing China, meanwhile, would finally come to an end as the last Emperor died heirless and the ruling elite - knowing that none of them had the necessary charisma or support to take the Imperial title - entered into negotiations with the Republic, ultimately uniting as the Union of China in 1994. However, it would be incorrect to say that the Game ended...The Russian Empire has reformed, but is still eager to maintain its place on the world stage, yet despite federalism separatist elements remain; and while the United States is at peace with its neighbours, all three North American powers keep an eye on each other.
* * *
The world is a multipolar one, with the leading powers being the Commonwealth, the German-led Allianz PanEuropische, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere, and the Russian Empire. The major powers are largely cordial to one another currently, and the Commonwealth and the APCPS have a long history of cooperation, though they all keep a watchful eye on the other.
The first three are democratic, to varying degrees. The Commonwealth is social-democratic - Britain especially, having kept certain elements of the Union (devolved assemblies for the constituent members of the UK, socialised healthcare, etc.) - and has solid manufacturing and service industries. Britain is a hub for consumer electronics - the InterVid industry especially - while Canada and Australasia are major car manufacturers. All with strong protection for workers, and - gradually - strong unions. Germany and her allies are more capitalistic (the Danubian Federation, in particular), but would still have tolerable protections for workers and the unemployed. The Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere has varied. The Home Islands, Hawai’i and the PSA are the most democratic nations, with varying social-democratic institutions, while the South-East Asian members vary from social democracy (Indochina, Myanmar,) to more authoritarian democracy (Malaysia, China, Transamur, the Philippines, Thailand) - though still democratic, though this was not always the case. Thanks to mutual economic treaties, and to command of a wide wealth of natural resources and industry, all are relatively wealthy and their citizens enjoy decent standards of living.
The Russian Empire...is trying. However, corruption, an interventionist military and economic problems mean that the path to democracy has involved many steps backwards as well as forwards.
The United States is democratic now, and has become increasingly social-democratic - and with major military reductions, has a great deal of capital to pay for social programmes. However, more conservative attitudes still prevail in many parts of the nation. The South in particular - as a sop to keep them onside, the NRC had allowed the state governments major latitude in segregationist legislation, and even with an official end to segregation under President Sanders, things are hard in the South for non-whites. And, indeed, professional women and LGBT people.
Lately, the United States has been seeing some resurgence in nationalism and military growth.
The leading three world powers are largely progressive when considering ethnic minorities, women's rights and sexual minorities. The Pacific States were an early trailblazer in terms of women's rights - the embryonic nature of the nation and the shaky economy meant that families where both partners worked remained common throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and from the 1950s onwards women would find it easier to scale the ladders in the world of work. There was never truly a time where it was considered 'wrong' for women to go out working. In addition, following the Second North American War, the PSA would be the first nation on Earth to introduce Universal Conscription. Although initially female conscripts were employed for rear-echelon duties - the idea being that this would allow the nation to maximise the number of men who fought - starting in the 1980s, women would find themselves gradually permitted to join combat units (and even before this, female MPs, truck drivers and the like had found themselves having to defend themselves during border skirmishes or peace-keeping operations). The PSA, the Commonwealth and Europe enjoy fairly good, common equal gender rights, and LGBT rights have been improving gradually since the 1960s, with occasional problems. Same-sex marriage is legal in most European nations, and in all of the old 'White Dominions', as well as in California, Oregon and Washington up until 2019, when the new President managed to pass a bill approving civil marriage on a federal level. The Asian nations tend to be more conservative, but China and Japan both have seen gradual, careful growth in these rights.
Likewise, the Commonwealth and Europe are both multicultural societies, and while individual racism can still be a problem, the law isn't [AN: Slightly better than OTL Europe, about the same as OTL Canada]. The PSA also has a large non-white population, who are largely integrated into the nation. The Asian nations are - again - more conservative and remain resistant to immigration.
The Russian Empire, however, has a long way to go. It also still has a major problem with treatment of minorities, especially Jews. While anti-Semitism is now illegal, it's still a popular attitude, and many Jews have voted with their feet and moved to Western Europe.
Syndicalism, largely as a result of its association with authoritarian regimes, is The Great Evil in history books.
Pop culture is a mix. There is no one dominant cinema: Anglo-Canadian; German; Pacifican and Japanese films are all enjoyed equally by audiences across much of the world, with a great deal of overlap and collaboration between the latter two (one example being the career of Audrey Hepburn and her popularity in both Pacifican and Japanese films). Television programmes can vary from region to region, though the Anglo-Canadian Beyond the Final Frontier has proved a universally-popular show ever since William Shatner first brought it to life.
A popular music form in North America is loca, inspired by Latin American music styles but with electric instruments*. It first emerged in the Pacific States, and spread elsewhere. In Britain, thanks to Caribbean immigration, reggae and dub have been the leading influences on popular music, with both white and black artists performing and creating.
*Rock, but inspired by Latin American music rather than African-American.
Technology has enjoyed steady growth. The space sector in particular, with a permanent observatory on the Moon operated by all three of the major powers and space stations operated by Europe, East Asia and the Commonwealth. Britain and the Pacific States are the global leaders in computer technology (the Pacific States being the more dominant these days) though China has been seeing growth here, with automotive technology being dominated by Germany, Japan and Canada.
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Redshank Galloglass
Banned
Awesome! I like it.My setting uses the last game I played as a base, but there's been stuff added, subtracted, and changed so's to avoid 'game logic'
The Empire of Japan managed to gradually democratise over the course of the 1930s. It wasn't an easy process by any means - revolt in satellite regimes and Korea, nationalist discontent, assassinations - but a somewhat shaky democratic foundation was gradually laid, with Pan-Asian sentiment gradually coming back to the fore as a substitute for the more explicitly imperial-colonialist rhetoric of the hard-right. This, coupled with increased rights for Han Chinese and ethnic Koreans, managed to restore peace to the Empire. Prime Ministers Tsuyoshi Inukai - tragically martyred by a right-wing fanatic - and Yonai Mitsumasa were chiefly to thank for the gradual process, a long, painstaking march during which the Liberal Minseito Party would gradually be established as the leading political movement in Japan, thanks in large part to a programme of land reform and working to curb the influence of the mighty zaibatsu. This would appease the left, while the 'liberation' and regime change in the Philippines and establishment of a protectorate over Hawaii during the Second American Civil War would appease many of the hard-right.
In Europe, meanwhile, what had begun as the dream of freeing workers from their chains had turned into a nightmare of authoritarianism as Sorel and Mosley emerged as the leaders of their nations. Major armament programmes would take place throughout the Western European members of the Internationale, with Britain proving a handy place for the French to test new tank models. It would be a gradual process, though, one that would take the entirety of the 1930s, and that would see proxy wars taking place throughout the decade - Spain, Italy and elsewhere.
Although the growth of Syndicalism worried the German leadership, it had other problems to deal with. Chief among them, the near-collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Unity in the Trans-Danube would only be assured by German arms, and even then, the ancient Empire would ultimately give way to the Danubian Federation, a nation that while united by the House of Hapsburg, would be a far looser affair than the Empire. This distraction, coupled with over-confidence and conservatism by the old guard in the military and internal political division, would be the chief reason for Germany suffering so much when war finally did break out.
The Second American Civil War was a vicious, bloody affair, one that would see everything West of Nevada consumed in three-way fighting between Federalist, Syndicalist and the Populist American Union State. The war was one that the Federalists were ill-equipped to deal with: not only did multiple National Guard and regular units defect to both the CSA and AUS; but there was often no clear front, no central heart for the enemy. Often, Syndicalist guerrilla activity would suddenly flare up in areas where it had not been, only to melt away again. It was only in the West that relative peace prevailed, as the state governors initially maintained a state of relative neutrality, watching to see what happened back East. Although many point to the war as the era when the Pacific States were forged, secession was only formally declared after a year of war, when Douglas MacArthur, the 'American Caesar', took power. Although they considered themselves loyal Americans, the leaders and people of the PSA had no desire to submit to dictatorship, and so would move to secure independence - an independence that was originally intended to be temporary, but would come to be sought out following MacArthur's increasingly violent actions (the air bombing of Carson City and Salt Lake City being the leading example). Japan would emerge as an early friend of the PSA, sending weapons, munitions and volunteers to assist the fledgling government in exchange for recognition of the new arrangements in Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii. Ultimately, MacArthur would be forced to agree to a ceasefire - though would never recognise the PSA - following renewed flare-ups of Syndicalist violence behind his lines and the realisation that his forces were exhausted. It would be this that forced him to also not do more than protest at the Canadian occupation of New England and Alaska...and his increasingly authoritarian regime would be the key cause of protest being decidedly muted within those territories.
In Russia, a White resurgence would see the Republic overthrown, and the rise of Pyotr Wrangel. The 'Black Baron' would quickly move to consolidate support behind him: re-armament; whipping up anti-Semitic sentiment; and loud, revanchist rhetoric...these and other measures ensured the short-term loyalty of the Russian populace, and plans were set in motion for more long-term solutions.
By 1940, the world was largely at peace. A sullen, fragile peace, one that few thought would last. And they would be proven right, when on April 4th, 1940, the IJN Combined Fleet would fall upon Singapore in a surprise attack that saw the reinforced German Far Eastern Fleet - built around the new battleships Posen and Tirpitz and the newly-arrived carrier Graf Zeppelin - either sunk or so badly damaged they would require months of repair. Shortly thereafter, land invasions of German-aligned territory in China and Indochina would commence, while the Royal Thai Army would invade south into the Malay Peninsula. The War of Asian Liberation, as it would later be termed, had begun.
For the most part, the war was an unbridled success story for Japan. The invasion of Indochina had seen much groundwork - groundwork done by the graduates of the Nakano Spy School, which would see major uprisings by nationalist Vietnamese and Lao groups. In addition, landings in Southern China were supported by the outbreak of the Second Wuhan Uprising, as the Revolutionary KMT seized its opportunity to finally rid itself of German and Manchu control. It was only further north that things would be more difficult: the attempted drive south from the Fengtien Republic would quickly turn into a bloody slog of trench warfare and heavy bombing.
As Germany grappled with Japan, the Syndicalist powers looked on with interest. By June of 1941, following the catastrophic German defeat at the Battle of the Gulf of Tonkin and the loss of the German fleet sent to the theatre - including four of the Empire's newest battleships - the Commune of France had made its mind up. Germany was weak. Germany was ripe for the taking.
The war began with two major armoured drives, one through Flanders-Wallonia, and one braving the Elsace-Lotheringen border fortifications, one that was helped by uprisings behind German lines. Within two months, Elsace-Lotheringen was largely overrun, and French forces were advancing hard on the Rhine. Germany immediately moved to secure peace with Japan, formally ceding all territory in East Asia in exchange for immediate release of all POWs (Japanese fighting against the Qing Empire would continue for another year before ending in a stalemated ceasefire, largely owing to fear of Russian activity). By September, German forces had managed to slow the enemy advance, though were stymied by continuing Syndicalist agitation and violence behind the lines. At the same time, Germany's Ottoman allies would find themselves embroiled in conflict in the Caucasus, with Russia, meaning that they were a decidedly broken reed on which to lean.
The Defence of the Rhine lasted for a further four months, with German soldiers desperately fighting to give their nation time to re-arm and redeploy its forces. Fighting raged along the Rhine Front on the ground, while both sides bombed cities and bitter dogfighting raged. At sea, the Republican Navy imitated the tactics of the First Weltkrieg, blockading the German coast, while the Marine made extensive use of U-Boat warfare, doing its best to thin out British warships and interdict supplies.
While the Rhine Front would be breached ultimately, they had won their nation sufficient time. From now on, the lighting phase of the war was over, and the war would become a grinding, slow affair from 1942 until 1943, with Anglo-French forces reaching Frankfurt by the end of 1942. Further South, meanwhile, the Danubian Federation confronted Syndicalist Italian forces, with much the same results as the initial Italian entry into the First Weltkrieg. In Africa, UoB and Commune expeditionary forces would attack Morocco, to try to entirely remove the German presence in the Mediterranean. However, owing to placing a lower priority on this theatre of the war, the Syndicalist forces would quickly find themselves routed by Askari troops sent from Mittelafrika.
It was in April 1943 that the Commonwealth joined the war. Their entry coincided with Unternehmen Kaiser Friedrich, a major German counter-attack that would drive the Syndicalist forces back across the Rhine in less than a month. This operation would be where many Panzer aces first gained their fearsome reputations:in particular Michael Wittmann and Friedrich Gold. The Commonwealth entry into the war, coupled with the major victory, would stiffen the resolve of the German people, and make them determined to see the war through to victory.
However, a shadow would emerge on the horizon. It was at this time that the Russian Empire, having triumphed in the Caucasus, would also move into the Ukraine and the Don-Kuban...
The war would finally end in 1945. The last year and a half saw the destruction of the Republican Navy between the Royal Navy and the High Seas Fleet, the Restoration in Britain, the reduction of the Commune of France, and the collapse of Syndicalist Italy thanks to bankruptcy, military incompetence and internal revolt. It also saw the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, and fresh fighting in the Balkans.
Between 1945 and the dawn of the 1950s, the major powers would largely engage in consolidation and rebuilding. Germany, many of its cities gutted by Syndicalist terror bombing, began a long programme of reconstruction, while at the same time working to cement their hegemony over Western Europe - occupying France and sending troops into Italy - and to try to present a strong face to the restored Russia. To this end, they would finally bury the hatchet with the Commonwealth, and would move to bring Finland and the rest of Scandinavia into their alliance system.
Likewise, Britain would be rebuilt, largely thanks to Canadian money, as countless Exiles returned home. By the early 1950s, the seeds of the 'British Economic Miracle' were sown as manufacturing began to take off once more and as cities were rebuilt. However, the country would be quite different to before the Revolution... The wider Commonwealth would also consolidate, the Conference of London in 1948 formalising the Dominions as a military and economic alliance. In 1949, Canada, South Africa and Australasia would send troops to the Raj - soon to be renamed the Federation of India - to assist them in finally putting down Bharatiya.
Japan, meanwhile, worked to consolidate its new allies into a unified alliance system. In 1946, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere was announced, its membership consisting of Japan; Transamur; the Pacific States of America; Hawaii; the Philippines; the Republic of China (Southern China); Indochina; Malaysia; Thailand and - after some negotiation - Burma. The new alliance would over time see major economic and military growth, though not without its share of storms to weather - the Malaysian Emergency, the Second North American War, hostility with the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire (which would quickly become a Russian ally), etc.
The Second North American War was the result, primarily, of Douglas MacArthur's arrogance. While revanchist rhetoric and 'divide and conquer', chiefly aimed at non-white Americans, the American Caesar knew his hold on power could never truly be unquestioned as long as the country remained divided. So it was that, in 1951, American forces crossed the border into the PSA and Canadian-occupied New England. What followed was two bloody, brutal years of conflict where technologies of war pioneered at the end of the Second Weltkrieg - jet aircraft, missiles, new main battle tanks - would see their full employment, where Britain's New Model Army would receive its baptism of fire, and where Japanese and other East Asian troops would be deployed to the North American mainland to stand with their Western ally. MacArthur's folly in attacking both foes at once would lead to his forces only managing slow advances...and the Canadian use of the atomic bomb would force a halt to the war, though MacArthur would not see it, dying upon hearing the news of the bomb's deployment.
In the aftermath of the war, a cabal of military officers, law enforcement leaders and hard-right politicians would come to power as the National Restoration Council. Though officially only a Department headed by a junior member of the cabinet, the NRC would quickly become the power behind the throne in the post-war United States, using anti-Syndicalist sentiment and language of 'America's betrayal' and 'internal enemies' to consolidate their hold on the nation. Under their control, the largest democracy in the world would become an authoritarian nation, held together by the covert use of internal force, conservative tradition, and by painting 'the other' as the enemy: the external 'other' in the Commonwealth and Asia-Pacific; and the internal 'other' of Syndicalists, non-whites, homosexuals and others of whom the government disapproved, including people who thought too freely.
The rise of the NRC in America ultimately became part of the 'Great Game'. The new Russian Empire was instinctively mistrusted by Germany, Britain and Japan, and for its part was desirous of recovering lost territories from the German and Japanese orbits. As such, the three major powers would move to try to contain Russian growth, while Russia would move to secure allies who could distract its rivals. It found them in Qing China and the United States, as well as a number of minor nations.
The Great Game in Europe never reached the point of war. It was a game of one-upmanship: waged in the shadows on the continent; and only flaring to violence as a matter of proxy. In Asia, tensions between the two Chinas and Russia and Transamur would often flare up, nearing the brink of war in the 1970s before cooler heads prevailed. In North America, meanwhile, border skirmishes were a regular occurrence between the three major nations, while all three would fund proxies in Latin America.
It was in the 1980s that the Great Game would gradually ease, with the rise of progressive elements in the Russian Empire and the United States, and the former's move toward federalism. Qing China, meanwhile, would finally come to an end as the last Emperor died heirless and the ruling elite - knowing that none of them had the necessary charisma or support to take the Imperial title - entered into negotiations with the Republic, ultimately uniting as the Union of China in 1994. However, it would be incorrect to say that the Game ended...The Russian Empire has reformed, but is still eager to maintain its place on the world stage, yet despite federalism separatist elements remain; and while the United States is at peace with its neighbours, all three North American powers keep an eye on each other.
* * *
The world is a multipolar one, with the leading powers being the Commonwealth, the German-led Allianz Europische, the Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere, and the Russian Empire. The major powers are largely cordial to one another currently, though they all keep a watchful eye on the other.
The first three are democratic, to varying degrees. The Commonwealth is social-democratic - Britain especially, having kept certain elements of the Union (devolved assemblies for the constituent members of the UK, socialised healthcare, etc.) - and has solid manufacturing and service industries. Britain is a hub for consumer electronics - the InterVid industry especially - while Canada and Australasia are major car manufacturers. All with strong protection for workers, and - gradually - strong unions. Germany and her allies are more capitalistic (the Danubian Federation, in particular), but would still have tolerable protections for workers and the unemployed. The Asia-Pacific Co-Prosperity Sphere...varies. The Home Islands and the PSA are the most democratic nations, with varying social-democratic institutions, while the South-East Asian members run the gamut from social democracy (Indochina) to authoritarian democracy (Malaysia, China), to authoritarian (Transamur, the Philippines, Thailand). However, thanks to mutual economic treaties, and to command of a wide wealth of natural resources and industry, all are relatively wealthy and their citizens enjoy decent standards of living.
The Russian Empire...is trying. However, corruption, an interventionist military and economic problems mean that the path to democracy has involved many steps backwards as well as forwards.
The United States is democratic now, and has become increasingly social-democratic - and with major military reductions, has a great deal of capital to pay for social programmes. However, more conservative attitudes still prevail in many parts of the nation. The South in particular - as a sop to keep them onside, the NRC had allowed the state governments major latitude in segregationist legislation, and even with an official end to segregation under President Sanders, things are hard in the South for non-whites. And, indeed, professional women and LGBT people - many Southern states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books.
The leading three world powers are largely progressive when considering women's rights and sexual minorities. The Pacific States were an early trailblazer in terms of women's rights - the embryonic nature of the nation and the shaky economy meant that families where both partners worked remained common throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and from the 1950s onwards women would find it easier to scale the ladders in the world of work. There was never truly a time where it was considered 'wrong' for women to go out working. In addition, following the Second North American War, the PSA would be the first nation on Earth to introduce Universal Conscription. Although initially female conscripts were employed for rear-echelon duties - the idea being that this would allow the nation to maximise the number of men who fought - starting in the 1980s, women would find themselves gradually permitted to join combat units (and even before this, female MPs, truck drivers and the like had found themselves having to defend themselves during border skirmishes or peace-keeping operations). The PSA, the Commonwealth and Europe enjoy fairly good, common equal gender rights, and LGBT rights have been improving gradually since the 1960s, with occasional problems. Same-sex marriage is legal in most European nations, and in all of the old 'White Dominions', as well as in California and Seattle. The Asian nations tend to be more conservative, but China and Japan both have seen gradual, careful growth in women's rights, and while LGBT rights aren't considered a priority, neither is it illegal...and there are no problems with hate crime.
Likewise, the Commonwealth and Europe are both multicultural societies, and while individual racism can still be a problem, the law isn't [AN: Slightly better than OTL Europe, about the same as OTL Canada]. The PSA also has a large non-white population, who are largely integrated into the nation. The Asian nations are - again - more conservative and remain resistant to immigration.
The Russian Empire, however, has a long way to go. It also still has a major problem with treatment of minorities, especially Jews. While anti-Semitism is now illegal, it's still a popular attitude, and many Jews have voted with their feet and moved to Western Europe.
Syndicalism, largely as a result of its association with authoritarian regimes, is The Great Evil in history books.
Pop culture is a mix. There is no one dominant cinema: Anglo-Canadian; German; Pacifican and Japanese films are all enjoyed equally by audiences across much of the world, with a great deal of overlap and collaboration between the latter two (one example being the career of Audrey Hepburn and her popularity in both Pacifican and Japanese films). Television programmes can vary from region to region, though the Anglo-Canadian Beyond the Final Frontier has proved a universally-popular show ever since William Shatner first brought it to life.
A popular music form in North America is loca, inspired by Latin American music styles but with electric instruments*. It first emerged in the Pacific States, and spread elsewhere. In Britain, thanks to Caribbean immigration, reggae and dub have been the leading influences on popular music, with both white and black artists performing and creating.
*Rock, but inspired by Latin American music rather than African-American.
Technology has enjoyed steady growth. The space sector in particular, with a permanent German observatory on the Moon and space stations operated by East Asia and the Commonwealth. Britain and the Pacific States are the global leaders in computer technology, with automotive technology being dominated by Germany and Canada.
Gilberto Bosques Saldívar, Mexican ambassador to the Commune of France during the Sorelian regime who is credited with saving millions of Jews from death camps. He is the subject of the novel Bosques' Ark and it's film adaption Bosques' List.
So, our story begins in 1934, where the death of Kerensky causes Lavr Kornilov to take power, using an alliance with Boris Savinkov and his Combat Squads to crush Bolshevik and other leftist opposition. Savinkov, however, soon becomes the senior partner in the duo, with Kornilov needing him much more than he needs Kornilov.
In the Syndicalist nations, meanwhile, the triumph of Savinkov lends much credence to Totalist ideology; men like Valois, Mosley, Mussolini(the SRI in my canon is in the North), and Deat argue that a strong government is needed to prevent the Revolution falling to Reaction. This electoral strategy pays dividends, with Deat winning in France, Mosley in Britain, and Mussolini in Italy, all in 1936. Meanwhile, Black Monday hits Germany, and Savinkov fully consolidates power as the Vozhd of the Russian State. Savinkov creates state corporations with control over agriculture and industry, and Russia experiences an economic boom. Macarthur stages his coup, and the Second American Civil War begins. The war in 1936 is characterized mainly by each side consolidating their power, as well as Canadian intervention; Long takes Tennessee and much of Virginia, and Reed marches on Washington. Another coup, however, is much more successful in Japan. For a year, a succession of democratic governments have been utterly unable to achieve anything, with the failure to pass the National Security Act being the final straw. In December, the military ousts the elected government, with the Emperor accepting this status quo. However, not everyone in the military is happy with this...
1937 sees the Ausleigh in Austria-Hungary; Kaiser Karl with his Christian Socialist government goes into this with the intent of breaking Hungarian power, as Hungary prevented him from achieving the reform he wanted in the past. Karl invites national delegations from Slovaks, South Slavs, and Transylvanians, publicly promising them their own states in the United States of Greater Austria. Hungary walks out, but the "Second Hungarian Revolution" devolves into riots by minorities across Hungary. The Austrian Imperial Army easily crushes the rebellion, and the United States of Greater Austria is proclaimed. Mussolini, however, does use the chaos to seize the Austrian-backed Italian Republic. Meanwhile, Savinkov, with his new focus on tank warfare, invades Alash Orda, meeting with so much success that he simply orders his men to keep going into Turkestan. Russia looks ascendent. Early 1937 sees Macarthur evacuating Washington, consolidating the professional US army in the Midwest. Reed and Long take his bait, fighting each other in Virginia for the first half of 1937, as Macarthur gains a truce with the Pacific States. In May, Macarthur;s army launches a massive assault from the Midwest against the CSA, reaching Chicago before being beaten back in August. The AUS, meanwhile, uses this to advance. By now, however, the CSA's industrial advantage has shown, and the rest of the Second American Civil War is characterized by CSA advances, albeit gradually. Germany has significantly more peaceful elections; Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck defeats Franz von Papen to become Chancellor. Vorbeck helps the German economy recover by withdrawing from several colonies(transferring the AOG to a resurgent Qing) and using these funds to build up the economy domestically. By 1937 Germany is on the road to recovery. In Asia, both right and left wing authoritarianism is the order of the day. As Subhas Bose's Bharatiya Commune conquers the Princely Federation, the Kodoha Faction of the IJA places Sadao Araki in power; Araki crushes a revolt in Korea with brutal efficiency, in a campaign marked by war rape unprecedented since the Mongol conquests. He then turns his sights to the American Pacific; the latter half of 1937 sees Japan seize Guam, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Meanwhile, the Integralists come to power in Brazil.
1938 sees a Syndicalist Revolution in the Netherlands; the Royal Family flees to Indonesia but are forced to further flee back to Germany, as Araki, in what is becoming a pattern, sends the IJA to control Indonesia. Vorbeck focuses on the recovery of the German economy, which unfortunately results in Syndicalism advancing in Europe; France takes Romandy from the Swiss while Mussolini conquers the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Not to be outdone, Savinkov and Araki decide to tag team the one person on earth worse than both of them: the Mad Baron of Mongolia, in response to Emperor Puyi conquering the Yunnan Clique and the Ma. This partition is the roots of the Eurasian Axis. National Populism also advances in Europe; the Belgrade Pact(which is drifting towards National Populism from Russian support) attacks Bulgaria, shockingly defeating it and installing a puppet regime in a few months. This prompts Austria to join Mitteleuropa. One former Central Power is more successful; the Ottoman Empire reforms into a Constitutional Monarchy, defeating Egypt and Hashemite Arabia, and purging corruption in the military. Japan, meanwhile, signs an alliance with Thailand, which has relegated the Monarchy to a puppet of National Populism. The Kingdom of Spain wins the Spanish Civil War.
1939 sees the Second Weltkrieg; Deat's forces easily overrun Belgium, and storm into Northern Germany, as Mosley invades Ireland. Austria and Italy reach a stalemate. Savinkov uses the chaos to conquer the Caucases. As one war begins, another ends; the AUS surrenders to the CSA, with Reed setting into motion a Constitution much less authoritarian than the Totalists. Savinkov and Araki formalize the Eurasian Axis, joining together in exchange for Russian rule over Transamur; Russian and Japanese propagandists make grandiose statements of the Slavic and Japanese races being long-lost cousins who both need to destroy the Germanic barbarians and Syndicalist scum. a victorious Belgrade Pact is quick to join this alliance. French tanks, meanwhile, are stopped at the Battle of Frankfurt in December by Erich von Manstein, with a battle for Wilhelmshaven raging on.
1940 sees conflict between the Internationale and the Entente; Reed advances into the PSA and New England, and will conquer Canada by the end of the year, while Bose marches into Delhi. Edward VIII flees to Australasia. The Syndicalists see much less success in Europe, however; Deat's vaunted heavy tanks find it difficult to cross the Rhine, and are fodder for German Stukas. By the end of the year Germany has liberated her territory and Belgium and marches on Paris. Mosley, meanwhile, is bogged down in a quagmire in Ireland, with the Irish Republican Army making life hell for the invaders. Finally, Austrian troops gain the advantage on the Italian front, overthrowing Mussolini and installing the Kingdom of Italy. Finally, the death of Jack Reed sees moderates under Carlo Tresca take power.
April of 1941 sees the fall of Paris, with the forces of the Kingdom of France landing in the south. By May, the Commune has fallen completely. Germany... isn't in the clear at all, however, as Russian troops roll into Ukraine, White Ruthenia, the United Baltic Duchy, and Finland. Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on Singapore while the IJA marches into China. National Populism seems poised to dominate the world, with northern China, Eastern Europe, Indochina, and Malaya falling within three months. Meanwhile, Romania attacks Transylvania, Greece attacks Thrace, and Serbia attacks Bosnia. National France attacks the North, but is beaten by 1942. This massive advance of tyranny also means the end of Mosley. In August Eric Blair leaks word that the Chairman, unpopular due to his war in Ireland, is seeking an alliance with Savinkov. Outraged, the people of Britain take to the streets with the army opposing Mosley. The dictator kills himself, with T.E. Lawrence heading an interim government. Lawrence signs the Second Peace with Honor with Germany, withdrawing Britain from Ireland. Despite all of this, Savinkov still looks poised to rule Europe... until his army is stopped at the gates of Warsaw; in the Miracle on the Vistula the combined armies of Mitteleuropa beat the Russians back, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them out of Congress Poland. Greece, meanwhile, is unable to take Konstantiyye. The war also touches South America, with Salgado, who has already conquered La Plata, attacking Syndicalist Gran Colombia and the Peru-Bolivian Confederation.
1942 sees the CSA join the war against the Eurasian Pact; this move becomes universally popular in response to the rise of Salgado placing a National Populist regime on America's doorstep. Fresca sends ultimatums to Salgado, Araki, and Savinkov, demanding that they withdraw from all conquered territory. These are obviously unacceptable so America goes to war. American troops mainly are sent to Latin America, but 500,000 soldiers are sent to finish off National France and continue on to Europe. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Marines engage in vicious fighting with Japan to liberate Hawaii, which is accomplished by October. The CSA now begins an Island Hopping campaign that will take them to the Home Islands, after the Revolutionary Navy gains superiority over the IJN. Araki and Savinkov, however, are not idle; Araki begins Operation Hideyoshi in May, a strike towards Nanjing. This results in heavy casualties for Japan, as Puyi refuses to flee his second capitol and China as a nation refuses to go quietly into the night. The Battle of Nanjing is still raging at the end of 1942, but it is clearly a physic victory at best for Japan. Savinkov, meanwhile, believing that Austria is the soft underbelly of Mitteleuropa, strikes towards Premzyl along with Romanian troops. The Battle of Premzyl is the most famous battle of the war, with the Axis troops getting bogged down and eventually surrounded by German Panzer corps. Hundreds of thousands of Axis troops are taken prisoner in November.
1943 opens with American troops pushing the Brazillians out of Argentina, Gran Colombia, and Bolivia. The invasion of Brazil itself, however, devolves into guerrilla war lasting well into 1944. Island hopping's success continues, with the Revolutionary Marines ready to move on to bigger targets by December. Japan is also pushed back from Nanjing, with the Thai army's attempted offensive into southern China easily repulsed. In Europe, what is now being called the Allies agree to focus on Russia's Balkan allies first, while Russia lacks the capacity to go on another offensive. Serbia and Greece are crushed by German, Austrian, American, and Ottoman troops, with a clumsy Russian offensive into Eastern Poland also repulsed. In Serbia and Greece the Allies see the first effects of the Axis crimes against humanity; death camps have been set up to in the case of Serbia murder Jews and Bosnians. Worse is yet to come for these revelations, however.
In 1944, American and Australasian Marines assault occupied Indonesia. They find that the natives there have been forced into slave like conditions to mine for oil. Bose also joins the fight, with Indian troops assaulting Thailand from Burma; this prompts the Chinese to attack Indochina. Thailand has fallen by the end of the year, divided in two between Monarchism and Totalism. China also marches all the way to Beijing this year, with German produced tanks shipped through India being more than a match for the IJA. In Europe, the Allied advance into Romania reveals the full depravity of the Codreanu regime. Jews, Gipsies, Germany, Hungarians- no one viewed as "undesirable" was safe. Savinkov, however, has not been idle, abandoning his Romanian allies to shore up his own defenses. The second half of 1944 sees Allied advances into Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Sweden also joins the war, liberating Finland from Russian occupation. Worryingly, Savinkov is able to effectively trade space for time, with the Allies overstreching themselves. This is punished in December by Operation Boris Gudonov, a full scale Russian counteroffensive that smashes into Belarus, encircling a German army in Minsk. 1944 ends with the possibility that all the work of the Allies was for nothing.
In 1945 the Germans break out of their encirclement with heavy casualties. However, Savinkov's advance has proved unsustainable; an Ottoman seizure of Baku, as well as an Islamist revolt in Central Asia, has strained the National Populist oil supply. Although Operation Gudonov is a tactical victory for Russia it is unable to achieve strategic success. Japan, meanwhile, is suffering, and badly. The Americans move on to the Philippines, as the Chinese advance into the Fengtien Government, forcing the surrender of the entire Kwangtung army. They also find the workplace of the infamous Unit 731, which has performed human experimentation. Finally, Korea is liberated with Chinese forces greeted by cheering crowds in Seoul. Back in Europe, in April 1945, Germany reveals her secret weapon: the nuclear bomb, developed by Albert Einstein and Lisse Meitner(Einstein struggled with making the bomb, and regretted it to the end of his days, but ultimately viewed it as needed to defeat Savinkov). Germany nukes key Russian positions, using the chaos to advance rapidly. Meanwhile, a cabal of moderate generals(Zhukov, Wrangel, and Rossokovsky) confront Savinkov with the futility of the war. When the Vozhd refuses they stage a coup. Savinkov escapes, but the front line has completely collapsed. Pulling all forces loyal to him to Moscow, Savinkov calls on the people of Russia to join him in a great patriotic war; the people of Russia have by and large had enough of his wars. In July, the Battle of Moscow begins, with Savinkov committing suicide rather than facing capture. Vladimir Romanov is crowned Tsar in the Kremlin(which the Americans harshly protest, the first real sign of the coming Cold War) and the last remaining National Populist holdouts are dealt with by 1946. Chinese troops also liberate Siberia, annexing Mongolia and East Turkestan.
1946 sees the end of the war. Qing soldiers liberate Taiwan as the Americans take Iwo Jima and Karafuto. In May the invasion of Japan begins, with Chinese, German, and Australasian troops invading Kyushu and Internationale forces attacking Hokkaido. Araki demands that child soldiers be called to the defense of the Emperor, but Hirohito draws the line at this. Araki, in shame, commits Seppuku; Hirohito joins him after it being made clear to him that he is going on trial no matter what, to spare the dignity of the Emperor. The Second Weltkrieg is over.
I'll probably write up my Cold War later.
In the Syndicalist nations, meanwhile, the triumph of Savinkov lends much credence to Totalist ideology; men like Valois, Mosley, Mussolini(the SRI in my canon is in the North), and Deat argue that a strong government is needed to prevent the Revolution falling to Reaction. This electoral strategy pays dividends, with Deat winning in France, Mosley in Britain, and Mussolini in Italy, all in 1936. Meanwhile, Black Monday hits Germany, and Savinkov fully consolidates power as the Vozhd of the Russian State. Savinkov creates state corporations with control over agriculture and industry, and Russia experiences an economic boom. Macarthur stages his coup, and the Second American Civil War begins. The war in 1936 is characterized mainly by each side consolidating their power, as well as Canadian intervention; Long takes Tennessee and much of Virginia, and Reed marches on Washington. Another coup, however, is much more successful in Japan. For a year, a succession of democratic governments have been utterly unable to achieve anything, with the failure to pass the National Security Act being the final straw. In December, the military ousts the elected government, with the Emperor accepting this status quo. However, not everyone in the military is happy with this...
1937 sees the Ausleigh in Austria-Hungary; Kaiser Karl with his Christian Socialist government goes into this with the intent of breaking Hungarian power, as Hungary prevented him from achieving the reform he wanted in the past. Karl invites national delegations from Slovaks, South Slavs, and Transylvanians, publicly promising them their own states in the United States of Greater Austria. Hungary walks out, but the "Second Hungarian Revolution" devolves into riots by minorities across Hungary. The Austrian Imperial Army easily crushes the rebellion, and the United States of Greater Austria is proclaimed. Mussolini, however, does use the chaos to seize the Austrian-backed Italian Republic. Meanwhile, Savinkov, with his new focus on tank warfare, invades Alash Orda, meeting with so much success that he simply orders his men to keep going into Turkestan. Russia looks ascendent. Early 1937 sees Macarthur evacuating Washington, consolidating the professional US army in the Midwest. Reed and Long take his bait, fighting each other in Virginia for the first half of 1937, as Macarthur gains a truce with the Pacific States. In May, Macarthur;s army launches a massive assault from the Midwest against the CSA, reaching Chicago before being beaten back in August. The AUS, meanwhile, uses this to advance. By now, however, the CSA's industrial advantage has shown, and the rest of the Second American Civil War is characterized by CSA advances, albeit gradually. Germany has significantly more peaceful elections; Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck defeats Franz von Papen to become Chancellor. Vorbeck helps the German economy recover by withdrawing from several colonies(transferring the AOG to a resurgent Qing) and using these funds to build up the economy domestically. By 1937 Germany is on the road to recovery. In Asia, both right and left wing authoritarianism is the order of the day. As Subhas Bose's Bharatiya Commune conquers the Princely Federation, the Kodoha Faction of the IJA places Sadao Araki in power; Araki crushes a revolt in Korea with brutal efficiency, in a campaign marked by war rape unprecedented since the Mongol conquests. He then turns his sights to the American Pacific; the latter half of 1937 sees Japan seize Guam, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Meanwhile, the Integralists come to power in Brazil.
1938 sees a Syndicalist Revolution in the Netherlands; the Royal Family flees to Indonesia but are forced to further flee back to Germany, as Araki, in what is becoming a pattern, sends the IJA to control Indonesia. Vorbeck focuses on the recovery of the German economy, which unfortunately results in Syndicalism advancing in Europe; France takes Romandy from the Swiss while Mussolini conquers the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Not to be outdone, Savinkov and Araki decide to tag team the one person on earth worse than both of them: the Mad Baron of Mongolia, in response to Emperor Puyi conquering the Yunnan Clique and the Ma. This partition is the roots of the Eurasian Axis. National Populism also advances in Europe; the Belgrade Pact(which is drifting towards National Populism from Russian support) attacks Bulgaria, shockingly defeating it and installing a puppet regime in a few months. This prompts Austria to join Mitteleuropa. One former Central Power is more successful; the Ottoman Empire reforms into a Constitutional Monarchy, defeating Egypt and Hashemite Arabia, and purging corruption in the military. Japan, meanwhile, signs an alliance with Thailand, which has relegated the Monarchy to a puppet of National Populism. The Kingdom of Spain wins the Spanish Civil War.
1939 sees the Second Weltkrieg; Deat's forces easily overrun Belgium, and storm into Northern Germany, as Mosley invades Ireland. Austria and Italy reach a stalemate. Savinkov uses the chaos to conquer the Caucases. As one war begins, another ends; the AUS surrenders to the CSA, with Reed setting into motion a Constitution much less authoritarian than the Totalists. Savinkov and Araki formalize the Eurasian Axis, joining together in exchange for Russian rule over Transamur; Russian and Japanese propagandists make grandiose statements of the Slavic and Japanese races being long-lost cousins who both need to destroy the Germanic barbarians and Syndicalist scum. a victorious Belgrade Pact is quick to join this alliance. French tanks, meanwhile, are stopped at the Battle of Frankfurt in December by Erich von Manstein, with a battle for Wilhelmshaven raging on.
1940 sees conflict between the Internationale and the Entente; Reed advances into the PSA and New England, and will conquer Canada by the end of the year, while Bose marches into Delhi. Edward VIII flees to Australasia. The Syndicalists see much less success in Europe, however; Deat's vaunted heavy tanks find it difficult to cross the Rhine, and are fodder for German Stukas. By the end of the year Germany has liberated her territory and Belgium and marches on Paris. Mosley, meanwhile, is bogged down in a quagmire in Ireland, with the Irish Republican Army making life hell for the invaders. Finally, Austrian troops gain the advantage on the Italian front, overthrowing Mussolini and installing the Kingdom of Italy. Finally, the death of Jack Reed sees moderates under Carlo Tresca take power.
April of 1941 sees the fall of Paris, with the forces of the Kingdom of France landing in the south. By May, the Commune has fallen completely. Germany... isn't in the clear at all, however, as Russian troops roll into Ukraine, White Ruthenia, the United Baltic Duchy, and Finland. Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on Singapore while the IJA marches into China. National Populism seems poised to dominate the world, with northern China, Eastern Europe, Indochina, and Malaya falling within three months. Meanwhile, Romania attacks Transylvania, Greece attacks Thrace, and Serbia attacks Bosnia. National France attacks the North, but is beaten by 1942. This massive advance of tyranny also means the end of Mosley. In August Eric Blair leaks word that the Chairman, unpopular due to his war in Ireland, is seeking an alliance with Savinkov. Outraged, the people of Britain take to the streets with the army opposing Mosley. The dictator kills himself, with T.E. Lawrence heading an interim government. Lawrence signs the Second Peace with Honor with Germany, withdrawing Britain from Ireland. Despite all of this, Savinkov still looks poised to rule Europe... until his army is stopped at the gates of Warsaw; in the Miracle on the Vistula the combined armies of Mitteleuropa beat the Russians back, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them out of Congress Poland. Greece, meanwhile, is unable to take Konstantiyye. The war also touches South America, with Salgado, who has already conquered La Plata, attacking Syndicalist Gran Colombia and the Peru-Bolivian Confederation.
1942 sees the CSA join the war against the Eurasian Pact; this move becomes universally popular in response to the rise of Salgado placing a National Populist regime on America's doorstep. Fresca sends ultimatums to Salgado, Araki, and Savinkov, demanding that they withdraw from all conquered territory. These are obviously unacceptable so America goes to war. American troops mainly are sent to Latin America, but 500,000 soldiers are sent to finish off National France and continue on to Europe. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Marines engage in vicious fighting with Japan to liberate Hawaii, which is accomplished by October. The CSA now begins an Island Hopping campaign that will take them to the Home Islands, after the Revolutionary Navy gains superiority over the IJN. Araki and Savinkov, however, are not idle; Araki begins Operation Hideyoshi in May, a strike towards Nanjing. This results in heavy casualties for Japan, as Puyi refuses to flee his second capitol and China as a nation refuses to go quietly into the night. The Battle of Nanjing is still raging at the end of 1942, but it is clearly a physic victory at best for Japan. Savinkov, meanwhile, believing that Austria is the soft underbelly of Mitteleuropa, strikes towards Premzyl along with Romanian troops. The Battle of Premzyl is the most famous battle of the war, with the Axis troops getting bogged down and eventually surrounded by German Panzer corps. Hundreds of thousands of Axis troops are taken prisoner in November.
1943 opens with American troops pushing the Brazillians out of Argentina, Gran Colombia, and Bolivia. The invasion of Brazil itself, however, devolves into guerrilla war lasting well into 1944. Island hopping's success continues, with the Revolutionary Marines ready to move on to bigger targets by December. Japan is also pushed back from Nanjing, with the Thai army's attempted offensive into southern China easily repulsed. In Europe, what is now being called the Allies agree to focus on Russia's Balkan allies first, while Russia lacks the capacity to go on another offensive. Serbia and Greece are crushed by German, Austrian, American, and Ottoman troops, with a clumsy Russian offensive into Eastern Poland also repulsed. In Serbia and Greece the Allies see the first effects of the Axis crimes against humanity; death camps have been set up to in the case of Serbia murder Jews and Bosnians. Worse is yet to come for these revelations, however.
In 1944, American and Australasian Marines assault occupied Indonesia. They find that the natives there have been forced into slave like conditions to mine for oil. Bose also joins the fight, with Indian troops assaulting Thailand from Burma; this prompts the Chinese to attack Indochina. Thailand has fallen by the end of the year, divided in two between Monarchism and Totalism. China also marches all the way to Beijing this year, with German produced tanks shipped through India being more than a match for the IJA. In Europe, the Allied advance into Romania reveals the full depravity of the Codreanu regime. Jews, Gipsies, Germany, Hungarians- no one viewed as "undesirable" was safe. Savinkov, however, has not been idle, abandoning his Romanian allies to shore up his own defenses. The second half of 1944 sees Allied advances into Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Sweden also joins the war, liberating Finland from Russian occupation. Worryingly, Savinkov is able to effectively trade space for time, with the Allies overstreching themselves. This is punished in December by Operation Boris Gudonov, a full scale Russian counteroffensive that smashes into Belarus, encircling a German army in Minsk. 1944 ends with the possibility that all the work of the Allies was for nothing.
In 1945 the Germans break out of their encirclement with heavy casualties. However, Savinkov's advance has proved unsustainable; an Ottoman seizure of Baku, as well as an Islamist revolt in Central Asia, has strained the National Populist oil supply. Although Operation Gudonov is a tactical victory for Russia it is unable to achieve strategic success. Japan, meanwhile, is suffering, and badly. The Americans move on to the Philippines, as the Chinese advance into the Fengtien Government, forcing the surrender of the entire Kwangtung army. They also find the workplace of the infamous Unit 731, which has performed human experimentation. Finally, Korea is liberated with Chinese forces greeted by cheering crowds in Seoul. Back in Europe, in April 1945, Germany reveals her secret weapon: the nuclear bomb, developed by Albert Einstein and Lisse Meitner(Einstein struggled with making the bomb, and regretted it to the end of his days, but ultimately viewed it as needed to defeat Savinkov). Germany nukes key Russian positions, using the chaos to advance rapidly. Meanwhile, a cabal of moderate generals(Zhukov, Wrangel, and Rossokovsky) confront Savinkov with the futility of the war. When the Vozhd refuses they stage a coup. Savinkov escapes, but the front line has completely collapsed. Pulling all forces loyal to him to Moscow, Savinkov calls on the people of Russia to join him in a great patriotic war; the people of Russia have by and large had enough of his wars. In July, the Battle of Moscow begins, with Savinkov committing suicide rather than facing capture. Vladimir Romanov is crowned Tsar in the Kremlin(which the Americans harshly protest, the first real sign of the coming Cold War) and the last remaining National Populist holdouts are dealt with by 1946. Chinese troops also liberate Siberia, annexing Mongolia and East Turkestan.
1946 sees the end of the war. Qing soldiers liberate Taiwan as the Americans take Iwo Jima and Karafuto. In May the invasion of Japan begins, with Chinese, German, and Australasian troops invading Kyushu and Internationale forces attacking Hokkaido. Araki demands that child soldiers be called to the defense of the Emperor, but Hirohito draws the line at this. Araki, in shame, commits Seppuku; Hirohito joins him after it being made clear to him that he is going on trial no matter what, to spare the dignity of the Emperor. The Second Weltkrieg is over.
I'll probably write up my Cold War later.