Rememberences of Map Contests Past

Upvoteanthology:

PoD
: Charles VI waits longer to put Maria Theresa on the throne as his heir, leading to the survival of the Austrian Ostend Company.

Scenario: Without Charles VI's suspension of the Ostend Company, it continued to grow in massive amounts. In 1726, they were able to declare a 33 percent dividend, and by 1730 it grew to nearly 50 percent. The ports in Cabelon quickly expanded north, and more trade posts were founded until the small town grew into a full-fledged colony, much like French Puducheri. Austria greatly profited from the venture, and the Emperor was able to more peacefully push for an heir to be put on the throne. Austria was able to avoid internal conflict, and began to expand deeper into India. In the 1740's, the Ostend Company gained the blessing of the government, as long as the colonies founded could be supported directly by the Imperial Court. With that, the government continued to profit from the trade of goods, and began to silently push for expansion inland.

After the breakout of the Seven Years' War, the Austrians sided with the British, pushing out the advancing French from their settlements in India. At the end of the war, they were granted French Guadeloupe, Puducheri, and the rest of the French colonies on the eastern coast of India. The Ostend Company continued to flourish, and began to work even more closely with the federal government. However, it was still an independent entity, and still continued to keep part of the profit. With the British winning the war more successfully, they were able to get more out of India, and the Americas didn't rebel until the 1780's. When they did, only the southern part succeeded, forming the nationalistic Republic of Columbia. However, Austria took advantage of the Columbian revolution, buying out the British ports in Southern India in exchange for helping them out in the north (which they did, helping to topple New Jersey). In 1793, after the revolution was finally over, the port of Gadilam (named after the river it was on), commonly known as Frederickstadt, was founded in. It was a large city, meant to be the gateway between Austria and India. And, with Austria finally having secured most of British South India, the Ostend Company was ready to govern it as a true colony.

With focus shifting to the south, the Company sold off most of their possessions in Bengal to the hungry British, mostly to hold together their alliance. However, even if Bengal was gone, they continued to grow, buying out parts of the Spanish Philippines and British Borneo. For a brief period of time in the early 1800's, Austria owned Formosa, and held large ports on the coast of Japan. Quickly, though, all focus shifted to the tip of India, as it began to be milked for all it was worth. With the advent of railroads, new routes were built to the center of the subcontinent. The first major railway in Austrian India was built from Frederickstadt to the new settlement of Fort Patrick, passing through Salem and ending in Maisur. Speaking of Maisur, the Austro-Hungarian government was quite nice to the stronger Indians, allowing them (puppet) governments of their own! :rolleyes: But uhh, they weren't REALLY very nice, only allowing the kingdoms special privileges because they didn't have the ability to completely conquer them without outside help (which they didn't have). However, that didn't make them any less profitable, and Austria didn't need to fix what wasn't broken.

With Austria raking in the riches, they continued to attend to matters at home. In Central Europe, Austria was the main superpower, in union with Prussia, Venice, and Hungary. However, the union soon fell with Venice due to the expansion of Lombardy, but both Hungary and Prussia were strengthened. In the 1850's, an expansionist Austrian king attempted to unify Germany, and managed to create a series of client states known as the "German Federation". However, not all power could last, and the Imperial Era began to wane in Europe. Power passed from Austria and Britain to France and Russia. Prussia and the German Federation both broke away, even though they both chose to remain separate from one another. By 1870, it was just Austria and Hungary left, and even though their empire was still huge, they were at risk of becoming the "Sick Man of Europe". So, as a way to hold itself together, Austria agreed to acknowledge the Crown of St. Stephen as its equal, forming the Empire of Austria-Hungary. The newly-formed Austria-Hungary was becoming less and less strong (they weren't even as powerful as they were IOTL), and they agreed to dissolve the Ostend Company in 1888, putting their colonies under direct governmental rule. Hungary was given direct rule over around half of Austrian India, founding a few ports under Hungarian name. India began to grow more and more distant, and they were nearly ready to sell their colonies by the turn of the century. However, in 1901 war broke out, between the collapsing British Empire and the opportunistic (and newly-founded) Republic of France. Austria chose to join the side of the British, honoring their centuries-old alliance. However, halfway through the war their military began to falter, collapsing the government along with it. The Austro-Hungarian Empire fell apart, with the French and Russian government establishing puppet states in the wreckage.

After the end of the war, the Royal family debated on whether or not to sell their Indian colonies. After finding out that the Austro-Hungarian state wouldn't exist in the peace treaties, however, they chose to escape to the very same colonies they were about to sell. Thousands of Austrians and Hungarians came with them, and a new imperial government was established in the bustling city of Frederickstadt. Cities and towns on the coast were renamed by their German and Hungarian names, with the culture becoming less and less Indian. The French took all of British India, while Germany was meant to take the former Austrian colonies. However, after the Imperial government escaped with all of their sympathizers, they agreed to recognize the new nation, hoping that it would stave off revolution from Austria, at least for a little while longer. The new Osterreich, or "Uttarastraka", was finally alive! With the establishment of the new government, more railways were built, and the advent of the automobile provided for even better transport. The new Austria-Hungary was an odd amalgamation of European and Indian culture, as it tried to stay in the "First World" as much as possible. By 1922, the mystery still remains; will Austria-Hungary be swallowed up by the imposing French India, or will it survive to the present day? (Hint: it's the second one, but I just wanted some suspense in there)

One of the things that the Austrian and Hungarian governments did after their arrival was divide the country into three special types of segregated provinces: European Settler States, Indian Provinces (also called "Republics"), and Princely States. There was also one colonial government (Ceylon). The provinces are as follows:

European Settler States:
- Gewürz Küste (Austria)
- Madras (Austria)
- Nyugati (Hungary)
- Tinnevelli (Hungary)
- Ùj Debreceni (Hungary)

Indian Provinces/Republics:
- Chittur (Austria)
- Konubatur (Hungary)
- Nilgiri (Hungary)
- Paluai (Hungary)
- Ponnar (Austria)
- Trichinopoly (Hungary)
- Tripalur (Hungary)
- Tuttukudi (Hungary)

Princely States:
- Hundri (Austria)
- Kadapa (Austria)
- Madura (Hungary)

Bigger map:
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jackp25:

Many suspected that Austria-Hungary, pushed to the edge in fighting the Entente to a stalemate alongside it's ally in Germany, would fail to continue on into the next decades. Within three years after the end of the First World War, Austria-Hungary had descended into a chaotic state. With Germany sidetracked by the newly restarted arms race with both France and Britain, and issues in their African colonies, only a few nations intervened - and none for the benefit of Austria-Hungary.

Poland first seized Galicia-Lodomeria, followed by the secession of Croatia and Bosnia to the nascent Yugoslavian nation. Romania took Bukovina, but was stopped at the Carpathians from seizing Transylvania. The heartlands of the Dual Monarchy still stood, albeit in a state of open revolt against the von Hapsburgs. Stability would only be found in 1925, when a single faction, supported heavily by the USSR, came to overthrow the von Hapsburgs.

The Danubian Commune was formed from the remaining lands of Austria-Hungary, and with it the ethnic and nationalistic values that drove the region began to decay. The proletariat found himself surrounded by the like-minded, regardless of the language that they spoke.

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MotF 137: Substitute Scramble

The Challenge

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

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

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Second Circean War


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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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Zek Sora
What Remains, Part 3: Last of the Vikings


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

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

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

British Bloc
  • United Kingdoms of Britain: (The fact that the UKB has had a writeup in every single map in the series thus far speaks not just to their high relevance in the post-Collapse world, but also to the increasing irrelevance of said writeups.) In the Scandinavian seas to the west of Denmark, the Royal Navy rules the waves, which gives them a fundamental chokehold on the various fishing-dependent states in the region should they choose to use it. This has allowed the Royal Navy, and by extension the UKB (the difference is highly blurred) to establish protectorates over most of the region.
  • Kingdom of Norway: During the Collapse, what remained of the Norwegian government fled to the northern fjords, establishing Narvik as the “temporary” capital, protected by the cold and the mountains. In these mountains, they established a zone of control that would eventually evolve into the directly-ruled Kingdom. However, this was a long time coming, and there was a more immediate issue: rulership. The King of Sweden, Oscar II, was also technically the King of Norway, but the remnants of Sweden were far away in Gotland, and the British could guarantee open fishing waters forevermore, something that was essential to their survival. Thus, they agreed to take Queen Victoria as their new monarch, angering the Swedes and beginning the Swedish-British rivalry.
    • Jointly Administered Territories: Some smaller holdouts had survived in the northern fjords that were eager to rejoin Norway. However, they were disconnected and the Norwegian military (really just a collection of local militias) was having enough difficulty protecting the homeland, so it was the British who re-established control. A joint Anglo-Norwegian Condominium was established in Trondhjem (and the disconnected Varjag), where the Norwegians rule in name, and the British Governor-General rules in actuality.
  • Kola: A remnant of the old Russian Empire, Kola was a collection of isolated northern fishing villages that came under British “protection” to secure their fishing waters.
  • Romsdal: Romsdal began when local authorities in the Norwegian province of Romsdal managed to fight off the Horde thanks to their isolated mountain location. They were, however, reluctant to rejoin Norway because of their geographic isolation and their localist republicanism. They came under British protection for the same reason as Kola and Norway—fishing security.
  • Lappland: Lappland is different from the other states in the bloc for several reasons, the main two of which being 1) that it did not come under British protection for fishing rights, and 2) that it is not a state. Lappland is a collection of nomadic Sami peoples, isolated towns, and snow held together by British military and a single operational railroad.
Swedish Bloc
  • Kingdom of Sweden:Thanks to the broken-up, island-based geography of Stockholm, the pre-Collapse Swedish capital, the Swedes were able to evacuate a fair chunk of its population to the islands of Gotland, Öland, and various scattered others, but more importantly they were able to evacuate the Swedish Navy, a force which now dominates the Baltic and keeps the Royal Navy from entering. The Swedes can be said to be like the United Kingdoms of Britain in that their monarch does not actually rule; the Swedish Navy does.
    • Mainland Territories: The Swedes have begun to extend their rule back onto the mainland. Some surviving villages were contacted, particularly the city of Luleå, which had cut off its peninsula from the Horde with a tall wall. It has been expensive work, but worth it for have the living space to ease the pressure in overcrowded Gotland.
  • Kingdom of Denmark: The Danes were not as lucky as the Swedes, and were able to evacuate only a small chunk of their population to the island of Bornholm, not including their King. Long story short, the Swedish monarch is now also the Danish monarch.
  • Esthonia: Another remnant of the old Russian Empire, this one not so eager to stay in it. Esthonia broke off from Russia as soon as they could, and took only ethnically Esthonian refugees onto their islands. This had the side effect of not many refugees coming to their islands, which allowed the now far more populous Swedes to establish a protectorate. Estonia is now mostly used for farmland to feed the hungry mouths in Gotland.
  • Uleåborg: Uleåborg originated as just the city that shared its name, and a few connected towns and forts. However, the Swedes, after establishing a protectorate over it, extended its rule deep inland, so that they might rule over…even more frozen, underpopulated, individual Horde members wandering around here and there wasteland. They aren’t entirely grateful.
As usual, if you have any questions about this scenario or the world of What Remains, please ask away and I'll be happy to give a detailed answer!
 
lock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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JoeyB2198

In May 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Red Army was totally unprepared for the rapid and brutal assault, and within two months the Germans had reached the gates of Moscow. In terror and despair, Stalin fled the city to the Volga city of Kubyshev, only to be arrested and shot by conspirators acting under Lavrentiy Beria, head of the NKVD. The Beria government proved no more effective at stopping the German army, and before the onset of winter Moscow and Leningrad had fallen and the Germans were deep into the Caucuses. With the army in tatters and all routes for foreign aid cut off, Beria sued for peace with the Germans. Hitler demanded all regions west of the Volga River, which he described as 'our Mississippi', and the right to deport unlimited quantities of people to the remainder of the Union. Upon arriving back from negotiations to the new capital of Omsk, Beria was captured and shot by an officers' cadre led by Marshall Konstantin Rokossovsky. Knowing the army was not able to reconquer the seized territories immediately, Rokossovsky embarked on a program of reorganization, industrialization and rearmament. The areas west of the Urals were turned into massive military staging zones, and the eastern regions were redivided into smaller, less centralized republics, which were presided over by military commanders. In 1946, four years after the initial peace agreement, the second phase of the Eastern Front was initiated with American atomic bombs being dropped on Berlin and Cologne, and the new Soviet Army (motorized and armored with American aid) streaming across the western frontier. The regions they entered were eerily different from those they had retreated from earlier; the land had been entirely cleared of human life, leaving only the huge facilities in which millions were burned to make way for German settlement of the east. With unrelenting fury the Soviet army continued west until meeting the Western Allies on the Vistula river in early 1950. The Soviet Union regained all her land in the West, which was divided into vast frontier zones for resettlement. As a symbol of the rebirth of the nation, cities which had been wiped off the map during German administration, such as Moscow, were rebuilt to act as regional centers. Germany itself was wiped completely from the map, to ensure that the darkest period in human history would never be repeated.


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Zek Sora
The Commonwealth

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The basic premise here is that Sigismund III is more successful at consolidating his rule in Sweden, and Poland-Lithuania's religious freedom is applied generously to the new personal union. There is also a war between Sweden and Denmark-Norway which ends with the Swedish king on the throne of both nations. After a while, some Polish-Lithuanian nobles rebel due to their belief that their (Catholic) interests are not being properly represented by the newly ascended, Protestant, King. The civil war is long and bloody, and many other powers cut off bits and pieces of the Commonwealth for their own. In the end, the Crown prevails, and splits Poland and Lithuania into different lands for administrative purposes. The 1712 Acts of Union are very similar to the British 1707 Acts of Union (except in that no one capital is specified, rather, the King splits his time between the various capitals), and set up the Commonwealth as a united nation, though no-one can say how long this will last.

I might add a more detailed write-up later, but for now this is it.
 
Upvoteanthology
Donor

This map is a direct continuation of my MotF 128 entry, check it out right here! :D

The Hellenic Confederation, 250 BCE to 525 AD

The "No Competition" Period: 250 to 96 BCE

After defeating the final Roman insurrection in 254 BCE, the Greeks defeated their last opponent on the battlefield. All the rest had been subsided, or at least tamed for the time being. The Persians were under an Argead dynasty as of 250 BCE, and Carthage found it difficult to expand with the Greeks on every corner. Ultimately, in Europe it was only them. At the time, of course, the Greek system of government was far different than what it would evolve to be. While they were the same people who had been executing philosophers years before, Greek governors in the 200's BCE embraced the idea of confederation. The different kingdoms and republics were still independent of one another, they just got along under a single reagent when disaster struck. In the case of Rome, the government was enforced, but it normally worked out fine when you appointed the right people to the right positions. The term Hellenic Confederation was mostly a term used to describe the military alliance used to take down the Latin League, and most people would never have identified themselves as "Hellenic", rather the demonym of their home city-state. But still, some confederation was better than no confederation at all, and it allowed the Greeks to rule the continent.

The No Competition period reached its height around 150 BCE, when Carthage was taken over in a brutal war. After they tried to take over the Greek ports in Sicily and Magna Graecia, the the "Confederation" responded with a barrage on all fronts. With the entire power of Europe turned against them, the small kingdom of Carthage surrendered within years. Quickly, the Hellenic Confederation absorbed Illyria and parts of Dacia, attempting to put them under the leadership of Greeks. The question arose, though, how would they be governed? How should places without any real borders, except those of the clannic, be divided up? It didn't seem to make sense to divide it up into different kingdoms if they didn't have to, so Illyria was absorbed as something of a core territory, under the control of all the Greek nations. However, it seemed too unstable, and people began to disagree with the current system. Not only would Illyria get away easily, the countries who divided it up would only end up fighting over it in the end. So, one philosopher, a man named Andelios, proposed a new system. He believed that with a more centralized government, and by not allowing each little kingdom and republic to have more power than the Hellenic state itself, it would bring them more power on a global stage. Slowly, people began to agree, especially those who took part in the Hellenic government. They began to push kings out of their respective nations, mayors from their respective towns. Many were obviously still allowed to rule, as it wasn't completely centralized, but Greece ultimately became far more authoritarian.

However, even if some called it authoritarian, the Confederation was still in its golden age. The Andelian system, as it was called, worked out great in the beginning. The leaders in the Hellenic government, democratically elected by each country, gave the people more power than their kings. So, while they were serious about keeping their governmental system in place, they ultimately only brought more democracy to Greece than they squashed. Illyria was peacefully divided up into new provinces, and things were seemingly going okay. Even still, it wouldn't last in that utopian stage for very long...

The Age of Exploration: 96 BCE to 102 AD
96 BCE was not characterized by the fall of some Greek system, like most age beginnings are. Instead, 96 BCE represented the shift from a military and philosophical superpower to one of cultural influence. The Age of Exploration is commonly referred to as the second half of Greece's golden age, after the shaky installment of the Andelian system and the boom that came with it. Throughout the 110's and 100's BCE, merchants had been setting up ports all throughout the Mediterranean, sometimes spilling out and around Hispania and Galatia. During those two decades, new cities were formed outside the Greek's original trading zone, with trade stretching north. However, the real switch to an Age of Exploration comes from the journeys of Aristoxenus, a 54 year old voyager who explored the northern lands of Velgio. There had been people who did it before, of course, many times. Even before the formation of the Hellenic Confederation, there were voyagers who explored the region. But Aristoxenus tried something nobody else had yet, at least not in the area; he formed a city. The little port of Thebocaea, which would eventually grow into a bustling city, became the outlet for the people of Britannia, and even those in northern Galatia, to learn about the wonders of Greek invention.

After Aristoxenus opened up the rest of Europe to Greek trade, merchants came flooding in, looking for new resources and things they might be able to trade for more money back home. The colony of Thalassie, the largest Greek colony outside of Chersonesus, grew in leaps and bounds over the course of a century. The farthest reaches of Europe, the region known as "Neolimani" to the Greek settlers who lived there, was rich in potential slaves. After the discovery of so much stuff to the north, the Greeks began to look for ways to climb north without having to cross a dangerous sea journey. Quickly, a route to Neolimani was found, and was one of the easier places to get to (just take a river from Chersonesus and walk a couple miles). Many places, such as the barbarians in Barbarus (hence how it got its name), would adopt Greek naming systems and culture quite quickly, as did Thalassie and the Basques in Leugetia. However, such an influence would only bring it more competition, leading to the Hellenic Confederation's own demise...

The Migration of the Invading Crowns: 102 AD to 216 AD
The Migration of the Invading Crowns era, normally shortened to the Migrations Period, was one of the darker days of Hellenic history. While Greece had formerly ruled all of Europe, politically and culturally, entire groups of people began to fight back. It began with the migration of the Moors into the Greek parts of Hispania. The Moorish armies brutally pushed back any Celtic settlers in the area, leaving the Greeks to flee. Quickly, other groups began to do the same, hoping to loosen the centralized Greek power and leave themselves more places to loot. Armenians moved into Pontus, taking it over amid all the confusion. Germanic tribes were pushed out in the north by Greek settlers, but they began to invade from the north of Dakoi (Dacia). The Basques, who formerly only lived in the western portion of Leugetia, began to take over the entire thing, becoming independent from Greek rule. Over the course of over a hundred years, Thalassie and Barbarus both did the same. Even the Irish began to move into Velgio and Galatia, taking over the northern half of it just to push the Greeks out. The same with the Scythians, who invaded Anatolia by boats across the Euxine Sea. While it was slow, the Hellenic Confederation most certainly didn't expect it.The surprise was enough to put its Golden Age in a coffin, and the events of 212 AD hammered in the nails.

From 212 to 216 AD, a massive Persian succession period took place. The Argead kings, who had been slowly merging with Persian bloodlines for centuries, were ousted by pro-Persian leaders. It wasn't for no reason; they had been secretly sympathizing with the Greeks for years (or not so secretly at times). The new family that ruled, the Astarabadis, immediately got into a war with the Hellenic Confederation over who really deserved to be the rulers of Persia. In the end, it was something of a draw, with the Persians still keeping most of their key cities. Still, they had to give up Babylonia, as well as some other land. After the four year war, though, Persia would easily bounce back, soon forming the buffer state of Albania with fellow superpower Armenia just to have another anti-Greek nation. One nation that would not recover in four years were the Greeks. They would never be the same as they were before the sudden crisis again...

The Era of the Shaky Peace: 216 to 476 AD
The Era of Shaky Peace could also have been described as the Era in Which Nations Form, because all sorts of new nations emerged from the ashes of the Hellenic colonies. Kereion, Markomannon, Giouta, all these different cultures formed from amalgamations of clans past. Ultimately, the Greeks stayed pretty quiet for this, rarely reforming their current Andelian system to be any more functional under the extreme pressure. It worked in the golden age just fine because there was no competition, but now there were something like twelve more tribal confederations to deal with. But no, the Hellenic leaders didn't want to budge. All they did was focus on settling Lydia, trying to erase the fact that these people were trying to get rid of them. The power center would shift back to Athens and Sparta, and away from any of the other countries, even those who were ethnically Greek. If you weren't in the center of Hellenic civilization, then the 300's were not a good time for you to be alive in the Confederation. You would have been ignored, segregated, possibly even channeled into slavery. Ultimately, this would lead Carthage, and eventually eight other nations, to rebel against the Andelian system.

The Crisis of the Nine Kingdoms: 476 to ???
In 476, the Kingdom of Carthage rebelled, forming an army on a massive scale. It managed to overtake the Greek generals by storm, pushing them out within weeks. Hellenic troops sat on the border which was slowly being pushed back, as the Carthaginians began to secure more and more land for themselves. The government didn't see it as a complete emergency, though. If the rebellion stuck for more than ten years, give it more autonomy, and pretend to reform the system enough to appease them for the short-term. That would have worked fine if it wasn't for the Vourgoundian/Vourgoundi Crisis. For one year, the governor of Vourgound seceded from the Hellenic Confederation, purposefully trying to divert military power away from Carthage. He wasn't intending to go free for long, all he wanted was change in the provincial system. But still, his plan worked to the tee, diverting Greek armies to the point where Carthage was able to push them back to nearly Cyrene. A few years later, when the Greeks were just beginning to exhaust their armies in the area, the colony of Chersonesus decided to rebel as well. Multiple provinces in the area seceded at roughly similar times, eventually banding together to form a new kingdom. They received support from the Armenians and the Persians. Soon, even more provinces fell, with the most leaving from 490 to 510. Egypt was united once more, along with southern Galatia and Babylonia. Every region that wanted autonomy began to force Greece's hand. By 515, Rome is arguing with itself about whether to push the button and secede. If it does, it'll probably end up collapsing the central government and the confederation with it, possibly plunging Europe into a Dark Age. If it doesn't, then how long will this Greek tyranny last? Sure, they say they're willing to change, but are they? I guess only time will tell...

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Upvoteanthology got first place, joeyB2198 second, and Zek Sora third. the_Decembrist also got a fair amount of votes, but his map is missing: hey, @The_Decemberist, are you still around and do you have a copy?
 
Sorry it's been so long since an update - I have been having some trouble with my internet connectivity, which makes it a pain to upload a bunch of maps at once. Tomorrow I shall try to get at least to MoTF 140, even if it takes a while.
 
And of course the internet went down entirely last night. Feh.


MotF 139: Feel the Rhythm

The Challenge

Make a map based on a song. :eek: Doesn't necessarily have to be about history, although it should of course be adapted into a map.
 
Stuyvesant:

"New York State of Mind"

This song was written at a time when arguably New York was at its lowest point, crime was high, the City was in debt, and people were moving for the Sun Belt in droves. But the point is New York can always bounce back, and to do New York justice, this is the maximum claims of New York, New York at its greatest possibility.

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lock:

Roll on (Eighteen Wheeler) -- by Alabama

This is a great little mid-80s country song that tells a great little story. The map shows why the jack-knifed rig ended up in a snowbank in Illinois.

Lyrics and an audio link are below.


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Roll on (Eighteen Wheeler) -- Alabama

Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till you get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on (Roll on)

Well it's Monday morning, he's kissin' momma goodbye
He's up and gone with the sun
Daddy drives an eighteen-wheeler
And he's off on a midwest run
As three sad faces gather 'round momma
They ask her when daddy's comin' home
Daddy drives an eighteen-wheeler
And they sure miss him when he's gone (Yeah they do)

Ah, but he calls them every night and he tells them that he loves them
He taught them this song to sing

Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till you get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler, roll on (roll on)

Well it's Wednesday evening, momma's waitin' by the phone
It rings but it's not his voice
Seems the highway patrol has found a jack-knifed rig
In a snow bank in Illinois

But the driver was missin' and the search had been abandoned
For the weather had everything stalled
And they had checked all the houses and the local motels
When they had some more news they'd call
And she told them when they found him to tell him that she loved him
And she hung up the phone singin'

Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till you get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on

Momma and the children will be waiting up all night long
Thinkin' nothing but the worst is comin'
With the ringin' of the telephone
Oh, but the man upstairs was listening
When momma asked him to bring daddy home
And when the call came in it was daddy on the other end
Askin' her if she had been singin' the song, singin'

Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till you get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler...

Eighteen-wheeler! Eighteen-wheeler! Eighteen-wheeler! Eighteen-wheeler!
Roll on... Roll on... Roll on... Roll on...
 
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