Rememberences of Map Contests Past
- Thread starter B_Munro
- Start date
Guildencrantz:
This is an concept I've been toying with for my timeline, and I hope my write up won't be too spoilery.
The Democratic Federation of the Co-operative Republics of the Guianas (the Guianas for short) grew out of a massive labor dispute in Demerara City (Formerly Georgetown) that sparked an anti-colonialist revolution in both British and French Guiana. A revolution that joined together Afro-Guianese laborers, Asian-Guianese plantation workers, Natives, and French prisoners in a struggle against the colonizing powers. Allied to the North American powers, the Guianas have been slowly and carefully developing the extraction of the resource rich interior of the Federation and boosting the tourism industry on the coast. Tensions between the various ethnic and linguistic groups remain and the Federation still often struggles to maintain stability, due to a variety of structural issues (having three capitals where different languages are spoken in each city isn't a great idea, it turns out...). In spite of all its issues, the Guianas and the Guianese have a bright future to look forward to.
This is an concept I've been toying with for my timeline, and I hope my write up won't be too spoilery.
The Democratic Federation of the Co-operative Republics of the Guianas (the Guianas for short) grew out of a massive labor dispute in Demerara City (Formerly Georgetown) that sparked an anti-colonialist revolution in both British and French Guiana. A revolution that joined together Afro-Guianese laborers, Asian-Guianese plantation workers, Natives, and French prisoners in a struggle against the colonizing powers. Allied to the North American powers, the Guianas have been slowly and carefully developing the extraction of the resource rich interior of the Federation and boosting the tourism industry on the coast. Tensions between the various ethnic and linguistic groups remain and the Federation still often struggles to maintain stability, due to a variety of structural issues (having three capitals where different languages are spoken in each city isn't a great idea, it turns out...). In spite of all its issues, the Guianas and the Guianese have a bright future to look forward to.
Lost the game:
Greater Arab successes earlier-on in the Arab-Byzantine wars are ultimately not capitalized on, and in the vacuum left by fleeing Greeks and Armenians, an Iranic hill people move into the Anatolian plateau. These people eventually cover most of Anatolia, before the Byzantines return to the peninsula and reconquer most of it. Afterwards, the cities fill once again with Greeks, but the countryside if still dominated by the Cordu, who are relegated to the position of tenant farmers under Greek landlords. The Cordu rebel against the Empire in the 11th century. The result is as it often is with troublesome minorities in the Byzantine Empire: they are carted off and relocated to another part of the Empire, in this case Epirus.
A few centuries later, and the Bulgarian Empire conquered most of the Balkans, eventually taking Constantinople. Taking advantage of Byzantine weakness, the Normans in Sicily conquer the region occupied by the Cordu, now called Cordia. Roger IV, King of Sicily, took a Cordish wife in the name of the new union. Sicily-Cordia would be a polyglot center of tolerance and a melting pot of cultures for several centuries, and Palermo would become an entrepot for trade throughout the Mediterranean.
Edit: yep. Italian Kurds
Greater Arab successes earlier-on in the Arab-Byzantine wars are ultimately not capitalized on, and in the vacuum left by fleeing Greeks and Armenians, an Iranic hill people move into the Anatolian plateau. These people eventually cover most of Anatolia, before the Byzantines return to the peninsula and reconquer most of it. Afterwards, the cities fill once again with Greeks, but the countryside if still dominated by the Cordu, who are relegated to the position of tenant farmers under Greek landlords. The Cordu rebel against the Empire in the 11th century. The result is as it often is with troublesome minorities in the Byzantine Empire: they are carted off and relocated to another part of the Empire, in this case Epirus.
A few centuries later, and the Bulgarian Empire conquered most of the Balkans, eventually taking Constantinople. Taking advantage of Byzantine weakness, the Normans in Sicily conquer the region occupied by the Cordu, now called Cordia. Roger IV, King of Sicily, took a Cordish wife in the name of the new union. Sicily-Cordia would be a polyglot center of tolerance and a melting pot of cultures for several centuries, and Palermo would become an entrepot for trade throughout the Mediterranean.
Edit: yep. Italian Kurds
My apologies for this somewhat unrelated and obvious question, but is this thread's title a reference to Proust's Remembrance of Things Past?
I'm afraid I cannot recall at this point if it was an intentional reference or a happy accident.
But now that I'm reminded:
MOTF 159: Ten Seconds to Midnight
The Challenge
Make a map of a world or region on the verge of destruction.
The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when the PoD of your map should be. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed.
BryanIII:
This map itself is fairly self explanatory so I don't think a backstory is needed, just know the map is from the same universe as my previous map
EDIT: Oh right, the only thing worth mentioning is that Napoleonipolis is OTL Svilengrad who has no greek variant of its name.
2nd EDIT: Someone over on Deviantart wanted some backstory so here it is;
Background
At the beginning of 1798, the War of the First Coalition had come to an end and following the Treaty of Campo Formio, where Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the final dissolution of the Venetian Republic, the city of Preveza – like other Venetian possessions in Greece and Albania – was ceded to Revolutionary France. 280 French grenadiers arrived in Preveza under the commands of General La Salchette. The people of Preveza welcomed the French troops, and formed a pro-French civic militia. Around this same time the poet Rigas Feraios was combining support for the ideas of the French Revolution with calls for a Greek uprising against Ottoman rule and arrived in the town to begin rudimentary discussion with French commanders.
Napoleon Bonaparte, however, focused his attention in another direction, launching the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, gave little thought to the fate of the small Preveza garrison exposed on the edge of Ottoman territory. The local Ottoman governor Ali Pasha Tepelena attacked Preveza with an overwhelming force. In the Battle of Nicopolis the 7,000 Ottoman troops of Ali Pasha and his son Mukhtar completely overwhelmed the 280 French grenadiers and their local allies, the 200 Preveza Civil Guards and 60 Souliot warriors under Captain Christakis. Over the next two days, a major massacre of the French troops and the local Greek population which defended the city took place in Preveza; during which Feraios was killed, Christakis and General La Salchette however managed to escape to French Corfu. Napoleon, being on Malta at the time, diverted his fleet towards Corfu. There he met with General La Salchette, Christakis and local Greek leading figures. While French and Ottoman Fleets were facing off in the Ambracian Gulf, the negotiations on Corfu became a secret congress Including several Greek rebel leaders and Russian officials, who saw in Napoleon a potential solution for their Greek Question. In 1799 both France and Russia committed ground troops to the Conflict
Full-blown Conflict
With the might of the Russian Imperial army crashing down from the Caucasus, the Russian Black Sea Fleet causing havoc in the Black sea and in thinking fighting in the Balkans would be the same old stomping of Greek Rebel Factions, the defence of the Balkans was almost entirely left to Ali Pasha and his son Mukhtar; save for a 6000 strong Army left to protect Athens commanded by Omer Vroni (Its former commander was born in the Caucasus and was therefor ordered to that front to use his knowledge of the land, in doing so took 2000 of the finest troops with him) . Those two had been almost constantly been retreating since the Battle of Ioannina in February of 1799 where they were unprepared to face the French Corfu Garrison (strengthened with Greek Militia), an organized Souliote Army and a full French Army. The situation worsened for the Ottomans when the Ottoman 3rd Army commanded by Omer Vroni was obliterated near Corinthe in April 1799 by an unexpected Maniot Army, who had been slowly moving up and gaining support in the Peloponnese, and a Psarian fleet providing canon fire from the sea. With the way cleared there was nothing stopping them and Athens was liberated on the 19th of April 1799.
After the Battle of Monastirion on the 7th of May Ali Pasha’s strategy switched to the defence of Thessaloniki and eventually even the defence of Constantinople and since then avoided large skirmishes. After the Siege of Thessaloniki in July of 1799 had ended Ali Pasha realized that he would in fact have to defend Constantinople and send word to the Sultan in the hope to get more forces sent to the Balkan Campaign. He ordered his son to take half the forces and hold the Verbitza pass and if that would fall to go and hold Adrianople for as long as possible, while he himself positioned his army across the Evros River in hopes that the river would hold of the invaders. On the 3rd of September The British Philhellenic Legion landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, while just before deposing the Sfakian Army on the Dardanalia coast and slowly they pushed up the coasts.On the 21st of September the Verbitza Pass was taken by the Maniot and Souliot armies who had joined up together. The Siege of Philippopolis ended on the 3rd of October and Napoléon's Main Army moved towards the Evros River to meet up with the joint Maniot-Souliot Army, who had indeed been held back by the Evros River. The same river was no obstacle for Napoléon as he had crossed it a few days before to the north of the battlefield. Realising defeat Ali Pasha retreated when he saw the first French troops flanking his Army from the North. On the 29th of October The French Corfu Garrison finally arrived at Adrianople and began the siege. While retreating, Ali Pasha noticed the joint Greek Armies heading to the North instead of following him, thinking they were being diverted to help with the Siege of Adrianople he made his fatal decision to face the French Army head on to try and weaken it; which was a bad decision because the joint Greek Armies were only liberating Arkadioupolis before meeting back up with the Main French Army.
This map itself is fairly self explanatory so I don't think a backstory is needed, just know the map is from the same universe as my previous map
EDIT: Oh right, the only thing worth mentioning is that Napoleonipolis is OTL Svilengrad who has no greek variant of its name.
2nd EDIT: Someone over on Deviantart wanted some backstory so here it is;
Background
At the beginning of 1798, the War of the First Coalition had come to an end and following the Treaty of Campo Formio, where Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the final dissolution of the Venetian Republic, the city of Preveza – like other Venetian possessions in Greece and Albania – was ceded to Revolutionary France. 280 French grenadiers arrived in Preveza under the commands of General La Salchette. The people of Preveza welcomed the French troops, and formed a pro-French civic militia. Around this same time the poet Rigas Feraios was combining support for the ideas of the French Revolution with calls for a Greek uprising against Ottoman rule and arrived in the town to begin rudimentary discussion with French commanders.
Napoleon Bonaparte, however, focused his attention in another direction, launching the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria, gave little thought to the fate of the small Preveza garrison exposed on the edge of Ottoman territory. The local Ottoman governor Ali Pasha Tepelena attacked Preveza with an overwhelming force. In the Battle of Nicopolis the 7,000 Ottoman troops of Ali Pasha and his son Mukhtar completely overwhelmed the 280 French grenadiers and their local allies, the 200 Preveza Civil Guards and 60 Souliot warriors under Captain Christakis. Over the next two days, a major massacre of the French troops and the local Greek population which defended the city took place in Preveza; during which Feraios was killed, Christakis and General La Salchette however managed to escape to French Corfu. Napoleon, being on Malta at the time, diverted his fleet towards Corfu. There he met with General La Salchette, Christakis and local Greek leading figures. While French and Ottoman Fleets were facing off in the Ambracian Gulf, the negotiations on Corfu became a secret congress Including several Greek rebel leaders and Russian officials, who saw in Napoleon a potential solution for their Greek Question. In 1799 both France and Russia committed ground troops to the Conflict
Full-blown Conflict
With the might of the Russian Imperial army crashing down from the Caucasus, the Russian Black Sea Fleet causing havoc in the Black sea and in thinking fighting in the Balkans would be the same old stomping of Greek Rebel Factions, the defence of the Balkans was almost entirely left to Ali Pasha and his son Mukhtar; save for a 6000 strong Army left to protect Athens commanded by Omer Vroni (Its former commander was born in the Caucasus and was therefor ordered to that front to use his knowledge of the land, in doing so took 2000 of the finest troops with him) . Those two had been almost constantly been retreating since the Battle of Ioannina in February of 1799 where they were unprepared to face the French Corfu Garrison (strengthened with Greek Militia), an organized Souliote Army and a full French Army. The situation worsened for the Ottomans when the Ottoman 3rd Army commanded by Omer Vroni was obliterated near Corinthe in April 1799 by an unexpected Maniot Army, who had been slowly moving up and gaining support in the Peloponnese, and a Psarian fleet providing canon fire from the sea. With the way cleared there was nothing stopping them and Athens was liberated on the 19th of April 1799.
After the Battle of Monastirion on the 7th of May Ali Pasha’s strategy switched to the defence of Thessaloniki and eventually even the defence of Constantinople and since then avoided large skirmishes. After the Siege of Thessaloniki in July of 1799 had ended Ali Pasha realized that he would in fact have to defend Constantinople and send word to the Sultan in the hope to get more forces sent to the Balkan Campaign. He ordered his son to take half the forces and hold the Verbitza pass and if that would fall to go and hold Adrianople for as long as possible, while he himself positioned his army across the Evros River in hopes that the river would hold of the invaders. On the 3rd of September The British Philhellenic Legion landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, while just before deposing the Sfakian Army on the Dardanalia coast and slowly they pushed up the coasts.On the 21st of September the Verbitza Pass was taken by the Maniot and Souliot armies who had joined up together. The Siege of Philippopolis ended on the 3rd of October and Napoléon's Main Army moved towards the Evros River to meet up with the joint Maniot-Souliot Army, who had indeed been held back by the Evros River. The same river was no obstacle for Napoléon as he had crossed it a few days before to the north of the battlefield. Realising defeat Ali Pasha retreated when he saw the first French troops flanking his Army from the North. On the 29th of October The French Corfu Garrison finally arrived at Adrianople and began the siege. While retreating, Ali Pasha noticed the joint Greek Armies heading to the North instead of following him, thinking they were being diverted to help with the Siege of Adrianople he made his fatal decision to face the French Army head on to try and weaken it; which was a bad decision because the joint Greek Armies were only liberating Arkadioupolis before meeting back up with the Main French Army.
Charger24:
This is my first time participating in a MotF; I hope this entry is all right.
It is overcast in Asunción, and the smoke spewed by the grim towers of the fábricas does nothing to lighten the skies.
It has been twenty-nine years since the end of the Great War. Yet holiday spirit is in short supply, for all is not well in Greater Paraguay. "America's Chosen Nation" (as President Francisco Solano López famously dubbed it on Victory Day in 1871) has been incredibly successful by many an objective measure; Paraguay's industrial production is the highest in the Western Hemisphere save the United States (where a second Civil War seems likelier by the day), members of the volunteer Defensa Nacional Permanente number in the tens of thousands, and ironclad warships steam up and down the Uruguay River to rendezvous with the Royal Navy in the Atlantic.
But old enemies lie in wait, like waiting spiders. The moderates of the Mitre days are long gone since Argentina's national humiliation, and the crowds of Buenos Aires thirst for revenge. Argentina grows more aggressive in its posturing each day, the beneficiary of military technology whispered to originate in the steelworks and laboratories of Imperial Germany. Both nations are eager to destabilise a British ally while the Empire is at war. In November an huge explosion on the Paraná sent a decommissioned trading barge forty feet into the air within sight of the great Paraguayan fortress-citadel of Humaitá. Brazil, though it pretends at diplomacy, bides its time until Rio Grande can be retaken, extending trade and military access agreements with Asunción's puppets in the south, whose strings grow longer by the month. Peru-Bolivia schemes in the Chaco, whose vaguely demarcated border region is a playground of intrigue and espionage. The signs are clear - war is coming once more, and this time Paraguay will not win.
A grey-haired and weary dictator-for-life curses and throws a military report across his office. He stands up and walks to his window. Despite the purges, the censorship, the corrupt bargains to finance even-larger military projects, deep down he knows it has not been enough. López does not know how soon the end will come, but he knows it is coming soon.
It is the 27th of December, the Year of Paraguayan Awakening 33. These are the closing days of the nineteenth century, and the final heartbeats of a nation.
This is my first time participating in a MotF; I hope this entry is all right.
It is overcast in Asunción, and the smoke spewed by the grim towers of the fábricas does nothing to lighten the skies.
It has been twenty-nine years since the end of the Great War. Yet holiday spirit is in short supply, for all is not well in Greater Paraguay. "America's Chosen Nation" (as President Francisco Solano López famously dubbed it on Victory Day in 1871) has been incredibly successful by many an objective measure; Paraguay's industrial production is the highest in the Western Hemisphere save the United States (where a second Civil War seems likelier by the day), members of the volunteer Defensa Nacional Permanente number in the tens of thousands, and ironclad warships steam up and down the Uruguay River to rendezvous with the Royal Navy in the Atlantic.
But old enemies lie in wait, like waiting spiders. The moderates of the Mitre days are long gone since Argentina's national humiliation, and the crowds of Buenos Aires thirst for revenge. Argentina grows more aggressive in its posturing each day, the beneficiary of military technology whispered to originate in the steelworks and laboratories of Imperial Germany. Both nations are eager to destabilise a British ally while the Empire is at war. In November an huge explosion on the Paraná sent a decommissioned trading barge forty feet into the air within sight of the great Paraguayan fortress-citadel of Humaitá. Brazil, though it pretends at diplomacy, bides its time until Rio Grande can be retaken, extending trade and military access agreements with Asunción's puppets in the south, whose strings grow longer by the month. Peru-Bolivia schemes in the Chaco, whose vaguely demarcated border region is a playground of intrigue and espionage. The signs are clear - war is coming once more, and this time Paraguay will not win.
A grey-haired and weary dictator-for-life curses and throws a military report across his office. He stands up and walks to his window. Despite the purges, the censorship, the corrupt bargains to finance even-larger military projects, deep down he knows it has not been enough. López does not know how soon the end will come, but he knows it is coming soon.
It is the 27th of December, the Year of Paraguayan Awakening 33. These are the closing days of the nineteenth century, and the final heartbeats of a nation.
Zalezsky:
The Holy Polonian Empire at its zenith, before the great Qaraqyr Invasion.
Backstory:
A loose confederation of princely, ecumenical, and republican states refer to themselves as the "Holy Polonian Empire". This multi-ethnic union came to be after the crowning of Sublime King Dmitrius V of the Husberger Crown; fashioned after the ancient Polonian Empire which used to control much of the region nearly 400 years prior to his reign. The empire could barely be called so, due to it's extreme lack of centralization and unity. Internal strife reached a boiling point when the Husberger Crown and Prussenian Kingdom went to war for nearly 124 years: this period is referred to as "The Alkans War" due to it primarily taking place in the southern Alkan region of the empire. Hegemony over the empire was finally accomplished by the Prussenian Kingdom when King Vikhart "God Given" von Retelszted crushed the Husberger army at Podgrobie (Podgrobzig). This victory lead to a 200 year peace in the empire.
Now on the eve of the new year comes a great threat for the East: The Caesardom of Qaraqyr. Styling itself as the "true polonian empire's successor" after having ransacked what remained of the Eastern Polonian Empire. Now comes the greatest horde the Holy Polonian Empire has ever seen; well organized, well trained, and well equipped.
The loosely held together Polonian Empire's Impirator Anglred tried in vain to raise an army to crush the invaders. His retinue would be surrounded and slaughtered at the battle of Lizthelm, near the Imperial Capital. The success of the Qaraqyr would be attributed to their technological advancement in gunpowder weapons and siege tactics.
The Caesardom of Qaraqyr would rule over much of the Holy Polonian Empire until it's decadent downfall nearly 150 years later.
Bruce: Well, given infinite timelines, one where the native Americans speak a language suspiciously similar to German (or Polish) must exist.
The Holy Polonian Empire at its zenith, before the great Qaraqyr Invasion.
Backstory:
A loose confederation of princely, ecumenical, and republican states refer to themselves as the "Holy Polonian Empire". This multi-ethnic union came to be after the crowning of Sublime King Dmitrius V of the Husberger Crown; fashioned after the ancient Polonian Empire which used to control much of the region nearly 400 years prior to his reign. The empire could barely be called so, due to it's extreme lack of centralization and unity. Internal strife reached a boiling point when the Husberger Crown and Prussenian Kingdom went to war for nearly 124 years: this period is referred to as "The Alkans War" due to it primarily taking place in the southern Alkan region of the empire. Hegemony over the empire was finally accomplished by the Prussenian Kingdom when King Vikhart "God Given" von Retelszted crushed the Husberger army at Podgrobie (Podgrobzig). This victory lead to a 200 year peace in the empire.
Now on the eve of the new year comes a great threat for the East: The Caesardom of Qaraqyr. Styling itself as the "true polonian empire's successor" after having ransacked what remained of the Eastern Polonian Empire. Now comes the greatest horde the Holy Polonian Empire has ever seen; well organized, well trained, and well equipped.
The loosely held together Polonian Empire's Impirator Anglred tried in vain to raise an army to crush the invaders. His retinue would be surrounded and slaughtered at the battle of Lizthelm, near the Imperial Capital. The success of the Qaraqyr would be attributed to their technological advancement in gunpowder weapons and siege tactics.
The Caesardom of Qaraqyr would rule over much of the Holy Polonian Empire until it's decadent downfall nearly 150 years later.
Bruce: Well, given infinite timelines, one where the native Americans speak a language suspiciously similar to German (or Polish) must exist.
Don Quijote:
Spain's War until 1943
The Spanish Campaign in WW2 came about as a result of Franco's decision to join the war on the Axis side after his successful meeting with Hitler at Hendaye in October 1940. With Britain apparently on the back foot, and promises obtained of rich pickings for Spain in Africa (not to mention the long awaited recapture of Gibraltar), Franco committed Spain to war. The declaration of war against Britain came a few months later, in March 1941. Although the Axis had clearly suffered some setbacks, such as the failure to invade Britain, and the mediocre Italian performance in North Africa, the situation broadly seemed to be in their favour.
First stop for Axis Spain was of course Gibraltar, and alongside a small force of elite German troops, the Rock was swiftly captured by the Spanish, although the defenders made them pay dearly. The seizure of Malta later that year confirmed Axis domination of the Western and Central Mediterranean, although the diversion of resources meant that the British enjoyed a number of victories in the desert, pushing the Italians (and small German and Spanish contingents) back as far as Tripoli by the end of 1941. The Axis powers certainly benefited from the elimination of Malta as an Allied base, as it made their supply lines rather more secure. On the other hand, the advanced position of British forces meant that Blenheims and Wellingtons from Libya were still able to launch frequent air attacks on enemy ports and shipping.
By this stage though, Hitler's attention was on the east, where after securing the Balkans and rescuing the Italian invasion of Greece (apart from Crete), he had launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. Spain sent two divisions to take part in the campaign, the División Azul and the División Primo de Rivera, commanded respectively by Muñoz Grandes and the talented but ruthless Juan Yagüe, a man rather suited to the environment of Eastern Front. After initially being a part of Army Group Centre, they then spent over a year on the Leningrad Front, during which the Spaniards briefly seized part of the besieged city, the only Axis troops to manage this. But although they served, to quote Franco, 'with great valour and fortitude', from late 1942 it was clearly a losing battle, and they would be forced to fall back steadily for the remainder of the war once the long and brutal siege was lifted. No doubt news of events closer to home did not help their morale, and it was also due to the declining situation in Spain itself that both units were withdrawn for Home Defence in 1944.
The American entry into the war after Pearl Harbor was obviously game-changing, but it would take some time before the effects were fully felt in the European Theatre. However the British and their allies were not idle in this time, and stepped up their air and naval campaigns. Spain was particularly hurt by this, relying heavily as it did on foreign imports. British supplies had naturally been cut off since March, but Britain had a military as well as an economic advantage. British naval strength allowed them to capture the Canary Islands in the successful Operation Pilgrim - this had symbolic significance for Franco, as the birthplace of the military rising of 18th July 1936 which had propelled him to power. Portugal was also shifting closer to the Allies, and while intervention was not currently anticipated, should it occur then Spain would have a real crisis on its hands, and would be obliged to call on Germany for assistance.
In January 1943, came the news the Axis forces in North Africa had been dreading. Anglo-American troops had landed along the Moroccan and Algerian coasts in Operation Torch, rapidly overcoming Vichy French resistance. This had triggered many French units based further south to throw in their lot with the Allies, and combined with the capture of Tripoli by Gott's Eighth Army a few weeks earlier, it was clear that North Africa was going to fall if the Axis did not heavily reinforce the region. Unfortunately for Germany, commitments on the Eastern Front prevented this, and it was largely left to existing troops to deal with the situation. Spanish Morocco found itself largely cut off from the other Axis troops, and although the experienced soldiers put up a tough fight, inflicting higher than expected casualties, Allied technical and numerical superiority won the day. Once Tunisia had been conquered, the Allies could finally step ashore on European soil again for the first time since 1941.
The Spanish Campaign 1943-1945
From now on the account focuses on the Spanish campaign itself; avoiding detailed coverage of the invasions of Italy and France for the sake of space. By the end of the summer of 1943, preparations were underway for the amphibious assault on southern Spain, which would come under British direction - in return, Italian operations would be largely under American control. Previous landings (which now included those in Malta and Italy) provided helpful practice for this, and so the Spanish landings were accomplished successfully in late September. The US II Corps landed near Malaga, while the British V Corps came ashore south of Cadiz. Progress was initially slow, as the British force struggled to make headway towards the heavily defended port to their north. The Americans took Malaga within ten days, and after securing their beachhead moved southwest to assist their ally. However General Montgomery, commanding Allied forces in Spain, made sure that his men were the first into Gibraltar, proudly raising the Union Jack over the town once again. The capture of Cadiz soon afterwards gave him nearly equal satisfaction, as it had better harbour facilities than Malaga.
A firm foothold now achieved on Iberia, the Allies now had the task of pressing inland and forcing Spain out of the war. However, the Germans were equally determined to keep Spain in the war, and swiftly responded to Franco's request for reinforcements. Partly due to this, and also because Spain was considered of lesser importance than Italy and France, the Anglo-American advance was slow. Seville fell in the New Year, but after that they became bogged down in the hills of rural and underdeveloped Extremadura. The attacks to the east were more successful, and armoured forces managed a dash along the coast in the spring which brought them as far as Alicante. The old city of Granada, a key point in Spain's southern defences, was also cut off and captured. After this came several months of slowly grinding down Axis forces between the Allies and Madrid, with the terrain generally favouring the defenders. A spot of hope was the Allied advance from France, where the landings in Normandy had led to a swift advance southwards. This was complemented by a smaller, but only lightly opposed, landing in southern France, and when these troops linked up, a reasonable proportion were then ordered to turn their attention to Spain. With the help of anti-Francoist Basque partisans, San Sebastian became the first Spanish city to be freed from the north.
November 1944 brought more successes - Bilbao, Valencia and Spain's second city of Barcelona all fell. So did Mallorca and Ibiza, after an assault to eliminate the Spanish naval base there, from which irritating if not damaging raids had been launched. Menorca was left to wither away, posing less of a threat. Equally significant was the entry of Portugal into the war in the previous month. After long negotiations with President Salazar, who had already provided the Azores for use as Allied air bases, an agreement was reached. Portugal would join the Allies in return for being granted the city of Tangiers and not insubstantial financial investments. The most immediate effect was the fall of Badajoz, which after resisting the Allies for several months, suddenly had to deal with an attack from the rear. Portuguese troops also moved into Galicia, an area which until now had been securely under Nationalist control, and also contained their last remaining seaports. The last event of note in 1944 was the fall of historic Salamanca, scene of a famous battle in the last century's Peninsular War. But as 1945 opened, it seemed that this Iberian conflict would be ended rather more quickly.
Allied troops in the north had been held up for some time in the mountains of the Sistema Iberico, but were making up for this by their progress either side of this obstacle. A linkup was achieved with troops from the south on the east coast in January, while to the west Allied columns pushed towards Portuguese lines. Yet the most important action was taking place in the south. After tortuous months of fighting, the Americans achieved a breakthrough on their way northwest from Valencia, and raced for the Spanish capital. To add to Franco's despair, the British captured Toledo in February, the gateway to Madrid from the south. Very quickly, Madrid was surrounded, as were two other major pockets, cut off from the bulk of Spanish forces in Galicia and Asturias. The Battle of Madrid was as fierce as would be expected, reminiscent of the Nationalist attempts to seize the city back in 1936. However by this stage, the Spanish resistance was out in the open, helping in the final push to remove the short-lived Fascist regime. Franco, to his credit, also took to the streets and was killed in the futile defence of his residence at El Pardo. On 19th March, a ceasefire was declared in Madrid, prior to a formal surrender of all remaining Spanish forces the following day. Field Marshal Montgomery signed on behalf of the Allies, while General Muñoz Grandes signed on behalf of Spain. After a year and a half of bloody fighting, the battle for Spain was over.
Spain's War until 1943
The Spanish Campaign in WW2 came about as a result of Franco's decision to join the war on the Axis side after his successful meeting with Hitler at Hendaye in October 1940. With Britain apparently on the back foot, and promises obtained of rich pickings for Spain in Africa (not to mention the long awaited recapture of Gibraltar), Franco committed Spain to war. The declaration of war against Britain came a few months later, in March 1941. Although the Axis had clearly suffered some setbacks, such as the failure to invade Britain, and the mediocre Italian performance in North Africa, the situation broadly seemed to be in their favour.
First stop for Axis Spain was of course Gibraltar, and alongside a small force of elite German troops, the Rock was swiftly captured by the Spanish, although the defenders made them pay dearly. The seizure of Malta later that year confirmed Axis domination of the Western and Central Mediterranean, although the diversion of resources meant that the British enjoyed a number of victories in the desert, pushing the Italians (and small German and Spanish contingents) back as far as Tripoli by the end of 1941. The Axis powers certainly benefited from the elimination of Malta as an Allied base, as it made their supply lines rather more secure. On the other hand, the advanced position of British forces meant that Blenheims and Wellingtons from Libya were still able to launch frequent air attacks on enemy ports and shipping.
By this stage though, Hitler's attention was on the east, where after securing the Balkans and rescuing the Italian invasion of Greece (apart from Crete), he had launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. Spain sent two divisions to take part in the campaign, the División Azul and the División Primo de Rivera, commanded respectively by Muñoz Grandes and the talented but ruthless Juan Yagüe, a man rather suited to the environment of Eastern Front. After initially being a part of Army Group Centre, they then spent over a year on the Leningrad Front, during which the Spaniards briefly seized part of the besieged city, the only Axis troops to manage this. But although they served, to quote Franco, 'with great valour and fortitude', from late 1942 it was clearly a losing battle, and they would be forced to fall back steadily for the remainder of the war once the long and brutal siege was lifted. No doubt news of events closer to home did not help their morale, and it was also due to the declining situation in Spain itself that both units were withdrawn for Home Defence in 1944.
The American entry into the war after Pearl Harbor was obviously game-changing, but it would take some time before the effects were fully felt in the European Theatre. However the British and their allies were not idle in this time, and stepped up their air and naval campaigns. Spain was particularly hurt by this, relying heavily as it did on foreign imports. British supplies had naturally been cut off since March, but Britain had a military as well as an economic advantage. British naval strength allowed them to capture the Canary Islands in the successful Operation Pilgrim - this had symbolic significance for Franco, as the birthplace of the military rising of 18th July 1936 which had propelled him to power. Portugal was also shifting closer to the Allies, and while intervention was not currently anticipated, should it occur then Spain would have a real crisis on its hands, and would be obliged to call on Germany for assistance.
In January 1943, came the news the Axis forces in North Africa had been dreading. Anglo-American troops had landed along the Moroccan and Algerian coasts in Operation Torch, rapidly overcoming Vichy French resistance. This had triggered many French units based further south to throw in their lot with the Allies, and combined with the capture of Tripoli by Gott's Eighth Army a few weeks earlier, it was clear that North Africa was going to fall if the Axis did not heavily reinforce the region. Unfortunately for Germany, commitments on the Eastern Front prevented this, and it was largely left to existing troops to deal with the situation. Spanish Morocco found itself largely cut off from the other Axis troops, and although the experienced soldiers put up a tough fight, inflicting higher than expected casualties, Allied technical and numerical superiority won the day. Once Tunisia had been conquered, the Allies could finally step ashore on European soil again for the first time since 1941.
The Spanish Campaign 1943-1945
From now on the account focuses on the Spanish campaign itself; avoiding detailed coverage of the invasions of Italy and France for the sake of space. By the end of the summer of 1943, preparations were underway for the amphibious assault on southern Spain, which would come under British direction - in return, Italian operations would be largely under American control. Previous landings (which now included those in Malta and Italy) provided helpful practice for this, and so the Spanish landings were accomplished successfully in late September. The US II Corps landed near Malaga, while the British V Corps came ashore south of Cadiz. Progress was initially slow, as the British force struggled to make headway towards the heavily defended port to their north. The Americans took Malaga within ten days, and after securing their beachhead moved southwest to assist their ally. However General Montgomery, commanding Allied forces in Spain, made sure that his men were the first into Gibraltar, proudly raising the Union Jack over the town once again. The capture of Cadiz soon afterwards gave him nearly equal satisfaction, as it had better harbour facilities than Malaga.
A firm foothold now achieved on Iberia, the Allies now had the task of pressing inland and forcing Spain out of the war. However, the Germans were equally determined to keep Spain in the war, and swiftly responded to Franco's request for reinforcements. Partly due to this, and also because Spain was considered of lesser importance than Italy and France, the Anglo-American advance was slow. Seville fell in the New Year, but after that they became bogged down in the hills of rural and underdeveloped Extremadura. The attacks to the east were more successful, and armoured forces managed a dash along the coast in the spring which brought them as far as Alicante. The old city of Granada, a key point in Spain's southern defences, was also cut off and captured. After this came several months of slowly grinding down Axis forces between the Allies and Madrid, with the terrain generally favouring the defenders. A spot of hope was the Allied advance from France, where the landings in Normandy had led to a swift advance southwards. This was complemented by a smaller, but only lightly opposed, landing in southern France, and when these troops linked up, a reasonable proportion were then ordered to turn their attention to Spain. With the help of anti-Francoist Basque partisans, San Sebastian became the first Spanish city to be freed from the north.
November 1944 brought more successes - Bilbao, Valencia and Spain's second city of Barcelona all fell. So did Mallorca and Ibiza, after an assault to eliminate the Spanish naval base there, from which irritating if not damaging raids had been launched. Menorca was left to wither away, posing less of a threat. Equally significant was the entry of Portugal into the war in the previous month. After long negotiations with President Salazar, who had already provided the Azores for use as Allied air bases, an agreement was reached. Portugal would join the Allies in return for being granted the city of Tangiers and not insubstantial financial investments. The most immediate effect was the fall of Badajoz, which after resisting the Allies for several months, suddenly had to deal with an attack from the rear. Portuguese troops also moved into Galicia, an area which until now had been securely under Nationalist control, and also contained their last remaining seaports. The last event of note in 1944 was the fall of historic Salamanca, scene of a famous battle in the last century's Peninsular War. But as 1945 opened, it seemed that this Iberian conflict would be ended rather more quickly.
Allied troops in the north had been held up for some time in the mountains of the Sistema Iberico, but were making up for this by their progress either side of this obstacle. A linkup was achieved with troops from the south on the east coast in January, while to the west Allied columns pushed towards Portuguese lines. Yet the most important action was taking place in the south. After tortuous months of fighting, the Americans achieved a breakthrough on their way northwest from Valencia, and raced for the Spanish capital. To add to Franco's despair, the British captured Toledo in February, the gateway to Madrid from the south. Very quickly, Madrid was surrounded, as were two other major pockets, cut off from the bulk of Spanish forces in Galicia and Asturias. The Battle of Madrid was as fierce as would be expected, reminiscent of the Nationalist attempts to seize the city back in 1936. However by this stage, the Spanish resistance was out in the open, helping in the final push to remove the short-lived Fascist regime. Franco, to his credit, also took to the streets and was killed in the futile defence of his residence at El Pardo. On 19th March, a ceasefire was declared in Madrid, prior to a formal surrender of all remaining Spanish forces the following day. Field Marshal Montgomery signed on behalf of the Allies, while General Muñoz Grandes signed on behalf of Spain. After a year and a half of bloody fighting, the battle for Spain was over.
MotF 160: Somebody Once Told Me
The Challenge
Make a map of a conflict or war between puppet states in a larger alliance. The entire alliance could also be participating in the war, or it could be the leaders of the alliance forcing their smaller allies to fight the other side. Examples would include essentially everything from WWI, or to include a non-OTL example, maybe a US puppet of Quebec fighting a British puppet of Canada.
The Challenge
Make a map of a conflict or war between puppet states in a larger alliance. The entire alliance could also be participating in the war, or it could be the leaders of the alliance forcing their smaller allies to fight the other side. Examples would include essentially everything from WWI, or to include a non-OTL example, maybe a US puppet of Quebec fighting a British puppet of Canada.
Isaac Beach:
The Turko-Kurdish War
1921-1923
Preliminary Operations, March through May
The Turko-Kurdish War is considered the first conflict in the second stage of the historic Great Game, following the defeat of the Entente to the Central Powers and the succeeding Russian Revolution.
Despite achieving victory in the Great War of 1914-1919 astride their German and Bulgarian allies, the Ottoman Empire soon collapsed to infighting, assisted in the case of the Arabs by the defeated British and to a lesser extent the French. The Kurdish Confederation emerged in the north-central Mashriq, with its capital lying in Amed, independent of any Western power. Fearful of reprisals from their former masters to the west the Kurds sought the protection and assistance of the new Russian Republic, enticing them with their vast and newly discovered oil wells. At the same time, with Germany focused on it's Mitteleuropan project and Bulgaria pacifying the Serbs and Greeks, the Ottoman Kingdom of Turkey turned to what had been it's opponent, Great Britain, in reforming it's military, civil service and rail system. Naturally, this lead to a conflict between the Turks and Kurds as clients of the British and Russians, respectively. The match that lit the conflict were the mounting revolts in the western cities of Elazığ and Şanlıurfa, Turkish majority cities that were none too happy with the implementation of Kurdish laws and language. As the conflict mounted so did the associated deaths on both sides, leading to revenge killings in the few remaining Kurdish communities in Turkey, and the Turkish government resolved to intervene.
This map depicts the preliminary operations of the Turkish and Kurdish armies from the months of March through May, 1921, after which the Mashriq proper was drawn into the war and eventually Russia and Britain themselves, though actual combat on the part of the two was minimal, consisting predominantly of naval skirmishes in the Black Sea. Ultimately, Kurdistan won the war in the south but lost the war in the west, annexing Karkuk but losing Elazığ and Şanlıurfa to the Kingdom of Turkey. This would lead to a miniature arms race between Kurdistan and Turkey that was only resolved in a landmark detente in the late 1930s.
The Turko-Kurdish War
1921-1923
Preliminary Operations, March through May
The Turko-Kurdish War is considered the first conflict in the second stage of the historic Great Game, following the defeat of the Entente to the Central Powers and the succeeding Russian Revolution.
Despite achieving victory in the Great War of 1914-1919 astride their German and Bulgarian allies, the Ottoman Empire soon collapsed to infighting, assisted in the case of the Arabs by the defeated British and to a lesser extent the French. The Kurdish Confederation emerged in the north-central Mashriq, with its capital lying in Amed, independent of any Western power. Fearful of reprisals from their former masters to the west the Kurds sought the protection and assistance of the new Russian Republic, enticing them with their vast and newly discovered oil wells. At the same time, with Germany focused on it's Mitteleuropan project and Bulgaria pacifying the Serbs and Greeks, the Ottoman Kingdom of Turkey turned to what had been it's opponent, Great Britain, in reforming it's military, civil service and rail system. Naturally, this lead to a conflict between the Turks and Kurds as clients of the British and Russians, respectively. The match that lit the conflict were the mounting revolts in the western cities of Elazığ and Şanlıurfa, Turkish majority cities that were none too happy with the implementation of Kurdish laws and language. As the conflict mounted so did the associated deaths on both sides, leading to revenge killings in the few remaining Kurdish communities in Turkey, and the Turkish government resolved to intervene.
This map depicts the preliminary operations of the Turkish and Kurdish armies from the months of March through May, 1921, after which the Mashriq proper was drawn into the war and eventually Russia and Britain themselves, though actual combat on the part of the two was minimal, consisting predominantly of naval skirmishes in the Black Sea. Ultimately, Kurdistan won the war in the south but lost the war in the west, annexing Karkuk but losing Elazığ and Şanlıurfa to the Kingdom of Turkey. This would lead to a miniature arms race between Kurdistan and Turkey that was only resolved in a landmark detente in the late 1930s.
Milites:
The Second Italian War of Charles VIII
At the Battle of Fornovo, king Charles VIII of France manages to defeat the forces of the Italian League albeit the victory comes at a heavy cost. Leaving his cousin Louis of Orleans behind as duke of Milan, Charles returns to France to regroup and rearm his battered forces in Provence - thus avoiding striking his head on a lintel in Amboise. Meanwhile in Florence, Girolamo Savonarola crushes all domestic political opposition prompting Pope Alexander VI to authorise his son Cesare Borgia to march into Florentine territory and enforce the papal interdict of the messianic friar. Doing so with ease, Borgia is proclaimed duke of Florence by his troops and the Guelph nobles and citizens.
Two years later, Charles returns to Italy to defend his dynasty's right to the throne of Milan, occupying the Duchy of Savoy on his march into the peninsular. This second invasion leads Cesare and Alexander to force the republics of Siena and Lucca into subservience of Borgian Florence in opposition of the French intervention. The Venetian Republic also rallies to the side of anti-French coalition. As Charles marshalls his forces in Milan, Ercole I d'Este, known as The Diamond, duke of Modena and Ferrara marries his son Alfonso to a French princess partly to ingratiate himself with the French behemoth to the North and partly in reaction to the execution of Savonarola by the Florentine authorities. In return for his loyalty Louis of Orleans sweeps down south and aids Ercole in conquering the Duchy of Mantua. Although technically still an independent prince styling himself divus, The Diamond has in effect become a French satrap.
The states of Northern Italy are thus posed for another round of brutal warfare between those subservient to the King of France led by the Duke of Milan, Louis of Orleans, and those under the Papal aegis of Cesare Borgia. However, events are still in flux. The Emperor has not yet responded, the matter of the Neapolitan throne is still disputed and who's to say that Louis of Orleans will continue to do his cousin's bidding?
The Second Italian War of Charles VIII
At the Battle of Fornovo, king Charles VIII of France manages to defeat the forces of the Italian League albeit the victory comes at a heavy cost. Leaving his cousin Louis of Orleans behind as duke of Milan, Charles returns to France to regroup and rearm his battered forces in Provence - thus avoiding striking his head on a lintel in Amboise. Meanwhile in Florence, Girolamo Savonarola crushes all domestic political opposition prompting Pope Alexander VI to authorise his son Cesare Borgia to march into Florentine territory and enforce the papal interdict of the messianic friar. Doing so with ease, Borgia is proclaimed duke of Florence by his troops and the Guelph nobles and citizens.
Two years later, Charles returns to Italy to defend his dynasty's right to the throne of Milan, occupying the Duchy of Savoy on his march into the peninsular. This second invasion leads Cesare and Alexander to force the republics of Siena and Lucca into subservience of Borgian Florence in opposition of the French intervention. The Venetian Republic also rallies to the side of anti-French coalition. As Charles marshalls his forces in Milan, Ercole I d'Este, known as The Diamond, duke of Modena and Ferrara marries his son Alfonso to a French princess partly to ingratiate himself with the French behemoth to the North and partly in reaction to the execution of Savonarola by the Florentine authorities. In return for his loyalty Louis of Orleans sweeps down south and aids Ercole in conquering the Duchy of Mantua. Although technically still an independent prince styling himself divus, The Diamond has in effect become a French satrap.
The states of Northern Italy are thus posed for another round of brutal warfare between those subservient to the King of France led by the Duke of Milan, Louis of Orleans, and those under the Papal aegis of Cesare Borgia. However, events are still in flux. The Emperor has not yet responded, the matter of the Neapolitan throne is still disputed and who's to say that Louis of Orleans will continue to do his cousin's bidding?
Moralistic Communist:
4th Confederate War
The War of Confederate Communist Supremacy
Ever since the start of the Confederate Wars in 1983 with the succession of Texas from the Confederacy the Southeast of North America has been ravaged by constant turmoil. When the communist revolutions started in 1985, various states of the Confederacy started falling to the red tide one by one. And while the wars appeared to be over once an international ceasefire was signed at the London Conference of 1992, in reality the next war was already brewing under the surface.
This war would be a geopolitical one, between puppets of the USSR and puppets of the PRC. Throughout most of the former Confederacy, militias funded by the Soviets formed the majority of the rebel forces, except for those states dominated by the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party, lead by Dr. Huey Newton, an African-American who grew up in rural Louisiana, had its own revolutionary doctrine which focused on the establishment of a black nationalist state. While the USSR was fine to let the Black Panthers establish their own states, everything changed in 1997. In that year, when Huey Newton unveiled his second 5-year plan, the world was shocked to read how it included the expulsion of all non-blacks from the four states under his control. Once the population had been purged of "imperialist whites" the states would combine into the United Negro Republic to provide a new homeland for the African-American population of North America.
The USSR, stunned by these racist and anti-white policies immediately cut off all diplomatic ties with the Black Panther states, with the Atlanta Pact following suit shortly afterwards. Having made enemies with the Soviet Union, the Black Panthers turned to the East and began negotiations with the People's Republic of China. In return for exclusive rights to the vast oil supplies located off the coast of the Bayou, Zhang Chunqiao agreed to send medicine, arms, and other manufactured goods to the Black Panther states. This realignment of the states to the Maoist PRC was unacceptable for the USSR, and thus secret preparations for a massive invasion of the Black Panther states began.
In March of 1998 these plans were put into action as the Atlanta Pact launched a surprise attack on all four Black Panther states at once. Shaken by how quickly the Atlanta Pact had prepared an invasion, Huey Newton decided to rush his own plans and announced the creation of the United Negro Republic, hoping to inspire mass revolts of all the African Americans in Atlanta Pact states. However such a revolt never occurred, and with the Soviet aligned states of Venezuela and Brazil sending in "peacekeeping ships" off the coasts of the United Negro Republic Huey Newton's dream looked as though it was to meet an abrupt end. In a last ditch effort, the PRC proposed a motion to the UN Security Council to announce an immediate cessation of hostilities in the former Confederate States, citing the Atlanta Pact invasion as a violation of the London Conference. However this motion was vetoed by the USSR, and the world could do nothing as Arkansawyer tanks rolled down the streets of New Orleans. By April of 1999, all major cities of the United Negro Republic had been captured by Atlanta Pact troops, though large swathes of the countryside remained pockets of rebellion. These guerrilla fighters continued high level attacks on Atlanta Pact forces until December 13th, 1999, when Huey Newton was dragged out of his bunker in the Yazoo river delta.
By the time of Huey Newton's capture over 31,000 people had been killed, with the majority of them being civilians. On Christmas Day a show trial was held to convict Huey Newton of crimes against humanity, and on January 1st, 2000 he was executed by firing squad to symbolize the start of the a new millenia and a new century, a Soviet century.
For the full sized version of the map, check out my DeviantArt.
4th Confederate War
The War of Confederate Communist Supremacy
Ever since the start of the Confederate Wars in 1983 with the succession of Texas from the Confederacy the Southeast of North America has been ravaged by constant turmoil. When the communist revolutions started in 1985, various states of the Confederacy started falling to the red tide one by one. And while the wars appeared to be over once an international ceasefire was signed at the London Conference of 1992, in reality the next war was already brewing under the surface.
This war would be a geopolitical one, between puppets of the USSR and puppets of the PRC. Throughout most of the former Confederacy, militias funded by the Soviets formed the majority of the rebel forces, except for those states dominated by the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party, lead by Dr. Huey Newton, an African-American who grew up in rural Louisiana, had its own revolutionary doctrine which focused on the establishment of a black nationalist state. While the USSR was fine to let the Black Panthers establish their own states, everything changed in 1997. In that year, when Huey Newton unveiled his second 5-year plan, the world was shocked to read how it included the expulsion of all non-blacks from the four states under his control. Once the population had been purged of "imperialist whites" the states would combine into the United Negro Republic to provide a new homeland for the African-American population of North America.
The USSR, stunned by these racist and anti-white policies immediately cut off all diplomatic ties with the Black Panther states, with the Atlanta Pact following suit shortly afterwards. Having made enemies with the Soviet Union, the Black Panthers turned to the East and began negotiations with the People's Republic of China. In return for exclusive rights to the vast oil supplies located off the coast of the Bayou, Zhang Chunqiao agreed to send medicine, arms, and other manufactured goods to the Black Panther states. This realignment of the states to the Maoist PRC was unacceptable for the USSR, and thus secret preparations for a massive invasion of the Black Panther states began.
In March of 1998 these plans were put into action as the Atlanta Pact launched a surprise attack on all four Black Panther states at once. Shaken by how quickly the Atlanta Pact had prepared an invasion, Huey Newton decided to rush his own plans and announced the creation of the United Negro Republic, hoping to inspire mass revolts of all the African Americans in Atlanta Pact states. However such a revolt never occurred, and with the Soviet aligned states of Venezuela and Brazil sending in "peacekeeping ships" off the coasts of the United Negro Republic Huey Newton's dream looked as though it was to meet an abrupt end. In a last ditch effort, the PRC proposed a motion to the UN Security Council to announce an immediate cessation of hostilities in the former Confederate States, citing the Atlanta Pact invasion as a violation of the London Conference. However this motion was vetoed by the USSR, and the world could do nothing as Arkansawyer tanks rolled down the streets of New Orleans. By April of 1999, all major cities of the United Negro Republic had been captured by Atlanta Pact troops, though large swathes of the countryside remained pockets of rebellion. These guerrilla fighters continued high level attacks on Atlanta Pact forces until December 13th, 1999, when Huey Newton was dragged out of his bunker in the Yazoo river delta.
By the time of Huey Newton's capture over 31,000 people had been killed, with the majority of them being civilians. On Christmas Day a show trial was held to convict Huey Newton of crimes against humanity, and on January 1st, 2000 he was executed by firing squad to symbolize the start of the a new millenia and a new century, a Soviet century.
For the full sized version of the map, check out my DeviantArt.
Lyly:
The Great Kigala Desert is a vast expanse of sun-parched sands, dunes, and rocky highlands and is easily the largest region in the world of Aven without any significant population to speak of. The Kigala International Territory was established by the World Council in 1954 as an international administration, but since 1977 has been officially under the care of the Community of Southern Materican States (CEDEMS), or the Southern Community, as it is colloquially known to the East. While most of the territory is sparsely populated, the extreme northernmost Koya Region is more hospitable and is home to a few hundred thousand people who share no identity whatsoever to Bourem or the rest of the CEDEMS.
Since the mid 1990s, many in Koya and several non-World Council states in Materica have protested the arrangement, especially the lack of self-government at any level. Sonhray and Asantemain have long been suspected of covertly funding resistance groups in the region, but conflicts have remained isolated skirmishes until 2015. In that year, several guerilla groups coalesced into the Northern Army and now control a significant portion of the Kigala Territory, including practically every community in Koya, which itself represents the majority of the population in Kigala.
Not to take the instability lying down, Bourem and the CEDEMS have taken their international mandate to govern the Kigala Territory as carte blanche. A series of air strikes are the primary means of suppressing resistance so far. Though the far-away region seems to only be growing more firmly obstinate to authority from Bourem and membership in counter-rebel groups has dried up, CEDEMS remains hesitant to commit ground forces without backup from other members of the World Council, resulting in the awkward containment strategy now being pursued. Ultimately, the great expanse of desert that separates the regional powers prevents much in the way of direct confrontation between the forces, but desire for democracy and natural resources guarantees the Kigala War will continue until something gives.
The Great Kigala Desert is a vast expanse of sun-parched sands, dunes, and rocky highlands and is easily the largest region in the world of Aven without any significant population to speak of. The Kigala International Territory was established by the World Council in 1954 as an international administration, but since 1977 has been officially under the care of the Community of Southern Materican States (CEDEMS), or the Southern Community, as it is colloquially known to the East. While most of the territory is sparsely populated, the extreme northernmost Koya Region is more hospitable and is home to a few hundred thousand people who share no identity whatsoever to Bourem or the rest of the CEDEMS.
Since the mid 1990s, many in Koya and several non-World Council states in Materica have protested the arrangement, especially the lack of self-government at any level. Sonhray and Asantemain have long been suspected of covertly funding resistance groups in the region, but conflicts have remained isolated skirmishes until 2015. In that year, several guerilla groups coalesced into the Northern Army and now control a significant portion of the Kigala Territory, including practically every community in Koya, which itself represents the majority of the population in Kigala.
Not to take the instability lying down, Bourem and the CEDEMS have taken their international mandate to govern the Kigala Territory as carte blanche. A series of air strikes are the primary means of suppressing resistance so far. Though the far-away region seems to only be growing more firmly obstinate to authority from Bourem and membership in counter-rebel groups has dried up, CEDEMS remains hesitant to commit ground forces without backup from other members of the World Council, resulting in the awkward containment strategy now being pursued. Ultimately, the great expanse of desert that separates the regional powers prevents much in the way of direct confrontation between the forces, but desire for democracy and natural resources guarantees the Kigala War will continue until something gives.
While slowly working my way back and fixing old broken links, I discovered that I never did MoTF 44. Well, better late than never.
The North-South Divide
The Challenge
Your challenge is to make a map showing a cold war between two rival powers or power blocs that are generally geographically located north and south of one another (as opposed to OTL, where the Communists and the Capitalists were generally located east and west of one another).
The North-South Divide
The Challenge
Your challenge is to make a map showing a cold war between two rival powers or power blocs that are generally geographically located north and south of one another (as opposed to OTL, where the Communists and the Capitalists were generally located east and west of one another).
Myself:
My imagination having somewhat failed me, here is something with bits and pieces stolen from here and there...
Hardly had the HRE's effort to establish mastery in Europe and its vile plot to impose good beer and sausages from the Pyrennes to the Urals been defeated (at the cost of the Czarist regime, for which few tears were shed), when a new menace raised its ugly head. The United Commonwealths of Columbia, having tried (and failed) to take advantage of the commotion to snatch Nigarague, and seeing the triumph of (relatively) liberal democracy all over Europe, strengthened its long-standing alliance with the Brazilians and entered into a compact with the widely detested South Africans (Draka Lite) and with the backwards but hugely populous nation of Mughal India, in defense of slavery, heirararchy, and the inequality of human beings, principles which most of the world now considered not merely outmoded but downright repugnant.
In the year 1960, the world is at nuclear daggers drawn, as the slave societies face down against an alliance of democracies determined to contain them until they (inevitably, surely?) collapse. Somewhat to one side is the authoritarian (if very capitalist) Chinese empire: it modernized more successfullly than China OTL, but still had some nasty shocks, and does not see why it should risk nuclear attack to decide a quarrel as to whether or not pale-skinned round-eyes should keep dark-skinned round-eyes as slaves.
The allies include the League of Boston, which is like in DoD a breakaway NE, which was joined by NW states unwilling to stay within a state increasingly falling under slaveholder control, doing rather better militarily in alliance with the Brits: a Russia which had a better Revolution: a bigger and stronger Netherlands, which now really regrets investing in that South African colony: an Italy unified in the 17th century, which is struggling to create a truly non-racial federal empire: the British Empire, slightly less a bunch of SOBs than OTL: and an odd sort of socialistic federal Ottoman Empire, where the Sultan reigns but does not rule.
They are opposed by a "greater Confederacy", an utterly brutal Africa-based Christian-fundamentalist racial dictatorship speaking funny-accented Dutch (many of which, however, are in fact fat. They usually carry a load of guns to make up for it), a bigger and badder Brazil with a racial hierarchy of dizzying complexity to some extent moderated by money - all nuke-armed at this point - and a Muslim dictatorship in India which imported western organizational talent and technology to put the screws to rebellious Hindus. They have few allies: the most unusual of which is the Torres Holding Company, an HRE commercial enterprise running on sweated labor which became essentially an independent corporate state after the war, under South African protection (the South Africans think of them as their little brother. )
Although two of the four major Slaver powers are centered in the Northern Hemisphere, they are seen as of "the south": the United Commonwealths are to the south of Canada and the League of Boston, the Dominion of South Africa is to the south of the Italians and the Ottomans, the Mughals are to the south of the Russians. The conflict between the League and the Alliance is most often characterized in geographic terms as "North against South..."
My imagination having somewhat failed me, here is something with bits and pieces stolen from here and there...
Hardly had the HRE's effort to establish mastery in Europe and its vile plot to impose good beer and sausages from the Pyrennes to the Urals been defeated (at the cost of the Czarist regime, for which few tears were shed), when a new menace raised its ugly head. The United Commonwealths of Columbia, having tried (and failed) to take advantage of the commotion to snatch Nigarague, and seeing the triumph of (relatively) liberal democracy all over Europe, strengthened its long-standing alliance with the Brazilians and entered into a compact with the widely detested South Africans (Draka Lite) and with the backwards but hugely populous nation of Mughal India, in defense of slavery, heirararchy, and the inequality of human beings, principles which most of the world now considered not merely outmoded but downright repugnant.
In the year 1960, the world is at nuclear daggers drawn, as the slave societies face down against an alliance of democracies determined to contain them until they (inevitably, surely?) collapse. Somewhat to one side is the authoritarian (if very capitalist) Chinese empire: it modernized more successfullly than China OTL, but still had some nasty shocks, and does not see why it should risk nuclear attack to decide a quarrel as to whether or not pale-skinned round-eyes should keep dark-skinned round-eyes as slaves.
The allies include the League of Boston, which is like in DoD a breakaway NE, which was joined by NW states unwilling to stay within a state increasingly falling under slaveholder control, doing rather better militarily in alliance with the Brits: a Russia which had a better Revolution: a bigger and stronger Netherlands, which now really regrets investing in that South African colony: an Italy unified in the 17th century, which is struggling to create a truly non-racial federal empire: the British Empire, slightly less a bunch of SOBs than OTL: and an odd sort of socialistic federal Ottoman Empire, where the Sultan reigns but does not rule.
They are opposed by a "greater Confederacy", an utterly brutal Africa-based Christian-fundamentalist racial dictatorship speaking funny-accented Dutch (many of which, however, are in fact fat. They usually carry a load of guns to make up for it), a bigger and badder Brazil with a racial hierarchy of dizzying complexity to some extent moderated by money - all nuke-armed at this point - and a Muslim dictatorship in India which imported western organizational talent and technology to put the screws to rebellious Hindus. They have few allies: the most unusual of which is the Torres Holding Company, an HRE commercial enterprise running on sweated labor which became essentially an independent corporate state after the war, under South African protection (the South Africans think of them as their little brother.
)Although two of the four major Slaver powers are centered in the Northern Hemisphere, they are seen as of "the south": the United Commonwealths are to the south of Canada and the League of Boston, the Dominion of South Africa is to the south of the Italians and the Ottomans, the Mughals are to the south of the Russians. The conflict between the League and the Alliance is most often characterized in geographic terms as "North against South..."