OK, so I don't know how many of you have read S.M. Sterlings Peshwar Lancers, so here is the basics:
1880s, a comet/asteroid breaks up in Earth's atmosphere, and strikes several places in Europe, along with a larger fragment crashing into the atlantic. Continental Europe is devastated. The UK is about the only nation that doesn't fall apart (London is unscathed, and most of the England was safe from the tidal waves that struck. America goes under, since the eastern seaboard is reportedly inundated with huge tidal waves from the impact of one of the larger fragments in the Atlantic.
Early on (within a month or so), British scientists determine that the debris knocked into the atmosphere was going to alter the climate of the planet, and that 'normal' weather wouldn't return for at least a decade. During that time, Europe would suffer through horrible winter like conditions for much of the year. They approach the PM, explain the situation, and he hatches a plan, later called the Exodus, to evacuate the Royal Family, the government, scientists, scholars, and as many others as possible, along with as much of the empires essential equipment/technology as possible to India.
The book is set around the year 2015 in a world best described as Steampunk. The culture that emerges is a hybrid British/Indian culture that's very unique and interesting. The heartland of the British Empire is India, also encompassing Australia, S. Africa, and various other colonies around the world, including in Britain and what was the United States. Russia survives (they're the bad guys in the book, wont go into detail now). France survives in Algeria. Japan is also a major power.
Technology is just about what it would have been in 1900 to 1915 OTL. The automobile is 'new-fangled'. Train or horseback are the norm. Airships are fairly common for longer distances.
SO, all that established to get to my question:
WI the path of the asteroid is 'reversed' and America isn't as damaged and Europe, including the UK, is more or less obliterated. I sort of wrote up something like this several years ago, and here are my basic thoughts:
East coast cities such as NY and Boston are wiped out, but cities farther inland are okaY (such as the capital). Much like in the book, American scientists predict that the more northern areas of the planet are going to be largely uninhabitable for most of the following decade. Government moves to Houston (or New Orleans, or another southern city), and orders as many people as possible to evacuate to the southern most parts of the US. Mexico collapses, and America starts spreading southwards, eventually controlling all of Central America.
Meanwhile, some members of the French gov't survive and relocate to Algeria, and India and Australia form a quasi British Commonwealth.
The way I had it going, by the 2000s, technology is approaching what we would call 1930s technology, and a world war is not far off, between the US/Australia vs. French Algeria.
Any thoughts or ideas? What would you see happening with this PoD?
1880s, a comet/asteroid breaks up in Earth's atmosphere, and strikes several places in Europe, along with a larger fragment crashing into the atlantic. Continental Europe is devastated. The UK is about the only nation that doesn't fall apart (London is unscathed, and most of the England was safe from the tidal waves that struck. America goes under, since the eastern seaboard is reportedly inundated with huge tidal waves from the impact of one of the larger fragments in the Atlantic.
Early on (within a month or so), British scientists determine that the debris knocked into the atmosphere was going to alter the climate of the planet, and that 'normal' weather wouldn't return for at least a decade. During that time, Europe would suffer through horrible winter like conditions for much of the year. They approach the PM, explain the situation, and he hatches a plan, later called the Exodus, to evacuate the Royal Family, the government, scientists, scholars, and as many others as possible, along with as much of the empires essential equipment/technology as possible to India.
The book is set around the year 2015 in a world best described as Steampunk. The culture that emerges is a hybrid British/Indian culture that's very unique and interesting. The heartland of the British Empire is India, also encompassing Australia, S. Africa, and various other colonies around the world, including in Britain and what was the United States. Russia survives (they're the bad guys in the book, wont go into detail now). France survives in Algeria. Japan is also a major power.
Technology is just about what it would have been in 1900 to 1915 OTL. The automobile is 'new-fangled'. Train or horseback are the norm. Airships are fairly common for longer distances.
SO, all that established to get to my question:
WI the path of the asteroid is 'reversed' and America isn't as damaged and Europe, including the UK, is more or less obliterated. I sort of wrote up something like this several years ago, and here are my basic thoughts:
East coast cities such as NY and Boston are wiped out, but cities farther inland are okaY (such as the capital). Much like in the book, American scientists predict that the more northern areas of the planet are going to be largely uninhabitable for most of the following decade. Government moves to Houston (or New Orleans, or another southern city), and orders as many people as possible to evacuate to the southern most parts of the US. Mexico collapses, and America starts spreading southwards, eventually controlling all of Central America.
Meanwhile, some members of the French gov't survive and relocate to Algeria, and India and Australia form a quasi British Commonwealth.
The way I had it going, by the 2000s, technology is approaching what we would call 1930s technology, and a world war is not far off, between the US/Australia vs. French Algeria.
Any thoughts or ideas? What would you see happening with this PoD?