The Anglo-Dutch Empire

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Nueva Espana

The Nueva Espanan states of the Spanish Confederal Republic span a vast territory. From the prosperous cities of the Pacific coast to the vast, cold resource rich Northern hinterland, New Spain ruled from the Confederal Republic's second capital at San Francisco is a far-cry from the once ill-managed Spanish viceroyalty.

After the Mexican revolution, many Spanish loyalists fled to California and sweeping reforms were initiated. New Spain was reorganised along the Anglo-Dutch lines- the Nueva Espanan states elected representatives to a Confederal Assembly at San Francisco just as the Spanish and Moroccan states did to Madrid. Both Confederal assemblies were represented in the Republican Assembly, also at Madrid.

With the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy, freedom of religion was guaranteed and though the Catholic church is still the premier faith, representatives of many other religions have sprung up, notably of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism after the vast influx of Chinese immigrants in the late 20th century.

Population breakdown of Nueva Espana

Hispanic: 69% (This includes "pure-blooded" Spaniards, Mestizo and Filipinos)

Other European and North African: 12% (Mostly people of Portuguese, Moroccan and Italian descent)

Chinese: 16%

Other Asian and Black: 4%

Spanish is the dominant language though English is generally understood in the major cities. Mandarin Chinese is beginning to gain importance in areas such as San Francisco which have the largest Chinese populations.

San Francisco is the capital of Nueva Espana and the third-largest urban area in the Americas after Nieuw Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro. Other major cities include San Andreas (OTL Vancouver), Los Angeles and Nueva Barcelona (OTL Denver).

Major industries include mining, timber and the burgeoning Iam (computer; Iam= instructable algorithmic mill) industry. Tourism is also an important industry in many regions.

 

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The Viceroyalty of India

India is the most populous of the Viceroyalties of the Empire with a population of almost 3/4 bn. Though the cities are as well developed as any cities in the Empire the hinterlands often remain much less advanced. As with Anglo-Dutch China, Anglo-Dutch India best showcases the extremes of life within the borders of the Empire. While industrial moguls hold lavish parties in the glittering cities, millions of low-paid industrial workers huddle around communal CV sets mere miles away. However the contrast between Anglo-Dutch India and the conditions in the neighbouring Mughal Empire is indeed striking- though life is hard, subsistence agriculture and famines are a thing of the past.

India is the industrial powerhouse of the Empire and to a great extent the world. Hinduism remains the majority religion and though discrimination based on caste is theoretically illegal, it still occurs especially among the working classes. For the middle and upper classes, though, life is much the same as with any of the other Viceroyalties, or perhaps even better seeing that domestic labour is cheap and easily available. Most middle class families have at least one household servant and a cook in their employ.

On a regional level local languages are used though English is the language of government and education and serves as a lingua franca. It is not uncommon to see middle and upper class families using English as their first language.

Madras is the capital of the Viceroyalty and remains the richest and largest city on the subcontinent.

 

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The United Provinces of Vrijland

In a referendum conducted in 1904, the population of the Viceroyalty of Vandiemensland voted to secede from the Anglo-Dutch Empire. This was the culimnation of a quarter-century long process of political activism and terrorism, including an assassination attempt on the then Crown Princess Astrid (later Queen-Empress Astrid I).

The main impetus towards this declaration of independence was the realisation that the Viceroyalty would be pressured into extending the franchise to its non-white minority.

During the 19th Century when Vandiemensland had been under the jurisdiction of the VOC, a large number of Indonesian and African indentured servants had been imported into the colonies. They formed a majority of the population until a wave of immigration from Germany and Scandinavia in the late 19th Century. After that point, the overall population consisted of a slight majority of whites.

It was at this point that a particularly fundamentalist strain of Calvinism took root in Vandiemensland stating firmly that non-whites were meant to serve whites. This was met with general repugnance by the Imperial authorities back in London or "Babylon-don" as the more virulent Vandiemenslander calvinist preachers were wont to call it.

With independence, the Virjlanders, as they now called themselves, enacted a series of legislative acts denying the possibility of enfranchisement to the non-white population. Instead, an almost Communist system was put in place where nonwhites were carefully controlled and provided with basic needs in exchange for almost slave-like labour. At the same time, population boosting measures were introduced among the white population (tax rebates for more children etc.).

Vrijland remains a major mineral and agricultural producer selling to many nations such as the Iskandri Caliphate and the Russian Empire. Besides these trade ties, it has remained fiercely isolationistic and few Anglo-Dutch citizens are ever admitted to the country.

Vrijland's ties with the Iskandri Caliphate are especially interesting. The Vrijland Calvinists found much to respect in the staunch Sunni Islam of the Iskandri and have welcomed immigrants from the Arab world granting them the same status as White citizens.

After the Russian Civil War, many Russians have emigrated to Vrijland and their community has been gaining influence.

Population Breakdown of Vrijland

72% White- mostly of Dutch, German and Scandinavian descent with smaller populations of French, Russian and English descent.

4% Middle Eastern- Mostly Arab. Some Kurds, Berber and Turks.

24% Non-White- Mostly Indonesian and Black African

The Vrijlander Calvinist Church is the official religion of the United Provinces. Many laws are religious based and an elected council of Church Elders have seats in a religious advisory council to the Vrijlander Senate. Most other religions are disapproved of with the notable exception of Sunni Islam and the Russian Orthodox Church. Due to a strange quirk of history the Iskandiri Caliphate has become Vrijland's staunchest ally and Sunni representatives also have a few seats with the aforementioned Church Elders. Due to the recent rise in the population of Russians, an Orthodox Bishop has also been admitted to the Advisory Council. Conversion of Calvinists to Orthodoxy or Islam is disapproved of though not illegal but for the most part each religious community keeps to itself.

The major language of Vrijland is known as Nederlands but it differs greatly from the original Dutch having adopted many influences from German, the Scandinavian languages and the various Indonesian dialects.

Military service is compulsory for all White and Middle-Eastern male citizens and due to this and a well-honed reserve system, the Vrijlander Armed Forces are considered extremely respectable. They may not have the sheer might of the Imperial Armed Forces but on their own turf they are sue to be dangerous.

 

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The King-Emperor, the Empire and the Imperial Commonwealth

A constitutional monarch, the King-Emperors and Queen-Empresses of the House of Orange serve as heads of state for the United Kingdom and the various Viceroyalties as well as the Head of the Imperial Commonwealth.

The power of the Crown is theoretically vast but, as in OTL, it is seldom used. However, the Crown enjoys somewhat more influence than it does in OTL- a strong willed King-Emperor can often play a decisive role in many Imperial matters.

The position of the King-Emperors in various countries of the Commonwealth tends to vary. In member states like Scotland, Mexico and the Mughal Empire which have their own ruling houses or Presidents, the House of Oranje enjoys a special position as "Protector"- the rulers of these states have entered into a relationship with the Anglo-Dutch Empire which is akin to a form of vassalage. This is purely theoretical as the King-Emperor does not have any real legal authority beyond his position of Head of the Imperial Commonwealth in these countries. As was mentioned before, however, the actual influence a King-Emperor may have in these countries varies greatly depending on the monarch in question.

At this point, it may be useful to distinguish between the Empire proper and the Imperial Commonwealth. The Empire itself is made up of the United Kingdom, its colonies and the Viceroyalties. The Empire has a unified currency and each constituent part of the Empire sends voting representatives to the Imperial Parliament.

The Commonwealth nations, on the other hand, are nations that, for want of a better term have been vassalised. They enjoy certain trade benefits with the Empire, generally have military structures that are integrated to a greater or lesser extent with the Imperial forces and send representatives to the Imperial Parliament. These representatives, however are nonvoting except in Commonwealth sessions when matters affecting the entire Empire and Commonwealth are brought before the House.

Scotland is a special case since, although it is a separate country with a seperate ruling house it is actually a part of the Anglo-Dutch Empire with the Scottish King basically acting as Head of State in the same way as a Viceroy of one of the Viceroyalties would. Scotland sends voting representatives to the Imperial Parliament and is part of the Empire's monetary union. The general idea is to extend such deals to various members of the Commonwealth once they have developed enough. Such a deal was offered to Mexico but the offer was graciously turned down, the Mexicans preferring to retain a bit more autonomy as Commonwealth members.

 

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Naming Conventions in the Empire- by Akiyama

Boys names - England

1. Paul
2. Philip
3. Blyth
4. Oswald
5. Lee
6. Jack
7. Hallam
8. Melmer
9. Breyten
10. Derek
11. Harald
12. Digby
13. Alfred
14. William
15. Winston
16. John
17. Conrad
18. Humbert
19. Lambert
20. Thomas

Girls names - England

1. Isis
2. Karen
3. Loren
4. May
5. Clio
6. Kay
7. Elaine
8. Charlotte
9. Freya
10. Hilda
11. Adolpha
12. Quen
13. Fatima
14. Pandora
15. Wendel
16. Astrid
17. Alice
18. Lilith
19. Kunigond
20. Rachel

Boys names - North America

1. Blyth
2. Miles
3. Drake
4. Bertram
5. Melmer
6. Lutjen (pronounced loot-yen)
7. Swirt
8. Alwin
9. Caeser (pronounced kaiser)
10. Dennis
11. Alfred
12. Sherlock
13. Echo
14. Godfrey
15. Winston
16. Barnaby
17. Aubrey
18. Siegfried
19. Jack
20. Oscar

Girls names - North America

1. Fifi
2. Magda
3. Jilfte (pronounced yilf-tu)
4. Freya
5. Tallulah
6. Tamsin
7. Keira
8. Delilah
9. Luna
10. Clio
11. Aphra
12. Emma
13. Matilda
14. Alice
15. Kunigond
16. Dido
17. Raven
18. Isis
19. Nixie
20. Dolores

 

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The state of Judaism- by David Bar-Elias

Judaism in the Anglo-Dutch Empire

History

The old United Provinces was a place where Jews could practise their faith relatively freely without fear of large-scale persecution. With the founding of the Anglo-Dutch Empire, Jews began to spread across the length and breadth of the Empire. By 2006, London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Recife were the main focal points of Jewish life in the Empire. Throughout the course of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Jews steadily trickled out of the ghettos of Austria, Russia, Poland, Hungary, and France into the welcome embrace of the House of Orange-Nassau.

The Present Day

Judaism is not monolithic by any means. Joining the exodus of German Protestants were the originators of the Reform Movement, which liberalized Jewish worship and doctrine. The great Temple of Beth Israel [OTL's Emanu-el], in Nieuw Amsterdam serves as the focal point for Reform Jews in the Anglo-Dutch Empire.

However, the vast majority of the recent Jewish immigrants into the Empire were Orthodox and Hasidic Jews from theocratic and increasingly war-torn Empire of all the Russias (along with a good smattering from Poland and Hungary). So called "Little Jerusalems" have sprung up the Empire's biggest cities. The Orthodox tend to close themselves to the world of the goyim, while the Reform Jews tend to enthusiastically embrace public life.

All Anglo-Dutch Jews, however, were united in the 1980s and 1990s in denouncing the Russians in their persecution of their Jewish minority. Large protests against the Russian consulates in Singapore, Nieuw Amsterdam, Amsterdam, and Recife raised quite a ruckus, and culminated in the huge rally in front of the Russian Embassy in London in 1990, where huge crowds of Orthodox and Reform Jews joined to repeatedly belt out "Let our people go!"

Life in the Anglo-Dutch Empire: From 1654, when the first Jewish refugees from the Portuguese Inquisition set foot in Niew Amsterdam, Jews have been amongst the Empire's greatest lawyers, businessmen, speculators, and stock traders. The profession of the Jews tends to dictate whom they vote for. The businessmen, traders, and speculators are generally Conservative votes. However, the lawyers tend to vote Liberal, leading one Conservative Jewish MP, the Right Honourable Moshe Katsev (C-Bradford), to quip in 2003 "Oh Lord, smight these foul lawyers and landlords, they are a blighteth on the land!" [In the interest of fairness, Mr. Katsev is well known for his black Anglo-Dutch-Yiddish humor].

Jews also tend to dominate the comedic scenes in the big cities. The movies of Zuid Afrikan flimaker Abba Elias Marius van der Mewe play to packed houses from Singapore to Mexico City (which isn't a big surprise-after all, Zuid Afrika's movie industry was founded almost entirely by Jewish immigrants from Poland). Comedian Ali van Doyborg (real name Herald Cuttler Rubenstein) tours the Empire in style and in an eccentric flamboyance that liberally mixes Yiddish, Anglo-Dutch, and Asian styles with great disdain for what the Conservative matrons and Burghers of Amsterdam might think.

The Jews of the Vrijlander Republic: There were never many Jews in Vandiemensland (historians estimate that by 1904, there were only around 40,000 Jews on the entire continent, mostly settled in Zuid Geldre). After the founding of the Vrijlander Republic, virtually the entire Jewish community, not wanting to know what would lie in store for them under a Calvinist theocracy, left en masse for Singapore, forming the basis for that city's steadily growing Jewish community. The few who decided to stay were subject to a number of restrictions. By the 1910s, the few who had stayed were gone.

Broach the subject of the Vrijlanders to any Anglo-Dutch Jew, and their reaction will give you a first class education in Yiddish oaths.

 

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New, nice and clean map of the Empire c.2005 as kindly drawn by Darkest

 

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Vrijlander Republic

The Vrijlander Republic is, to a certain extent, a Calvinist theocracy. Other religions are tolerated, though grudgingly.

Population

47 million

Around 20 million whites, mostly of Anglo-Dutch and German descent, 10 million Coloured (most of which are a mixture of all the above races), 5 million Indians, 1 million East Asians, 7 million Malays, 3 million Blacks, an undetermined number of Aboriginals.

Citizenship

Vrijlander citizenship law is strange and complex. The people of Vrijland are classed into four grades

(i) Citizen, First-Grade: Only Protestant Whites may be first-grade citizens. Males must serve three years in the Vrijlander Armed Forces to qualify for full citizenship. Women must serve one year in what is called the Social Forces, doing various sorts of non-military work. First-grade citizens may vote in all elections and stand for any public office.

(ii) Citizen, Second-Grade: The small number of other whites (Catholics, mostly) belong to this category, as well as Jews and Christian, Sikh or Muslim Indians. Second-grade male citizens serve two years in the Armed forces though their women still serve one year in the Social Forces. Second-grade citizens may vote in local elections only and stand only for local office.

(iii) Citizen, Third-Grade: This grade encompasses the coloured population as well as East Asians and Hindu Indians. They may not vote or join the armed forces.

(iv) Citizen, Fourth-Grade: This grade encompasses the Malays, Blacks and Aboriginals. They are, in many ways considered wards of the state. Their movements are carefully monitored and their employment is severely restricted- most are restricted to rural areas where they provide labour for the thriving Vrijlander agricultural and mining sectors.

Segregation

Citizens may not reside in areas earmarked for other grades. Within the lower two grades, no further segregation is conducted on the basis of race but Grade Two zones are further subdivided into Christian and non-Christian neighbourhoods.

Major Languages

The only official language is Vrijlandse (a Dutch-German-English hybrid) with English taught as a second language only in schools for the children of First- and Second-Grade citizens.

Religious Law

Besides their class- and racial-based laws, Vrijland's religious heritage tends to show through in it's attitude towards vices, which tends to be the diametrical opposite of the laissez-faire Anglo-Dutch Empire.

The sale of alcohol is severely restricted and many districts are dry. Prostitution is highly illegal as is the sale and consumption of narcotic substances. A religious court system exists to deal with such cases and is empowered to hand out punishments ranging for a fine to a whipping to imprisonment and even execution (though this last is generally only reserved for pimps and drug dealers). This court system also handles some other aspects of the law and deals with cases of adultery (also punishable by whipping), homosexuality (theoretically also punishable by death) and divorce (only legal in cases of adultery).