The Footprint of Mussolini - TL

[GalileoFigaroMagnifico]

...Wow, the ME really is still going to be a blasted heath by 2050, isn't it? Also, neat burgeoning divide in MEGAISRAELI society.

Anywho, a question has sprung to mind: what with increased British influence and support in this world, will more Commonwealth states feature the Union Jack in the corner and retain the sovereign, or will it just be the protectorates? Speaking of which, due to a distinct ambiguity within the chapter, I'm gonna extrapolate that Somaliland and the Trucial States remain protectorates to the present, if only because the surrounding regions are so damnably terrifying.

And while the Afro-Fascists may seem to be a blessing for the moment, I'm nigh-certain that the West is going to look back at encouraging them and wince in the modern era when the next nutter decides that geography is destiny and tries to conquer huge swathes of the continent.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm gonna be legitimately sad when this Mussolini dies. He's a fuckwit dictator, but... I guess the term here is Worthy Opponent. Bastards, but not the commies, nazis, or commie-nazis (*cough* UAR *cough*). Plus the humanising scene with the Hungarians and the fact that he's essentially this timeline's anti-villain protagonist somehow equates to a respectful hat-doffing.

Bravo, Sorairo.

 

[Bbone91]

...Wow, the ME really is still going to be a blasted heath by 2050, isn't it? Also, neat burgeoning divide in MEGAISRAELI society.

Anywho, a question has sprung to mind: what with increased British influence and support in this world, will more Commonwealth states feature the Union Jack in the corner and retain the sovereign, or will it just be the protectorates? Speaking of which, due to a distinct ambiguity within the chapter, I'm gonna extrapolate that Somaliland and the Trucial States remain protectorates to the present, if only because the surrounding regions are so damnably terrifying.

And while the Afro-Fascists may seem to be a blessing for the moment, I'm nigh-certain that the West is going to look back at encouraging them and wince in the modern era when the next nutter decides that geography is destiny and tries to conquer huge swathes of the continent.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm gonna be legitimately sad when this Mussolini dies. He's a fuckwit dictator, but... I guess the term here is Worthy Opponent. Bastards, but not the commies, nazis, or commie-nazis (*cough* UAR *cough*). Plus the humanising scene with the Hungarians and the fact that he's essentially this timeline's anti-villain protagonist somehow equates to a respectful hat-doffing.

Bravo, Sorairo.

Mussolini in this timeline strikes me a noble demon. Unquestionably evil at times (Greece, Iran and that one cultural genocide during the second world war spring to mind), but also capable of acts of supreme kindness and mercy. I can only imagine the thick stacks of books about him ittl.

 

[Herr Frage]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm gonna be legitimately sad when this Mussolini dies. He's a fuckwit dictator, but... I guess the term here is Worthy Opponent. Bastards, but not the commies, nazis, or commie-nazis (*cough* UAR *cough*). Plus the humanising scene with the Hungarians and the fact that he's essentially this timeline's anti-villain protagonist somehow equates to a respectful hat-doffing.

Indeed.

And if he acknowledges his coming demise, what steps will Mussolini take for the succession?

Balbo seems a solid choice, long srvic, civil leadership as governor of Libya, and military glory crowned by leading Italian forces in the Chinese War.

 

[Whiteshore]

And if he acknowledges his coming demise, what steps will Mussolini take for the succession?

Certainly not Ciano.

 

[Whiteshore]

Chiang Kai-Shek, suspicious of Christianity as a non-Chinese religion, would encourage Christians who came from North China that Lebanon was a better choice for them.

Isn't he himself a Christian?

 

[Deleted member 109224]

Ayaan Ferguson.
I see what you did there.

Pol Pot in Najd is depressing.

Afrofascism reminds me of some of those Cape Town students from a few years ago who wanted to "decolonize science".

Somaliland had a million people. I'm not sure why they couldn't be integrated into a country of 53 million. Mauritius is also pretty small.

 

[Zagan]

Somaliland had a million people. I'm not sure why they couldn't be integrated into a country of 53 million.

Because of racism, religious bigotry or both.

 

[AK47Productions]

Because of racism, religious bigotry or both.

I thought it was more due to it being surrounded by Italian East Africa but that makes more sense.

 

[Sorairo]

Isn't he himself a Christian?

My brain fart has been edited.

 

[Whiteshore]

My brain fart has been edited.

No problem!

 

[Sorairo]

Because of racism, religious bigotry or both.

Correct. They didn’t want to integrate an overwhelming black state, especially having already engorged themselves on so much.

 

[Herr Frage]

Correct. They didn’t want to integrate an overwhelming black state, especially having already engorged themselves on so much.

I thought that might be the case. But even if done for the wrong reasons, it may have been the better move for the region. A stable independent Somali state will undermine the AOI without a shot being fired. Namely the privileges Somalis get in the AOI racial I think will start to ring hollow with a better deal fully operational over the border. And Somali fears of the end of Italian rule could be curbed by the prospect of the Somali state either being something they can join with, or a partner that will help them in a post colonial situation.

I could see a national characters cartoon wit Italy mocking Britain for being so weak as to lose its empire. But Britain retorting that its strong to admit past wrongs and too seek to right them. Showing maybe for another panel the Commonwealth nation standing at Britain's back in unspoken support, while aside from Libya as tiny minion Italy has only hostile glares from its de jure and def facto colonies, which it is sitting, on with them in chains.

Say, what happened to Zambia?

 

[thekingsguard]

So India turns agaisnt Europe... does this include Americans? Or is that hinted warm Indian-American relationship still in play?

 

[Sorairo]

So India turns agaisnt Europe... does this include Americans? Or is that hinted warm Indian-American relationship still in play?

America is treated a lot more kindly by India than Europe to be sure.

 

[Whiteshore]

Pol Pot in Najd is depressing.

And it seems the whole thing will end in a modern-day version of the collapse which occurred in Easter Island.

 

[Sorairo]

I thought that might be the case. But even if done for the wrong reasons, it may have been the better move for the region. A stable independent Somali state will undermine the AOI without a shot being fired. Namely the privileges Somalis get in the AOI racial I think will start to ring hollow with a better deal fully operational over the border. And Somali fears of the end of Italian rule could be curbed by the prospect of the Somali state either being something they can join with, or a partner that will help them in a post colonial situation.

I could see a national characters cartoon wit Italy mocking Britain for being so weak as to lose its empire. But Britain retorting that its strong to admit past wrongs and too seek to right them. Showing maybe for another panel the Commonwealth nation standing at Britain's back in unspoken support, while aside from Libya as tiny minion Italy has only hostile glares from its de jure and def facto colonies, which it is sitting, on with them in chains.

Say, what happened to Zambia?

Became protectorate in 1964, majority rule, has British bases established to ensure Rhodesia doesn't get any ideas. They play it safe and trade with Rhodesia because their economy is totally dependent on them and Katanga. They are in no position to flirt with Afro-Fascism. At the same time, Black Fascist resistance groups will park on their southern border to launch attacks on the Rhodesians and they'll pretend to be flabbergasted at the news.

 

[Sorairo]

How exactly is North Egypt organized as a government?

The EFA will be very important going forward, surrounded as they are they can also be the push outward for democracy.

Semitheocratic in Mozambique eh? Wonder how that works, and how it will be affected if we see a Vatican 2 or equivalent in the near future.

The Head of the Coptic Church is head of the state - the Alexandrian Parliament is much like the modern Iranian Parliament, with a handful of token minority slots. Imagine Khameini and Rouhani if the latter was PM - and Anti-Italian parties are banned by decree of the Italian occupiers. The Parliament is increasingly dominated by zealous Copts who want to recreate a Pre-Arab Egypt and think the rights of the Muslim minority stand in the way of that. That's the state of North Egypt.

With respect to Portugal, basically, the church runs education and a lot of the civil services and you need to be a Catholic to serve in government or the army. When it comes to dodgy dealings with Salazar, future Popes are going to have to do some embarrassing make-up tours.

 

[Deleted member 109224]

Isn't he himself a Christian?

Huh, I didn't know that.

I suppose its possible that Chiang is just trying to get rid of people from a part of China he doesn't trust. The Reds might be sending spies under the guise of being Christians.

Chiang made great efforts to gain recognition as the official successor of Sun Yat-sen. In a pairing of great political significance, Chiang was Sun's brother-in-law: he had married Soong Mei-ling, the younger sister of Soong Ching-ling, Sun's widow, on 1 December 1927. Originally rebuffed in the early 1920s, Chiang managed to ingratiate himself to some degree with Soong Mei-ling's mother by first divorcing his wife and concubines and promising to sincerely study the precepts of Christianity. He read the copy of the Bible that May-ling had given him twice before making up his mind to become a Christian, and three years after his marriage he was baptized in the Soong's Methodist church. Although some observers felt that he adopted Christianity as a political move, studies of his recently opened diaries suggest that his faith was strong and sincere and that he felt that Christianity reinforced Confucian moral teachings.

 

[Deleted member 109224]

Great Britain as the defender of African states from the ravages of colonialism and fascism is some weird stuff. And good stuff.

Sudan seems like a mess waiting to happen.

I'll be waiting with my jello for Biafra. I feel like the Fascists are going to back up the Biafrans. Another country to join OPEP?

Is Africa richer TTL?

I expect a lot of grumpy segregationists to relocate themselves to Rhodesia. The politics will be radical and even more stubbornly racist.

 

[Bookmark1995]

Wow, that was an incredible chapter to get through:

When people in-universe are taking about fascism reaching its "peak", here is what they mean.

From the early 1940s to the late 1950s TTL, fascism had several things in abundance: reputation, hegemony, and ties to the West. After the late 1950s, however, these things will start to go into decline.

1. Reputation.

TTL fascism only has had a good reputation because its other ideological opponents, Nazism, Stalinism, and Arab nationalism are so, so much worse. Mussolini's incredible magnanimity toward the Jews makes him a much brighter figure than Hitler, a man so racist, he would start another war just to kill more Jews. It also makes him better than Stalin, who nuked Poland and started a Second Holocaust. And then there is Aflaq, who is so nuts as to try and start a Third Holocaust.

Mussolini and his band of dictators have managed to be the lesser evil on the world stage. The son of a bitches who you can work with.

But with the Arab nationalists destroyed and the Soviet Union becoming a complete pariah, suddenly fascisms flaws are starting to become more clear. Without any hardcore lunatic enemies, the horrors of the Roman Alliance can easily be brought into focus as well.

2. Hegemony

Fascism during the early 1940s-late 1950s period has also achieved enormous amounts of hegemony. The fascist bloc has managed to be on the winning side of the largest war in history. Mussolini has managed to achieve his imperialist goals without much consequence, and the fascists were able to again redraw the world map in their favor after the 1950s war.

However, they are increasingly losing the ability to, you know, do whatever it is they want.

Anti-colonial nationalists are starting to become more influential and mighty. As stated, Portugal had to relinquish Goa, and the East African Federation and other British African territories are starting to steel themselves against their colonialist neighbors. And other African nationalists are slowly but surely beginning to adopt their methods.

Fascists may still be mighty, but they will no longer have the ability to simply crush whoever they want to crush.

3. Ties to the West.

Western Democracies have, again, thought of the Roman Alliance as a useful ally against Communism. But now, those ties have begun to deteriorate, as fascists show off their own atrocities and start their own diplomatic squabbles with the West. You have Franco going to South America and denouncing Yankee "softness."

It is unlikely that the US and Britain will lose, considering their political systems are more stable than authoritarianism.