Hello all! Final update from myself from the perspective of 2020. There are a few omake's I've been sent that I'll work on at my own pace, but if you want to send something in, I'd say I'll probably stop putting up anything by the end of June. I'll stay for a time longer to answer questions but I'm honestly hoping to fully focus on editing my latest novel so I can't guarantee how long I'll be here.
And so with that, here is the global low-down as of TTL 2020 (and God almighty did it take time to write).
North America:
America: After Brooke’s extremely narrow victory against Jesse Helms in 1980 (often described as the dirtiest election in history), the Freedom Party recognised that such open racial antagonism was only going to play against them. Luck came in the form of Pat Robertson, who had led the charge against Brooke’s social liberalism on things like abortion and homosexuality. His essentially raceless critique of Brooke, especially as the Televangelist phenomenon was hitting its peak, led to the victory of the Lebanon Lobby (a shorthand for the Evangelical wing of the Freedomites) taking over. Robertson successfully beat Bob Dole in 1984 and would expound on the virtues of Christianity around the world, despite countless scandals consuming him and his allies. This rebranding of the Freedomites made them vastly more acceptable to Northern Whites who were not particularly rich. As of 2020, America is divided between the populistic-leaning Freedomites (who have huge support among the White-Working Class) and the Libertarian-leaning Republican Party (who have support among the rich, Non-Whites and educated). A more developed Latin America substantially reduced the number of Hispanic immigrants up north, meaning America is more like 70% Non-Hispanic White in 2020 than 60%. The Democrat Party occasionally flares up again and have become something of a ‘Lucy’s Football’ in that they never quite become fully relevant again despite always seeming on the edge. Due to substantially increased funding for education and increased voting rights in their community (as a result of the Arlington Agreement that forbade any discrepancies in school-funding, unlike OTL) as well as a stronger sense of optimism and trust in diligence alongside education in the mould of Booker T. Washington, African-Americans are better off than in OTL in terms of relative economic positioning with Whites, especially in the South (believe it or not OTL South has less racial disparity than the rest of the country in many ways, albeit often because Whites are worse off rather than Blacks better). In some Southern states, Black Americans actually outperform White Americans in terms of average income and High School dropout rates. White supremacists who argued that Blacks were inferior on account of their failings in these two regards have quickly scrambled to explain the new information by arguing that those two figures never mattered in the first place. After a brief souring of race relations in the late 1970s due to the Brooke Presidency, race relations mellowed out again, even as Alabama forbade interracial marriage into the early 2000s, and ‘Whites-only’ signs could be found in many Southern establishments as late as the 1990s. However, it seems that this antiquated displays ironically had the opposite of their intent, as it made the threat of racism more real to onlookers and triggered a broad sense of solidarity against the display. In the South, Whites and Blacks still live very separate lives with large levels of self-segregation on both sides. But while the Black community has grown from strength to strength in recent decades, Southern, rural Whites have been badly hit by opioid drugs while cocaine never devastated Black communities to the degree it did OTL. In other social issues, the battle for gay rights was recently won by the Republicans while the Freedom Party continues to dig in for a bloody trench war on abortion, which like OTL hasn’t had a big opinion swing. Without the nightmare of crack, drug liberalisation silently swept the US just after the millennium with little incident. Corley (Wallace) was able to implement Medicare nationwide, with Robertson successfully getting Medicaid over the line. Little more has been done federally, though universal healthcare has become a thing in many Southern states especially in light of the Opioid nightmare (it embarrasses the Freedom Party when it is pointed out they initially strongly opposed it). America is nowhere near the hyper-power status of OTL but it remains the world’s cultural hegemon, as well as English-speaking, as well as having the best army on the planet. As the world’s second largest economy, it also packs a significant fiscal punch.
Cuba: Pleasure Island is considered the loosest, craziest place on Earth and full of every party and pleasure you can imagine. It has become a hot immigration destination for countless Latinos around Latin America for its roaring economy and highly relaxed attitude to almost everything (to the extent ‘Cuban Values’ has become an insult among Freedomites against the Republicans). Las Vegas consequently is the Atlantic City of TTL, a cheap imitation of Havana that is mocked as an inferior product. It is the most developed country in all of Latin America, with equally fantastic social services. Cubans are proud of their status, as they have every right to be. Living standards are OTL Spain.
General: Without Communist insurrections and with Fascism having been essentially kicked off the Continent early, North America had a substantially quieter 20th Century. Mexico became a functioning democracy again as early as the 1960s, and thus the pull of Narco culture was never big enough to consume it. Mexico is generally a pretty safe place to go with living standards at about OTL Polish levels. Papa Doc fell in the 1970s when his Afro-Fascism fell out of favour with everyone, ensuring that Haiti is on a long and sober road to recovering after a frightful history, with living standards of OTL Bolivia.
South America:
Venezuela: The richest state in South America, where democracy is upheld and sane, constitutional government triumphs. Extreme ideologies of any kind are frowned upon, and the stores still have basic goods. The Far Left is laughed out of the building. Living standards of OTL Chile.
Brazil: Despite having less overall bloodshed, the brain-drain following OPEP’s ravaging economic war and the exodus of leading industrialists to Angola has ensured that Brazil is little better off than OTL. That said, extreme poverty is extinct owing to the stronger economy across the whole continent.
Argentina: After its humiliating loss in the Beagle War, democratic Argentina was able to mostly put its past behind it and move on. With the Falklands thoroughly off the radar as they are fully British territory, Argentina has mainly focussed on being a regional economic power. Living standards are OTL Chile, with TTL Chile ironically having the living standards of OTL still since Allende’s brand of economics was not fully discredited. All in all, no one in Latin America is worse off, and with Communism thoroughly discredited, the Pink Wave would be unthinkable ITTL. Paraguay followed a broadly similar path.
Middle East:
Lebanon: Despite being a relatively small country, particularly one with a strange fixation on Christianity, Lebanon has a special relationship with America in how it successfully influenced multiple leading Evangelicals in the 1960s and 1970s, just in time for the Moral Majority to become a thing. It also has a not insignificant Black population escaping persecution in Majority-Muslim states for their Christianity, with Lebanon using this to promote a sense of collective solidarity and anti-racism (which is less true in practice, as the Maronites still have a highly disproportionate control over society). With train lines running through it between Israel and Europe, it has become a significant economic player despite its size, with a gigantic exchange program with Christian institutions in America, some of whom grow up to be businessmen and consequently do business in the small Mediterranean state. Socially, its somewhat backward despite the living standards, with homosexuality only being legalised in 2010 and little indication of further rights being granted anytime soon (forget gay marriage since you have to have it recognised by a major Christian church and forget adoption for gay couples since you need a church certificate to apply). Different denominations have different levels of power, with the Maronites and Catholics having the lion share of power and minor Protestant sects being stigmatised as troublemakers, especially Mormons, for whom a significant movement exists to deny them citizenship and significant violence is perpetrated against them for being ‘Fake Christians’. Likewise, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adventists are looked down on. Living standards are OTL Israel.
Israel: Can be described as a Sweden on the Mediterranean and boot camp in the desert. Israel enjoys living standards as good as the best in Europe, a massively disproportionate presence in the world science and culture scene and is by far the most important player in the Middle East with the possible exception of Iran. It’s more liberal than OTL without the constant threat of war and less Hasidic Jews, not to mention the smaller threat of Arab demographics. Gay marriage can be performed in the country and is considered normal, while Sabbath laws in most cities are no stricter than Sunday trading laws in England. Getting out to the desert, we see harder living and more religiously strict communities which look down on the current Israel. They often colonise the border regions of neighbouring Arab regions despite the risk of paramilitary attacks from Islamists and Arab revivalists. The Frank Prime Ministership was instrumental in calming the country down from its near permanent war-footing from birth, much to the anger of the Far-Right. Frank was succeeded in 1988 by the Herut leader, Elie Wiesel, who was succeeded in 1995 by Yitzhak Rabin, ensuring a healthy back and forth between the left and right that has kept Israel a strongly democratic enterprise. Tourism is, well, at near Biblical levels for its sheer breadth and size. Israel is far more beloved than OTL due to the lack of occupations and general exile of nationalistic leaders. No Middle Eastern leader dares challenge Israel, or even denies recognition since to deny that ITTL is to invite sure destruction for being considered friendly to the Pan-Arabists and Islamists. Living standards are OTL Sweden levels.
The Druze Republic: The Switzerland of the Middle East, the Druze Republic is a quiet, sleepy backwater with a solid economy and good relations with Israel in particular. It respectfully conducts itself in world affairs and keeps out of any and all fracases. Immigration is near impossible to non-Druze and the country is rigidly run on the ground of the Druze identity, but any and all tourists are welcome, much like OTL Japan. Living standards are OTL Israel.
The Alawite Republic: After Israel withdrew their occupation substantially in the 1960s and entirely in the 1970s, the state has slowly crawled back on its feet as one of the few truly democratic Arab states. Damascus has been mostly rebuilt as well, though with only a fraction of its past glory. Living standards OTL Jordan.
Kurdistan: The traditionally Socialist country has been forced to make more enterprise-friendly laws in the modern world, with many of the old communes having shut down. However, it still remains a very secular state by Middle Eastern standards, albeit quite a militaristic one for fear of their being surrounded by the CIS. Quite tolerant to their Arab minority. Living standards OTL Jordan.
Assyria: Assyria is still occupied by the UN, as their politicians thumb their nose at both the Kurds and Turks. True neutrals in the most defiant sense of the word. Living standards OTL Jordan.
Turkey: An authoritarian ‘democracy’ much like OTL, with the ruling Party being more nationalistic than Islamic. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is far more restricted owing to Turkey’s stronger power base. They have spread their tendrils across the Caucasus and are currently extending influence into Central Asia with Chinese permission in order to win over the Muslim populations of the world. They partner with Iran to exert influence over Sunni and Shia respectively, with Turkish troops still administering the Islamic sites of Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina. Turks are very boisterous about their country’s strength and are consequently considered one of the worse tourist groups. They are also the most hated group among Arabs in the Middle East (outdoing both Jews and Italians) according to Gallup polls. There is now much debate as to whether Turkey is the new number two power in the CIS behind China, debating whether Italy or Iran deserves the spot more so. Armenia is currently embargoed by her Caucasian neighbours due to Turkish pressure while Armenia has struck up relationships with Israel and Kurdistan to keep the lights on. Nevertheless, TTL’s Turkey is nothing to be taken lightly. They are regularly condemned in. the UN for their actions in Syria, but they have veto power (with occasional support from Italy and China), thus meaning the UN is powerless to do anything. Living standards OTL Greece.
Syria: By far the worst country to live in within the Middle East. Israel may be laxer on her restrictions but Turkey sure isn’t, enforcing the conditions of the 1956 peace with full gusto. Industry is non-existent, living standards are effectively as they were back in the 1950s and periodic rebellion constantly draws Turkish soldiers back in. A musical chairs routine has been established where the Turks leave, an Islamist or Pan-Arab group gets strong and launches a missile or two at Israel or Turkey, which allows Turkey to launch a mass carpet bombing and reoccupation that keeps the country thoroughly in the dirt. Sort of like Israel and Gaza OTL but where the hypothetical Israel actively, malevolently enjoys coming back in again just to show who’s boss and test out their tech (as TTL’s Turkey does). Kurdistan and Israel plead for better treatment of the local population but ultimately the extremism of the locals does them no favors. I hope you don’t have dreams in this country, because none will find you. Living standards OTL Gaza.
Iran: One of the premier members of the CIS and perhaps the single largest determiner of oil prices on Earth if you take into account their Iraqi and Arabian puppets. While mostly democratic, it maintains its undemocratic control of her neighbours without blushing. The Pahlavi family have little day to day power in Iran but are grateful to have been spared the fate most Sunni Monarchs have. Iran is in the top ten nations of the world by GDP and has substantial immigration issues from its neighbours. With Persians on the brink of becoming an ethnic minority, a more reactionary form of politics is coming into vogue, with the Pahlavis now using the unrest to argue they need more power to defend the interest of ethnic Iranians. Living standards OTL Italy.
Iraq/Kingdom of Arabia: While there’s much anger at Iran for controlling their oil production, many of their residents recognise that they could easily be influenced by more unsympathetic Sunni and Jewish rulers if they go independent. The Iranians have done a good job portraying themselves as defenders of the Shia in a majority Sunni Middle East. Power is slowly being clawed back by democratic means but there’s still a long way for both countries to go. Living standards OTL Lebanon.
Kingdom of Hejaz: Without oil wealth, but still getting money from the annual Pilgrimage to Mecca. The horrendous destruction of historical Islamic sites never happened as the Wahabi are nowhere near power and can’t be attacking ‘idolatry’. No crazy hotels or anything like that – much more austere and traditional, which a lot of tourists are looking for. Initial tourists to the region were pelted with eggs and stones, but ruthless crackdowns by King Hussein have finally resulted in a region where a substantial tourist base exists. The Hashemites are resentful to Westerners demanding more democratic control, as they feel they are being asked to end all their accomplishments and throw them down the drain. The Hashemites have made what is OTL Saudi Arabia more liberal, but they did it at a severe cost they don’t want to repeat. Living standards OTL Egypt.
Kingdom of Saba: A pious, Islamic population (with the strictest Islamic laws in the Middle East – albeit nowhere near as bad as Saudi Arabia) and playboys for rulers. The arrangement is well known but generally tolerated by all parties. The Kings of Saba successfully use this to their advantage to argue against more democratic rule. Saba boomed due to their support of Italian shipping during the Ethiopian war though it has since been quieter. It remains one of the more traditional Arab countries in the Middle East (don’t use the ‘A-word’ when you’re there, though – they’re Sabans, as they will quickly remind you). Living standards OTL Jordan.
The Arab Federation: The only country who openly states they are proud to be ‘Arab’. Effectively an oil oligarchy, the Federation still remains beloved by her people for being a truly independent Arab state not beholden to a religious minority (like the Alawites). Travel between their regions is quite awkward and so de facto most of the regions govern themselves. The Queen of England is the de jure head of state, but this means little on the ground. They are enthusiastic supporters of the Commonwealth to ensure they don’t get invaded. They are still Islamic but pretty relaxed about it compared to OTL, especially since they want to be considered worth saving to the British. Living standards OTL Bahrain.
North/South Egypt: North Egypt is a happy, conservative Coptic state … and dear God do they want to keep it that way. The Coptic faith is thoroughly enshrined into every facet of government – one must make an oath of allegiance to the Coptic Pope as both their spiritual and national leader. The Muslim minority has been thoroughly cast out of any semblance of power and has mostly gone southward. North Egypt is the transportation hub between Israel and Libya, thus making it crucial in the regional economy. Cairo is overwhelmingly Muslim at this point with minor Christian holdouts, the city still seething with sectarianism. South Egypt has had a far more troubled existence between constant civil insurrection and integration to the global economy, but its slowly getting on its feet. The Arafat Years were great for the normalisation of relations between South Egypt and the North, with tourism now pretty effortless. Living standards are OTL Greece for North Egypt and OTL Egypt for South Egypt.
Libya: Thoroughly Italianised, even if you can find some traditional tribes in the desert. The Haredi also make up a growing presence in the country which is starting to tick people off. Libyans are renowned for ‘Living like Northerners and acting like Southerners’ with respect to their high living standards and overt masculinity. ‘Pheocenians’ are as Italian as the Italians, with the Muslim population as areligious as OTL Albania. However, as oil is more and more being phased out, serious long-term questions about Libya’s economy are being asked. Tourism is still good, either for relaxation or culture. Mussolini Sea brings in the crowds for its being the only human-made Sea on Earth. Living standards OTL Germany.
Tunisia: Poor Tunisia, constantly torn between the French and Italians. They get a lot of money from both sides, but the internal situation is still very messy. The Berberisation campaign was always going to be a lot harder than Algeria or Morocco, and the emigration of the French, Italians and Jews over the latter-half of the 20th Century didn’t help matters. The country finds itself a weak kingdom staffed by people who know the economy is finished without French or Italian help, but a populace who hates them so much that they don’t mind. Around 30% of the population could be considered ‘Beber-ised’, with near political-monopoly. Fear of Arab revival is more than enough to allow Western opinion the benefit of the doubt to France and Italy. Living standards OTL Turkey.
The Berber Republic: Owing to its ruthless determination in enforcing the Berber culture and language, the Berber Republic has succeeded in Berberising some 75% of the population, but at the cost of a thirty-year Civil War and many thousand dead. It was so brutal in fact, that many Arabs moved to French Algeria to escape the Berber atrocities, kickstarting an Anti-Arab backlash there as well. Its oil and gas economy is enough to make sure the French will keep supporting it, but everyone is starting to notice the presence of more and more Vietnamese firms as well. Living standards OTL Turkey.
Morocco: The Coup in the 1970s brought an end to the harsher practices of Berberisation, but it had already left a mark, with a similar level of 75% Berberisation having been achieved. The new Republic has been lucky enough to have a relatively smooth transition to democracy, being quite condemnatory of the CIS though running far away from any attempts to reaffirm Arab culture. Spain resolutely refuses to return any more territory to Morocco, which irks Marrakesh (the capital) though they know there is nothing they can do. Living standards OTL Turkey.
Africa:
Sudan: The domination of the Black, Christian South in Sudan finally grew too wearisome for their Arab, Muslim North. In 2003, a referendum was held among the North of the country on whether it wanted independence, which was successfully voted in. There is now consequently a North Sudan and a ‘Sudan’ (occasionally referred to as South Sudan) on the OTL borders. There is some discussion about North Sudan joining South Egypt but this is a long way away yet. Sudan, by contrast, benefits from strong relationships in Africa, including and especially with the East African Federation. North Sudan living standards are OTL Egypt and Sudan is OTL Tanzania.
The West African Federation: Ground zero in the new economic war within the Francophonie, with East Asian businesses from Vietnam and Cambodia slowly muscling out the French from the region to the extent many French have sardonically called the Francophonie the ‘Vietnamophonie’. All the same, the increase of these businesses has proven quite helpful to such a formerly poor region of the world. The country is primarily Islamic and maintains a moderate Islamic form of government similar in laws to Jordan. Living standards OTL Algeria.
Biafra/Nigeria: The oil centre of Africa and constant OPEP member, Biafra is quite developed for the region and has become one of China’s main trading partners in Africa. The country has maintained a strong sense of independent identity by contrasting itself against the coup and unrest-ridden Nigeria up north – so destructive that Nigeria dropped out of the Commonwealth. In 2012, Nigeria threatened to invade neighbouring Benin due to border disputes, before the Biafran military launched a pre-emptive strike on Nigerian forces assembled on the Benin border, obliterating almost the entire effective military strength of the Nigerian military. This ended the Benin Standoff, but the subsequent weakening of Nigeria led to a situation resembling OTL Nigeria, except about half the country is constantly run by Islamists. While these would traditionally have been defeated with British help, Nigeria has burned too many bridges and faces serious long-term issues which their Southern Neighbour is indifferent to. Living standards for Biafra are OTL Portugal, for Nigeria OTL North Nigeria.
Ethiopia: Ethiopia has more unexploded land mines per capita than any country on Earth, with an economy still recovering from the abominable cost of their independence war. At least they’ve finally been able to rebuild Addis Ababa, but their hatred of Italy (and Eritrean/Somalians) is still at an absolute fever-pitch. They have no official trading links with Italy (though the connected and the black market still have their ways) and Ethiopia is notorious for putting their hatred of Italy above long-term planning, notably saying silent when terrorist attacks or natural disasters occur in Italy and everyone else in the world expresses sympathy. The Afro-Fascists have been co-opted into being fervent supporters of the Selassie Dynasty, which continues to rule Ethiopia with an iron but popular fist. There are Indian military bases in the region to ensure Italy never gets ideas again. Every Ethiopian is rigidly trained for war almost from birth with aid earmarked for food often sold off for guns. Living standards OTL Angola.
Italian East Africa: The region can be divided into three parts – the Eritrean, the annexed Ethiopian, and the Somalian. The first is quite developed, albeit quiet, with decent relations between settlers and natives, united in their common disgust against Ethiopia, with Settler-descendent people making up roughly 60% of the region. The annexed Ethiopian region are nearly 100% White, often populated by those who settled the region before the pull-out started by the Ethiopian War. They are notoriously bigoted against almost everyone and have developed an extremely negative reputation amongst their internal neighbours as a result. It’s not unheard of for Somali travellers to be told to leave town when they are travelling through the region, even if they want to stay at a hotel for the night. Perhaps partly as a result for this, some 66% of ethnic Somali want to join British Somaliland, though they are outweighed by the near 100% of settlers to Italian Somaliland who want to stay in Italy, who make up roughly 33% of the region. Somali independence got a strong boost in the arm after their land was so casually given to Ethiopia in the peace treaty without their consolation. The existence of British Somaliland also makes arguments about the necessity of the union much harder. The Italians are desperate to keep Somalia for its oil and that it is where their space program is located. It is one of the great questions as to whether Somalia will go independent in a few years – no one is quite sure if it’ll happen. Overall living standards OTL Poland.
Djibouti: The Hong Kong of Africa, France relaxed import and trade rules in the 1950s, just in time for the mass traffic of settlement and the Ethiopian War to move in. Djibouti soon became the port of choice for anyone moving in and out of the Red Sea, which quickly became an international salad bowl of sailors. Among the West, it quickly developed a mystical reputation as something lively yet mystical, magical yet seedy. The gambling parlours certainly kept the money coming in, with Djibouti in the 1980s soon attracting scores of illegal immigrants from Ethiopia and elsewhere to staff the bottom-tier jobs. It is described as one of the Economic Lions of Africa, and for good reason. Its port is a world-beater and the sailors are guaranteed to spend serious money. Overall living standard OTL Macau.
Somaliland: Independent Somaliland is only remarkable in how quiet it is. It maintains the Common Law, Commonwealth membership, has British military bases where most of the forces know it’s a holiday and not a dangerous assignment and keeps her democratic institutions intact. An almost forgotten country only really brought up due to talk of Italian Somaliland going independent. Living standards are OTL Botswana.
Katanga: Considered the premier African country, Katanga has grown into the jewel of the continent, with Tshombe University in Elisabethville teaching the leaders of 21st Century Africa and leading the continent in technology and banking. Katanga is a fairly lasses-faire sort of society (though obvious not at An-Cap, Recreational Nukes level). Gay marriage is legal (one of the very few countries in Africa with this distinction) and social mores are broadly similar to Europe. Whites (who make up about 7% of the population) still generally live among themselves but the idea of a pogrom against them would inspire laughter from both Whites and Blacks as to how absurd the idea would be. The mining companies started to fold in the 1980s and 1990s, but by then the country, under the inspired leadership of Tshombe, had already diversified into the tech sector and banking. Katanga leads Africa in IT and it isn’t even close. Tshombe resigned as PM in 1985 and died of a heart attack in 1993, leaving a legacy of having created the most successful Black-run state in all of Africa, though his cooperation with Europeans ensured he would be hated by other African nations. Katanga has massive problems with illegal immigration from neighbouring African states which it is trying to fix, while slowly improving their relations with the leaders of those countries as colonialism only becomes a legend. Living standards OTL Belgium.
The East African Federation: A regional powerhouse, and dread of the Roman Alliance in its heyday, the EAF has struggled to identify itself as Fascism receded into memory. It has been the main leader on the continent in terms of rallying support for maintaining restrictions on South Africa, but that is hardly enough to distract from the internal situation. The EAF has certainly developed, but substantially less than neighbouring Katanga, and quiet pangs of jealousy are felt as a result. It is increasingly questioned why their living standards are so behind the hated country even though they have more material resources. It has played an increasingly important role in ITO as an African player, rallying the continent against China and the CIS. Living standards OTL Serbia.
Portuguese Africa: Continuing tensions with Portugal reached their zenith in 1995 when Portuguese Angola and Mozambique were able to muster enough votes in conjunction with the few remaining conservatives in Portugal proper to constitutionally define life as beginning from conception, consequently outlawing abortion even in the case of rape and incest while even making the case of saving the mother’s life a tricky one. Mainland Portugal was quite outraged by the law, especially after the liberalisation of the late 1970s, leading to a renewed push for a referendum on mainland Portugal’s independence, which was narrowly voted for in 1997. Portuguese Africa (including the Azores and East Timor) were consequently renamed ‘The Holy Lusitanian Kingdom’ owing to their being a highly Catholic state, a monarchy and retaining the traditional Roman name for Portugal to give both a traditional flavour alongside an acknowledgement that Portugal itself was no longer part of their domain. In 2000, the HLK resubmitted its membership to the CIS and returned to the fold, with all its Angolan oil wealth intact. The HLK has the world’s highest fertility rate at 6.2, and that in spite of being materially better off than most of Africa. Most of its oil wealth is spent desperately trying to build enough accommodation and educational facilities for the new children. A woman having less than three children is almost unheard of and would get a knock on the door from the local priest asking if something was wrong in the marriage. The Church dominates the country in ways unthinkable to modern Europeans, with the local Priest having the ability to walk into a local store, say he doesn’t like something and then have not just that store but every store on the street changing things around. The scandals regarding the abuse and rape of young boys did not occur in the HLK, which is proof, so they say, of the morality of their state (and not the obvious fact that the church is still so powerful that these crimes are still being covered up). A highly traditional society, the King has as much power as he did during the early 1970s, with a bevy of feudal lords (often Brazilians) to watch over the land. The state is as close to a modern medieval society as you are likely to see, but unlike the ISA, it has modern technology, good relations with neighbours outside their religion and the death penalty is only used sparingly (though it does exist for most murders and some rape). The churches are packed to the rafters every Sunday and you had better not have shopping to do that day. The only time everyone really lets their hair down is the Luanda Carnival, though Easter and Christmas also attract pilgrims around the world owing to the extent of services practiced. The HLK is also the only country in the world where Latin (alongside Portuguese) is an official language (not even Vatican City has that honour) with a Latin-language news service. Owing to high birth-rates among the White population, the HLK is about 66% White (75% among children). Free Angola and Mozambique still have their independence bar having Duarte III – yes, he’s still around – be the head of state. There was some discussion about dumping that deal when Portugal went independent, but Portugal’s avowed break from traditionalism and low economic importance compared to the HLK kept off a breakaway. Living standards of the HLK are OTL Poland. Living standards of Mozambique and Angola are OTL Botswana.
Rhodesia-Zimbabwe: ‘Rhodesia’ to Whites, ‘Zimbabwe’ to Blacks and ‘Rhobabwe’ to the tourists. The Remembrance Day Treaty has stood the test of time (although bitter racial divisions resurfaced while the Homeland War was going on in their southern neighbour that threatened to tip over the cart). The Native Bloc has long since fragmented among the various tribes while the Settlers have kept a mostly united opinion behind the Rhodesian Front. Rhobabwe is a curious place to see, where Whites and Blacks walk around the cities by day and decamp to their monoethnic communities at night. Those who try and disturb the peace, such as KKK revivalists or South-Africa supporters, are ruthlessly hunted down by the security services and thrown into prison before they disturb the fragile peace. The Protestant churches play a strong role (with state support) in attempting to close the racial gap with overtures about Christian brotherhood, but this hasn’t seemed to work. Conscription has done much to help, on the other hand, with those coming of age in the 90s being significantly less bigoted than their forebearers due to being effectively forced to work alongside the other community. The only major political group that doesn’t have monolithic race support are the Tolstoyists, who are now the third largest party in the Rhobabwe Parliament. That said, Rhobabwe’s agricultural achievements have done more than almost any one state on the continent to help alleviate extreme poverty, with the very concept now mostly forgotten outside of a handful of African states (mostly the creations of the Treurnicht Regime). There is hope around the world, as protests have been launched recently in Rhobabwe related to poor maintenance of natural wonders like Victoria Falls, which has had cross-community cooperation that many are hopeful signifies an end to the old model of racial divisions in politics. Living standards OTL Italy.
South Africa: In 1985, President Botha announced that he planned to phase out Apartheid before the Millennium. He based this on the idea that South Africa would be majority White by then and that White Rule could therefore continue. But this was met with outrage by hardlienrs in the National Party, who feared this invited inevitable destruction due to the higher birthrate among Blacks. As a consequence, the arch-hardliner in Andries Treurnicht convinced Chief of the SADF, Magnus Malan, to stage a coup against Botha. That October, Botha was put under house arrest (where he would spend the rest of his life) with Treurnicht becoming the new President. Treurnicht swore eternal opposition to ending White Rule, telling his cabinet, “We have as much right to rule over the Keffers as they had to rule over the bugs and snakes”. In 1986, Treurnicht announced that South Africa had completed its ICBM program and was now capable of sending nuclear weapons (of which it was estimated South Africa had nearly 100) anywhere from Washington to Tokyo. ITO was simultaneously horrified and revolted, announcing a complete trade and travel ban on the region which even China was now uncomfortable with, but the worst was yet to come. Daily violence had been quite extreme all throughout the mid-1980s in response to Treurnicht’s ascension, which Malan cracked down on with unprecedented ruthlessness, regularly employing jets and helicopters to machine gun crowds of Black protestors, violent or not. Then in 1987, the massacre of dozens of children in the Langa township in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre led to the critical mass of outrage being reached among the Black population, who were by now murderously incensed by the atrocities committed by the Apartheid government. However, Treurnicht had secretly been waiting for just such a thing to happen.
Claiming that the uprising in the Eastern Cape proved that it was impossible for the races to be reconciled, the South African army was put on full alert and ordered to ‘Bring a humane conclusion to the race problem in South Africa’. Blacks and Coloureds across the country (Asians had long since been deported and repatriated) were consequently marched out of their homes in resettlement programs, all while resistance groups fought it out with the government, who responded with all the fury they could unleash, often involving chemical weapons. Treurnicht warned the West that any intervention would result in a global nuclear strike. Thus, the West could only watch in horror as Treurnicht began his murderous resettlement campaign that would become known as the Homeland War (or Bantustan War). Even the CIS was disgusted, voting late in 1987 to expel South Africa from the organisation, with the most moving condemnation coming from none other than Ian Smith, who pleaded with Treurnicht to end the carnage both privately and publicly, but Treurnicht wouldn’t listen. Ultimately, as Whites made up some 45% of the population (with Blacks making up an equal amount and Coloureds making up the remainder), and the White population was fully conscripted to deal with the outbreak (as they full well knew genocide awaited them if the Central government fell, regardless of their feelings against Treurnicht), the war could only go in one direction. After White communities fell back on redoubts, the overwhelming material superiority (not to mention exclusive command over the air and chemical weapons) ensured that the resistors had little chance. The MK (who ironically hated the Coloureds almost as much as Whites by this point) may have wanted to be as ruthless as the Apartheid government, but they had little chance to reach that point. The Apartheid government even left Coloured communities to be overrun by MK militias and subsequently massacred to scare other Coloured communities into peacefully surrendering to the SADF and accepting being placed in concentration camps. The South African army ‘helpfully’ reminded their troops that as the MK were not a national army, they could do whatever they wanted to prisoners as they were not protected by the Geneva convention. Surrendering MK soldiers were consequently typically shot whenever they showed themselves, while it was not uncommon for military age males as a whole to be massacred in villages before the remaining women, children and old were forcibly put on trucks to concentration camps before they were subsequently relocated. By the end of 1988, the Homeland War was declared over with some 100,000 dead, of which roughly 75% were Black, 10% Coloured, and the remainder White. As further incitement, Coloured and Black populations were often mixed in local concentration camps, leading to conflicts and riots between the two groups before finally being stopped by White guards before things got too out of hand.
Over the course of 1988 and 1989, the final arrangements were made to ensure South Africa would remain a permanently White nation. First, a full list of the Bansutans in both South and South-West Africa was made. The Xhosa people (including Nelson Mandela) were forcibly relocated to the Transkei region, with the Ciksei Bantustan being abolished altogether, and Transkei given formal ‘independence’ (although entirely at the mercy of Treurnicht). The KwaKwa region was unilaterally given to Lesotho and the KaNgwane was unilaterally given to Swaziland after any and all Swazi were deported there. The Tswana people were brutally funnelled into only the regions of Bophuthatswana that were along the Botswana border, leading to horrendous overcrowding. To add insult to injury, the Bushmen were likewise forced into the overcrowded region. Lebowa, Venda and Gazankulu were likewise consolidated exclusively into their largest regions, with the members of those communities in smaller regions being forcibly funnelled in at horrific cost. Finally, KwaNdebele was given standalone ‘independence’ in the middle of a brutal South African surrounding. In South-West Africa, Hereoland, Tswanaland, Bushmanland Kavangoland and East Caprivi were unilaterally given to Botswana while Owamboland, Kaokoland and Damaraland were unilaterally given over to Free Angola. Rehoboth and Namaland were likewise both granted ‘independence’ amidst the uncaring sea of South Africa. The Zulu nation was a much more difficult question, but Treurnicht was surprisingly relaxed on this front, offering an interconnected Zulu state to Chief Manggosuthu Buthelezi on the condition that major coastal towns like Durban and Stephen’s Bay be maintained as White outposts. Recognising that he was getting a far more liberal deal than most of his brethren, Chief Buthelezi took the deal, creating a consolidated state keeping most of its territory bar far off outposts in the Natal region. This move, as it turned out, was devised to further divide the tribes of South Africa from uniting, as the Xhosa accused the Zulus of being collaborators with the regime. This is an unfair assessment, but the reputation of the Zulus has suffered in Africa regardless (to the extent that the film ‘Zulu’, detailing the British victory at Rourke’s Drift, has become a favourite in Africa as it shows the Zulus being killed). That only left the Coloureds, with Treurnicht simply stating in April that they would be ‘expelled’ within 90 days. There were roughly four million Coloured People in South Africa, so no one country could take the strain. Countries around Africa scrambled to accept them (and accept the brightest and best of the bunch). Katanga accepted 300,000, Rhodesia-Zimbabwe 50,000, Portuguese Africa 800,000, the EAF 1.5 million, the various French African states at 800,000 and Western countries collectively some 500,000. It was an unprecedented transfer of human beings, at appalling costs on every level. Coloured citizens soon faced discrimination in White majority countries for being seen as Black and Black majority countries for being seen as White. Thankfully, the Coloured population has proven highly conductive to most of the African countries they’ve settled in and few dream of going back to the nightmare South Africa has become.
The country is without doubt or exception the most loathed country on the face of the Earth. Casually bring up that you’re South African in a bar in Europe and the whole establishment goes quiet before kicking you out. South Africa is 100% White according to census reports and has been that way since 1991. The neighbouring countries are forbidden from raising arms in any way against the Ethno-state, with new leaders in the small enclaves reportedly told how powerful South Africa’s nuclear weapons are and how few it would take to wipe their enclave off the face of the Earth if they challenge them. Whether true or not, leaders in the Zulu Kingdom or Transkei never publicly breathe a word against South Africa for fear of retaliation. But Treurnicht’s obsession did not stop with just creating a 100% White state. He feared that the influx of so many recent European migrants had diluted the culture of the Afrikaner people. To that end, he began a harsh campaign of ‘Afrikanisation’. This consisted of making Afrikaner the only official language, removing English from as many points of life as possible and making Calvinism the state religion. White immigration was brought to a standstill with the exception of the Dutch, Germans and a handful of other ethnicities. South Africa itself is essentially where it has been since the 1990s in terms of economics – it is economically shattered with very little outside trade. Treurnicht intimidated (sometimes outright executing) industrialists who complained that ridding South Africa of its Black workforce was economic madness. As a result, White middle-managers were now often forced to do the hard, dangerous work in the mines instead. Upon Treurnicht’s death in 1993, Magnus Malan became leader of the National Party and began the process of reintroducing democracy to the country, ironically now more democratic than it was in the 1950s, if only because those who had been denied a vote for being Black were now denied it for being deported. Political control oscillates between the National Party (who are seen as being Pro-Afrikaner) and the United Party (who are primarily supported by the ethnic British and other White immigrant groups). Smaller parties lobby to readmit expelled Blacks and Coloureds to the country, but they are scoffed at and without power, despite supporting the only remedy for South Africa’s abysmal economic embargo. OTL’s South Africa’s notorious levels of crime aren’t replicated here, but mainly because there’s nothing worth stealing from anyone. There is no such thing as a rich person in South Africa anymore, outside of criminals running diamond trades with the outside world, with the government typically getting their cut. Thus South Africa is happy in its new ethno-state status, and it only cost their economy, human decency and reputation of their children’s children who will be tarred by their grandfathers’ actions. South Africa has the living standards of OTL Ukraine. The surrounding Black homelands have living standards equivalent to OTL Congo – even to get to that point was an astonishing achievement given the horrendous overcrowding that plagued their early days.
Asia/Oceania:
Afghanistan: Still ruled by the Shah Dynasty, this once quiet, rural country has started to teem with life in being wedged between Iran and India. Kabul is a place of fun and frolic for businessmen going back and forth between the two giants and has become a bit of a quiet getaway. The girls wear skirts that are chic, unique and quite adorable while the countryside says it’s Sodom and Gomorrah-ble. Despite the differences between CIS Iran and ITO India, both are absolutely determined to keep the Shah Dynasty going to stop the Islamists getting any grip on power. Under their religiously tolerant rule, Afghanistan is simply another place on Earth few people could point out on a map. Living standards OTL Jordan.
India: Earth’s second largest economy, it maintains a unique relationship with both the Commonwealth and the United States, in that it has the most exemptions out of any nation in the former, allowing favourable trade deals with the latter. Cowboys and Indians is the term everyone uses, with the Amero-Indian alliance being set up to counteract China and the CIS. India is about thirty years ahead of OTL, with extreme poverty stamped out, Bollywood now as serious a Box Office phenomenon as Hollywood and a military second only to the United States in terms of veritable strength. Its absorption of Pakistan has still caused significant societal friction, with the outposts still lagging miles behind in development compared to the more Hindu interior. Terrorism is a minor annoyance and ruthlessly stamped out. The Hindutva is still a serious political ideal and not to be mocked. Living standards OTL Poland.
Central Asia: The great game has restarted, but it’s not between Britain and Russia anymore, it’s between China, Iran, Turkey, and India. Afghanistan’s strict monarchy has led to the country slowly depending more on the CIS over time, while the more democratic Nepal and Tibet have fallen in the Indian orbit. East Turkestan joined the CIS in 1987 for of being absorbed by China, feeling that China couldn’t attack a nominal ally. Tuva would join one year later on similar grounds. This angered ITO, but there was nothing in writing forbidding a country from joining the CIS if they really wanted to. This began a dash to sign the post-Soviet states up under the questionable logic that the verbal agreements not to expand their Bloc only were valid as long as the Stalingrad Pact existed. The Central Asian Stans (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkemistan, Tararstan and Bashkortostan, Dagesgtan, Chechnya and Azerbajan) were all in the CIS by 1991. Now another game of influence is being played within the CIS, as Turkey, Iran and China all consistently lobby these countries for votes on key matters within the organisation to support their own ends, which are often at odds. Afghanistan plays nominal neutrality though everyone knows they sympathise more so with the CIS than ITO. Living standards are OTL Romania.
Indo-China: A shining jewel in a region full of them, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have shone in the Francophonie to dazzling heights, hitting their full stride in the 1980s, the Vietnamese especially. Their electronics industry is one of the best on Earth, and their constitutional monarchical governments have proven exceptionally strong over time. They are also regional leaders in sounding the alarm bell against China, maintain their relations with France more so to keep them safe against the northern menace (even as they continue to outmuscle French companies all-throughout the Francophonie). Vietnam is also the tenth largest economy on the planet, just behind Iran, and thus it has serious say in almost everything to do with world economics. Living standards OTL Japan for Vietnam, South Korea for Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.
China: Numero-uno in terms of the GDP on Earth, having overtaken the US around the turn of the millennium, with India recently knocking America to third. They are a fairly authoritarian democracy much like OTL Hungary, and they have used that to contrast themselves with the West. The modern divide between ITO and the CIS is far more of a difference in opinion as to what democracy should be, rather than a question of being a democracy. China argues that the Western democratic model cannot be applied to all states and that some countries need a more restrained democracy (though still a democracy), particularly in the Middle East, which the West just sees as an excuse for violation of human rights. China has spread its influence far and wide across the global economy and culture, particularly in West Asia and the Middle East, where it has almost as much say on oil production as any actual member of OPEP. China is a lot more traditional than OTL, with the old haircut seen at the turn of the 20th century stil around, but Western culture has totally permeated it. Gay marriage was recently approved (even ahead of India) and you can protest the government whenever you want, though the ruling KMT know how to put their thumb on the scales when its needed. Hong Kong and Macau were handed over without their having their own separate arrangements as there was considered no risk to the locals. Living standards OTL South Korea.
Korea: A strange state, very introverted and distant. It is resolutely nationalistic and tries to minimise the competing influences of both China and Japan. To much of the world’s disgust, Kim Il-Sung is still held in admiration as a man who stood up to both China and Japan. As a result, the region has economically suffered, not to mention been racked with scandals related to Samsung’s control of the political system. The lag on development caused by Communism has been quite devastating and it hasn’t been resolved, unlike North China for the most part. K-POP is a hyper-specific cultural phenomenon with as much cultural resonance as Philippine Pop OTL. Ultimately, no one really cares about Korea on an international scale. Living standards OTL Poland.
Japan: It’s OTL Japan, but it can kick your ass. It has all the same pop-culture pull, all the same economic development (in fact even higher than OTL due to the rising tide of Asia as a whole) but has a badass army to match. Naval restrictions were lifted by the Americans following the reconquest of Hokkaido, meaning Japan has man-for-man the finest army in Asia, though India and China affirm that quantity is its own quality, as Stalin once said. Western Anime-fans moan yearly about the amount of ‘Gun-Anime’ (Military Anime) every season, as society as a whole is much more nationalistic. Denials of atrocities in Korea are on the same level ITTL as Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. The more traditionalist outlook has ironically helped the birth-rate some amount, so that isn’t as bad. The great economic crash of the early 1990s never happened either, thus giving the country a continued shot in the arm. Japan’s living standards are OTL … Japan, I guess.
The Philippines: Doing quite well for itself as a halfway house for American presence in Asia, it never fell into dictatorship since it was too entangled in the ITO framework (which mandated that you had to be a democracy). This stopped the worse economic fallout and ensured the state was for the most part able to stand on its own two feet soon enough. The minor Islamist threat subsided after the 1960s and the global boom of the 1970s and 80s brought the country into the developed world. Living standards OTL China.
Indonesia: This unfortunate country had to deal with the devastating effects of continued, cross island Civil War against countless enemies from Islamists to Communists, all the while being taken advantage of by both ITO and Roman Alliance. It maintained neutrality in the intervening years, but the lack of economic development (which was going to far more stable states in the region) ensured that something had to be done. In 2009, the country formally joined the CIS, much to the chagrin of almost everyone in the region. This has been of help to their economy for sure, but it has also given them many enemies in the region who fear they’ve let China get the slip on them. Living standards OTL Indonesia.
Europe:
The United Kingdom: In 1985, Prime Minister Thatcher, in conjunction with the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, announced Britain’s long-awaited response to the EEC, which became the Imperial Federation. This meant that there would be a single market, free movement of labour and some level of common government (which has since expanded over time). This meant that Britain, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Belize, Guyana, the Falklands, Singapore and a host of other island chains around the world now had full access to the markets of those three great expanses. The Commonwealth was maintained as a supporting organisation but was simply a trading and cultural group, as opposed to the near union that was promised in the Imperial Federation. Labour despised the deal and called it an assault on democracy by having a Parliament higher than Parliament, while Thatcher argued for it in economic terms. Thatcher would ultimately triumph and the Tories have been seen as the defenders of the Imperial Federation ever since. They would also keep referring to the UK as the ‘Kingdom on which the Sun never sets’, which is literally true and is used to invoke their mighty, imperial past. The UK jostles with Italy about who is the stronger, with Britain increasingly relying on the IF to project power. The close culture, shared history and shared language have caused the IF to be loved in a way OTL’s EU never was. The EEC, dominated by the French in the 1950s and the Germans from the 1970s onwards, did not want a powerful nation like Britain upsetting the power-balance, which is what led to Britain going down the path it did. Ireland has a supporting deal with the IF to keep open borders in return for joining the Commonwealth (an arrangement that temporarily made Sinn Fein the second largest party in the South). Living standards are about OTL.
Portugal: If Cuba is Pleasure Island, the Republic of Portugal is a part of OTL’s Netherlands and then some. Portugal imitated France’s harsh separation of religion and state and went beyond. Church funding can only be done by money from inside Portugal, marriages in a church have no legal meaning and no government employee can wear any visible religious symbols. The Church went from monolithic to non-existent in daily affairs, the complete opposite direction to the Lusitanian Kingdom (where most of the religious have immigrated to). Drugs are all legal, brothels are commonplace, abortion is as easy as in California. Portugal legalised gay marriage in 2000 and has been one of the most socially liberal countries on Earth since. It is a stalwart ITO member and outright proud of its poor relations with the Lusitanians, whom they consider lunatics. Living standards about OTL.
Spain: Very similar to OTL, with the added change of swapping to ITO. Despite some sympathy by King Carlos to further territorial changes in favour of Morocco, he knew any more than what he already gave was suicide and prized the maintenance of Spain’s fragile democracy. The subsequent left-wing government abolished Spain’s nuclear arsenal in the early 1980s, only the second country on Earth to do so outside of Russia (and to this date the last). This change infuriated the Right and has since meant that the Right has constantly teased about joining the CIS while in reality only using as a way to get better terms at the negotiating table. The fear among Western leaders is what happens when a Right-Wing leader in Spain finally decides to join the CIS for real. Living standards OTL Spain.
France: Relatively gloomy compared to most countries in their position, France left the EEC (by then EU) in 1992 due to the increasing dominance that Germany displayed in the Bloc. A referendum had been called in 1992 for a new European constitution which would have drastically increased the power of the Commission. Jean-Marie Le Pen led the ‘Non’ Campaign, arguing that Germany had taken over the Bloc and would use it to dominate the continent. To much shock, Le Pen’s campaign was victorious, leading to France refusing to join the new European Union, forcing them to focus much of their time on the Francophonie. But here too was trouble, as the Vietnamese were increasingly becoming the real power-brokers of the Francophonie, until the Vietnamese were de facto running the bloc in Paris’s stead. There is now a serious discussion in the Front National to even leave the Francophonie, and to join the CIS. Though that option remains broadly unpopular with the French public, ironic fears about becoming a plaything of a far-off Capitalist interests are increasing by the day. Living standards about OTL.
Germany: The largest economic power on the European continent and de facto leader of the EU, which includes Iberia (France awkwardly making a deal to ease transit between Iberia and the rest of Europe), Scandanavia and almost everyone in Eastern Europe. Germany is quite resentful at the French and Italians for denying their reunion for so long and is far more assertive in personality than OTL. Sights like a German Chancellor being uncomfortable at waving their flag would be unheard of. WW2 education distances the Nazis from Germans and effectively argues that the Nazis never had broad support, most Germans deplored them and that the Valkyrie plotters were overwhelmingly supported by the populace. The Clean Wehrmacht Myth is national legend. Their army is not huge but it’s nothing to be sneezed at. They are something of ITO’s right hand man in Europe, with the power to bulldoze the rest of the EU into their way of seeing things. Living standards are about OTL.
East Europe: Here, the economic pull of China was nowhere near as intense, but the British, American and Germans were. Poland, Moldova, the Baltic states, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia all joined ITO and have much stronger democratic institutions than OTL on all sides. As a result, economic power is a lot stronger too. There is relatively little fear of Russia TTL, but there is fear of the economic influence of China and their ‘agents’ in Europe, specifically Italy and Turkey. Living standards are French levels for Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Baltics and Finland (as well as Romania and Hungary). The Romanians and Hungarians continue to maintain their independence from any alliance Bloc. Living standards for Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus are about OTL Poland.
Russia: The gentle giant of the world has sworn off all international allegiances and has become something of a Switzerland spanning continents. The Orthodox Church had some trouble adjusting to the new Pro-Tolstoy outlook, considering they had called him a heretic, but were more than fine to go along with it, even granting him Sainthood in 1983, along with Malenkov in 1999 (defending his prior atrocities under the excuse of Saul’s trip to Damascus). The country is overwhelmingly agricultural and has sworn off conflict, with most social issues, such as alcoholism, being significantly reduced by the end of the 1980s. The cities are significantly smaller than they were in 1960s, as urbanism in general smacks of the old Soviet regime. Russians are well fed, but have little serious ambitions in their lives, which revolves mostly around their villages and communities. The ‘Back to Basics’ program of the Tolstoyists has proved quite enduring, and their support of religion has ensured a strong sense of community among the masses. Russia constitutionally forbids itself from pursuing things like space programs or weapons programs while there is any social issue that needs solving (which is typically constantly changing). Russia provides more immigrants than any country on Earth, as ambitious young men flee to more individualistic societies to strike it big (the Rhodesians in particular being desperate to get them for electoral reasons). They hunker down, even as ITO and the CIS play their economic chicaneries around them. They are quite strict in their implementation of religion, being quite akin to OTL’s early 20th Century Russia in those respects, though not as corrupt and hypocritical as the reactionary’s paradise of the Lusitanian Kingdom. Russia is still a democracy, but the Tolstoyists have so thoroughly taken over the Orthodox Church that they would outright demand their flocks to vote for the Tolstoyists on election day. The Old Believers have become a highly important Bloc in this respect. This means that any victory of the other parties is usually an unwieldy coalition that accomplishes little, though increasingly there are communes being developed within Russia with a Fascist tendency, though mainly against the Chinese, which would make this Fascism more akin to Afro-Fascism than anything else. Living standards are a bit difficult to describe. It’s basically an agrarian country where no one starves but no one is really rich. It’s the closest thing to a truly Socialist country on Earth, but the will to sustain it can only be done with intense Christian religiosity, which is rigidly used as indoctrination from birth.
Austria: The victory of the Austrian Freedom Party (in terms of having the most seats in their coalition with the Christian Democrats) at the 1990 election finally woke the Social Democrats up to the real danger of being absorbed into the German Reich. To that end, they reluctantly agreed to have a referendum on allowing themselves to be part a Twin-Crown with King Otto in Hungary. When the coalition collapsed in 1993, the Social and Christian Democrat restarted their own and the referendum was held in 1994, King Otto was finally triumphantly returned to Vienna as head of state, though he had almost no acting authority. The recreation of Austria-Hungary was considered one of the many strange events of a strange 20th century, but one that was at least quite benign. But if the Social Democrats thought this would end the threat to Austrian independence, this would be quite mistaken. The Freedom Party remains committed to re-joining Germany, and their victory in the 2019 election has once again raised the prospect of a second Anschluss. Time will tell if they will be successful. Living standards OTL.
Greece: ITO’s most committed member, Greece contributes 8% of its GDP to the military due to the terror of being the plaything of Italy and Turkey once again. Greece regularly protests the Turkish presence in Crete and demands the return of all the territories it had lost from it, but everyone knows that’s not going to happen. The Greek Monarchy has been able to restore a sense of basic pride in Greek-ness to the masses and has slowly clawed back their lost economic potential while being a slave of the Roman Alliance. Living standards OTL.
Italy: The Fascist regained power in 1992, and after fears Italy would slide back to dictatorship, things thankfully turned out for the best as the Fascists were content to peacefully relent power when they lost the elections in 1999. Italy remains a member of the CIS, though they are well aware that they are the second tier this time around behind China. OPEP is being increasingly reduced to irrelevance due to the push to renewable energy in response to Climate Change concerns, which came after they already lost a lot of power in the 1970s and 80s due to the mass push in America, Britain, Germany and France to go nuclear (their handful of scares being quickly squashed with reminders of the political necessity to break free of Fascist OPEP). Italy is perhaps the most liberal member of the CIS (with fraternal relations with ITO Israel), but German push and Chinese pull stop anyone from making the push to leave the Bloc. Italy’s harsh crackdown on Somali independence groups has also led to concerns among Europe as to whether Berlinguer’s legacy has been undone. But that is the relatively minor nature of the political differences of TTL, between Liberal and Authoritarian Democracy, but at least still democracy.
