The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
- Start date
The US and Commonwealth can't justify an occupation of Japan under these circumstances, and they probably can't force a change of government either. I'd say the Emperor will most likely get his say re: what a new government will look like. The odds of him supporting a democracy are probably low, but I don't think we actually know much about him yet, so it's an open question for now.
I'm gonna go against the grain, and point out how....well, suspiciously often governments ITTL seem to fall due to internal drastic action (be it having the warmongering heads of state cleanly deposed, or outright assassinated or arrested) instead of forcing the opposition to do it the hard way and go all-out (especially here, with a fanatical political/ideological movement having been ingrained into Japanese society).
I'm not really complaining, per se, as I'm also glad to see the war come to an end (and after all, many TL's decide to go down a more dystopic route which is also equally exhausting), it just makes my Suspension of Disbelief itch just a wee little for it to have happened so often, so consistently.
Anyway, great set of updates! I would also point out, in addition to superior numbers, that the Allies by this point likely have a more important advantage over Japan in trained veteran crews/aviators and likely better quality kit since they (unlike Japan) haven't had their factories bombed or the requirement to focus the same assets across multiple fronts. And of course, intelligence and cryptography likely played a vital role for the Americans and UK-Commonwealth forces (just like Midway ended up being).
EDIT: I almost forgot, the Emperor was the one that dropped the hammer on the Kobushis, which indeed would do the trick quite nicely. My point about the trend we've seen, though, I won't retract. Take it for what it's worth, constructive criticism coming from a place of enjoyment of your work.
The war is now over.
How will Japan evolve post-war?
Great comments everyone. Looks like some think the war went on to long and some think the Japanese would have held out even longer. Everyone seems to be glad the war is over (including myself as I started this war nearly a year ago).
To respond/answer a few points...
FleetMac, your point is well taken when it comes to the fate of warmongering heads of state. I did consider that when writing about Hayashi but honestly I think this makes the most since. Next despot we get I'll do a more messy downfall.
On the United States during the war. I can understand how some might think that America had a cake walk in this conflict but it is important to remember these facts. 1) Despite only being in the war for 10 months, the United States had years to prepare. 2) The U.S. wasn't as ill prepared before joining nor did it suffer a debilitating first strike as it did in the start of OTL's WWII. 3) By the time America joined the war, the corporatists were already on the ropes. 4) The United States ITTL is the world's leading economic power 5) The United States military ITTL, while not as large as OTL's, is sizable and has first rate technology.
Concerning the post war Japanese government we will have to wait and see. The Kobushis will be out of power but I imagine will still have a lingering effect. What shape do y'all think the postwar government will take? A liberal democracy, conservative monarchy, technate, or socialist state perhaps? I would think that the Emperor being instrumental in booting the Kobushis would give him a level of credibility with the victors.
Story of Kobushi is clearly end. It is another thing will the party ban or change it just dwarf party without political power. But probably there is some kind of democracy. Probably there will be conservative but not warmongering government.
I think that Japan lose Hainan and Taiwan to China. Fate of Bonin Islands will be intresting. I don't think that USA or United Kingdom will take that. Perhaps both countries just found there naval base. Korea will be still problem of Japan. China hardly get that easily anymore when it hasn't anymore land troops on the area. But can Japan still keep that is different thing.
I think that Japan lose Hainan and Taiwan to China. Fate of Bonin Islands will be intresting. I don't think that USA or United Kingdom will take that. Perhaps both countries just found there naval base. Korea will be still problem of Japan. China hardly get that easily anymore when it hasn't anymore land troops on the area. But can Japan still keep that is different thing.
My take on post-Kobushi Japan depends on how "hands-on" the Allies get during the post-Armistice period. If they don't get too interventionistic or otherwise leave the Home Islands alone, my take is a conservative monarchy that's still less radical than the Kobushis (if anything, the way Japan left the war via Imperial fiat/force will have reinforced the "tangible" authority of the Emperor as an active institution, which IMO isn't conducive to democratic thought or constitutionalism at all). That isn't to say it'll be necessarily a DICTATORSHIP, but still relatively closer to one than the UK or Germany are, sort of an "authoritarian-yet-nonhostile" state if that makes any sense. If the Allies (or China, independently of the rest...) decide to force the issue now or sometime down the road, we may see them go more Technate-y so as to appease the Chinese giant next door without losing their sovereignty.
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Hey guys, I am working on the post war world map. A really big help would be if someone could draw the internal borders for the IEF on post # 3528 onto the world map on post #3448. Any takers?
Like I said, I did it just for fun. I forgot that Sudan was independent.
And when I did it, I united Zambezia and British Congo because I thought that might be the next major foreseeable change in Africa. 'tis all.I went ahead and fixed it to save Mac the trouble, though.
Like I said, I did it just for fun. I forgot that Sudan was independent.
I went ahead and fixed it to save Mac the trouble, though.
Cool map Luminous. Glad to see people are following along on their own.
It would still be great though if someone would add those IEF borders to the smaller map found on post # 3448.
Ohhh. That map. My bad.
Here's a patch for that map. I also did a few corrections on my own copy to match the Mongolia/Uigherstan/Tibet/Russian border to the larger map, if you want them as well.
Thanks metastatsis_d. A new world map will be included in the next update.
A question for y'all should the various territories of the IEF be shaded as above or be the same color as Russia?