The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
- Start date
Seems like we're trending towards a monarchist restoration in Portugal and a new republic in Spain. That will surely shake up that part of Europe.
Political reforms and representation are going to be necessary in Portugal to avoid a new revolt, in case the monarchy prevails as it seems likely.
Ditto for Spain.
IIRC, Ceuta and Melilla are seen by Spaniards as integral parts of Spain.
Keep it up, Mac Gregor!
Great comments guys, to answer a few points.
Yes Protugal's African colonies have been in revolt and as described briefly in an earlier update Mozambique and Angola have already fallen to rebels and will become independent countries. Portuguese Guinea will hold a referendum in 1984, more on that later. East Timor, Cape Verdes, and Sao Tome and Principe's are currently under the control of the royalists.
I will make a map showing the front lines and support shortly.
Ask and you shall receive. Here is a simplified map of the Iberian Crisis as of 1 January 1985. Please note that it does not show the myriad of Royalist and Republican guerrillas operating behind the lines. Also, Morocco and Portugal are not at war. Let me know if y'all have any questions.
Doubt it - there's a reason this sort of thing almost never happens in real life, you know.
Well, the Basques in particular might do so, though as with the OTL civil war their allegiance is going to be in question - they were hard-right pro-business deeply religious conservatives who nonetheless fought for the Republic, because the Republic promised them autonomy or independence. ITTL I could well see them on either side of the war, and it really depends whether the rebels are willing to see them go - otherwise they'd probably support the monarchy, just as they did the more conservative side of almost every other conflict in Spanish history.
1984: Foreign Developments
1984
Foreign Developments
Foreign Developments
After months of debate, the Vienna Peace Conference finally concluded in late March. The resulting peace treaty required compromises from both sides. Belgium was allowed to retain most of the Congo but forced to turn it into a dominion or sorts guaranteeing basic human rights, a fair degree of self-government, and allowing for a referendum on independence in ten years’ time. The rebels were granted a small state of their own, the Independent Congolese Republic (ICR). With its capital in Goma, the ICR’s western border roughly followed the Lualaba River. While this was a much smaller territory than the rebels had hoped for, after nine years of war and a string of defeats most rebel groups were willing to settle. The exception was the Congolese People’s Revolutionary Movement (CPRM) which refused to settle for anything less than full independence for the entire Congo. The CPRM would continue to carry out attacks against European and ICR forces for years to come. Chancellor von Ritter declared the war “a stunning victory for Belgium, the German Empire, and the Association of European States.” Many however felt that the end result didn’t justify the huge financial cost, the 36,000 European casualties, and the deep social divisions caused in German society. Total estimates of Congolese casualties range anywhere from 200,000-330,000 people.
In June, the colonies of the British Virgin Islands, Turks, Cacaos, Leeward and Windward Islands were merged to form the West Indies Confederation. The new confederation delegated considerable autonomy to the various constituent islands, with a federal parliament located in Bridgetown on Barbados. To the south, the island of Trinidad, which was deemed too large to merge with the West Indies Confederation, was granted dominion status in November.
During the summer, the IEF space program announced its plan to conduct a manned Venus flyby within 5 years.
On October 30, the formation of the Technocratic Union was declared in the Chinese city of Chungking. Composed of the Technates of China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Assam, Bengal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, the Technocratic Union (TU) joined other supranational alliances such as the League of American Republics and the Orthodox Council. The TU’s charter declared that it would “share Technocratic values, government, and science” around the world. Many felt that the TU was just a guise for China to spread its ideology of Krulikist-Hengism. Needless to say, the TU’s formation did little to assuage the fears of China’s neighbors.
In November, the Norwegian film Norsemen by director Tor Amundsen was released becoming an international hit. While technically not the first use of computer generated imagery in a movie, Norsemen is notable for its impressive computer generated landscapes of Valhalla.
Having seized control of their respective countries after the withdrawal of Portuguese forces the previous years, the newly independent nations of Angola and Mozambique stumbled to form new governments. By the end of the year, Angola had established a shaky parliamentary republic under a coalition government. Sadly, Mozambique quickly descended into civil war as the various political parties and rebel factions failed to reach any sort of compromise.
Flag of the African Republic of Angola
The five arrows represent the "five virtues" of the republic; independence, self reliance, justice, progress, and unity.
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This is a new addition, with the blessing of Mac Gregor:
Our Man on the Campaign Trail 2016:
Prologue
The Campaign Diary of James Maher.
I have always believed in Josefina Guzman. Even when we were kids growing up in Santo Domingo. Now, I am her campaign manager. When she told me that she wants to be president I told her that it would be extremely difficult, but that with her husband, her kids, the staff and I by her side, we could do it.
First though, we need to get through the primaries. Fortunately for us, right now there is a small field on our side. Just Josefina, Governor Jeremiah Wilcox of Texas and Congresswoman Deborah Hill of New York. The Republicans right now have Vice President Tiffany J. Blair of Georgia, Senator Sabra Inouye of Hawaii, Senator Boyd Kenilworth Hunter of Virginia and Governor Hayley James of Jefferson running. There are rumblings of Governor Matthew O'Connor of New Jersey running on our side but I'll believe it when I see him announce.
Still both sides have fielded good candidates. I just hope that, we'll win. After all no one wants to see over 20 years of Republican rule like at the beginning of last century. Least of all, us.
Our Man on the Campaign Trail 2016:
Prologue
The Campaign Diary of James Maher.
I have always believed in Josefina Guzman. Even when we were kids growing up in Santo Domingo. Now, I am her campaign manager. When she told me that she wants to be president I told her that it would be extremely difficult, but that with her husband, her kids, the staff and I by her side, we could do it.
First though, we need to get through the primaries. Fortunately for us, right now there is a small field on our side. Just Josefina, Governor Jeremiah Wilcox of Texas and Congresswoman Deborah Hill of New York. The Republicans right now have Vice President Tiffany J. Blair of Georgia, Senator Sabra Inouye of Hawaii, Senator Boyd Kenilworth Hunter of Virginia and Governor Hayley James of Jefferson running. There are rumblings of Governor Matthew O'Connor of New Jersey running on our side but I'll believe it when I see him announce.
Still both sides have fielded good candidates. I just hope that, we'll win. After all no one wants to see over 20 years of Republican rule like at the beginning of last century. Least of all, us.
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So the rebels have most of the Swahili-speaking part of the Congo, and they also have many of the good mineral resources (meaning that this isn't as big a victory for Belgium as the PM says it is). I expect they'll stay separate even if the Commonwealth ultimately votes for independence - they're in a different cultural zone from the lower Congo where Lingala is the lingua franca, and the line of separation is actually a fairly natural one - and that they might move toward some kind of alliance with East Africa.
On some reason I don't see very bright future for Congo. We just can hope that Belgians and locals can handle troubles well enough. But I don't expect much. In OTL Belgians weren't very nice colonisers and I don't expect them being very differen ITTL.
In Asia is clearly beginning local cold war. India might have important part on this. How India is developed after Asian-Pacific War?
And manned spaceflight to Venus by Russians. Are they crazy or don't they know what kind of planet it is?
In Asia is clearly beginning local cold war. India might have important part on this. How India is developed after Asian-Pacific War?
And manned spaceflight to Venus by Russians.
Are they crazy or don't they know what kind of planet it is?And manned spaceflight to Venus by Russians.
It says pretty clearly in the text that it's meant to be a flyby mission. NASA actually planned something similar IOTL as an alternative to Skylab.
And manned spaceflight to Venus by Russians.
A flyby just means they're going to take a looksie. Pretty amazing if you ask me. They'll be able to take all kinds of readings/measurements. Hopefully they plan to send some surface probes. IOTL we didn't know how inhospitable Venus was until the 1960s, so hopefully they've kept up to that fairly well. Since space exploration isn't so polarized I expect they know plenty.
It would be hilarious if, after all of this reasonable utopia, it all comes crashing down in a WWIII that goes nuclear between the Technocrats and everyone else.
It would be only world war 2.
When and how did east Africa become independent enough to get it's own color instead of Dominion color?