The Union Forever: A TL

[RyderWest]

A Royal Singaporean Infantry Rifle Regiment SCLTSE L86A1 heavy machine gun that is on display at the Singaporean Armaments and Defence Convention at the SCLTSE Campus in 2009.

Name: SCLTSE L86A1 heavy machine gun (Also known as the C86A1 HSW in Canada, the L86A1 HMG in Australia, Machine Gun 13 mm 86A1 in Madras and the R86A1 in South Africa)

Designer: Kemuning bin Mastini, Lan Zhilan & Cheung Chen, Singaporean Commonwealth Laboratories of Technology, Science and Engineering (SCLTSE)

Type: Gas-operating rotating bolt machine gun

Caliber: .511 Commonwealth (13x95mm ComNat) [1]

Feed system: Two 200 round box magazines in double belt feed [2]

Adopted: 1986 by the British Army and the British Commonwealth

Users: British Commonwealth and associates, Malaya, Sarawak, Brunei

Notes: N/A

[1] A fictional British alternative to the .50 BMG, it was created for the L86A1 in order to satisfy requests from the British Army for a more powerful HMG round that could replace the American machine guns in service at the time due to streamline parts production.

[2] Like its OTL counterpart with .50 BMG rounds, two boxes of .511 Commonwealth ammo could be attached to both sides of the belt feed system, allowing for an easy change in ammo rounds.

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A Royal Australian Army (part of the Australian Federation Defense Force) ADAC L196A4 pistol, with a flashlight and 20 rounds of 5.7x28mm Commonwealth ammunition with this particular model being produced in 2014 for the Canadian Ground Defence Forces.

Name: ADAC L196A1 pistol (Also known as the C196A1 in Canada, the L196A1 in Australia, SAF Pistol 5.7 mm 196A1 in Madras and the R196A1 in South Africa)

Designer: Matthew Moten, James Moulden, Georgia Reimann & Gemma Laffer, Australian Defence Armaments Corporation [1] (produced by Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield)

Type: Delayed blowback semi-automatic pistol

Caliber: 5.7x28mm Commonwealth [2]

Feed system: 20 round box magazine

Adopted: 1996 by the Royal Australian Army, the British Army and the British Commonwealth

Users: British Commonwealth and associates, Australia, New Zealand, Canada

Notes: TBA

[1] An government sanctioned weapons factory in the outskirts of Brisbane, it has produced several weapons and designs that would be later used in the Commonwealth including the L196A1 pistol and a few other weapons that would be widespread.

[2] OTL FN 5.7X28mm round.

 

[Mac Gregor]

2000

Foreign Developments ​

Flag of the Danish West Indies​

On January 21, the Danish West Indies were granted home rule becoming a self-governing component of the Kingdom of Denmark, much as Iceland had become decades earlier. Consisting of the islands of St. Croix, St. Jan, and St. Thomas, the Danish West Indies had over the course of the 20th century grown from an unprofitable backwater into a bustling destination for Scandinavian and German tourists. Although it served as an important port of call for Association of European Nation vessels, an unspoken understanding limited the military footprint on the islands for fear of antagonizing the neighboring League of American Republics and British Commonwealth. Still the streets of the capital city of Amalenborg were often crowded with the rowdy crews of visiting German U-boats.

The XVI Winter Olympiad was cancelled due to the ongoing civil war in the Imperial Eurasian Federation. This was the first time that the modern Olympic Games had been cancelled since their revival in 1918. Most of Verny, the scheduled host city located in the IEF’s Kazahkiya region, would fall to rebels loyal to Ismail Fitrat’s Democratic Union of Turkic Republics by the end of the year.

In May, a summit of the world’s major power blocs met in the Swiss city of Geneva to discuss the IEF Civil War. British Prime Minister Geoffrey Lever had organized the conference with the desire to prevent a global confrontation from erupting. Represented were delegations from the British Commonwealth, League of American Republics, Association of European States, Turin Pact, Technocratic Union, and the Persian Empire. The Commonwealth of South Asian States chose not to attend but did send an observer as part of the British Commonwealth’s delegation. For over two weeks, the participants haggled over a set of articles to be adopted. Although the various alliances disagreed in many areas, a consensus on a few major issues was eventually reached. In what became known as the Geneva Protocol, the principles could be summarized as; the conflict is a domestic matter to be settled by the peoples of the IEF, outside powers should not “directly intervene” in support of any faction, and chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons should not be used in the conflict by any faction or foreign power. While some derided the protocol as hopelessly vague, it did codify the understanding that no foreign power was to send ground troops inside the IEF’s borders and deescalated the threat of nuclear war. The summit concluded with a call to meet again in Geneva the following year.

During the German general election Chancellor Ernst Osterloh and his Conservative Party was elected for a third term. Osterloh convinced voters that his “steady hand” approach towards the chaos in the IEF would best serve the German Empire. The opposition German Democratic Union (DDU) and the Socialists were naturally dismayed by yet another electoral defeat.

After years of research the Technate of China’s Directorate of Technology announced the completion of the Human Genome Map (HGM). The HGM was a massive scientific project that identified the chemical base pairs sequencing of DNA and charted all the genes of the human genome. Considered a marvel of modern science, Chinese leader Yu Qishan said that the goal of eventually cloning a human being was within reach. Other nations continued to lag behind China prompting fears that a “genetics gap” was forming between China and the rest of the world.

In October, the leaders of the various states and dominions of the British Commonwealth met on the island of Bermuda. The main issues addressed at the Bermuda Conference were the increasing centrifugal forces of nationalism and regionalism that threatened to slowly tear the empire apart. After much debate, the reforms agreed upon were the largest since the ratification of the Comprehensive Charter of the Commonwealth in 1961. To be more egalitarian the association was now referred to as the Commonwealth of Nations (ComNat). While it retained the three-tier system of independent states, dominions, and colonies, it allowed greater latitude for nations to enter into alliances and agreements with each other and foreign powers. Finally, although the British monarch would remain the titular head of the Commonwealth of Nations, independent states were now allowed to have an elected head of state, effectively letting republics remain within the Commonwealth. Jamaica was the first dominion to take advantage of this change and voted to become a sovereign republic within ComNat on November 10. While the Bermuda Conference angered many Conservatives, it did provide British Prime Minister Lever and his coalition government of Liberals and Democratic Labor with enough popular appeal to win reelection. King Edward VIII was rumored to have remarked “easy for Mr. Lever, it isn’t his face getting removed from the coinage.”

 

[RyderWest]

Here is another Commonwealth arms profile, this time from the Great White North:

A Canadian Army (part of the Canadian Dominion Defence Forces) AV-FDC C99 LRSW sniper rifle.

Name: AV-FDC C99 LRSW sniper rifle (Also known as the L99A1 in the UK, the L99A1 LRR in Australia, SAF Sniper Rifle 13 mm 99A1 in Madras and the R99A1 in South Africa)

Designer: Xavier Tritton & Alexander Shiers, Athabaskan-Vesperian Firearms and Defence Corporation

Type: Semi-automatic bullpup anti-materiel sniper rifle

Caliber: .511 Commonwealth (13x95mm ComNat)

Feed system: 8-round box magazine

Adopted: 1999 by the Canadian Army and the Commonwealth of Nations

Users: Commonwealth of Nations and associates, Canada, Australia

Notes: N/A

I am going to start a person profile soon too, maybe some one from Canada or Britain.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Alfred von Tripitz (1849-1933)

The man who later became known as the "Father of the German Navy" was born in 1849 in Kurstin, Brandenburg. Tirpitz the Prussian Navy in 1865 to serve with a fellow friend During his service Tripitz served the Navy with much enthusiasm and exemplary performance that was quite uncommon at the time for the much neglected half of the Prussian military. In 1877-1888 Tirpitz would come to head Prussian research and development for torpedoes Prussia's growing fleet of torpedo boats, a time he would reflect warmly as "the eleven best years of my life". In 1890 he was soon made Chief of Staff for the Prussian Navy at the rank of Captain. During this time Tirpitz ran into much frustration as every one of his attempts to strengthen the Prussian Navy or expand the usage of Battleships was repeatedly ignored or blocked by Prussian high command and Kaiser Fredrick III. His only vocal supporter was then Crown Prince Wilhelm, both of whom met at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1887 and would later become good friends. In 1895 Tirpitz was seriously considering leaving the Prussian Navy when he got a promotion to Rear Admiral and was sent on an assignment to serve as the Prussian Naval attache to the United States Department of the Navy to observe American Naval strategy and look for any methods to improve Prussian Naval power. While there Tripitz was attached to observe Alfred Mahan, a man who Tirpitz idolized for his theories in "The Influence of Sea Power". From 1895-1901 Mahan would come to mentor his Prussian comrade, teaching on how to improve Prussia's miniscule Navy and how a nation should wage naval warfare in the modern age and on the global scale, in return Tripitz would often engage in friendly debates upon America's naval power and would time from time offer his insight on naval strategy. In these years both naval officers would develop a life-long friendship and Mahan would give Tripitz a gift of an autographed copy of his signature novel. In 1901 Tirpitz would be recalled to Berlin and be promoted to Vice Admiral. This time Kaiser Fredrick was more open-minded on naval power due to France's increased naval superiority within the North Sea. Tripitz was then given a free hand to strenghten and modernize the Prussian Navy, making it a regional power.

At the outbreak of The Great War in 1907 Tripitz was promoted to Admiral and head of the Prussian Navy. After Italy's surrender Tirpitz was responsible for preventing a total French Blockade of the Baltic and a naval invasion of Prussia. Tirpitz was succesfful in protecting Germany by winning the battles of Heligoland Bright (1907), Skagerrak, and fighting the French to a standstill at the Battle of Jutland (1908). Tirpitz is most known for during the war for developing Prussian U-boat strategy and causing the successful sinking of dozens of French naval ships and commercial vessels during the war. After America and Britain's entry into the war, Prussia was allowed to go on the offensive. Tirpitz would later come to the aid of the British personally at the Battle of Dowager Bank by leading the Prussian reinforcements at the last moment. Afterwords Tirpitz would lead the surface naval fleet to combat the French in the North Sea, meanwhile attaching the Prussian U-boat fleet to the British Armada in the Atlantic. After the war Tirpitz was awarded with promotion to German nobility and promotion to Grand Admiral, head of the new German Federal Navy. While attending the Treaty of Brussels Tirpitz would once more meet his mentor who had become U.S secretary of the Navy, upon meeting von Tirpitz, Mahan would come to remark "You did a damn good job Alfred". During the postwar years Tirpitz would come to strengthen the German Navy to a World power by modernizing the fleet and creating an armada of Battleships and Battlecruisers, along with the development of Germany's fearsome Submarine fleet "The Wolf Pack", a task that was immensely supported with the influence of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1914. During these years von Tirpitz would come to create his famous "Risk Theory", based on the teachings of his mentor, von Tripitz would state in his theory that should any fleet reach global naval supremacy, it would then have the power to cause signifigant damage in any engagement, this sufficient damage was cause a naval power to be unable to maintain its commitments and suffer irreparable harm, thus no such force would want to enter into a confrontation. Retiring in 1925 von Tirpitz would later spend the rest of his years writing memoirs and naval thesis until his death in 1933. His greatest legacy was the Imperial German Navy, who took von Tirpitz's teachings of the Risk Theorum to heart and strove to maintain a global presence to deter armed conflict with the Fatherland. Many German naval vessels would come to be named after the Grand Admiral, the most famous ship being the SMS Alfred von Tirpitz, the first German Aircraft Carrier. Today a statue of von Tirpitz stands outside the Imperial Naval Academy in Kiel, inscribed with the naval motto "Peace through strength"

 

[Mac Gregor]

This article is courtesy of traveller76. Thanks for your support.

Name: KTB-56 Automatic Rifle (автоматическая винтовка)

Designer: Makariy Mikhailov, Konstantinov Design Bureau

Type: automatic assault rifle

Action: roller delayed blowback

Caliber: 7.92x33mm

Feed system: 20 or 30 round detachable box magazine

Adopted: 1957 by the Imperial Russian Army

Users: Bulgaria, Congo, Greece, IEF, India, Kashmir and Jammu, Mongolia, Romania, Serbia, Sudan, Tibet, Tuva, Uyghurstan, West Africa

Notes: The KTB-56 was developed by the Konstantinov Design Bureau (KTB) for a military contract for a rugged, easy to use, and powerful rifle. The KTB-56, nicknamed the Katie or Kady in the West, seems to be partially based off of Germany's G-54. An estimated 10 to 15 million KTB-56 rifles have been produced over the last forty years. The KTB-56 and variants saw extensive service in India during the Asia-Pacifica War, where it was produced under license by the United Republic of India. Many militaries have retired the KTB-56 from frontline services by the 90's but it is still used by interior or militia forces in many countries. With the coming of the IEF Civil War, national factions and separatist movements confiscated large numbers of these rifles from local armories or purchased them from overseas. Foreign governments and even some organized crime networks around the world have started to ship KTB-56s and supply ammunition and spare parts to various groups.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

King Leopold III (1859-1940)

Born in on June 12, 1859, Leopold III, often known as Leopold the Great, was born as the second child and sole heir to King Leopold II and Archduchess Marie Henriette. As a young man, Leopold was troubled by the disturbing reports of his father’s heavy-handed rule in the Congo. This, coupled with Leopold II's reputation for corruption and taking on of multiple mistresses, the young prince turned away from his father's influence and spent most of his time as a close companion of his mother. From his Austrian mother, Leopold would become deeply devout in the Catholic faith and would strive to rule as a monarch in the manner of a compassionate Christian. Before the Great War, Leopold would often be seen spending time interacting with his future subjects and giving royal patronage to multiple charities across the kingdom. This gave the people of Belgium hope that their future king would be a kind and merciful ruler and bring prosperity to their country. In 1887, while taking a diplomatic visit to the Kingdom of Bavaria, Leopold would come to meet his future wife Duchess Angela of Bavaria, granddaughter of future King Luitpold. They were said to have fallen at love at first sight. Luitpold, seeing a great opportunity for building relations with a neighboring colonial power, agreed for the two to be betrothed and they were married in 1888. On January 20, 1907, King Leopold II died while visiting the Napoleon IV in Paris. Many Belgians hoped that their new king would take a more enlightened path than his father. Unfortunately, the early days of Leopold III’s reign early reign was marred when Leopold II's longtime mistress, Abigail Lacroix, exposed that the couple had produced a child named Louis Lacroix (1903-1975). Abigail Lacroix produced a document stating that the now deceased king had proclaimed Louis as his heir instead of Leopold. The incident caused an enormous scandal but ultimately the document was ruled a forgery. Leopold III confronted this situation in an astonishingly forgiving manner, quietly granting Louis and his mother a stipend for the rest of his life.


With the advent of the Bavarian succession crisis and the declaration of war by Napoleon IV against Prussia, Leopold found himself in a dire position as the head of a neutral nation bordering two warring great powers. Seeing the possibility of an invasion by either belligerent and torn between ties to both the Entente and Coalition, Leopold would take immediate action to protect his people. Within days Leopold mobilized the Belgian Army and secured the border surrounding both nations. Leopold also called upon Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman to publically reaffirm the 1839 Treaty of London, sending a message to both sides that any violation of Belgian neutrality would immediately result in British intervention. Many historians sight the affirmation of the Treaty of London as one of the primary causes of Napoleon IV not invading Belgium. Problems would still continue for Belgium as hundreds of thousands of refugees would flood across the borders from Prussian and the surrounding German states in an attempt to escape the horrors of war. Whereas other leaders might try keep refugees out, Leopold embraced these victims of war and allocated significant resources to help them find safety and refuge in Belgium. When asked by an American reporter why he accepted these countless refugees Leopold said "It is our Christian duty to help our fellow man in times of need, if I were to turn these people away in their time of desperation, then I am no better than the warmongers." Leopold and his wife would often be seen visiting refugee camps and field hospitals near the border. These actions would earn Leopold the friendly title of “the Refugee King.” Multiple times during the war, Leopold would call for both sides to lay down arms and seek an armistice to end the conflict. He even offered to serve as a mediator although it was known that he sympathized more with the Coalition. When the war finally ended, Leopold III played host to the peace negotiations in Brussels.


The decade and a half following the Great War is sometimes described as a golden age for Belgium. During this time, the Belgian economy grew substantially and the nation benefited from an impressive influx of immigrants, mostly from war torn Europe. Leopold III and his allies in parliament enacted a number of liberal economic and political reforms. Chief of these accomplishments was the Universal Suffrage Act of 1914. Leopold also oversaw the development of friendly relations between Belgium and the newly founded German Empire, the new heavyweight on the European continent. Perhaps Leopold III's greatest regret was the situation in the Belgian Congo. Though he tried to improve the standard of living for the Congolese and gave them basic rights, his political opponents in parliament blocked all measures for greater self-rule. In 1830 on the centennial of Belgium's independence Leopold abdicated in favor of his son Albert. Leopold lived out the rest of his years touring the world and spending time with his grandchildren in Brussels. Leopold died of a heart attack early in the morning on May 10, 1940. At the state funeral, half a million Belgians and several hundred foreign dignitaries gathered to pay their respects. His half-brother Louis was recorded as saying "Leopold was the greatest Belgian that has ever lived. When others sought aid Leopold met them with compassion and love. As king he did not rule over his people but sought to serve them. He is the true example of the Christian man that we should all strive to become." Decades later, the Catholic Church beatified Leopold III for his service to refugees during the Great War.

 

[Mac Gregor]

Another article courtesy traveller76. Keep them coming.

Name: Model 94 Automatic Combat Rifle /94自动战斗步枪/ 94 Shì Zìdòng Zhàndòu Bùqiāng (ZZB-94)

Designer: National Defense Corporation/国防公司/Guófáng Gōngsī

Type: Bullpup Assault Rifle

Caliber: 5.4×42 mm

Feed System: 30-round detachable box magazine/80-round detachable drum

Adopted: 1995 by Technate of China

Users: Assam, Bengal, Bhutan, China, Kampuchea, Korea, Laos, Sikkim, Vietnam

Notes: Developed by the Technate of China’s National Defense Corporation, the ZZB-94 has been highlighted in state media as the next generation in small arms design and has become the service rifle for the Directorate of Defense. As of 2000, all member states of the Technocratic Union have agreed to adopt the ZZB-94 and are producing copies under license. A 'civilian sports' model is being exported to several countries around the Pacific Rim, South Asia, and Africa in order to promote Technocratic ideas and gain foreign exchange. The weapon has become popular with many organized crime outfits because of its compact design and easy control when firing. Furthermore, a number of pro-technate Tongs have adopted the weapon in part as a declaration of patriotism.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Emperor Norton I (1818-1882)

Joshua Abraham Norton, better known by his self-declared title of “His Imperial Majesty Emperor of the United States, Lord of San Francisco, and Protector of Mexico” was born in London, England in 1818. His family would immigrate to South Africa in 1820 where Norton spent 29 years of his life. In 1849, Norton immigrated to the United States after claiming a sizable inheritance from his father. Looking to strike a fortune Norton settled in San Francisco and spent his first years successfully dealing in real estate. However, all of his fortunes was soon lost when a scheme to invest in Peruvian rice backfired and Norton had to sell almost all of his belongings to repay his debts.

On September 17, 1859, Emperor Norton's fanciful 23-year Imperial reign began when he declared himself Emperor of the United States, allegedly due to being disgruntled by the current state of politics in Washington. News of Norton's coronation spread all over San Francisco through the San Francisco Bulletin, which added the title “Protector of Mexico.” Many of Emperor Norton's early "decrees" consisted of farcical measures to usurp control of the national government. The following series of edicts included: the abolition of congress, resignation of Abraham Lincoln, ordering the construction of a bridge to Oakland, dissolution of the Democratic and Republican parties, and naming San Francisco the new capital of the United States. While the federal government ignored or mocked Norton's efforts, his self-stylized manner of rule earned him the love of many of San Francisco's populace. Spending his days inspecting the streets in an elaborate Union officer uniform, Norton gained many privileges in return for his "benevolent reign" of the city. These privileges often included: free meals at any restaurant (including for his dogs Bummer and Lazarus), local stores accepted his own self-issued currency, and all performance venues reserved a seat just for the Emperor. It was reported that Norton twice intervened to stop riots in order to protect Chinese immigrants

The Emperor Norton is most remembered today due to his connection with the author Mark Twain who in later years penned a series of novels called "The Adventures of an American Emperor." The series of adventure novels was based around Norton's life as ruler of America and detailed his many fabled accomplishments, including: saving Queen Victoria from assassination, crashing the wedding of Napoleon IV, preventing a war between Italy and Austria, building the Continental railroad, helping Edison invent the lightbulb, etc. Though completely fictitious and outlandish the novels became a bestselling hit across America and is revered today as an example of classic American literature. On July 5, 1882 Emperor Norton died in his sleep at his "Imperial" apartment. He was given a "state funeral" the following day where tens of thousands of the city’s population gathered to pay their respects. Decades later, when a bridge finally connecting San Francisco to Oakland was completed in 1932 it was named the Emperor Norton Bridge. A fitting tribute to the City by the Bay’s favorite son.

 

[RyderWest]

Ship Class Profile
United States Navy Battleships​

USS Arizona (BB-70) in a painting by Halleckville, Arizona artist Kenneth Warner circa 1977, before the Asian-Pacific War.​

Class Name: Arizona-class battleship

In Service: 1972 - present (as of 2000)

Ship List: 6 ships

• USS Arizona (BB-70) [1]
• USS Virginia (BB-71) [2]
  
• USS Minnesota (BB-72) [3] [4]
  
• USS New Hampshire (BB-73) [5]
  
• USS Santo Domingo (BB-74) [6]
• USS Maine (BB-75) [7]

Armament:

• 12 x 16"/55 calibre Mark 11 naval guns in four triple turrets
• 16 x 5"/61RF calibre Mark 16 naval guns in eight twin turrets
• 8 x 25mm Skylance CIWS batteries
• 24 x SGM-71 Seahawk anti-ship missiles
• 36 x BGM-91 Atlatl cruise missiles

Displacement: 68,764 long tons (69,867 t)

Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 37 mph)

Range: 16,500 nautical miles (30,558 km; 18,987 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

Complement: 2,658 officers and men (Asian-Pacific War)

Notes: N/A

Ship Notes:

USS Arizona: [1] Laid down on December 25, 1967 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Launched on February 2, 1971 and commissioned on July 4, 1971.

Arizona, before heading down to Seattle, Washington, was docked in Vancouver for a stop over on April 8, 1977 when the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked Vancouver Harbour during the Raid on Vancouver, severely damaging the docks and the city itself, sinking 14 Commonwealth ships and killing 3,196 civilians, sailors and dock workers, but luckily Arizona escaped unharmed. Sailors from the Arizona reported that a few Japanese bombers nearly gunned for the battleship itself ready to fire an anti-ship missile (probably mistaking it for a British battleship), but peeled off once they saw the American Naval Jack and 56 star flag of the United States. Rear Admiral Andrew Kidd Jr. (ATL descendant of the Kidd family OTL), who was on the bridge of the Arizona at the time, remarked that it was lucky "a damn missile or bomb did not smash into our main magazine or we will have a memorial over this ship in 20 years."

After the US declaration of war on Japan on June 30, 1979, Arizona along with the East Pacific Fleet moved out of San Diego, heading to the Bonin Islands to support the US Army forces landing on Iwo Jima. Arizona mostly did shore bombardment duties and tried to survive the numerous anti-ship missiles launched from Chichi Jima, unfortunantly sinking a few ships despite her CIWS batteries shooting down many missiles. Arizona also fired its guns in anger for the first time during the battle, sinking the Japanese heavy missile cruiser Kurobe and its 4 escort destroyers with its 16 inch main guns and 5 inch secondary guns after Kurobe's task force got lost during a storm and ran into Arizona by pure chance.

Still in active service as of 2000 and currently based at San Diego Naval Base, San Diego, California as the flagship of the US East Pacific Fleet.

USS Virginia: [2] Laid down on January 24, 1968 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Launched on October 22, 1971 and commissioned on March 7, 1972.

USS Minnesota: [3] Laid down on March 3, 1968 at New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York. Launched on January 28, 1972 and commissioned on July 24, 1972.

Served in the Asian-Pacific War, and was sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Mimasaka (A Satsuma-class super battleship) at the Battle of the Southern Philippine Sea on March 6, 1980, killing 1,588 sailors and crewmen and leaving 1,070 survivors, including Rear Admiral Norman Alexander, floating in the West Pacific. They were eventually rescued by a Task Force led by sister ship New Hampshire and Maine along with missile cruisers USS Port St. Lucie (CG-33) and USS Sedgwick (CG-39).

Only Arizona-class battleship to be lost to enemy action in the war, and one of three battleships lost in the war along with USS Mahetane (BB-61), a Puerto Rico-class battleship lost to Japanese anti-ship missiles during the Battle of Iwo Jima on November 19, 1979 and USS Rhode Island (BB-51) a Oregon-class battleship destroyed at Cavite Naval Base, Philippines during the surprise Japanese missile strike on July 2, 1979.

[4] The ship was featured in the 31-hour miniseries The Final Stand (2000), which detailed the whole Asia-Pacific War through the eyes of the British Commonwealth & allies, the Technate of China, the United Republic of India, Kobushi Japan, Corporatist Venezuela and the United States. Minnesota's battle with Mimasaka and her sinking was a major part of the 14th episode of the miniseries, which also included New Hampshire, Maine and her task force sinking Mimasaka and her sister ship Sagami in revenge of Minnesota's sinking.

USS New Hampshire: [5] Laid down on May 27, 1968 at Portsmouth Navy Shipyward in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Launched on July 5, 1972 and commissioned on November 10, 1972.

Sank the Japanese battleship Mimasaka and her sister ship Sagami during the Battle of the Southern Philippine Sea on March 7, 1980 along with USS Maine (BB-75) in cold blooded revenge for the loss of USS Minnesota (BB-72). Considered one of the few battleship vs battleship battles in the Asian-Pacific War, excluding the Battle of Luzon Strait (March 14-18, 1978) fought by British and Japanese battleships and missile destroyers.

USS Santo Domingo: [6] Laid down on October 28, 1968 at San Diego Naval Shipyards in San Diego, California. Launched on November 21, 1972 and commissioned on February 6, 1973.

USS Maine: [7] Laid down on December 25, 1968 at San Diego Naval Shipyards in San Diego, California. Launched on March 17, 1973 and commissioned on October 4, 1973.

 

[Mac Gregor]

Hey Mac Gregor, i've been reading for the past few days and i've gotta say this is my favorite piece of work on the website so far. What i'm really interested to know is if you could post an entry detailing all of the accomplishments by each country in the space race. At this point in time i've sort of lost track and don't really remember who did what.

Here you go.

Selected Space Exploration Milestones
1961-2000 ​

July, 1961: The United States Navy launches Columbus I the first manmade satellite to orbit the Earth.

December, 1961: The German Empire launches its first satellite Grenzer.

February, 1962: Germany creates the Imperial Space and Aeronautics Commission (IRLK).

April, 1962: America establishes the United States Space Agency (USSA) to oversee the nation’s space program.

August, 1963: German Chancellor Florian Kruger announces the creation of the Máni-Programm with the aim of “putting a German on the moon within the next decade.”

September, 1963: President Frank MacArthur announces America’s lunar program, the Artemis Initiative.

September, 1963: The United Kingdom launches its first satellite Drake I.

June, 1964: The United Kingdom and its allies in the British Commonwealth establish the Commonwealth Aerospace Administration (CAA) to head their space program.

December, 1964: The Russian Empire establishes the Russian Aviation and Space Bureau (RAKB).

October, 1965: The Russian Empire launches its first satellite Basil II.

February, 1966: Congress approves the construction of the Leroy R. Connor Joint Army-Navy Airbase in American Guiana which will become the launch hub for the USSA.

March, 1966: German Lieutenant-Colonel Maximilian Schwiezer became the first man to journey into outer space aboard his spacecraft Adler.

July, 1966: Walter K. Melton of Georgia becomes the first American in space.

April, 1969: American astronaut Elias Duke conducts the first spacewalk.

October, 1970: Corey C. Bailey becomes the first African American in space.

January 1971: A joint Franco-Italian space program, the European Space Research Organization (ORSE), is created.

November, 1973: American astronaut Jennifer Castello becomes the first woman in space.

April, 1974: Artemis VII became the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.

February, 1975: The IRLK suffers a catastrophic launch failure resulting in the deaths of three astronauts and delaying the schedule for the Máni-Programm by months.

March, 1975: Artemis X astronauts George W. Lopez of Cuba and Charlie Rosenthal of Pasapa became the first men to walk on the surface of the moon when their lunar lander Discovery successfully touched down near the Mare Serenitatis.

October, 1975: Yegor Maksimov becomes the first Russian in space with the successful flight of his spacecraft the Burevestnik.

January, 1976: The German Empire became the second nation to send a man to the moon when Helmfried Lafrentz landed on the Sea of Tranquility.

December, 1978: The Eurasian Aviation and Space Bureau (YAKB) spacecraft Svetilo broadcasts the first detailed photographs from orbiting Jupiter.

October, 1979: ORSE launches its first domestically produced satellite Galileo.

February, 1980: Germany establishes the Freiden, the world’s first space station.

September, 1981: The Technate of China launches its first domestically produced satellite Zheng He.

August, 1983: The United States begins construction on its first space station Independence.

June, 1984: RAKB announces its plan to conduct a manned Venus flyby within five years.

September, 1988: China became the fourth nation to send a man into space with the launch of Shíxiàn I.

January, 1989: the IEF conducts the first manned Venus flyby when cosmonauts Grigol Iona and Saveliy Mihaylov passed by the planet on their 14 month journey.

March, 1990: America’s Navigational Homing Orbitals (NAVIHO) became fully operational with the launch of the 24th satellite in the system’s constellation. NAVIHO replaced earlier positioning systems created by the U.S. Navy and became open to anyone who had a receiver.

May, 1993: America consolidates the United States Space Agency (USSA), Federal Research Bureau (FRB), and the National Astronautics Office (NAO) under the Department of Space.

January, 1994: Germany opens Mond Vorposten Ein the first lunar base.

July, 1996: The first extrasolar planet is discovered by scientists from the British Commonwealth’s Royal Astronomical Foundation.

September, 1996: YAKB announces plans to conduct a manned flyby of the planet Mars by the end of the millennium.

December, 1997: China launches the first module of Jìnzhǎn the nation’s first space station.

June, 1999: YAKB launches Predvestnik I, its manned flyby to Mars.

July, 1999: Predvestnik I suddenly depressurizes killing the two cosmonauts onboard.

November, 2000: Persia successfully launches its first domestically produced satellite Far-e Kiyani.

 

[Mac Gregor]

2000 Presidential Election ​

Incumbent President Franklin M. Blanton faced step odds as he sought reelection for a second term. The largest obstacle was the sorry state of the American economy. Already suffering from the globtrix recession since mid-1998 the economy was woefully unprepared for the market turmoil caused by the IEF Civil War. While most Americans claimed to like Blanton as a person, the double-digit unemployment and his inability to get meaningful legislation through the Democratic controlled Congress made the public clamor for new leadership.

Elias W. Zaal

Elias William Zaal was born on November 1, 1940 in Newburg, Laramie to a poor farming family of Irish and Dutch stock. As a teenager, Zaal found work doing a variety of menial jobs to supplement the family income including a brief stint on the local rodeo circuit. Despite his impoverished background, Zaal managed to scrape by and attend Laramie State University helped in part by a U.S. Army Officer Development Course (ODC) scholarship. After graduation, he was commissioned as a cataphract officer in the reserves. In the following years, Zaal passed the bar and began practicing law in Fort Laramie, the state capital. In 1965, Zaal married Clara Hall a paralegal but divorced after only two years. Always interested in politics, Zaal was elected to the unicameral state legislature in 1968 as a Democrat. In 1973, Zaal remarried this time to Tori Dickson then working as an administrator in the state’s Department of Agriculture and Ranching. When the Asia-Pacific War broke out, Zaal was called up for active service but was never deployed. In 1984, Zaal unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor. Four years later, Zaal ran again and beat the unpopular and divisive incumbent Ray Walter Russel. In 1992, Zaal was the natural choice for the Democrats to run for governor. He handily beat his Republican challenger Jules Sully-Martinez and cruised to reelection in 1996. By most accounts, Zaal’s administration was well run and delivered on its promises without running up the deficit. Zaal achieved national recognition during his witty speech at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Austin, Texas.


The Campaign

During the primaries, Zaal faced a serious challenge from Bridget Torres the Attorney General during the Peatross administration who had spent the last 12 years becoming a social conservative icon of the Democratic Party. While Zaal managed to eventually defeat Torres he was pressured into picking her as his running mate to ensure party unity. In the campaign against the Republicans, Zaal painted Blanton as more concerned with foreign affairs than the deplorable economic situation. Zaal often referenced how former Democratic President Margaret Stewart had led the country out of the last great recession during the late 1970s. During the televised debates, Blanton appeared flustered as he blamed, correctly or not, the Democratic Congress for not taking enough steps to jump-start the economy. Zaal countered that Blanton’s attention was needless divided between the economy and the situation in the IEF stating, “You can’t ride two bulls with one butt Mr. President.”

The Results

Elias William Zaal
Democrat from Laramie
38th President of the United States​

On election night, the electorate sided with the Democrats’ message of economic renewal and keeping out of foreign troubles. Zaal and Torres captured 49.9% of the vote and a clear majority of the electoral college. Disproportionally hurting the Republicans, the Ecoists scored their highest percentage yet getting 4.5%. President Blanton and Vice President Rutledge won only 45.6% of the popular vote and 21 of 58 states.

 

[RyderWest]

Ship Class Profile
United States Navy Aircraft Carriers

USS Warrenton (CV-44) photographed leaving San Diego Naval Base in San Diego, California on July 16, 1999 for Fleet Problem 22 with the US East Pacific Fleet.​

Class Name: Warrenton-class aircraft carrier (AKA the Southern Battles-class)

In Service: 1977 - present (as of 2000)

Ship List: 5 ships

• USS Warrenton (CV-44)
• USS Richmond (CV-45)
  
• USS Vicksburg (CV-46)
  
• USS Nashville (CV-47)
  
• USS Shiloh Landing (CV-48)

Armament:

• 6 x 12 cell RIM-23 Sea Trail anti-air missile launchers (24 missiles each launcher)
• 10 x 25mm Skylance CIWS batteries

Aircraft (Standard Loadout circa 1979):

• 30 x Marchand F/A-11 Avalanche multi-role fighter (fighter squadrons)
• 30 x Whitchurch A-8 Thunderstreak II attack aircraft (attack squadrons)
• 15 x Marchand F/A-8 Skyshire attack fighter (light attack squadrons)
  
• 7 x Snowberger Reimann A-7/EA-7C Seashield strategic bomber/electronic warfare aircraft (electronic warfare squadron)
• 4 x Lambright CH-28 Comanche ASW helicopter (anti-submarine squadron)
• 4 x Marchand E-10 Eagle Eye airborne early warning & control aircraft (airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) squadron)

Displacement: 71,951 long tons (80,585 t)

Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h; 41 mph)

Range: 12,500 nautical miles (23,150 km; 14,384 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

Complement: 5,718 officers and men (Asian-Pacific War)

Notes: Aircraft Manufacturers are listed here:

• Marchand Aviation (founded July 26, 1941 by Tom Marchand in Providence, Rhode Island)
• Whitchurch Aircraft (founded November 7, 1928 by Randall Whitchurch in Tillamook Bay, Oregon)
• Snowberger Reimann Aerospace (merger between Snowberger Aircraft and Reimann Corporation on June 6, 1967 in Fairfield, Connecticut)
• Lambright Helicopter Consortium (founded April 11, 1952 by Jack Lambright in Willmar, Minnesota)

Ship Notes: N/A

 

[Mac Gregor]

Damn, no ABBA.....

This is why I like this TL.

Still doesn't make up for no rock and roll.View attachment 284981

Wait a minute.....no *rock and roll? Really? Even under a different name? If that's really 100% true, then how is that even really possible(let alone plausible)? I mean, sure, I can see it being called something else, or even having some different origins compared to OTL, but even in the 1860s the basic ingredients, as it were, were already there, just waiting to be assembled into something-so, really, it can't simply not form. Hopefully, MacG can offer some clarification on this issue.

True rock& roll. I'm a purist.

Interesting; do you mean '50s rock & roll, like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, etc.?

Yes, as a beginning that is good in itself.

Here is a quick run down on selected American twentieth century music genres.

20th Century American Music Genres
​

Delta: A guitar heavy music form named after the Mississippi Delta region where it developed. Originally performed almost exclusively by and for Black Americans over the 1920s delta became a national and later world phenomenon.

Ruckus: also known as jaleo, ruckus is fast-paced dance music from Cuba that blends Caribbean and North American instruments and styles. Ruckus became the music of choice for American dancehalls for much of the 1920s and 1930s.

Sawmill: derived from Appalachian folk music, sawmill often features fiddles and banjos. The genre gained prominence during the 1930s.

Groove: a type of music that combines elements from Delta, Ruckus, Sawmill, and Gospel. Originating in Atlanta, the genre’s popularity grew rapidly throughout the 1940s thanks to musicians such as Danny “Funky” Turpin.

Swag: A music form created in Panamanian nightclubs during the first half of the 20th century. Swag blends aspects of Ruckus and Groove music with elements from Panama’s distinctive French and Hispanic culture. Swag gained national attention in 1953 with the release of the album Street Lights by Arnold “Arnie” Arias and the Pumas.

Futuro: a music genre associated with electric guitars, synthesizers, and positive themes. Futuro germinated in New York and Havana music theatres during the late 1950s and burst onto the American music scene in 1961 with the debut of the Solitaires and their single "Electric Love."

NeoFolk: a revival of traditional American folk songs coinciding with the Civil War centennial that eventually branched out to create original titles.

Grind: a type of music developed in industrial cities in the American Northeast. It is characterized by a hard-edged sound and rebellious tone. Grind was made popular in the 1970s by bands such as Steelpusher and Barbed Wire.

Flim-Flam: a music genre originating in the Southeastern United States during the 1970s which uses a insistent recurring beat pattern and often concentrates of rural themes.

Metcrew: form of music usually featuring a piano, Spanish guitar, and drums. Made popular in the early 1980s by artists such as Heather Durand and the band The Plumbers. While metcrew songs cover a wide variety of topics, they are often noted for their wistful tone and sorrowful love ballads.

Underground: A decidedly urban music genre that makes heavy use of various percussion instruments.

 

[Mac Gregor]

A Tale of Ice and Sorrow
The IEF Civil War
October 2000 – February 2001​

Conservative cataphracts preparing for action​

After a lull in the fighting due to heavy autumn rains and the corresponding quagmires, the belligerents quickly increased offensive operations with the advent of freezing temperatures. With the spectacular failure of the Novgorod campaign earlier that year, the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Mitya Kuznetsov and Emperor Alexander IV diverted their attention to recapturing the Crimean peninsula. Advancing from the west, the Conservatives used armored task forces to punch through the Reformer defenses and successfully cut of the peninsula. However, an abundance of antitank missiles and tenacious resistance by the local Crimean Tartars stalled attempts to clear Sevastopol and the interior. Instead, of counterattacking into the Donbas, the Reformers launched their own offensive against a pocket of Conservative forces based in southern Bessarabia. The Reformers managed to contract the Conservatives’ perimeter but ultimately failed to force them to capitulate after the Conservative Black Sea Fleet landed much needed reinforcements.

Over the course of the winter, fighting raged off and on along the long and twisting frontlines. In Byelorussia, a series of vicious attacks and counterattacks failed to alter the balance of power. Throughout the IEF, food and fuel shortages furthered the humanitarian crisis which was already reaching historic levels. In both Conservative and Reformer held territory, any suspected disloyalty was often enough to have one’s ration cards curtailed or suspended. Summary executions and forced labor were often imposed for even minor infractions as the opposing governments struggled to meet the needs of their population. Since the start of the conflict this all occurred under the dangling threat of nuclear war. The Conservatives possessed nearly 80% of the IEF’s arsenal due to their control of the Siberian based ICBMs, and the majority of the Baltic and Pacific Fleets. The Reformers managed to secure only a few nuclear-armed submarines in the Baltic Fleet, and a hand full of small tactical nuclear bombs for their air force. Neither side wanted to risk the utter destruction that a nuclear exchange could entail.

In a Christmas morning address, Lidka Gorski declared that for the better part of a year her Warsaw based government had “exercised effective control over most of the territory of Poland and provided for her citizens as best as wartime conditions would allow. As such, the Polish Free State should be recognized by the nations of the world as the legitimate government of an independent Poland.” The ruling council of the self-styled Grand Duchy of Finland made a similar announcement by the end of the year. While no nation officially recognized either government, German Chancellor Ernst Osterloh moved quietly but decidedly towards backing these new countries separatist efforts. Indeed, Finland and Poland would be warmer and better fed than most parts of the IEF during the winter due to an influx of German assistance. In the Baltic, pro-independence factions were gathering strength, often aided by covert AES agents and a steady supply of deutschmarks. Pasternak and his Reformer government in St. Petersburg were too preoccupied with the Conservatives to intervene effectively.

Pasternak however would score one significant victory that winter. In the abysmally cold temperatures of February, the Reformers stunned the Conservatives by launching a second attempt to capture the port city of Arkhangelsk. To the dismay of the leadership in Moscow, the Conservative garrison was caught off guard as the Reformers launched a ferocious cataphract and mechanized infantry assault against city’s defenses. This time, the Conservatives buckled. Over 44,000 Conservative soldiers were taken prisoner and the Conservatives lost their last remaining port on the White Sea. This loss, along with the near complete collapse of government control in Central Asia, the Caucuses, and Manchuria helped by Turkish, Persian, and Chinese assistance, prompted Kuznetsov to call for a meeting of all prominent Conservative leaders. Set for the first week of March, the Conservatives would reassess their strategy for winning the war.

 

[Mac Gregor]

Crossroads of Conflict
The IEF Civil War
March - October 2001​

Concentration of Reformer self-propelled artillery defending Arkangelsk​

On March 5, Mitya Kuznetsov and Emperor Alexander IV convened a conference in a hardened facility some 30 miles east of Moscow, as Reformer airstrikes had badly damaged the Kremlin. The war was now a year old and, despite horrific bloodletting, the Conservatives were no closer to winning. Indeed, it was clear to many that they were losing the conflict and that if drastic measures weren’t’ taken their cause would be lost. It was quickly agreed that Arkhangelsk would have to be retaken to secure their supply lines to the outside world. However, with fighting on a myriad of other fronts their simply was not enough forces to mount a successful offensive on the scale needed. After nearly two hours of heated but equally fruitless debate amongst the various commanders, Kuznetsov is reported to have slammed his fist on the table. In the ensuing pause, Kuznetsov stated, “sometimes one must cut of a few fingers to save the hand.” With a red pen, Kuznetsov continued by drawing a new border on large adjacent map. The areas excluded Manchuria, most of the Central Asian regions, and a large chunk of the Caucasus. Declaring “this is the heavy price for victory” Kuznetsov stated that despite several redeployments the Conservatives were still spending far too much resources trying to retain control of these areas. Several in attendance immediately balked at this radical proposal. Admiral Alekseev remarked that all of their efforts had been to secure the unity of the empire and that this directly countermanded that. Kuznetsov pointed out that most of the territory to be “temporarily relinquished” was already lost to rebels and that the remaining government forces there were merely waiting to be overrun. Additional protests were silenced when the Emperor voiced his support and called for “all true Russians to endure the unendurable.” The Emperor continued that all lands once ruled by Russia would “in time, be returned to the Motherland.”

In the weeks following the conference, orders recalling military forces from the east for service on the western fronts were issued. For the most part, the rebels did not engage the retreating Imperials. It is worth noting that the Conservatives did not abandon all positions in these regions. Certain oilfields in northern Kazahkiya continued to be occupied along with other defensible points of strategic importance inside Manchuria. However, the withdrawal of the Imperial Army proved a godsend to the separatists, with large numbers of ethnic Russians fleeing north exasperating the humanitarian crisis behind Conservative lines. On May 13, Ismail Fitrat at the head of a column of Turkic troops entered Bukhara in triumph. Six days later the last Imperial convoy departed Mukden. Jubilant crowds took to the streets. Flags emblazoned with Technocratic gears and other banners were raised above government buildings. The euphoria in Manchuria was short lived as the uneasy alliance between the Technocrats and other factions broken down immediately as each tried to secure power. Naturally, the Technate of China stepped up support to its Krulikist-Hengism proxies spurring on the savage fighting.

On June 22, the Conservatives under Marshal Kirill Volkov launched Operation Gamayun to retake Arkhangelsk. The reformers had long suspected that a strong attempt would be made and had prepared accordingly. The resulting Third Battle for Arkhangelsk would prove to be the largest and deadliest of the war to date. The opposing armies had over the spring swollen to monstrous size with the addition of fresh formations. Over one and half million troops clashed across a sweeping breadth of territory during the two-month long operation. When the smoked cleared, the Conservatives had retaken the port city at a horrific price. Adding to the steep cost, the reformers had heavily damaged the port facilities and obstructed adjacent channels which would take months to repair. Nevertheless, the retaking of Arkhangelsk was a significant win for the Conservatives. Coupled with the final capture of Sevastopol after 11 months of fighting, these two victories provided a much need boost to conservative morale, which was in the doldrums after the withdrawal from Manchuria and Central Asia. The Reformers in turn managed a few small wins in the Ukraine and managed to push the frontlines closer to Moscow on the Novgorod front.

As the autumn rains returned along with the corresponding lull in fighting, the general staffs of both sides planned their next move. Each had suffered tremendous casualties and the continuing shortages of men, food, fuel, and ammunition showed no signs of abating. The high attrition rate of advanced weapon systems like cataphracts and attack helicopters sparked impressive innovation. Various horse cavalry units were created that proved surprisingly mobile in heavy mud and snow. Conversion of civilian tractors and automobiles into armored vehicles was a common technique. Another option employed by all sides to some degree were units composed in part by foreign “volunteers.” Some were made up of adventurous idealists like the Pulaski Brigade while others like the infamous Intentional Regiment was manned by a polyglot assortment of mercenaries rumored to be responsible for numerous war crimes. Despite the attention that these outfits received from the world media, the sheer size of the fighting in the IEF left their ultimate impact up to debate.

 

[Mac Gregor]

2001​

Foreign and Domestic Developments ​

On February 13, Somalia became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. Haji Omar Bashir, the new nation's prime minister, sought to deepen ties with neighboring East Africa as a way to gain leverage against Abyssinia in their long running border dispute.

Sticking to a campaign promise to reduce the federal government, American President Elias Zaal abolished the Department of Territorial Affairs, created back in 1921 by President Leonard Wood. America’s few remaining territories were parceled out, with the Bonin Islands going to the State of Micronesia and most of the minor outlying islands going to the Department of the Interior. Historian Ellen McMillen remarked, “The abolition of the Department of Territorial Affairs may well be remembered as the definitive closing of the American frontier.”

During the spring, the Weimar based company Duetchautomate unveiled the first autonomous vacuum cleaner for the mass market. Although costly and of questionable effectiveness, the Haus Drohne, as the device was known, became a popular gadget and is usually considered the first practical household automaton.

As agreed upon, representatives from the world’s major power blocs meet for a second summit in Geneva to discuss the ongoing IEF Civil War. Concerns that the Zaal administration might not participate proved unfounded with Vice President Torres leading the American delegation. The summit reaffirmed the provisions of the 2000 Geneva Protocol and significantly, made new arrangements increasing humanitarian aid and temporary housing for the millions of Eurasian refugees living in over a dozen countries. Considered a success, another conference was scheduled for 2002.

Global prices for petroleum spiked as the IEF Civil War continued to disrupt Eurasian oil exports. Naturally, the Middle East benefited the most form the high oil prices with Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Kuwait, and the Union of Gulf Emirates recording record profits. Other nations stepped up production in order to provide relief to its cash strapped citizens. In the United States, President Zaal and the Democratic Congress struck down several prohibitions against hydraulic fracturing; a move that eventually spurred great drilling activity in the states of Dakota and Pasapa. In the Canadian Territory of Athabaska, a number of corporations began operations in sizable oil sands region.

2001 saw the establishment of two private space companies. Orion Transportation, based in Salt Lake City, desired to provide an independent satellite launch capability for private citizens and corporations. The second company, SolCo, was the brainchild of Mexican billionaire Jesús Zuarth Morales. It aimed to be the world’s first space tourism enterprise, enabling as Mr. Morales put it “any man, woman, or child to realize the own space odyssey!”

On October 27, the 22 kilometer long Cook Straight Tunnel officially opened connecting New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Michael Mateparae, the country’s first ethnic Maori Prime Minister, presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony.

In December, a team of Canadian archeologists on the Indonesian island of Flores uncovered several partial skeletons of three-foot tall hominids believed to have lived 100,000 to 55,000 years ago. The media quickly nicknamed the specimens “gnomes” as made popular by the Joel Rucker Henderson’s Old Earth Chronicles fantasy novels. The moniker stuck and the species was eventually given the scientific name Homo Gnomius.

 

[Mac Gregor]

View attachment 290358

2 looks better, but 1 looks more plausible.

So I vote for 1.

Number one

One

1

Welp. Got a few: Some based on choice 1, some based on the old Dervish flag.

Dervishes: Using Mac's Reds and Blues rather than the more garish OTL shades.
View attachment 290071 View attachment 290072 View attachment 290073 View attachment 290074

Choice 1 Derivatives: First three just are recolors/using the lynx from the Italian coat of arms. Second three are based on the colors of the British Somaliland Coat of Arms; it's where the shield is from.
View attachment 290075 View attachment 290076 View attachment 290077 View attachment 290078 View attachment 290079 View attachment 290080

Thanks for the feedback guys. #1 clearly won, so I went with a slightly altered version that Luminous posted. The runner-up can be the dominion flag. See below for the flags of Somalia through the years. Cheers!

posted. Cheers!

 

[Mac Gregor]

Frost and Blood
The IEF Civil War
November 2001 – March 2002 ​

Reformer artillery defending Smolensk​

If the Conservatives hoped that by recapturing Arkhangelsk the Reformers would quickly collapse they were sadly mistaken. Throughout the winter, attacks and counterattacks raged along the western front. In late November and through much of December the belligerents clashed over Smolensk. The Conservatives eventually carried the city but only after it was reduced to rubble. In January, an attempt to wrest control of Odessa from the Reformers failed spectacularly, providing a much needed boost to the Reformers who desperately wanted to keep access to the Black Sea. By the end of February, Conservatives had captured most of Kuban and pushed south to the Sochi River until stopped by Georgian forces.

With the war approaching its second year, states on the periphery of the conflict further distanced themselves from the Imperial Eurasian Federation. In Poland, which had been virtually free of IEF forces for nearly two years, a November referendum ratified a new constitution. The provisional government of the Polish Free State was largely returned to lead the new Republic of Poland. The following month, Lidka Gorski was sworn in as the nation’s first president. On January 8, Germany officially recognized Poland as an independent and sovereign country. The rest of the Association of European States quickly followed. Many had expected that recognition of Gorski’s government would lead to war with the Conservatives and maybe even the Reformers as well. Fortunately, for the inhabitants of Europe, neither St. Petersburg nor Moscow had the strength to risk a confrontation with the German Empire. Emboldened, the Finnish ruling council offered the crown to German Emperor Wilhelm III’s second cousin Augustus Adolph Hohenzollern-Bernadotte. Wishing to appear on par with the other Scandinavian nations, the legislature elevated the grand duchy to a kingdom. Augustus Adolph was crowned as King Kustaa Aadolf on March 31 in Helsinki. Recognition from the AES swiftly followed. Neither Pasternak nor Kuznetsov's governments acknowledged Poland or Finland's new regimes.

In the Caucuses and Central Asia, Persia and Turkey competed for influence amongst the region’s Muslim inhabitants by trying to outdo each other in providing weapons, money, and supplies. Much of this aid was directed at securing the region’s independence from the IEF but some of it was used to settle old scores between the rebels. In western Armenia, a Turkish backed insurgency was gaining steam against the Christian majority while in the east Azeris and Armenians skirmished over the demarcation of their border. Ismail Fitrat and his Democratic Union of Turkic Republics spent the winter hurriedly turning their guerrilla army into a force that could defend Central Asia if the IEF attempted to return.

The conflict between the Technocrats and other factions intensified in Manchuria. China continued to pour resources into the conflict allowing the Krulikists to be much better equipped than their rivals. The widely held belief that China was using aerial autocrafts (AAC)s for reconnaissance and to conduct airstrikes on behalf of their proxies was confirmed when the downed wreckage of one was recovered near Harbin. Unconvincingly, Yu Qishan's government in Peking continued to deny any involvement.

Chinese AAC in action over Manchuria​

 

[Zoidberg12]

Here is my first entry for The People of The Union Forever.

Robert Lincoln Wilcox (1909-1960)

Robert Lincoln Wilcox, a very prominent adventure, science fiction, alternate history and speculative fiction writer, was born on Tuesday, June 15, 1909 in Lansing, Michigan, the first of three siblings born to Albert Edward Wilcox (October 18, 1884-November 26, 1953) a veteran of the Caribbean Campaign of the Great War and a Medal of Honor recipient, and Elsie Wilcox (née Hamilton) (June 2, 1890-January 1, 1970). Wilcox, whose father was fighting at the front when he was born, was patriotically named by his mother after then US President Robert Todd Lincoln. Wilcox was raised by his parents in Lansing until 1915, when his father Albert got a job at a law firm in Chicago, Illinois, where the family then moved to as a result. It was in Chicago were Robert's younger siblings, Matthew Nelson Wilcox (January 3, 1916-October 23, 1997) and Susan Jane Wilcox (May 4, 1918-May 1, 1988), were born.

Robert Lincoln Wilcox privately wrote his first short stories while he was in college at the University of Chicago, which he attended from 1927 to 1931, majoring in English and minoring in History. All of these short stories were written under Wilcox's initials "RLW." Wilcox himself, ever since he was young, had always been interested in history, but more specifically, war and political intrigue. The Great War in particular, which his father would tell him about first-hand as a young boy, fascinated Wilcox. His first of these stories, which has finally published in a local Chicago short-story magazine called "Tales of the World" in its September, 1930 issue, was entitled "Blood on the Island Trail" and was about a young American soldier from Michigan and his friend and fellow platoon member from Puerto Rico and their experiences fighting the French in the jungles of Martinique. The story ends with an amazing act of heroism on the part of the Michigan soldier, only for his friend to die in a French ambush. The story was loosely based on the exploits of his own father, with many embellishments. All of Wilcox's other stories written in college, which were tales of either adventure or alternate history, would be published in "Tales of the World" up until 1933.

On July 30, 1932, soon after graduating college, Wilcox, still living with his parents, converted to Roman Catholicism and married Katherine Lee Jenkins (June 26, 1910-August 22, 1996), the daughter of an old family friend, in a private ceremony in Chicago.

In 1938, Wilcox and his wife moved to Boulder City (OTL's Boulder), Colorado, where he would live for the rest of his life. It was in Boulder City that Wilcox published his first science fiction novel and work of science fiction, Under the Yoke, a novel which tells of a seemingly Utopian earth in the year of 2012 under a collectivist-minded one-world government which has just begun colonizing the Moon and Mars. However, as the young protagonist Wilson McCann soon finds out, the world he lives in is not what it seems to be, and is actually a false-utopia forcing its denizens to do morally questionable and even terrible things against their will in the name of an abstract notion of "greater good." The novel was a critique of both Communism and Krulikism, ideologies which Wilcox saw as "dangerous and against the principals of the enlightenment." Wilcox himself was never partisan, but was "always leaning towards sensible progressive-ism."

In 1940, Wilcox published his first alternate history novel, The Golden Circle, which tells of a world in which the Confederacy won the Civil War and went to war with Spain in the 1880s, conquering Cuba and Puerto Rico. In 1900, the Confederate States of America is a force to be reckoned with and is seeking under President Zebulon Vance to expanded more into the Caribbean and Latin America, finally fulfilling the dreams of the Knights of the Golden Circle. The protagonist, a runaway slave named only "Sparticus", seeks to assassinate the President before he can go to war with the Dominican Republic and Mexico. In the end he is successful, but he is killed by local police in the aftermath, leaving the ramifications of his deed unknown to the reader.

Over the years, Wilcox would continue to publish several novels, short stories and serials of adventure, science fiction, alternate history and speculative fiction in numerous magazines and through numerous publishers. Without a doubt, Wilcox's most famous work was the alternate history and western short story "Sacred Honor", first published in the magazine Amazing Adventures No. 242 in October, 1953. Wilcox expanded it into a full-length novel in 1956, and the novel Sacred Honor proved to be a very successful and popular novel. It was even adopted by Canadian-born American director Edwin Anderson into a feature length film in 1968, which was meet with great success at the box office and huge acliam from critics and audiences alike.

Wilcox published his last story, a science fiction short story entitled The Planet of Mystery, in the September, 1958 issue of Amazing Adventures. As to why this was his last, Wilcox wrote to his publisher in a letter dated October 15, 1958; "Frankly, after twenty-eight years, I'm just worn out of ideas". Wilcox would spend the next two years of his life painting landscapes and practicing photography in the vast wilderness of Colorado.

A chain smoker for much of his life, Wilcox died of lung cancer in his suburban home in Boulder City, Colorado, on October 27, 1960 at the age of 51. He was buried in a local Roman Catholic cemetery. He never had any children, so all of his possessions, including his manuscripts, were given to his brother Matthew. A posthumous compilation of all of R.L. Wilcox's works was, with the help of Matthew Wilcox, put together and released by the Denver-based book publishing company SeaLion Publishing in 1968. This compilation was republished with a new introduction and annotations in 1994 for what would have been his eighty-fifth birthday. A bronze statue of R.L. Wilcox was unveiled in his adoptive home-town of Boulder City in July of 2009 for the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Edwin Anderson (1918-2007)

Edwin James Anderson, film director and screenplay writer, was born in Tobermory, Vesperia (OTL's Calgary, Alberta), Canada on Sunday, October 27, 1918 to Claudette Galtier Anderson (June 1, 1894-December 20, 1988), a nurse and social worker from Montreal, Quebec, and Charles Tupper Anderson (May 13, 1886-January 5, 1962), a pharmacist and life-long denizen of Tobermory. Anderson attended Catholic schools throughout his youth until he graduated from St. Mary's Tobermory High School in June of 1936 at the age of seventeen. In October of 1936, shortly before his eighteenth birthday, Anderson moved to San Francisco, California, USA to live with his uncle Albert and his aunt Edith, both of whom moved from Toronto to Los Angeles in the 1920s due in part to "Uncle Al's" problems with tuberculosis.

It was while doing odd jobs throughout Los Angeles that Anderson gradually became interested in film and film-making. He began working as an intern with Sunset Studios in 1940, and worked throughout the next twelve years in cinematography, set-design and writing. His first film, which he directed and wrote the screenplay for, was the critically acclaimed drama and war film Crushing Day, released on August 1, 1952, about two soldiers, one white and one black, fighting in the same platoon in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The film dealt with several then-controversial and hot button issues such as racism, prejudice and the absurdity of such notions when compared to comredery under fire and national pride. Released soon after the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, the film, in spite of the controversy that surrounded it (many theaters in the South refused to show it), was a massive success both financially and critically.

Anderson went on to direct numerous other films in many different genres over the next forty years, including the Western From Boulder City to Halleckville (1958), the thriller and heist film The Rotten Ruffhousers (1963), the suspense film The Forrests of Danger (1967), the adaptation of Robert Lincoln Wilcox's short story and novel Sacred Honor (1968) and the action film and political thriller Is Lisbon Burning? (1975). Anderson also wrote many screenplays, including for his own films. His last film was the thriller The Midnight Hunter (1992), which was met with mixed to negative reviews from critics but which also gained a cult following from a number of film-buffs in the follwing years. It was even adapted into a short-lived television series on NBS from 2003 to 2006. Throughout his life, Anderson maintained dual-American and Canadian citizenship. He never married and he never had any children. He was reported to have had numerous girlfriends throughout his life, but none of them ever seemed to have been permanent in terms of a romantic relationship. Anderson officially announced his retirement from film-making during an interview on the NBS show Talk-line on the night of November 22, 1995.

Anderson died of a heart attack in St. John's Nursing Home in Yorba Linda, California during the early morning hours of December 28, 2007. He was 89 years of age at the time of his death. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered over San Francisco Bay during a private funeral service on December 30, 2007.