These Fair Shores: The Commonwealth of New England

2019 Massachusetts Bay general election
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Full size version of the election map can be seen here.

I'll answer all outstanding questions tomorrow! Sorry for not answering them sooner, I've been busier than usual...
 

PNWKing

Banned
What would the following people be up to?:
Caitlyn Jenner
John Kerry
Antony Blinken
James Taylor
Paula Deen
Ann Rule
And for historical figures:
Salmon P. Chase
Richard Nixon
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Daniel Webster
Franklin Pierce
 
Again, simply excellent, especially with the attention to detail! Hopefully the other provinces aren't as intense. Interesting to see that the Bushes have gone in a more business-y direction. Not too mention that the Civic Union party is supported by the current and previous PM.
  • I'm surprised to see that, throughout all of that mess, there weren't calls to dissolve the government altogether? How did MB weather through the lawsuits, in particaular the Tories-Metropolitan coalition? How did the coalition still have around the same amount of MLAs? Why was turnout so low?
  • Interesting to see that the British Empire still has really broad powers. Have there been more instances of this sort of overreach (if they would call it that) across the Empire?
  • Has denial of climate change been replaced by "Well, it is a thing, but there's not much we can do about it anyway"? In the same way, is Spanish Socialism the ITL version of Communism
  • How does the MB government have power over a reservoir in Adirondack? Is it because they have some sort of "special status", since they have the capital? Do they have other such extraterritorial properties?
 
How does the healthcare system work in New England? I'm assuming that universal healthcare isn't as widespread of a thing ITTL compared to OTL.

How much is a pound worth ITTL compared to OTL?

I'm assuming SOE-SOF is roughly equivalent to the Nordic Green Left.

I'm assuming dual-track election is an ATL term for Mixed-Member-Majoritarian, MMP etc.
What does the Maine party want?
I assume a separate province of Maine.
 
What would the following people be up to?:
Caitlyn Jenner
John Kerry
Antony Blinken
James Taylor
Paula Deen
Ann Rule
And for historical figures:
Salmon P. Chase
Richard Nixon
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Daniel Webster
Franklin Pierce
Daniel Webster was the first Prime Minister of New England. As for Theodore Roosevelt:
Theodore "The Butcher" Roosevelt is remembered for the Yucatan War, and his legacy is seen as a great stain on America for his numerous failures.
 
This is beautiful, as always!
  • I noticed that Massachusetts Bay's Tories are considerably to the right of the federal Conservatives. I wonder why. Is it because they have been in opposition for over two decades, and decided that if they were to win an election, they should not attempt to look like the Civic Union, but instead pursue a course of "clear blue water"?
  • I also noticed that the Boston Globe editorial board endorsed the Metropolitans, but refused to endorse their leader in his riding. Is that because they support the Metropolitans, but oppose their leader?
Obviously @CosmicAsh would know better, but I noticed that Bloomberg (Met leader) was accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by numerous staffers in 2017. Maybe it's related to that?
 
Super cool graphic! I noticed that apparently two of the minor parties in Massachusetts are the Shooter’s Association and the Connecticut Annexation Party. I feel like the main focus of the latter is kinda self-explanatory (although I do have to wonder what their other policies look like), but what’s the platform of the Shooter’s Association?
 
Super cool graphic! I noticed that apparently two of the minor parties in Massachusetts are the Shooter’s Association and the Connecticut Annexation Party. I feel like the main focus of the latter is kinda self-explanatory (although I do have to wonder what their other policies look like), but what’s the platform of the Shooter’s Association?
Gun rights, obviously.
 
How large is the Commonwealth GDP? Does it become number 1 if it were to, say, become one nation?

Cool! Are there other parts of the world that have been polderized too?

The Empire's GDP is £475 billion - second only to Russia's economy.

View attachment 643681
You mentioned that Bengal was the epicenter of a large-scale war between the Empire and the Indian Union in the 70s and early 80s, so how was Bengal not only able to recover so quickly but also become one of the largest economies in just a few decades as well. Is Bengal's current standard of life similar to OTL or is the average person significantly better off?

Bengalis are generally better off than their IRL counterparts. Despite the fact that Bengal was subject to horrific warfare - all of the Indian Union banded together to invest, rebuild, and restore Bengal to something even greater than it was before, and today it is the beating heart of the Indian Union.

There is, I'll say it again, something so refreshing about an author of an M+G timeline on this forum actually understanding how dangerous and destructive imperialism is. Additionally, the idea that historical revisionism of empires only comes after they collapse is... honestly kinda chilling, even if it was unintentional. Makes all the idol-worshipping of Churchill by older Britons make sense.

Thank you so much! I really do try and portray the reality of the situation, even if the in-universe content and sources try to sidestep the issues.

I was looking over the political world map and the Superior Map of NA, and I was wondering if the Panama, Suez, and Kiel Canals were constructed ITTL?

Only the Panama Canal was not built. There is no connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

With the US reliant on heavy industry (Standard Oil and National Steel) I imagine that there's a lot of heavy pollutants coming out of the river states and being carried into New England by the jet stream. Do they have an ongoing dispute regarding transient air pollution causing damage?

You are absolutely right. New England constantly has issues with the American's heavy industry. The one saving grace is that New York, the state, is a Special Economic Zone, and it is more... modern there so to speak due to New England investment, and the Americans desire to show the country as not so reliant on heavy industry.

Based off of that description, I'm assuming Hamiltonian Thought is just whatever the higher-ups say it is?

More or less, these days.

How much is the pound worth relative to otl (or at least in comparison to other currencies) if the GDP of France is only 151 million and like 1500 pounds per person and it's still one of the largest in the world.

A £ is worth multiple magnitudes more than its IRL counterpart. The exact comparison is being purposfuly obfsucated.

Whats the relationship between Prussia and Poland like?:)

Fairly good. The two have open borders, mostly to the benefit of Poland, but Prussians are more than happy to hire Polish labourers, and Polish workers often move to Westphalia or Silesia in search of a manufacturing job and higher wages.

What's the difference between a "light grey" subdivision and a "regular grey" subdivision?
Autonomous areas for Ethnic minorities I believe, in the west that’s French speakers and in the east it’s Poles
Cool! The lighter grey slightly autonomous areas?

Light grey is autonomous, meaning it does not need to answer to the Province or Central Government on certain issues. In the west it is Francophones, in the east it is for the Polish minority, and in West Prussia, it is for the Kashubians.

Oof. I imagine there are serious issues regarding a country with noncontiguous borders, ouch.

It has mostly been worked out. Mostly.

Beautiful as always, @CosmicAsh ! Just one question: with such convoluted borders, travel in the Germanies must be a major issue. Imagine having to get your passport checked and go through customs not once but twice or even three times, just to travel 100 miles or so. Would it be safe to assume there's some sort of neo-Zollverein providing for free trade or at least a unified infrastructure system amongst the different states?

Thank you!

Northern Germany (the geographic region) may look convoluted, but it's pretty much settled on who goes where, and the complex set of laws governing travel. A few places, mostly those that cross through Germany (the country) are allowed no-access highways that cross through its territory to make sure there's no passport checks, and you can just drive straight through to your destination. Several of these connections connect core Prussia with Westphalia and the Rhineland.

Most interesting. I want to know more about TTL's Japanese invasion of China.

I have this planned for this summer!

Seeing as Hannover is the only mainland european nation (that i can see) driving on the left, might there be lots of jokes about Hannoverian drivers? Atleast in the german area?

Bremen, Oldenburg, Hanover, and Hamburg drive on the left. There are plently of jokes about them driving on the wrong side of the road!

Genuinely surprised to see the US driving on the left. You'd think they'd drive on the right to show the world that they're better than Perfidious Albion.:p

Indeed, it may be surprising - but they have never made the switchover. The one notable switch was Australia, who swapped from the left to the right. This was primarily driven by the cars they imported from Argentina. It became so difficult to manage the road, that the Australian government finally swapped over.

How do the orange countries work?

The side of the road you drive on varies from city to city, or province to province. Or there's no standards at all, and you're on your own.

If you zoom in, Oldenburg, Bremen, Hamburg and (for some reason) Lubeck also drive on the correct (i.e. left) side.

Lübeck is right hand drive. The territory to the north of it is owned by Oldenburg.

Ai that GDP per capita is low.
Perhaps that's because it's measured in pound sterling instead of dollars?

Correct - though the GDP/c is still low when comparing it to other countries.

Greater Pacific Prosperity Council? Does this mean China and Japan are allies (or at the very least not blood enemies) in TTL? I know you mentioned Japan is one of the three Great Powers...

Come to think of it, why are Shenyang and the surrounding regions Japanese here?

These questions will be answered (I hope) this summer.

What are the other three Departments?

Grand Chancellery (think a unicameral elected legislature)
Council of State (Kinda... an upper house? But also... not)
Secretariat (Executive office, appointed by the Emperor)
Department of Internal State Affairs (catch-all for... running the country)
Department of External State Affairs (Foreign ministry)

People in the orange parts of the map be like:
View attachment 645741

yea?

Accurate in some places!

Excellent work(s) as always! How much of the western Rhineland consists of French speakers? Or are they all bilingual in some way?
Is the Chia dynasty fictional or is it based off of someone OTL? Is their Secretariat a relative of the emperor as their family name suggests?
How do roads/driving in the orange countries work?
Why is the Philippines in the orange region? Did it become a British colony after the Spanish left?

About half the Rhineland is bilingual, but one-third of the Rhineland itself speaks French as a primary language.
The Chia dynasty is fictional, but it follows Imperial naming conventions, and the Emperor is a hereditary position.
The Philippines did not become a British colony - the national government simply has not mandated a driving side.

This post is great, the level of detail you put into these infographics is second to none.

Thank you!!!

I wonder if New Hampshire is going to be the next general election.

Maybe. A vote will deteremine what I do next.

What would the following people be up to?:
Caitlyn Jenner
John Kerry
Antony Blinken
James Taylor
Paula Deen
Ann Rule
And for historical figures:
Salmon P. Chase
Richard Nixon
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Daniel Webster
Franklin Pierce

I believe most of these figures will be touched on at some point.

Again, simply excellent, especially with the attention to detail! Hopefully the other provinces aren't as intense. Interesting to see that the Bushes have gone in a more business-y direction. Not too mention that the Civic Union party is supported by the current and previous PM.
  • I'm surprised to see that, throughout all of that mess, there weren't calls to dissolve the government altogether? How did MB weather through the lawsuits, in particaular the Tories-Metropolitan coalition? How did the coalition still have around the same amount of MLAs? Why was turnout so low?
  • Interesting to see that the British Empire still has really broad powers. Have there been more instances of this sort of overreach (if they would call it that) across the Empire?
  • Has denial of climate change been replaced by "Well, it is a thing, but there's not much we can do about it anyway"? In the same way, is Spanish Socialism the ITL version of Communism
  • How does the MB government have power over a reservoir in Adirondack? Is it because they have some sort of "special status", since they have the capital? Do they have other such extraterritorial properties?

- Sure, there were calls to dissolve the government, but the Federal Government cannot step in and mandate it - only the House of Commons in London could do that. Turnout was low because many, many people became jaded and cynical with all three major parties suffering fairly big scandals.
- This "overreach" is pretty standard and is accepted just as much as say, the British Government today passing legislation.

What does the Maine party want?

Separation and its own province.

How does the healthcare system work in New England? I'm assuming that universal healthcare isn't as widespread of a thing ITTL compared to OTL.

How much is a pound worth ITTL compared to OTL?

I'm assuming SOE-SOF is roughly equivalent to the Nordic Green Left.

I'm assuming dual-track election is an ATL term for Mixed-Member-Majoritarian, MMP etc.

I assume a separate province of Maine.

- I have a whole article in the works for the New England healthcare system, don't worry :)

- See above.

- You'd be correct!

- Kind of. It is a North American-only term for a mixed system.

- Yeah!!

GLORY GLORY BE DECIMALISATION IS GONE. ALL HAIL THE FIGHT FOR FIVE BOB AND TUPPENCE!!

Indeed, the Empire is fully £sd.

Oh my goodness, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party managed to scrape together fifteen candidates & 12,000 votes. Not bad... or bad?

That's up to you to decide! :D

This is beautiful, as always!
  • I noticed that Massachusetts Bay's Tories are considerably to the right of the federal Conservatives. I wonder why. Is it because they have been in opposition for over two decades, and decided that if they were to win an election, they should not attempt to look like the Civic Union, but instead pursue a course of "clear blue water"?
  • I also noticed that the Boston Globe editorial board endorsed the Metropolitans, but refused to endorse their leader in his riding. Is that because they support the Metropolitans, but oppose their leader?
Obviously @CosmicAsh would know better, but I noticed that Bloomberg (Met leader) was accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by numerous staffers in 2017. Maybe it's related to that?

- The Tory Party is fairly right wing due to its time as a near permanent opposition, and having zero need to seriously compete in the City of Boston. The Metropolitian Party competes there, and their platform is much more palatable to residents of Boston than the Tories platform would be.
- The charges against the Vice Premier were indeed the reasons that the Boston Globe's editorial board refused to endorse him for re-election.

Super cool graphic! I noticed that apparently two of the minor parties in Massachusetts are the Shooter’s Association and the Connecticut Annexation Party. I feel like the main focus of the latter is kinda self-explanatory (although I do have to wonder what their other policies look like), but what’s the platform of the Shooter’s Association?
Gun rights, obviously.

The Shooters are generally a rural party that does have a focus on gun rights, but also is considered to the left of the Tories, and offer themselves as a more moderate and reasonable alternative to Massachusett Bay's voters. As you all can tell, their efforts do not work out particually well.
 
Grand Chancellery (think a unicameral elected legislature)
Council of State (Kinda... an upper house? But also... not)
Secretariat (Executive office, appointed by the Emperor)
Department of Internal State Affairs (catch-all for... running the country)
Department of External State Affairs (Foreign ministry)
Interesting. It's nice to see the world retain some non-European forms of government; reminds me a little of "Fear Nothing But God."
Only the Panama Canal was not built. There is no connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
That's...intriguing. I understand that the Americans would have no interest in excavating it, as they have no naval presence in the Pacific and seem content to sit on the sidelines of the international power games, but one would still expect a powerful Britain to dig a passageway to shorten the trip to Asia, California, or Pacific Canada.

EDIT: Speaking of "games:" what can you tell us about international sports competitions in this world? Were the Olympics ever revived?
 
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What's the ideological position of Bay Residents Association? how do Civic Union vs federal Labor and Metropolitan vs federal Liberals compare ideologically?
Does the endorsement of Carbone for Civic Union has to do more with scandals or ideological proximity?
The much higher value of the pound is an unique case or there has been much less inflation ITTL everywhere?
How are conflicts between Catholics and Protesants in Prussia, do they vote for different parties like OTL before WW2?
Has a "normalization" of borders ever been proposed in the German speaking area?
 
How strong is the US government’s control over more distant territories such as the rural west, Cuba, and Puerto Rico?

How do ordinary Americans view the president and the institution of the presidency?
 
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