These Fair Shores: The Commonwealth of New England

Speaking of the UK...

Mind if I ask what's this about? I came across it whilst rereading the thread and it piqued my attention. Is the UK a one-party state like Japan or Singapore? How corrupt is it? How come we haven't heard of this part before? Are their opposition to the current UK regime or do the people just don't care? If the latter, why?

Edit: Also, how did the UK become a hilariously corrupt one-party state?
Most probably I'm wrong, but for me TTL UK can be seen as a corrupt, one-party state in the phrase's broad sense, not in a narrow sense like OTL North Korea. Examples of its corruption may include the attempted coup by the former Lord President.

I can't find a more detailed, general map of New England - if there is one, could The Honourable Gentle Followers point me to the right direction please? If there's none available, would it be possible to have one sometime later on?
 
Speaking of the UK...

Mind if I ask what's this about? I came across it whilst rereading the thread and it piqued my attention. Is the UK a one-party state like Japan or Singapore? How corrupt is it? How come we haven't heard of this part before? Are their opposition to the current UK regime or do the people just don't care? If the latter, why?

Edit: Also, how did the UK become a hilariously corrupt one-party state?
The UK is basically halfway between Japan and Singapore. That is to say it's a legitmate democracy, but has a dominant party with no practical chance of losing. Compared to Japan and the LDP, the ruling party - the Liberal Party - is more popular and dominant, but unlike Singapore and the PAP, they don't rely on suppressing the opposition or manipulating the rules. The Liberal Party is less of an ideological vehicle and more of a system-party who view themselves as managers of the country. They respect democracy, but don't consider it sacrosanct, and have little interest in compromising with others since they're quite confident they know what's best. They perpetuate an incredibly entrenched system of pork-barreling and clientelism; individual MPs advance their careers by providing services and infrastructure to their constituency (and are more than happy to make money on the side if the opportunity arises.) There are several opposition parties, with the Tories and Labour being the most prominent. There are also the Democratic and Progressive parties, which you could call "soft" opposition - they're Liberal splinters who habitually draw defections from dissatisfied government MPs. They protest the specifics of government policy while supporting its main vision, and members often return to the Liberal fold with a few gifts for their constituencies. Ireland also has its own set of parties and politics where the Liberals are less dominant, as far as I know.
 
The UK is basically halfway between Japan and Singapore. That is to say it's a legitmate democracy, but has a dominant party with no practical chance of losing. Compared to Japan and the LDP, the ruling party - the Liberal Party - is more popular and dominant, but unlike Singapore and the PAP, they don't rely on suppressing the opposition or manipulating the rules. The Liberal Party is less of an ideological vehicle and more of a system-party who view themselves as managers of the country. They respect democracy, but don't consider it sacrosanct, and have little interest in compromising with others since they're quite confident they know what's best. They perpetuate an incredibly entrenched system of pork-barreling and clientelism; individual MPs advance their careers by providing services and infrastructure to their constituency (and are more than happy to make money on the side if the opportunity arises.) There are several opposition parties, with the Tories and Labour being the most prominent. There are also the Democratic and Progressive parties, which you could call "soft" opposition - they're Liberal splinters who habitually draw defections from dissatisfied government MPs. They protest the specifics of government policy while supporting its main vision, and members often return to the Liberal fold with a few gifts for their constituencies. Ireland also has its own set of parties and politics where the Liberals are less dominant, as far as I know.
Thanks for the answer! Though that still leaves the question of how this whole thing started in the first place.
 
Thanks for the answer! Though that still leaves the question of how this whole thing started in the first place.
Basically, after the Great Continental War (think a cross of WW1 and WW2, all over the span of 12 years, while the British are facing a Blitz equivalent for most of that time), the UK was led largely by Tory governments after Labour discredited themselves when the war ended. After Clement Atlee, who in this TL was a Tory, the premiership landed in the hands of Lord Salisbury, an arch-reactionary, and after he was pushed out of power due to a fracas over migration, Alan Lennox-Boyd, another arch-reactionary. During this period, Labour was increasingly moribund and was fracturing into various factions, but some of those factions were aligning with the remnants of the Liberal Party. Led by Roy Jenkins, this Liberal Alliance promised economic prosperity and social change after decades of war and economic depression. In 1966, the Alliance, led by "Woy," won Westminster in a landslide, bringing about an era of revival for the United Kingdom. Despite multiple challenges, including the inglorious end of Jenkins' leadership in his brutal reaction to the Bengali War of Independence, both the Tories and Labour doubled down on increasingly unpopular positions (hardcore social conservatism for the Tories and loony leftism for Labour) and failed to capitalize on these missteps. Eventually, Glenda Jackson took control of the Alliance in the 90s and reformed the various parties within the Liberal Alliance into a single Liberal Party, often called the Green Machine, marked by patronage, clientelist politics, and semi-competent management of the country, and indeed the Empire. There have been low points - the Liberals fell to "only" 54% in the polls last year due to the unpopularity of the American War - but so far, the Green Machine has remained intact and able to distribute patronage for years to come, buoyed by decades of rapid economic growth and the revival of the UK on the world stage.
 
Thanks for the answer! It's really interesting to know about the UK of this TL so far! Also, a 12 year-long alt-Blitz? Where there even anything left in the Isles by the time the war ended? That's one hell of a baptism by fire.
 
Thanks for the answer! It's really interesting to know about the UK of this TL so far! Also, a 12 year-long alt-Blitz? Where there even anything left in the Isles by the time the war ended? That's one hell of a baptism by fire.
Most of the damage was concentrated in England and Wales, since French bombers could only reach that far, while Scotland and Ireland were largely out of reach. The only exception, at least in Ireland's case, was when a bomber veered off course, thought he saw London, and bombed Dublin instead. Because of this, most of England, especially London, needed to be completely rebuilt, which means that the city skylines of most of the country are completely unrecognizable to OTL viewers.
 
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Most of the damage was concentrated in England and Wales, since French bombers could only reach that far, while Scotland and Ireland were largely out of reach. The only exception, at least in Ireland's case, was when a bomber veered off course, thought he saw London, and bombed Dublin instead. Because of this, most of England, especially London, needed to be completely rebuilt, which means that the city skylines of most of the country are completely unrecognizable to OTL viewers.
What exactly caused the Great Continental War?
 
What exactly caused the Great Continental War?
What @Kibbutznik said: there was apparently a DuPont affair between Prussia, and France, presumably involving the Rhineland, that led to the conflict. Mind you, the war had multiple "hot" and "cool" periods. For instance, before the invasion of the Russian Empire in 1932, things were relatively calm, though Spain was being invaded from multiple sides, and Britain was still being bombed. However, the human cost was still enormous - in contrast to the OTL Siege of Leningrad, about 4 million people lost their lives in the Siege of St. Petersburg, in which the Tsar and his family was encircled by French forces, leading to a massive conflict to relieve the siege of the capital. Indeed, Germany was heavily depopulated, and economic recovery would not come for decades. Only @CosmicAsh knows what the exact cause of the GCW was, but one thing is clear - much like Franz Ferdinand's assassination, the results were disproportionately bloody.
 
These Fair Shores Iceberg mem
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what ethnicity is the Hon. Akim Sokolo supposed to be? that name with that face is throwing me off a bit

It should be Akim Sokol, that is an error on my end, my bad!

Does the Liberal Party of the UK care about the very illiberal practices in their territories of Westralia and Avalon?

Eh... From time to time. The British will step in and overturn laws if they end up contrary to standing Imperial law.

I suspect that they wouldn't be bothered by it as long as those territories remain loyal to London.

Correct.

What is the full title of the British Emperor ITTL?

His Majesty Edward the Tenth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and of His other Realms and Territories King, Emperor of the British Empire, Defender of Europe, Defender of the Faith.
 
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His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and of His other Realms and Territories King, Emperor of the British Empire, Defender of Europe, Defender of the Faith.
Emperor is not first? Would it not be HIM __, by the Grace of God, of the British Empire Emperor, etc? I don’t imagine Britain would resign itself to having its sovereign being colloquially called a lesser title than the Russians, Japanese, or Chinese.
 
Emperor is not first? Would it not be HIM __, by the Grace of God, of the British Empire Emperor, etc? I don’t imagine Britain would resign itself to having its sovereign being colloquially called a lesser title than the Russians, Japanese, or Chinese.

The British historically do not want their sovereign to be an Emperor. Instead it was an extremely continuous decision to give the monarch the title of Emperor/Empress, and it was done so with the stipulation it would not be used in the United Kingdom proper, which is remains as such.
 
It should be Akim Sokol, that is an error on my end, my bad!



Eh... From time to time. The British will step in and overturn laws if they end up contrary to standing Imperial law.



Correct.



His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and of His other Realms and Territories King, Emperor of the British Empire, Defender of Europe, Defender of the Faith.
Wait I thought the king's name was Edward X? Also, is Hanover considered to be one of "His other Realms and Territories"? I was assuming that the title "King of Hanover" would have an emphasis
due to its personal union status, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it was excluded in order to not show favoritism
 
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Wait I thought the king's name was Edward X? Also, is Hanover considered to be one of "His other Realms and Territories"? I was assuming that the title "King of Hanover" would have an emphasis
due to its personal union status, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it was excluded in order to not show favoritism

...my bad I totally blanked on the name change. Wheesh, no idea how that one happened...

This title is for the British Empire only, he has a separate one in Hanover.

Very cool stuff! I'm curious what the Chia changed the internal divisions to look like.

I do plan on working on that map soon!
 
I have to say, this project is incredible! Quality of graphics - amazing. Depth of worldbuilding - fantastic. Definitely my favourite spot on AH.com right now. Read through the whole 2022 New England election event on Discord over the last couple of days and loved every twist and turn!

I've still got plenty of material to get through in this thread, can't wait to explore more of this fascinating alternate world :)
 
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