TLIAW: Daughters of Elysium - The European Federal Election of 2019

[Major Crimson]

How "tankie" are the Co-op?

And what are the VA like outside of these former communist countries such as France and the UK etc?

Not so tankie at all! They're very much like OTL's Party of European Socialists, France's Socialist Party or British Labour. Their current leader is a moderate and they've got members who are Social Democrats rather than outright socialists. They're pretty broad-tent though. Meanwhile the Marxist-Socialist Front are literal tankies and the Left-Ecologists vary from Trots to OTL British Greens.

And yeah its worth noting that the VA is a broad, broad alliance (as are all the parties honestly). In Britain/France/Germany they'd be more like UKIP than BNP but in Eastern and Southern Europe they're more Jobbik or Golden Dawn.

 

[torten]

And yeah its worth noting that the VA is a broad, broad alliance (as are all the parties honestly). In Britain/France/Germany they'd be more like UKIP than BNP but in Eastern and Southern Europe they're more Jobbik or Golden Dawn.

So do they have enough unity to actually govern, or would they collapse into a mess because they can't agree on anything?

 

[Major Crimson]

So do they have enough unity to actually govern, or would they collapse into a mess because they can't agree on anything?

Who knows, you might find out!

But they'd be reliant on some sort of coalition anyway so any legislation they did pass would have to be a bit of a compromise anyway. It's worth pointing out that the "moderate"(!) British/French branch is in control of the leadership atm.

 

[Analytical Engine]

Invading Turkey?

Mind you, despite Vigilant being (polled) as the largest party, it is still possible for an Everyone-Else-Rainbow-Coalition(TM) led by the Co-Ops.

 

[TheKutKu]

"one fifth of the population of poland is jewish"

Does that mean that one PoD is that there is no WW2/ No holocaust? IRL <0.3% of Poland's population are Jews.

 

[Analytical Engine]

"one fifth of the population of poland is jewish"

Does that mean that one PoD is that there is no WW2/ No holocaust? IRL <0.3% of Poland's population are Jews.

Unless they were moved into what is now Poland?

 

[TheKutKu]

Good point, that would explain why there are so many, even in 1939 less than 10% of polish were Jews. It's hard to double this proportion in 80 years.

 

[Major Crimson]

Invading Turkey?

Mind you, despite Vigilant being (polled) as the largest party, it is still possible for an Everyone-Else-Rainbow-Coalition(TM) led by the Co-Ops.

Nasty civil wars have a tendency of spilling over.

"one fifth of the population of poland is jewish"

Does that mean that one PoD is that there is no WW2/ No holocaust? IRL <0.3% of Poland's population are Jews.

Unless they were moved into what is now Poland?

Good point, that would explain why there are so many, even in 1939 less than 10% of polish were Jews. It's hard to double this proportion in 80 years.

I wondered if someone would notice that! Yeah, you're both sort of right, the pod is pre-1939 AND a lot of eastern Europe's Jewish population moved to Poland simply because it was considered the safest place for them on the continent. Cue the POD speculation It will be revealed at some point

 

[Analytical Engine]

I wondered if someone would notice that! Yeah, you're both sort of right, the pod is pre-1939 AND a lot of eastern Europe's Jewish population moved to Poland simply because it was considered the safest place for them on the continent. Cue the POD speculation It will be revealed at some point

Did Albert Einstein travel back in time and erase Hitler with a magic handshake?

 

[Major Crimson]

Did Albert Einstein travel back in time and erase Hitler with a magic handshake?

/s​

 

[Fed]

This is like
really really really really cool

 

[Major Crimson]

​

Finland hadn’t been good either, not a Poland or a Hungary but still not good. Fishing his PDA out of his breast pocket, he stumbled slightly in the kebab queue. Jim and Si having an intense argument about the merits of various factions of the Cooperative Party and Arthur tapped on the EBC News icon, the runtime (or “runt”) booted up and, as if reading his mind, a rolling total popped up in front of him, graphics and all. With four countries down there were 115 seats declared: 70 were in stark, Vigilant black. If that continued it wouldn’t just be a Vigilant majority, it’d be a bloody landslide. Of the remaining 45 seats, the largest contingent was Cooperative, so that at least they had going for them.

The queue had died down and Artie shuffled to the front. The kebab van had a banner on the side, as many did these days, of a Turkish flag with a large black cross through it next to an Oceanian Flag and what Arthur thought was one from Ceylon. Underneath them were the words "I AM NOT TURKISH, I AM CEYLONESE, I AM OCEANIAN." The refugees had come to Britain before the European intervention and their numbers had doubled after, only now they were victim to all the hate and rage of a people at war. Some people just couldn't see the difference between the Turks Europe were fighting and the Turks Europe were trying to save. Anyone that even looked like the enemy wasn't safe from acid attacks, bricks or worse. Arthur winced at the thought, hoping the violence wasn't an omen of the night to come.

“I’ll haaaaave cheesy chip! Chips! And some Curry Keba-“

In front of him, the PDA jingled and a new result buzzed up. Eyes going wide, he clicked it and-“
“BOYS!” he shouted, spinning on a heel and very nearly face planting in the process.

“WE MISSED CH-ZENCOZLAKANIA!”

“What?”

“Czemclosovakia.” He repeated confidently and, jabbing awkwardly at the runt on his phone, loaded up the new results.

Filling up with charming little Logos with convenient numbering, 21 purple wolves popped up, 12 bulls, 9 bears, 5 lions and one each of the adorable little bees and doves. The CPP's Eagles were notably absent but the EBC runt helpfully informed him that in some countries, Czechoslovakia included, the CPP and Confederals didn't run against each other and instead just one party would carry the torch.

“We won!” Arthur cheered, grabbing a paper bag of takeaway he hoped was his and slamming a €5 note onto the table.

“Wheeeeeeeey!”

“But the Fascists did good.”

Jim scowled. “Boooo!”

“But the Commies did good too.

Simon looked puzzled. “Which Commies? Hippie Commies or Angry Commies?”

“Angry Commies.”

His face scrunched up. “Also booo!”

The trio found a relatively comfortable portion of pavement to sit on and crowded around Arthur’s PDA, staring intently at the tiny screen and shoving fistfuls of chips into their mouths.

“But surely,” Charlie Brooker was saying, “Someone must have seen this coming. How did the polls get this one so wrong?”

“Well Charlie,” the civil-servant interviewee - who seemed oddly calm - replied, “A lot of the mainstream parties supported the intervention in Turkey and we all know how that’s turning out.”

The deathcount had hit 3,000 in May with no progress to show.

“What we’re seeing is that the parties that are making gains all voted against the war. If you look at the votes in Hungary and Finland in particular, there are massive swings towards the three socialist parties and of course the Vigilant, all of whom opposed the intervention.”

“Alright,” Brooker allowed, “But why are the VA receiving such a big portion of this anti-war swing vote.”

“Well, in my mind it comes down to three factors. First, the VA have a leader and an anti-immigration, anti-refugee message that has been picking up steam for some time now. Second, most defecting voters were right wing and so will vote Vigilant even before the comparatively more moderate Cooperatives. Finally, it's worth taking the results we’ve seen so far in context. Eastern and Southern Europe are where the Vigilant do best and the centre do worst, as we start seeing northern and western European results come in I’d imagine things will change, Czechoslovakia is a good example of this already.”

Brooker seemed genuinely relieved. “Well if things keep on the way they are and the exit poll is right, what happens next?”

“What we’d expect to see next is the process of coalition forming which can take anywhere from two days to two months, the current Minister-President has the right to seek a coalition first but frankly, given these results, I just can’t imagine Mrs Merkel being a part of any incoming government, except perhaps in a junior role. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t expect anyone to hop into bed with the Vigilant but based on what the British Prime Minister said just a few hours ago and on what we’re hearing from the Confederal head office, it looks like we might see a VA-Con coalition.”

“Bastards,” Jim muttered, “Utter bastards. I hate Fillon and the rest of those traitors”.

Brooker, who increasingly looked like a child being told a scary story before bed, leaned in further. “And what could we expect.”

“We’d likely see a few Vigilant policies enforced straight away. Larger military budget, immediate withdrawal from Turkey, the expulsion of migrants and asylum seekers and probably a roll back of Gay marriage.”

“Oh OK. It’s a literal nightmare then.” Brooker commented, his impartiality slipping more than a little.

“Perhaps, on the international scene we’d see an end to the détente with the USSR, an end to the Alliance with Oceania and almost certainly closer relations with Washington and President Foster.”

“What about the suggestions of compulsory national service?”

“Well, there would certainly be some resistence to that from members of the Confederal Party but I can see many voting for it, in fact-“

Arthur switched it off. “I can’t handle it, lads, I need a break.”

Jim’s head rested limply in his hands. “We’re actually going to die. We’re going to be killed by some poor bastard farmer because we’ll be fighting an American war in Rhodesia or Colombia or something.”

Arthur patted him lightly on the back. “There there mate, night’s not over yet and hey, we can always defect. Right Si?”

Simon’s response, which was muffled by kebab, sounded something like “YUMPF!” which Artie took to be agreement.

Clicking the PDA on again he stared at the seat count:

Vigilant: 81

Coop: 38

Confederal: 24

Marxist-Solidarity: 10

Dem: 4

CPP: 4

Left-Ecologist: 4

“Nights not over yet…”

 

[jolou]

“Bastards,” Jim muttered, “Utter bastards. I hate Fillon and the rest of those traitors”.

You're a good guy Jim

 

[Major Crimson]

This is like
really really really really cool

I'm so glad you think so! Lots more to come!

You're a good guy Jim

He's not a bad lad is he Based loosely on someone I know who actually said something very similar IOTL.


Anyway yeah this update and then one more today, we're still on schedule so should be finished by Sunday! I hope people are enjoying what they've seen and are excited for whats to come.

 

[ert44444]

Interested to see who the leader of the co-op is. Sturgeon? Salmond? But I'm holding out for Gordon.

 

[andry2806]

Who is Vigilant leader? Salvini?

 

[Analytical Engine]

What is Oceania, why is Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) a source of refugees, and how big is Turkey anyway?

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

how big is Turkey anyway?

Or is "Turkey" in fact a shorthand for something beginning with O?

 

[Analytical Engine]

Or is "Turkey" in fact a shorthand for something beginning with O?

They wanted regime change, because of the WMDs that totally existed and could be fired within 45 minutes. Not for the oil, at all...

 

[Major Crimson]

Interested to see who the leader of the co-op is. Sturgeon? Salmond? But I'm holding out for Gordon.

Who is Vigilant leader? Salvini?

No answers from me yet, I will say that the 2 parties with British leaders are of the Co-op and VA, all good guesses though

What is Oceania, why is Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon) a source of refugees, and how big is Turkey anyway?

Spoilers! And sorry I should have made it clearer, the Kebab man isn't from turkey or a refugee but being an immigrant and south-Asian, racists can't or won't see the difference and still target him.

As for what Oceania is, well that'll be revealed in the next update! I will say that it is certainly a very different country to Turkey then.