"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever

[AeroTheZealousOne]

Will we see Russian paratrooper forces? Imagine Mad Tsar jumping off airship in the middle of the battle with a sabre and revolver, then proceeding to kill as many enemies as possible. Then have him survive that.

So the Mad Tsar might have Rasputin-level abilities of tanking and cheating death?

 

[Born in the USSA]

So the Mad Tsar might have Rasputin-level abilities of tanking and cheating death?

Speaking of, what's he up to ITTL? It would be ironic if he's just a normal guy who's completely average in every way.

 

[Murica1776]

Basically if anyone ever worried anyone was the antichrist ITTL so far, it needs to be Viktor. He so hair-raisingly terrifying that even the Union would balk. And I shudder to imagine the Russian-born "Emperor of Mankind" facing off against the Union. It would be the bloodiest war in human history bar none.

I have a perfect mental image of his flagship aeroship descending over a European battlefield through the clouds. To soothe his ego, an actual orchestra performs his favorite music. Huge crates full of mustard gas are dumped out the back as lower deck guns blast cavalry apart like tin toys. Complete horror and devastation.

I saw a Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and the Beast's name was Oswald, and he made false promises of deliverance to a horde of false believers, and they praised and worshiped him instead of God.

(Some wacked out Carolinian pastor getting it right for once)

 

[Diagram]

Steele vs. Viktor II. Battle to the death. Winner gets the world.

The Problem with this is that a battle between Russia and the United States is hopelessly in favour of the latter, Viktor even if he was to unify the entire European Continent would still be outmatched. The North American continent simply has too many advantages.

 

[HIM Dogson]

I have a perfect mental image of his flagship aeroship descending over a European battlefield through the clouds. To soothe his ego, an actual orchestra performs his favorite music. Huge crates full of mustard gas are dumped out the back as lower deck guns blast cavalry apart like tin toys. Complete horror and devastation.

Although really we passed Ozai levels of evil well before Custer.

 

[Worffan101]

The Problem with this is that a battle between Russia and the United States is hopelessly in favour of the latter, Viktor even if he was to unify the entire European Continent would still be outmatched. The North American continent simply has too many advantages.

Now all of Eurasia on the other hand...

(and yes that was an intentional reference)

 

[Nivek]

The Problem with this is that a battle between Russia and the United States is hopelessly in favour of the latter, Viktor even if he was to unify the entire European Continent would still be outmatched. The North American continent simply has too many advantages.

RU is not whole USA so they're even...for now.

it would also be hilarious if his heir was born from a Mongolian Woman just to cause the RU to start frothing at the mouth

Chucky arch-nemesis?

i hope we got post chuckey, romney or someone else as the modern day insane master would be funny(with a cheney as dark puppetmaster in the shadows)

 

[Time Enough]

Now all of Eurasia on the other hand...

(and yes that was an intentional reference)

"We've always been at War with Eurasia...even after hundred nukes...they just won't die"
-Un-named NUSA soldier

Also I think the Madnessverse just needs to end with this song:

It encapsulates the tone of this timeline quite well

 

[Diagram]

Now all of Eurasia on the other hand...

Which is nigh on impossible, can you imagine the expense? All the difficulties created by all the mountainous terrain, the massive empty territories, the sheer amount of hostile land.

One of the biggest reasons for why the USSR collapsed was because they had such a vast border to protect: from Central Europe, to Afghanistan to China. All of it had to be garrisoned. There are simply not enough Slavs to guard all the territory.

A different leadership does not change Russia's perennial geopolitical problem, simply put it is permanently surrounded by enemies, has gigantic border areas to protect and simply lacks the resources and manpower with which to do it. Not to mention more subtle problems, like all Eurasian powers Russia has always had great issues with wealth disparities between individual provinces, this is why Eurasian powers Russia among them, keep collapsing every century or so and depend on autocratic governance to keep it all together.

Oh and let's not forget that a Russian Eurasian Empire would be dependent on land based trade routes while the United States would dominate the sea.

Or the fact that the United States will almost certainly ally with another Eurasian power to prevent Russian ascendancy.

RU is not whole USA so they're even...for now.

No they are not, the United States controls the entirety of the Mississippi watershed, New Orleans and the Great Planes states, granting it control over the spine of the North American continent and the single largest area of farmland anywhere. It already is a superpower.

 

[Vuu]

The Problem with this is that a battle between Russia and the United States is hopelessly in favour of the latter, Viktor even if he was to unify the entire European Continent would still be outmatched. The North American continent simply has too many advantages.

Nah, not really. It would end in a perpetual slugging match, with neither side being able to make a meaningful advancement against the other. Imagine the western front in WW1, but on a planetary scale. A fortified Russian Far East and it's basically guaranteed to last until one or both implode

 

[Prince Daemon Targaryen]

I saw a Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and the Beast's name was Oswald, and he made false promises of deliverance to a horde of false believers, and they praised and worshiped him instead of God.

(Some wacked out Carolinian pastor getting it right for once)

Steele was the Antichrist in Madnessverse 1.0 Southron propaganda

 

[Md139115]

No they are not, the United States controls the entirety of the Mississippi watershed, New Orleans and the Great Planes states, granting it control over the spine of the North American continent and the single largest area of farmland anywhere. It already is a superpower.

While this is true, I think it important to note several key factors:

A. The population of the RU is almost certainly lower than OTL US, even accounting for the territorial differences. Immigration is not as palatable, most of the country has been subjected to a brutal total war at one point or another, and mortality rates of the ethnic groups here called “Inferiors” is almost certainly higher than OTL.

B. There have been five great gold rushes (and one silver rush) in American history OTL:

1. The Carolina Gold Rush of 1799

2. The Georgia Gold Rush of 1828-1840s

3. The California Gold Rush of 1848-55

4. The Klondike and Alaska Gold Rushes of the 1890’s

5. The various minor rushes of Colorado, the Dakotas, and Nevada between 1880-1895

6. The Nevada and Colorado Silver Rushes of 1870-1890

Now the US benefited immensely from all of these OTL, growing the treasury and population rapidly while building up the area at a greatly accelerated rate. Here, the RU has only benefited from the last two (and peripherally from the Georgia one).

C. The US plunged nearly its entire GDP into economic expansion between 1790-1860. The military was tiny and government expenditures in general were very, very small. Here, the various nations have been forced to spend on guns instead of butter much earlier. Now in some circumstances that can be remarkably stimulating, but here I suspect that it hasn’t been.

D. Finally, the RU does not yet have California. In addition to the obvious problems with the absence of a huge population center and breadbasket, it causes a knock-on effect in that none of the transcontinental railroads except OTL’s Great Northern make any sense to build. That means the Great Plains are going to be much less developed.

Although the potential is there, I would caution against assuming the RU is anywhere near as strong as the historical US at this time.

 

[Diagram]

Nah, not really. It would end in a perpetual slugging match, with neither side being able to make a meaningful advancement against the other.

I don't see why it would be a stalemate, North America is more stable and easier to defend than Europe can ever be, where would the Tsar find all the Slavs to garrison all of Europe? How can Moscow control such a vast area for an extended period of time? Unlike North America, Europe doesn't have a river like the Mississippi that can be used to control the heart of the entire continent, not does it have one massive breadbasket and is in general far more difficult to unify.

A fortified Russian Far East

Siberia is nothing but a drain on finances on top of being worthless.

A. The population of the RU is almost certainly lower than OTL US, even accounting for the territorial differences. Immigration is not as palatable, most of the country has been subjected to a brutal total war at one point or another, and mortality rates of the ethnic groups here called “Inferiors” is almost certainly higher than OTL.

I agree, but it should be noted that due to religious nuttery families will likely be larger. In the original as I recall, the NUSA had actually a bigger population prior to the Great War than the IRL United States, though that was rather unrealistic as you would point out.

Although the potential is there, I would caution against assuming the RU is anywhere near as strong as the historical US at this time.

Your points are convincing, I think will draw back my statement a little, a better way to put my logic would be that the United Stats has achieved the prerequisites for being a superpower. It took after all in our world until the World Wars for the United States to become an effective superpower, even though it had control of the Mississippi since the days of Andrew Jackson.

I would contend however that there isn't much stopping the United States from achieving effective superpower status, all the ingredients are there it just needs time.

Edit: Russia's problem has always been that of encirclement:

Now the situation in the Mad!Verse would of course be rather different but it shows the dynamic of Eurasian power facing off an Oceanic one.

 

[Omar20]

So, a few questions concerning South America at the Turn of the Century:
1-Is slavery still legal in the Europan Empire and it's overseas territories. I'm thinking mainly Brazil and Rio de la Plata
2-Are Brazil and Rio de la Plata administered as a single political entity or more as separated territories?
3-Have the governments of Brazil-Rio de la Plata or Peru-Chile engaged in campaigns of extermination of native peoples and settling of territiories considered "uninhabited" as IOTL?
4-Are the elites of South America encouraging massive immigration from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe to increase the numbers of white people in the continent as IOTL?

 

[Napoleon53]

So, a few questions concerning South America at the Turn of the Century:
1-Is slavery still legal in the Europan Empire and it's overseas territories. I'm thinking mainly Brazil and Rio de la Plata
2-Are Brazil and Rio de la Plata administered as a single political entity or more as separated territories?
3-Have the governments of Brazil-Rio de la Plata or Peru-Chile engaged in campaigns of extermination of native peoples and settling of territiories considered "uninhabited" as IOTL?
4-Are the elites of South America encouraging massive immigration from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe to increase the numbers of white people in the continent as IOTL?

No, Napoleon II ended slavery. This was a big reason the South lacked support from the Empire during the Great American War.

I will soon cover Brazil-Rio, but I would say they are a single entity with multiple departments/states.

While I haven't mentioned it, it's presumed the native peoples of SAm were defeated as per OTL. Whether the Empire treats the defeated natives any worse than OTL SAm governments is yet to be seen.

I would say that immigration has probably definitely been a priority for the Empire. India can remain a caste system and a colonial endevour, while SAm is much more likely to be home to a "New Europe," i.e. they woukd try to recreate their own image. Whiteness doesn't particularly matter to Europa though, just whether or not you are Catholic and whether or not you bow to Paris.

 

[Omar20]

No, Napoleon II ended slavery. This was a big reason the South lacked support from the Empire during the Great American War.

I will soon cover Brazil-Rio, but I would say they are a single entity with multiple departments/states.

While I haven't mentioned it, it's presumed the native peoples of SAm were defeated as per OTL. Whether the Empire treats the defeated natives any worse than OTL SAm governments is yet to be seen.

I would say that immigration has probably definitely been a priority for the Empire. India can remain a caste system and a colonial endevour, while SAm is much more likely to be home to a "New Europe," i.e. they woukd try to recreate their own image. Whiteness doesn't particularly matter to Europa though, just whether or not you are Catholic and whether or not you bow to Paris.

Thanks for the answers: I can imagine Brazilian and Platinean elites warming up to French rule as long as they let them alone in their haciendas and estancias to exploit white, black and indigenous peasants alike. Cash crops such as coffee, sugar, rubber in the North and cattle in the South must be booming by the turn of the century. Also, the cultural and linguistic evolution of SAm must be superinteresting. I imagine different dialects and creoles developping in different latitudes of the Empirw with people using French as lingua franca and dialects, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German or indigenous languages at home.

 

[ZayoTVRadio]

It appears that I have underestimated that mad Czar, though the opponent that he is fighting is, at the moment, a weakened and frail one. One wonders what will happen were he to face a more capable opponent. Even with his tenacity in mind and the bleakness of the scenario as it is, I hope that, in some small way, Republican China can pull off a miracle Maybe Sun, Yuan, someone else or something beyond mere personalities could help.

Anyways, I look forward to the incoming Great War; I can hear the screeching of the wheels as the train surges on at full speed from over here. (I hope the mad Czar gets beheaded himself)

 

[Omar20]

It appears that I have underestimated that mad Czar, though the opponent that he is fighting is, at the moment, a weakened and frail one. One wonders what will happen were he to face a more capable opponent. Even with his tenacity in mind, I certainly hope that Republican China can pull off a miracle in some way. Maybe Sun, Yuan, someone else or something beyond mere personalities could help.

Anyways, I look forward to the incoming Great War; I can hear the screeching of the wheels as the train surges on at full speed from over here. (I hope the mad Czar gets beheaded himself)

It would be fitting for Tsar-Khan Vikky to die a martyr in battle leaving his empire in chaos and a quasi-religious cult of his own person with a few drops of Mongolian shamanism in it. It would be perfect to turn Eurasia raving mad.

 

[Wolttaire]

Is there idea in the us that they can rehabilte infefiors? Perhaps a progressive movement to bring them out of it there horribleness

 

[Darksider166]

May I present to you, Czar Viktor's closest friends/advisors in government come the 1920s: