I traced the outline from a map that had to fit your standard 8.5x11'' paper, so this is a mockup if anything. I wouldn't expect the person I commission to trace it from this. Sadly, there's not a lot in the way of modern political maps in this projection.
WIP Map Thread
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I really like it. May not be the most accurate, but it is very aesthetically pleasing.
I think I'm about ready to begin the writeup on this one. (Might be one or two extra side maps to cover the European Wars of Religion - now brought to you by British Peruvian Silver rather than Spanish Mexican Gold - or a bit of back story on the downfall of Crusader Egypt.)
There's no such thing as a "more accurate" or "less accurate" projection, there are only projections that trade off for different advantages. Actually speaking of, do you know the name of the projection this map is in?
Map of Qian dynasty China at maximum extent, 1453.
IOTL, throughtout the entire Yuan era, the Mongols were divided in a bitter culture war over whether or not they should assimilate to Chinese society, adopt Chinese customs and (crucially for the government) fully adopt traditional Confucian governance. That last bit is actually very important because the Yuan government was an unholy hybrid between Mongolian feudalism and Chinese bureaucracy. The result was a chaotic mess with lots of redundant and conflicting offices, sinecures and a fuckton of local exceptions besides, which undermined the entire point of a bureaucratic system (clear hierarchy, orderly decision-making) and was a major reason why the problems facing the dynasty spiraled out of control. I mean, just look at this herpes-ridden mess and compare it to its successor. And yet, despite those failings, the dynasty could still have survived them if not for some last-minute military fuck-ups.
ITTL, the Yuan do not make those fuck-ups and thus manage to survive the calamities of the 14th century, but the culture war over Mongol identity goes on until the dynasty finally ends in 1394. The Sinophile party, sensing that they are being curtailed and weakened by a hostile imperial court, launch a botched coup which results in 7 years of civil war. In the end, they win and install a different branch of the Borjigid clan on the throne as the Qian dynasty. The new dynasty then reforms the government by removing sinecures, drastically restructuring the bureaucracy, and standardizing the administrative districts.
The system that came out of the reforms had three types of primary divisions: lu (circuits), sheng (secretariats) and fu (commanderies). Circuits are regular provinces; secretariats are provinces which are mostly composed of feudal or tusi territories, and/or do not have the ability to fully staff themselves with local officials because not enough people are taking/passing the local civil service exams yet; commanderies are military frontiers in which a constant army presence is required. Most of the provincial names are holdovers from the Yuan dynasty(map).
Up until 1456, the Qian dynasty would engage in numerous wars of conquest with all of its neighbors, usually coming out on top - conquering Xiyu from the Chagataids in 1407, Burma in 1414, Vietnam in 1425, Champa from the Khmer in 1427, Bengal in 1441, Kyushu in 1447 and Luzon in 1451. Despite their territorial gains, these wars would take a heavy toll on the Qian economy and would lead to widespread unrest. From 1456 onward, they would begin losing territories. First, an upcoming invasion of Honshu was cancelled in order to deal with an Oirat rebellion in Beiting that year, which was quickly joined by a Mongol rebellion in Lingbei and a Chinese peasant rebellion in Jiangbei. These rebellions took 8 years to put down, and Qian armies would incur massive losses in the fighting. In 1466, large parts of Bengal and Burma would rebel and, while Qian troops were tied down there, the Mongols would take the opportunity to revolt again and gain their independence. The new northern threat, combined with the costs of the earlier wars and the new rebellions, would lead the Qian to abandon Bengal, Champa and Manchuria in the 1470s in order to consolidate their forces. By 1492, the empire had also lost its nominal rule over Tibet and would see its grasp over Burma slipping as local principalities began to act with less and less concern for the imperial government's decrees. Despite losses elsewhere, the Qian would stubbornly hold onto Lusong until 1503, and to Kyushu until their overthrow in 1539 by a Korean general.
IOTL, throughtout the entire Yuan era, the Mongols were divided in a bitter culture war over whether or not they should assimilate to Chinese society, adopt Chinese customs and (crucially for the government) fully adopt traditional Confucian governance. That last bit is actually very important because the Yuan government was an unholy hybrid between Mongolian feudalism and Chinese bureaucracy. The result was a chaotic mess with lots of redundant and conflicting offices, sinecures and a fuckton of local exceptions besides, which undermined the entire point of a bureaucratic system (clear hierarchy, orderly decision-making) and was a major reason why the problems facing the dynasty spiraled out of control. I mean, just look at this herpes-ridden mess and compare it to its successor. And yet, despite those failings, the dynasty could still have survived them if not for some last-minute military fuck-ups.
ITTL, the Yuan do not make those fuck-ups and thus manage to survive the calamities of the 14th century, but the culture war over Mongol identity goes on until the dynasty finally ends in 1394. The Sinophile party, sensing that they are being curtailed and weakened by a hostile imperial court, launch a botched coup which results in 7 years of civil war. In the end, they win and install a different branch of the Borjigid clan on the throne as the Qian dynasty. The new dynasty then reforms the government by removing sinecures, drastically restructuring the bureaucracy, and standardizing the administrative districts.
The system that came out of the reforms had three types of primary divisions: lu (circuits), sheng (secretariats) and fu (commanderies). Circuits are regular provinces; secretariats are provinces which are mostly composed of feudal or tusi territories, and/or do not have the ability to fully staff themselves with local officials because not enough people are taking/passing the local civil service exams yet; commanderies are military frontiers in which a constant army presence is required. Most of the provincial names are holdovers from the Yuan dynasty(map).
So for example, Burma, which was conquered in the 1410s, is a secretariat because, while most of the land is under regular administration, the local elites haven't been integrated into the Chinese system yet and the Confucian canon is virtually unknown here, so there are very few Burmese applicants for the imperial exam. This means that the bureaucrats staffing the local government have to come from other provinces, and Burma has to be specially designated as such.
Up until 1456, the Qian dynasty would engage in numerous wars of conquest with all of its neighbors, usually coming out on top - conquering Xiyu from the Chagataids in 1407, Burma in 1414, Vietnam in 1425, Champa from the Khmer in 1427, Bengal in 1441, Kyushu in 1447 and Luzon in 1451. Despite their territorial gains, these wars would take a heavy toll on the Qian economy and would lead to widespread unrest. From 1456 onward, they would begin losing territories. First, an upcoming invasion of Honshu was cancelled in order to deal with an Oirat rebellion in Beiting that year, which was quickly joined by a Mongol rebellion in Lingbei and a Chinese peasant rebellion in Jiangbei. These rebellions took 8 years to put down, and Qian armies would incur massive losses in the fighting. In 1466, large parts of Bengal and Burma would rebel and, while Qian troops were tied down there, the Mongols would take the opportunity to revolt again and gain their independence. The new northern threat, combined with the costs of the earlier wars and the new rebellions, would lead the Qian to abandon Bengal, Champa and Manchuria in the 1470s in order to consolidate their forces. By 1492, the empire had also lost its nominal rule over Tibet and would see its grasp over Burma slipping as local principalities began to act with less and less concern for the imperial government's decrees. Despite losses elsewhere, the Qian would stubbornly hold onto Lusong until 1503, and to Kyushu until their overthrow in 1539 by a Korean general.
Xiyu - old name for Xinjiang.
Beiting - name of a Tang-era military governorate in northern Xinjiang.
Huainan - 'south of the Huai' - pre-Yuan province whose northern boundary was the river Huai.
Xishu - 'western Shu' - Yuan-era district located in western Sichuan but part of Shaanxi province.
Liangzhe - Song-era province corresponding to modern Zhejiang.
Tianzhu - Chinese name for India.
Jiaozhi - name for Vietnam under Chinese rule.
Zhancheng - Chinese name for Champa.
Zhengmian - 'conquered Burma' - Yuan term for Burma during its brief period of Mongol rule.
Zhengdong - 'conquered east' - Yuan province of Korea, which was also expected to include conquests in Japan under Kublai Khan.
Fusang - name taken from a mythical set of islands to the east of China.
Lusong - Chinese name for Luzon island.
Beiting - name of a Tang-era military governorate in northern Xinjiang.
Huainan - 'south of the Huai' - pre-Yuan province whose northern boundary was the river Huai.
Xishu - 'western Shu' - Yuan-era district located in western Sichuan but part of Shaanxi province.
Liangzhe - Song-era province corresponding to modern Zhejiang.
Tianzhu - Chinese name for India.
Jiaozhi - name for Vietnam under Chinese rule.
Zhancheng - Chinese name for Champa.
Zhengmian - 'conquered Burma' - Yuan term for Burma during its brief period of Mongol rule.
Zhengdong - 'conquered east' - Yuan province of Korea, which was also expected to include conquests in Japan under Kublai Khan.
Fusang - name taken from a mythical set of islands to the east of China.
Lusong - Chinese name for Luzon island.
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wonderful map and very detailed ! it looks like the mongols managed to invade japan, how did this go ?
is this too much symbols? still readable ? should I add more ?
Unlike with Kublai Khan's invasions half a century earlier, the Sengoku jidai was well underway, which meant that everyone was totally disorganized when the Mongols returned. Their conquest of Kyushu, 1444-46, was a smashing success. It also woke all the warring daimyos up to the need for unity in the face of external threats, and a new shogunate was hastily erected under the Hojo clan and tasked with the defense of Japan against an expected future invasion. Though that invasion never came, the Hojo would spend the next century tightening their grip on power under the excuse that it was necessary to repel the invaders, until the fall of the Qian and the subsequent Japanese takeover of Kyushu invalidated that excuse.
I like the symbols, but what do they mean?
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interesting and cool ! will you explore this alt-japan ? I'd really like to see how a unified would Japan would interact with the colonial powers. Or, do they fall apart into warring daimyos again ? Either way i hope to see more
cool cool i was worried they could be cluttering the map . the long lines are Lofstrom Loops , the triangles are sets of space elevators (tethering 3 togethor to a single space station increases stability) , the swords are where significant battles took place in (to be detailed) war , and the diamond thingys are major mega-cities
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What do the numbers and letter signify?
Numbers are direct consequences of the shortened war and the alternate Treaty of Versailles.
Letters are indirect consequences of the Russian Empire surviving into the postwar world.
Each one is supposed to have a sidemap with it.
1. Sazonov and Grand Duke Nicholas had been pushing for giving Poland autonomy after the war. They were opposed by the tsarina, who despised them personally, and Boris Sturmer, who had an alternative plan for general devolution that would see Poland be one of about a dozen krais. ITTL, they managed to get Sazonov's resignation in mid-1916, but ITTL he manages to avoid that and gets his plan through. As per his plan, Prussia and Danzig would become direct parts of the Russian Empire instead of Poland. Suwalki would also be transferred from Poland to Russia. Part of the idea was to create messy borders that didn't correspond to ethnic boundaries, so the imperial government could use the issue of national minorities as a political tool against Polish aspirations for further independence.
2. The division of the Austro-Hungarian empire was something the Russian government had serious reservations about, but realistically couldn't avoid because it had painted itself into a corner with its pan-Slavist politics. Romania and Serbia also want their pound of flesh, so the borders here end up pretty close to OTL.
3. Due to poorer Austrian performance, Italy advances farther and gets Dalmatia in the peace treaty. Also, they get Cameroon as a LoN mandate.
4. Germany surrenders sooner, so it avoids a revolution (for now) and retains its monarchy, at Russia's insistence at Versailles.
5. Due to better Russian performance, the Germans advance less into France and hold on for less time, which means that the industrial pillaging they inflicted on northern France is much less than IOTL. This means that France is less insistent on taking the reparations bill from Germany by seizing the Rhineland.
6. Due to a more successful Gallipoli and Russian successes in the north, Bulgaria sees which way the wind's blowing and decides to enter the war to take Thrace.
7. Turkey loses Armenia, but the postwar chill between Russia and Britain means that the Entente is not interested in fully dismantling them, and basically keeps them around as a sort of Afghanistan between the two sides.
8. Due to the shorter war and Germany's flagging prospects in 1916, the IVA doesn't hold out hope for German aid and calls off the Easter Rising before it happens. This means that Irish support for independence isn't galvanized by the crackdown that came afterward IOTL, so Ireland is still a British territory for now.
2. The division of the Austro-Hungarian empire was something the Russian government had serious reservations about, but realistically couldn't avoid because it had painted itself into a corner with its pan-Slavist politics. Romania and Serbia also want their pound of flesh, so the borders here end up pretty close to OTL.
3. Due to poorer Austrian performance, Italy advances farther and gets Dalmatia in the peace treaty. Also, they get Cameroon as a LoN mandate.
4. Germany surrenders sooner, so it avoids a revolution (for now) and retains its monarchy, at Russia's insistence at Versailles.
5. Due to better Russian performance, the Germans advance less into France and hold on for less time, which means that the industrial pillaging they inflicted on northern France is much less than IOTL. This means that France is less insistent on taking the reparations bill from Germany by seizing the Rhineland.
6. Due to a more successful Gallipoli and Russian successes in the north, Bulgaria sees which way the wind's blowing and decides to enter the war to take Thrace.
7. Turkey loses Armenia, but the postwar chill between Russia and Britain means that the Entente is not interested in fully dismantling them, and basically keeps them around as a sort of Afghanistan between the two sides.
8. Due to the shorter war and Germany's flagging prospects in 1916, the IVA doesn't hold out hope for German aid and calls off the Easter Rising before it happens. This means that Irish support for independence isn't galvanized by the crackdown that came afterward IOTL, so Ireland is still a British territory for now.
A. While Sazonov has won the boardroom political battle, elements of Sturmer's regionalization plan still make it through. The Baltic governorates + Prussia are rounded off as one krai, with no ethnic majority in order to facilitate a "You've got minorities too!" strategy similar to the one in Poland.
This treatment is being considered all over the empire, but not all areas are getting it at the same time, hence why Belarus isn't one yet.
B. IOTL, by August 1915, the German advance into Poland had spurred the government to finally abolish the Pale of Settlement, on the grounds that not doing so given that about half the empire's Jews were now under German control and not subject to the Pale, and the other half would be a national security risk if the discrimination wasn't loosened. ITTL, that happens several months later.
C. IOTL, the imperial government began reconsidering its Ukrainian policy around the same time because of a different problem: what to do about Galicia? That area was the source of a lot of Ukrainian nationalist agitation, so dealing with it would also be necessary. The solution arrived at in mid-1916 was to support Ukrainian regionalism, make Ukrainian language co-official in the Ukrainian governorates, and avoid the subject of the Orthodox vs. Eastern Catholic split. In short, Russification in Ukraine was to end. ITTL, the same happens, and Left- and Right- Bank Ukraine + Novorossiya are made krais as well.
D. The empire's Caucasian territories are given the same Sturmer treatment, with shades of "You've got minorities too!"
E. The major flashpoint between Russia and Britain is the question of Persia. IOTL, both sides had spheres of influence there; most oilfields in Persia wer staffed by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and the Persian Cossack Brigade, trained in Russia, were the elite troops of the Persian army. There was also a cadet branch of the Qajars who served with high honors in the Russian military. IOTL, the British edged out Russian influence during the civil war and eventually staged a coup which put Reza Pahlavi on the throne. ITTL, the Russians exert more influence over the Persian court after the war, with the aim of evicting the British from the country.
F. IOTL, Italy established a protectorate over Albania in 1917 with the aim of retaining it after the war. However, it was forced to leave due to strong anti-Italian sentiment in Albania after it was decided by the Entente powers to partition Albania among its various neighbors in 1920. ITTL, the Italians don't agree to the plan and continue ruling in Albania for a while longer.
G. Spain is still on a slow road to civil war, except now the local leftists don't have Russia to rely upon for support.
This treatment is being considered all over the empire, but not all areas are getting it at the same time, hence why Belarus isn't one yet.
B. IOTL, by August 1915, the German advance into Poland had spurred the government to finally abolish the Pale of Settlement, on the grounds that not doing so given that about half the empire's Jews were now under German control and not subject to the Pale, and the other half would be a national security risk if the discrimination wasn't loosened. ITTL, that happens several months later.
C. IOTL, the imperial government began reconsidering its Ukrainian policy around the same time because of a different problem: what to do about Galicia? That area was the source of a lot of Ukrainian nationalist agitation, so dealing with it would also be necessary. The solution arrived at in mid-1916 was to support Ukrainian regionalism, make Ukrainian language co-official in the Ukrainian governorates, and avoid the subject of the Orthodox vs. Eastern Catholic split. In short, Russification in Ukraine was to end. ITTL, the same happens, and Left- and Right- Bank Ukraine + Novorossiya are made krais as well.
D. The empire's Caucasian territories are given the same Sturmer treatment, with shades of "You've got minorities too!"
E. The major flashpoint between Russia and Britain is the question of Persia. IOTL, both sides had spheres of influence there; most oilfields in Persia wer staffed by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and the Persian Cossack Brigade, trained in Russia, were the elite troops of the Persian army. There was also a cadet branch of the Qajars who served with high honors in the Russian military. IOTL, the British edged out Russian influence during the civil war and eventually staged a coup which put Reza Pahlavi on the throne. ITTL, the Russians exert more influence over the Persian court after the war, with the aim of evicting the British from the country.
F. IOTL, Italy established a protectorate over Albania in 1917 with the aim of retaining it after the war. However, it was forced to leave due to strong anti-Italian sentiment in Albania after it was decided by the Entente powers to partition Albania among its various neighbors in 1920. ITTL, the Italians don't agree to the plan and continue ruling in Albania for a while longer.
G. Spain is still on a slow road to civil war, except now the local leftists don't have Russia to rely upon for support.
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This is the first map I've made using Paint.net instead of MS Paint.
I still have a lot to learn.