Witch0Winter's Artwork

It's such a fine map I feel uncomfortable about nitpicks, but why does Maryland take the wasteland [1] north of Canada (OTL known as northern Quebec and Newfoundland)? I can see them just getting to western Ontario first (the French were never very enthusiastic colonizers), but they're hardly going to be enthusiastic about settling there, they lack an "introduction" into the area like OTL's Hudson Bay Company, and they're usually allies with the French...so why didn't they just leave that area to the Canadiens?

Bruce


[1] There aren't even any useful minerals, at least not in concentrations that show up on my atlas.
 
It's such a fine map I feel uncomfortable about nitpicks, but why does Maryland take the wasteland [1] north of Canada (OTL known as northern Quebec and Newfoundland)? I can see them just getting to western Ontario first (the French were never very enthusiastic colonizers), but they're hardly going to be enthusiastic about settling there, they lack an "introduction" into the area like OTL's Hudson Bay Company, and they're usually allies with the French...so why didn't they just leave that area to the Canadiens?

Bruce


[1] There aren't even any useful minerals, at least not in concentrations that show up on my atlas.
I actually had to think this through a little bit while making the map, heh. The basic answer that I came down with is that Maryland more or less ended up claiming so much territory because they were the only ones who really could, because they had the size and industry to back up their claims. French Canada remains very small because by 1950 they still barely have any people (and the few they do have are all concentrated in the St. Lawrence River Valley, more or less, with only a few communities otherwise), while Maryland is large. Due to how large the rivalry is between the Commonwealth and the Catholic powers, Maryland saw all that land as land that someone needed to get to before the Commonwealth did. The problem was, if Canada claimed it, they couldn't really back it up militarily. So, Maryland more or less moved in and took it all because they had the population to back it up, even if said population was far away. Plus, being the only power to occupy Hudson Bay was purely coincidental, of course. :p
 
Cape Town-Singapore Express

A rather railpunk-y cover of B_Munro's awesome scenario. Basic premise is a more federalized British Empire manages to build a massive railroad stretching from Cape Town to Singapore, a little side effect from Britain remaining the world's top superpower.

To expand upon the background a little from B_Munro's description, this world began to diverge from our own in the 1890s when the British Empire began to federalize and rail travel was not superseded by automobiles, which remained a toy for the rich while the rest of the classes use trolleys for short term travel and trains for long term.

World War I went more or less as OTL, but with the US entering in 1918 rather than 1917, which led to France and Britain taking more of a leadership role and the USA remaining more isolated from European affairs. The Treaty of Versailles wasn't quite as harsh to the Germans, as it was focused more on keeping the USSR out, since the post-Trotsky country was a major world threat.

Instead of World War II, there were two major wars, the first between a semi-democratic Weimar Republic and fascist Italy, which resulted in the Germans annexing Austria and taking back South Tyrol while Italy lost Trieste to Yugoslavia, a German ally. Italy reformed to a republic shortly after the surrender. This war paved the way for European success in the next, in which a post-Trotsky USSR signed a non-aggression pact with the Japanese Empire so the USSR could attack Eastern Europe and Japan attack East Asia without them worrying about the other attacking them.

In Europe, the USSR managed to steamroll its way through the border countries before being stopped by a massive coalition of European nations at Warsaw, which featured armies from France, Britain, Poland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and, most importantly, Germany, who had managed to democratize and be promised land back if they helped in the war. The war wasn't easy, but the USSR's three army groups (one attacking Danzig in the north, one hitting Warsaw in the middle, and one marching to Budapest in the south) were eventually turned back and forced back over the border. However, the USSR was still a burgeoning superpower, so the Europeans only managed to make a solid peace with them, but couldn't march to Moscow or remove them from Scandinavia, which they had all but taken control of. In the aftermath, the Intermarium Federation was created to become an economic and military stopgap to further Soviet incursion in Eastern Europe, featuring a uniting of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania, though Romania would leave in the 1960s due to protests over unfairness in the federation's politics.

In Asia, the war was primarily fought between Japan and the British Empire, with the USA providing material support and armed intervention in China, but otherwise leaving the war up to the British. However, being more federalized worked in Britain's favor, and the united empire crushed Japan with a nuclear weapon deployed to Kobe in 1946. Britain then took up the responsibility of rebuilding Japan after the war, with things going much like OTL and Japan becoming an economic world power and major ally to Britain in the years afterward.

By 1980, the world has begun to change since then. Most notably, the USSR has all but lost its superpower status to government mishandling and corruption, reducing its sphere of influence to Armenia (British forces in Persia, India, and Iraq invaded from the south and split off the smaller SSRs) and Scandinavia while the nation tries to hold onto its rocket program to prove it is still a superpower, but nobody is fooled. Europe is more or less united behind France and Germany, who became unlikely bedfellows following the war, with Germany even getting Danzig and the corridor returned to them. The German economy has recently surpassed France's, which the French are not happy about, but the French still hold the largest overseas empire besides Britain. Talks are ongoing about creating a federalized entity in Europe, a sort of "European Union".

Britain is still on top of the world, despite more or less being on its own, with its Empire still the largest in the world. The recently completed Cape Town-Singapore Express is evidence of this, with the rails running much faster and more efficiently than the USA's dirty and unsafe highways (the USA being the only major nation to still try to get regular citizens to use automobiles). However, the balance of power has shifted in the Empire, with more and more of the Empire's economy, politics, and military strength being a facet of the Indian Dominions rather than Britain herself. This is even more evident with the building of New Delhi, a planned city that will be the economic heart of the Empire just to the north of the metropolis of Delhi.

The USA and allies are the world's runner up superpowers, and are very bitter about it. Cut off from the rest of the world, the US consolidated power in the Americas and has an alliance system stretching from southern South America to Alaska, though Brazil and her allies are increasingly becoming independent. After the success of the Cape Town-Singapore route, the US is in talks with its allies to complete a railway from Alaska to southern Chile, though it's more a vanity project than anything else. The US is also notably conservative in this world, though don't tell them that.

Finally, the other major world power, and an up-and-coming superpower, is the Chinese Imperium, who went much more capitalistic following the Great Pacific War, though not so much democratic. With American help, the Chinese got back on their feet and have since begun an impressive industrialization program, which has managed to carve out a power base in East Asia and create one of the world's largest middle classes. The Chinese are allied with the other up-and-comers in East Asia as well, them being Vietnam, Korea, and Indonesia, all of whom are not quite to the same level as Europe, but are getting there. The US and Britain alike are afraid that by 2000 they will be surpassed, which gives both alliances all the more reason to continue advancing as fast as they can.
 
And here is the map for the scenario:

Cape to Singapore.png
 
Excellent work, I'm particularly touched by that 'Kite Runner' reference... ooh right in the centre of my feels.
 
The Grand War​

English language version.

Request for Bruiser128 on deviantART.
Anglo-Saxon language generously provided by FleetMac.

This is the world in a universe that diverged from our own in the year 876, with the death of Huang Cho during his rebellion before he could kill one hundred thousand rich Muslims in southern China. Without their deaths, Islam continued to grow in China during the centuries, especially among the rich merchant classes. Eventually, after a brutal series of civil wars, an Islamic dynasty came to power in Hangchow, and would rule China from the late 15th century until the current year, 1894. While most of China still practices Buddhism, Confucianism, and other religions, the Islamic rulers have adapted themselves to Chinese culture and customs well enough that they are accepted as rulers of China, much like the Manchu of our own world. Muslim Chinese are a growing minority group, however, especially as many of the rich at least pay tribute to being Muslim, if only for the sake of political power.

In Europe and the rest of Asia, history took a very different turn. The lack of Mongols and an earlier plague that, while very deadly, also helped curb feudalism changed the political and social makeup of the entire world. In Europe, Francia fractured even further than in our world, with Middle and East Francia eventually forming Holy Germnia under the influence of the Pope in Rome, while West Francia was fractured into many different, smaller states. Eventually, the Normans of northern Francia were able to unite all of West Francia under them into a shaky, fractured state resembling less our world's France and more Austria-Hungary, with the king in Rouen having far less power and influence than he would like.

Without a successful Norman invasion of England, the Anglo-Saxons remained dominant in the British Isles, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain hundreds of years later with a peaceful uniting of Scotland, England, Wales, and the various Irish states. To this day the kingdom is less united than our world's Great Britain, with significant autonomy for all states within. This is partially due to Catholicism, albeit a different brand of it, still dominating the Isles. Their primary rivals in Europe is the technocratic, autocratic Holy Germanian Empire, a federalized version of the nation with the same name that stood since the fall of the Frankish Empire. After the German Unification Wars in which a powerful German state with its capital in Worms united all the Germans, the empire rose to become the single most powerful nation in Western and Central Europe. Even Britain, with her federated colonies such as the United Kingdoms of Arcadia cannot directly threaten Germania one-on-one without possibly facing a complete loss. The Germanians have industrial might the likes of which the world has never seen before, and it has left Britain very afraid.

However, the British are not without allies. Hispania, a state formed by a more peaceful reconquinista and resembling a cross between our world's Spain and Caliphate of Cordoba, is one of the other primary colonial powers, and h as even taken a large bite out of the Indian subcontinent. They were also responsible for opening up Japan to the world much earlier, and have made the Japanese into a powerful, industrialized ally. The Eastern Roman Empire, still going after nearly 2000 years, has drifted into Britain's system of alliances as well. The Romans were once the masters of the Mediterranean, but constant war with the Turks, who had been forced from Central Asia by the Kazakhs and driven across the Middle East by a stronger Persia and Caliphate, left them with only the western coast of Anatolia and the southern third of Italy, plus their various holdings in the Balkans. They are no longer even close to the military power they once were, but are no slouch when it comes to science and technology, and have created many wonders of modern science throughout the ages, with Constantinople a constant attraction for the world's greatest minds.

The strongest ally to Britain, and the enemy Germania fears the most, actually lies to the east. Ruthenia, built out of the ashes of the Kievan Rus. Standing on the same principles as the old state, Ruthenia aggressively expanded throughout the centuries until it encompassed much of the world, and was able to extend its power from the Black Sea to the Sea of Japan. Though a recent civil war and war with Germania set the Ruthenians back, the government in Kiev has steered its country toward greatness, and in 1894 Ruthenia stands on the brink of becoming a superpower. Science, technology, industry, education, and the arts flow out of Ruthenia, particularly Kiev, at a rate which astonishes the rest of the world, and the state has eyes on assuming Germania's current number one spot in Europe.

This is something that Germania is determined not to let happen. As depicted on the map printed in London, Germania has been hard at work in recent years surrounding Ruthenia with enemies. Allying themselves with the rapidly-growing power of China, Germania seeks to cut down Ruthenia before the nation can reach superpower status and be almost indestructible. Alliances have also been proposed with the Rajput Empire, a regional power, Persia, an old enemy of Ruthenia, and the Caliphate, an oil-rich nation bent on returning itself to its past glory. Combined with Germania's puppets of Avaria, Bulgaria, and Poland, it might be enough to tip the balance of power in Worms' favor and plunge the world into autocratic Germanian rule.

On December 11, 1894, the world is still a pleasant place, but feels itself on the brink. With technology akin to what our world attained in the mid-20th century, and with other technologies not seen on our Earth, the world is richer and more abundant with wealth and power than we have known. Men and women can work for honest wages and live in large apartments or penthouses in the grand cities that dot the landscape of the Old World. With Christmas two weeks away at the time of the printing, Catholic Europe has settled into a happy routine of visiting friends and family, exchanging gifts, and eating to their hearts content. Yet, at the same time, the shadow of war hangs over Europe and Asia, and threatens to plunge the planet into darkness. The question on the hearts and minds of the people is not whether there will be war, but rather who will win when the "Grand War" finally comes?

the_grand_war_by_toixstory-d84l3rw.png
 
Last edited:
The Grand War​


English language version.

Request for Bruiser128 on deviantART.
Anglo-Saxon language generously provided by FleetMac.

This is the world in a universe that diverged from our own in the year 876, with the death of Huang Cho during his rebellion before he could kill one hundred thousand rich Muslims in southern China. Without their deaths, Islam continued to grow in China during the centuries, especially among the rich merchant classes. Eventually, after a brutal series of civil wars, an Islamic dynasty came to power in Hangchow, and would rule China from the late 15th century until the current year, 1894. While most of China still practices Buddhism, Confucianism, and other religions, the Islamic rulers have adapted themselves to Chinese culture and customs well enough that they are accepted as rulers of China, much like the Manchu of our own world. Muslim Chinese are a growing minority group, however, especially as many of the rich at least pay tribute to being Muslim, if only for the sake of political power.

In Europe and the rest of Asia, history took a very different turn. The lack of Mongols and an earlier plague that, while very deadly, also helped curb feudalism changed the political and social makeup of the entire world. In Europe, Francia fractured even further than in our world, with Middle and East Francia eventually forming Holy Germnia under the influence of the Pope in Rome, while West Francia was fractured into many different, smaller states. Eventually, the Normans of northern Francia were able to unite all of West Francia under them into a shaky, fractured state resembling less our world's France and more Austria-Hungary, with the king in Rouen having far less power and influence than he would like.

Without a successful Norman invasion of England, the Anglo-Saxons remained dominant in the British Isles, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain hundreds of years later with a peaceful uniting of Scotland, England, Wales, and the various Irish states. To this day the kingdom is less united than our world's Great Britain, with significant autonomy for all states within. This is partially due to Catholicism, albeit a different brand of it, still dominating the Isles. Their primary rivals in Europe is the technocratic, autocratic Holy Germanian Empire, a federalized version of the nation with the same name that stood since the fall of the Frankish Empire. After the German Unification Wars in which a powerful German state with its capital in Worms united all the Germans, the empire rose to become the single most powerful nation in Western and Central Europe. Even Britain, with her federated colonies such as the United Kingdoms of Arcadia cannot directly threaten Germania one-on-one without possibly facing a complete loss. The Germanians have industrial might the likes of which the world has never seen before, and it has left Britain very afraid.

However, the British are not without allies. Hispania, a state formed by a more peaceful reconquinista and resembling a cross between our world's Spain and Caliphate of Cordoba, is one of the other primary colonial powers, and h as even taken a large bite out of the Indian subcontinent. They were also responsible for opening up Japan to the world much earlier, and have made the Japanese into a powerful, industrialized ally. The Eastern Roman Empire, still going after nearly 2000 years, has drifted into Britain's system of alliances as well. The Romans were once the masters of the Mediterranean, but constant war with the Turks, who had been forced from Central Asia by the Kazakhs and driven across the Middle East by a stronger Persia and Caliphate, left them with only the western coast of Anatolia and the southern third of Italy, plus their various holdings in the Balkans. They are no longer even close to the military power they once were, but are no slouch when it comes to science and technology, and have created many wonders of modern science throughout the ages, with Constantinople a constant attraction for the world's greatest minds.

The strongest ally to Britain, and the enemy Germania fears the most, actually lies to the east. Ruthenia, built out of the ashes of the Kievan Rus. Standing on the same principles as the old state, Ruthenia aggressively expanded throughout the centuries until it encompassed much of the world, and was able to extend its power from the Black Sea to the Sea of Japan. Though a recent civil war and war with Germania set the Ruthenians back, the government in Kiev has steered its country toward greatness, and in 1894 Ruthenia stands on the brink of becoming a superpower. Science, technology, industry, education, and the arts flow out of Ruthenia, particularly Kiev, at a rate which astonishes the rest of the world, and the state has eyes on assuming Germania's current number one spot in Europe.

This is something that Germania is determined not to let happen. As depicted on the map printed in London, Germania has been hard at work in recent years surrounding Ruthenia with enemies. Allying themselves with the rapidly-growing power of China, Germania seeks to cut down Ruthenia before the nation can reach superpower status and be almost indestructible. Alliances have also been proposed with the Rajput Empire, a regional power, Persia, an old enemy of Ruthenia, and the Caliphate, an oil-rich nation bent on returning itself to its past glory. Combined with Germania's puppets of Avaria, Bulgaria, and Poland, it might be enough to tip the balance of power in Worms' favor and plunge the world into autocratic Germanian rule.

On December 11, 1894, the world is still a pleasant place, but feels itself on the brink. With technology akin to what our world attained in the mid-20th century, and with other technologies not seen on our Earth, the world is richer and more abundant with wealth and power than we have known. Men and women can work for honest wages and live in large apartments or penthouses in the grand cities that dot the landscape of the Old World. With Christmas two weeks away at the time of the printing, Catholic Europe has settled into a happy routine of visiting friends and family, exchanging gifts, and eating to their hearts content. Yet, at the same time, the shadow of war hangs over Europe and Asia, and threatens to plunge the planet into darkness. The question on the hearts and minds of the people is not whether there will be war, but rather who will win when the "Grand War" finally comes?
Nice map, PlatoonSgt!:)
 
Joyeux Noel

Full size map.

Starting something new, I give you the first map in a new map/AH series: A Hen Watching the Wolf Pack. Partly inspired by the Leviathan series of alternate history novels, it is a post-1900 timeline that follows the exploits of a France that is determined not to be left in the dust on the world stage. Here is a map before the First Great War between the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente.

The day is December 25, and the year 1913. Christmas Day has dawned across Europe as millions wake from their beds to behold snowy mornings full of presents and warm food. For now, Europe is at rest, despite the recent troubles in the Balkans and the failed Young Turk Uprising 5 years before in Turkey. War looms on the horizon between the mighty Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy against the powerful Triple Entente of France, Britain, and Russia with their vast empires behind them. It is a war that is, for sure, to be terrible, but Europeans by and large have other matters on their minds and pay little attention to the dire news that surrounds them.

In France, the citizens are confident in their politicians, their army, and the spirit of their soldiers to protect them from any incursion, and Britain boasts that its economic policies and world trade have made war all but impossible. Indeed, Britain could almost be called as isolationist as the United States, who lazily slumbers across the sea. In Germany, the confidence is still in peace, but more of the citizens and politicians grow agitated for war. With Russia's modernization program moving ahead of schedule due to a much friendlier sultan in Turkey, it is feared that if war does not come soon, Russia will be impossible to defeat. Meanwhile, in Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand and Franz Joseph butt heads over how the nation should be ruled and whether or not they should serve as Germany's lapdogs.

Christmas 1913 is a day of peace and goodwill, but it will be, alas, the last Christmas in a world without wars that span across the globe, wars that will engulf entire generations of men in the years to come. Few men, on this day, could have imagined that they may not live to see the next Christmas, or even the next fall, when war would come at last to Europe.

The only hope that Europe will have, once the great conflict begins, is for the victor to establish itself so firmly that a war as vast and terrible as the one about to explode into being will be the last of them. Unfortunately, wars and men do so rarely change.

joyuex_noel_by_toixstory-d85jvxa.png
 
Excelsior

For this map, which began as a request from Stuyvesant, I tried out some new styles and ideas, most of which were inspired from the mapmaking greats. Specifically, these two maps: . They are both far better mapmakers than I, but hopefully you will enjoy this map as well.

The story of this map begins with a point of divergence in the late 1760s. For multiple reasons, the American Revolution as we know it never occurs, though a revolution does indeed happen. Instead of seceding from Great Britain as one nation, the 13 colonies (in this world, also joined by Canada) fight a war to reform the British government's handling of the colonies and end the tyranny and oppression over them. After a hard war, the revolution succeeds with backing by the Whigs in Great Britain, who help change the status of the North American colonies for good.

The 13 colonies, along with Vermont and Canada, are organized into a new sort of colony: the United States of America. This colony greatly resembles the dominions of our own world, with each "state" electing its own leaders except for royal officials and the King of Great Britain himself, who resides over all. The United States itself is a very loose organization of all the former colonies, most of which form their own nation-states except for the Crown Colonies in Florida and Newfoundland. The United States government only has power on interstate trade and taxing, interstate military matters (such as organizing the military when Great Britain goes to war), and other large bureaucratic needs such as those. The day-to-day running of the states falls to their own governments, such as in New York.

New York held a great advantage from the start, especially after being granted the Ontario peninsula after a surge in pro-New York pride among many of the royalist fighters in the American Revolution. New York also began as one of the most populous states, and continued that trend throughout its history. While starting out powerful did indeed help, the most important aspect of New York's history, however, was the opening of the Erie Canal in 1824 with help of British Royal Engineers. The Erie Canal rapidly increased transport across New York and made New York City the dominant centre of trade in North America, as goods from many nations of the United States flowed on the Great Lakes and down the Erie Canal. New York City surpassed the previous giant, Boston, in greatness and splendour throughout the 19th century, and by the dawn of the 20th it had become the largest city in North America and the second-largest city in the British Empire proper after London.

Rail travel quickly became the most popular medium of transport in New York during the late 19th century, and continues on to the current date of the map, 1948. Railroads connected New York City and Albany to the growing cities to the west, such as Rochester, Buffalo, Toronto, and Hamilton. With these growing cities, more often than not bolstered by the many immigrants who sought land and fortune in New York, there came a rise of a counter-culture to the traditional New Yorker culture. This would eventually split New York into two dominant socio-political groups: the Lakers and Hudsonians.

The most well-known of the New Yorkers in the outsider world are the Hudsonians, who, naturally, mostly live along the Hudson. Their area is typically defined to stretch from Long Island up to the Capital District of Albany. Their largest cities are New York City, Albany, and Brooklyn, but even those not in the cities are never far from one. The Hudsonian culture is a cosmopolitan one, resembling more the culture of Paris or Berlin than London due to high-class ideas and styles prevalent throughout every social class. Their art and politics tend to lean progressive and explosive, and the debates held in New York City and Brooklyn are legendary for their ferocity. Due to its dominance in the nation, New York City (sometimes paired with rival city Brooklyn) is often the face of New York, and from it comes much of New York's world-renowned art, literature, radio plays, and music.

The Lakers, meanwhile, are seen as the "back-country" or "rural" culture of New York, despite the presence of large cities of their own. The area of the Lakers is not as well-defined, but it typically refers to New Yorkers in the provinces bordering the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, but can extend inland as well. These people are typically more old-style conservative and easy-going in their politics and art. If Hudsonians are Realists, Lakers are Romantics, and their way of life shows. Lakers tend to look down upon upper-class displays of wealth and "high culture" instead trending toward working class ideals, media, and ways of life, even in the large cities. Since the economic boom of the 1930s, more and more of the Lakers live in cities rather on farms, but they have taken their values with them. Though not as world-renowned, the Lakers produce many great works of art, literature, music, and radio play in their own right, much of which is popular in North America while the Hudsonian media is popular in Europe.

Together, the two cultures blend into a rich and deep socio-political way of life in the nation of New York, which has helped make it the most wealthy and lively of the nations that make up the United States. Though sometimes looked down upon for being made up of Anglophiles by the more independent New England and Virginia, New York has benefited from its close relationship to London with cooperation and economic help during times of trouble. Since the Great War in Europe, the United States has become increasingly powerful from their support of the British Empire, becoming an arsenal of British democracy. However, this has also opened up many new avenues to the United States, as they are rapidly becoming the tail that wags the dog, something of concern and interest to the royal government in London. Only time will tell where the road will lead, but it will undoubtedly be New York who will lead the way.
 
REALLY nice work, Sarge! The subdivisions inside of New York look great, not to mention logical in terms of addressing geography for such a country spanning multiple lakes and other geographic features.
 
Good map!:)
What are the political parties in TTL New York (and United States)?
Well, since the United States are a loose collection of nations spread across most of North America, the list would be quite long. The largest political parties in New York are the Whig Party (socially liberal but politically conservative), the Democratic Party (socially conservative and politically conservative), and the Labour Party (socially liberal and politically liberal). Note they all go by European standards of conservatism and liberalism, and the government is that of a parliamentary democracy. Currently the Whig Party is the dominant in New York but only has a minor plurality. However, there have been talks of the Whigs and Democrats forming a coalition to form a true majority in Albany.
 
Que Sera Sera

This map is a sequel to . It is the second part of my "Hen Watching the Wolf Pack" map series. It is more or less an OTL map within an ATL universe, but it turned out great, I think. This was mostly for some practice, but for that I think the map serves its purpose. Enjoy.

Christmas Day, 1926. Much like in our own world, the guns that began their soulless clatter in 1914 were silenced in 1918, and have remained still in the eight years since. The Triple Entente of France, Great Britain, and Russia emerged victorious in the Great War by the grace of God, defeating the armies of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. It was a hard war and a long war, and one that ended only when all sides were too tired to fight any longer and wanted their boys to come home.

The postwar world is a cautiously hopeful one. A generation of young men returned home to stitch their lives back together, but a boom of aid, brotherhood, and fellowship across Europe helped to rebuild the wounded continent and even surpass the pre-war levels of prosperity. Germany, bereft of the extreme punishments inflicted by the Treaty of Versailles in our world, rebuilt its economy in just seven years, once against surpassing France's own mighty economic power. Russia fell apart into civil war before the ink dried upon the Treaty of Bruges, but has now come back from the brink with a loose coalition government ruling over its people. The successors of Austria-Hungary have similarly settled down after years of turmoil.

However, no one suffered more, or fought harder, than France. French boys and men fought and died with the greatest ferocity yet seen on the continent to defend their homeland and win back the territory stolen from them in the Franco-Prussian War. Miraculously, the French underdog was victorious and successfully managed to put itself back together after the war ended. France's economy and industry rapidly rebounded with a surplus of new jobs, while Paris replaced Berlin and London as the growing centre of European art, culture, and education. The City of Lights on the great River Seine can be seen for miles and miles around, strung in electric lamps that shower with light the world's greatest minds who come to the wondrous city to pursue their dreams.

It is a wonderful time for the French people, but the government, while positive, is still very cautious. The German Empire, though greatly reduced in power, is still intact. Though for now it proclaims neutrality, the French are wary of any German claims of peace. Italy, while patched together with French help in order to make an alliance with them, has begun to fall to extreme right wing groups who seek to exploit the Italian people. Even more worringly, politicians in Russia have taken note and have begun to use similar tactics. France has allies in Europe, but many of them, such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia, are new nations sitting upon shaky foundations. They are allies who need France more than France needs them. Meanwhile, the great cost of the war has caused Britain to hide itself away from Europe and focus more on its colonies and its relationship with the United States.

The third decade of the 20th century is one full of prosperity, opportunity, and hope, but dark clouds gather on the horizon. As France continues to move towards its role of policeman of Europe, the nation must be careful to not take on more enemies than it can handle, and to keep its allies close through the years ahead.

que_sera_sera_by_toixstory-d87btsw.png
 
Beautiful map. So, no US intervention and a negotiated peace? No French occupation of the Saarland?

I'd be most interested to see what sort of post-war arrangements the Austrians and Russians have made to hold their states together. Does Russia still have a Czar?
 
Beautiful map. So, no US intervention and a negotiated peace? No French occupation of the Saarland?

I'd be most interested to see what sort of post-war arrangements the Austrians and Russians have made to hold their states together. Does Russia still have a Czar?
Basically with no US intervention the war was still hard and Russia lasted longer, but was still going to collapse soon, so the war was brought to a negotiated end while the Western Allies still had the advantage over Germany. Poland was created complete with Polish corridor, Alsace-Lorraine was given back, and other measures were taken against Germany, but not nearly as many as in OTL. This includes no occupation of German lands, which was a big part of the peace agreement.

As mentioned, Austria-Hungary DID fall apart. In fact, without Franz Ferdinand dying it happened faster, as Franz Ferdinand ended up supporting the break-up and after the war lead the new Archduchy of Austria (more or less OTL Austria but with all of Tyrol). Russia does not have a Czar, but rather a shaky democratic government, though more like Weimar Germany crossed with the brief OTL Russian Republic. Not exactly stable.
 
Good map, PlatoonSgt!:)
How is Germany politically after the war?
Well, the German Empire is still around, as the Kaiser managed to hold onto his power due to the peace treaty not being so harsh. Germany was fragmented for a while after the war, but that ended when a new constitution was drafted that took some powers away from the unpopular kaiser and put them into the hands of the various politicians, as well as taking away some power from Prussia. This would end up being the first step to Germany's political transformation that would happen in the first half of the 20th century that would go from a Prussian-influenced system in 1914 to something more akin to Great Britain of OTL in 1950.
 
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