WorldA Maps for Official/Published Alternate History Works
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nuclear Alchemist
Banned
Transported from Map Thread XX, this is my cover of the world in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, based partially off the information from Nineteen Eighty-Four Graphics.
ITTL, Teddy Roosevelt never became president, allowing capitalism to run rampant into the 20th century, resulting in a much stronger socialist movement in the USA. Fast forwards to 1950 and the aftermath of a Nationalist victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War escalates into WW3. This ultimately culminated in a nuclear exchange between the USA and the USSR and their respective allies in 1953 as the Red Army approached Paris, devastating Europe and parts of the American east coast.
As a result, the governments of the USA (Washington was wiped off the map, causing a power vacuum after the President and his entire chain of succession were atomized), UK and British Dominions were overthrown by the Socialist movements within them, which, following Soviet Eurasia declaring a continuation of WW3 on them for being "fake socialists", merged into the English Socialist/Ingsoc Party ("English" as in Anglo-Saxon) of the newly formed Oceania in May of 1958. The country soon absorbed a highly destabilized/collapsing Latin America, Iceland and the European colonies in Greenland and Africa south of the Congo River.
Initially, the to-be English Socialist Party intended to realize their lofty and utopian goals; in the early 1960’s, however, Supreme Chairman Oswald “Big Brother” Mosley (who remained socialist ITTL but retained his totalitarian tendencies) purged a whopping 89% of all Party members at the time (with the remaining 11% becoming the Inner Party by the time the novel takes place), and proceeded to transform Oceania into the Hellhole we all know and love, willingly or otherwise. *gestures to Room 101*
Meanwhile, during the initial chaos following the nuclear exchange, the Soviet Union managed to conquer mainland Europe; not just the land of the countries that were part of NATO, all of it. "Glorious Uncle" Stalin’s successor, Lavrentiy Beria, would not only continue the former’s policies, but expand them in the form of Neo-Bolshevism/Novbol, and reorganized the SSRs so that they weren't all based off of major ethnic groups; Beria renamed the country the Eurasian Union sometime in October of 1957. The KGB takes the role of the Thought Police here, and Eurasia the most centralized of the 3 superpowers (with Moscow being the capital); Eurasian Newspeak is a Frankenstein-like conglomeration of simplified Russian, German, French, Spanish and Italian.
With the world’s superpowers distracted, China launched wars of expansion into the Koreas, Japan and Indochina during the mid-to-late 1950's for their resources, manpower and (in Japan's case) industry, then declared war on Oceania and Eurasia in 1962. Officially, this was all to "protect the East Asian Peoples from the dangers of socialism." However, Chiang "the Marshall" Kai Shek's paranoia has resulted in China, now Eastasia, becoming no different than its mortal enemies in a display of convergent evolution and Horseshoe Theory. The Ideology of Death Worship/Selfdeath was fabricated by the Kuomintang to justify these actions, and subsequently re-branded itself after it. In Selfdeath, the only thing that matters in life was being a part of the Eastasian state; the self, the family and all forms of pleasure within the physical realm (sans the sadistic killing of the Eurasians and/or Oceanians) are obstacles in the way of the state's goals. In Eastasia, the Clandestine Investigation Section/CIS takes the role of the Thought Police; Eastasian Newspeak is Simplified Chinese (with some Japanese and Korean thrown in), except its words/letters/characters have interchangeable meanings.
As of the year 1984, this 3-way brawl (Despite what the Minitru and its counterparts say, there aren't any shifting alliances of 2 superstates against the third; it's always been a battle royale since 1962) is slated to last "indefinitely", thanks to the Ingsoc, Novbol and Selfdeath Parties' shared goal: holding on to power for power's sake until the end of time...
...unfortunately, that goal is impossible, because due to the inevitable biosphere degradation, resource shortages and climate change (with all the consequences that entails) caused by the Oceania's, Eurasia's and Eastasia's incessant industrial war production, the Inner Parties only have until the mid-21st century at most before society, or what's left of it, unravels completely, up to and possibly including humanity itself. And, given the Parties' outright refusal to listen to common sense and let go of their power, well... quite simply, humanity ITTL is F*CKED. There's just no way around or out of it by this point. But considering how heartless, soulless, mindless, nationalistic, intoxicatingly power-hungry and downright insane mankind has become, the coming extinction (of man and roughly 80% of all other species) might as well be an act of mercy ...
If you have any questions, I'll gladly answer.
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Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Red Alert is an Alternate history game where Einstein went back in time and kill Hitler in hopes to prevent the second world war but accidentally resulted in Stalin and the Soviet Union gaining more power and launch a full-scale invasion of Europe.
(The map itself is set in the first game at its beginning.)
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The Man in the High Castle
qazse
Gone Fishin'
My cover of The Man in the High Castle, a rather ASB novel by Philip K. Dick set in an Axis victory world in 1962:
ITTL, Franklin D. Roosevelt is assassinated before is able to become a strong president or implement the New Deal. Without him the US remains stuck in isolationism, and so the Axis are able to run roughshod over Afro-Eurasia. The Pearl Harbour attack is much larger and wipes out the US Pacific fleet, preventing America from interfering in Japan's Pacific conquests. This cumulates in both Axis powers landing on the continental US and forcing its surrender in 1947.
The novel itself is set in 1962 in the occupied US, which is split into four parts - a Nazi occupied area in the northeast, a pro-Nazi puppet collaborationist regime in the South, the Japanese "Pacific States" on the west coast, and a neutral buffer zone in the Great Plains and Rockies.
ITTL, Franklin D. Roosevelt is assassinated before is able to become a strong president or implement the New Deal. Without him the US remains stuck in isolationism, and so the Axis are able to run roughshod over Afro-Eurasia. The Pearl Harbour attack is much larger and wipes out the US Pacific fleet, preventing America from interfering in Japan's Pacific conquests. This cumulates in both Axis powers landing on the continental US and forcing its surrender in 1947.
The novel itself is set in 1962 in the occupied US, which is split into four parts - a Nazi occupied area in the northeast, a pro-Nazi puppet collaborationist regime in the South, the Japanese "Pacific States" on the west coast, and a neutral buffer zone in the Great Plains and Rockies.
Tom Clancy's EndWar
qazse
Gone Fishin'
Here's another cover. this one is of Tom Clancy's EndWar, a strategy video game released in 2008. This cover is based on the cover of DeviantArt user mdc01957, with a few small modifications:
Copy pasted form the original cover:
"It’s been said that the 21st Century is “when everything changes.” Whoever said that was right. Some tried to point to Climate Change and the inexplicable inaction by both governments and corporations to curb its impact. Others opted to mention terrorism and the rising tensions in parts of the world, such as the American intervention in Mexico’s civil war in the early 2010s. But in reality, all it needed was a sufficiently massive spark.
In 2016, for reasons still a mystery Saudi Arabia became a victim of nuclear terrorism, triggering an armed exchange that devastated much of the Middle East and more importantly rendered its supplies of crude oil virtually inaccessible. Gas prices skyrocketed to an absurd high of $800.00/barrel while economies across the world plunged into chaos almost immediately as international trade breaks down. Coupled with record droughts, unrest and other disasters, many countries succumbed to anarchy and civil war. Those who escaped that fate were soon either just struggling to survive (from both refugees and aforementioned hijinks) or trying to secure their place in the changing world order. It was not long before the United Nations and even NATO dissolved.
The following year, the landmark SLAMS (Space-Land-Air-Missile-System) Treaty of 2017 was signed between the United States and European Union, putting into effect an interlocking network of advanced and absurdly delicate lasers that manage a 100% hit to any atomic weapon. Nuclear war was finally a thing of the past. But by that point there were more pressing concerns as three global powers rose up to the challenge of meeting the uncertain future.
The United States of America
Already the world’s sole surviving superpower prior to the 2016 incident, the US found itself beaten and bruised by the ensuing turmoil as it searched closer to home for fuel sources. But in the end, the country persevered and survived stronger for it. Patriotic resolve coupled with significant pooling of private sector resources (apparently Wall Street had a very lucky trading day) provided the necessary push to maintain its standing in the world, even if said position was shaky at best.
At the same time however, another strain of Manifest Destiny had emerged that reached to the highest levels of government. In such uncertain times it became the duty of every American to defend liberty and be a beacon of democracy to a world in desperate need for it. By any means necessary. For political pundits both Democrat and Republican, this went a long way in explaining the reelection of David Becerra, who controversially called for the destruction of the International Space Station, to the White House in 2020.
Militarily, the US invested considerably on technological advances and precision weaponry, evident by the motto “High Speed, Low Drag.” In addition to this was the establishment of the Freedom Star, an Air Force-run space station (NASA having been all but absorbed due to budget issues) that could dispatch infantry to any corner of the world at a moment’s notice and housing the Damocles Rods-from-God system. And to serve as both America’s vanguard and PR for all the aforementioned spending, the Pentagon had the USMC fused with Ghost Recon elites into the Joint Strike Force: the most efficient and automated combat force money can buy.
European Federation
Prior to 2016, the European Union had (despite certain setbacks) become a major contending power bloc, fueled both by Franco-German economic power and the persistent calls for integration “to an ever closer union.” But though many of the EU member-states endured the crisis, everything began to change. Inexplicably, pan-Europeanism exploded across much of the Continent, prominent Europhiles seeing the events unfolding as an opportunity to combine their “United States of Europe” dreams with more pragmatic concerns with security and environmental stability. It reached to the point that by 2018, the Unification Charter was enacted, the new Federation’s capitals based in Paris and Berlin. For Europa, national identities and age-old divisions would be swept away. In their place was a Continent united for the first time in recorded history: a beacon of civilization and culture in a world losing both.
To defend the ideals of the European Founders, the burgeoning EF established the Enforcer Corps. Comprised of special forces, peacekeeping units and counter-terrorism veterans from the former EU member-states, they quickly specialized themselves in urban combat (though they seem insistent with “non-lethal warfare”), electronic warfare and experimental energy weapons reverse-engineered from the SLAMS network. Rumors that there were issues between the French and German-derived Battlegroups remain just that.
On the other hand, due to the technicalities of the Unification, only the wealthiest and/or most connected European countries were eligible. Of those that willingly refused the kool-aid, only Ireland and the United Kingdom (the two forming the neutral New Commonwealth to revive Britannia’s glory elsewhere), as well as the Alpine Customs Union (Switzerland and Liechtenstein got even closer during all that time) ended up being the most stable. The rest either succumbed to anarchy or fell under Russian influence/control.
Greater Russian Federation
Despite being a shadow of its former glory as the Soviet Union, Russia by the mid 2010s had recovered from its slump sufficiently enough to be a competitive and formidable force. As early as 2008-09, incentives were made to reassert itself on the world stage but simply lacked the funds and resources for the task. The crisis of 2016 however turned out to be a godsend as the giant country suddenly found itself as the planet’s largest (and newest) supplier of crude oil and natural gas. To say that this kick started the economy was an understatement. With so much money and investors flowing in, Russians of all stripes were benefiting from the fruits of that windfall and expanding their frontiers to the outside world. It wasn’t long before they saw themselves as not only a revitalized superpower but also the only rightful one. And after decades of lost power, it was not as though anyone could blame them.
This coincidentally gave the Kremlin the power and resources to not only bring the last vestiges of the oligarchs under control but also expand Russia’s political and military might to much of the former USSR. Beginning with the “reintegration” of Belarus and Ukraine in 2017-18, by 2020 many other neighboring countries fell one after another to Russian influence under nationalist pretenses of “defending the Motherland’s borders.”
Over the same time period the same economic surplus was invested heavily into reforming and modernizing its military, sparking an arms buildup the likes of which was never seen since the end of the Cold War. And with its nuclear arsenal effectively made obsolete by SLAMS, special attention was also placed in advanced explosives and strengthening the veteran Spetsnaz Guard Brigades. But while it still in many ways functions like a beefed-up throwback to the 20th Century, Russia’s particular reliance on raw firepower and ruthless combat make the country all the more dangerous. After all, it’s been said, there’s only enough room left for one global power.
Suspicion festered as the main three began turning against each other, accusing one or the other of plotting power plays and conspiracies against it. By April 2020, tensions reached a new high after a series of attacks from the terrorist “Forgotten Army” (i.e. pissed off soldiers from failed states) who may or may not have been a ploy by Moscow for the US and EF to destroy themselves. And with the Freedom Star’s last module scheduled for launch for the following day, it’s anyone’s guess how the tides of history would play out this time. Some already convinced of looming conflict are calling it by an old name: The War to End All Wars. EndWar."
Copy pasted form the original cover:
"It’s been said that the 21st Century is “when everything changes.” Whoever said that was right. Some tried to point to Climate Change and the inexplicable inaction by both governments and corporations to curb its impact. Others opted to mention terrorism and the rising tensions in parts of the world, such as the American intervention in Mexico’s civil war in the early 2010s. But in reality, all it needed was a sufficiently massive spark.
In 2016, for reasons still a mystery Saudi Arabia became a victim of nuclear terrorism, triggering an armed exchange that devastated much of the Middle East and more importantly rendered its supplies of crude oil virtually inaccessible. Gas prices skyrocketed to an absurd high of $800.00/barrel while economies across the world plunged into chaos almost immediately as international trade breaks down. Coupled with record droughts, unrest and other disasters, many countries succumbed to anarchy and civil war. Those who escaped that fate were soon either just struggling to survive (from both refugees and aforementioned hijinks) or trying to secure their place in the changing world order. It was not long before the United Nations and even NATO dissolved.
The following year, the landmark SLAMS (Space-Land-Air-Missile-System) Treaty of 2017 was signed between the United States and European Union, putting into effect an interlocking network of advanced and absurdly delicate lasers that manage a 100% hit to any atomic weapon. Nuclear war was finally a thing of the past. But by that point there were more pressing concerns as three global powers rose up to the challenge of meeting the uncertain future.
The United States of America
Already the world’s sole surviving superpower prior to the 2016 incident, the US found itself beaten and bruised by the ensuing turmoil as it searched closer to home for fuel sources. But in the end, the country persevered and survived stronger for it. Patriotic resolve coupled with significant pooling of private sector resources (apparently Wall Street had a very lucky trading day) provided the necessary push to maintain its standing in the world, even if said position was shaky at best.
At the same time however, another strain of Manifest Destiny had emerged that reached to the highest levels of government. In such uncertain times it became the duty of every American to defend liberty and be a beacon of democracy to a world in desperate need for it. By any means necessary. For political pundits both Democrat and Republican, this went a long way in explaining the reelection of David Becerra, who controversially called for the destruction of the International Space Station, to the White House in 2020.
Militarily, the US invested considerably on technological advances and precision weaponry, evident by the motto “High Speed, Low Drag.” In addition to this was the establishment of the Freedom Star, an Air Force-run space station (NASA having been all but absorbed due to budget issues) that could dispatch infantry to any corner of the world at a moment’s notice and housing the Damocles Rods-from-God system. And to serve as both America’s vanguard and PR for all the aforementioned spending, the Pentagon had the USMC fused with Ghost Recon elites into the Joint Strike Force: the most efficient and automated combat force money can buy.
European Federation
Prior to 2016, the European Union had (despite certain setbacks) become a major contending power bloc, fueled both by Franco-German economic power and the persistent calls for integration “to an ever closer union.” But though many of the EU member-states endured the crisis, everything began to change. Inexplicably, pan-Europeanism exploded across much of the Continent, prominent Europhiles seeing the events unfolding as an opportunity to combine their “United States of Europe” dreams with more pragmatic concerns with security and environmental stability. It reached to the point that by 2018, the Unification Charter was enacted, the new Federation’s capitals based in Paris and Berlin. For Europa, national identities and age-old divisions would be swept away. In their place was a Continent united for the first time in recorded history: a beacon of civilization and culture in a world losing both.
To defend the ideals of the European Founders, the burgeoning EF established the Enforcer Corps. Comprised of special forces, peacekeeping units and counter-terrorism veterans from the former EU member-states, they quickly specialized themselves in urban combat (though they seem insistent with “non-lethal warfare”), electronic warfare and experimental energy weapons reverse-engineered from the SLAMS network. Rumors that there were issues between the French and German-derived Battlegroups remain just that.
On the other hand, due to the technicalities of the Unification, only the wealthiest and/or most connected European countries were eligible. Of those that willingly refused the kool-aid, only Ireland and the United Kingdom (the two forming the neutral New Commonwealth to revive Britannia’s glory elsewhere), as well as the Alpine Customs Union (Switzerland and Liechtenstein got even closer during all that time) ended up being the most stable. The rest either succumbed to anarchy or fell under Russian influence/control.
Greater Russian Federation
Despite being a shadow of its former glory as the Soviet Union, Russia by the mid 2010s had recovered from its slump sufficiently enough to be a competitive and formidable force. As early as 2008-09, incentives were made to reassert itself on the world stage but simply lacked the funds and resources for the task. The crisis of 2016 however turned out to be a godsend as the giant country suddenly found itself as the planet’s largest (and newest) supplier of crude oil and natural gas. To say that this kick started the economy was an understatement. With so much money and investors flowing in, Russians of all stripes were benefiting from the fruits of that windfall and expanding their frontiers to the outside world. It wasn’t long before they saw themselves as not only a revitalized superpower but also the only rightful one. And after decades of lost power, it was not as though anyone could blame them.
This coincidentally gave the Kremlin the power and resources to not only bring the last vestiges of the oligarchs under control but also expand Russia’s political and military might to much of the former USSR. Beginning with the “reintegration” of Belarus and Ukraine in 2017-18, by 2020 many other neighboring countries fell one after another to Russian influence under nationalist pretenses of “defending the Motherland’s borders.”
Over the same time period the same economic surplus was invested heavily into reforming and modernizing its military, sparking an arms buildup the likes of which was never seen since the end of the Cold War. And with its nuclear arsenal effectively made obsolete by SLAMS, special attention was also placed in advanced explosives and strengthening the veteran Spetsnaz Guard Brigades. But while it still in many ways functions like a beefed-up throwback to the 20th Century, Russia’s particular reliance on raw firepower and ruthless combat make the country all the more dangerous. After all, it’s been said, there’s only enough room left for one global power.
Suspicion festered as the main three began turning against each other, accusing one or the other of plotting power plays and conspiracies against it. By April 2020, tensions reached a new high after a series of attacks from the terrorist “Forgotten Army” (i.e. pissed off soldiers from failed states) who may or may not have been a ploy by Moscow for the US and EF to destroy themselves. And with the Freedom Star’s last module scheduled for launch for the following day, it’s anyone’s guess how the tides of history would play out this time. Some already convinced of looming conflict are calling it by an old name: The War to End All Wars. EndWar."
Fallout (Post-War America 2287)
Fallout is a Post-Apocalyptic game, while set in the 22nd and 23rd century, is an alternate history diverging in the 1950s, with 1950s culture in America still remaining relevant and the Transistor invention being delayed for a couple of more decades. Eventually a resource war in the 2050s to 2070s occurs, eventually resulting in a Nuclear War, and new factions were formed in the aftermath.
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The Two Georges
The Two Georges is an Alternate History novel written by Harry Turtledove. In this timeline, Geroge Washington and Geroge III made an agreement to end the American Revolution peacefully with the Colonies remaining a part of the British Empire for autonomy as the North American Union. France and Spain united into a personal union. With the Napoleonic Wars never happening, Germany and Italy never united. Other stuff includes the Qing Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire being British protectorates (I guess they are a part of the Informal Empire) and Europe still control the Americas.
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That internal border gore west of the Mississippi makes me want to 🤮. And you kinda forgot the Six Nations in western NY and the Cherokee state carved out of most of Alabama.
Not knocking this,tho. Also,all hail Greater South Africa.
And I just remembered that Ethiopia is independent as well.
Whoops, my bad, I'll add that.
According to the map Ethiopia (for some reason) is apart of the British Raj.
