MotF 50: Fifty Years is a Long Time

South America, 1825

In this world, the Bourbon Reforms of the 18th century turned out slightly differently--most notably, the borders between the Viceroyalty of Peru and the new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata were drawn somewhat differently, with most of Upper Peru remaining with the former. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars occur much as they did in our world, but the Latin American wars of independence proceeded differently, as the differences in the Bourbon reforms resulted in some different dynamics within the three Viceroyalties of New Granada, Peru, and the Río de la Plata. Paraguay does not secede from La Plata, and the Royalist position in Peru is stronger.

In fact, Spain never quite loses control of the Viceroyalty of Peru, although the end of the wars in 1825 sees new independent republics in Chile, New Granada (renamed Gran Colombia) and the new United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

Two of these three were fated not to last. As in our world, Venezuelans grew dissatisfied with their position within Gran Colombia, but in this world their grievances were left to simmer longer, and rather than peacefully dissolving into its constituent pieces, the Gran Colombian government fought a bloody and unsuccessful war to prevent Venezuela from leaving.

The United Provinces fared somewhat better for a time. Larger and stronger than the Argentine Confederation of our world, it fared better in a war against Brazil, recovering the lost Banda Oriental as well as a chunk of Mato Grosso province. But as in our world, there was tension between Federalist and Unitarian factions regarding the influence of Buenos Aires and the revenues it generated. The Federalists, strongest in the richer southern provinces, wanted to retain these revenues, while the northern provinces wanted a unitary government that would distribute them more evenly.

An rather odd war followed, in which the south basically fought to expel the northern provinces. These formed the Confederation of Tucumán, Paraná, and Paraguay, more commonly known as the Paranian Confederation. Ironically, without the prize of Buenos Aires, the former Unitarians found that a federal model better suited their new nation, while the United Provinces have become increasingly centralized.

Chile, alone of the new republics, managed to avoid any wars, but its leaders were less foresightful than our world, and Chile failed to establish claims to the area around the Straits of Magellan. Instead, these and much of uninhabited Patagonia fell to the French government, who established a number of settlements in the area, following the recommendations of the French explorer Jules d'Urville. Britain, which had also expressed interest in the region, had to satisfy itself with the Falkland Islands, re-establishing its earlier claim while the United Provinces were otherwise occupied.

Now, 50 years after the end of the wars of independence, the course of South American history has diverged significantly from our world... and will diverge further in just a few years with the untimely death of Dom Pedro II of Brazil...

South America, 1875

And the second map:

This map is an excerpt from Imperial Geographic. This is actually from a setting I've used twice before for various projects, this being the third. Each time it's heavily modified from the last, though.

The background is always deliberately vague, but the Empire arises following a global economic meltdown. The first Emperor is a highly charismatic young man who slowly unites various groups as a sort of benevolent dictator (later emperors or empresses aren't necessarily so kind, though). It operates as a kind of hybrid 19th century British Empire and early Roman Empire. Positions, including the Emperor, are NOT hereditary, though in practice someone from the "royal family" is always named as the heir. In this case, John's second child and eldest daughter, Sarah, takes the throne at the age of 20. John the Younger was killed two years earlier in a war against the United States (one of several), and would have been 22 had he still lived.

The Empire is actually rather liberal, and would have good relations with the Neo-Socialists if it weren't for the fact that some fear Imperial ambitions (and not without good reason). Democracy exists using an instant run-off system for the legislature, though the the Emperor and the appointed "Noble Council" have quite a bit of power. The idea of "enlightened rule" is championed as the alternative to the defunct system of old, and in opposition to the libertarian ideals of the Atlanta Defense Alliance countries.

The Empire is experiencing a serious boom, following consolidation of loyal territories and the annexation of various pieces of surrounding land. An entirely new city is nearing completion North of Toronto to serve as the Empire's capital. For now the old city will suffice as the seat of government. Most countries allied to the Empire are really after admission into the Imperium, but cannot join at present due to various other factors.

I could go on and on, so I'll stop here. Any questions can be asked by PM or in the map thread, where I'll cross post.

1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.

1980: The war goes more like the Soviets plan it: within a few months, Afghanistan is firmly under their control.
The Soviets, feeling quite confident from invading Afghanistan decide to invade Pakistan later that year.

1982: Taking over Pakistan isn't so easy, but with help from India, the Soviets do it. This seems like a turning point in the Cold War.


Map from 1983

1985: The Mujahideen spread their influence all over the Central Asian SSRs.

1989: Inspired by the Baltic countries expression for freedom, the Central and South Asian SSRs demonstrate as well.

1990: The Central and South Asian SSRs declare their independence as one country, the United Islamic States.


Map from 1998

2000s: This is the "golden age" for the U.I.S. Their GDP per capita is above the world average, they have a good stable government, Ahmed Shah Massoud has been the head of state since the unification of the Union, and the people like him.

2018: Massoud dies. The country, stable just a few years ago is suddenly in chaos, with a lot of people wanting the power.

2019: In a coup d'état, a socialist party takes over the U.I.S.

2020: The new government is really unpopular with the people. The head of state is a dictator who doesn't listen to anyone and doesn't really care for the country.

2021: The Turkmen State becomes sick of this crap and along with the Caspian State and the southern part of the Western State secedes as the Turkmen Republic.

2022: The Turkmen Republic seceding from the U.I.S. causes a ripple of secessions: The North and South Afghan state secede as the Afghani Islamic Republic, the Kashmir, Punjab, Sindhi and Beluchi States secede as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the Issyk-Kol, Kirgiz and Tajik States secede as the Kirgiz-Tajik Union.

2023: The last states to hold the name the United Islamic States are the Aral State, the north part of the Western State and the Uzbek State, before they finally become the Uzbek Republic, ending the 33-year long union.

Ten years later....

2033: This is when most government problems settle down in the five countries, they are all stable, and mostly have good relations with one another.
Kirgizstan-Tajikstan's relations with the Uzbek Republic are strained over the Tashkent area, which the Uzbek Republic claims, and Pakistan and Afghanistan have a few borders problems, namely in the Wakhan Corridor, which Pakistan claims, and in the North Beluchi area, which Afghanistan claims. Other than that, all is well.


Map from 2033

A more aggressive Soviet Union (Finland and Poland being the westernmost SSRs) forces Western European nations to unite against their common foe, communism. At the beginning it could easiest be described as a French-ruled almost fascist kind of state, which later expanded and grew to become a beacon of unity and prosperity across ethnical borders. Although the capital remains in Paris and the lingua franca of the Federation is French, citizens of every ethnicity enjoys the same freedom. Notice the separation of Alsace-Lorraine on map #2, a desicion that was made after unsuccessfull attempts at Frenchifying Alsace, and the cession of the Dunkirk area to Flanders. West Berlin is still a city split in two, and just as IOTL West Berlin serves no administrative role, whereas the eastern counterpart is the capital of the Soviet puppet regime in Germany.

What looks to be a unified Germany on map #1 is, per OTL, an occupied state without a central authority, shown the way it is for simplicity.

When the East African Community was revived in the year 2000, following the signing of the Treaty for East African Co-operation in Arusha, Tanzania by Presidents Moi of Kenya, Mwinyi of Tanzania, and Museveni of Uganda on 30 November 1993, no-one expected it to be more than a loose community of East African states. A customs union was signed in March 2004 which commenced on 1 January , 2005.

On 27 December 2011, the East African Common Market was launched, an expansion of the bloc's existing customs union that entered into effect in 2005. This lead to the free movement of labour, capital, goods and services within the EAC. This was followed by the launching of a monetary union between the member states of the EAC on 13 March 2012, with the East African shilling acting as the common currency. Later that same year, South Sudan and Malawi were welcomed into the EAC as it's newest members. This was especially beneficial for the newly independent nation of South Sudan as it was able to slowly become less dependent on Sudan. However, this had the effect of Sudan officially withdrawing it's application from the EAC, something that some members like Tanzania and Uganda didn't mind, seeing as they had opposed Sudanese membership in the EAC on grounds of Sudan's lack of a direct border with the EAC, its allegedly discriminatory actions toward black Africans, its record of human rights violations, and its history of hostilities with both Uganda and South Sudan.

On 8 May 2014, the original members of the EAC, unified to form the East African Federation with it's capital in Arusha.

The 2020's became a decade of rapid growth of the EAC. In seven short years, the EAC welcomed six new members into it's fold, Mozambique (2021), Madagascar (2023), Ethiopia (2023), Somaliland (2025), Somalia (2026) and most surprising, Eritrea (2028) following the Eritrean Revolution and the overthrowing of the dictatorial PFDJ regime. Djibouti would follow suit in 2030. Following the first democratic elections in Zimbabwe in 2036 (Resulting in the overwhelming victory of the Movement for Democratic Change), the nation applied for membership in August of that year. They were accepted the following year. It was also on this year that Malawi joined the Federation.

As the East African Community prepares to celebrate it's 50th Anniversary of it's renewed existence, it is worth evaluating it's success as one of the few of it's kind in Africa. Through intensive literacy programs and stringent education policies, it has been able to turn a region with one of the lowest literacy rates in the world into one with near universal literacy. A common story cited is that of Mozambique which has seen it's literate population boom from a mere 53% when it joined the EAC to 79% in 2037. East Africans have also seen a significant increase in their living standards, with the EAC now committed to eliminating poverty and malnutrition within the Community, the vision of a united, prosperous East Africa may one day be a reality.

Some would say that 50 years is a long time, but for East Africa, it has been surprisingly fast.

- 50 Years of East Africa

After W.W.2 the Soviets conquer Finland. The Cold War goes in the same fashion as O.T.L., about the same wars and country. Then in 1985 the first of the revolutions began in the Soviet Union, by 2000 most of the land had been released, on December 1, 2001 the Soviet Union ceased to exist replaced by 28 (Violent and Segregationist, but independent.) Countrys.

1. Finland.
2. Kola
3. Estonia
4. Latvia
5. Lithuania
6. East Prussia
7. Belarus
8. Ukraine
9. Crimea
10. Moldova
11. Southern Moldova
12. Cacausia
13. Khazakstan
14. Siberia
15. Kamchatka.

and 13 more.

Ok: done in a bit of a hurry, so not too creative.

One of those "eternal 19th century Empires" worlds, like GURPS Cornwallis or The Two Georges, comes a bit of a cropper after such events as the Austrian development of the Atomic weapon, the Great Chinese Revolution, the glorious Ottoman Renaissance and its tragic denoument, and a clash over Some Damn Thing In the Middle East between the British Empire and the Bourbons which ends up going nuclear.

Bruce

Map the first:

And map the second.

Alright. A bit late but here is my entry. It depicts the reduction of Prussian core territory between 1951 and 2001. The ATL suggests that Germany never unified; instead, Prussia remains the dominant German power. However, some smaller territories that once belonged to Prussia were had been lost in 1951 already (parts of Rheinland and Western Prussia, e.g.). The further dismantlement of Prussia takes place in the German Wars (1982-1988). In 2000, some remaining German states found the German Confederation, a loose assosiation with the aim of strenghtening the German culture. In contrast, the European Federation, consisting of the European francophone countries, has formed and is now the major continental power. In 1997, Baden decides to join the European Federation.

Anglo-French Union, Glory

In 1936, the Anglo-French Union, formed in 1421 after the Hundred Years War, is the greatest power in the world.

Anglo-French Union, Fall

Fifty years later, after plenty of wars, crisis, and rebellions, the Anglo-French Union no longer exists.

Taking one of those frequent scenarios: New York as the US Capital. The first shows the OTL situation in 1776, before the changes of the revolution.

And the second in 1826 shows the growth of New York proper in a rather different style, as well as the first steps of the Borough of Washington which has begun to be built in the nearest area of OTL Brooklyn.

getting my entry in just in time.

This could be ocnsidered a followup to my map for MoF 46. A more Hellenic western med leads to the eventual unification of Italy and Spain by the Samnites. United by the state worship of Hercules, the Samnite domain expands westward and eastward. Their religious life requires that good pious citizens attend the shrines and holy sites associated with the life of Hercules. The Herculian Way is central to this, a long path from [Gibraltar] to Syracuse. Problems arose when local powers encorporated the myth of Hercules into local geography, leading to a winding route that often double-backed on itself.

Wiht the region united by the Samnites, the complicated issue of the Herculian Way could be settled. Fifty years after their total conquest the Samnites reformed the pilgrams way, trimming shrines and holy sites to present a more organised route.