MotF 53: The Benevolent Co-Prosperity Sphere

The Kingdom of Kongo was one of the few nations that managed to avoid European colonialism; a series of smart and fortunate kings managed to play off the English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch against one another, while taking over several of Kongo's weaker neighbors.

Does this mean that Central Africa is a shiny, happy place in this timeline? Unfortunately not. Part of Kongo's strategy for retaining its independence was to be too valuable for any one European power to be allowed to seize, and so the kings of Kongo ended up paying for their freedom with all the resources at their disposal--gold, ivory, copper, diamonds, and even their own people, until the end of the slave trade. As the 19th and 20th centuries progressed, Kongo began to develop its own industries, and with the European nations distracted by wars at home, Kongo emerged as a regional power of its own. A timely declaration of war gave the Kongolese an opportunity to snap up some territories in the interior during the subsequent peace conference. These new territories, dubbed "special resource zones," are being ruthlessly exploited in an attempt to cement Kongo's status as an industrial power. Likewise, "Kongolese Catholicism" is being imposed at bayonet-point throughout the empire, with Muslims, followers of traditional religions, and Protestant converts and missionaries being targets for violence.

No one ever thought that the Kingdom of Morocco would ever be able to gain the regional superiority they had before the Scramble for Africa. Being colonized by four different nations at once and a final invasion from Italy during World War II left the country drained of its resources. In fact, there were even rumors that its neighboring countries would invade it and annex a few regions.

In 1972, 25 years after its independence, the exact opposite happened. Morocco invaded Algeria and Mauritania, annexing the Algerian provinces of Tindouf, Bechar, Naama, Tlemcen, Sidi bel Abbes, and Ain Timochent, as well as Mauritanian regions of Tiris Zemmour, Dakhlet Nouadhibou and Inchiri, thus nearly doubling the size of the country. They also set up puppet Alaouite kingdoms in Algeria and Mauritania.

The Gibraltar War against Francoist Spain earned them Ceuta, Melilla, Cadiz, Malaga, the Canary Islands and Gibraltar, which was gained by Spain after the 1967 referendum. Morocco then purchased Madeira from Portugal, thus achieving their current size. Morocco then created the Northwest African Community, of which it is basically the boss, thus giving the country more regional control.

My entry

Year is 1840

Macedonia rose to power in 1700s after a n as tionalist revolt. They kicked the Ottomans out of Europe and set up several vassal states.

The Spanish Empire was always overstretched to some degree and seemed to be moving from one crisis to another as the 17th century dragged on. Spain's inability to deal with constant insurgency in Peru and Mexico were constant problems as were constant wars in Europe. Following the English Civil war and the commonwealth's lightning campaigns in Europe, Spain was finished as a great Empire. England's defeat could not save Spain. Bankrupt it watched helplessly as its colonies stopped taking orders from the crown and Germany increasingly fell under Protestant control.

One by one the Catholic powers, which had become the cornerstone of Spanish diplomacy,began to falter. Hungary was already under partial Ottoman control, and Spain's collapse only secured it for the Turks. Poland had basically given up and become Protestant in all but name, reconciling with the Orthodox Ruthenians with its ideals of "reunifying Christianity". In France, which had suffered most under the English before their defeat, the Hugenots had managed to do to France what the Lutherans earlier did to Germany , balkanize but not conquer. In Italy the rise of the Tuscan States, combined with nothing less than complete hatred for the pope, gave rise to the Kingdom of Italy.

As Spain tried fruitlessly to save its Empire worldwide by the late 18th century it was at a boiling point. While it had managed to hold onto Portugal, through nothing less than ethnic cleansing, it had lost Portugal's colonies. Bankrupt and politically inept Spain's monarchy was quickly overthrown in a republic revolution much like the one that had swept England 130 years earlier. The self-proclaimed "Iberian Republic" however was soon hijacked and Gustavo Vargas took over and proclaimed himself "Emperor of Iberia".

Vargas proved nothing less than a military genius. The weak confederation of France was swept aside while the seemingly invincible Germany was humbled in a few decisive battles. The English Commonwealth remains isolated and neutral while the Dutch have reluctantly joined the Iberians after the Scandinavians preemptively destroyed the Dutch Fleet anchored at Amsterdam. Italy remains a constant ulcer as Germany and Scandinavia continue to funnel in men and material to wage a guerrilla war against the Iberian puppet regime in Florence.

A map of Europe in 1812 at the start of Vargas' invasion of Poland:

The most successfully modernizing of the independent Indian states, Vijayangara, had unfortunately come under the political control of a ferocious Hindu-nationalist party, that dreamed of unifying all Hindu India under their rule and expelling such foreign influences as Islam and the European powers which had carved out footholds throughout the North of the Subcontinent. Given an opportunity by the ravaging of Europe in the Technocracy Wars, the armies of Vijayangara surge north. Now, in 1913, after a pause for consolidation, Vijayangaran troops invade the Sultanate of Bihar. Troops enter from the north, as well: with or without the Sultan's permission, the Rajputs and the shrunken but still fairly formidable Khanate of Ind march forth to stop the floodtide from the south: although the Rajputs are fellow Hindus, they have no interest in having the Serpent Empire as a neighbor - much less an overlord.

Will the armies of Vijayangara be stopped by the brave but admittedly more backwards warriors of the north? Will the Sultan-Caliph, angered at the persecution of Muslims, join in against the invaders? What will happen when the struggles in Europe and the Americas come to some sort of conclusion? Nobody knows what their Karma will bring in the end...

Bruce

PS - the Rajah of Ranchi really doesn't like being called the Ranchi Rajah, just so you know.

And here is the map.

Bruce