MotF 62: Let Us Not Be Deceived

Here’s my entry, with its obligatory wall of text.

--

The year is 1985, and the world is gripped by the fear of war; a war that could destroy everything.

It has been more than seventy years since the Lamarckist Revolutions took over in France, Burgundy and Saxony; nearly eighty years since the last of the Kipchak Khans was overthrown, replaced by the Technocratic Council. Since then, other countries have adopted the ideologies espoused by Pierre Lamarck and Johan Spaak, Luis Rodrigues and Abay Beg, and they have been locking horns over influence ever since.

They were dangerous enough with conventional weapons, but, fifty years ago, a team of Caroline scientists detonated the first nuclear weapon in the desert, and everyone that was everyone country-wise has sought to obtain them.

However, there are far more peaceful uses for all that missile research. All three major blocks have their own space programmes, with the Kipchaks the first to send a man into space, and the Indo-British Union have so far landed four missions on the moon since 1977, and are planning at least another two.

*

In the red corner is the Compact of Marseille, which covers France, the former Burgundian Kingdom, and the even more former German Federation, which replaced the outmoded HRE back in the early 19th century after that whole brouhaha between Valois France and the Quintuple Union[1]. Lamarckism is, perhaps, a rather strange ideology from an OTL standpoint. Basically, think a cross between the Puritans, Leninism and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Unlike the New Commonwealth of Puritan World, however, they are very big on science, as it “allows man to glory in the wonder of God’s creation, magnificent both on the infinite scale, and the infinitesimal”. However, they aren’t actually that anti-Muslim, despite what the propaganda keeps saying – Cordoba and a bunch of Arab states are quite friendly with the CoM.

Carolina is something like a French-equivalent USA, but remaining very close to France regardless. The other full members are all either formerly French (or in one case, Leonese) colonies or protectorates, as are the majority of the pro-CoM neutrals, which favoured the new government that let them leave peacefully, rather than keep them under control with superior firepower.

Fortunately, so far, they have been led by pragmatists, though there are some firebrand nuts who want to trigger Armageddon the hard way…

*

In the blue corner is the League of Iron – their motto is “iron will and blazing spirit”. Though its ideology was actually thought up by a Leonese philosopher living in exile in Denmark, it was in the Golden Horde that the revolution begun – not unlike Communism IOTL. However, unlike with Communism, his ideology eventually took hold in his original homeland.

Rodriguesism is something like transhumanist fascism, but with a touch of democratic socialism thrown in. Despite its slightly creepy outlook, it is fairly tolerant in terms of, for example, religious adherence, but it is otherwise very dogmatic; not unlike Confucianism in this regard.

The Kipchak Khanate was much more lucky ITTL, pwning the Russian states, and eventually getting the Russian elites (and later the newly-fledged middle class) to convert to a fairly moderate form of Sunni Islam through cultural inertia. However, there is still a reasonably large Orthodox minority in the western provinces, decedents of the East Slavic peasantry which held on to their old faith when their old masters had converted. Fortunately, the Khans were fairly tolerant of them as long as they paid their taxes and behaved themselves.

Leon never politically united with Castile ITTL, though there was a brief stint when it was in personal-union with Portugal, sharing three rulers during the mid-15th century, after which, the inheritance was split – that family still rules in Portugal, but was overthrown in Leon, leading to the First Republic (it is currently on its Fourth), interspersed with the occasional restoration of the monarchy (not unlike France IOTL).

*

Meanwhile, trying to stay out of things is the Organisation of Neutral States. Don’t be fooled by the size of its membership, though – most of them aren’t particularly powerful, which is why they have clubbed together in the first place. Ultimately, it is a rather loose mutual-defence bloc, divided into a bunch of somewhat tighter organisations. Ultimately, though, they can be grouped into three sets.

The first is led by the Indo-British Union, which is, more or less, TTL’s equivalent of a bourgeois democracy, if rather fond of flexing its muscles. The Union – a sort of Imperial Federation – was formed in 1886, adopting the name to proclaim the (theoretical at that point) equality between the motherland and the settler colonies on one side, and the Indian provinces on the other. Despite having added the rest of its bigger colonies to the table, it has kept its name. The Union also trades regularly with the various pro-CoM or pro-LoI neutrals (mostly for the oil, but that isn’t quite so important nowadays with the increasing use of nuclear power), something its co-hegemons aren’t entirely happy with, but know they can’t actually stop happening without causing an international incident.

The rest of the London Pact, which proudly proclaims that “Britain Is Awesome” (all the massive amount of cash Britain throws at them is, of course, purely coincidental), is comprised of Portugal[2] and its empire, a bunch of former Portuguese colonies and protectorates, and a bunch of former Leonese, Castilian and Saxon colonies, as well as Nissen [Japan] (which really doesn’t like the way the Kipchaks look at it) and formerly Burgundian Java (not surprising, considering British arms and cash helped it put down the last umpteen rebellions).

(Portugal used to be a power in its own right, though one backed by Britain when necessary. However, since the late-18th century, it has been in decline, partially due to being eclipsed by the rising power of Greater Saxony, and partially due to a set of independence movements that surged through southern Antillea [Americas] during this period, during which it lost New Lusitania and New Estremadura, and most of the remainder of its empire during the early 20th century, though it has remained on fairly good terms with its ex-colonies, unlike, say, Castile.)

The second group is comprised of a bunch of countries that just want to be left alone, but know that they have to snuggle up to the Union to stay that way. Though they are confident that their prime benefactor will actually protect them if either Hegemonic Bloc decides to attack, at the moment the ONS is mostly run as a de facto Indo-British protection racket.

The Copenhagen Pact is a defence/economic union, designed to show a united front to both the CoM and the LoI, and to huddle together in case either bloc decides to eat them while they sleep. The same goes for the Damascus League. The Italian League is purely designed as an anti-CoM bloc; the Pope is technically the head of this organisation, but Naples-Sicily is by far the strongest and most influential.

The third is composed of three countries that remain outside any of the ONS’s member organisations.

Persia (still Sunni ITTL[3]) has been contemplating joining the Damascus League on and off for the past thirty years, but the members have vetoed this for fear of being dominated by it, or of further antagonising the Kipchaks, whose sphere of influence borders Persia on three sides.

Delhi is ruled by a sultan, who, despite having constitutional limits on his power, and guaranteeing equal rights to his Muslim and Hindu subjects, isn’t particularly popular at the moment. Mostly this is because the sultan’s father decided to ally himself with the Indo-British Union, despite previous antagonisms, and the present sultan’s maintaining of this alliance, its benefits notwithstanding, had made him and his government look week.

China, on the other hand, is pure in it for the ability to thumb its nose at the Kipchaks (as you can see on the map, the LoI has a loooong border with them) without being invaded, or having its government overthrown. However, this alliance may well last only as long as its own nuclear stockpile remains comparatively small. Until then, it has to (grudgingly) dance to London’s tune…

--

[1] The Jagellion Empire (uniting Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia and Serbia ITTL) had been toppled French Revolution-style in 1791.
[2] Britain’s self-proclaimed #1 best buddy ITTL, not unlike IOTL, especially considering TTL’s history.
[3] There are still a large number of Shia Muslims ITTL, but nowhere nearly as many as IOTL – we’re talking Jainism-level of adherents here.

And the map:

All right, I finally found a decent solution to my problem, with a compromise between showing everyone in his/her national colour and showing everyone in just shades of a block's colour. Now, I've got a few shades especially meant to show the great powers of an alliance, so that should make at least the major colonial empires clear, and I've got a key. And I'll post the national map in the Map Thread as well.

Now, anyway, here's the scenario.

Let us not be deceived


The British intervention in the War of Southern Secession might have created only a short-lived, doomed Confederate state, but it sparked wider changes across the globe. The main result, of course, was the Anglo-American rivalry that originated in the War of Secession and remained vivid for the next hundred years. However, there were also indirect changes – such as the different actions of Austria in the wars of German and Italian unification, which would doom the old empire. Only Hungary emerged intact from the ashes, and promptly allied with the Russians to ensure its survival. With no clear opponents on the Balkans, the Russians were able to extract more and more concessions from a weakening Ottoman Empire, eventually leading to its violent explosion in 1907 which would spark the First World War.

The fall of the Confederacy, which finally occurred in 1883, would lead to the rise of another power, that being the Kingdom of Spain. Its glorious triumph in the Spanish-Confederate War over Cuba, while dooming the CSA, would give the old monarchy the strength it needed to fight its way back to Great Power status. The Confederate States, in the meanwhile, suffered an invasion from the US on top of their rebellions and collapsed before the British could think about intervention. Under British influence, the US were forced to keep Texas and the Deep Southern core independent, the latter as a slaveless rump Confederacy comprising less than half the territory of the original, but that didn’t do London much good as both Austin and Montgomery soon became American vassals all but in name.

French-ruled Mexico hoped to follow a similar path to that of Spain by winning a war (or at least gaining diplomatic concessions) from a great power, but was utterly crushed when it went too far and accidentally provoked the Mexican-American War of 1886. Mexico lost everything north of the Tropic of Cancer to the United States and the remainder was soon torn with civil wars. Britain intervened in 1892 to prevent a US-backed government from seizing power in Mexico City; however, the pro-American Mexicans refused to cave in after the fall of their capital, and by 1896 an uneasy stalemate existed between the American puppet government in North Mexico and the British vassal in the south. Mexico was divided, and would not reunite again until the Second World War. This, in turn, provoked more British interest in Latin America, which would eventually lead to the alliance systems as they stood in 1907. China would unfortunately for them not participate in that – brutal British, Russian and Japanese expansion would lead to its demise into warlord territory in 1901. British greediness in China and in the Americas, however, meant that the British Empire was straining its limits with her ongoing expansion, and as a result, the pleas of one Cecil Rhodes for a big empire in Africa were never heard.

The First World War, fought on many fronts across all six main continents, saw the Revisionist League of France, Denmark, Russia and Hungary, assisted by the United States, the Confederacy, Texas, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile and Paraguay, fight the Liberal Cooperation Agreement (LCA) consisting of Germany, Italy, Britain, Spain and Japan, assisted by (among others) Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil. Although there were some close moments on all continents involved, the war eventually ended in 1912 with a clear LCA triumph. Maps were redrawn and new empires created, and it seemed that the LCA nations were invincible. In Spain, this was exemplified when in 1923, they successfully brought an end to the Portuguese state which had been in civil war since the abolition of the monarchy in 1908, and united Iberia in a tight personal and political union.

However, LCA victory disease created a lack of awareness of the danger that would come. Although the Brits and Germans worked together in the years after the war, intervening in France in 1915 when it threatened to go communist, and forcing the other Revisionist countries to enact laws against communism (the US would go all out and forbade socialism, which had become a second party, altogether) relations eventually got strained in the 1920s, allowing new powers to emerge. Britain and Germany didn't get back together until it was almost too late. The Second World War, which erupted in 1933, saw the United States and Russia emerge as the main nemeses to the Anglo-German rule over the world, once again accompanied by minor powers such as the newly created Empire of China, the Balkan Confederation and the Arab Federation. This new war was, if possible, even more deadly than its predecessor, especially because the great powers were plagued by colonial uprisings and had to appease opportunistic neutral France. What made it worse was the reluctance to surrender for the Revisionist Powers. The Arabs surrendered in 1936, when Muslim troops from all over the LCA territories marched into Mecca, and the Chinese followed shortly thereafter and the Balkans went when the Germans swept over the Danube and the Italians north out of Greece in 1937, but the Russians and Americans continued the fight stubbornly until socialist revolution broke out in the USA and nuclear bombs followed by a putsch occurred in Russia, both in 1940 (in the spring and the summer respectively). At this point, it became rapidly obvious that the nuclear bombs would be a decisive factor in future wars, since the Germans had only taken Moscow (in a brutal urban battle) in Russia and the British were still fighting their way into Tennessee (from the south, mind you – Canada had fallen earlier in the war and was still in the process of being retaken) by the time of the armistice. This made it clear that the Revisionists could have resisted a lot longer, and that only revolution or nuclear bombs could bring a war to an end. As a result, the defeated powers were forbidden to possess such weapons. This was cemented in the peace with Russia, China, the Balkan and the Arab Federation, but not with the new socialist United States, since there was no peace signed between them and the British. The South was occupied by Britain and a new USA was born, reuniting with the Confederacy and Texas. The socialist American state, the USAS was not explicitly told not to have a nuclear program, but all of its nuclear material had been taken by the USA and it was made clear that as soon as the USAS started a program, Britain would do everything - even war - to stop it.

The Second World War thus left two nuclear powers; the British Empire (rapidly federalizing) and Imperial Germany (in close cooperation with the weaker Italians). And these powers stared at each other at the end of the war, and found out that they hadn’t got all that much in common. Britain was a liberal, federal democracy, with a weak monarch and a multinational, federal approach to governance. Germany, on the other hand, was liberal only in name by this point. A series of strong Emperors and weak chancellors had ensured Germany’s move towards almost the opposite of Britain; a conservative, centralist state with only weak political parties and a nationalist, almost chauvinist character that leaned towards a nation-state, and which was reminding especially London increasingly of the Revisionist Powers they had just beaten. Germany, on the other hand, thought Britain was leaning increasingly towards communism with its internationalist talk, another movement the two great powers had always opposed. In 1942, the Czech revolution presented the first clash between German and British interests when the German government responded to a Czech uprising with harsh military action and the diminishing of Czech autonomy. However, the Cold War wasn’t truly sparked until the year after, when it became clear that the Germans were tacitly supporting Indian nationalists who wanted to create a Hindu-majority state. Japan cutting loose ties to Britain and seeking strengthening ties with the Germans was the last blow. By 1950, a Cold War was raging through the World.

And here's the actual map.

Dynasties Come and Go, but Empires are Eternal

There isn't an exact Pod except that the first Pod is the the Roman Empire is able to adopt a bureaucratic system akin to that of the Byzantine Empire and bounce back. Islam is Butterflied and the Chinese Empire expands into Central Asia.

You could ask citizens of either the Roman or Chinese Empires when the Silent War began, but most would say that the war is as old as time itself. The Silent War is the centuries long conflict between the Roman and Chinese Empires. Largely a war waged through economic means and through proxies (most notably the states that make up the former Persian Empire), the Silent War has on occasion gotten louder. Though the Chinese Empire was not a very active colonizer of Terra Nova, encroachment into Chinese territory by Roman subjects ignited a minor border war that ended in China’s favor.

As stated earlier, Persia and Central Asia have seen the majority of Sino-Roman conflict, with the Chinese constantly propping up the Persians in an effort to and the Romans smuggling weapons to the Turkic tribes of Central Asia. Dominance over the Indian Ocean has been another front in the never ending Silent War, With the Chinese exerting the most power for the moment, though increased Roman-Gangetic relations threatens the dominance of the Celestial Empire in the region. This front is rapidly expanding into East Africa, with Chinese Empire expanding its influence into the Pagan kingdoms and destabilizing the Christian African kingdoms and city-states.

If you asked a citizen of the Roman Empire what was the differences between the two massive imperial states they might say something about the Roman Catholic faith and how the Empire was ordained by God to dominate the globe or how the Chinese Empire is a monolithic state akin to a hive mind and that the Roman people enjoy many more freedoms, but in reality Roman democracy is a joke outside of the privileged elite who have managed to reign in the absolute power of the Emperor. The differences between the ideologies of the two states are almost entirely cosmetic. The bureaucratic leadership in both Constantinople and Nanjing rule over their vast empires in fairly undemocratic ways.

The PoD is the prophet Mohammed being female, removing Islam from history. The migration period goes radically different and Christian Egypt and Byzantium go on to be the rivals of Zoroastrian Persia.

The world has undergone two revolutionary period. The first was the rise of the Libertist movement, which gutted the old Bavarian Empire and replaced it in 1745 CE, or 0 Z.d.A (Das Zeitalter der Aufklärung), with the Bavarian Confederation. Libertism is what we would identify as classical liberalism IOTL, but more critical of democratic politics, which they see as a conduit for interest groups to seize government and impose their unjust tyrannies on everyone else. Libertism is a very revolutionary ideology, promoting the overthrow of all non-libertist governments. A more radical strain has appeared in the New World, which actually abolished the Celt-colonized government there, only to replace it with an armed Libertist Party and a cabal of plutocrats. The "provisional government" is a skeleton organization that exists for diplomatic reasons, which they don't use often as they have had a falling out with the rest of the Liberty League. The Liberty League itself isn't particularly nice; they're almost all one-party plutocratic states that prevent any other political parties from arising and becoming tyrannical.

Harmonialism is an authoritarian ideology that transcends the left-right political spectrum of OTL. Descended from the Platonic concept of a philosopher-king government and Chinese legalism, harmonialism teaches that free will is inherently evil as it allows people to stray from the path to unrighteousness and ruins societal harmony, which is the ultimate good. It is up to the tianguo de ren, or "celestial person," to wisely keep society peaceful and static. This "celestial person" is to be unquestioned, even if they are wrong; to question is to cause discord. As a result, harmonialism typically adopts traditional beliefs and religions; the Harmonious Gupta Realm is a Hindu theocracy, as are many harmonialist powers. Harmonialism is equally fervent in spreading its ideology as libertism is; discord festers in all societies that are not harmonialist, and these could spread to harmonialist societies and destroy them. However, they do not encourage the discord of revolution; harmonialists prefer to send missionaries to other societies to spread the message. Governments are not to be overthrown and replaced; instead, existing governments should be made harmonialist. However, if a particular society contains too much discord, it is justifiable for a harmonialist state to seize it by force.

And the map.

Many millenia ago the Ancient ones ruled the planet, however they were struck by a great calamity and within a generation they disappeared from our world for the next several thousand years.

In 3008 BT however the most momentous event in our peoples history occurred, an even that would change our world fundamentally from then on; in the Hotema Forest a young Etoran came across a strange artifact that he believed to be a decaying relic, however he was wrong in his assumption, rather than being decaying the Artifact was still fulfilling its duty and his presence activated it and for the first time in over 3,000 years an Ancient breathed the air anew.

Over time the Ancient, J'den Ku'ma-ra [Jayden Kimura] taught the Etorans, and through them our people as a whole, many things about the past, about the full history of our world, and gave us the means to begin rebuilding the planet in the way they had originally hoped our ancestors might eventually.

However, as with all things this new knowledge would prove to be both good and bad; it is true that our species is naturally disinclined to fighting and 'Warfare', however we are none-the-less animals just as much as the Ancients were, and while our wars may not be as violent and bloody as those of the ancients, once again, for the first time in millenia the Earth has come to know War.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geopolitics Lesson 16,
North Pacific Re-integration Facility


As we learned previously, prior to the re-emergence of Humanity, the Tovara were in a Sui Generis process of state building that was far more lopsided than in our own species history, with the large majority of the state-level civilizations existing in the America's, Northern Eurasia and Eastern Oceania.
With the re-emergence of Humanity and the associated spread of knowledge, many of the Tovaran cultures were changed, some only somewhat and others drastically.

Presently the world is in what would perhaps best be described as a 'Cold War' between four factions (though many states are Neutral), however unlike the Cold War of our own species past this one is not based around specific ideologies, but rather over the idea of expanding and becoming a fully global species.

The four factions are themselves each primarily split into two groups, each sharing the same core ideals and working together to further them while also retaining their own ideas that they may not agree with one another on.

The below is an overview of the four factions and their primary sub-factions;


Gradualists:
The Gradualists believe in gradually expanding the range of the Tovaran species to areas they are not present (that are reasonably livable) and helping to uplift their non-civilized cousins through the introduction of settled society, medicine, advanced farming and technology.

-Integrationists: The Integrationists believe the best way to go about fulfilling the above goals is to gradually expand and integrate non-civilized areas into the currently existing states.

-Planters: The Planters believe the best way to fulfill their goals is to 'plant the seed of civilization' and help new states come into being.


Progressists:
The Progressists believe in uplifting the entire world as quickly as possible to create a global, civilized and technologically advanced society; the Progressists are perhaps the closest to what the original goals of Project Progeny had in mind.
The Progressists share much in common with the Gradualists, however they are none-the-less noticeably different from one another.

-Globalists: The Globalists believe the best way to fulfill their goals is to send out Advancement Missions throughout the globe and bringing multiple disconnected area upto the level of modern civilization at or near the same time.

-Integrationists: The Integrationists believe that the best way to go about things is to expand and continually integrate territory and people into their states to create large 'Empires'; the majority support the notion that at the time the world has been fully Advanced that the existing state-Empires will be merged to create a single global civilization.


Expansionists:
The Expansionists tend to be less idealistic than the latter two Factions and are the most like old Human Civilization.
The Expansionists do not have any particular goal, rather they are an alliance of states who seek to expand their own territories and become powerful for a variety of reasons, some of which may conflict with others.

-Historicists: The Historicists seek to expand their territories to either encompass those held by the ancient Human states that they live in the Heartlands of now, or to create larger, 'Greater' versions of them.

-Imperialists: Perhaps the most 'Human' group, the Imperialists seek simply to expand and annex land to build their Empires, either to make them stronger or for ideological reasons (primarily the EnEn Empire).


Naturalists:
The Naturalists are perhaps the most peculiar of all of the factions, in some ways they have some things in common with the old Human ideologies of Ludditism, Deep Green Environmentalism and Technocracy (primarily in prizing efficiency and Meritocracy); the core belief of the Naturalists is essentially that expansion is negative and that the Tovaran species is not meant to be a global species, but should rather continue to live in the regions they naturally exist in.
While the major Naturalist states espouse their beliefs out of actual ideology, several of the minor Naturalist states support it for pragmatic reasons; simply put they believe their existence to be threatened by the notions of the other factions and can not defend themselves alone.

-Evolutionists: The Evolutionists believe that expansion should only take place when it becomes a requirement (IE not enough land or resources for population level in existing borders) and that only the predetermined amount of territory required should be expanded into.

-Regionalists: The Regionalists, less commonly referred to as 'Borderists', are the more strict of the two Naturalist sub-factions, opposing expansion in all but the most dire of situations. The regionalists share some aspects in common with the Gradualist Planters, in that rather than expanding when they reach the maximum carrying capacity of their territory, a designated portion of the population begins a large-scale migration to form new states or societies outside of the old states borders.



NOTE:
Please note that the map used in this lesson is that of the Earth as it was during the end of the Human Epoch with modern border overlayed to aide in the understanding of the present Geopolitical situation; due to changing River systems, the affects of Global Climate Change and the subsequent gradual re-cooling of the Earth, the planetary geography has changed noticeably, as can be seen in the chapter on Modern Geography.

And the map;

Darn it: Analytical Engine ninja’d me with a Munroist map with a similar cold-war theme! Ah, me…

This map is inspired by several AH tales, including one by Poul Anderson, a snippet from the Alternate History Guides, and a book by – Anton Wilson I think? It is a world in which rather than the Emperors of Germany and the Popes eventually fighting to a mutual standstill, the Papacy gained the advantage, and managed to unify Italy, and later much of Germany under their rule, and confirm their position as secular as well as spiritual leaders of Christendom. Various *Protestant movements were crushed, and science and technology advanced under a Church tolerant with the self-confidence of victory…

In the current year of 2067, the Slow War moves into an alarming new phase as atomic arsenals multiply. It’s hard to put a date on the beginning of the Slow War: was it when the European colonies in North Atlantis, long a place of refuge for heretics and malcontents throughout Christendom, successfully rebelled while the Papacy was at war with the French? Was it when the Antlantean Union adopted the godless system of Technocracy as their national creed, and the whole nation was placed under Papal ban? Was it when the Seventeenth Crusade was launched to prevent Angleland from likewise falling into heresy, and failed on beaches burning with chemical flame? Was it when the Catholic Dissenter heresy wracked half the Catholic world (albeit with limited success)? It turned deadly cold when the Church brought the 19th Crusade (against that last great defender of Islam, the Jalayrid Sultanate) to an end with the use of a newly invented atomic device on Constantinople: and the arms race has intensified since the homeland of the Hispanyan Empire revolted against the tail that had come to wag it, leading to the aborted 20th Crusade and the Hispanyan Missile Crisis.

On one side, a motley collection of allies. The Union of Atlantis (A New Order for the Ages, as it says under the cyclopean pyramid on its flag) is a technocratic society: although there is a parliament and a free press, People Who Know Best dominate politics (a lot of test-taking is involved), there is a considerable interest in eugenics (and let’s not mention the chemical lobotomizing of criminals). Dating back to its conspiratorial origins, there is a lot going on the Hoi Polloi are not meant to know, and the relatively small minority which stubbornly still support the Papacy are constantly under the eye of the Special Police. (Most are atheists, agnostics, deists, members of obscure heretical churches, etc: there are a sizeable number of Dissenter Catholics, who think the Church has fallen into sin through lust for power, and elect their own bishops to run things until a Christly Pope returns to redeem the church and give its subjects their freedom. Open displays of religions are frowned on by the authorities, who dislike religious enthusiasm of any stripe).

Other technocratic societies include Nippon, whose efforts to absorb Catholicism led to heresies that infuriated the Popes, and ended up turning Technocracy into a sort of semi-religion. Having avoided conquest by the Papacy and its allies thanks to UA support, they remain a close ally, and the Nipponese Science President is a frequent guest at the Ministerial Blue Tower in Centropolis. The Anglelanders are a bit wishy-washy in their support of Progress, and excessively religious by Atlantean standards, the recently converted Hispanyans are almost paralyzed by the brutal internal struggle against their large population of Papacy loyalists, while the Scots are mostly atheists or Cosmic Unity freaks, have more engineers per capita than any other nation on earth, and are unapologetically transcendant in their ambitions (the motto of the Scots space program, currently shooting very solid satellites into orbit with a big-ass cannon, is TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!!).

Allied to the technocracies are Muslims and Catholic Dissenters (most notably the Nova Andalucians), and the Federation of Free India, which is actually fairly repressive in the name of unity and security, if tolerant of differences in religion or ethnicity.

Not an actual ally, but almost as hostile to the Papacy is the Holy Russian Empire, whose Muscovite head of Church and State is even more powerful than the Pope and whose state can best be described as clerical-fascist. Blocked from westwards expansion by a Papacy-led Europe, the Czars have pushed earlier than OTL in Asia, and having leased lands from the Chinese to gain a good Pacific port, have become a considerable naval power, ranging as far as Africa, where an Ethiopia kept open to the world has modernized with a fair degree of success. The Lung Chinese empire is a Russian ally, although generally more due to the need for Russian support to avoid falling to the Catholic Church and their south Chinese proxy rather than any mutual affection.


On the other side is a hierarchical system centered in Rome, a common faith and supposedly unified culture and civilization, although the whole giant edifice keeps afloat on a number of compromises and half-truths which are generally kept out of the light of day: the Papacy dominates Europe and Africa, but has only a weak hold on the Americas and a weaker one on continental East Asia, and must be careful to maintain its supremacy by avoiding invoking its authority too often. Indeed, there are those who argue that the Catholic system actually needs the existence of the Slow War and the Orthodox and Technocratic enemies to hold together.

The Church controls the schools, the hospitals, much of the security services and the banks, and much else in all Catholic lands, but must always take care not to push the secular authorities in the corner, and maintain a dual system of state and church control rather than try to establish a universal Church authority that would be impossibly cumbersome to maintain. It must work outside of Europe through its allies: in the Americas through the mighty (if reactionary and lumbering) Hispanyan Empire, and through the mighty Empire of Leon-Portugal in much of the rest. Poland guards the eastern border, and is kept safe through fear of the Russians. The backwards African states generally jump if the Pope says frog. The Sheng Chinese are a bit of a disappointment: their proxy war in the north failed to draw Russia into any disastrous quagmires, and indeed had to be rescued at great cost from collapse when revolution broke out in the seventh year of the war. The current government is shaky.

More worrysome is the rather “liberal” turn the Leonese Empire has taken, especially in South Africa: there is too much acceptance of free thought and free speech, even when disrespectful of the Papacy. Non-church institutions of higher learning are too abundant, and teach stuff forbidden elsewhere. And there is altogether too much tolerance for Athiesm and Paganism…

Technology and science have become increasingly compartmentalized and specialized in the Papal sphere, as the Church has striven to create scientists who will not speculate on things outside their field and pursue useful goals without becoming philosophical. The Papacy took the heliocentric model of the solar system in stride, but modern geology and biology proved a nasty shock.

Such things as the apparent age of the universe and the existence of evolution are essentially state secrets, to be kept from the Hoi Polloi whose feeble faith could not deal with it. (Censorship is universal and heavy in almost all Catholic states). Although Papal engineering, physics, etc. are still capable of substantial achievements, the Technocratic nations are moving ahead on many fronts. Still the Popes will not give up and concede the superiority of universally open knowledge (not that most Technocracies are particularly big on universal openness). The majority of the world’s population is beholden to the Papacy, the reach of the Papal secret services and inquisition is global, and, after all, are they not the agents of God? Like the Spanish Armada of OTL, the Papacy faces the future in confident hope of a miracle, possibly plural.

Bruce

And here is the map, with waaaay too many notes.

Bruce

THE PAST:

Sometime in the 1820's, Robert Owen's life takes a slightly different term. While his views on human society remain much the same, he does not attempt to put his theory into practice with the "New Harmony" settlement--instead, he devotes his time to writing more books, including one called Towards An Improved Human Society which describes a world made up of so-called "townships" of a a few thousand people, each formed around some common trade or attribute, and how a greater society of these townships might be formed. Without the failure of New Harmony to discredit it, these views remain popular in certain intellectual circles; later writers build upon them to form the basis of what is known as the Utopian Movement.

In the United States, Utopian ideas stay mostly below the surface into the mid-19th century, as the country is busy with a civil war and a period of Reconstruction which both proceed much as in our own world. (Although Seward never ends up purchasing Alaska, for one thing.) However, the turbulent era of economic growth and experimentation followed by a severe depression leads to Utopian ideas gaining a wider audience, and a number of Owenite and similar communities are founded throughout the country. A few of these prosper, and others emulate them. A second wave of Utopian philosophy and political thought develops during this period, and some Utopian communities remain even as the country recovers.

The US manages to avoid getting involved in this world's equivalent of World War I, which occurs in the 1890's and sees Britain and Germany defeat France and Russia. Unfortunately, it does not manage to avoid a second round of economic malaise, and in the aftermath of that, the Utopians emerge as a major political party for the first time. A perfect storm of charismatic leaders, clever politicking, and a few dirty tricks puts the Utopians in power by 1912, and pretty soon a few minor reforms have snowballed into a "Fifty Year Plan" to reshape the country along Utopian lines. Citizens are encouraged to join "phalansteries," the descendants of Owen's "townships"; eventually membership becomes mandatory, and the phalansteries evolve into economic and administrative units. After a dismal showing backing the Germans in the Second European War, the military is reformed along Utopian lines. Dissenters are assigned to "special education phalansteries"; some flee abroad instead. By the time the first generation of collectively-raised children comes to adulthood, America is an entirely different place.

In the meantime, Germany has been building a more conventional powerbase, balancing imperial authority with a modicum of constitutional reform, and harnessing growing industry with a system of powerful cartels. The Second European War saw revanchist elements in France and Russia defeated decisively; the formation of the Eurobund established German economic and political leadership of the continent. Britain has remained acquiescent, more concerned with trying to hold its empire together than challenging German dominance.

THE PRESENT:

The success of the Utopians in America has inspired similar movements elsewhere; the details vary widely, and poor Robert Owen would be appalled by many of the results. Perhaps the largest is the "Peach Blossom Movement," which has reunified much of China, formerly a mess of warlordism and European interference. Liberia's ties to the US have extended to the Utopian ideology; the Liberian variant is virulently anti-colonialist as well, much to the distress of the Eurobund, which is struggling to maintain its influence abroad. Britain's attempts to hold onto its empire have been largely unsuccessful: India was a spectacular and bloody failure; much of Africa was less spectacular but equally bloody, and the "white dominions" are largely autonomous these days--with the exception of Canada, which is extremely concerned about its southern neighbor. Russia has recently slipped the German leash--still annoyed by the loss of Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltics, it has been cozying up to the US.

Atomic weapons have been developed by both German and American scientists, but rocket technology lags significantly behind our world; vast fleets of jet bombers are still the delivery system of choice. In fact, technology in general lags behind our world--despite the propaganda, the US system does not work nearly as well as advertised, and a significant amount of its brainpower is devoted to working the bugs out of that system--and what with one thing and another, the Germans aren't much better off. Space travel is still out of the picture, but the Americans have been working on building a self-sufficient community in Antarctica to serve as a model for the next stage of Utopia... if no one ends the world first.

And a map, showing some places that loom large in the struggle:

The year is 1975, and the Ideological War is in full swing, with no signs of stopping. Indeed, the growth of Ethnicists (TTL's nationalists) in the colonies and the unrest thereof, as well as the recent Klovesian development of the Thunderbolts of Torr means that it it will only get worse from here.

Our TL begins in 290 BCE, when Epirus intervenes in the 3rd Samnite War and defeats the Romans. The expansion of the Roman Republic is halted, and the Carthaginians dominate the Western Med, while the Greek states and the Ptolemaic Egyptians fight over the East. In the Far East, the Gojoseon, corrupted by the Europeans later to merely Joseon or Choson, conquers all of Korea, and, protected by the Yalu river and with China distracted by increased raids from the North, they prosper in splendid isolation much like the Japanese.

In the mid 300s CE [earlier than OTL, as there is no united Roman empire to stop them], the Migration Period begins, driven by the same demographic factors as our own. However, the Burgundians dominate Gaul, destroying the Greek colonies there. The Slavs move across all of Europe to Lusitania, settling down and naming the area after themselves - Slavia. The Wendells (OTL Vandals) find themselves in Spain as well, while the Franks end up in the lands of the Dacians after being defeated by a coalition of Greek states, starting century upon century of tension.

The Greek states were united by a succession of Athenian oligarchs in the 14th Century. Colonisation started earlier in this TL as well, in 1439, when a Carthaginian explorer Baalhanno discovered the Caribbean, AKA the 'Karibbi' and the new continents of North and South Baalhannia. The Greeks, Carthaginians, Picto-Scots, Slavs and Burgundians raced to exploit this. The Greeks colonised much of the Missippi basin, the Burgundians the Koinon (Amazon), naming it 'Clovesia', while the Carthaginians colonised much of the Karibbi. The Norsemen and the Picto-Scots, somewhat late to the party, got the Far North and the Northeast, respectively.

And now we get to the meat of the TL, what you're all interested in, the Ideological War. In 1894, the great Greek Oligarch, Alexander - no relation to the other, famous conqueror Alexander, but no other name given - decided that rather than taking inspiration from the Athenians, the nation must take inspiration from the other great state, Sparta. He founded the doctrine of Spartanism - the military is paramount above all. Strength is the only measure of power, and a nation must crush any and all threats to it to make sure it is powerful. Is not war the test of nations? Alexander reformed the Greek Union to his own doctrine, doing away with the Oligarchy - in actuality quite democratic, though the name remained - and installing himself as what the closest translation is 'Emperor' of Greece. He then turned and crushed the ancestral enemy of the Greeks, the Franks, in a brutal two year war, cementing his power. The warlike Norse took to this ideology like a fish to water, installing their own 'Emperor' of Norsemark. A Spartanist military coup in the former Missippian colonies erupted in solidarity with their Greek brothers, and installed the Missippian Empire.

Meanwhile, in 1902, another ideology took inspiration from its ancient ancestors. In Burgundia, one Karlo Pepiter looked at the writings of the old Populists of Athens, and thought of a new government doctrine - a government for the fellow man, devoid of the the Oligarchic democracy that protected the interests of a few powerful men. The Populist Dictatorship would hold the interests of the common man paramount above all. In 1908, a revolution erupted in Klovesia, espousing Populitarian doctrines and founding the Klovesian Popular State. The Choson Empire, having pulled a far earlier Meiji in the 18th century and built an empire spanning the Pacific to Chinne, fell to a Populitarian revolution which decided to hold the Empire together, forming the Choson Popular State, though all ethnicities were equal within it. Finally, the Burgundians finally fell to a revolution after a protracted three year civil war in 1914, founding the Burgundian Popular State. The conflict of ideologies now began - the Populitarians against the Spartanists against the old Empires and Demokrats of the old order.

However, it was not until 1928 that the true Ideological War began. The Norse entered a brutal conflict with the Picto-Scottish Empire over the Hebridei islands. The Picto-Scots were crushed, their empire broken up, and turned into several puppet states. The royal family fled to their holdings in North Baalhannia, the territory of Talam Donchaddh. It was clear then that there is no way that the old order can survive against the new, ideologically driven states who would stop at nothing to spread their doctrines. Now, with the old order almost gone, two mighty spheres spread across the earth.

In the Red Corner, the Spartanist Powers stand. The Empire of Greece stands mighty over the Eastern Mediterranean, but has lost many of its colonies to Ethnicists backed by the Populitarians. Norrsemarke stands in the same position. The Missippian Empire spreads its dominance over the North Baalhannian continent. Several other nations flock to its banner, though not necessarily Spartanist. The Kingdom of Egypt is losing its power swiftly - its Arabian territories and the Kaffii Island [Indonesian] colonies have been lost already, and Nubia, Punt and Kush stand on the brink of open revolt. Only joinng the banner of the Spartanists can it hope to keep maybe part of its empire, though this is unlikely.

In the Blue corner stand the League of Populitarians. The Burgundians extend their reach across the world, though their power is slipping in the colonies as the Ethnicists revolt, with, of course, Spartanist assistance. Klovesia dominates South Baalhannia. The Choson Popular State is still powerful, and maintains a strong hold over its Chinne, Nipponic, and other minority populations. Greater Aryanistan is one of the most populous states on Earth, and has great influence across the Asian continent - all the Populitarian states in Asia owe their existence to Aryanistan. In the North Baalhannian continent, Talam Donchaddh stands as the last bastion of the Picto-Scots, pledging venegence against the Norse. Several other states stand with them. Slavia has lost almost all of its colonies to Spartanist backed revolution, and stands with the Populitarians to try to keep them. The Wendells never had much success in anything, but now stand with the Populitarians in the hope of maybe gaining something in the conflict, and at least some support from their more powerful allies. The Balti Confederation props up Greece's ancestral enemies, Frankrieke, while the Magyars pressure the Greek satellites in Anatolia.

Some stats strive to remain neutral, however. The Empire of Carthage walks a careful line, avoiding commitment to either state and merely trying to hold on to its extensive empire. The Turkic Confederation wants no part in the Ideological War, preferring to remain in splendid isolation in its own vast territories. The Thai Kingdom [the Thais migrated to southern China in this TL] wants to start its own, uniquely Asian bloc, and has funded Viet revolutionaries to their eventual independence from Greece. Though pressured, both refuse to join either alliance, preferring to start their own.

The status quo has been broken, however. The Klovesians have tested a new weapon, one more powerful than any other before it. Calling it the Thunderbolt of Torr, this mighty explosive can annihilate an entire city in a single bomb. No one really knows how to react to such a weapon, but everybody knows that it can only get worse from here...

the map, with notes.

1: Skraelingmarke. Despite the name, mostly populated by the Norse. Propped up by Talam Donchaddh, just to spite Norssmarke.
2: Native states are more common in the Baalhannias, with European colonisation overall concentrated in other places. On the Southeast Coast, we have, from north to south, the Nottoway Confederacy, Kerokia, and the Seminolians. Missippian clients all.
3: West Baalhannian states. Exist only by the Grace of Choson.
4: Ar-Kuba is a happy member of the Carthaginian Empire, and has full rights as a province.
5: When the Populitarians built there own Canal, the Greeks just had to one up them.
6: Geisericca was a Wendell vanity project, when they were trying to be relevant for once in the world. It was never profitable and almost bankrupted Wendellia. The Klovesians bought it off them in 1912.
7: Greek Westafrica. Full of revolutionaries, and might not be Greek for long.
8: Once the pride of the Carthaginian Empire, the Amazon [Kongo] will most likely be lost to Ethnicist rebels soon.
9: Egypt barely holds on to Punt, Kush, and Nubia.
10: Ar-Denn was a melting pot of cultures and migrants due to its location on the entrance to the Red Sea and Egypt Proper. Its majority Jewish, of all things, population broke off when the Rest of Egyptian Arabia gained independence in 1968.
11: Frankrieke still exists, though it is entirely dependent on the Balti.
12: The Basques have a much bigger population and more territory in this TL, including their own state.
13: Mokamba, the first Norse colony to go.
14: Brenska and Vlodosk, two formerly Slavian colonies.
15: Burgundian Dravidia declared independence in 1971, after a ten year independence war.
16: The Egyptians, fearing the loss of their Kafi Island colonies in Southeast Asia and the Australs, released them as a multi-ethnic federal dominion. This was a terrible idea from the start, especially since the Egyptians didn't care where they drew the borders. The country is now in the middle of hundreds of ethnic revolts. TTL's Yugoslavia, really.
17: Morri Islands. The Egyptians were never able to colonise or conquer the islands, since the Morri picked up guns very, very fast. They were forced to leave them independent, and nobody has ever managed to conquer them.
18: Formerly Greek Krayii, gained independence with Burgundian help in return for Sinkapor as a naval base. The Greeks are furious.
19: Tibetan Empire. Holds onto Sinkiang only due to Aryani guns.
20: The Germanic Confederation. After the Picto-Scottish War, the Norse forced a union on all the tiny Germanic nations in Germania. The resulting federal union is considered a pointless waste of resources by everybody but the Norse and the puppet government, and it requires constant Norse military deployment to stay together.
21: Wendell Afrika. "We are powerful! Look at our colonies. Please believe us."
22: From North to South; Iberia, Pontus, Armenia. Greek clients all.
23: Foreign dominated Italy. In the centre, the Roman Republic has come under Greek sway. In the north are the Po Kingdom and the Sekesta, the last two Gallic states on earth.
24: Aztlan. The Aztec migration went north in this TL

*notes*
Indo-China and Madagascar are supposed to be a French government in exile.
This is merely a short summary of the events. I think it covers the major ones well enough.

The POD for this is the 1880s.
1880s:Spain sells Carribbean and Philippine colonies to the USA.
France goes on to become a military junta becoming allies with Russia.
1890s: Great Britain signs an alliance with Spain and Italy.
Germany allies with Austria-Hungary.

1909:The Great War breaks out in 1909 after a border dispute between France and Germany. Great Britain's alliance refuses to help France.

Russia declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.
1910: Spain decides to enter with war with France. Great Britain and Italy agrees to help, though in reality they do very little other than declare war.
1911: France falls and is occupied by Germany and Spain who grow distrustful with each other.
1912: Russia breaks out in civil war. They sign a treaty with Germany. Germany is given lots of land by Russia. These are turned into puppet states.
1914-1920: Great depression breaks out in Europe.
Communist revolutions in France, Great Britain, America and Spain.
Spain begins to grow into a pretty powerful nation, economically and militarily.
Austria-Hungary falls apart.
Germany is declared a federation and Wilhelm is removed.
1930s:
Austria-Hungary falls into civil war. Germany invades and annexes the German majority area.
France rearms and signs alliance with Italy, Japan and Belgium.
1942-1946:Second Franco-German war begins. France, Belgium and Italy vs. Germany and allies.
At first France does pretty well until Germany beats them back.
France falls in 1945 but then Spain and Great Britain launch a counter attack. They take about 3/4 of France before they are stopped. Currently an armistice still existsas it was signed once the stalemate broke out.

1950s:
New alliances are formed creating the Cold War:
It initially is caused by the French counter-invasion but then it expands.
Communist rebellion in Italy splits the country. The communists control the south.

Berlin Pact: Outlined in red on the map. Combined of German puppet states and Germany itself it is situated completely in Europe. It is a conservative democratic alliance

Communist Internationale: Formed between all the communist powers of the world. USA and puppets, Workers' Republic of France, USA, Great Britain, Turkey and Spain. Spain is actually incredibly powerful and is economically as strong as the USA per capita.

Eurasion Alliance: Comprised of Russia and her puppets. Forming 1956 they are quickly becoming the third wheel in this Cold War.
Japanese Sphere: Constantly expanding Japan rules all of East Asia and is a constant threat to shipping and theother powers.

Federation of Arabic Nations: Forming in 1946 it is the oldest and weakest alliance system. Though they control lots of oil they are constantly at war with their imperialist neighbors which has put them in a lot of debt. Israel breaks away successfully and is currently in the Third Arab war with them. The Federation is almost a nation but the autonomy is so great that most consider it an alliance as opposed to a nation.

Gah, I almost forgot. That would have been annoying...

In short, the PoD is that the League of the Three Emperors survives. A joint German-Russian-Austro-Hungarian (!) attack on the Ottomans in the late 1890s is used to help keep the alliance together; the Slavic former Ottoman potions of Europe are united into the new Kingdom of Slavia, aside from the Adriatic coast going to Austria and Constantinople being annexed by Russia. Having supported the other two nations the German government requests their support in an attack on the Western nations - thus the Great War of 1913-19 was fought as the League against France, the UK, Italy and the Benelux.

This time with the focus purely on the Western front, and with the support of even more Russian troops shipped in on Russo-German rail lines, the League manages to quickly pass through the Low Countries and surround Paris. However even after the city has fallen the French fight on and the war drags on for many more years, seeing amongst other things an Austro-German invasion of Switzerland in an attempt to break through the Franco-Italian lines. A combination of several things swing the war in the league's favour: the resulting push through the Alps towards Lyon and Nice, the Russian and Austrian Fleets managing a famous victory over the British in Malta, paving way for League domination over the Central Mediterranean and leading to landings in Apulia and Tunisia. The United States stays out until it is too late, although they do eventually ship men in to northern France to, mainly successfully, turn the tide they don't manage to reclaim Paris before the war is won in the Mediterranean.

The Treaty of Potsdam setting out the surrender of the Allies firmly set the global stage for League dominance. Germany annexed the Low Countries and northern France, as well as taking control of most of Franc's African colonies. Austria-Hungary manages to partially undo Italian unification by re-creating the Kingdom of the Sicilies, which is then combined with the crowns of Cisleithania and Saint Stephen to create the Triple Monarchy. Russia gained some lands in Central Asia including a monopoly over Persia, giving it access to ports on the Indian Ocean.

Following the war the nations of the West began to decline as the League grew in power. Britain lost very little in the war territory wise, but the hit on the economy and national pride was severe; and a good amount of blame was aimed at the King and upper classes. Growing social upset, especially in Ireland, Scotland, the north of England and London eventually boiled over; the Monarchy and Parliament were overthrown and a new government was created - calling itself the United Nations of the British Isles. These "Nationalists" groups promoted revolution against the upper classes across the nations of Europe under the title of the International Community of Nations. Whilst they were violently quashed in the League, who remained highly militarised since the war and were more used to squashing revolts than the western nations, they were much more successful in the Monarchies that weren't in the Great War; in Spain and Portugal, who united into the Iberian Union, and the remaining Ottoman rump which became the Republic of Turkey. The International Community of Nations evolved from a general international association of political groups into a full military alliance opposed to the League.

---------

Thus, the current situation; described as a "Tournament of Shadows" between the two international alliances:

The League of the Three Empires - imperial, monarchist, strictly conservative, pretty anti-democratic: each has a parliament with reasonable representation (reasonable to the establishment) which has limited debating power and can't veto the ruler(Kaiser, Tzar, Monarch (since Emperor-King-King was getting a bit silly) respectfully)'s decisions. Ironically makes them more democratic than the ICN nations nowadays. Not very nice towards minorities, though in the clear bias and limited job opportunities rather than death camps sort of way.

The International Community of Nations - nationalist, dictatorial, close to what we would call fascist though with some socialist elements. Un-democratic: parliaments were what got them into the mess of the War. Generally more accommodating towards minorities in a Soviet-style of way, but less tolerating of anyone who disagrees with the Senate's decisions.

The length of border crossing Western Europe between the English Channel and the Adriatic Sea is known as the Iron Curtain, basically massive up-to-eleven version of the Great War trenches made of concrete and Gatling guns. The Russian borders with Turkey are almost the same. The English Channel is totally gridlocked, German long-range artillery and primitive rockets are constantly aimed at London. As such the British economy is not in a great place.

Outside Europe the world is similarly divided. The United States is still a major power, they're part of the ICN block but not exactly one of the major nations (for a start they follow some strangely distorted version of democracy), considering splitting off but doesn't want to face the rest of the world in a war - even so a version of the OTL Sino-Soviet Split may be on the cards. The only somewhat-major neutral nations are the Pacific Kingdom (housing the deposed British royal family, really don't like either side) and China (invaded and thoroughly beaten by allied Russia and Japan in the 20s, turned towards the ICN before loosing a Nationalist-backed revolt in Tibet. Currently on the fence, and not very happy about it).

So. there you go. A world split between Imperials (monarchists) and Nationalists (fascists). Which side would you choose ?

I title this:

A little revolution goes a long way, never mix Bourbon with Romanov, and, the difference between keeping out and keeping it all.

POD-set is essentially:

A streak of Enlightenment-Loving Francophone USA leaders finding much in common with a greatly moderated Director Napoleon Bonaparte going wild with the metric system and non-tyrannical revolutionary spirit and hey Bolivar can roll with that and everyone is in one big happy rationalist science-loving liberty-proclaiming metric-calendar-keeping family.

The Brits are loathe to dip their stockinged feet in those revolutionary waters, and, doing so while avoiding the mistakes of the North American Secession seems the wise course to take.

Taking second place in the international rankings of Area Least Hospitable To Social Mobility is the Iberian Empire under the House of Bourbon who have declared themselves the true heir of classical Greco-Roman glory, very Catholic Latinum fans who nonetheless speak Spanish or French when the cardinals aren't around. (With regards to the Iberian peninsula getting together, the Portuguese went along in exchange for, in part, the relocation of the Pope to Lisbon.)

The Byzantine machinations of the venerable Romanov and Chrysanthemum thrones keep their viciously clawed heavy feet on the necks of over a billion unfortunates in the Eurasian-Pacific Alliance.

Nordic sensibility and affection for unfettered trade under-gird the Trans-Atlantic Treaty Organization.