MotF 99: The Dust Has Settled

Krall

Banned
The Dust Has Settled


The Challenge
Make a map showing a continent before and after a world war.

The Restrictions
There are no restrictions on when your PoD or map may be set. Fantasy, sci-fi, and future maps are allowed, but blatantly implausible (ASB) maps are not.

A "continent" may be any large area of land, regardless of whether it is defined as a specific continent in OTL (for example, the Indian subcontinent would count, as would China and East Asia, or the Middle East).

A "world war" may be any conflict that immediately and greatly involves and affects most of the world - the Seven Years War, the French Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars, and both OTL World Wars would count as they all involve countries that control huge portions of the world, and had a large, immediate impact on all of those areas.

If you're not sure whether your idea meets the criteria of this challenge, please feel free to PM me.

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The entry period for this round shall end when the voting thread is posted on Sunday the 1st of June.

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THIS THREAD IS FOR ENTRIES ONLY.

Any discussion must take place in the main thread. If you post anything other than a map entry (or a description accompanying a map entry) in this thread then you will be asked to delete the post. If you refuse to delete the post, post something that is clearly disruptive or malicious, or post spam then you may be disqualified from entering in this round of MotF and you may be reported to the board's moderators.

Remember to vote on the previous round of MotF!
 
This time line begins with an alternate colonization. More countries in the Old World were able to pursue interests in the New World.

France got tied up in a war with the powerful native nations in Mesoamerique (OTL Mesoamerica). Because of this, France’s colonial prospects were reduced, but it retained solid control over much of central and southern Mesoamerique.

Spain colonized more in the northern part of Americk, in northern Canada. They acquired land quickly, and linked up with other Spanish colonies established on the west coast of North Americk.

Italy focused on southern North Americk and the Gulf Coast. The lands were fertile for farming, and the seas were stocked for fishing.

Germany colonized mainly in OTL northern USA and southern Canada, where its economy was based on trade and industry/manufacturing in the east and farming in the west, on the northern Great Plains

Britain was one of the largest powers in South Americk.

Russia gained a foothold in Aleyska, but met with competition from Spain. The region was split between the two.

One of the main alliances after the colonial era was the Rome Pact, comprised of Italy, Spain, and France. It was originally formed as an alliance of Catholic nations, but over time became more secular and political-based. A more recent alliance formed to counter the Rome Pact was the London Pact, comprised of Britain, Germany (which had grown to envelop most of OTL Austria-Hungary), and Russia.

In Americk, the colonies had grown and changed, but most remained loyal to their parent nations. A new type of colony, called a supercolony, was popular, merging most/all of a country’s colonies into one. Nuovo Italia and Zapoteque were supercolonies allied with the Rome pact. The Spanish Republics, while separate, functioned as a supercolony. They too were allies in the Rome Pact. British South Americk and Neu Germania were both supercolonies allied with the London Pact. British Hesperia (OTL Lesser Antilles) was not large enough to be considered a supercolony, but in most cases is counted as a supercolony under British South Americk.

The war began with a severe global recession beginning in 1919. A fascist party gained power in Italy, led by a charismatic leader, Francisco Gallipoli. Gallipoli began a campaign of economic recovery and racial cleansing – ‘inferior races’ were arrested as enemies of the state and blamed for the recession – mostly targeting Jews, Slavs, Poles, and other Eastern Europeans. Gallipoli played on the public’s fear of these races. They believed that these races took jobs that belonged to native Italians and that the Jewish and Orthodox faiths were inferior and subversive to Catholicism. Gallipoli was obsessed with the idea that the Mediterranean race was superior to all others. Similar (though less radical) fascist regimes were set up in France and Spain. All three nations engaged in secret exterminations of ‘enemies of the state’, including Jews, Slavs, Poles, Orthodox Christians, leftists, and political opponents and dissidents.

When the war began, a web of political alliances quickly dragged in the other major powers in a matter of months. Italy began by attacking Hungary. Germany, who was allied with Hungary, in turn, declared war on Italy. France then declared war on Germany. Britain declared war on France and Italy in defense of Germany. Spain, the last member of its pact not to declare war, finally declared war on Britain and Germany. Russia was the last major power to declare war. It declared war on all three Rome Pact nations.

In the Americkan Theater, battle lines were quickly drawn. Spain and Russia faced off in southern Aleyska. Spain was also fighting on its southern border with Neu Germanica, which was fighting with Nuova Italia on its southern border. Zapoteque and British South Americk engaged each other in southern Mesoamerique/Mesoamericka. British Hesperia and British South Americk fought a fierce naval war in the Gulf of Americk and the Hesperian Sea against Zapoteque and Nuova Italia. Trench warfare allowed for little progress of most of the fronts.

The Spanish Republics and Zapoteque faced rebellions from leftists who disagreed with the government’s ideals and policies. Uprisings occurred in California and Southern Mesoamerique, where strong pockets of rebels were able to overthrow the local governments and establish safe havens for individuals persecuted by the government.

The war was drawing to a close in the other theaters around the world. The Mesoamerickan Theater, however, still remained defiantly at war. Britain made the decision to use their ultimate weapon – the nuclear bomb, which had first been developed by Jewish and Polish scientists who fled Italy to British South Americk. Two bombs were detonated – one on the Nuova Italian port city of Nouve Napoli, the other on the Zapoteque capital of Tenochtitlan. The nuclear attack on its capital forced the reluctant surrender of Zapoteque, whose government was in shambles because most of its officials were in Tenochtitlan when it was destroyed. Nuova Italia later followed and surrendered.

After the war concluded, reparations were made to the races and peoples persecuted by the Gallipolian Regimes. The Poles and Slavs returned to their homelands. Though the biggest wish of the Jewish survivors was to return to their ancestral homeland, uprisings and political turmoil in Middle East prevented this. Instead, the Jews were granted land won in the war. The Jewish nation, known as New Israel, was given control over important ports and cities in the Gulf of Americk and the Hesperian Sea. Nuova Sicilia, the most important port city in the Gulf, was renamed Shiloh, after the Jewish capital prior to Jerusalem. Saint-Pierre became Sinai, and Baia Agosto became New Jerusalem, the capital of the new nation. Twelve states were created from the new land, each named after one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

State Name – OTL Location
Dan – Louisiana
Asher – Western Florida
Naphtali – Southern Florida
Benjamin – Western Cuba
Joseph – Central Cuba
Levi – Eastern Cuba
Issachar – Northeastern Cuba/Inagua Islands
Zebulun – Southeastern Cuba
Gad – Cayman Islands
Simeon – Western Jamaica
Reuben – Eastern Jamaica
Judah – Hispaniola

Other land swaps in the Mesoamerickan Theater included British Hesperia obtaining OTL Puerto Rico and Eastern Hispaniola, as well as land in southern Mesoamerique. As part of decolonization, Britain recognized British South Americk as the United States of South Americk, a parliamentary democracy within the British Commonwealth. The regions that rebelled in California and southern Mesoamerique were made into new nations, California and Cote Riche, respectively. Cimarron was also carved out of Spanish and Nuova Italian land, to create a native-controlled buffer between the two powers. Cimarron was heavily influenced by Neu Germanica. In North Americk, Russia gained much of Aleyska and OTL Cascadia.

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EDIT: In case you don't know what Europe looked like before WWI:
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In August 1914, Russian forces pushed aside a smaller German army at the Battle of Tannenberg and began moving westwards. As Russian forces take Konigsberg, the Kaiser in a state of panic pulls the German First army under the command of General Alexander von Kluck, despite his objections, east to formulate the defense of Berlin. Just north of Marienburg in West Prussia, the vast Russian army is stopped in its tracks, and a counterattack begins into the Russian heartland.
Meanwhile, on the Western Front, French forces bypass the Marne and attack into occupied Belgium. Outnumbered, the German High Command withdraws German forces to a defensive line delineated by the rivers Scheide and Meuse, where a brutal style of trench warfare never before seen begins. Despite their advantageous position, the Germans are forced slowly back. Brussels was retaken in March 1915, and by 1916 the trenches were dug solely on prewar German territory.
In June 1916, almost simultaneously, German armies captured Kiev and bread riots broke out in Petrograd. The Tsar sued for peace, and Germany walked away with all of Poland. Unfortunately, by that time the French were on the outskirts of Saarbrucken. The eastern armies were rushed back, but it was far too late. The French, thinking themselves on the verge of victory, pushed through the Netherlands north of Maastricht and used the Rhine to encircle German forces in the Rhineland. The last pocket surrendered in February 1917. The eastern forces gave one last hurrah in their victories at Rotenburg in January, Gottingen in April, and Magdeburg in July, but Berlin still fell by November.
Having totally defeated their former enemy almost alone (the British contributed little, and America never joined), France went about cutting up Germany with great enjoyment. She herself would benefit, naturally, as would ‘poor little’ Belgium and Luxembourg. The Netherlands would be repaid for the loan of a quick victory (although Wilhelmina would remain wary of the Entente the rest of her life), and everything touching the eastern bank of the Rhine would be internationalized. Germany would be partitioned, Poland would gain independence, and the Kaiser would be forced to abdicate, living out his days in a cottage in East Prussia while a French-chosen king ruled the rump of Prussia. Italy, Serbia, and Romania (in that order) were rewarded for their contribution, and Russia was given Memel as a token of reconciliation.
It is 1918, and the Treaty of Brussels’ effects have all been implemented. The continent is straddled by a conglomeration of republics and constitutional monarchies, with no fear of radical ideologies coming to the forefront. The Germanies are still bubbling here and there, with revanchism and rage, but no one can say that the nation was ‘betrayed’. The French made sure of that.

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EDIT: In case you don'
 
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I had less time then I wished so the map isn't up to my usual standards, but I eventually decided that it would be a shame not to post it.

This is, in a way, part of the the same timeline as my last MoTF entries. What might have been if the Polish/Romanian-Soviet War (the prelude to which can be seen in my MoTF 96 entry, by the way) and the events surrounding it had gone differently.

Throughout his reign Stalin impatiently awaited the "capitalist civil war" which would permit him to begin conquering the European powers one by one. And so, once the Adriatic War came, he lost no time in setting his designs in motion. But although Europe was unprepared, it was not yet too late to avoid disaster. Poland and Romania offered unexpectedly tough resistance, and by the time the Adriatic War ended they were still fighting. Their armies, pushed back to the Danube, the Carpathians and the Vistula had been badly depleted - but had not yet been broken and continued to resist fiercely. Had Berlin's policy been dictated by farsighted men, Germany could have used the opportunity to enter the war on the side of the Polish-Romanian coalition with British approval. It is likely that this very fact would have caused the Soviets to halt, perhaps even withdraw from Poland and Romania completely. Sadly, neither chancellor Bohlen nor foreign minister Frey were such men. Instead of making the courageous decision which might have saved Europe, they agreed to the proposal Molotov had presented them with, forcing Poland to sign the Treaty of Zweibrucken which restored Germany's 1914 borders.

Coming so soon after the annexation of South Tyrol, this made the worst possible impression on France and Britain. Their negative reaction is of course understandable, but does not completely absolve them of guilt for their tragic failure to recognize the scope of Soviet ambitions.

Contrary to common belief, Operation Sickle was not a one-sided rout. Had Poland been preserved, or if Britain and France had been prepared to act within a reasonably short time, it could have perhaps been enough to turn the red tide. Instead, Berlin fell within three months of the outbreak of hostilities.

Before 1943 Stalin had already commanded numerous population transfers throughout his vast empire but, tragic as they were, these would prove to be mere rehersals before the grandest of those operations. It was clear that Germany would be the second-strongest country in the communist bloc, and Stalin did not wish for the USSR to have competitors. Therefore, in addition to the standard brutal purges, the grandest of the Stalinist population transfers was performed. A large part of eastern Germany was assigned to Poland and the USSR, simultaneously weakening the German People's Republic, somewhat placating the Poles and giving Stalin the opportunity to threaten to punish misbehavior with territorial cessions to Germany. The Germans living there were replaced by Russians and Poles living in the areas the USSR had previously annexed.

Following Germany's defeat the free world had finally realized what it was up against, and the capitalist powers of western Europe at last banded together in a firm anti-Soviet alliance. Even the USA would offer them some support. Perhaps if it had been given the opportunity to solidify, if the USA had had more time to arm itself and better integrate itself into the pact, the Soviets might not have won the Second World War.

But Stalin did not give the "Last Alliance" this opportunity. On May 2, 1946, the Second World War began.

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World War Walker

At the time of President William Walker's reelection in 1868, the United States reigned supreme over the North American continent. Elected for his heroism in the Third Independence War (also known derisively in Britain as the Pig War), the conventional armies of Mexico proved no match for the President synonymous with the redeemer ideology of Manifest Destiny. But as Napoleon did before him, the guerillas proved to be too much of a handful to the white empire. In 1872, Walker lost election for a third term to Republican Senator Charles Francis Adams, but refused to yield power. In response, most of the Northern states refused to recognize Walker's government. Adams' abolitionism was enough for the South to rally behind the Tennessean autocrat, who attacked Adams as a British puppet (in reference to Lord Palmerston's ill-fated Liberation Invasion in 1861.)
Walker's attacks proved a bit too effective: General Hooker's Emancipation Proclamation following his victory at Baltimore led to British intervention in the war, with the French coming soon after. Walker's forces were crippled following the revolutions in California, New Liberia, and Mexico, and the President fled (with a considerable portion of the federal Treasury) to Cuba, where his attempt to reconquer the United States ignited a slave rebellion (fearing reconquista, the island would petition to join New Liberia almost immediately.)

The end of the First Atlantic War saw the North American continent radically changed. Following the chaos of Walker's regime and Hooker's coup, the United States would be engulfed in civil war for seven more years. This gave the British and French an opportunity to carve up the American continent for themselves, which they were keen to do in order to make up for their losses in Europe to Germany and Russia. The anti-European radicalization of the United States during the Monroe Renaissance Period is often attributed to this "stab in the back" by the European colonial powers, and the continuing resistance of the guerillas against Napoleon IV would prove to be the spark of the Second Atlantic War only twenty years later.

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PoD 1: Carnation Revolution avoided. Portugal keeps colonies for the time being (and Rhodesia is strong enough to avoid reaching an internal settlement for the time being)

PoD 2: In 1983, Operation Able Archer provokes World War III, eventually resulting in a nuclear exchange after a few months of conventional conflict.

Rhodesia, along with its Portuguese and South African allies had emerged victorious in the South African Theater of World War III. Portugal's puppet state of Zambezia annexed FRELIMO controlled Mozambique, and Zambia was destroyed (along with most ZANU and ZAPU bases in the country) as a functioning state (courtesy of 5 South African Nuclear strikes), effectively eliminating any conventional threat to the three minority-ruled nations. Rhodesia itself, annexed Livingstone, and the Zambian approach to the Kariba Dam, giving it full control of the Kariba Dam's power supply, as well as control of an important river crossing.

However, the three nations did not remain unscathed. Guerrilla and conventional forces based in Mozambique (Northern Three Provinces from OTL), Zambia and Tanzania had wrecked large portions of the Rhodesian and Portuguese African countryside. In addition, Portuguese Sofala was struck by a soviet ICBM (believed to be intended for the Cahorra Bassa Dam, but instead hitting the nearby town of Sombo), and South Africa was struck by three Soviet ICBMS at Vastrap, Koeberg, and Pelindaba (a fourth ICBM had burned up upon re-entry, believed to be heading for Durban or Port Elizabeth). While the damage was devastating, Southern Africa got off very well comparatively to the rest of the world. The World economy was wrecked by the Third World War, having economic repercussions in even the isolated South African countries. In addition, the United States, now the undisputed global power, demanded that some sort of political reform take place in Southern Africa. The leaders of Portugal, South Africa and Rhodesia realized that some sort of political compromise needed to be made with Moderate African leaders to ensure the long-term survival of their states.

Portugal, which was planning on giving independence to Sofala and Angola within 15 years, moved up the Independence date to 1985 (the electorate in both countries was already majority African, even if Europeans made up a far larger share than their population). South Africa abandoned the notion of Bantustans, and created an elaborate political system where Europeans and Africans held parity in government, and entrenched a number of European privileges, while striking down most Apartheid laws and expanding suffrage.

In Rhodesia, Prime Minister Ian Smith reached an accord with Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the leader of moderate African nationalists, that transformed the country from Rhodesia to "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" in the form of an internal settlement. Whites were guaranteed 25% of seats in an elected assembly, to be elected by a "White voting roll". The remaining 75% of seats would be voted on by the entire populace. 4 "European Cantons" were created (mainly carved out of the European populated areas of major cities, and surrounding European owned farmland), where European rights would be paramount. In these regions, there would be no land reform, and canton government (which had considerable autonomy) would be elected by the White Voting roll. 9 "African Cantons" were also created, with similar autonomy to the European Cantons. Elections in the African Cantons are determined by common roll, and land reform is government policy on the basis of "Willing Buyer, Willing Seller".
While there was some opposition from their constituents, Ian Smith and Abel Muzorewa, both agreed to the proposed Internal Settlement, and Rhodesia was no more. In 1984, Abel Muzorewa become the First Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, winning 63 out of the 75 seats that his United African National Council Party could contest. ZANU and ZAPU had been banned from the election (or what was left of them after WWIII).

After the Internal Settlement was reached, nearly the entire world extended diplomatic recognition to the state, and economic sanctions were lifted. Zimbabwe Rhodesia acted in its capacity as "Breadbasket of Africa" by exporting food to North America and Europe where crop harvests had record low yields (all the explosions in the Northern Hemisphere kicked debris into the upper atmosphere, causing a less severe "Nuclear Winter" effect). Abel Muzorewa governed cautiously as Prime Minister, doing his best to placate the demands of the majority populace, while not driving away any White Zimbabwe-Rhodesians, who were an essential part of the economy. Abel Muzorewa stepped down as Prime Minister after two terms. As of 2014, Zimbabwe Rhodesia is one of the most prosperous areas in a still largely devastated world. While Land reform has not gone as far as many hoped, there has been some progress, and commercial African farmers are an increasingly larger portion of the community of commercial farmers in Zimbabwe Rhodesia (with the government handing out land to African farmers based on ability). Zimbabwe Rhodesia has the best education and medical care in Africa, as well as the most rapidly growing middle class. While there is still a great disparity in wealth between the European and African cantons (the European Cantons being among the most prosperous places in the entire world), hostility between Africans and Europeans of Zimbabwe Rhodesia has declined since the 1980s, and both groups are largely working together to ensure their country had a prosperous future.

Republic of Rhodesia before World War III, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia after the Internal Settlement

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The PODs go really far back, but Islam stays in Arabia and Iran remains Zoroastrian and the monarchy is still actually Iranic. Central Asia remains Iranic, though a few Turks move in. Russia is similar to OTL, ironically with more German influence. The Americas are known as the Americas, but Greater Hesperia sounded cool when the United Provinces of Greater Hesperia, a Trotskyist state was founded during the 1910s out of a revolution against a basically Bourbon Democrat state. WW1 was somewhat like OTL, aside from the different players, and it saw Russia get out even earlier with less territorial loss. The Depression went like OTL, and saw the German fascists, who are less genocidal than OTL get in power. In Iran, the Iranian National Congress, which was lite-fascist, got in power, encouraging the expansion of Greater Iran. Then WW2 happened, and Iran got some land in Russia.


Questions are welcome in the Discussion thread.

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