MotF 106: Maps in the Mirror

All right, hopefully this one is better than last time's:



I decided to do a reverse WW2, with the main thing being Germany and France essentially swapping roles. The POD is that France wins the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Germany the one ripe for revenge. There ends up being a Reich Allianz between Germany, the UK, and Italy. There is also a Triple Entente, but between France, Austria, and Russia. The Allianz wins WW1, resulting in a treaty that's enough to leave the French wanting revenge but not enough to totally kill them off. In 1930 the Great Depression leads the French to elect the National Party which fully takes over in 1933 to form the French State (L'etat Francaise). A slow buildup collapses when French troops accidentally fire at the Germans in 1940. The French take over and do all the evil things the Nazis did, but with Germans largely taking the place of the Polish.

The French gains are described on the map, here's everything else:
(Note: The red and blue arrows are the same thing, but it's to make sure that the arrows are visible in Russia! )
The lines/arrows/whatever represent military movements/actions.
An arrow represents troop movement.
A boat represents troop deployment.
A tank represents a minor border conflict.
A skull (some have crossbones) represents large-scale bombing.
A flag represents retreating troops.
A line (no arrow) either represents troop buildup or a country's maximum advance in an area.

The Betrayal is basically this world's Operation Barbarossa.
A (x_x) represents a conquered country.

Here's the grouping of each alliance:
Northern Alliance (OTL Allies): UK, Germany (x_x), Denmark, Sweden, Spain (x_x), Greece, Romania
Aligned to Allies: Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Finland

French Group (OTL Axis): France, Russia, Italy, Japan
Aligned to Happyland: Albania, Hungary

Neutral: Ireland, Turkey, Iraq, Persia, Saudi Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein

Special status: Kingdom of Austria and Prussia (rump German state set up after the 1940 Treaty of Warsaw)

Greener Pastures In The Mirror: Germany The Angel Maker Of Europe

The Mirror In The Maps:
Germany becomes the go-to-place in Europe for abortions instead of being one of the source countries of abortion tourists it used to be IOTL.

Our Timeline (or Homeline):
In 1920, an MdR (MP on Reich level) from the SPD submitted a bill for abortion on demand for the first trimester of pregnancy. It was too much ahead of its time, of course, and was rejected. In Nazi Germany, abortion eventually was punishable by death at the height of the war. This was quickly undone after the war, but the division of Europe and especially Germany in the upcoming Cold War into a democratic-capitalist and rather Catholic-dominated West Germany and a communist East Germany with its nigh-entirely Protestant (and increasingly non-denominational) population also led to a divergence in its abortion policy. In 1972, the GDR enacted abortion on demand (the only occassion when the vassalized CDU in the East voted against something in the People's Chamber) and that was it. In the West, things got more complicated: Bundestag enacted abortion on demand for the first twelve weeks in 1974, but CDU and CSU filed a suit at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karslruhe and won the case wherein the judges argued that the relevant article in the Basic Law required the state to protect unborn life and therefore couldn't just legalize abortion on demand, though a however liberalized indication regime would be tolerated. Such an indication-based bill was eventually enacted in 1976, its indications being medical (mother's life threatened, everytime), eugenic (unborn to be deformed, 22nd week), criminal (rape, 12th week) and social (motherhood infeasible due to whatever, 12th week). Said social indication could have been a loophole to factual abortion on demand similar to the British medical indication in its 1967 law or the Spanish psychological distress indication in its 1985 law (abortion on demand becoming de jure in 2010), but this varied a lot in practice and was more easily obtained in the rather liberal North than in the rather conservative South of the country and as such a court case takes time that an unwantedly pregnant girl hasn't, it's easier to go to the Netherlands for an abortion that can be requested up to the 24th week of gestation.

Reunification brought abortion back as a controversy into German politics as the question of continuous rule of divergent Western and Eastern law and which law to apply in cross-German cases proved to be a sore point for CDU and CSU that desired a so-called Wohnortprinzip (residency rule, an abortion performed in East Germany at a West German girl being punishable under Western law) to combat inner-German abortion tourism from the start, but all other parties rejected this and in the end the Tatortprinzip (crime scene rule, the place of abortion is also whose law is to apply) ruled the details of cross-German abortions in the Unity Treaty. The FDP, junior partner of CDU/CSU in the 1982-98 Kohl governments, proposed an all-German abortion on demand law, adding the condition of a compulsory pregnancy conflict counseling and a one-week hiatus between counseling and performance of abortion. This eventually became law in 1994 and enforced by 1995. Once again, CDU and CSU pressed their luck in Karlsruhe, but failed this time as the judges ruled that Bundestag indeed had the discretion to deviate from the right-to-life clause of the Basic Law for the duration of the first trimester of pregnancy. Case is closed. Some girls may see the counseling as too much of a hassle and go straight to the Netherlands, but German abortion tourism has in general died now. In the other direction, Polish girls like to go to Germany in order to have abortions illegal at home (law from 1993), but other countries do as well.

The Allohistoric Scenario:
The Weimar Republic survives, the pro-natalist backlash by the Nazis, the anti-eugenist vibe due to what the Nazis did and the stronger Catholic current in democratic German politics and court nominations in a reduced rump Germany never happen. Instead, millions over millions of Protestant voters from Central and Eastern Germany make the Reich go on a more socially liberal trajectory. At least, it's enough that the German High Court in Leipzig wouldn't rule in a way that the Federal Constitutional Court did in 1974 IOTL. True, there are also the Catholic Austrians in the boat and Protestant East Elbians are conservative too, of course, but all these Berliner and Viennese city slickers and Central German industrial workers more than compensate this. Reichstag therefore enacts abortion on demand in 1966, based on the 1920 draft mentioned at the very beginning. This proves to be an instant success and attracts lots of girls that fell into unwanted pregnancies from all over Europe which is no miracle as the only other nations providing abortion on demand at that time were the Spanish Republic (surviving OTL law from 1937) and the Soviet Union which re-liberalized its law after Stalin died (law from 1958, IOTL 1955). Alien abortions peaked in 1970 with nearly 150,000 procedures performed and constituting a lion share of overall abortions in Germany. Border traffic eased a bit after Britain legalized abortions in 1971 and provided Parisians with a more proximate destination for their lady problems, but it's the overall trend towards abortion on demand that makes the purpose-driven tourism decrease after all. By 1980, only a handful of nations provided for strong country(wo)manships attending German abortion clinics. The latest country to fall from pro-life legislation was Poland in 1995, effectively ending Germany's legacy as an abortion destination. There remain Cyprus, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Malta as the last bastions of abortion illegalty and girls from these countries usually chose more proximate destinations for treating their lady problems but this is to be expected.

This is a preview fitting onto your screen.

The big map in its horrifying glory

Liberia

The republic can trace its roots back to the long American civil war 1861 to 1867, black and white realised that racial prejudice evaporates under fire, spawning a far less racist USA which supported the little colony more, this coupled with a huge amount of donations from African Americans led to the creation of a strong nation with an educated populace. In 2020 whilst most of Africa is just clawing out of poverty Liberia's 12 million inhabitants enjoy a western standard of living

Britain gains independence from America

In this universe William Pitt the Elder was in better health and declined a lordship, thus remaining prime minister for longer and brokering a settlement with the American colonies which led to American representation in Parliament. As time went on, however, the American shires grew more populous, and added their weight to the demands for reform. In 1818 the Great Reform Act was passed, expanding suffrage and eliminating rotten boroughs- and nearly doubling American representation in Parliament. Eventually, as America’s population outweighed that of Britain, they began to demand more proportional representation.
In 1839, the Third Continental Congress met and led to the Great Boycott of 1839, which nearly shut down the Empire’s economy. The result was the Apportionment Act of 1841- what the British would call the Abominable Act. As of then, the American MPs outnumbered the British ones. This led to another debate over what was called the West Iroquois Question- that is, “can American MPs vote on matters that only affect Britain?” Further aggravating things were differing suffrage laws- near-universal in the American shires, still restricted in Britain.
Throughout the 1840s tensions rose as the upper classes of Britain blocked any attempt at expanded suffrage, in collusion with the American MPs, who in return received the support of the House of Lords in removing any and all restrictions on American trade and native manufactures, and even, in 1846, managed to vote themselves a subsidy, to get America caught up in terms of industrialization. This drives up unemployment in Britain, while tariffs drive up the price of goods.
This perfect storm exploded when the British People Association (founded 1838) began demonstrating in several cities, beginning in Bristol. In Leeds, authorities suppressed the marches violently, leaving 21 dead when a shot was fired on one side or another. A general strike in Newcastle complicated things further, driving up the price of coal and leading to the a discussion on coal rationing in the winter. In Ireland, a march in favor of Catholic emancipation was put down even more violently than the march in Leeds, with the order being given to fire on the crowd, leading to seven days of rioting in Dublin and risings in the Wicklow mountains.
In August the People’s Association marched on London. When they camped out in the parade grounds in front of Whitehall in early September, they were removed by force, resulting in a pitched battle in front of Whitehall that then further lead to the suppression of any protests in London and the declaration of martial law. In Birmingham, on October 8, 1848, the People’s Association met and drafted the Charter of the Republic, and declared the independence of a British Republic. Ireland (March 20, 1849, in Wexford), and Scotland, (May 18, 1849) followed suit.
After four years of fighting, during which France under Chief Director Francois Dumond intervened, the British Republic gained independence from America, along with the Irish Republic sans Ulster, which became a Protestant kingdom following population exchanges. Following the burning of Edinburgh and the placing of Inverness in British Republic hands (Glasgow narrowly voted to join the British Republic and not Scotland, and then became more enthused with the choice after the Scottish Republic attempted to take Glasgow by force), Scotland voted to join the British Republic as an autonomous region with devolved powers.
The British Republic would not, however, have possession of any of the old British Empire’s colonies, which would remain in American hands. In Philadelphia, the new American Parliament voted to force King Edward VII to abdicate in favor of his daughter, Charlotte. They also voted that the British lords who fled across the Atlantic would have no voting power in the American House of Lords, which had its powers greatly reduced. On May 18, 1853, the British Empire came to an end when Charlotte was crowned Charlotte, by the Grace of God, Empress of America, Empress of India, Queen of Ulster, and Defender of the Faith. A month later the first elections of the British Assembly resulted the the Assembly voting revolutionary leader Edward Bartram as Chief Executive of the British Republic, and in Ireland John O’Connor was elected Chief Executive of Ireland.

(Map coming)

And here it is

The OTL concept here is a Middle Eastern religion spreading to South Asia and dividing the native peoples there.

Thus, the TTL concept is a South Asian religion spreading to the Middle East and dividing the native peoples there.

In 641, the first Buddhist missionaries land in the Middle East, on Nasirah Island. This location will later be revered as holy by Arab Buddhists and named “Nuzul el-Boudha”, or “Buddha’s Landing”. At the same time, Muhammad conquers Mecca, and will soon begin spreading Islam throughout the Arabian peninsula. At first, in Sur and Muscat, the new Buddhism religion is taken lightly with only a handful of converts. But as Islam ripples throughout the Peninsula, many tribes from the area begin to adopt it as a unifying force against the Muslims. As they succeed in halting the Muslims, other tribes from East and South Arabia adopt the religion and join their fight against the Muslims. Muscat, Salalah and Qatar become the strongholds of this new religion.

And so, a “race” is established between the two new religions. Wherever one goes, the other will try to get there in time and win converts. When the Muslims send an army to San’aa, the Buddhists sail to there from Salalah and manage to convert the majority of locals in Mocha and at the Bab al-Mandab. When the Buddhists cross the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba, Medina marches its men there, and then to the Levant. From there, they soon spread to Egypt, Anatolia, and to the Caucasus, and the Buddhist armies are defeated there. However, they do not despair and, from Muscat, cross the Strait of Hormuz into Persia, where they are met by their Indian brothers from Bamiyan. The Muslims scramble to reach there, but are forced to a halt with only the western reaches of the land in their hands. Wars are fought over the border set up there for centuries before a treaty in the late 19th century.

One-upped by the Buddhists in the East, the Muslims settle to put their full effort into conquering North Africa and Southern and Eastern Europe. They succeed for a few centuries, and at their peak control an empire that nearly doubles the Roman empire, controlled from Anatolia by the native Greco-Arabs of the area. On the other side of the Middle East, the Buddhists also flourish. They are successful in their spread into Central Asia, and manage to extinguish the rise of Hinduism in the Indian subcontinent, allowing the region to become Buddhist-majority again. In fact, nearly every state south of Siberia and east of the Islam-Buddhism line gradually becomes Buddhist-majority, and it remains to this day the largest religion in terms of adherents on Earth.

And here is the image.

Half size:


And the full-size, in all its page-stretching glory:

Floridian Missile Crisis

(Sorry for the quality of the map, my computer has been having problems, and it's down for the count. I managed to save this file, but the order is wrong, it should go The World of Colombia Rising, The Cold War in the Americas, and last the Colonization of the Americas.)

Map Keys -
The World of Colombia Rising
-Canada (Turquoise)
-The Federated States of America (Green)
-Colorado (Brown)
-Florida (Red)
-Florida del Oeste (Periwinkle)
-Louisaine (Lavender)
-Tejas (Yellow)
-EEUU [Estados Unidos de Colombia] (Blue)
-Brasil (Light Blue)
-Other (Gray)

Colonization of the Americas
-Great Britain (Red)
-France (Blue)
-Spain (Yellow)
-Portugal (Green)
-Other (Gray)

The Cold War in the Americas
-EEUU and TATO allies (Blue)
-TATO allies with Communist uprisings (Purple)
-Warsaw-Pact Members (Red)
-Other/Non-Aligned (Gray)

Floridian Missile Crisis

After the end of the Second World War in 1946, most of the western hemisphere was relatively unchanged and still at peace. The war had established two main superpowers - the EEUU and the USSR. In 1960, a socialist revolt overthrew the EEUU-friendly Floridian government and replaced it with a socialist, and later communist, dictatorship. In response, the EEUU blockaded coastal Florida and demanded it's allies Florida del Oeste and the FSA close their borders with Florida. A number of counter-revolutionary movements failed, including the EEUU-backed Florida Bay invasion. Meanwhile, the EEUU had been placing Ares missiles in Italy and Turkey, which had the capability of hitting Moscow and other important Soviet cities. In response, the USSR agreed to Florida's request of building missile installments to prevent US invasion attempts. In October, 1963, an EEUU spy plane flying over Florida took clear pictures of Soviet missiles. A two-week period brought the world as close to the brink of nuclear war as it has ever been. After intense secret negotiations, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Florida in exchange for the removal of EEUU missiles in Italy and Turkey, as well as an agreement that the EEUU would not invade Florida without being directly provoked.

Other uprisings did occur prior to and after the war. The Louisianean Revolution in 1962 overthrew the pro-EEUU government and replaced it with a socialist dictatorship which lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. In 1965, the government of the FSA was overthrown by the armed forces, which was supported by the EEUU. This led to a military regime backed by the EEUU until 1986. Another military coup backed by the EEUU overthrew the government of Tejas, which was being heavily influenced by radical leftists.

Hedjaz:

Well, I'm not particularly happy with this, but here we are. Pretty bog standard reverse Yugoslavia, with Croatia and Serbia changing places and Istria as a Kosovo analogue.

I am at least quite pleased with the alt-Dayton style border in Bosnia.

Here's my entry. If the poll isnt posted by the time I am back, I will write a description.


Since the 1860s, there has been not central power in North America. The secession of the Confederate States of America saw increasing militarism under the Radical Republican Army, with the secession of California in 1878. The CSA, heavy in war debt, was invaded by the United Kingdom and France in 1872, leading to Texas leaving the Confederacy in exchange for helping the invading powers and gaining parts of Louisiana, and Acadia occupied by France for a few years, and in 1888 made independent. The rump USA and CSA fought each other in the Great War (1911-1925). Then, what was left of both nations split up and no major powers. The American Wars (1929-1945) rocked the continent, with Canada being broken up and a Rio Grande Republic separating from the Third Mexican Empire. Oil in Texas soon made that country rich and when it, Acadia, and Mississippi discovered oil of their coasts, they quickly built wells. Mississippi was always unhappy it had less of the money. In 1963, the Nationalist National Party of Mississippi won the elections, the dictator Adam Brown was installed. Nationalist Mississippi attempted to ferment rebellion in Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas, but failed. In 1981 it went to war with Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida, with only the pro-Mississippi South Carolina as an ally. However, it won. In 1985, it was taken over by Sebastian Hughes, who replaced the old President. Hughes was widely known to be an expansionist.

Elsewhere, there has been quite a bit of upheaval. During the Great War, the Hashemites in Iraq, supported by the British, led a rebellion. They soon claimed Iraq, and expanded into the Levant. In the post-war chaos, they gained much of Arabia, fighting the House Saud, and, during the Russian Civil War, taking control of much of the South, making it puppet states. It became a major power, gaining economic dominance over Turkey and declaring itself the Empire of Iraq. Since the Great War, the world has been without a major conflict. The superpowers of Britain, France, Iraq, and Brazil dominate the world, controlling their colonial Empires, each holding a seat in the World Concordiat Security Council, which they rarely agree in.