Following England’s defeat, a Catholic regime was put in place. Much of the country simply converted back to Catholicism without much fuss, though Protestants and even English Catholics opposed to Spanish rule were a hassle. Ireland and Scotland were both made fully independent countries during the days of Spanish rule. Ireland, under the O’Neills, threw out all English and Protestant influence while Scotland accepted Protestant refugees and has remained staunchly Calvinist to the present day. This was followed up by Spanish intervention in the French Wars of Religion and a resounding victory for the Catholic League and the creation of a weakened, pro-Spanish state. Rounding out this era of Spanish victories, the Dutch Revolt was largely defeated and restricted to just Holland in a decade-long war after 1603. Following these wars, a number of Protestants organized by private companies moved to the east coast of North America where they established several independent, rabidly anti-Catholic states.
[*]The 17th and 18th centuries were a time of religious war across Central Europe as Spain and its allies invaded the last strongholds of Protestantism in Germany and the Nordic countries. This was unsuccessful as the Protestants held on. In the wars of the 17th century Sweden distinguished itself and grew to become the military power that would later absorb Russia while the foundations of the German Union also emerged.
[*]As Spain’s power rose, so did the power of the Jesuits. They pressured the Church to call crusades and there were several wars against the Ottomans and in North Africa and the Levant with the support of the Orthodox princes. Though a number of independent states outside the Spanish orbit (notably Galatia, a Christian and Turkish kingdom) were formed, Spain was once again the big winner.
[*]By the start of the 19th century, Spain had given up on the Counter Reformation. Clearly Germany and Sweden were nuts too big to crack Spanish forces withdrew from England. Spain redoubled its efforts in Africa, India, Indonesia, and the Far East following this. It was also around this time that Portugal successfully revolted from Spain after several centuries of union. Despite that, the Portuguese language and identity remained intact and after independence they retained several colonies they had held before the union or had been settled by Portuguese-speakers during the union.
[*]Though absolutism was one of the things Spain fought for against the Protestants, by the late 19th century the Cortes had reasserted its power. However, elected officials were largely puppets of the large corporations of the empire, which resembled the chartered companies of Europe or Japanese zaibatsu much more than OTL European capitalism. The Cortes and court of the late 19th century hoped to cut down on the empire’s expenses, and gave independence to a number of former viceroyalties as kingdoms. Though these kingdoms were in theory free to decide their own destiny, the Spanish King was king there as well and in practice all but the most iron-willed of these states went along with Spain itself. This system proved unwieldy and was later replaced by the Spanish Union that added an international government that would ensure compliance by states wishing to go their own way.
[*]The ideology with Solidarism emerged in the 19th century. It was a Catholic revolt against absolutism and corporate control and supported worker control of industry. Though suppressed by Spain (indeed, Solidarists were often burned at the stake, making them some of the last people to be killed that way) the ideology grew and Solidarists rose up in several countries. In California, Solidarity was popular among Catholic workers exploited by the gold-mining corporations while in Central America, it was popular among peasants working on semi-feudal plantations. The Solidarist bloc, referred to as La Heremandad, is very socially conservative but advocates for the rights of workers and labor’s control of the means of production. Their relationship with the Spanish Union is a complicated one given the fact that they both follow the same Pope.
[*]The Spain of 2002 has largely outgrown its period of religious war and heretic-burning and has become a fairly moderate place where much is permissible as long as one does not go against the king, corporate establishment, or church too openly. The rest of the world? Not so much. They still generally aren’t over the endless cruelties visited upon them by the inhabitants of Spain and its allies. The Protestant, Solidarist, and Islamic blocs are not above saber-rattling and propaganda campaigns designed to paint the Roman Catholic Church and Spaniards as evil, bloodthirsty tyrants. The extremism of these states varies from California, where there is no real concern of war with Spain to Ngwaneland, where the Calvinist descendants of people converted by Scottish missionaries are constantly preparing to flood over into Spanish and Portuguese Africa. Spain is a bit confused all this hostility. All that stuff was centuries ago. Why do the Protestant and Arabs still care about the Inquisition and sack of Istanbul?
[*]Outside of Habsburg/Spanish dominated Europe, which includes Hungary and a variety of small German states, the major player is the United Kingdoms, which is the descendant of a Sweden that entered into a personal union with Russia and absorbed the north, which it converted to Protestantism. It is a fairly moderate Protestant state at present, but is a rival to the United Principalities, which has stuck with Orthodoxy and is something of a rising power with a large population. Neighboring both these states is New Zion, a Jewish-majority state that seceded from the United Principalities and has managed to stay afloat through pitting its neighboring Protestants against Catholics and Orthodoxes against Muslims.
[*]In the Balkans, the Illyrians, the descendants of Albanian princes that aligned themselves with Spain against the Ottomans, rule. They have spread their Albanian language far and wide, though this has led to the rise of a considerable Slavic nationalist faction that has tied itself to the Orthodox Russians. To the west, the Northern Italian Confederation is a major industrial powerhouse and is fairly tolerant of Protestants and has a community descended from German and French burghers fleeing genocide in the 17th and 18th century.
[*]The Mideast is divided between the Spanish bloc, a fervently anti-Spanish Muslim bloc, and the other powers that just don’t care. The former includes the Metropolitan League, a now-Catholic majority union of cities on the Dardanelles and Bosporus, the Catholic-ruled states of the Holy Land, as well as the Spanish Union-aligned Armenians, Kurds, and Assyrians. Unsurprisingly, the Spanish-Catholic incursions into the Muslim heartland led to a backlash, which has materialized in the form of the Organization for Islamic Unity. The Organization is less focused on religion and more focused on anti-Spanish (as well as anti-Armenian) action which means the fairly secular Arab Federation is the major power. The Organization includes the Ottoman remnant (which is in practice a dictatorship run by very radical imams) run out of the Crimea as well as several other states around the globe. The Organization is in possession of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and has made all of its neighbors aware of this. Other powers in the region include the Kurdish Goranids and Turkic Bashmids, who really have no interest in any wider ideological or religious struggles. Interestingly, these two groups have spread their languages into Persia and Farsi is much smaller than OTL.
[*]In Africa, Ethiopia is in the midst of a civil war. In some ways, it is a microcosm of the state of the world. The old king became too powerful for some, and was deposed by a faction influenced by Solidarism. The new regime was unable to establish order quickly enough, and various groups rose up. Some have the backing of the Islamic powers while others in the south have support from Spanish megacorps hoping to create friendly states around the Great Lakes. This war has been going since 1996 and there is no end in sight.
[*]India was a major target for Spanish conquest. Over several centuries, Spanish outposts on the coast grew into a large domain that controlled much of the region. The Viceroyalty of India was ruled over by a mixed-race upper class descended from both the local nobility and Spaniards. Their hybrid of Catholicism and Hinduism is looked down upon by the Pope and Metropole but their wealth makes it necessary to be decent to them. Even if a large proportion of the population is enrolled in the church, Hinduism remains exceedingly popular. The Spanish Union has a number of foes nearby. Led by Mysore, these neighbors have put aside their ethnic and religious disagreements and are committed to driving Spain and its allies from the subcontinent. In the northeast, Assam is a Buddhist theocracy. Their form of Buddhism eschews the corporate system and has led to a happy, though only moderately prosperous, isolated federation in the region. Assam’s neighbors have taken note of the success of the nation.
[*]The ideology of Habibism arose parallel to Solidarism during the 19th century, though Habibism claimed to be inspired by Islam just as Solidarism was inspired by Christianity. Habibism acquired its name because supporters considered all fellow men as brothers. The first Habibist state was Balochistan, which fell to a revolt in the 20th century. The Balochi-led Union of Habibist Republics has grown into a snaky country and its tendrils can be found far from Balochistan. A Habibist revolt also occurred to the north, in the Kingdom of Khwarazam, though they get along very poorly with the UHR. Despite their origins and even correspondence of early theoreticians, the Habibist and Solidarist states of the 21st century are at odds over their religious differences.
[*]Insulindia (Indonesia) was at one point a Spanish domain. With India or the New World as prime destinations for emigrants, Insulindia attracted a fair number of Protestants and its population was supplemented by Chinese and Indian laborers. Insulindia was held together at the point of the gun and in the 20th century things broke down as Insulindia was given independence. A twenty year long civil war ended with a series of minor kingdoms ruled by Spaniards, as well as a Solidarist, and Chinese state. The region remains a melting pot and the various kings and tinpot dictators of the region are constantly feuding with one another. Further south, the former Spanish colony of Java has installed a Solidarist government that is engaged in a campaign of mass industrialism and irrigation of arid regions.
[*]Unsurprisingly, Spain attempted to get a foothold in the Far East. By the start of the 17th century, they had established a number of trading posts and missions in the region. Japan eventually fell under the rule of a Spanish-backed warlord while China shattered in the midst of a conflict between pro- and anti-European factions. At present, China is divided between a fairly toothless monarchy in the north, a monarchy that has adopted a unique form of Protestantism in the south, and, in the west, a state that has openly rejected centuries of Confucianism and attempted to form a government from the ground up. As is to be expected, Spain has a presence here. This is in the form of San José, a kleptocratic semi-democracy that emerged out of a mission near Shanghai as well as the Cantonese Confederacy, which is under a corporate-dominated regime. The recent rise of the Peoples Empire has frightened both Spanish Union states, who fear the anti-corporate message of the Peoples Empire will inspire revolts. Korea managed to escape colonialism and a nationalistic constitutional monarchy has emerged there that has dreams of defeating the much larger United Prinicipalities and even conquering China.
[*]The Protestant colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America experienced waves of immigrants fleeing religious warfare in Europe. Fearing Spanish incursions, these colonies eventually federated into the United Provinces of Frobisheria (they couldn’t call it America what with Vespucci’s being a Catholic) which fought its way westward to the Mississippi. Their attempts to expand west of the weather were combatted by a league founded by the Comanche. Under Black Knife, a Comanche leader often referred to as “the Indian Alexander”, a federation of native groups stretching up the Mississippi was established. Both the Omnicoloric Confederacy, established by Black Knife, and Frobisheria exist to the present day. Both get along very poorly with their neighbors, with the former frequently issuing insults towards Spain and in the habit of conducting large, threatening military parades. The Omnicoloric Confederacy is armed to the teeth and justifiably afraid of its neighbors that consider it racially inferior and heretical.
[*]Technologically, this world can be described as cyberpunk-ish. The line between government and business is muddled and most states are fairly authoritarian. Consumerism never developed to the same degree as OTL and while the average person has fewer and less diverse material possessions, in the developed world most people are fairly satisfied. There are a number of Spanish and Hermandad colonies on the Moon, as well as several Protestant stations. All these groups have landed on Mars, though only the Spanish have a base there.
[*]Interestingly, this is a greener world than OTL. Spain feared that the Arabs, Omnicolorians, and Solidarists would cut them off from oil in Arabia, Texas, and Alaska respectively and took steps to develop renewable energy. Though it was inadvertent, this has led to a cleaner environment as fossil fuels are less used. Still, other aspects of environmentalism are debated with the Solidarists generally in favor of sustainability (rationalized as stewardship of the Earth) and most other factions in favor of continued industrial growth.
