Map Thread XXI

[Beatriz]

How is Luang Prabang?

 

[Spamavalanche]

This map has been a long time in the making (over a year, in fact) In July 2021, I posted a map showing a US without New England that had annexed all Mexico and imposed slavery on the Mexican states. I found that world interesting and began a worlda. I had to come up with a considerable amount of lore and got side-tracked making an infobox showing an Anglo-American war in the 1820s. I planned to write a couple hundred words but wrote just under 9,000. At that point, I decided to start a timeline. While writing the timeline, I decided to finish up the worlda as a sort of first draft of the timeline. Other projects have taken priority and the map and writeup didn’t get much attention until this month. I’m still working on the timeline and have several updates prepared. The contents of this map are not something I endorse. This timeline’s America is an agrarian autocracy and is not a good regime at all. This world has some similarities to other timelines but I have not consciously tried to copy any of them.

• Less than a decade after the Treaty of Paris, it had become clear that the Articles of Confederation were insufficient. In 1789, delegates of the nine states gathered in Philadelphia to create a new system of governance. The plan presented by James Madison and the Virginia delegation was, from the start of the convention, the most popular plan. When the convention adjourned, the nation had a new constitution (pedants will say that this is not technically true, given that states had to ratify the Constitution) Under the Madisonian Constitution, there would be two houses of Congress: the lower house, the House of Delegates, would be elected by the residents of each state, while the upper house, the Senate, would be elected by the Delegates from lists submitted by the states. The Senate would be responsible for the election of a National Executive. The most important piece of this puzzle was the fact that Congressional apportionment was decided by the Contributory Quota, an arcane formula which took into account tax, military, and other contributions from each state. In this way, heavily populated states might have less representation in Congress than lightly populated states that paid more in taxes. Importantly, the Quota was under the control of the National Appraiser, an official appointed by the National Executive.
• Though the Madisonian Constitution promised a free and fair government, things did not turn out that way. Planters and their lackeys from the southern states took control of Congress and subsequently control of the Executiveship. With the Executiveship in their pocket, the slavocratic Whig Party cooked the books and adjusted the Quota to favor the less populous southern states over the growing north and west. Though things could be labeled unfair following the 1800 census, after 1840 the Whigs had created a system in which the opposition could never take control and, without opposition control of the Executiveship, they could never rebalance apportionment to Congress.
• The Illuminati were founded in 1776 by professor Adam Weishaupt in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The Illuminati declared as their enemies things like superstition, ignorance, and despotism. Their ranks were swelled by intellectuals and burghers in the following decade. In the mid-1780s, the Illuminati were forced underground by pressure from temporal monarchs and the Church in Germany. The Illuminati only became more popular in the aftermath of the crackdown as many former Freemasons fled that organization, which was riddled with pro-Church informers. Following this, the Illuminati turned sharply towards political radicalism, and members increasingly advocated for the abolition of monarchies and establishment of a German Republic. During the late 1780s and early 1790s, the Illuminati branched out and lodges were established in France, the Low Countries, and Poland.
• Poland of the late 18th century was, to put it lightly, incredibly dysfunctional. The magnates, a group of noble families, dominated the country and prevented any change to the status quo through their veto power in the Sejm. Unsurprisingly, there was considerable opposition to this state of affairs. Poland-Lithuania chugged on for decades like this, though on two occasions, Austria, Prussia, and Russia took territories increasingly close to the core in “partitions”. Following the second partition, Poland’s government became a de facto client state of Russia. The end came in 1798, when the aging author Ignacy Krasicki released a pamphlet criticizing the government. Urged by the Russians, the Polish government arrested Krasicki, and during his arrest he was beaten. Within hours, Krakow was in flames as years of anger at the government created a mob that forced the Sejm and monarchy to flee. Into this chaos came a clique led by noted democrat Tadeusz Kościuszko. Urged on by Kościuszko, a constitutional convention was convened in mob-occupied Krakow and the United Provinces of Poland-Lithuania was declared. With Russia busy elsewhere, Prussia remaining neutral in hopes of harming its enemies, and portions of the Polish army defecting to the Republicans, the rebels survived into 1799.
• In 1799, inspired by Poland but driven by war taxes, the Illuminati and its supporters rose up throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Though Illuminati members hailed from the small middle class, they harnessed popular discontent with taxation and general opposition to the governments of the time to create revolutionary armies. Strongest in Bavaria, they stormed Regensburg and made it the center of the revolution. In early 1800, the Republic of Germany was declared with Adam Weishaupt as Protector of the Republic. Poland and Germany fought on for nine years. As the war continued, they found themselves fighting against all of Europe. Despite the raising of large, popular armies, the rebels were ultimately defeated across Europe, with Weishaupt surrendering his army at the Weltenburg Narrows in October 1808.
• The major struggle of the 19th century pits illiberal nationalism against liberal internationalism. Though the Illuminist revolutionary republics were put down and their leaders executed in an orgy of blood, their ideas did not die and has evolved into crypto-Illuminism. Crypto-Illuminists, like their forebears, believe in the destruction of superstition and illogical systems. To realize these ideals, they must destroy the state and church. Against them are arrayed the forces of reaction. The monarchies of Europe have found themselves able to channel nationalism and while nationalism demands the monarchies feud among each other, the monarchs retain amicable relations and are able to unite when threatened by liberalism.
• Unsurprisingly, New England remained a hotbed of anti-British sentiment for over half a century after a peace with the Americans was signed that left New England as a British colony. In an attempt to break the power of the colonial legislatures, the old colonies were abolished and counties became the largest subdivision. At least once a decade, and usually more, the Boston mob erupted into violence. After a Patriot plan to blow up the capital in 1798 was uncovered, the capital of the colony was moved to Portsmouth (formerly in New Hampshire), which was a hotbed of loyalist sentiment. In 1826, the largest revolt since the 1770s broke out, led by men like Levi Lincoln and other sons of the original Patriots. The Patriot cause had initial successes and the American government issued an ultimatum to Britain, ordering them to vacate New England. The tide soon turned, and the Second Anglo-American War broke out. Between 1826 and 1828, American forces were trounced on all fronts. This led to the end of American ambitions to recover New England.
• The Spanish Empire’s days were numbered. Inspired by the American Revolution and liberal agitation in Europe, Latin America burst into revolt in the early 19th century. Fighting began first in Mexico and soon engulfed the entire region. With Spain unable to fight back on its own, a collection of Catholic powers, including France and Austria pledged their own forces to join the Spanish. This grouping, alongside the Orthodox power of Russia, became known as the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance sent several expeditionary forces but finally gave up when an army stricken by malaria was swallowed up along with General Bagration at Cali in 1833. The presence of the armies of the Holy Alliance gave the newly-independent Latin American states a radical tinge. The Church was in disrepute and governments were composed of crypto-Illuminists. In Brazil, the most extreme of the new states, an openly Illuminist regime was established.
• Throughout the 19th century, the United States expanded to the west. Louisiana was purchased from a cash-strapped Spain, while Florida and Cuba were taken by a combination of coercion and cash in the dying days of the Spanish New World Empire. The wars of expansion came to a close in the Conquest of Mexico, which lasted from 1848 to 1853. Over five years, American forces marched on and took Mexico City in a series of cataclysmic battles that pitted the liberal Mexican government and population against a pro-American collaborationist government composed of devout Catholics and large landowners. At the war’s close, the US created over a dozen states out of its new conquests. Through confiscation, Anglo settlers received large plantations along the coast and came to dominate a number of these new states. Other states were drawn in bad farmland and were given over to Mexicans to rule, and unruly citizens of other states were encouraged to migrate to these Mexican-led states. This system could only be propped up with the bayonet, and since 1853, the US Army has been on constant occupation duty in former Mexico. Nationalist agitation is at an all time high and the region is a powderkeg just waiting for a spark.
• Throughout this period, the United States turned into a dictatorship of the legislature. Under Prime Minister Randolph, the Whig Party took control of the United States and made their brand of slavocracy dominant. They trampled liberalism underfoot and the United States resembled a European autocracy more than the republic its founders claimed it would be. Through use of the Contributory Quota, the Whigs have entrenched themselves in power, something that has angered the northerners, who see themselves as a disenfranchised majority within the country. Civil war is on the horizon.
• Europe remains dominated by the Holy Alliance. France, Spain, Austria, and Russia have an understanding and cooperate to defeat liberalism wherever it appears. When they are not cooperating, they will fight something akin to the Aztec flower wars to let out pent up nationalist energy. One thing that the Holy Alliance cooperated in was the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. This idea was supported by both Habsburgs and Romanovs and with the help of the French, the Ottomans lost several wars, culminating in their defeat in 1859-1861. The old empire has been wholly dismantled and divided between the occupying powers and several newcomers.
• Austria is the great power of Europe. It saw comparatively little revolutionary violence and was able to put down the republicans elsewhere and its image was rejuvenated in Germany, where people saw the Austrians as liberators. In the post-war period, much of Germany was annexed to Austria or reorganized into regional kingdoms. Austria’s up and coming rival, Prussia, was dismantled and weakened. Austria’s Emperors retained the old Holy Roman title, but the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in all but name, with newly-signed treaties of alliance and economic pacts binding Austria with its German vassals. Austria has pioneered a form of nationalism in which multiple ethnic groups are united under a single monarchy with considerable autonomy given to regions within the state. Despite the odds, this has worked, though Austria’s puppets of Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia are wracked by revolutionary violence as hopes of leaving the Habsburg sphere have taken hold.
• The Russian Empire has had a good century. A series of victories over Polish revolutionary armies (as well as their Russian collaborators, though this part is hardly mentioned) created national unity. As a member of the Holy Alliance, Russia participated in the ill-fated attempts to restore order to Spanish America, something that led to a surge in nationalism at home. This nationalism was channeled into southern expansionism and a series of wars were fought against the Ottomans, culminating in the Siege and defeat of the Turks at Istanbul in 1861. With the House of Osman out of the way, Russia was free to annex a strip leading to the Persian Gulf. Despite nationalist dreams of Russian settlement in these regions, the government has attempted only to Christianize their new client states and integrate them into the Russian economic sphere. Progress has been slow and seen many setbacks but Russia is still stronger than ever before.
• The old Turkish Empire was destroyed by the Holy Alliance, but remnants of the Turks remain. Shortly before the fall of Istanbul, a cousin of the final Sultan converted to Orthodoxy and was promised land in exchange for his use to the Russians. He lived up to his end of the bargain but received only a small region. King Peter was enthroned in Kütahya as King of the Turks. He has stayed loyal to Russia, and continues to rule as a friend of the Tsar and the Holy Alliance. Much of his population has converted to Orthodoxy, though the holdouts against him are few but very extreme. Further east, a military junta led by the Janissaries has taken hold. Decrying the House of Osman as weak and unsuited to rule, these Janissaries rule in their own right. They have pioneered a form of Turkish nationalism that has proven quite potent, as radicals in Russian territories speak of support for the Janissaries. Russia and Austria have considered a war to defeat the Janissaries, but at the moment they are too powerful and the Holy Alliance is still consolidating its conquests of the 1860s. Throughout the whole of the former empire, banditry remains common as a form of resistance against the Russians.
• The Greeks have been unable to coalesce under a single regime. The dispossessed House of Württemberg was given the Greek throne, but proved unpopular because of rumors of remaining Protestant and of using German rather than Greek at court. During 1860s and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek monarchy attempted to conquer the Greek-speaking lands of Anatolia. They were greeted with mistrust by Anatolian Greeks, who carved out their own Hellenic Republic of Lydia. These two states are constantly at odds and significant factions within both states desire a union, they just can’t figure out what type of government should be had. Elsewhere in Anatolia, Greeks serve as middlemen between Russian imperial authorities and their Turkish subjects.
• The fall of the Ottomans represented an opportunity for the growing Saudi state. The Sauds had been expanding over a century as a Wahabbist regime, but their most rapid expansion came as the Ottomans collapsed. The Sauds overran much of Syria expecting resistance but were surprised when they were treated as liberators. With the Holy Alliance advancing from the north, many Arab governorates were happy to submit to the Sauds and receive protection from them. The Saudi Empire is now quite strong, though technologically behind its neighbors. With the Ottomans gone, many people now see the Sauds as the premier Islamic power. Wahabbism has seen massive growth because of this and Wahabbists now live beyond the borders of the Saudi realm.
• Europe has vastly ramped up its involvement in Africa in the past several decades. Formerly restricted to a series of ports along the coast, Europe has established colonies further inland than ever before. This is occurring across the entire continent. In West Africa, the largest colony is Liberténia, a French colony established by settlers from Haiti after slavery was abolished there. Liberténia’s population has swelled due to these settlers and has almost 500,000 people living there. A committed revolutionary movement exists there, but the majority of Liberténians are loyal to the House of Bourbon. To the north, the colony of New Albion was an attempt by the British to settle Afro-British and New Englanders in Africa. Migration there never became popular and New Albion has a fairly small population. In Southern Africa, tensions between the British rulers and and their Afrikaans-speaking subjects are high. The two groups have not got along since Britain's conquest of the Cape from the Netherlands and at the moment, the Afrikaner-led Oranje Republic seems poised to go to war with the British Empire.
• The need to devote resources to the East Indies, Canada, and the high seas to defend against the strong French navy left Britain with limited ability to expand in India. Many native states were subjugated and integrated into the British Empire but the British met their match in the Sikhs, who fought four wars against the British in the mid-1800s. These wars ended with the rout of several British armies and their grudging recognition of the independence of the Sikh Empire. Maharaja Paramijt Singh avoided the wholesale adoption of European customs, selecting the best European weapons for his army and building modern universities while rejecting the worst excesses of the European monarchies. Singh’s descendants kept the empire intact and through a pragmatic alliance with Russia the Empire is fairly safe from British conquest for the present. The Sikhs harbor independence-minded intellectuals from across India and fears have been raised in London that one day the Sikhs might prove to be the arsenal of revolution across India.
• China seems to have turned things around in the last several decades. British, French, and Russian military encroachment became a real concern in the middle of the 19th century, but the reforming Bianchang Emperor, who ascended the throne in 1857, modernized the Chinese state. He cut down on the power of the imperial household, sidelining traditionalist princes. The bureaucracy was modernized and traditionalist bureaucrats were similarly purged and sent on assignments far from Beijing. Memories of humiliation by the west are strong in the minds of China’s leaders and there are dreams of an eventual war and victory over the powers that kicked China while it was down.
• Japan has had bad luck and poor leadership where China has had good luck and strong leaders. The weakening Shogunate finally collapsed in the 1840s, triggering a period of civil war in Japan. A strong Emperor might have allowed the forces loyal to the monarchy to coalesce, but the Emperor did not inspire that kind of authority and warring factions bought European weapons to arm their forces. The Bakumatsu era, a period of constant war, came to an end at the start of the 1870s, when the great powers of the world intervened, elevating the head of the Watanabe clan to the position of Shogun and imposing European influence on Japan. The weak Watanabe Shogunate holds power to this day but European companies have risen to hold considerable power across Japan as the Shogun has little power or will to go for full independence. The European powers have an understanding in place and refrain from actions that might lead to war with each other over their conflicting interests in Japan.
• The ideals of the Illuminati traveled around the world. Junior officers of the Spanish army, blackballed because of their radical views, were often sent abroad. These officers associated with radicals in the colony of the Philippines to create the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. The Grand Lodge became a center for nationalists and liberals in the islands and in 1861, the islands burst into revolt as forces loyal to the Illuminati attacked forts and government buildings in a coordinated revolution. The Filipino Revolution lasted until 1865, at which point Spain recognized its independence. Membership in the Lodge and government positions are virtually synonymous. The Republic of the Philippines has established ties with Brazil and has quickly built up modern infrastructure. Most recently, its navy has taken control of the northern coast of New Guinea, which has become the first colony in a planned Filipino empire.
• The Americas are dominated by the United States in the north and Brazil in the south. Both countries have massive and well-trained armies and neighbors that are scared of them. That’s where the similarities end. The United States is an autocratic, planter-dominated state while Brazil is a radical democracy guided by the local Illuminati. After the revolution from Portugal, Brazil established its capital at Sao Paulo, which it renamed Esclarecimento (having a capital named for a saint was just too primitive for the Brazilians) The rest of the country was reorganized into “more rational” provinces and subnational republics were set up in Bahia (led by Afro-Brazilian Illuminati members) and Rio Grande (under the leadership of the counter-revolutionary cattle ranchers, who were thrown a bone by the revolutionary regime) With leaders inspired by the democratic ideals of the Illuminati, Brazil waged wars against its neighbors. At present, it is a massive, sprawling state with growing industry. Recently, the growth of trade unions has presented a challenge to the Illuminati. Owing to fear of Brazil, all of its neighbors have strong armies bolstered by European immigration going to Latin America rather than the intolerant United States.
• Religion recovered after the Enlightenment. Encouraged by princes across Europe, the Catholic Church experienced considerable popularity, though some cardinals feel secular princes listen too little to what the Pope actually says and too much to what they think the Pope is saying. In North America, a resurgence in evangelical religious thought spanned a group of Protestant denominations referred to as the Columbian Denominations. Columbian preachers gained considerable popularity in New England, where they converted heavily in the aftermath of the devastating 1826 war. These preachers also made inroads among French speakers, converting the Métis and bringing the entirety of Rupertsland into the Columbian fold.

Ouch, poor Prussia, there is more Poland in it then Brandenburg. Also, I absolutely love this Brazil! It also looks like it swapped places with the US, tho even more egalitarian given that there is no slavery in it.

 

[Višeslav]

This map has been a long time in the making (over a year, in fact) In July 2021, I posted a map showing a US without New England that had annexed all Mexico and imposed slavery on the Mexican states. I found that world interesting and began a worlda. I had to come up with a considerable amount of lore and got side-tracked making an infobox showing an Anglo-American war in the 1820s. I planned to write a couple hundred words but wrote just under 9,000. At that point, I decided to start a timeline. While writing the timeline, I decided to finish up the worlda as a sort of first draft of the timeline. Other projects have taken priority and the map and writeup didn’t get much attention until this month. I’m still working on the timeline and have several updates prepared. The contents of this map are not something I endorse. This timeline’s America is an agrarian autocracy and is not a good regime at all. This world has some similarities to other timelines but I have not consciously tried to copy any of them.

• Less than a decade after the Treaty of Paris, it had become clear that the Articles of Confederation were insufficient. In 1789, delegates of the nine states gathered in Philadelphia to create a new system of governance. The plan presented by James Madison and the Virginia delegation was, from the start of the convention, the most popular plan. When the convention adjourned, the nation had a new constitution (pedants will say that this is not technically true, given that states had to ratify the Constitution) Under the Madisonian Constitution, there would be two houses of Congress: the lower house, the House of Delegates, would be elected by the residents of each state, while the upper house, the Senate, would be elected by the Delegates from lists submitted by the states. The Senate would be responsible for the election of a National Executive. The most important piece of this puzzle was the fact that Congressional apportionment was decided by the Contributory Quota, an arcane formula which took into account tax, military, and other contributions from each state. In this way, heavily populated states might have less representation in Congress than lightly populated states that paid more in taxes. Importantly, the Quota was under the control of the National Appraiser, an official appointed by the National Executive.
• Though the Madisonian Constitution promised a free and fair government, things did not turn out that way. Planters and their lackeys from the southern states took control of Congress and subsequently control of the Executiveship. With the Executiveship in their pocket, the slavocratic Whig Party cooked the books and adjusted the Quota to favor the less populous southern states over the growing north and west. Though things could be labeled unfair following the 1800 census, after 1840 the Whigs had created a system in which the opposition could never take control and, without opposition control of the Executiveship, they could never rebalance apportionment to Congress.
• The Illuminati were founded in 1776 by professor Adam Weishaupt in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The Illuminati declared as their enemies things like superstition, ignorance, and despotism. Their ranks were swelled by intellectuals and burghers in the following decade. In the mid-1780s, the Illuminati were forced underground by pressure from temporal monarchs and the Church in Germany. The Illuminati only became more popular in the aftermath of the crackdown as many former Freemasons fled that organization, which was riddled with pro-Church informers. Following this, the Illuminati turned sharply towards political radicalism, and members increasingly advocated for the abolition of monarchies and establishment of a German Republic. During the late 1780s and early 1790s, the Illuminati branched out and lodges were established in France, the Low Countries, and Poland.
• Poland of the late 18th century was, to put it lightly, incredibly dysfunctional. The magnates, a group of noble families, dominated the country and prevented any change to the status quo through their veto power in the Sejm. Unsurprisingly, there was considerable opposition to this state of affairs. Poland-Lithuania chugged on for decades like this, though on two occasions, Austria, Prussia, and Russia took territories increasingly close to the core in “partitions”. Following the second partition, Poland’s government became a de facto client state of Russia. The end came in 1798, when the aging author Ignacy Krasicki released a pamphlet criticizing the government. Urged by the Russians, the Polish government arrested Krasicki, and during his arrest he was beaten. Within hours, Krakow was in flames as years of anger at the government created a mob that forced the Sejm and monarchy to flee. Into this chaos came a clique led by noted democrat Tadeusz Kościuszko. Urged on by Kościuszko, a constitutional convention was convened in mob-occupied Krakow and the United Provinces of Poland-Lithuania was declared. With Russia busy elsewhere, Prussia remaining neutral in hopes of harming its enemies, and portions of the Polish army defecting to the Republicans, the rebels survived into 1799.
• In 1799, inspired by Poland but driven by war taxes, the Illuminati and its supporters rose up throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Though Illuminati members hailed from the small middle class, they harnessed popular discontent with taxation and general opposition to the governments of the time to create revolutionary armies. Strongest in Bavaria, they stormed Regensburg and made it the center of the revolution. In early 1800, the Republic of Germany was declared with Adam Weishaupt as Protector of the Republic. Poland and Germany fought on for nine years. As the war continued, they found themselves fighting against all of Europe. Despite the raising of large, popular armies, the rebels were ultimately defeated across Europe, with Weishaupt surrendering his army at the Weltenburg Narrows in October 1808.
• The major struggle of the 19th century pits illiberal nationalism against liberal internationalism. Though the Illuminist revolutionary republics were put down and their leaders executed in an orgy of blood, their ideas did not die and has evolved into crypto-Illuminism. Crypto-Illuminists, like their forebears, believe in the destruction of superstition and illogical systems. To realize these ideals, they must destroy the state and church. Against them are arrayed the forces of reaction. The monarchies of Europe have found themselves able to channel nationalism and while nationalism demands the monarchies feud among each other, the monarchs retain amicable relations and are able to unite when threatened by liberalism.
• Unsurprisingly, New England remained a hotbed of anti-British sentiment for over half a century after a peace with the Americans was signed that left New England as a British colony. In an attempt to break the power of the colonial legislatures, the old colonies were abolished and counties became the largest subdivision. At least once a decade, and usually more, the Boston mob erupted into violence. After a Patriot plan to blow up the capital in 1798 was uncovered, the capital of the colony was moved to Portsmouth (formerly in New Hampshire), which was a hotbed of loyalist sentiment. In 1826, the largest revolt since the 1770s broke out, led by men like Levi Lincoln and other sons of the original Patriots. The Patriot cause had initial successes and the American government issued an ultimatum to Britain, ordering them to vacate New England. The tide soon turned, and the Second Anglo-American War broke out. Between 1826 and 1828, American forces were trounced on all fronts. This led to the end of American ambitions to recover New England.
• The Spanish Empire’s days were numbered. Inspired by the American Revolution and liberal agitation in Europe, Latin America burst into revolt in the early 19th century. Fighting began first in Mexico and soon engulfed the entire region. With Spain unable to fight back on its own, a collection of Catholic powers, including France and Austria pledged their own forces to join the Spanish. This grouping, alongside the Orthodox power of Russia, became known as the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance sent several expeditionary forces but finally gave up when an army stricken by malaria was swallowed up along with General Bagration at Cali in 1833. The presence of the armies of the Holy Alliance gave the newly-independent Latin American states a radical tinge. The Church was in disrepute and governments were composed of crypto-Illuminists. In Brazil, the most extreme of the new states, an openly Illuminist regime was established.
• Throughout the 19th century, the United States expanded to the west. Louisiana was purchased from a cash-strapped Spain, while Florida and Cuba were taken by a combination of coercion and cash in the dying days of the Spanish New World Empire. The wars of expansion came to a close in the Conquest of Mexico, which lasted from 1848 to 1853. Over five years, American forces marched on and took Mexico City in a series of cataclysmic battles that pitted the liberal Mexican government and population against a pro-American collaborationist government composed of devout Catholics and large landowners. At the war’s close, the US created over a dozen states out of its new conquests. Through confiscation, Anglo settlers received large plantations along the coast and came to dominate a number of these new states. Other states were drawn in bad farmland and were given over to Mexicans to rule, and unruly citizens of other states were encouraged to migrate to these Mexican-led states. This system could only be propped up with the bayonet, and since 1853, the US Army has been on constant occupation duty in former Mexico. Nationalist agitation is at an all time high and the region is a powderkeg just waiting for a spark.
• Throughout this period, the United States turned into a dictatorship of the legislature. Under Prime Minister Randolph, the Whig Party took control of the United States and made their brand of slavocracy dominant. They trampled liberalism underfoot and the United States resembled a European autocracy more than the republic its founders claimed it would be. Through use of the Contributory Quota, the Whigs have entrenched themselves in power, something that has angered the northerners, who see themselves as a disenfranchised majority within the country. Civil war is on the horizon.
• Europe remains dominated by the Holy Alliance. France, Spain, Austria, and Russia have an understanding and cooperate to defeat liberalism wherever it appears. When they are not cooperating, they will fight something akin to the Aztec flower wars to let out pent up nationalist energy. One thing that the Holy Alliance cooperated in was the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. This idea was supported by both Habsburgs and Romanovs and with the help of the French, the Ottomans lost several wars, culminating in their defeat in 1859-1861. The old empire has been wholly dismantled and divided between the occupying powers and several newcomers.
• Austria is the great power of Europe. It saw comparatively little revolutionary violence and was able to put down the republicans elsewhere and its image was rejuvenated in Germany, where people saw the Austrians as liberators. In the post-war period, much of Germany was annexed to Austria or reorganized into regional kingdoms. Austria’s up and coming rival, Prussia, was dismantled and weakened. Austria’s Emperors retained the old Holy Roman title, but the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in all but name, with newly-signed treaties of alliance and economic pacts binding Austria with its German vassals. Austria has pioneered a form of nationalism in which multiple ethnic groups are united under a single monarchy with considerable autonomy given to regions within the state. Despite the odds, this has worked, though Austria’s puppets of Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia are wracked by revolutionary violence as hopes of leaving the Habsburg sphere have taken hold.
• The Russian Empire has had a good century. A series of victories over Polish revolutionary armies (as well as their Russian collaborators, though this part is hardly mentioned) created national unity. As a member of the Holy Alliance, Russia participated in the ill-fated attempts to restore order to Spanish America, something that led to a surge in nationalism at home. This nationalism was channeled into southern expansionism and a series of wars were fought against the Ottomans, culminating in the Siege and defeat of the Turks at Istanbul in 1861. With the House of Osman out of the way, Russia was free to annex a strip leading to the Persian Gulf. Despite nationalist dreams of Russian settlement in these regions, the government has attempted only to Christianize their new client states and integrate them into the Russian economic sphere. Progress has been slow and seen many setbacks but Russia is still stronger than ever before.
• The old Turkish Empire was destroyed by the Holy Alliance, but remnants of the Turks remain. Shortly before the fall of Istanbul, a cousin of the final Sultan converted to Orthodoxy and was promised land in exchange for his use to the Russians. He lived up to his end of the bargain but received only a small region. King Peter was enthroned in Kütahya as King of the Turks. He has stayed loyal to Russia, and continues to rule as a friend of the Tsar and the Holy Alliance. Much of his population has converted to Orthodoxy, though the holdouts against him are few but very extreme. Further east, a military junta led by the Janissaries has taken hold. Decrying the House of Osman as weak and unsuited to rule, these Janissaries rule in their own right. They have pioneered a form of Turkish nationalism that has proven quite potent, as radicals in Russian territories speak of support for the Janissaries. Russia and Austria have considered a war to defeat the Janissaries, but at the moment they are too powerful and the Holy Alliance is still consolidating its conquests of the 1860s. Throughout the whole of the former empire, banditry remains common as a form of resistance against the Russians.
• The Greeks have been unable to coalesce under a single regime. The dispossessed House of Württemberg was given the Greek throne, but proved unpopular because of rumors of remaining Protestant and of using German rather than Greek at court. During 1860s and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek monarchy attempted to conquer the Greek-speaking lands of Anatolia. They were greeted with mistrust by Anatolian Greeks, who carved out their own Hellenic Republic of Lydia. These two states are constantly at odds and significant factions within both states desire a union, they just can’t figure out what type of government should be had. Elsewhere in Anatolia, Greeks serve as middlemen between Russian imperial authorities and their Turkish subjects.
• The fall of the Ottomans represented an opportunity for the growing Saudi state. The Sauds had been expanding over a century as a Wahabbist regime, but their most rapid expansion came as the Ottomans collapsed. The Sauds overran much of Syria expecting resistance but were surprised when they were treated as liberators. With the Holy Alliance advancing from the north, many Arab governorates were happy to submit to the Sauds and receive protection from them. The Saudi Empire is now quite strong, though technologically behind its neighbors. With the Ottomans gone, many people now see the Sauds as the premier Islamic power. Wahabbism has seen massive growth because of this and Wahabbists now live beyond the borders of the Saudi realm.
• Europe has vastly ramped up its involvement in Africa in the past several decades. Formerly restricted to a series of ports along the coast, Europe has established colonies further inland than ever before. This is occurring across the entire continent. In West Africa, the largest colony is Liberténia, a French colony established by settlers from Haiti after slavery was abolished there. Liberténia’s population has swelled due to these settlers and has almost 500,000 people living there. A committed revolutionary movement exists there, but the majority of Liberténians are loyal to the House of Bourbon. To the north, the colony of New Albion was an attempt by the British to settle Afro-British and New Englanders in Africa. Migration there never became popular and New Albion has a fairly small population. In Southern Africa, tensions between the British rulers and and their Afrikaans-speaking subjects are high. The two groups have not got along since Britain's conquest of the Cape from the Netherlands and at the moment, the Afrikaner-led Oranje Republic seems poised to go to war with the British Empire.
• The need to devote resources to the East Indies, Canada, and the high seas to defend against the strong French navy left Britain with limited ability to expand in India. Many native states were subjugated and integrated into the British Empire but the British met their match in the Sikhs, who fought four wars against the British in the mid-1800s. These wars ended with the rout of several British armies and their grudging recognition of the independence of the Sikh Empire. Maharaja Paramijt Singh avoided the wholesale adoption of European customs, selecting the best European weapons for his army and building modern universities while rejecting the worst excesses of the European monarchies. Singh’s descendants kept the empire intact and through a pragmatic alliance with Russia the Empire is fairly safe from British conquest for the present. The Sikhs harbor independence-minded intellectuals from across India and fears have been raised in London that one day the Sikhs might prove to be the arsenal of revolution across India.
• China seems to have turned things around in the last several decades. British, French, and Russian military encroachment became a real concern in the middle of the 19th century, but the reforming Bianchang Emperor, who ascended the throne in 1857, modernized the Chinese state. He cut down on the power of the imperial household, sidelining traditionalist princes. The bureaucracy was modernized and traditionalist bureaucrats were similarly purged and sent on assignments far from Beijing. Memories of humiliation by the west are strong in the minds of China’s leaders and there are dreams of an eventual war and victory over the powers that kicked China while it was down.
• Japan has had bad luck and poor leadership where China has had good luck and strong leaders. The weakening Shogunate finally collapsed in the 1840s, triggering a period of civil war in Japan. A strong Emperor might have allowed the forces loyal to the monarchy to coalesce, but the Emperor did not inspire that kind of authority and warring factions bought European weapons to arm their forces. The Bakumatsu era, a period of constant war, came to an end at the start of the 1870s, when the great powers of the world intervened, elevating the head of the Watanabe clan to the position of Shogun and imposing European influence on Japan. The weak Watanabe Shogunate holds power to this day but European companies have risen to hold considerable power across Japan as the Shogun has little power or will to go for full independence. The European powers have an understanding in place and refrain from actions that might lead to war with each other over their conflicting interests in Japan.
• The ideals of the Illuminati traveled around the world. Junior officers of the Spanish army, blackballed because of their radical views, were often sent abroad. These officers associated with radicals in the colony of the Philippines to create the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. The Grand Lodge became a center for nationalists and liberals in the islands and in 1861, the islands burst into revolt as forces loyal to the Illuminati attacked forts and government buildings in a coordinated revolution. The Filipino Revolution lasted until 1865, at which point Spain recognized its independence. Membership in the Lodge and government positions are virtually synonymous. The Republic of the Philippines has established ties with Brazil and has quickly built up modern infrastructure. Most recently, its navy has taken control of the northern coast of New Guinea, which has become the first colony in a planned Filipino empire.
• The Americas are dominated by the United States in the north and Brazil in the south. Both countries have massive and well-trained armies and neighbors that are scared of them. That’s where the similarities end. The United States is an autocratic, planter-dominated state while Brazil is a radical democracy guided by the local Illuminati. After the revolution from Portugal, Brazil established its capital at Sao Paulo, which it renamed Esclarecimento (having a capital named for a saint was just too primitive for the Brazilians) The rest of the country was reorganized into “more rational” provinces and subnational republics were set up in Bahia (led by Afro-Brazilian Illuminati members) and Rio Grande (under the leadership of the counter-revolutionary cattle ranchers, who were thrown a bone by the revolutionary regime) With leaders inspired by the democratic ideals of the Illuminati, Brazil waged wars against its neighbors. At present, it is a massive, sprawling state with growing industry. Recently, the growth of trade unions has presented a challenge to the Illuminati. Owing to fear of Brazil, all of its neighbors have strong armies bolstered by European immigration going to Latin America rather than the intolerant United States.
• Religion recovered after the Enlightenment. Encouraged by princes across Europe, the Catholic Church experienced considerable popularity, though some cardinals feel secular princes listen too little to what the Pope actually says and too much to what they think the Pope is saying. In North America, a resurgence in evangelical religious thought spanned a group of Protestant denominations referred to as the Columbian Denominations. Columbian preachers gained considerable popularity in New England, where they converted heavily in the aftermath of the devastating 1826 war. These preachers also made inroads among French speakers, converting the Métis and bringing the entirety of Rupertsland into the Columbian fold.

It's nice to finally see the full lore of this map. Can't wait to see the rest of the TL

 

[tastethesword]

What if Paris chose Athena 🤔

 

[Remitonov]

What if Paris chose Athena 🤔

Hera would have conspired with Aphrodite to make Paris die childless and cause the empire to collapse. It's probably better not to choose at all.

 

[PolishMagnet]

What if Paris chose Athena 🤔

As he should have

Cool map idea lol

 

[Libaton]

What if there was a Chinese part of Poland?

Closeup map of Bodzioł County

Map of Bodzioł County

Flag of Bodzioł County, based on the 5 Races Flag (popular when the Hański immigrated) and inspired by the Jewish Autonomous Oblast's flag

In the days of the Russian Empire, approximately 16 000 Chinese men (and some women) were forcibly moved from Primorye in Eastern Russia all the way to Volhynia (modern Day Ukraine). Used as forced labourers and servants to some lower nobility, they were eventually pressed into service by the Imperial Russian army and later the Polish Legions in World War I. After the war, the Chinese minority (known to the locals as Hański) were recognized by Polish Marshal Piłsudski and given land grants in the former Włodowo County and some in neighbouring counties. In the World War II, the Nazis saw them as an abomination and killed almost all Hański in their share of Poland.

After the war, the Soviets wanted to use the Hański as a public image opportunity and granted them back Włodowo county (plus a bit more) as an example minority, allowing them to "return" (though most of the western part was empty by then). The community, which once again spanned both banks of the river, thus necessitated the pushing of the planned Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian border about 15 km east. This sudden change also called into question the border between the three, and as a result Ukraine gained Brest from Belarus, but Belarus retained more of Podlasie.

The tiny enclave of Chinese speakers, isolated from any other Asian languages, became a kind of oddity. Chinese names were adopted for tiny villages, sometimes very poorly, and the Hański kept to themselves instead of giving input. As the enthusiasm waned, reality set in. Funding for the region was minimal at best, and dried up almost completely as newspapers stopped writing about it. Not enough money for Chinese language or cultural preservation meant that the language slowly died and the community assimilated into Polish society.

After the fall of communism, the region maintained its autonomous status through the adoption of the "Mała Konstytucja z 1992" ("Small Constitution of 1992") until the current constitution was adopted on 2 April 1997. Citing the lack of a continuing community, lack of funding, and communist-era mismanagement, the Polish government revoked Bodzioł's autonomous status, and the region was renamed to "Bodzioł County".

As of 2019, there are 38 353 residents, with only 43 claiming some knowledge in Chinese.

===

I wanted to make a companion / successor to my "Poles in China" map, but I had the idea for a region with a cool, "out there" history, but kind of just faded away into obscurity. I tried to capture that feeling of stumbling on a wikipedia page and thinking "WHAT happened?!" and then the page is only 3-4 paragraphs.

I messed around with the Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian border just for fun, no reason there.

edit: fixed the flag not being a flag...

So it's just a normal gmina now? (I'm not sure to which rung of administrative division are you referring to with the word 'county', gmina or powiat?)

Otherwise, great concept and map!

 

[tastethesword]

Hera would have conspired with Aphrodite to make Paris die childless and cause the empire to collapse. It's probably better not to choose at all.

Don't worry, Aeneas will inherit the empire and Aphrodite will have to support him

 

[FlaviusAetius]

Hello everybody!

This is my first attempt at map-making, after years and years of lurking in this forum.
The map is obviously very BMunro-like (as much as I could with my abilities), a style of mapping I find very good at displaying interesting scenarios on a world scale.
The scenario depicted by my map is not original, and is instead an effort of many people combined; my contribution in world-building was very low, but I'm gonna give everyone their due at the end.

To explain the origin for this map, we should embark in a little history lesson.
Many years ago, inside CivFanatics Forum, a community of people coalesced around a sort of "pen-and-paper" strategy game, called NES (as in Never Ending Stories).
It was heavily inspired by Civilization, obviously, but it quickly expanded to a "style" of gaming well suited for playing out alternate history scenarios, and far more.
Each NES had a Mod that writes up the rules for its game, the stats for various nations/polities, took in orders from the various players and writes updates, playing out the orders with varying degrees of creative freedom.
As far as I know, the first NES was made by a man (nick)named Das, who remained one of the foremost mods in the community, thanks to his updating style, interesting scenarios, and a good ability to interpret players' orders in an interesting but believable way.
My map depicts one of such NESes, the first one in which I actively participated; Called AFSNES, (Advanced Fresh Start NES), its mod was Das, in his last NES as far as I remember, and was a little experimental as it tried to combine a "Fresh Start" NES (starting from the Bronze Age) with a NES based on pre-made scenarios.
Thus, it was divided in two halves: the first was more narrative, without actual stats for player's states, with a quite greater scope (around 2000 years), and with the players guiding kingdoms, their eventual successor states, or even whole cultures.
The second half instead was more traditional, focused (70 years), and marked by near constant wars between players.
I mapped the starting situation of the second half of the NES, with the world at 700AD, just after TTL Dark Age. Very creative player inputs and a fantastical moderation by Das resulted in a (at least in my opinion) very interesting world, multipolar and somewhat realistic.

This world has been like OTL until at least 1200BC, then diverged wildly. Pharaonic Egypt existed, but was supplanted by nomadic people from Mesopotamia, the Karung; the Celtic empire of Tartessos was the main western European power and shattered Rome many centuries ago, then endured until Germanic people and Nubians conquered it; Mesopotamia was always the centre of a Urrian or Akkadian empire, much like our China, while this China never really united, divided between Xishans, Nanshans, and Turkic people; the Avyaktagaran civilization arose from the ashes of Harappa, creating a far reaching mercantile network in the Indian Ocean and founding uncountable cities on its shores; the Olmecs of Danipaguache left deep impressions in a quite wider area than OTL, with colonies in Cuba and Ecuador.
The Religious landscape is also diverse and integral to the understanding of this world, and I decided to show it directly on the map; the Nubian religion called Ashaism and the Urrian one called Agade Dag divide the Mediterranean, and religious wars would eventually engulf this part of the world in the second half of the NES. In the Indian ocean, and beyond, Paramantism would emerge from Hinduism, and spread far away, even integrating elements of Jewish belief, as the Israelite diaspora disseminated from Saba to Madagascar.
Empires fell and arose: Danipaguache, the Moches, Tartessos, Karung, Nubia, Watchur, the Hellenic Empire, Paphlagonia, Hessonia, Tartaria, Samarkand, Nyayana, Girnar, Luoyang, Xinshan, the Xiongnu; the dynamics of state building and deterioration where simulated well.
Other points of interest abound: The Celtic Tigranist nations facing off with Scandics from across the North Sea; the Greek nations from Apulia to Asia Minor divided by religion; Indian nations ready to fight against the Huna Sitivasas Kingdom; Chinese and Turkic banding together to fight the never-ending religious wars of the Tibetan Empire.



This scenario always had a soft spot in my heart, as I liked it quite a lot and I had a hand, albeit small, in its creation (feel free to try to guess which state was mine). Many years passed, but as I finally decided to create a map I could show to a wider audience, I thought that a world I knew well, and that I found quite interesting, would have been the best option.
I hope the same will be true for you.

Spoiler: Credits

CREDITS

Das – Moderator, curator of the whole scenario
Kal’thzar – Nubia, Ashaism, Watchur and its successor states, Tarekid Amsurate
Israelite9191 – Israel and the Diaspora to the Indian Ocean
Azale – Samarkand, Jomon
~ Darkening~ - Tihuanaco
JoesfStalinator – Arecoman Celts, Caerix and Tigranism
North King – Zapotec and Mesoamerica
Insane-Panda – Tartessos
alex994 – Xishan, Zhongshan and Guangling
Silver 2039 – Maghada, Buddhism and Tibet
Toltec – Paphlagonia
ThomAnder – Luoyang, Kingdom of Nam, Mohism
Disenfrancised – The whole Avyaktaraga civilization, Paramantism, Zuubhrabhanu
Luckymoose – Colchis, Georgian civilizations
Dachs – Latins, Rome, Thuringia
Thlayli – Parthenian Republic, Greek poleis, Corcyran League
Niklas – Ur and its various empires, Agade Dag
Nuka-Sama – Racadonia
Littleboots – Athanoi
Shortguy – Mitanni, Frisians
The Farow – Millwanda
Neverwonagame3 – Karung and Karrism
LightFang- Sardinia
Daftpanzer – Odrysa and Thracians
Altair – Liguria
erez87 – Caeon
Oruc – Khitans, Neo-Khitan Empire, Xiongnu,
The13thRonin – Hessonia, Hessonian Greeks and Delphian Empire
Abaddon – Chachitlan
j_eps – D’mt, Axum, Liths

 

[FireCrispyHistory]

Okay, I need to know. How do you put that text on a worlda map image? I have seen so many people do this, and yet I still don't know how.

 

[shearsforest]

Hmm, nice comparison.

Wait... Guyana the US state?

Oh. Oh, it's not an OTL map.

 

[Gokbay]

Okay, I need to know. How do you put that text on a worlda map image? I have seen so many people do this, and yet I still don't know how.

You type? MS Paint gives you the option of adding text. Same is probably true for Paint.Net and other image editing softwares/apps as well.

 

[PolishMagnet]

So it's just a normal gmina now? (I'm not sure to which rung of administrative division are you referring to with the word 'county', gmina or powiat?)

Otherwise, great concept and map!

Yes it's a gmina, a powiat is made up of a few gmina.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Library of Alexandria]

This map has been a long time in the making (over a year, in fact) In July 2021, I posted a map showing a US without New England that had annexed all Mexico and imposed slavery on the Mexican states. I found that world interesting and began a worlda. I had to come up with a considerable amount of lore and got side-tracked making an infobox showing an Anglo-American war in the 1820s. I planned to write a couple hundred words but wrote just under 9,000. At that point, I decided to start a timeline. While writing the timeline, I decided to finish up the worlda as a sort of first draft of the timeline. Other projects have taken priority and the map and writeup didn’t get much attention until this month. I’m still working on the timeline and have several updates prepared. The contents of this map are not something I endorse. This timeline’s America is an agrarian autocracy and is not a good regime at all. This world has some similarities to other timelines but I have not consciously tried to copy any of them.

• Less than a decade after the Treaty of Paris, it had become clear that the Articles of Confederation were insufficient. In 1789, delegates of the nine states gathered in Philadelphia to create a new system of governance. The plan presented by James Madison and the Virginia delegation was, from the start of the convention, the most popular plan. When the convention adjourned, the nation had a new constitution (pedants will say that this is not technically true, given that states had to ratify the Constitution) Under the Madisonian Constitution, there would be two houses of Congress: the lower house, the House of Delegates, would be elected by the residents of each state, while the upper house, the Senate, would be elected by the Delegates from lists submitted by the states. The Senate would be responsible for the election of a National Executive. The most important piece of this puzzle was the fact that Congressional apportionment was decided by the Contributory Quota, an arcane formula which took into account tax, military, and other contributions from each state. In this way, heavily populated states might have less representation in Congress than lightly populated states that paid more in taxes. Importantly, the Quota was under the control of the National Appraiser, an official appointed by the National Executive.
• Though the Madisonian Constitution promised a free and fair government, things did not turn out that way. Planters and their lackeys from the southern states took control of Congress and subsequently control of the Executiveship. With the Executiveship in their pocket, the slavocratic Whig Party cooked the books and adjusted the Quota to favor the less populous southern states over the growing north and west. Though things could be labeled unfair following the 1800 census, after 1840 the Whigs had created a system in which the opposition could never take control and, without opposition control of the Executiveship, they could never rebalance apportionment to Congress.
• The Illuminati were founded in 1776 by professor Adam Weishaupt in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The Illuminati declared as their enemies things like superstition, ignorance, and despotism. Their ranks were swelled by intellectuals and burghers in the following decade. In the mid-1780s, the Illuminati were forced underground by pressure from temporal monarchs and the Church in Germany. The Illuminati only became more popular in the aftermath of the crackdown as many former Freemasons fled that organization, which was riddled with pro-Church informers. Following this, the Illuminati turned sharply towards political radicalism, and members increasingly advocated for the abolition of monarchies and establishment of a German Republic. During the late 1780s and early 1790s, the Illuminati branched out and lodges were established in France, the Low Countries, and Poland.
• Poland of the late 18th century was, to put it lightly, incredibly dysfunctional. The magnates, a group of noble families, dominated the country and prevented any change to the status quo through their veto power in the Sejm. Unsurprisingly, there was considerable opposition to this state of affairs. Poland-Lithuania chugged on for decades like this, though on two occasions, Austria, Prussia, and Russia took territories increasingly close to the core in “partitions”. Following the second partition, Poland’s government became a de facto client state of Russia. The end came in 1798, when the aging author Ignacy Krasicki released a pamphlet criticizing the government. Urged by the Russians, the Polish government arrested Krasicki, and during his arrest he was beaten. Within hours, Krakow was in flames as years of anger at the government created a mob that forced the Sejm and monarchy to flee. Into this chaos came a clique led by noted democrat Tadeusz Kościuszko. Urged on by Kościuszko, a constitutional convention was convened in mob-occupied Krakow and the United Provinces of Poland-Lithuania was declared. With Russia busy elsewhere, Prussia remaining neutral in hopes of harming its enemies, and portions of the Polish army defecting to the Republicans, the rebels survived into 1799.
• In 1799, inspired by Poland but driven by war taxes, the Illuminati and its supporters rose up throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Though Illuminati members hailed from the small middle class, they harnessed popular discontent with taxation and general opposition to the governments of the time to create revolutionary armies. Strongest in Bavaria, they stormed Regensburg and made it the center of the revolution. In early 1800, the Republic of Germany was declared with Adam Weishaupt as Protector of the Republic. Poland and Germany fought on for nine years. As the war continued, they found themselves fighting against all of Europe. Despite the raising of large, popular armies, the rebels were ultimately defeated across Europe, with Weishaupt surrendering his army at the Weltenburg Narrows in October 1808.
• The major struggle of the 19th century pits illiberal nationalism against liberal internationalism. Though the Illuminist revolutionary republics were put down and their leaders executed in an orgy of blood, their ideas did not die and has evolved into crypto-Illuminism. Crypto-Illuminists, like their forebears, believe in the destruction of superstition and illogical systems. To realize these ideals, they must destroy the state and church. Against them are arrayed the forces of reaction. The monarchies of Europe have found themselves able to channel nationalism and while nationalism demands the monarchies feud among each other, the monarchs retain amicable relations and are able to unite when threatened by liberalism.
• Unsurprisingly, New England remained a hotbed of anti-British sentiment for over half a century after a peace with the Americans was signed that left New England as a British colony. In an attempt to break the power of the colonial legislatures, the old colonies were abolished and counties became the largest subdivision. At least once a decade, and usually more, the Boston mob erupted into violence. After a Patriot plan to blow up the capital in 1798 was uncovered, the capital of the colony was moved to Portsmouth (formerly in New Hampshire), which was a hotbed of loyalist sentiment. In 1826, the largest revolt since the 1770s broke out, led by men like Levi Lincoln and other sons of the original Patriots. The Patriot cause had initial successes and the American government issued an ultimatum to Britain, ordering them to vacate New England. The tide soon turned, and the Second Anglo-American War broke out. Between 1826 and 1828, American forces were trounced on all fronts. This led to the end of American ambitions to recover New England.
• The Spanish Empire’s days were numbered. Inspired by the American Revolution and liberal agitation in Europe, Latin America burst into revolt in the early 19th century. Fighting began first in Mexico and soon engulfed the entire region. With Spain unable to fight back on its own, a collection of Catholic powers, including France and Austria pledged their own forces to join the Spanish. This grouping, alongside the Orthodox power of Russia, became known as the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance sent several expeditionary forces but finally gave up when an army stricken by malaria was swallowed up along with General Bagration at Cali in 1833. The presence of the armies of the Holy Alliance gave the newly-independent Latin American states a radical tinge. The Church was in disrepute and governments were composed of crypto-Illuminists. In Brazil, the most extreme of the new states, an openly Illuminist regime was established.
• Throughout the 19th century, the United States expanded to the west. Louisiana was purchased from a cash-strapped Spain, while Florida and Cuba were taken by a combination of coercion and cash in the dying days of the Spanish New World Empire. The wars of expansion came to a close in the Conquest of Mexico, which lasted from 1848 to 1853. Over five years, American forces marched on and took Mexico City in a series of cataclysmic battles that pitted the liberal Mexican government and population against a pro-American collaborationist government composed of devout Catholics and large landowners. At the war’s close, the US created over a dozen states out of its new conquests. Through confiscation, Anglo settlers received large plantations along the coast and came to dominate a number of these new states. Other states were drawn in bad farmland and were given over to Mexicans to rule, and unruly citizens of other states were encouraged to migrate to these Mexican-led states. This system could only be propped up with the bayonet, and since 1853, the US Army has been on constant occupation duty in former Mexico. Nationalist agitation is at an all time high and the region is a powderkeg just waiting for a spark.
• Throughout this period, the United States turned into a dictatorship of the legislature. Under Prime Minister Randolph, the Whig Party took control of the United States and made their brand of slavocracy dominant. They trampled liberalism underfoot and the United States resembled a European autocracy more than the republic its founders claimed it would be. Through use of the Contributory Quota, the Whigs have entrenched themselves in power, something that has angered the northerners, who see themselves as a disenfranchised majority within the country. Civil war is on the horizon.
• Europe remains dominated by the Holy Alliance. France, Spain, Austria, and Russia have an understanding and cooperate to defeat liberalism wherever it appears. When they are not cooperating, they will fight something akin to the Aztec flower wars to let out pent up nationalist energy. One thing that the Holy Alliance cooperated in was the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. This idea was supported by both Habsburgs and Romanovs and with the help of the French, the Ottomans lost several wars, culminating in their defeat in 1859-1861. The old empire has been wholly dismantled and divided between the occupying powers and several newcomers.
• Austria is the great power of Europe. It saw comparatively little revolutionary violence and was able to put down the republicans elsewhere and its image was rejuvenated in Germany, where people saw the Austrians as liberators. In the post-war period, much of Germany was annexed to Austria or reorganized into regional kingdoms. Austria’s up and coming rival, Prussia, was dismantled and weakened. Austria’s Emperors retained the old Holy Roman title, but the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in all but name, with newly-signed treaties of alliance and economic pacts binding Austria with its German vassals. Austria has pioneered a form of nationalism in which multiple ethnic groups are united under a single monarchy with considerable autonomy given to regions within the state. Despite the odds, this has worked, though Austria’s puppets of Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia are wracked by revolutionary violence as hopes of leaving the Habsburg sphere have taken hold.
• The Russian Empire has had a good century. A series of victories over Polish revolutionary armies (as well as their Russian collaborators, though this part is hardly mentioned) created national unity. As a member of the Holy Alliance, Russia participated in the ill-fated attempts to restore order to Spanish America, something that led to a surge in nationalism at home. This nationalism was channeled into southern expansionism and a series of wars were fought against the Ottomans, culminating in the Siege and defeat of the Turks at Istanbul in 1861. With the House of Osman out of the way, Russia was free to annex a strip leading to the Persian Gulf. Despite nationalist dreams of Russian settlement in these regions, the government has attempted only to Christianize their new client states and integrate them into the Russian economic sphere. Progress has been slow and seen many setbacks but Russia is still stronger than ever before.
• The old Turkish Empire was destroyed by the Holy Alliance, but remnants of the Turks remain. Shortly before the fall of Istanbul, a cousin of the final Sultan converted to Orthodoxy and was promised land in exchange for his use to the Russians. He lived up to his end of the bargain but received only a small region. King Peter was enthroned in Kütahya as King of the Turks. He has stayed loyal to Russia, and continues to rule as a friend of the Tsar and the Holy Alliance. Much of his population has converted to Orthodoxy, though the holdouts against him are few but very extreme. Further east, a military junta led by the Janissaries has taken hold. Decrying the House of Osman as weak and unsuited to rule, these Janissaries rule in their own right. They have pioneered a form of Turkish nationalism that has proven quite potent, as radicals in Russian territories speak of support for the Janissaries. Russia and Austria have considered a war to defeat the Janissaries, but at the moment they are too powerful and the Holy Alliance is still consolidating its conquests of the 1860s. Throughout the whole of the former empire, banditry remains common as a form of resistance against the Russians.
• The Greeks have been unable to coalesce under a single regime. The dispossessed House of Württemberg was given the Greek throne, but proved unpopular because of rumors of remaining Protestant and of using German rather than Greek at court. During 1860s and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek monarchy attempted to conquer the Greek-speaking lands of Anatolia. They were greeted with mistrust by Anatolian Greeks, who carved out their own Hellenic Republic of Lydia. These two states are constantly at odds and significant factions within both states desire a union, they just can’t figure out what type of government should be had. Elsewhere in Anatolia, Greeks serve as middlemen between Russian imperial authorities and their Turkish subjects.
• The fall of the Ottomans represented an opportunity for the growing Saudi state. The Sauds had been expanding over a century as a Wahabbist regime, but their most rapid expansion came as the Ottomans collapsed. The Sauds overran much of Syria expecting resistance but were surprised when they were treated as liberators. With the Holy Alliance advancing from the north, many Arab governorates were happy to submit to the Sauds and receive protection from them. The Saudi Empire is now quite strong, though technologically behind its neighbors. With the Ottomans gone, many people now see the Sauds as the premier Islamic power. Wahabbism has seen massive growth because of this and Wahabbists now live beyond the borders of the Saudi realm.
• Europe has vastly ramped up its involvement in Africa in the past several decades. Formerly restricted to a series of ports along the coast, Europe has established colonies further inland than ever before. This is occurring across the entire continent. In West Africa, the largest colony is Liberténia, a French colony established by settlers from Haiti after slavery was abolished there. Liberténia’s population has swelled due to these settlers and has almost 500,000 people living there. A committed revolutionary movement exists there, but the majority of Liberténians are loyal to the House of Bourbon. To the north, the colony of New Albion was an attempt by the British to settle Afro-British and New Englanders in Africa. Migration there never became popular and New Albion has a fairly small population. In Southern Africa, tensions between the British rulers and and their Afrikaans-speaking subjects are high. The two groups have not got along since Britain's conquest of the Cape from the Netherlands and at the moment, the Afrikaner-led Oranje Republic seems poised to go to war with the British Empire.
• The need to devote resources to the East Indies, Canada, and the high seas to defend against the strong French navy left Britain with limited ability to expand in India. Many native states were subjugated and integrated into the British Empire but the British met their match in the Sikhs, who fought four wars against the British in the mid-1800s. These wars ended with the rout of several British armies and their grudging recognition of the independence of the Sikh Empire. Maharaja Paramijt Singh avoided the wholesale adoption of European customs, selecting the best European weapons for his army and building modern universities while rejecting the worst excesses of the European monarchies. Singh’s descendants kept the empire intact and through a pragmatic alliance with Russia the Empire is fairly safe from British conquest for the present. The Sikhs harbor independence-minded intellectuals from across India and fears have been raised in London that one day the Sikhs might prove to be the arsenal of revolution across India.
• China seems to have turned things around in the last several decades. British, French, and Russian military encroachment became a real concern in the middle of the 19th century, but the reforming Bianchang Emperor, who ascended the throne in 1857, modernized the Chinese state. He cut down on the power of the imperial household, sidelining traditionalist princes. The bureaucracy was modernized and traditionalist bureaucrats were similarly purged and sent on assignments far from Beijing. Memories of humiliation by the west are strong in the minds of China’s leaders and there are dreams of an eventual war and victory over the powers that kicked China while it was down.
• Japan has had bad luck and poor leadership where China has had good luck and strong leaders. The weakening Shogunate finally collapsed in the 1840s, triggering a period of civil war in Japan. A strong Emperor might have allowed the forces loyal to the monarchy to coalesce, but the Emperor did not inspire that kind of authority and warring factions bought European weapons to arm their forces. The Bakumatsu era, a period of constant war, came to an end at the start of the 1870s, when the great powers of the world intervened, elevating the head of the Watanabe clan to the position of Shogun and imposing European influence on Japan. The weak Watanabe Shogunate holds power to this day but European companies have risen to hold considerable power across Japan as the Shogun has little power or will to go for full independence. The European powers have an understanding in place and refrain from actions that might lead to war with each other over their conflicting interests in Japan.
• The ideals of the Illuminati traveled around the world. Junior officers of the Spanish army, blackballed because of their radical views, were often sent abroad. These officers associated with radicals in the colony of the Philippines to create the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. The Grand Lodge became a center for nationalists and liberals in the islands and in 1861, the islands burst into revolt as forces loyal to the Illuminati attacked forts and government buildings in a coordinated revolution. The Filipino Revolution lasted until 1865, at which point Spain recognized its independence. Membership in the Lodge and government positions are virtually synonymous. The Republic of the Philippines has established ties with Brazil and has quickly built up modern infrastructure. Most recently, its navy has taken control of the northern coast of New Guinea, which has become the first colony in a planned Filipino empire.
• The Americas are dominated by the United States in the north and Brazil in the south. Both countries have massive and well-trained armies and neighbors that are scared of them. That’s where the similarities end. The United States is an autocratic, planter-dominated state while Brazil is a radical democracy guided by the local Illuminati. After the revolution from Portugal, Brazil established its capital at Sao Paulo, which it renamed Esclarecimento (having a capital named for a saint was just too primitive for the Brazilians) The rest of the country was reorganized into “more rational” provinces and subnational republics were set up in Bahia (led by Afro-Brazilian Illuminati members) and Rio Grande (under the leadership of the counter-revolutionary cattle ranchers, who were thrown a bone by the revolutionary regime) With leaders inspired by the democratic ideals of the Illuminati, Brazil waged wars against its neighbors. At present, it is a massive, sprawling state with growing industry. Recently, the growth of trade unions has presented a challenge to the Illuminati. Owing to fear of Brazil, all of its neighbors have strong armies bolstered by European immigration going to Latin America rather than the intolerant United States.
• Religion recovered after the Enlightenment. Encouraged by princes across Europe, the Catholic Church experienced considerable popularity, though some cardinals feel secular princes listen too little to what the Pope actually says and too much to what they think the Pope is saying. In North America, a resurgence in evangelical religious thought spanned a group of Protestant denominations referred to as the Columbian Denominations. Columbian preachers gained considerable popularity in New England, where they converted heavily in the aftermath of the devastating 1826 war. These preachers also made inroads among French speakers, converting the Métis and bringing the entirety of Rupertsland into the Columbian fold.

Always a delight to see another map from you! truly an based idiot for the ages.

 

[estonian man]

alternate world war 2 where Germany is National-Bolshevik Volksreich under führer Joseph Goebbels and Russia is known as Eurasian State lead by Fascist Motherland Party under Boris Savinkov

 

[Canis Lupis]

Greetings all! Attached is a draft map of British colonial holdings in my WTLB TL, circa 1882.

Red indicates that the territory is part of the British Dominion. Pink indicates that the territory is directly ruled by the British government. Light red indicates that the territory possesses some degree of home rule.

Some notable differences between TTL and OTL as far as the map is concerned:

1. The Egyptian Empire is wholly independent from the Ottoman Empire and from the British, though the British undoubtedly have a great deal of influence in the country, especially when it comes to the Suez Canal. The Egyptian Empire has also conquered Ethiopia.

2. The Maritime Provinces, plus Belize and all British Caribbean holdings, are united in the Atlantic Union.

3. British Guiana is noticeably smaller, as a result of a US arbitration against the British ruling that Venezuela gets the Guayana Esequiba region.

4. The Congo falls into British hands rather than Leopold II's.

5. Home Rule passes in Ireland; Ulster still remains firmly within the UK.

6. Hawai`i (which I had to add to the basemap so it may be in the wrong spot; apologies) is a protectorate of the British Empire and is in the Dominion.

I will be tweaking this map as I do research, but I am pretty happy with where it stands right now. All other British holdings should be as they are IOTL. If I missed some area that the British held IOTL circa 1882, please please let me know and I will get it added to the map. This is a WIP until the British colonial chapter is posted in my TL's thread. Any help, critiques, comments would be greatly helpful to make this map as good as it can be!

 

[PolishMagnet]

The Maritime Provinces, plus Belize and all British Caribbean holdings, are united in the Atlantic Union.

🤣🤣🤣

"Hou's it go'n ther b'ys"

"Me deh yah, wa yu a seh"

 

[Dr. Doom]

Redo of my old "Timeline 191 Cover" map. Year is 1950.

In short, I have a great deal of respect for Turtledove, but I think his TL-191 has way too much convergence and parallelism. With a POD in 1861 you probably have a "Germany vs. France" showdown set in stone. But after that there's no reason to believe that European alliance systems or African colonization would have proceeded exactly like they did in OTL. So I tried to do something noticeably similar, but still different enough to be plausible.

Assuming the Great War happens on lines similar to OTL (which is not a guarantee)...a Central Powers victory is fine, but I feel it is cliche, so I tried to do a "different Entente Victory." Britain/France/Russia (and Italy is a late entrant) win the day and are able to utterly dismantle Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans. That said, Germany itself is actually quite prosperous. Per capita, it is wealthier than France! It's just been wholly subordinated on the geopolitical level. Europe is now split between the Western camp and Russia/satellites.

Notice I did not talk about USA/CSA in the Great War. That's because they did not enter it! There's no historically literate reason to believe that these societies would necessarily have an animus towards each other continuously lasting for 50+ years. Look up the "386 Generation," even South Korean animus towards North Korea is not what it used to be in the 1950s.

So in ATL, I had USA lose the Civil War after Antietam (like Turtledove did), go into political turmoil in the 1860s-70s, provoke another war with CSA/Britain/France in the 1880s (like Turtledove did), lose that war...but after that, newer generations without the experiences of the abolitionist movement and civil war (USA banned slavery after the war FWIW) had come to power, and they were more interested in trade, business, and growth. Immigration continued apace, and without the South, OTL's populist movement never took off. By 1950, USA is a massive, industrialized, populous country with by far the largest GDP in the world (if you don't count colonies).

The CSA did not fare as well. The planters who led the South into rebellion were more interested in exploiting cotton and less interested in actually creating a modern society. Slavery was eventually banned because of international pressure, but peonage, sharecropping, and all kinds of baleful laws continue. Hookworm, Pellagra, and various other maladies that afflicted the South are worse in ATL, because they don't have the North's resources to bring to bear. On the plus side, the planters fought against Boll Weevil with a demonic fury, and largely succeeded.

All that said, the South is a very nice place if you are in the top 5% of society, but it sucks for everyone else.

 

[Bleh]

Redo of my old "Timeline 191 Cover" map. Year is 1950.

In short, I have a great deal of respect for Turtledove, but I think his TL-191 has way too much convergence and parallelism. With a POD in 1861 you probably have a "Germany vs. France" showdown set in stone. But after that there's no reason to believe that European alliance systems or African colonization would have proceeded exactly like they did in OTL. So I tried to do something noticeably similar, but still different enough to be plausible.

Assuming the Great War happens on lines similar to OTL (which is not a guarantee)...a Central Powers victory is fine, but I feel it is cliche, so I tried to do a "different Entente Victory." Britain/France/Russia (and Italy is a late entrant) win the day and are able to utterly dismantle Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans. That said, Germany itself is actually quite prosperous. Per capita, it is wealthier than France! It's just been wholly subordinated on the geopolitical level. Europe is now split between the Western camp and Russia/satellites.

Notice I did not talk about USA/CSA in the Great War. That's because they did not enter it! There's no historically literate reason to believe that these societies would necessarily have an animus towards each other continuously lasting for 50+ years. Look up the "386 Generation," even South Korean animus towards North Korea is not what it used to be in the 1950s.

So in ATL, I had USA lose the Civil War after Antietam (like Turtledove did), go into political turmoil in the 1860s-70s, provoke another war with CSA/Britain/France in the 1880s (like Turtledove did), lose that war...but after that, newer generations without the experiences of the abolitionist movement and civil war (USA banned slavery after the war FWIW) had come to power, and they were more interested in trade, business, and growth. Immigration continued apace, and without the South, OTL's populist movement never took off. By 1950, USA is a massive, industrialized, populous country with by far the largest GDP in the world (if you don't count colonies).

The CSA did not fare as well. The planters who led the South into rebellion were more interested in exploiting cotton and less interested in actually creating a modern society. Slavery was eventually banned because of international pressure, but peonage, sharecropping, and all kinds of baleful laws continue. Hookworm, Pellagra, and various other maladies that afflicted the South are worse in ATL, because they don't have the North's resources to bring to bear. On the plus side, the planters fought against Boll Weevil with a demonic fury, and largely succeeded.

All that said, the South is a very nice place if you are in the top 5% of society, but it sucks for everyone else.

View attachment 783257

If slavery is banned in the US, are black Americans ambivalent to the racial violence and oppression of the south? Are black people blocked from positions of power? I have to imagine there would be instances of American citizens being subjected to violence in the Confederacy due to their race, particularly if there's increased trade and immigration. What happens if a US citizen wants to marry an escaped slave?

 

[traveller76]

Redo of my old "Timeline 191 Cover" map. Year is 1950.

In short, I have a great deal of respect for Turtledove, but I think his TL-191 has way too much convergence and parallelism. With a POD in 1861 you probably have a "Germany vs. France" showdown set in stone. But after that there's no reason to believe that European alliance systems or African colonization would have proceeded exactly like they did in OTL. So I tried to do something noticeably similar, but still different enough to be plausible.

Assuming the Great War happens on lines similar to OTL (which is not a guarantee)...a Central Powers victory is fine, but I feel it is cliche, so I tried to do a "different Entente Victory." Britain/France/Russia (and Italy is a late entrant) win the day and are able to utterly dismantle Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans. That said, Germany itself is actually quite prosperous. Per capita, it is wealthier than France! It's just been wholly subordinated on the geopolitical level. Europe is now split between the Western camp and Russia/satellites.

Notice I did not talk about USA/CSA in the Great War. That's because they did not enter it! There's no historically literate reason to believe that these societies would necessarily have an animus towards each other continuously lasting for 50+ years. Look up the "386 Generation," even South Korean animus towards North Korea is not what it used to be in the 1950s.

I like the write up but I think there would still be competition between the Union and Confederacy over Latin America.