As good as this map is (and it is very, very nice), I can't help but feel that the propensity for AH mapmakers to have a big Burgundy ruling all of north-west mainland Europe (i.e the Great Low Countries) is moer than a bit influenced by a the popularity of a certain time period featured prominently in a certain series of video games rather than actual realism. Like, it's the Low Countries. They'd be called the Low Countries. Netherlands. Maybe Burgundy & the Netherlands. You're not gonna convince me of the concept of a Frisian Burgundian. Not happening.Hello everybody!
This is going to be my first map done in a completely different style; all my previous maps have been done with good ol’ Paint, and while it was good enough for my mapping needs, I wanted to shake up a bit my habits and try something different.
For the first attempt with Inkscape, I probably should have been a bit less ambitious and less extensive in scope, and it took me an inordinate amount of time, but I’m very satisfied of the result and I hope it will be the same for you.
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BURGUNDY AND THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL COMMUNITY
or THE NEO-CAROLINGIAN EMPIRE
In TTL, the Burgundian state, built by a cadet branch of the House of Valois in the waning years of the Middle Age, avoided collapse and partition between France and the Habsburgs, and instead thrived and expanded in Europe and overseas, becoming the most influential nation of the continent.
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BURGUNDY
In the year 2000, the Federal Republic of Burgundy is the centerpiece of the European Political Community, a hybrid between an alliance, a common market area and a custom union, born as a way to promote peace, cooperation and economical development after the end of the Great World War that in the middle of the century engulfed Europe and the world.
While the EPC is on paper a treaty between equals, many outside its borders look suspiciously to the power imbalance between Burgundy and the other members, and denounce the Treaty of Zurich as a covert way to enforce Burgundian hegemony on the continent; in the euro-skeptic circles, the Community is frequently called the Neo-Carolingian Empire, the personal domain of the leader of Europe, Burgundy.
Despite the naysayers, the increased economical integration between its members and the free movement of goods and people actually brought a great degree of prosperity, and some that started quite skeptical about its inception, attracted by the EPC undeniable advantages, are now joining as observers, like the proud and traditionalist United Kingdom of Greater Aragon, or as outright candidate and future member, like the recently-democratized Republic of Southern Italy.
Still, Burgundy is undeniably the beating heart of the EPC, and its galloping engine: its Dutch and Flemish ports are bustling with European goods ready to be shipped worldwide and foreign imports about to be distributed from Bremen to Rome; the industrial centers of the Rhur produce heavy machinery, vehicles, chemical products and electronic goods for the whole world; the Amsterdam Stock Exchange is still one of the foremost, competing with Tokyo, Shanghai and Neu Oporto.
While Burgundian economy was quite shaken by the Great World War and the subsequent decolonization, loosing access to profitable markets and cheap labor, the creation of the EPC allowed a smoother shift to another economical model, and the projection of Burgundy, and Western Europe with it, to a more modern and globalized world.
The peculiar political system of the Federal Republic, born after centuries of struggle between the old Valois monarchy and the mercantile northern communities, and built around the recognition of 4 ethnic and cultural “Circles” (French, Flemish, Dutch and Westphalian) with equal opportunities, rights and duties, seemed to be quite shaken by the War and the economic upheaval, but it eventually reformed and some say even strengthened, as many see the European Political Community as a way to enforce those values on a wider stage.
While prosperous and influential, if you briefly take away the burgundy-colored glasses, some cracks in the foundation of the Federal Republic might be seen: economical disparity in the population is getting wider and wider, especially in some more “peripheral” regions; economic growth is getting quite slower, with fewer opportunities for the younger generations; ethnic tensions are getting stronger by the day, both on the inside (as some in the french part of Burgundy increasingly believe that, now that everyone is under the authority of the EPC, maybe they should be governed from Paris and not by Dutch and Germans) and to the outside (with many young Westphalians, oblivious to the tragedies of the Great War, look to their brethren of Saxony as their true German homeland).
FEDERAL LEAGUE OF ITALY
Burgundy’s main partner and the second industrial power of the EPC is the Federal League of Italy. Born in the 16th Century as a direct response to Habsburgic expansion, inspired by Reformist religious fervor, and heavily influenced by Bugundian Federalism, Italy had a contentious history with its northern neighbor ; while the Valois originally propped the Florence-lead alliance that eventually evolved into the League to counter the Austrians and the Aragonese, eventually their relationship soured, as the Burgundians weren’t too happy about the Italian attempts to conquer Savoy, de-facto a puppet of Djon for much of its history.
The Savoyard question occupied much of their diplomatic history, and continued despite Burgundian turn to republicanism in the 18th century and the brief foray into dictatorship of Italy in the 19th century; only in the 20th century, whit the tightening of the industrial network going from Florence to Amsterdam, and the harrowing experience of the Great War, where the two powers fought on the same side, Italy and Burgundy where finally able to bury the hatchet and form the backbone of the EPC. Modern Italy is a strong industrial power, yet is plagued by disunity and rising chauvinism, with many that see the tightening of the EPC as the definitive stop to complete reunification with Savoy.
AUSTRIAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC
The third power of the EPC is indisputably the Austrian Federal Republic. For centuries home of the Habsburgs, one of the most prestigious royal family in European history, their rule was finally toppled in the midst of the Great War, as the cowardly flight of the last Archduke from Wien provoked by the advance of Saxon troops tarnished irremediably the reputation of the Monarchy. As power was taken over by the Erzherzogsrat and the army, the fleeing Habsburgs sheltered in Savoy and waited for the end of the war. After the Austrian population valiantly fought and repelled the invaders, the photos of the Royal Family luxuriously living in Turin were the straw that broke the camel’s back: the Archduke return was prohibited, and the Austrian Federal Republic was born.
Burgundian and Italian help allowed a swift reconstruction, and an economic boom ensued, finally projecting Austria into modernity. Presently, the Federal Republic is surprisingly united, with the Slavic minority in Slovenia quite content by the representation guaranteed by the republican constitution; the ever-looming presence of Saxony to the North act as the catalyst for come pan-Germanic discontents, a small minority that recently attained a couple of seats in the Parliament of Wien nonetheless.
Playing second fiddle to the three main “pillars” of the EPC are the Federal Union of France and the Republic of Germany. Both born after the end of the Great War, the two nations are the rising stars of the continent, with a dynamic economy and growing population, and are finally exiting centuries of perceived humiliation.
FEDERAL UNION OF FRANCE
The national history of France was characterized sine the 14th century by continued meddling by the English first and the Burgundians and Aragonese second. In particular, the rise of the Valois of Burgundy, allied with Yorkist England for much of the 15th century, eventually provoked a generalized collapse of royal authority. Brittany and Normandy entered firmly the English orbit, Aquitaine and Provence first ruled by another cadet branch of the Valois came ultimately under control of the Aragonese royal house as personal union, and Paris with the surrounding area was decreed a free city under Burgundian protection.
This shaky equilibrium weathered many storms, but finally broke down in the eve of the Great War, with English armies occupying almost all of France and stopping only on the outskirts of Nancy. The war was eventually won by Burgundy and its allies, and as an acknowledgment of the tribulation of the French population and its role in the defeat of the oversea invader the decision to resurrect France was taken, as a bulwark to further aggression from the Channel. The start of the new state seemed very shaky, as its constituent parts (Ile-de-France, Normandy and Brittany) grew quite apart during the previous centuries, but the spark of national unit was miraculously reignited, and decades of political peace allowed for a thorough economic rebuild and industrial growth thanks to the contribution of the EPC.
Some tensions are still surviving under the ash, still, as some call for reunification with Aragonese Aquitania, and other are not quite ready to forget Burgundy’s role in the centuries of humiliation, and denounce the EPC as another shackle for the French nation.
THE REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
The history of Germany followed a quite similar trajectory, with the competing powers of Burgundy and Austria fighting all across the Holy Roman Empire for much of the 16th and 17th century: the centralizing efforts of the Emperor were constantly antagonized by the Valois kings, a conflict only exacerbated by widening religious divide between old Catholics and the Reformists. After the umpteenth defeat inflicted by a coalitions of German powers and external rivals, in the 19th century Austria all but renounced the ambition to unite Germany, and concentrated its efforts in building smaller but more manageable kingdom; its role as the main German power was taken over by the Kingdom of Saxony, which gradually expanded towards the Rhine, frequently clashed with Burgundy, wrestled Bohemia from Austria and forced Poland in a personal union.
Saxon plans of German unification were finally put into works in the middle of the 20th Century, after a particularly nationalistic and militaristic regime took the reins of power and demoted the King to a mere figurehead; the resulting Great War provoked great devastation, as millions perished from fighting, famine and bombing, but in the end the Kingdom of Saxony was defeated, in a quite indecisive way however, and its armies retreated. Like France, the territories of Central Germany, fractured before the war, were united into a singular state, the Republic of Germany, to create a strong state able to act as a beacon for German nationalism alternative to Saxony.
The German Republic swiftly built a modern industrial base, and more recently became the main pole for the production for electronic goods in the EPC; still, the menace of Saxony, now a republic but still quite authoritarian, looms over the border.
Less populated and industrialized but still prosperous and integrated into the EPC, next are the Kingdom of Savoy and the Republics of Swabia and Denmark.
THE KINGDOM OF SAVOY
Savoy from the early Modern Age acted as the main enforce of Burgundy warring both in Italy and Provence, with the royal house of Savoia providing many great and talented generals for the Burgundian armies fighting both in France and Germany.
The fall of the Valois and the rise of the Burgundian Republic seemed to spell the end of the alpine dukedom, left alone against an ever-aggressive Italy, but Savoy managed to align quickly with Aragon and Austria as a bulwark of monarchism and ensured it continued survival.The special relationship with Burgundy was eventually repaired in the 18th century, and despite the ideological differeces the alliance endured until today, with Savoy fighting in the Great War and becoming a founding member of the European Political Community.
Modern Savoy is the only monarchy in the EPC, and is a nation that in some way seems still frozen in time, still ruled by the Savoia family and infused by aristocratic splendor and tradition, but also quite modern, being one of the main destinations of luxury tourism in the world and being the center of the European jet-set; although prosperous, the ever-widening divide between the aristocratic few and the middle class is making an increasingly large part of Savoyard society turn to republicanism, and some believe that reunification with Italy is the only way to truly reform the state.
THE REPUBLIC OF SWABIA
The history of Swabia followed a quite different path, instead. After the defeat and dismantling of the Old Swiss Confederacy by Burgundian and Savoyard hands, the Cantons that didn’t fall under the sovereignty of their stronger neighbors started gravitating northwards, eventually joining the Swabian League. Originally a loose defensive league of Imperial Cities, Bishops and Princes, Swabia endured the subsequent storms, loosing peripheral territories but gradually centralizing and strengthening; many southern German and Alpine cities, facing the continued aggression of Burgundy and Austria, looked to the league as the only way to ensure independence and survival.
The Reformist Religious wars only bolstered the League, as most of its components turned away from Catholicism, and while battered and frequently invaded by its neighbors, it endured and eventually evolved in a full-fledged Confederacy in the 17th Century. The end of Austrian attempts to centralize the Holy Roman Empire finally allowed Swabia to enter a period of comparative peace, and while occasionally involved in various defensive leagues against Saxony, Burgundy or Aragon, Swabian troops mainly kept themselves busy as mercenaries all over Europe; the borders of the confederation continued to expand, however, as many saw it as a safe haven from Germany continued fighting, and Swabia was eventually reformed as a more unitary republic at the end of the 19th Century.
Swabian attempts to stay neutral and peaceful were eventually smashed by the Great War, with Saxon troops occupying the Republic almost up to the Alps; Swabia managed to resist heroically, and towards the end of the War even managed to expel the invaders from Schduagert on their own. In the peace talks the Republic managed to gain Baden, and ended its isolationist policy joining the EPC.
THE REPUBLIC OF DENMARK
The Republic of Denmark is the northernmost outpost of the European Political Community and the most isolated one. Another state, like Savoy, that enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Burgundy across the centuries, Denmark was always considered a crucial ally by Djon, as the Burgundian commerce toward the Baltic was entirely dependent of freedom of passage through the strait of Kattegat; the southernmost Scandinavian kingdom reaped great benefits from on their own from this trade network, a growing wealth that allowed aggressive expansion both north, with the subjugation of Norway, and south, with conquests in Pomerania and deep into Hannover.
Eventually the Danish Golden Age came crashing down with the end of the reign of the Valois in Burgundy; initially Denmark tried to meddle into the Burgundian quagmire, supporting the return of a branch of the royal family, but eventually found itself infected by the republican “disease”; the subsequent civil war provoked the loss of many territories from opportunistic invasions, and the eventual toppling of the monarchy.
The Republic of Denmark became a natural ally for Burgundy, and in the 18th and the 19th century the two states frequently backed up each other, both in Europe against the English, the Swedes and the Saxons, and on the colonial stage; Burgundian support allowed the survival of Danish Skane despite continuous Swedish invasions, but the territorial height of the Golden Age was always outside the grasps of the Republic.The Great War was destructive for Denmark, as the Saxons completely occupied the Jutland peninsula, but the post-war reconstruction brought a new, lesser, Golden Age, as the Republic became a worldwide center of naval industry. In the present day growth has slowed considerably, however, and Danish population is increasingly dwarfed by its neighbors; political tension is accordingly surging, and parties that openly denounce the century-old Danish republican tradition are now represented in the Upper house.
THE FREE CITY OF BREMEN
The last component of the European Political Community is the most peculiar: the Free City of Bremen. Always a trading city, and an important member of the Hanseatic League, Bremen frequently found itself in the middle of larger conflicts, and regularly passed hands from one neighboring power to another one: Burgundy, Denmark, Austria, and even a brief occupation by English forces, many tried to subjugate the city, without actually infringing its autonomy; the city however managed to grew prosperous, financing even the founding of a couple of (albeit quite small) colonies in America and Africa, and its port became the main passageway for the world’s goods to Germany and Central Europe.
It was only a matter of time for the Saxon Kingdom to try to meddle into the area and get a considerable slice of the profits of the trade network passing through Bremen, and eventually in the 19th Century, despite Burgundian meddling, the city was absorbed into the North German Kingdom. The city became a focal point of the Great War, first as the main naval base of Saxony to strike at the Burgundian naval convoys, then as a battleground after the collapse of the land invasion of Burgundy; many see the final capitulation of Bremen as the beginning of the end for the Saxon war effort.
After the War, with Saxony defeated but not dismantled, Bremen was liberated from German hands, but many objected to its proposed annexation to Burgundy or Germany; in the end, it was declared a Free City, with its independence guaranteed by the victorious powers. Despite many protests in Europe and the World, the city eventually joined the EPC, and now acts as one of its main shipping ports.
As previously said, the European Political Community’s undeniable wealth has been quite alluring to its neighbors, even those which were vehemently opposed only a decade ago. In particular, the Republic of Southern Italy is a veritable candidate, and is going to join as a full member the 1st January of 2001.
THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTHERN ITALY
Once a thorn in the side of the EPC, Southern Italy previously fought on the side of Saxony during the great war, and while less extensive than the central European Theater, the Italian Front wasn’t less bloody and destructive. The autocratic regime in Naples like its northern ally survived the war, and for a few decades tried to oppose Italy brutally closing the borders and trying a particularly costly military build-up. The lackluster economic planning and the miserable state of the lower classes eventually completely eroded the reputation of the ever-increasingly dictatorial government in Naples, and finally the regime was toppled by a democratic revolution sparked by a brutal suppression of a syndacalist demonstration in Bari.
The new Republic after the consolidation of the new government immediately asked for entry into the EPC, yearning its prosperity and seeing the Community as a way to ensure a successful democratization; the European Council in Zurich decided to forestall their entry, ask for more reforms, and prepare a sizable economic help package, but now, after almost 10 years, Southern Italy is ready to join.
Other states, while not outright candidates, have declared themselves Observers, actually participating in some of the meeting of the European Council and involving themselves more and more in the matters of the EPC.
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREATER ARAGON
The main Observer is the United Kingdom of Greater Aragon, the main European power outside the Community. A co-belligerent of Burgundy and his allies during the Great War, Aragon greatly underestimated England early on, and the English armies advanced deep into Aquitaine, pushing nearly to the Pyrenees and a few kilometers near Marseille. English overxtension eventually allowed the Aragonese comeback, and the United Kingdom, draining considerable resources from its colonial empire, managed to liberate defeat the invaders.
Aragon was quite shocked by the Great War, but its arrogance and pride prohibited to even consider joining the EPC. However, the subsequent decades weren’t really glorious as imagined, as decolonization greatly damaged the United Kingdom self-image and, perhaps more importantly, its economy.
The last decade subsequently saw the government of Barcelona expand its links with Burgundy and the European Political Community, with the historical signature of a Trade Agreement, and gradually allow more freedom of movement over their borders. More and more people call for putting forward a candidacy to the EPC, especially in Aquitaine and Sardinia, but the upper echelons of the state, and the King first and foremost (largely a figurehead but quite influential still) are quite wary of the possibility; the widening divide might even spell the end of the United Kingdom.
THE REPUBLIC OF ENGLAND
The second observer is the Republic of England. As the English attempted conquest of the mainland during the Great War, being eventually and disastrously rebuffed, the political situation in the Home islands become increasingly explosive. The monarchy lost many supporters, both in the southern cities and in the army, and the Peace deal, that essentially traded the survival of the royal house as head of the state with the “liberation” of Brittany and Normandy, exacerbated the situation further.
Eventually, large parts of southern England revolted, and a bitter civil war engulfed the island for almost a decade; the EPC while generally aligned with the republican rebels, wasn’t ready to involve themselves in another war, and the rebels in turn weren’t really ready to ask for help, as the deep wounds inflicted by the bombing campaign of the allies during the Great War weren’t really healed.
Still, no side was really able to defeat the other, and the civil war ended in a stalemate, with the ceasefire imposed by Treaty of London crystallizing de facto two separated states: the Republic of England, in the south, and the Kingdom of England in the north.The Republic subsequently received great support from the EPC, but at first tried to project itself as an Atlantic power, finding allies in Aragon and in the English ex-colonies oversea. Their attempt didn’t really work, and London never managed to find its desired place as a worldwide center of Trade and Finance; the Republic slowly descended into stable mediocrity.
It was in the last decade that Burgundian diplomatic efforts finally started to work, or as some say the Monarchist menace to the north finally started rearing its head; the English Republic, like Aragon, is increasingly linked to the European Political Community, and the Defensive pact signed in the beginning of 2000 is considered by most the first step towards joining.
The Ku Klux Klan exists without the abolition of slavery or Reconstruction? Odd. What is the reasoning in the US keeping the Public Land strip or for the Confederates to have somehow wanted and managed to conquer Haiti?
While I am not the main story writer of the mod, I know that the KKK is still formed as the CSA was forced to abolish chattel slavery in 1884 due to international pressure from the UK and France, but African-Americans are still the lowest class and suppressed unfortunately. The abolition is seen as unacceptable by extreme white-supremists, and some kind of alternate KKK is formed. The Confederates either see the Public Land Strip as useless land, or the United States regains it during the war during the 1880's. Haiti is invaded as an attempt to form the Golden Circle in the late 19th century.
Turkey, Iran etc. Being merely marked with questions marks as to which state they belong to is also … questionable because it implies an end to buffer states and constant wars over Disputed Territories ala 1984
Its funny, they just assumed Africa would just stay colonized forever and be okay with it
(Sarcasm) Well, you know those primitive child-like people need, and indeed in their heart of hearts desire, the rule of a strong but fair master (Sarcasm)
It's the line that marks the furthest placement of US weapons systems.
Thank you for the compliments and the feedback! It's only tangentially touched in the map and talked about in the lore, but I tried to imagine a federative and democratic Burgundy exactly for this reason; the idea is that the Dutch, Frisian and Flemish cities and their merchant elites, after supporting the Valois kings as a way to counter French ingerences, finally revolted against their absolutism in the 17th century, co-opting the Kingdom instead of getting their indipendence from it (the tail wagging the dog, more or less). TTL's Burgundy thus is a carefully-built system of cultural "circles" and check and balances, whith the Burgundian/French areas only one of its constituent parts.
Have Britain and Germany gotten closer together as a result of this?
Not particularly, Britain has remained rather aloof from continental affairs since the Great War, focusing more on developing the British Commonwealth. In recent years the two Commonwealths have grown closer as a result of the acession of Ireland (which is now part of both), and the marriage of HMCM The King of France to the eldest daughter of HRH The Prince of Wales.
