If any African countries tried to take action, the Portuguese probably wouldn't think it worth it to get dragged into yet another war, let alone one over "useless" colonies. But if no countries have the capability, I can see everyone being too blasé to put up a stink. Likewise re: E Timor.
The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
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If any African countries tried to take action, the Portuguese probably wouldn't think it worth it to get dragged into yet another war, let alone one over "useless" colonies. But if no countries have the capability, I can see everyone being too blasé to put up a stink. Likewise re: E Timor.
IMO, Associated state is probably more than a loyal colony would want, and an autonomous region has quite a lot of competences, sometimes competences a region has difficulties exercising by itself.
Traditional thinking in the Portuguese right (and centre) did not considered the colonies as useless, and a lot of people from the right and centre opposed what was considered as abandoning its residents.
Well the British officially sat on the sidelines during the Civil War. However, they were instrumental in organizing the Dublin peace talks between the moderate Rebels and the Royalists. Currently, the have 30,000 troops conducting peacekeeping operations in Portugal. In other words, the Alliance is still strong.
Iberian Crisis: 1985-1986
The Iberian Crisis
1985-1986: The Two-Spain Solution
1985-1986: The Two-Spain Solution
As the war in Spain entered its third year, the Republicans had regained the momentum against the Carlists. In one of the largest battles of the war, the Republicans mounted a two-pronged thrust towards Murcia in the dead of winter. The Royalists managed to check the attack but not without suffering heavy losses. Over the spring and summer, Rebel General Vito Rolando Vazquez concentrated on securing Galicia. Cut off from the rest of Royalist Spain, Galicia nonetheless fought on tenaciously. The important city of Vigo was only captured after a heavy bombardment by the Rebels. By the fall, the Monarchists under the command of Generalissimo Xavier Felicaino de la Rosa were reduced to Andalusia, Murcia, parts of La Mancha, and the Balearic and Canary Islands. The German led Association of European States continued to support the Royalists, but the pro-Republican Turin Pact was able to out supply them due to proximity and the availability of overland routes across the Pyrenees. In November, the Republicans finally captured Murica after three weeks of bloody street-to-street fighting. The winter of 1985-1986 proved deceptively quiet. General Vazquez prepared for the final push to capture Cordoba and the Royalist capital of Seville. The Carlists not only readied their defenses but also planned for a contingency if the war seemed loss.
On March 28, the Republicans launched their long planned offensive towards Seville. Armed with cataphracts, helicopters, and a large number of improvised armored vehicles, the open terrain of southern Spain helped the Rebels carry the day. Cordoba fell by the end of April. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Monarchists decided to flee as the Republicans arrived at Seville. With German assistance, King Juan IV and his ministers decamped for Palma in the Balearic Islands. Other Royalists, both military and civilian, escaped to the Canary Islands. The Republicans had finally secured all of mainland Spain.
As the Republicans lacked a true navy, seizing the Canary and Balearic Islands proved beyond their reach at the time. As such, a ceasefire went into effect on June 13. Neither the Republican government in Madrid nor the Royalist government in Palma recognized each other and both refused to sign a comprehensive peace treaty. The creation of “two Spains” however, would prove a headache for many foreign governments in the years to come as they had to decide which one to recognize. Still most were simply glad to see the bloodshed stop. Out of Spain’s 39 million prewar population up to 900,000 had been killed and 3 to 4 million had fled abroad.
Spanish Republicans celebrating in Barcelona
June, 1986
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Wouldn't the Republicans have easily been able to overwhelm the Balearics, at they are surrounded by Turin Pact countries? Also, its just highly unusual that the remnant is composed of two archipelagoes, separated by the hostile government. In real life, they would probably have to make do with one (most likely the Canaries) but not both island chains.
The Spanish Navy mostly sided with the royalists. Germany has also installed enough antiship/antiaircraft missiles on the islands to make assaulting the islands to costly. remember also that although the Turin pact supports the Republicans they don't actively intervene militarily. You are totally right in that it is an extremely awkward arrangement for the Monarchists.
1985: Foreign and Domestic Developments
1985
Foreign and Domestic Developments
Foreign and Domestic Developments
In February, Wesley Schwimmer a famed documentarian from Massachusetts released For the Greater Good a film describing eugenics in the Technate of China. The movie described government imposed abortions, sterilizations, and euthanasia all in the name of “technocratic progress.” Compiled using smuggled video footage and the testimony of Chinese defectors, the film became one of the most controversial films of the 1980s. The official response from the Chinese government stated that the documentary misrepresented Krulikist-Hengism, China’s ruling Technocratic ideology. A host of others in the western world, especially the religious left in the United States, called for economic sanctions until China reformed their policies. Despite some protestations, few governments took any concrete steps on this matter. However, it did mark a further deterioration of relations between the Technocratic bloc and the democratic world.
On June 6, Danish mountaineer Teodor Kjeldsen and Sherpa Temba Gelu became the first people to ascend Mount Everest the tallest mountain on Earth. Earlier expeditions by the United Kingdom in 1931, Switzerland in 1944, and Germany in 1954 all ended in failure. Restrictions imposed by the Nepalese government and disruptions caused by the Asia-Pacific War delayed further attempts. King Christian XI knighted Teodor Kjeldsen upon his return to Denmark.
In the wake of Britain’s successful mediation to end the Portuguese Civil, War Prime Minister Cledwyen Bates-Morgan called an early general election. As expected, Bates-Morgan and his Liberal Party easily retained control of the government. Bates-Morgan announced that his reelection was proof that Britons believed in his plan to decrease the UK’s massive wartime debt by making cuts in defense and shrinking its imperial footprint. The Tories and Imperial Progressives naturally decried the Liberal’s record stating that they were overseeing the “steady destruction of the British military and dissolution of the British Commonwealth.”
During the fall, Halleckville based Delphi Industries unveiled the first commercially successful mobile phone the Mobi99x. Delphi Industries would dominate the American cellular phone market until the late 1990s eventually leading to all mobile phones to be colloquially referred to as “mobies”.
On December 11, the heads of government of seven nations in southern India announced the formation of the Community of South Asian States (CSAS). Composed of Madras, Hyderabad, Ceylon, Travancore, Mysore, Goa, and the recently independent Maldives, this new organization relaxed tariffs, eased travel restrictions, and guaranteed each member’s territorial integrity. Burma, Siam, and Malaya signed on as observers in a move that displayed solidarity against the growing threat of the Technocratic Union. As many of these nations were either British dominions or allies some opposed CSAS as just another form of colonialism. Although the UK did support CSAS, in reality Madras was the economic and military heavyweight of the alliance and served as its undeclared leader.
Flag of the Sultanate of the Maldives
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Here's hoping Maldives doesn't sink like it is OTL.
Cell phones
thanks guys
World Map: 1985
Here is the world map circa December 31, 1985. Enjoy.
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Cledwyen Bates-Morgan, I'm guessing, is pretty much David Lloyd George with an even more Welsh name, right?