alt history fic I'm working on
Posted: 2006-09-28 01:16pm
As I mentioned in here, I've been wanting to write an alternate history fic for a while. Here's an idea I've come up with recently. Tell me what you think.
The scenario for this is a "what if the colonies lost the Revolutionary War?" (Jesus, that sounds communist
) Here's what I have:
The war is lost for the colonies, but the Brits are forced to make concessions to keep the peace. First, Washington is allowed to retire to Mount Vernon. This is done solely because otherwise, he'll be seen as a martyr and might cause another uprising. Second, the Brits allow their major colonies (Canada, etc) to send reps to Parliament as observers. The American colonies are allowed to send two reps, one for the north and one for the south. Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and a few others manage to escape to France, where they live in exile for the rest of their lives. Most of the Continental Congress aren't so lucky. They're either given hefty prison sentences or hanged. This does not mean the revolution is over completely. There are still rebels. Remnants of one of the armies, possibly Nathanael Greene's. They continue fighting the good fight until around the 1800s when Greene is killed in an ambush. The rebellion loses a lot of steam and goes underground, launching only small attacks against British targets ever so often.
The country expands somewhat like it does irl, except we get the Louisiana Territory later than irl. During the Napoleonic Wars, a militia force is raised and invades and occupies said territory aswell as Florida. This smooths relations between the American colonies and the motherland quite a bit and eventually in the mid-19th, they're rewarded when the Brits consolidate the original 13, the Louisiana and Florida territories into a confederation and are given limited self-rule. I'm toying with the idea of having Abraham Lincoln becoming Governor-General or founding a non-violent organisation/political party directed at independence for the colonies. Things are quite peaceful for the next several decades, with only a few attacks, labeled as acts of terrorism by the authorities.
Things change in the 20th century. During WWI, the Confederation of America (CoA for short), like the other colonies, raise and send an army to fight in Europe. Tales of American soldiers being used as cannon fodder reach home and independence groups use them to spread discontent. Things get worse after the war. An economic depression hits the Confederation and further breeds the ill feelings towards ze motherland. WWII and similar stories of Americans being used as cannon fodder reach the homefront and things get worse. The final straw is the revelation that the Brits tested atomic bombs on American soil. By this point, America is similar to the real world US, territory wise. The exceptions being Arizona, New Mexico and possibly Nevada, which are still part of Mexico.
Anyways, in the late 40s or 1950s, an open rebellion finally erupts. There are street battles in all the major cities and areas. It takes about a year or two for the Brits to finally put the rebellion down, but the damage is already done. Other colonies, mostly in Africa and Asia observed how difficult it was for the empire (which was weakened by WWII) to put down the rebellion in the CoA and decide to rebel themselves. The Brits are in a dilly of a pickle. If they move troops stationed in America to squash these other rebellions, there's a chance the one in America might reignite. On the otherhand, if they don't redeploy troops to these other colonies, it might incite more to rebel. They of course call on Canada, Australia, South Africa and other loyal colonies to help, but surprising, they refuse. The way they see it, the rebellions are a British matter and they're not a police force to be called on to put down every riot that pops up in the empire. Eventually, the Brits are forced to make some hard choices. They let most of the rebelling colonies in Africa and Asia go, but make it clear that this is a one time gift and they won't tolerate anymore rebellions. They manage to convince Australia and New Zealand to send a small number of troops to the colonies they want to keep, but it costs them. They're forced to grant they, Canada and South Africa semi-autonomy within the empire and allow them to create devolved parliaments, similar to the ones currently in Scotland and Wales. Their observers are also granted the power to speak and vote on matters concerning the colonies.
Unfortunately, the CoA doesn't get any of these. Saying the Brits are pissed off would be an understatement. Their little rebellion cost the empire alot of their colonial holdings, as well as forcing them to make humiliating concessions to their own crown colonies. Punishment is swift. As many ringleaders as possible are rounded up, tried and executed. All organisations and political parties advocating independence are banned and anyone caught distributing or associating with that kind of thing are given automatic prison sentences of ten years. The colonial government is abolished and replaced with a provisional council. Also, all but the pro-British parties are banned, so guess what the elections are like. Finally, the Confederation is forced to pay the costs of the occupation forces.
Things continue like this for a while, decades atleast. But overtime, as governments in London come and go, most of these measures are loosened or downright abolished. The story actually takes place in 2006. By this time, all of these are gone, but there's still ill will in America towards Britain. By this time, the mighty British Empire is in its twilight years. A combination of costs and independence movements are pushing Britain towards letting their colonies go free. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have already been given independence and Canada is on its way. There's talk of extending the same towards the CoA, but there's reluctance, as many see it as a replacement for India, which they lost back decades ago. Anyways, in a nutshell the story is about a rogue faction of this militant group (sort of a American version of the IRA) are planning to assassinate the crown prince, who has shown to be pro-independence. Their leader is doing it out of revenge for what happened during the Great Rebellion. The National Republican Army (I can't think of a better name right now!) knows this is bad, because it'll just cause another major crackdown. So, the leader of the NRA (har har) gives the task of stopping the rogue faction to the main character.
It'll have quite a bit of action in it.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Copy of White Mages Gone Wild?
The scenario for this is a "what if the colonies lost the Revolutionary War?" (Jesus, that sounds communist
) Here's what I have:The war is lost for the colonies, but the Brits are forced to make concessions to keep the peace. First, Washington is allowed to retire to Mount Vernon. This is done solely because otherwise, he'll be seen as a martyr and might cause another uprising. Second, the Brits allow their major colonies (Canada, etc) to send reps to Parliament as observers. The American colonies are allowed to send two reps, one for the north and one for the south. Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and a few others manage to escape to France, where they live in exile for the rest of their lives. Most of the Continental Congress aren't so lucky. They're either given hefty prison sentences or hanged. This does not mean the revolution is over completely. There are still rebels. Remnants of one of the armies, possibly Nathanael Greene's. They continue fighting the good fight until around the 1800s when Greene is killed in an ambush. The rebellion loses a lot of steam and goes underground, launching only small attacks against British targets ever so often.
The country expands somewhat like it does irl, except we get the Louisiana Territory later than irl. During the Napoleonic Wars, a militia force is raised and invades and occupies said territory aswell as Florida. This smooths relations between the American colonies and the motherland quite a bit and eventually in the mid-19th, they're rewarded when the Brits consolidate the original 13, the Louisiana and Florida territories into a confederation and are given limited self-rule. I'm toying with the idea of having Abraham Lincoln becoming Governor-General or founding a non-violent organisation/political party directed at independence for the colonies. Things are quite peaceful for the next several decades, with only a few attacks, labeled as acts of terrorism by the authorities.
Things change in the 20th century. During WWI, the Confederation of America (CoA for short), like the other colonies, raise and send an army to fight in Europe. Tales of American soldiers being used as cannon fodder reach home and independence groups use them to spread discontent. Things get worse after the war. An economic depression hits the Confederation and further breeds the ill feelings towards ze motherland. WWII and similar stories of Americans being used as cannon fodder reach the homefront and things get worse. The final straw is the revelation that the Brits tested atomic bombs on American soil. By this point, America is similar to the real world US, territory wise. The exceptions being Arizona, New Mexico and possibly Nevada, which are still part of Mexico.
Anyways, in the late 40s or 1950s, an open rebellion finally erupts. There are street battles in all the major cities and areas. It takes about a year or two for the Brits to finally put the rebellion down, but the damage is already done. Other colonies, mostly in Africa and Asia observed how difficult it was for the empire (which was weakened by WWII) to put down the rebellion in the CoA and decide to rebel themselves. The Brits are in a dilly of a pickle. If they move troops stationed in America to squash these other rebellions, there's a chance the one in America might reignite. On the otherhand, if they don't redeploy troops to these other colonies, it might incite more to rebel. They of course call on Canada, Australia, South Africa and other loyal colonies to help, but surprising, they refuse. The way they see it, the rebellions are a British matter and they're not a police force to be called on to put down every riot that pops up in the empire. Eventually, the Brits are forced to make some hard choices. They let most of the rebelling colonies in Africa and Asia go, but make it clear that this is a one time gift and they won't tolerate anymore rebellions. They manage to convince Australia and New Zealand to send a small number of troops to the colonies they want to keep, but it costs them. They're forced to grant they, Canada and South Africa semi-autonomy within the empire and allow them to create devolved parliaments, similar to the ones currently in Scotland and Wales. Their observers are also granted the power to speak and vote on matters concerning the colonies.
Unfortunately, the CoA doesn't get any of these. Saying the Brits are pissed off would be an understatement. Their little rebellion cost the empire alot of their colonial holdings, as well as forcing them to make humiliating concessions to their own crown colonies. Punishment is swift. As many ringleaders as possible are rounded up, tried and executed. All organisations and political parties advocating independence are banned and anyone caught distributing or associating with that kind of thing are given automatic prison sentences of ten years. The colonial government is abolished and replaced with a provisional council. Also, all but the pro-British parties are banned, so guess what the elections are like. Finally, the Confederation is forced to pay the costs of the occupation forces.
Things continue like this for a while, decades atleast. But overtime, as governments in London come and go, most of these measures are loosened or downright abolished. The story actually takes place in 2006. By this time, all of these are gone, but there's still ill will in America towards Britain. By this time, the mighty British Empire is in its twilight years. A combination of costs and independence movements are pushing Britain towards letting their colonies go free. Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have already been given independence and Canada is on its way. There's talk of extending the same towards the CoA, but there's reluctance, as many see it as a replacement for India, which they lost back decades ago. Anyways, in a nutshell the story is about a rogue faction of this militant group (sort of a American version of the IRA) are planning to assassinate the crown prince, who has shown to be pro-independence. Their leader is doing it out of revenge for what happened during the Great Rebellion. The National Republican Army (I can't think of a better name right now!
) knows this is bad, because it'll just cause another major crackdown. So, the leader of the NRA (har har) gives the task of stopping the rogue faction to the main character.It'll have quite a bit of action in it.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Copy of White Mages Gone Wild?
)