SDN World 3 World History

[TimothyC]

With Communist nations popping up all over the place and controlling most of South America I can see every one else being even more freaked out by communism than historically. The USSR's existance alone led to numerous red scares and conspiracy theories about international communism.

The good news if any for Argentina is that others powers might see me as a bastion against communism and I could get all the patronage that comes along with that.

Mabe we should join in the South Atlantic Anti-Communist League?

Edit: Norseman - I figured that while I didn't intervene outright, I did support the republican government.

[Norseman]

With Communist nations popping up all over the place and controlling most of South America I can see every one else being even more freaked out by communism than historically. The USSR's existance alone led to numerous red scares and conspiracy theories about international communism.

The good news if any for Argentina is that others powers might see me as a bastion against communism and I could get all the patronage that comes along with that.

Mabe we should join in the South Atlantic Anti-Communist League?

Edit: Norseman - I figured that while I didn't intervene outright, I did support the republican government.

Brazil 1904
Peru 190?
Russia 1917
The Congo 1918

Socialism is on the march! Seriously this is worse than anything that existed in OTL, from the capitalist point of view anyway.

[Raesene]

Kingdom of Tuscany

History

Tuscany was annexed by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Savoy and Sardinia in 1860 as part of the aftermath of the Austro-Italian war of 1859 against the wishes of its population, which viewed the militancy of the Piedmontese with distrust. The ruling Grand Dukes of the House of Medici (not extinct in this timeline) went into Austrian Exile. The same war lost Austria-Hungary Lombardy, leaving only the Veneto and Istria as part of the Habsburg’s realm.
Southern Italy was seen as ‘too Greek’, and therefore not of interest to the Italian Irredentists.

With the Austrian in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 imminent, Piemont went to war to acquire the remaining territories. Austrian victories at land and sea (at Custozza and Lissa), together with Bismarck’s desire of not transforming Austria into a mortal enemy, led to the cessation of the Veneto only, leaving hard feelings in Italy due to the Prussian “betrayal”.

Tensions stayed high between A-H and Italy and Prussia/Germany. The defeat of France took place too quickly for Italy to exploit it. The populace of the recently annexed territories was unhappy about Piedmont militancy regarding the Unification of all Italy; however, any protests were quickly quashed by the government, sometimes with military force, creating even more discontent.

The war against Serbia and subsequent Austrian Civil War seemed like a golden chance for Italy to gain even more territory from a distracted Austria-Hungary. While the Itaian Secret Service aided Serbian assassins planting a bomb to assassinate the Emperors, the Italian army should strike a few days later to take Trieste, Istria and Southern Tyrol.

The Austrian defense line at the Isonzo proved to be a strong obstacle, blocking any advance of the overambitious Italian army, which got locked into static trench warfare for which it was not prepared.

An attempt for a major amphibious landing at the Dalmatian coast to open another front was violently aborted when the Austrian battle fleet intercepted the convoy escorted by the Regia Marina, leading to one of the fiercest naval battles in history. Losses were high on both sides, with Italy loosing four of its seven dreadnoughts as well as many pre-dreadnought battleships and armoured cruisers. The biggest loss was the near-complete annihilation of the troop transports by Imperial and Royal submarines and torpedo boats striking from behind the dalmatine islands. Rumors that the operation was betrayed by a rumoured Tuscan independentist working for the naval staff who informed the Grand Duke in Vienna were never substantiated.

The resulting lack of manpower and equipment was severely felt when the Austro-German counteroffensive broke through the lines in 1916. Again, misdirection of crucial equipment from the southern part of the Italian kingdom or late approach of regiments statione dthere are always attributed to bad staff work performed by Piedmontese officers or technical difficulties with the railways. Investigations by the secret service never proved a Tuscan connection.

Aftermath of the War

The Treaty of Rome forced the discredited Piedmontese Kings of Italy into Exile (anyone wanting them ?). Piedmont and the former Habsburg possessions were annexed by Germany/Austria, with the remaining provinces of the former Kingdom of Italy forming the new Tuscan Kingdom. The new kingdom also gained the Italian colonies to keep them out of German, French and or other grasping hands. The whole city of Rome was transferred to the Holy See, with Florence becoming again the seat of crown and government.

The new Government is a constitutional monarchy, with a single-chamber parliament elected by all citizens. The Grand Duke, now styled King of Tuscany and Protector of Italians (a boast that is more bark than possible bite), chooses a Prime Minister who answers to the Parliament. The King has veto powers, which can only be overturned by a three-quarter majority in parliament.

Tuscany considers itself lively and liberal, although a large part of the population consists of practising catholics.
Irredentist ideology is waning after the disastrous end of the Kingdom of Italy, except for some diehards lacking popular support.

Foreign Affairs:

Trade pacts are welcome !

Relations with Germany/Austria are cordial, as Tuscany does not support any secessionist activity in former Italian territories. However, the treatment of Italians is monitored and consular support provided for Italians in need.

There are no competing claims with the Balkan Empire in Europe.

France is observed warily, as it was very interested in the northern Italian territories.

Relations with the Byzantine Empire are stable and neutral due to the former’s support for The Kingdom of Italy and support of terrorism to further the Nationalists.

Britain and Cascadia are considered as predominantly friendly nations, with no colonial disputes.

************************

The Islands between Corsica and the Italian Mainland are also owned by me.

Feedback please !

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Technically, I control Sardinia.

[Norseman]

Feedback please !

There are no communist spies in Italy, none at all, certainly non that agitate and try to use Tuscany as a recruitment base for dissatisfied Italian soldiers. That Marxist firebrand Benito Mussolini (in real life a Marxist theorist before he invented Fascism) is certainly *not* bankrolled by Brazil or Russia!

[Raesene]

Technically, I control Sardinia.

I knew I forgot to delete it somewhere... will do that in a minute.

There are no communist spies in Italy, none at all, certainly non that agitate and try to use Tuscany as a recruitment base for dissatisfied Italian soldiers. That Marxist firebrand Benito Mussolini (in real life a Marxist theorist before he invented Fascism) is certainly *not* bankrolled by Brazil or Russia!

I had him in mind as center of the remaining Nationalists, but I don't mind what ideology is responsible for Tuscany to provide him with a hemp tie...

[Norseman]

I had him in mind as center of the remaining Nationalists, but I don't mind what ideology is responsible for Tuscany to provide him with a hemp tie...

A-HA! Now we see the violence inherent to the system! You assassins of the working classes!

[Raj Ahten]

With Communist nations popping up all over the place and controlling most of South America I can see every one else being even more freaked out by communism than historically. The USSR's existance alone led to numerous red scares and conspiracy theories about international communism.

The good news if any for Argentina is that others powers might see me as a bastion against communism and I could get all the patronage that comes along with that.

Mabe we should join in the South Atlantic Anti-Communist League?

Edit: Norseman - I figured that while I didn't intervene outright, I did support the republican government.

Such a grouping intrigues me, but we should probably wait until the game starts to hash out any true agreements.

[Bluewolf]

Well here it is for China:

1839-1842: The Opium wars break out and China defeated soundly. The image of power is shattered like glass. The Treaty of Nanjing is signed which is the start of several unequal treaties.

1861-1894: The Self Strengthening Movement begins in an attempt to gain “practical knowledge “while at the same time while keeping the old mentality. This attempt at Modernisation concludes with limited success due to the significance of the political institutions and social ideas that had helped Western advancement. However modernisation across China starts to speed up due to the movement.

1894-1897: The Sino Japanese war breaks out, mainly over the control of Taiwan. The progress of the Self Strengthening Movement against the Meiji Restoration of Japan is highlighted. It showed the modernisation of China had not gone far enough as the nation loses to Japan, surrendering several islands to Japan as well as paying reparations

1898: Qing emperor, Guangxu starts a series of vast changes to the social and institutional order of China. This would push China into further modernisation in many areas. Opposition to these plans are met by many conservatives. Soon after a failed coup’detat, led by Empress Dowager Cixi was attempted, showing the barriers China faced to reform. Such opposition slowed progress but the reforms carried on. Some reform does cause problems though. For example some reforms within the army help the rise of warlords.

1908: The potential threat of the SAU is highlighted and there is some movement to be more organised in response to this. Little headway is made though.

1915: With the rise of Warlords came the eventual attempt to get rid of them. A large sweeping campaign spreads across China to removing them causing a lot of fighting. In the confusion, Guangxi and Hainan provinces are taken by the SAU.

1918: With the rising threats around the pacific, China launches a program to upgrade her lagging navy. A naval deal involving Britain was discussed but due to mistrust of Britain that had carried on from the Opium War, the seemingly outrageous demands China would have to pay and the arguing on both sides, the deal never came about. The Chinese navy remains weak and pathetic, even more so compared to the Imperial Japanese navy.

1919: The rise of communism brings about unrest in China, wanting to emulate several of the recent communist countries. The Qing dynasty sees its survival and its effort to turn the country into a wealthy nation threatened and swiftly acts to put down the unrest. However despite the unrest reverberates across the whole of China causing a knock on effect of more riots and small rebellions.

1920 June 8th – November 23rd : With the hope of independence and the rebellions across China fuelling it Tibet moves to break free while the Chinese military is dealing with other rebellions. After a few months the movement for independence is crushed. The rebellions show that China’s military is a lot more equipped to deal with threats then it once was and is a positive sign of Chinese modernisation.

[Norade]

1755: The Lisbon quake ruins a major city and prevents the nation from projecting power leading to a lose of world prestige and a period of decline.

1770: Shaking off her self pity the nation starts rebuilding and modernizing and reclaims so territories in Africa in a series of skirmishes and threats of blockade.

1800: Portugal is becoming a naval power again, slowly modernizing her fleet and waiting a for a chance to snap up territories at the expense of a mismanaged Britain.

1815: Portugal claims Nigeria from Britain and sends an expedition to South America resulting in them settling a small area near the equator in a region called Guiana.

1850: Angola is released to be her own nation, this is due to a period of increased empathy for the African plight. This is also where many more African states could break away.

1890 - 1910: The nation experiences a period of sharp decline, military spending is cut and much of the fleet is mothballed.

1913: Recovery starts, most ships are deemed to costly to return to service and new designs are put forward with the thought that while the nation is building back up she will be under defended.

1914: The first ships of the new age for Portugal's navy are laid down, the navy currently consists of torpedo boats and destroyers that were brought back to service. The nation is forced to use diplomacy to avoid war and reduces claims in Africa even further in this time.

1920: Much of the navy is laid down or in service, all but the heaviest class of ships which are just being laid.

[Raj Ahten]

Argentina's history here diverts from reality in several key places. When General Jose de San Martin went into Chile between 1814-1817 I'm going to say he was able to do more than help liberate Chile and what was then the United Provinces of South America and Chile decided to form a new nation together (ignoring any differences and reasons ths wouldn't happen of course.) Other points of change include that there was much more immigration into Argentina than historically, with a big chunk f people coming in after the liberal revolts in '48. These new arrivals were pivotal in liberalizing the country after the downfall of dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas after the Platine war and democratic institutions flourished. I'm going to say the war of the Triple alliance went really well for for Argentina which took over Paraguay as a satellite. Argentina economy took off in huge way after this due in large part to a wave of foreign investment.

Argentina, despite its liberalization, is still ruled by more conservative elements and the population as a whole is very patriotic and anti communist. Thus I've actively opposed the rise of all my communist neighbors in some way. For instance I had a war which ended up establishing the modern borders with the Peru/Bolivia state.

This is vague by design. so I can work in details as needed.

Edit: at the suggestion of Doomriser I will tentatively be using the name Platinean Confederation for my nation.

[Steve]

Beowulf and I have determined the timeframe (1889-1891) and pivotal battles of the Australian War, aka the Manchurian-Cascadian War, which established the modern borders in Australia (at least between the two of us). I'll spell out the details later, since we've not yet decided on troop strengths or ship numbers, just specific naval and land battles.

[Steve]

Agreed upon with Beo, dates to be determined (We need to figure logical timing for all this).


Manchurian-Cascadian War:

Cause: When Australia is ceded to Cascadia and Manchuria separately by treaties and sales, British diplomatic errors cause the land between the Lachlan and Murray Rivers east to the coast to be granted to both parties. The Manchurians settle primarily inland via Newcastle and the harbors north of Sydney while Cascadian settlements at Wagga Wagga and Wollongong are built. As a result, throughout the 1880s the Manchurian and Cascadian governments dispute the area, with multiple skirmishes. Further disagrement comes from the Manchurian settlement of Yongsan, at the mouth of the Gascoyne River north of Perth, and both parties claim control of Western Australia in addition to the Disputed Area. In 1889, the Manchurian Army has built up to a sizable force through careful policy, detected too late by the Cascadian government, and a skirmish between settlers in the disputed zone is used as justification for an invasion.

Battle of the Murray River - Manchurian Victory
Melbourne besieged

Naval Battle of Perth - Manchurian Partial Victory, Coastal Fort prevents landings
Manchuria lands troops at Bunbury to march on Perth

Cascadian naval and land reinforcements arrive

Battle of Melbourne - Cascadian Victory
Naval Battle of Bunbury - Cascadian Victory

Britain offers mediation

Battle of the Gascoyne River - Cascadian Victory
Naval Battle of Yongsan (Real-Life, Carnarvon, Australia) - Cascadian Victory
Manchurian Western Campaign fails, abandoned

Manchuria accepts British offer of mediation

Cascadia enters disputed areas north of Murray

Battle of Wagga Wagga - No Victor, both armies retire the field to shift positions
Battle of the Murrumbidge River - Manchurian Victory

Defeated Cascadian forces flee south of the Murray River, invasion of Disputed Territory abandoned

Cascadia accepts British offer of mediation. Ceasefire is signed.

1891: Treaty of Sydney. Cascadia cedes claims north of Murray River and east of the 141st Meridian and recognizes all territory north of Murray River and east of the 141st Meridian as Manchurian Australia. Manchuria recognizes all territory south of the Murray River and west of the 141st Meridian as Cascadian Australia. (practical effect - save the westernmost strip of modern Queensland that's west of the 141st Meridian, Manchuria gets NSW and Queensland - though the latter could potentially be contested by another colonizing state - while Cascadia gets modern Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria, as well as recognized claim on the Northern Territory and the aforementioned strip of Queensland. Note that the Dutch possession of Darwin is in existance but not yet recognized by either power. Karmic, you and I can discuss how that's settled).

Australian War ends.

[Beowulf]

Manchuria
Provisional history: Celtic clans was driven out of Europe by the expanding Roman empire. One group began trekking east, sometime around 300 AD. Over the years, they kept moving eastward, until sometime in the 5th century, they reached as far east as they could. Having nowhere further to journey, they settled for good. At various times, they were conquered by the Han, and re-won their independance. The most recent was at the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. This was more of a practical than theoretical independance, with the King still theoretically being a subject of the Chinese Emperor, with the implicit understanding that any orders the Emperor chose to make would be undertaken with haste, so long as no such orders actually came.

1636-7 - Second Manchu invasion of Korea. This last, and successful invasion ended the independance of the Joseon dynasty, relegating them to subjects.

1644 - defacto independence from Ming China. China simultaneously undergoes a dynasty change.

1689 - Treaty of Nerchinsk defines Russo-Manchurian Border, following the Stanovoi Range (Waihsinganling) and the Argun River (Hailar He).

1872 - In response to Japanese moves towards the de jure annexation of the Ryukyu islands, action is taken to support the Ryukyu Kingdom. Kingdom becomes tributary to Manchuria and Japan, after short conflict.

1885 - Manchuria buys rights to Australia from the UK. Sale also encourages UK to become a Manchurian ally, which becomes important in the Russo-Manchurian War's Dogger Bank incident.

1889-91 - Manchurian-Cascadian War for control over Australia, resulting in the current boundaries. The war enforces need for a modern navy, resulting in a crash building program that serves the Navy well in the Russo-Manchurian War.

1899 - Marianas islands bought from Spain, with exception of Saipan (which had been sold to Germany). Guam used as naval base and coaling station en route to Australia.

1904-5 - Russo-Manchurian War occurs over Russian desire for a Pacific port. European expectations had been that Russia would win. North American expectations were significantly more ambivalent. Long Russian supply lines, made longer by the lack of rails between the front and Irkutsk, made for relatively small Russian attacking forces. In the Battle of Black River, Manchu forces stalemated Russian forces for long enough for reserves to be brought up, smashing the Russian Far East Army. However, the Manchu Army was unable to pursue the Russian Army.

The Russian First Pacific Squadron had been dispatched from the Baltic in order to conduct some gunboat diplomacy. It was brought to action by relatively modern armored cruisers and battleships in the Battle of Jejudo. In the action, the Russian Navy suffered 4,380 killed and 5,917 captured, losing nearly their entire force due to superior Manchurian gunnery and seamanship. A total of 3 ships made it out of the action. Manchu losses were light, suffering only 3 ships lost, and ~700 casualties. Manchuria extracts concessions from Russia as a result of this loss, namely Kamchatka and the Kurils.

[Thanas]

Manchuria
Provisional history: Celtic clans was driven out of Europe by the expanding Roman empire.

*snicker*

[Beowulf]

Manchuria
Provisional history: Celtic clans was driven out of Europe by the expanding Roman empire.

*snicker*

Yeah, yeah. Rephrase that to some Celtic clans were driven out. It's an Alt-Hist.

[CmdrWilkens]

A Brief (hah) recent history of North America and the Caribbean:
*Note, this contains information on other nations that Steve and I have discussed but which may be subject to change*

The story begins when Quebec City is racked by a disease in 1775, weakening the garrison critically for Montgomery to be capable of seizing the city for the Colonial Cause. Canada is eventually lost with the rest of the Colonies. Acadia would fall as well though Britain would temporarily regain is during the War of 1812. In the end Britain would only have Newfoundland left in North America at the conclusion of that war. The Canadian provinces would become part of the Union - Quebec would strike for its own independence because, heh, the French are there and the Colonials don't get along, but neither would the Colonials tolerate France regaining it (And the French were wise enough to know that and accept it).

Meanwhile in Mexico in 1810 when Hidalgo began assembling the first revolutionary army he was successful as leader and spiritual guide of the movement up through the capture of Celaya. During a confused brawl between some viceregal authorities who remained he was mortally wounded and was afterwards proclaimed to have uttered "Long live our most Holy Mother of Guadalupe! Long live Ferdinand VII! Long live America and death to bad government!” which became the standard of the Army whose command passed to Allende. As a trained army officer, and one who was willing to rein in the excess of the largely peasant mob. He kept the backing of the intellectuals and stopped long enough to give his army some rudimentary training (using the excuse of needing time to mourn the passing of Hidalgo before resuming his quest). In turn his army survived much longer while Morelos' in the south was even more succesful. The Congress of Chilpancingo would set forth his Sentiment of the Nation. After further victories in the North enabled Morelos to continue campaigning as far away as Honduras and the Yucatan the Congress ratified a constitution with a strong executive, to be titled Principe de Mexico and rule as hereditary monarch.

The Mexican Empire would thus be established on 16 September 1815 following a series of actions particularly those after the more conservative land owners fell behind the revolution when they agreed to drop the expulsion of Spaniards and several other proposals. This combined with the coup in Spain in 1812 gave the new government an extra grant of legitimacy while the mother country was in flux. The Mexican Empire would, subsequently be wracked by a series of small revolts once the government was established which sought to bring about a more conservative character to the state.

This period would see the immigration of settlers to Texas with permission from the various generals and dictators who assumed the throne including Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who would be elevated by decree of the Chamber of Deputies in 1844. Santa Anna had risen to prominence later in life due to the abbreviated nature of the War of Independence and happened to come on just as the reforms Farias were taking hold. Seeing conservative backlash gathering Santa Anna aligned himself with the liberals who were well supplied but lacked a senior army commander. After supressing dissident elements at home and now having been elevated to head of state and government he doubled down his bet and set off to reign in dissedent residents in Texas.

meanwhile in the US because of Ontario and Acadia, with some other shifts in domestic voting, Henry Clay defeats James Polk in the 1844 election. He's still required to send the Army under Taylor to promote America's southern frontier thus causing tensions with Mexico, but he doesn't press for a deal with the British over the Oregon Territory for the moment nor does he use the incidents in Tamaulipas to prompt Congress to declare war as Polk did. Unfortunately events in Texas would soon push things in a new direction as the settlers began to assert an independent spirit, demanding separation from Mexico and admission to the United States.

That province had been largely self governing and indeed aligned more closely with the United State to the East however the senior tax officials were still Mexican, primarily creole. In 1845 Santa Anna sought to reign in the province where slavery was widely practiced even as it was illegal under the constitution of the Empire. In the ensuing struggle Santa Anna would misplay his hand, the residents of Texas had been allowed to keep their US citizenship and thus were the first truly vocal ex pat community for the United States. When the Mexican Army began assembling to free the slaves and re-institute rule from Mexico City they rebelled and appealed to their home country. Clay was inclined to let things be, as the matter was one of internal Mexican politics and not one where the US should intervene. However when the Chamber of Deputies declared that any slave who set foot on Mexican soil would be forever free and began actively encouraging fugitive slaves to travel to Texas the cry from the Southern States became impossible to ignore. In May of 1848, Congress would vote to declare War on Mexico.

In the ensuing conflict Mexico was badly beaten and forced to surrender all of its northern provinces. As a gesture of conciliation in 1850 Clay (elected to a second term) would agree to set the boundary as the Neuces River. This would touch off a series of repercussions leading to Pierce taking the presidency in 1852 and reneging on the agreement. The final boundary settlement of the Rio Grande would wait until after the American Civil War when the victorious Union sought a new treaty with Mexico to formally adjudicate all of the issues left open by the invalidation of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the end the Union agreed to pay an additional cash value for the land up to the Rio Grande while supporting Mexico in her suppression of dissidents at home.

The ACW does result in Union victory, but it is partially Pyrrhic - Upper Canada breaks away and the prolonged existence of the jointly-settled Oregon Territory has promoted a local national identity, that of the Cascadians (historically there were those in the Territory who supported being independent as it was). Due to the carnage of the Civil War the Union opts, for the moment, to abandon the dream of a pacific port when Britain comes along to offer a joint settlement of Oregon by relinquishing all claims, by both nations, to permit the Territory independence as Cascadia.

Around this time a faction of conservadores had been giving Mexican backing to the slave-holding Confederacy for cynical reasons and Union victory led to reprisals in the attempts to re-adjudicate a boundary between the restored Union and the Mexican Empire. During the resulting confusion the principal instutions of the Monarchy were under seige both by a victorious United States as well as restless populations at home. When the conservadores links became known the Chamber of Deputies was temporarily suspended, with no money to pay for government services raids by Comanche tribes in Nuevo Mexico and Californias became severe. The von Reagans backed by Cascadia and to a lesser extent the Union established a seperate government in the Californias province to protect the popualce from Comanche raids. As the US increases the pressure on Mexico, blockading her ports and threatening invasion if they do not accept the Rio Grande as the final border the Empire is forced to cave. Amongst the northern provinces Californias and Nuevo Mexico are surrendered in their entirety going primarily to the von Reagans (including a particularly notable piece of territory known afterwards as the Gadsen Grant when James Gadsen, the American Ambassador arranged for the inclusion of the territory which the Von Reagan's wished) save the Cascadian cessions in Nevada and California. Smaller concessions are made to form the Mormon state of Deseret.

When the dust settled it would be the rise of José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori in 1872 after the Treaty of Baja settled all of the lasting claims from the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, and the Von Reagan Rebellion, that would shape the future of Mexico the most. While widely derided as a dictator, and he most certainly was one in both name and deed, he managed to again bring the whole of the Empire which remained under central authority. The only portion he was unable to reign in where the now independent nations of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He also oversaw a major expansion of the Mexican economy and revived both the Armada and the Army, using it as a tool of social cohesion and tapping in to the European ideal of colonization to give the people a goal to distract them from the very sad state the government was in. In 1884 he would lead an expedition to conquer Hispaniola. On that island the 1863 War of Restoration had failed to re-establish an independent Dominican Republic and a newly energized Haiti again conquered their neighbors. The remaining patriotic organizations went to ground and eventually, for lack of other supporters, agreed to accept Mexican help in 1882.

What none of the leaders counted on was the ruthlessness of the Mexican intervention. Not limited by the disease barrier which had expelled Napoleon but now trained to a great degree of skill while being equipped with the inexpensive surpluses of the American Civil War the Haitian forces stood little chance armed as they were primarily with Napoleonic muskets and cannon. Unfortunately for the Dominicans the Porfirio government had struck a deal with royalists who remained and had supported the retrocesison to Spain in 1861. The colluded with them to establish a puppet government which was then recognized as legitimate over the entire island. The new State of Hispaniola was ruled from Santo Domingo by a theoretically sovereign Dominican government, however two treaties signed by that same government required them to refer all matters of foreign interaction to a Mexican "Agent" and to likewise accept any Mexican intervention in local affairs.

At home the success of the army and the clear evidence that Hispaniola was in truth, if not name, a colony led to a patriotic upswing that led to the Chamber of Deputies voting funds to bring the army to a more modern standard. Using his newfound popularity and the rising economic status of the Empire Porfirio quickly sought agreements with Spain to bolster the Mexican claim as inheritor of all the Spanish colonies in the New World. The first major test would occur during the Spanish-American War of 1898. With Cuba deteriorating the United States took the sinking of one of her battleships as a casus belli. Mexico quickly activated her alliance with Spain and declared war on the United States. Moving more quickly than expected parts of the army invaded and occupied the US Virgin Islands (purchased from Denmark in 1895). This caused the Americans to accelerate their invasion of Cuba which they carried by the thinest of margins. The transfer of Mexican troops to Cuba would stem further American advances after the capture of Havanna and lead to the opening of negotiations for a settlement.

With all nations exhausted by the unexpected war and internal discord from both casualties and the lack of completeness of any sucess the negotiations dragged on until 1901 when the terms were finally settled. The United States took ownership of Cuba while Spain surrendered her remaining possessions in the Caribbean to Mexico including Puerto Rico and the "Spanish" Virgin Islands. Seperately the US and Mexico agreed to a US spehere of influence in the Greater Antilles, a Mexican Sphere in the Lesser Antilles, and Mexican rights over Nicaraguan where in 1890 Porfirio had established a client state similar to that on Hispaniola.

In 1908 Porfirio, tired from his whirlwind tour de force as head of the Empire, agreed that it was time for a constitutional government to serve under a new Emperor. He convened the Chamber of Deputies who elected Venustiano Carranzo as King and then amongst themselves elevated Bernado Reyes to the role of Prime Minister. The two men would embark upon an attempt to bring the Empire in to the modern world, accepting the idea of a Constitutional Monarchy as the best way to both legitimize Mexico's role as successor to Spain while still giving sufficient voice to the native underclass who were growing increasingly restless as profits from rapid industrialization gave enourmous profits to the land owning noble and merchant classes while leaving them toiling for only slightly better wages. The outbreak of socialist revolutions throughout Latin America led to a series of liberal reforms which eventually enshrined Carranzo as sovereign but with exclusive power only over the employment of the armed forces. The Chamber would legislate and the Prime Minister, with the Cabinet, would exercise Executive authority on the British model.

North America is thus in an occasionally tense three-way balance between the Mexican Empire, the Cascadian Republic, and the United States.

[K. A. Pital]

There will be no naval clashes with Germany in WWI outside of losses to naval mining. This would make the 1915 treaty more feasible. There can be possible losses in naval conflicts with Slacker's Poland in the Baltic during the 1917-1920 border wars. The various junk that is still there and didn't sink already would be scrapped (and there's a lot to scrap in the late 1920s), so no issue that.

[Slacker]

We can work it out. I haven't checked to see how big your navy is, but if you've gotta shed crappy ships in pointless combat I'm always willing to oblige.

[Steve]

Pretty good Wilkens. My latest reading has slightly altered some things though, and some ideas in other directions.

My proposal for Quebec City hinges on a pestilence sapping the strength of the city's garrison. A reading of the history indicates Montgomery likely won't get the credit for capturing a denuded Quebec City, but rather Benedict Arnold, who becomes a major hero of the Revolution by capturing Quebec City with 600 starving frontiersmen who've just trekked 400 miles through unsettled wilderness. Montgomery, who historically died trying to take the city, instead gets his fame for defending it from a British counterattack.

Although held free, relations with the primarily British-cultured, Protestant Colonists and the French Catholic Quebecois are soured by the harsh, iron-fisted General David Wooster, who's tyrannical administration of Montreal destroys good will toward the Colonists in Quebec with attempts to undo the damage coming too little too late. Only Colonial supplies shipped to replenish food stocks in starving, weakened Quebec City and Montgomery's victorious defense there keep Quebec from supporting Britain. Later, in the Treaty of Paris, both the United States and the Republic of Quebec are recognized, and attempts to get Quebec to join the 13 colonies fail due heavily (though not entirely) to the bad will created by David Wooster.

Nevertheless, the United States gains the non-French speaking parts of Canada, eventually settling the towns that will become known as Toronto and Ottawa.

Britain ends up keeping its Hudson Bay holdings with Acadia and Newfoundland.

Later, in the War of 1812, disputes over the fisheries and other matters make New England more supportive of the War - the infamous Hartford Convention is even less of a joke in this result - and Acadia is overrun. Britain succeeds in protecting the Hudson Bay colonies though, but despite their raid on Washington they, through defeats at Fort McHenry, Halifax, and New Orleans finally relent to American terms at Ghent. Acadia is given to the United States while in Upper Canada the 49th parallel is adopted as the border all the way to Quebec's proclaimed western border.

Canada will later become independent due to the decline of the British Empire in the period Bean described, by a means he'll determine.

The rest is pretty much as Wilkens says. Cascadia backs von Reagan and invades northern Nevada and California (where Cascadian settlers and such had already been setting up shop for years), a professional Mexican force is defeated at the San Joaquin River by an army of Cascadia militia stiffened by a smattering of American Civil War veterans for officers (thus helping to craft the national myth of the heroic, superior citizen-soldier, which will later receive a harsh blow in the machine gun-produced casualties at Gascoyne River, Wagga Wagga and Murrumbidge River), and joint Cascadian and Californian forces end up seizing Baja as well as Nueva Mexico (Arizona).

IIRC, New Mexico belongs to the Union, so we have to talk to Rogue about how the US got gains from Mexico ceding its Northern Provinces.

[K. A. Pital]

We can work it out. I haven't checked to see how big your navy is, but if you've gotta shed crappy ships in pointless combat I'm always willing to oblige.

I do want to shed some ships. Quite possibly the Bayan-class cruiser "Pallada" if you want one of your submarines to sink a cruiser.

[Ma Deuce]

A brief history of my alt_Madagascar. I originally wrote a far longer and more detailed version, though this one should suffice for now:

Madagascar was united by the Merina tribe of the island's central highlands, who conquered the entire island in the early 19th century. The Merina would also spawn the country's royal family. They avoided being colonized by playing the French and British against each other, both of whom desired to posses Madagascar. Several treaties were signed with Britain, including abolition of the slave trade. The unification period also saw the discovery of large deposits of natural resources, which were extracted with limited foreign assistance. This made the island quite wealthy, fueling rapid development, modernization and industrialization. Eventually, the island's relatively small native population limited further growth, so immigrants were brought in from mainland Africa for manual labour. This massive influx of cheap labour allowed further growth and development, at the expense of creating a downtrodden underclass sharply divided from the increasingly wealthy and well-educated Malagasy natives. Eventually, this African underclass would grow to outnumber the Malagasy. Despite the resentment that occasionally resulted in riots, the government instituted what it saw as just enough reforms to keep a lid on open violence.

The late 19th century saw the completion of the Suez canal and a loss of strategic interest in the island for Britain, prompting the French to attempt to colonize it: Though both attempts failed, the second invasion in 1894 came very close to succeeding, but was again thwarted thanks to the use of modern weapons and training, along with large numbers of African conscripts. The defeat of this colonization attempt greatly increased Madagascar's prestige: Many nations established formal diplomatic relations, and the French were forced to cede their islands nearby Madagascar as reparations.

Although the French abandoned their ambitions in Madagascar to concentrate on expanding their other colonies, the Malagasy were terrified someone would try again, prompting a crash program to build a modern navy, first by buying foreign vessels, before gradually learning how to craft their own. The massive expenditure of this program however caused further hardship for the underclasses, finally sparking a Communist revolution in 1918 amid confusion concerning succession of the throne following the death of the Queen. The rebels made large strides at first, with several almost whole divisions of African conscripts defecting, however the crack Malagasy volunteer units along with loyal conscripts were able to isolate the rebel units and reduce them piecemeal. Although the revolution was crushed, it became clear that major reform was needed. The government moved to a representative democracy, while the monarchy was reduced to a figurehead role. In the country's first general elections in 1920, the Social Democratic party won a majority on the backs of lower-class votes. They instituted a wave of reforms, and taxes on wealthier business and individuals were increased, though were careful not to too heavily squeeze the island's economic elite so as not to encourage them to flee the country. They maintained the focus on naval development, but cut the army significantly, leaving the standing force all-volunteer, with conscripted reservists. Today, the country's social situation continues to improve, though the government remains wary of foreign threats.

[Lascaris]

The Republica Cisplatina

The history of the region starts with the settlement of groups of Dutch Colonists in what was to become the future port of Porto Allegre and the establishement by Jesuit Missionaries of several Guarani missions in the interior of the future province of Rio Grande do Sul. Portugal was able to retake from the Dutch their coastal holding late in the 17th century but thanks to fears of the Spanish presence in the region the Portuguese crown was content to leave the Dutch settlers in the area and encourage further immigration. This while mostly Portuguese also included a considerable element of French Huguenots and Germans following on the steps of the original Dutch colonists. The initial conflict with the Jesuit missions was replaced by tacit cooperation as the increased numbers of French and German settlers brought with them abolitionist ideas finding thus common ground with the Guaranis resisting slaver raids from further north in Brazil. When the Spanish crown turned against the Jesuit presence in Paraguy, the crown (or rather the local governor of the Cisplatina military region creating a fait accompli and the crown grudgingly endorsing his actions post facto) still in conflict with Spain over the exact colonial border chose to accomodate the Jesuit Guarani missions in its own territory and even welcomed Guarani groups forced out of future Paraguay.

The Napoleonic wars and the revolutions of the Spanish colonies of Latin America initially did not seem to affect the Cisplatina any different than the future Brazil. But there was an increasing rift between the Cisplatina populations, increasingly Liberal, with heavy central European cultural elements, with increasing ties with the colonial and Guarani populations of North-Eastern Argentina and Uruguy and militantly abolitionist and the rest of Brazil. Rio Grande do Sul was used as a base for the invasion of the Liga Federal, future Uruguay, only for Cisplatina to rise in revolt itself and join the Liga Federal. Portuguese troops, hardened by Napoleonic war veterans where nevertheless able to bring down the revolt and capture Montevideo but dissent remained high and Brazilian independence did little to help close the rift.

Cisplatina joined up Juan Antonio Lavalleja's revolt of the Banda Oriental in 1825 but Brazilian imperial troops were able to keep control of the province only for the Cisplatine to declare independence in 1835 (OTL's Piratini war) taking advantage of the 1st Brazilian civil war and with the help of European volunteers, most notably Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi made it stick. In future decades the Cisplatine republic well positioned to take advantage of the increasing volume of trade between Latin America and Europe and with a well established Liberal tradition already saw fast economic growth and received increasing numbers of German, Italian, Irish and other European immigrants with particularly large waves after each failed European revolution. Notable was the wave of Paraguayan immigration during and after the Paraguayan-Brazilian war of the 1860s. Two Brazilian attempts at reconquest during the 19th century and a number of skirmishes with Spain as the republic has been since independence a safe haven for Uruguayan nationalists only helped bring Prussian style universal military service in the republic and lead to the establishment of a considerable arms industry to support it.

And thus we are to 1925, with a militant republic, that has had an unbroken democratic tradition since her independence warily looking around at the neighbourhood.

[Master_Baerne]

Recent French History

The diversion point from the original timeline is February 1871, directly after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. The Government of National Defence that ruled during the Siege of Paris had just disbanded; elections for a new government were in full swing. The dominant force on the political landscape was the Simonists, named after Henri de Saint-Simon, who coined the term "socialist." True to their party's founder, the Simonists espoused many socialist views, especially the separation of Church and State, public education, and basic rights for workers. On a platform of welfare laws and industrial planning to ensure that French soil would never again be yielded to a foreign government, they carried the election by a massive amount, filling perhaps 60% of the Parliamentary Senate and closer to 75% of the Chamber of Deputies. The Simonists first acts were, unusually for a political party, the Acts of Parliament they had promised: The General Directive of 1872 guaranteed no offical religion, government review of factory safety, and a system of public schools to be established. The factories themselves would soon follow, many operated by worker's associations or cooperatives.

The French colonial empire, meanwhile, had withered somewhat. With the Indian Ocean islands lost due to mismanagement of the war with Madagascar, French West Africa gone to the Dutch, and Vietnam likewise out from under the French thumb, colonial governors were quick to seize on anything to keep their territories tranquil. As a result, Simonist partys quickly developed in North Africa and Southeast Asia, with similar laws enacted shortly. French territorial integrity was secure, for the moment.

In 1901, the Simonist President Leduc addressed the legislature, asking it to pass a law "forbidding discrimination on the basis of race or nation," which was partly successful - The opposition parties managed to score points off the Simonists by insisting that the line "Citizens of enemy nations may be expelled or detained in time of war" be added.

In general, French industrial might has grown over the course of the Third Republic, while belief that France has turned the corner, so to speak, on its previously-declining influence and national pride has grown proportionally. Many Frenchmen believe that, were a Second Franco-Prussian War to break out, the territory lost to Germany in Alsace-Lorraine could be regained, but this attitude is not shared by the ruling classes, who hope that by periodically flexing France's impressive military muscles, they can avoid actually having to use them.

[Norade]

An updated time line of Portuguese history:

1755: The Lisbon quake ruins a major city and prevents the nation from projecting power leading to a lose of world prestige and a period of decline.

1770: Shaking off her self pity the nation starts rebuilding and modernizing and reclaims so territories in Africa in a series of skirmishes and threats of blockade.

1800: Portugal is becoming a naval power again, slowly modernizing her fleet and waiting a for a chance to snap up territories at the expense of a mismanaged Britain.

1815: Portugal claims Nigeria from Britain and sends an expedition to South America resulting in them settling a small area near the equator in a region called Guiana.

1850: Angola is released to be her own nation, this is due to a period of increased empathy for the African plight. This is also where many more African states could break away.

1890 - 1908: The nation experiences a period of sharp decline, military spending is cut and much of the fleet is mothballed.

Mid-1908: Recover starts as a new government headed by the council of five takes over and forces through spending to start the nations recovery.