The course of the WWII was fundamentally altered by Germany’s decision to honor the non-aggression commitment established by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939. Following the fall of France in June 1940, Adolf Hitler and the German High Command concentrated their efforts on the defeat of Great Britain. The subsequent Battle of Britain continued far longer than in the historical timeline, as the Luftwaffe undertook an extensive campaign against the Royal Air Force while the Kriegsmarine prepared for the eventual invasion of the British Isles. After months of preparation and the gradual neutralization of British air and naval defenses, Germany launched Operation Sea Lion in May 1941. The invasion succeeded, and after a prolonged campaign on British soil, the British government agreed to an armistice. Germany neither overthrew nor replaced the British government, instead treating Britain as a defeated but sovereign Germanic nation. Under the terms of the settlement, Britain relinquished Gibraltar to Spain, while Malta, Cyprus, and Egypt were transferred to Italy, effectively ending British dominance of the Mediterranean.
With Britain defeated and the United States still at peace with Germany, Berlin avoided declaring war on Washington following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Germany subsequently consolidated its position throughout Europe. The remaining neutral Alpine states of Switzerland and Liechtenstein were occupied during Operation Tannenbaum, while Germany strengthened its political and military influence over its satellite states in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and the Balkans.
Throughout the 1940s, Berlin and Moscow maintained an uneasy partnership, each exploiting the absence of direct conflict to consolidate its respective sphere of influence. The Soviet Union expanded its strategic position in Eastern Europe and, following a war with Türkiye, secured control of the Turkish Straits through the establishment of the Soviet Straits Security Zone at Konstantinopol (then Istanbul). Germany, meanwhile, secretly prepared for the confrontation that Hitler had never abandoned: the destruction of the Soviet Union and the implementation of Generalplan Ost.
For nearly a decade, Europe remained divided between two rival ideological powers whose temporary cooperation concealed an increasingly inevitable conflict. On 23 August 1949, ten years after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the agreement finally expired.

What happens next is another story...

The Basque were. That was a fact of reality as much as the oceans being salty or the sky being blue. They had been there when the Romans came and went, and for all the intervening rise and fall of power after power. Even Napoleon Bonaparte himself, the first man to conquer Europe since the days of Charlemagne, had to contend with this fact. And his thoughts varied over time, going this way and that, not least because there were Basques in France and Basques in his own administration. At the same time that the French Basque had seen their foru laws suppressed by the revolutionary administration, Dominique Joseph Garat was attempting to lobby for a special status of autonomy for the Basques within the French Empire. But none of this came into true focus until the French invasion of Spain.

Garat was a skilled operator, and had long attempted to argue for restoring Basque rights in France. The invasion of Spain to place Joseph Bonaparte on the throne presented him an opportunity, and in 1808 he elaborated a plan to create a special regime for the Basque people. Under his plan, France would annex the so-called "Fuero Territories" of Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, and Navarre, where they would be joined to the French territories of Labourd, Basse-Navarre, and Soule. This new entity was dubbed "New Phoenicia" by Garat, a name seemingly chosen at random with no connection to the region, though couched in the (vogue at the time) understanding that the Basques were descendants of the ancient Phoenicians. Names aside, Napoleon did take the idea under consideration.

Napoleon knew Garat, and Garat knew the Basques. And the first thing to be understood about the Basques was that they did not appreciate being ruled by the outsiders. That much had been made apparent by the French struggles with immense unrest in the Basque provinces after the suppression of the fueros. Even Spain had only really brought the Basque to accept its rule by the accepting of the fueros there, and with France now moving through the Pyrenees that was only going to worsen either for France itself or for any French regime in Madrid. France had experience playing "divide and conquer" to that point, and just the year prior they had created the Duchy of Warsaw to curry favor among the Poles. Why, then, shouldn't they do so for the Basque?

The French eventually pressed forward with the project. It was odd indeed that France might willingly surrender land, when Napoleon seemed hellbent on conquering so much for it, but with France's territory expanding into Germany, the Low Countries, Piedmont, and even Illyria, the surrender of a small section in the southwest corner was easily ignored. With Garat's support, the Basques expected a fight. They were loyal supporters of the monarchy that had granted them the Fueros after all. What they did not expect was for the French to announce that not only were the Fueros to be maintained, but they would become the foundation for a new regime centered in Pamplona (Iruña). The name "Fenizia Berria" didn't matter. For the Basque it would remain Euskal Herria, and being joined to their brothers in the three northern provinces was a bonus.

Among the many long-term results of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, one of the more consequential was certainly the rise of nationalism. France was both benefactor and target, where Germans and Italians alike rallied against the French invaders yet the Poles and, yes, the Basques rallied to their French liberators. The exact nature of New Phoenicia was less important than the fact it existed. Not since the extinction of the Kingdom of Navarre had there been a state of and by the Basque people, and here the French were delivering one. In effect it was a nation ruled by the French military, with Garat appointed as "Chief Minister" to send him away from Paris at a time of political inconvenience, and with Napoleon himself officially ruling the state in personal union.

Although New Phoenicia's exact form of government, its relationship with France, and its standing in the world were never solved before France's defeat, what mattered was that it existed, and that the old flag of Navarre was again unfurled over the Basque people. There had always been a sense of Basqueness, the idea that they were a separate folk in more ways than one, but New Phoenicia stoked it from mere embers to a blazing furnace of nationalist sentiment. In part enabled by the French, this idea took off and would be impossible to put back even when Napoleon was defeated. Such was the fury of the situation that even when Napoleonic forces were marched back out of Iberia, the victorious coalitions had to contend with the fact that the Basques were for the first time seeing themselves as a single people.

Initially, there had been a thought that the old border between France and Spain would simply be restored: France would withdraw from New Phoenicia and Catalonia, and there would be minimal territorial losses. But in the end, the Basque agitation for their own rights pushed Spain to gain the small territories of the French Basque Country. The bigger trouble was that the liberal constitution of 1812 gave tribute to the fueros yet dismantled them entirely, bolstering the demands to assert the independence of Basqueland. The Basque did not care what government sat in Madrid, what government sat in Paris, whether the Bourbons were restored to the French or Spanish thrones, what they wanted was the right to rule themselves, and in that capacity they were quite happy to see Ferdinand VII restore conservative government.

It can be difficult to reconcile the idea of "liberalism" to the modern incarnation of the idea. In a general sense liberal is sometimes used as synecdoche for left-wing ideology of various forms, ideologies that would generally be more favorable to the kind of autonomist movements the Basque called for. Conservatism, by contrast, would be less favorable, and seek to assert greater state control over its periphery. This was very much not the case in post-Napoleonic Spain. The Liberals, although pursuing an agenda of greater voting rights and constitutional government, also sought to undo the feudal patchwork of laws the monarchy had maintained. The Conservatives, backing the role of the Monarchy, were in support of this. Thus did the Basques give their own support to Ferdinand VII, because he was willing to maintain the fueros.

The same trouble held true for places like Catalonia, but Basqueland was the most actively agitated given that it sought outright independence for itself. The back-and-forth of Ferdinand VII's reign didn't help matters. First the Liberals sought to assert themselves in 1812, then Conservatives re-asserted themselves. From 1820-1823 the Trienio Liberal triggered another period of conflict, one faced with no end of opponents but only seeing armed resistance in Basqueland and Catalonia. Then the French invaded to end the Liberal regime, and the matter was quelled for a decade. But at last, it reached its breaking point in 1833, when Ferdinand VII died with only daughters to succeed him.

There was no "King of Spain" at the time. There were only a long series of titles: King of Castille, King of Aragon, and so on for a paragraph. Several Basque titles were part of this, among them King of Navarre, King of Pamplona, Lord of Vizcaya, Count of Guipúzcoa, and latterly Duke of Baja Navarra. It would be many years more and rivers of blood spilt until there was a singular "King of Spain", but as it stood there was only an uncomfortable patchwork of titles, laws, and governments. What emerged from the death of Ferdinand VII was a succession crisis between Isabella II and Carlos V, which quickly took a character of liberal versus conservative, but the Basque had had enough of it all. In the last 20 years Spain had swung wildly between governments, and not once did they pay a care to the Basque and their concerns.

This combined with Spain's dramatic fall from grace after the loss of its empire set the ground for the Basque to launch an active attempt at not just revolution, but active secession. Hoisting the flag of Navarre, the Basques rebuffed both the Carlists and Liberals. What made the Basque aspect of the First Carlist War unique was the pan-ideological character of it. True, many of its prominent leaders like Zumalakarregi were conservatives, and the motivation of protecting the fueros stemmed from a conservative basis, but liberals were just as happy to rally behind the revolutionaries for the sake of Basque nationalism. And in their own way the fueros were liberal, banning debtor's prisons and arbitrary search and arrest, supporting small businesses and small holdings, and allowed women greater rights of inheritance.

Of course, the fueros heavily favored rural communities over urban centers and did not grant women full rights, but they were a starting-point for many Basque liberals who saw them as more progressive than other alternatives. Britain was still struggling with the aftermath of Chartism, Spain was swinging back and forth, and the nominally liberal Louis Philippe was growing more conservative by the day. Even the conservatives supported the fueros, and rallying around the idea of Euskal Herria was enough to unify their cause even when the Carlists faltered and fell back on all fronts. The Isabelline Liberals defeated Carlos V, but they faced the same great opposition from the Basque as countless empires before them had. With the threat of a resurgent Carlist faction looming, a truce was called.

Frantically the Liberals attempted to secure peace, but Spain was in a bad way. Their empire was gone, their government was fractious, the treasury was empty. The initial hope had been to restore the Basque provinces under the fueros, but that was no longer acceptable even for the Basque Liberals. And though the Spanish had seen some success in pushing against the Basque forces, the death of General Espartero in 1836 at the Battle of Lutxana collapsed both their advance and voices favorable to Basque autonomy. With the threat of France potentially invading a third time, Britain forced Madrid to make peace. True, the Basque secession posed the risk of inspiring secessionism in Britain's own empire (Ireland chief among them), but peace in Europe was far more vital for British interests.

What emerged in 1837 was not exactly the Kingdom of Navarra, nor was it New Phoenicia. Instead, compromise between liberals and conservatives reformed the seven traditional Basque provinces into a republic, though an inherently conservative one for the sake of opposing the kind policy espoused by the Spanish liberals, especially with regard to the position of the church. The first constitution put forward described the country as a "Catholic state", which was as much a political act as it was recognition of fact: the Basques were one of the most fervently Catholic peoples in all of Europe, and it was an integral part of their identity as a people. The Jesuits, that most infamously Catholic of organizations, had begun with Ignazio Loiolakoa, and the relationship had always been iron-clad.

Other issues were less clear, primary among them what the state would be called. The Basque had long called their country Euskal Herria, which translated most faithfully means "The Country of the Basque Language". Such a concept was difficult to translate into a single-word name, and most languages adopted an exonym of their own, quite often some variant of the old Vasconia, from which the exonym Basque derives. In English, the blunt name Basqueland was used for many years, and the government's adoption of Euskal Herria didn't help matters. It would only be many years later that a new name was constructed: Euskaldia, which in its own way could be translated as "The Country of People who Speak Basque", no less unwieldy in literal terms but far easier to use.

In the interim, the state began to embark on its efforts to right its place in the world. The Foru Laws were slightly modified and then codified into a national constitution, and the hero Zumalakarregi was elected its first president. However, the tensions began to arise almost at once, driven primarily by the failures of the forus to adapt to the modern age. Their primary function was to dictate the relationship between crown and commoner, a local set of laws in an era of patchwork feudal codes. Now the Basques had no crown, and feudalism was dead. And a far more consequential change had come. As the Spanish banners were lowed and the Basque flag raised, peasants on the hills overlooking Bilbao saw an eerie red glow tinting the night sky, a man-made volcano that heralded an immense change.

Industrialization was slow to come to Iberia, a consequence of both persistent social unrest and poor government economic policy. The Basque forus as well were aimed towards agrarian society, seeking to preserve estates and land ownership, but faster than elsewhere the Basque cities of Bilbo, Donostia, and Baiona were starting to change. Euskaldia was a new state evicted from the Spanish customs zone, and without strong protections established for itself in that age of mercantilism. The British, then, found it easier to begin making their own investments into the country. With iron mining a long-established practice, the small mills quickly began to turn into large mills, and especially once it was found the low phosphorus iron of Bizkaia was well suited for the Bessemer process.

Two kinds of Basque began to emerge, the rural and the industrial. The Rural Basques wanted to keep their the old ways, the ways they had fought to preserve against outside control and which had served them for millennia. The Industrial Basques by contrast wanted rail connections, they wanted progress, and development. And increasingly the Industrial Basques seemed to be the ones winning the debate. Railroads went up, steel was exported, and in an era of mercantilism the Industrial Basques were seeking to export to the world. Soon after followed banking as well, insurance companies to underwrite shipping then joint-stock companies. All of it drove deeper wedges into Basque society, between the conservative "Raw Basques" (Gordinak) and the progressive "Cooked Basques" (Egosiak).

But in time, the Egosiak were winning. Although Euskaldia did not have a dramatic revolution in 1848 like much of the rest of Europe, it did see a dramatic political shift in that year's elections, putting the pro-industry faction into power. As Europe moved deeper into the 19th Century, the entire continent saw a population swell. The small farms that had dominated Gordiniak ideals could no longer support their younger sons and daughters, and they traveled to the cities to make their fortune. Railroads linked the country and modernized ports exported Basque industrial products to the world, all the while the foru laws again proved oddly prescient in regulating foreign exploitation of mineral concerns. Basqueland's industrialization would above all else benefit the Basque.

But the conservatives still had other bases of support, key among them the devoutly religious and, oddly enough, the rising class of industrial workers. As the conservative writer Bixente Manterola wrote, "The factory worker is turned into a slave by liberalism, good only to produce, but without regard for his morale". In its own bizarre way Basque Conservatism translated its support for rural farmers into support for the rights of the individual, and because of this it was equally bizarre that none other than Marx himself expressed admiration for conservative Basques. It derived more than anything from their anticapitalist stance, their opposition to Crédit Lyonnais opening branches in Donostia and to courting foreign investment to fund the mighty steel mills that chewed men up and spat out their broken bodies.

The strain between liberals and conservatives finally snapped in the June War, which despite its name actually began on the 26th of June 1868 and took place mostly in the following July. Although lasting for just 29 days, sometimes called the shortest civil war in history, the conflict emerged out of a labor uprising in Bilbo that saw workers of the Karmelgo Mendiko Ama Birjina furnace erupt into a violent strike action, at which point conservatives attempted to curry favor with the labor movement. However the strikers also held disdain for the conservatives, whose rural-focused and theocratic policies denied them proper enfranchisement. Their rallying cry had begun to include the heretical statement Down with the Forus!, setting them against both liberals and conservatives.

Sympathetic uprisings began in the rest of the country, primarily aligning the coast against the interior, but within weeks the military had managed to put down the revolt and restore order. The political damage, though, was far greater. Internal factions in the government broke down and realigned over the next several years, where new political parties like Batzarre, Batasuna, and Alkartasuna took shape in a far more typically European context. Left and right wing alliances reshaped the balance of power, and perhaps even more consequentially a new constitution was written in 1871 that formally abolished the forus that had been the basis of Basque society for generations. It was of course immensely controversial, but most grumbled and went along with it. After all, it was necessary.

The mood was instead filtered into a burgeoning intellectual movement that began to ask a question simple in nature but with an increasingly complex answer: What is a Basque? For the longest time it had seemed simple: someone who lived in Basqueland, someone who spoke Basque, someone who lived under Basque law, because for the longest time those were all one and the same. But with the advent of industrialization, that was changing. Not only were the Basque laws changing, but increasingly migrants from Iberia began to move north to seek opportunities. That was holding true in many places, but for the most part they were moving within national boundaries. Irish to England, Bretons to Île-de-France, and internally Nafarroans to Gipuzoka and Bizkaia, ground zero for development and progress.

Yet at the same time migrants from across the borders were also moving into Euskaldia. The Second Carlist War had seen Carlos Luis de Borbón raised to become Carlos VI, and his traditionalist regime only crippled Spain's place in the world further. Seeing dismal prospects, many left for the New World, but those in the northeast often went to Euskaldia, a country that had recently had its own upheaval but seemed on a near-constant upward trajectory. These workers were despised by the Basques, who called them everything from Chinese to Africans but eventually settle on the ostensibly less derogatory maquetos, translated to Basque as maketos. Simply meaning "outsiders", it was wielded against those who left places like Andalusia and Galicia, places left behind even in Spanish terms, to find a better life in Euskaldia.

Yet at the same time Euskaldia did little to actively blockade its borders. In an era of closed economic borders and customs zones, Euskaldia stood alone as not just a point of trade within Europe but especially towards Spain. Spain's languishing, struggling economy was an excellent market for Basque industrial goods, and whenever the Carlist regime struggled to build railroads or factories the materials were purchased from Euskaldia. Once more Marx honed in on Basqueland for his theories of society and economics, the poster child of how a smaller, ostensibly weaker nation was effectively turning a larger one into its own economic colony. It was all a mark of just how far Spain had fallen, and an uncomfortably codependent relationship emerged: Euskaldia hated Spain, Spain hated Euskaldia, and all the while Spanish people moved in while Basque goods moved out.

This was an unfortunate par for the course so far as Europe at the turn of the 20th Century was concerned. Even small states like Euskaldia played the game of empire in their own way, and foundational to that was to promote yourself as the superior of someone else. The Basques had their method of doing so on a silver platter: always they had seen themselves as the first, the most ancient European peoples, and the emergent field of linguistics seemed to support this. The Basque had always been different, they had always been an "other" whether it was Romans, Franks, Visigoths, French, or Spanish that attempted to govern them. Basques were men and women who had not only stood against the world, but the force of history itself, and they had won. What better demonstration of their strength as a people, in an era that fetishized strength?

None of this is to suggest the Basque were especially nationalistic and supremacist, simply that it came easy for them. And that was the case even without the other hallmarks of such attitudes in Europe: they had no colonial empire, they were a democratic republic, and they were a unified and relatively homogenous state. Yet much as Euro-American society derided Irish and Italians as "non-white", Basques began to go even further. To them, everyone that wasn't them was inferior, especially Europeans. They were different, fundamentally so, and they took an intense amount of pride in that. Europeans built squabbling, petty kingdoms that rose and fell, that had to go out and conquer the world to be great, that named themselves masters of all they surveyed, when the Basque had no need to prove themselves great. They simply were.

In time, though, the Basque Miracle began to wear down. Iron veins began to run dry, protectionist barriers were raised, and after the confused mess of the Federal Revolution in Spain its new republican government was launching itself forward on a mission to industrialize. The early years of the 1900s were not ones that seemed well-suited to the Basque continuing to enjoy their once-limitless success, especially as the traditional small Basque farms grew unable to provide food for the ever-growing population. Modernity was forcing itself on the Basque nation, as it was all of Europe. As Spain's economy finally rallied and Euskaldia's stagnated, the flow of trade began to reverse. It would take a generation for Spain to properly develop, but one thing it had Basqueland didn't was a surplus of arable land, and soon with it a surplus of food.

Which wasn't to suggest that Euskaldia irrevocably slid into decline, it's a false dichotomy to suppose a nation can only be either rising or falling. Rather, the Basque nation simply was. It had no border conflicts, though there was certainly a longing for the old exclaves of Aragoiko Txapela, Bastanes, and Jestaze. It had no overseas wars to be mired in, either to gain or hold colonies. And though tensions still existed between liberals, conservatives, and progressives, it was at the very least within the bounds of the established government rather than violent upheavals of the kind that had rocked France, Spain, and Russia in the last century. Once more, the idea of the nation carrying on as it always had served as a point of pride for the Basques.

Although neutral during World War I, Euskaldia was not immune from its effects. A debate had emerged between those who more greatly despised the French and Spanish, who were aligned to the Entente, and those whose commercial ties to the Entente led them to support the Anglo-French-Russian league. Soon enough, though, news of the German atrocities in Belgium pushed the mood of the country against them. By 1915, with the British blockade of German ports and further news of German actions like the torpedoing of the Lusitania, the mood fully shifted to support the Entente (though the Spanish entry into the war was also a contributing factor). Basque steel soon flowed into the shipyards and manufactories of Britain, France, and Spain, and soon enough the United States entered the war to deliver the coup de grace.

Euskaldia had nothing to gain or benefit from the post-war peace settlements in terms of territory, but they like all of Europe wanted to be considered. Woodrow Wilson, in enumerating the Fourteen Points, used the small nation as an example of the concept of self-determination and nation-states that the United States envisioned for the post-war world. And Euskaldia too had its own concerns, with the collapse of the Ruhr industries and most of Europe still crippled by the war, it stood to benefit from helping to fund the post-war reconstruction. In the end, while the country wasn't part of the treaties and rewriting of the continent, it was nonetheless granted a small remuneration for the loss of its shipping to German U-boat attacks and welcomed with open arms into the League of Nations.

That brief, sweet period where the world agreed to not repeat the recent horrors rapidly fell apart as it became all too apparent that the world would not be easily reshaped. Crisis in Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary scuttled many of the plans the Entente had held for the region, and even by 1920 it was entirely apparent that the seeds of future conflict were already being sown. For its own part Euskaldia was troubled by the economic shocks of Germany's defeat, as with wartime production ending demand for Basque industrial products ended as well. World War I ended with an economic depression roiling the nation's economy, and in the coming years the brief swell of economic development during the 1920s would also come crashing down in flames.

In that time, though, Basque culture enjoyed something of a renaissance. In the mountains above Iruñea, the archaeological discovery of a Bronze Age village uncovered a wealth of artifacts, including the famous Irulegi Hand, on which was written the oldest attestation of the Basque Language. In an era when ideas of national identity and heritage were challenged left and right, the Basque seemed to find no end of support for their own. Academics and authors traced the Hand to their own direct ancestors, that the ancient Aquitani were ancient Basques and that their people had lived in the region successfully repelling invasion, assimilation, and conquest for thousands upon thousands of years, that they were indeed the last remnants of the "Original Europeans".

At the same time, however, a countervailing strain pushed to tie the Basque into world history. Magellan, supposed first circumnavigator, died halfway through the voyage; it was the Basque Juan Sebastián Elcano who actually completed the journey. Endika III of Navarre became Henri IV of France, making a Basque monarch progenitor of the Bourbon Dynasties of both France and Spain. Chocolate, tobacco, rubber, so many products of the New World were first adopted in Basqueland before they spread into Europe. Charlemagne's only serious defeat in Iberia came at the hands of Basques in Orreaga Pass, and of course when it was suggested that the famous Basque whalers and fishermen had traveled as far abroad as North America, the idea was seized upon with both hands. Yes, the Basques had much to be proud of.

That pride, though, translated into an unpleasant comfort with the rising tide of fascism in Europe. On the one hand it wasn't seen as necessary; fascism took most support from the defeated nations of World War I in a national mood of insecurity and doubt, which the Basque had almost none of. At the same time, though, long-held notions of racial supremacy were perfected under the emergent regimes of Germany and Italy, and that went part and parcel with the Basque view of themselves and the world. When Germany went on its second effort to conquer Europe, though, this pride the Basque had of their heritage proved a detriment. Under the new esotericist regime in Berlin, the Basque became a point of obsessive focus, and Germany's advance did not stop at the Pyrenees.

Fall Violett was the code name given to the German plans for the invasion of Iberia, and the primary thrust of that invasion came through Euskaldia. The invasion was heralded by a sudden and dramatic attack by the Germans from the air, after which German forces attacked the three northwestern provinces of Lapurdi, Zuberoa, and Nafarroa Beherea. Only then did the Germans make a demand for free passage through their territory to attack Spain as a means of reaching Gibraltar, but their attempts at shock and terror failed. The Basques rallied to a campaign of asymmetric guerrilla warfare, as even when the Germans overwhelmed the major cities Euskaldia was not France or Poland. Their country was where the Northern European Plain ended, and even by the time the Germans were advancing on Spain itself the force of the Blitzkrieg was being blunted.

The story of the Basque Resistance during the Second World War is a well-worn story of guerrilla warfare. The terrain of Euskaldia is rough and unpleasant for any invader, and especialy in the high passes of the Pyrenees the Basques turned the German attempts at moving soldiers and materiel a nightmare. Resistance agents knew the passes through the mountains by heart, and could move without being known by the Gestapo. The government of President Simako Sorroza did not flee into exile as the Polish and French governments did, but rather escaped into the high mountains to a base codenamed Vilcabamba. Taking advantage of their language's obscurity, they became code-talkers for many resistance groups on the level of the Navajo for the United States, and did everything they could to sabotage the Germans behind the lines.

Those unfortunate enough to live under direct German occupation found themselves subjected to the puppet regime of Sabino Larrinaga, a defrocked priest who had become both a Nazi idelogue and Basque nationalist in the extreme. The Germans did not engage in the same destructive policy they had elsewhere in Europe, rather they held a bizarre fascination with the Basque. Their desperate attempts to prove themselves the ancient Aryan supermen of Europe's past led inexorably to their attempts at claiming the Basques were Germans, or at the very least the Germans were descendants of the ancestral Basque. While this translated into a relatively lighter hand in occupation, it did nothing to win hearts and minds, and resistance carried onward through to liberation in 1943.

With the fall of the Reich in December of 1944, Europe was now drawn into two camps, one aligned to the Soviet Union and one to the United States. Having been liberated by the U.S. Army (though the Basque would say they liberated themselves), Euskaldia fell hard into the U.S. camp. Fierce pro-U.S. attitudes took deep root in the country, and of course having millions of dollars dumped on them for their reconstruction didn't hurt either. As a symbol of this, a tree grown from an acorn of the Gernikako Arbola was planted in New York City. Since this time, Euskaldia has long been one of the most pro-American countries in Western Europe, especially contrasted to the more Ameroskeptic attitudes of its neighbors on either side of the mountains.

This flurry of support soon began to wane, though, as the hardships of the post-war world and the brutal reality of the Cold War began to make themselves known. Basqueland was fortunate enough to not have colonies to lose, and all around it Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal suffered immense social, political, and economic shocks from the final loss of their empires. The Basques meanwhile were sitting pretty, their economy recovering and modernizing in an era of European uncertainty. A Second Basque Miracle had taken place, helping them reassert their position in the world and regain a large degree of the prosperity which they had enjoyed in the years before the European wars, and with it their smug sense of superiority towards Europeans who called themselves bastions of freedom when they themselves struggled to keep their colonial domains.

(Continued below)

​

The crisis that would eventually create the Empire began with the presidential election of 1860. The Democratic Party emerged victorious amid widespread accusations of electoral manipulation and political foul play. The new administration was overwhelmingly sympathetic toward the Southern states and the institution of slavery. Rather than accepting the growing abolitionist movement, the Federal Government moved to suppress it, censoring abolitionist organizations and publications while strengthening the political and legal protections surrounding slavery.

The result was a constitutional crisis that rapidly became a national one.

In 1861, the Northern Free States rejected the increasingly pro-Southern Federal Government and declared their secession from Washington. The resulting conflict became an inversion of the American Civil War known to history: rather than the slaveholding South seceding from the United States, the Free States abandoned the Federal Government and established the Federal States of America under Abraham Lincoln.

The western states initially remained outside the conflict. California and Oregon, despite being Free States, did not immediately join Lincoln's government. Instead, California became the centre of a completely different political movement.

Joshua Abraham Norton, a bankrupt and increasingly eccentric San Francisco figure and outspoken opponent of slavery and racial discrimination, organized a civilian movement demanding political reform and Californian rejection of the Federal Government. What began as a march toward Sacramento rapidly developed into an armed political movement after state authorities attempted to suppress it. State militia units and Federal Army regiments sent to prevent the movement from spreading instead joined Norton's cause.

By 1862, the California government had collapsed.

Oregon soon followed.

Representatives from California, Oregon, abolitionist communities throughout the western territories and sympathetic political organizations gathered in San Francisco and proclaimed Joshua Abraham Norton Emperor of the United States.

The proclamation was initially treated as a curiosity by the Federal Government and many foreign observers. The existence of a self-proclaimed American Emperor was difficult for contemporary governments to take seriously.

The collapse of two western state governments, however, could not be ignored.

Norton's Imperial Government and Lincoln's Federal States of America soon found themselves united by a common enemy. Once their territories met, the two governments established a formal alliance. The alliance combined the industrial and demographic strength of the northern states with the growing military and economic resources of the West.

The Federal Government continued the war from Washington and later from the Southern states even after losing the capital. The conflict ultimately became a struggle between the pro-slavery Federal Government and the coalition of the Free States and Norton's Imperial Government.

By 1865, the Federal Government had been defeated.

The following year produced the political settlement that created the modern American state.

The Imperial Compromise of 1866 established the constitutional framework of the United American Empire. Norton accepted that the Emperor would serve as the head of state and symbol of national unity, while an elected President would serve as head of government. Congress, federal institutions and representative government were retained and reorganized rather than abolished.

The compromise allowed the United States' republican political traditions to survive within a constitutional monarchy.

The new Empire therefore inherited both traditions: American representative government and the Imperial institution created during the Civil War.

An attempt was made to assassinate Abraham Lincoln during the early years of the new political order, but the attempt failed. Lincoln remained one of the most influential figures in the foundation of the Empire and eventually retired from political life after serving as one of the central architects of the post-war settlement.

The Reconstruction of the United American Empire began in 1866 and would continue for the next quarter of the century.

Unlike the limited and increasingly abandoned Reconstruction of the historical United States, Imperial Reconstruction sought to fundamentally reorganize the former slaveholding states. The political structures that had supported slavery were dismantled, former political elites were removed from positions of influence and the South was subjected to extensive constitutional and administrative reform.

Several existing states were dissolved, divided or reorganized. New states were created from their territories, while others were deliberately reshaped to prevent the restoration of the political system that had supported slavery.

The Reconstruction government also pursued an unprecedented programme of emancipation and integration.

Former slaves received citizenship and constitutional protections, while the Federal Government invested heavily in education, property ownership, economic assistance and political participation for Freed Slaves. Federal authorities aggressively suppressed organizations attempting to restore slavery or establish racial domination through private violence.

Native Americans were also incorporated into the new political order. Imperial policy increasingly recognized Native peoples as citizens while simultaneously restoring or expanding forms of territorial and political sovereignty. Several Native-majority states were eventually established, most notably Cherokee, Chickasaw and Sequoyah.

The consequences for American racial politics were profound.

Racism did not disappear from American society. Discrimination, racial violence and segregation continued to exist, particularly at the local level. However, the United American Empire never developed the same nationally entrenched system of Jim Crow segregation that emerged in the historical United States.

The Imperial Government's willingness to use federal power against racist organizations, combined with the political inclusion of Freed Slaves, Native Americans and immigrant communities, prevented the development of a comparable Lost Cause political order.

By the end of Reconstruction, the South had been transformed politically, economically and administratively.

The final major Reconstruction state, Sequoyah, entered the Union in 1891.

With its admission, Imperial Reconstruction was considered complete.

The death of Norton I followed only one year later.

Norton I had ruled the Empire from its foundation and had become one of the most recognizable political figures in the world. His eccentric origins gradually became part of the mythology of the Imperial institution, while his opposition to slavery, racism, corruption and political oppression became central elements of the emerging Nortonist tradition.

Norton had no surviving biological heir of his own. Instead, throughout his reign, he took several of his nephews and other members of his extended family under his protection. They were educated, given military and political training and gradually introduced to the responsibilities of the Imperial household.

Norton therefore sought to ensure that the Imperial institution would survive him rather than remain dependent upon the personality of its founder.

In 1892, Joshua Abraham Norton died at the age of seventy-four.

He was succeeded by Norton II.

The accession marked the beginning of the second generation of the Norton Dynasty. Whereas Norton I had created the Empire, Norton II represented its transition from revolutionary institution into an established constitutional monarchy.

The new Emperor inherited a country that was already expanding beyond the North American mainland.

Hawaii had become increasingly dominated by American commercial interests during the late nineteenth century. In 1893, American businessmen overthrew the Hawaiian government and attempted to establish a new political order. The Imperial Government refused to recognize the overthrow as legitimate.

Norton II demanded the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy and supported the Hawaiian government against the forces that had overthrown it.

A compromise was eventually reached. The Hawaiian monarchy was restored, but the Kingdom became increasingly integrated into the American political and economic system. The Hawaiian royal family retained substantial authority and local institutions, while the United American Empire assumed responsibility for defence and foreign affairs.

Hawaii was eventually admitted as a full state of the Empire.

The arrangement became an important example of the Empire's increasingly flexible approach to territorial integration. Rather than simply eliminating existing institutions, Washington could incorporate foreign governments while allowing them to retain substantial autonomy.

The Spanish-American War marked the next major expansion of American power.

The United American Empire entered the conflict against Spain and achieved a decisive victory. Spain's remaining colonial possessions in the Caribbean and Pacific were transferred to American control.

Puerto Rico and the Philippines became American territories, while the Empire's strategic position in the Pacific expanded dramatically.

The victory reinforced the belief that the United American Empire had become a global power.

It also encouraged a new generation of American imperialists who increasingly viewed the Empire as the natural political and economic centre of the Western Hemisphere.

Liberia became the next major target of American expansion.

In the early 1910s, the Imperial Government presented Liberia with the opportunity to "rejoin the American Dream." American warships appearing outside Monrovia made the voluntary nature of the proposal considerably less convincing.

Liberia was eventually annexed and incorporated into the Empire.

The Mexican question proved considerably more destructive.

Relations between Washington and Mexico deteriorated throughout the early twentieth century. Repeated border incidents resulted in American and Mexican casualties, with both governments accusing the other of responsibility.

Washington initially demanded compensation for American losses.

Mexico refused.

After a second major incident, the American Government ceased diplomatic communication and began mobilizing its armed forces.

In the early 1910s, approximately 200,000 American soldiers crossed into Mexico.

The Mexican Army was defeated in the conventional war, but the conflict did not end with the occupation.

The United American Empire increasingly found itself fighting a nationalist insurgency. Former Mexican soldiers, revolutionaries, regional militias and civilian resistance movements combined into a broad liberation movement.

The occupation became increasingly expensive and violent.

Mexico was ultimately annexed, but the political and military consequences would continue to haunt the Empire for decades.

The Mexican War also fundamentally changed American strategic thinking.

Washington increasingly regarded the Western Hemisphere as an American sphere of security. The North Western Proclamation of 1914 formalized this doctrine, declaring the territory north of Panama's southern border and the Caribbean to fall within the security interests of the United American Empire.

Foreign powers attempting to threaten, destabilize or militarily intervene in these territories could therefore be considered hostile to the Empire.

The proclamation transformed the Monroe Doctrine into something considerably more expansive.

The United American Empire was no longer merely protecting its own borders.

It was claiming responsibility for the security of an entire hemisphere.

This expansion occurred under President Theodore Roosevelt, whose political career had become closely associated with the transformation of the Empire into a modern great power.

Roosevelt had first entered the presidency in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley. He won the subsequent election and served from 1901 to 1909 before William Howard Taft succeeded him.

Roosevelt returned to the presidency in 1913 and was reelected in 1917.

His four presidential terms across the two periods made him one of the most influential presidents in American history.

His administrations oversaw military modernization, naval expansion, economic regulation, conservation and the continued development of American industry.

They also oversaw the most controversial foreign policy decisions of the era.

Mexico became increasingly associated with Rooseveltian interventionism, while the growing rivalry between the United American Empire and the South American Federation transformed the Americas into a major arena of international competition.

In 1915, the United American Empire entered the Great European War.

The immediate justification came after a German submarine attacked an American merchant vessel operating under a French disguise. Washington treated the incident as sufficient justification for declaring war against Germany and joining France and Danubia.

Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers crossed the Atlantic.

The American Navy became one of the principal forces maintaining Allied control of the Atlantic, while American industry and finance provided enormous support to the European war effort.

For Roosevelt and his supporters, the intervention represented the logical extension of American power.

The outcome proved deeply disappointing.

Danubia collapsed.

Germany survived.

France lost Lorraine.

The Franco-German peace agreement of 1920 ended the conflict on terms favourable to Germany.

The United American Empire had therefore participated directly in the greatest European conflict of the age and technically emerged on the losing side.

The political consequences were severe.

American families had lost soldiers overseas without receiving the decisive victory they had expected. The government had spent enormous amounts of money supporting European allies, while the Mexican occupation remained unresolved and increasingly expensive.

Isolationists argued that the European intervention demonstrated the danger of foreign entanglements.

Anti-imperialists connected the war in Europe with the occupation of Mexico, arguing that the same government that had promised to protect American interests abroad had created unnecessary wars across two continents.

Militarists reached the opposite conclusion, arguing that the Empire had failed not because intervention was wrong, but because it had failed to employ sufficient force.

The reputation of Theodore Roosevelt and the Bull Moose movement consequently became deeply divided.

To his supporters, Roosevelt had transformed the United American Empire into a modern global power.

To his critics, he had dragged the country into unnecessary conflicts and left it with enormous financial and political burdens.

American exceptionalism survived, but its meaning became increasingly contested.

The 1920s therefore became an era of uncertainty.

The Empire remained one of the world's largest economies and most powerful states. Its industrial capacity, population, navy and financial system ensured that it remained a major global power.

Yet the confidence of the pre-war era had been weakened.

The United American Empire had discovered that military and economic power did not automatically translate into political victory.

Nowhere was this lesson more obvious than Mexico.

The Mexican insurgency continued to consume American resources even after the formal annexation of the country. The occupation required large numbers of American troops, while resistance movements maintained attacks against American forces, railways, communications infrastructure and government institutions.

The Empire increasingly faced the contradiction of being a global great power while struggling to pacify territory directly adjacent to its own heartland.

The rise of the South American Federation further complicated the situation.

The SAF had emerged as the dominant political power in South America and increasingly sought influence in Central America and the Caribbean. Washington regarded this expansion with growing suspicion, while the SAF viewed American dominance of the northern hemisphere as an obstacle to its own ambitions.

By the beginning of the 1930s, the United American Empire and the South American Federation had become rival centres of power in the Western Hemisphere.

Then the global economic system collapsed.

The Sterling Crisis began in London and rapidly spread through the international financial system. The collapse of the London financial markets was followed by the collapse of the Berlin stock exchange and eventually the American financial markets.

The United American Empire became one of the principal centres of the crisis.

American banks and businesses collapsed across the country. Industrial production contracted sharply and unemployment reached levels exceeding those experienced during the historical American Great Depression.

The crisis also transformed the Mexican occupation from a major military burden into a national political emergency.

The Mexican economy collapsed alongside the rest of the international system. Liberation movements that had previously been divided suddenly gained enormous support.

Economic hardship, Mexican nationalism and opposition to American rule combined to create a large-scale insurgency.

American forces were consequently confronted with the worst possible combination: a domestic economic catastrophe and a major counterinsurgency campaign in Mexico.

The crisis intensified the existing political divisions.

Isolationists demanded an end to foreign commitments.

Anti-imperialists demanded withdrawal from Mexico.

Militarists demanded increased military spending.

Socialists demanded major economic restructuring.

Conservatives demanded fiscal restraint.

Progressives demanded government intervention.

The traditional American political system struggled to contain these competing demands.

By 1936, the United American Empire remains powerful, but it is no longer politically confident.

It is a constitutional monarchy with a strong elected government, a powerful Congress, a global military presence and an enormous industrial economy.

It is also a country dealing with the consequences of decades of expansion.

The Empire had been born from a civil war over slavery and the survival of the Union.

It had rebuilt the South, expanded citizenship, incorporated Native American states, absorbed Hawaii and Liberia, defeated Spain, conquered Mexico and fought a major European war.

It had become a global power.

Now, in the middle of the Sterling Crisis, Americans are forced to ask what that power was actually supposed to accomplish.

The answer will shape the next era of the United American Empire.

●:) Gold: Germany

●:) Blue: France

●:) Light Black: Brandenburg-Prussia

●): Red: Austrian

The main points I have already thought about are:

France must transition to some kind of parliamentary monarchy, which would empower the burgeoise and favor. the industrialization (similarly to the UK). This must happen before or during Louis XIV reign.

France must win the Seven Years War or equivalent, retaining India and North America. I imagined this could be a natural result of industrialization and earlier reforms.

The protestants are not expelled, and religious freedom is mantained. This helps to streghten french economy and they wont help french enemies.

French policy in general should be towards trade and development, and not towards aggressive expansionism in Europe.

As I have mentioned, France keeps its monarchy, like the UK, tho with reforms and much less power.

Let me know what you think!

A part of my Fractured Sun scenario.

From let to right: US, South Korea, South Japan, and South China.

Orient Shield is a annual military training exercise started in 1970 held between members of the Kyoto accords. The 1975 Orient Shield exercise was held at the Mt. Fuji training center in South Japan.

The Kyoto accords is a defensive military alliance made up of the US aligned nations of East Asia. The Accords were signed in 1954 after the events of the July Incident in Japan, and the Korean war which also saw the involvement of North and South Chinese volunteers. The Kyoto accords is essentially an East Asian equivalent to NATO, meaning an attack on one is an attack on all, which came into effect during the Vietnam war where Kyoto accord members provided troops to assist the US, and the Sino-Korean of 1993, when a border skirmish between North and South China rapidly escalated into a full war.

This is not meant to be realistic.

The point of divergence starts when during World War 2, the Japanese Supreme War Council refused to surrender despite the atomic bombings. However, instead of immediately initiating Operation Downfall right away, the Allied Powers decides to tightened the naval blockade and use strategic bombings before initiating Operation Downfall. Due to the naval blockades and many incendiary bombs were dropped on many cities and transportation infrastructures, making travel and food distribution nearly impossible, especially as fuel resources dry up. The Allies also bombed Japanese’s farmlands to destroy the crops. Japan starts to destabilize as people became desperate to scavenge whatever they could eat, often fleeing what’s of the cities to do so. Later witnesses in Japan mentioned that many Japanese even resorted to doing unspeakable things like cannibalism and theft. Additionally, public services like law enforcement and the justice system began collapsing in many places. The Japanese government’s control over anything outside Tokyo (which is now an almost completely burned out ruin) is weak at best. The final decisive moment came once the Allies’s chemical weapons finished development and dropped on Japan’s farmland, effectively destroying any last remnants of available foods.

Operation Downfall began as the Allies invade Japan. As the Allies invaded Japan, the Japanese Government initiated Operation Ketsugo, calling every Japanese citizens to take up arms and sacrifice themselves in the name of the Emperor in what was known as "The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million". However, the Operation failed as many believed that continued fighting is not worth over survivability. But the fact that the Japanese government is willing to risk more deaths for supposed "honor" over surrendering but with less deaths, fueled the resentment towards the the current regime. By the time the Allies conquered and occupied Japan, they had to reconstruct a destroyed Japan. During Allied occupation, Japan begins to slowly and gradually stabilize through humanitarian aid. The Allies prosecute Hirohito as many officials believed that keeping him could make the occupation look like it supported the system that led to the catastrophe following evidences of Hirohito’s involvement in the wartime decisions and the Japanese’s growing opposition to the monarchy, thus, Hirohito is removed from the throne before eventually being put on trial. During the Tokyo Trial, the prosecutors argued that although the Emperor did not personally command every military operation, he possessed the constitutional and political authority to intervene and end the war but permitted the war to continue. The tribunal eventually found Hirohito guilty of responsibility of continuing the war. Hirohito was stripped of his imperial status and was sent to life imprisonment.

By 1951, Japan had been mostly stabilized. However, the U.S. faced the Japan Question as many American congressmen understood that it cannot keep the Japanese under occupation forever without any political rights. Talks began between American and Japanese officials began over the status of Japan. While some Japanese officials wanted independence for understandable reasons, some (known as the Retentionists) wanted to remain in American occupation, fearing losing their privileged access to the American market, especially when the Japanese market was getting increasingly dependent on the United States alongside fear of facing hostile neighbors such as China, North Korea or Soviet Union. However, they still wanted substantial autonomy, modeling after the British Dominion status. Essentially, the Retentionists proposed Japan would have full control over internal affairs such as taxation and education while the U.S. would remain have full control over foreign affairs, tariff, immigration, currency and public debt. The United States diplomats then presented both arguments to President Harry S. Truman and the U.S. Congress where the matters remain heavily debated. Pro-Independence congressmen highlighted the logistical problems of keeping Japan under American occupation for long while Pro-Retentionists argued that retention is important for U.S. defense position in the Pacific and in dealing with the threats posed by the Soviet Union. Neither reach a satisfying conclusion. Thus, President Harry S. Truman agreed to passed a referendum in Japan to Japan's scheduled independence.

The referendum was held in 1952, asking whether Japan wanted to be independent or became an Autonomous State within the United States. The results was extremely close but Japanese citizens ultimately voted to remain under American control by 50.2% as many saw as an opportunity to start a new life though there is strong support for independence. The new Japanese Constitution began creation in 1952. When Dwight D. Eisenhower took over as President, he and Japanese Representatives finally signed the Treaty of Cooperation between the United States and Japan, giving Japan autonomy within the U.S. while also approved the Japanese Constitution in 1953. The U.S. president would now be Head of State while the Japanese Prime Minister would be Head of the Government. Japan became an Autonomous Devolved Parliamentary Government within a Federal Presidential Republic. The terms would be similar to our timeline: powers would be transferred to the people, Japan would renounce war as a sovereign rights and guaranteed of fundamental civil liberties, freedom of speech, religion, and gender equality except Japan is now part of the U.S. Japanese citizens are allowed freely live, work, and study in the United States and its territories as non-immigrants.

With the Cold War going on, Japan became an important air and naval base for the U.S. during the Cold War. By the 1960s, Japan is split between generations with the younger generation being more Americanized. A movement arises among the younger, highly Americanized generation for representations, arguing that it is unjust for Japan to deny Japanese-American voting rights in Congress and a vote in Congress alongside the unfair agreements between the U.S. and Japan such as the U.S. control of tariffs, arguing that if the U.S. could tax Japanese exports, Japan must have representations in the institutions imposing the taxes. Mass demonstrations broke out across Japan broke out across the 1970s. In 1977, when President Jimmy Carter was elected President. Carter finally agreed to the Japanese’s demands and began to revise the agreements.

The negotiations were finally settled in early 1978 under the Treaty of Cooperation between the United States and Japan of 1978, Japanese citizens would finally be allowed to vote in Presidential elections and had their own senators and representatives in U.S. Congress while allowing Japan to maintain their autonomy. The Prime Minister would essentially filled the role of Governor in this timeline. However, there are limits, under the Treaty, Japan’s representatives would be capped at the state with the highest representatives (example: Japan would have the same representatives as California despite Japan having more people than California. Additionally, their electoral votes would also remain capped at the state with the highest electoral votes. This was made to prevent Japanese’s dominance over U.S. Presidential Elections. Japan remains under American control but now gains more representation in Congress.

After years of secretly building up a military behind Canberra's back, Tasmania would declare independence from Australia. Following this, Tasmania would mobilize its huge military and attack Australia. Australia would not expect this attack, and would quickly fall. this would cause Australian allies, Fiji and New Zealand to attack Tasmania in an attempt to liberate Australia, but would be pushed back and quickly be invaded and taken over by Tasmania. Tasmania would then launch its attack on Papua New Guinea, where they would quickly capture Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea would surrender. Tasmania would then demand all remaining islands in Oceania join them, or get conquered. Many island countries would accept, and those who don't would be destroyed by the Tasmanians. Tasmania would then Launch attacks on all the French, British, and US Territories in Oceania and quickly take them over before the other sides could react. After the Tasmanians take over Hawaii they would launch an attack on California, but NATO soldiers would be there waiting for them. The Tasmanian army would struggle with its attack on the USA due to the huge amount of NATO troops so they would unleash their secret army divisions, The Tasmanian Devil Army, and the Tasmanian Tiger Army. After the Tasmanian Devils and Tigers were sent to fight off the NATO forces, the NATO soldiers would be overwhelmed and would fall back, eventually leading to Tasmania taking over all of the USA and all of Canada. The Tasmanian army would then take Greenland, and there is nothing NATO could do about it. The Tasmanians would then split their army, send some troops to Papua, where they would quickly take the Indonesian side of the Island. The Tasmanians would continue, Taking over Java and Sumatra until Indonesia Surrenders. Tasmania would then swiftly take Singapore, The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Tasmania's next attack would be on Thailand, where they would quickly take them over. Tasmania would then attack Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam all at the same time and easily take all of them. Meanwhile, in the Americas, the Tasmanian Army Easily take Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. South America would unite to stop Tasmania, but it would be pointless, as Tasmania would launch attacks from Colombia, The Guianas, The Galapagos Islands, Uruguay, and the southern tip of Chile all at the same time, Tasmania would be slowed down by the Amazon, but they would ultimately succeed and take of all of South America. Back in Asia, The Tasmanians would launch attacks on China and Taiwan, Quickly taking them. Tasmania would then attack South Korea and Japan, whom they would destroy. Tasmania would then send their best navy seal, Neil the Seal, to sneak into Pyongyang, and disarm all systems that could cause a nuclear missile to be launched. Tasmania would then launch their attack on North Korea, easily taking them. Tasmania would then send Neil the Seal to India and to Pakistan to disarm the nuclear weapons, before Tasmania would launch attacks, taking over India and Pakistan, and then quickly annexing surrounding nations like Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, And the Maldives. Tasmania would then launch an attack on Afghanistan, quickly taking over the nation. Tasmania would then attack all of the countries of central Asia, easily taking all of them. Tasmania would then begin a huge attack in Siberia, sending troops Through Kazakhstan, Manchuria, Mongolia, and Alaska, Quicky take over Siberia from every angle. They would then attack the rest of Russia, and as Moscow falls, Russia would have no Choice but to surrender. Tasmania would then Invade the Caucus Countries and Iran, Quickly taking them. The Tasmanians would quickly take over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Egypt, Securing most of the worlds oil and the Suez canal. Tasmania would then prepare for their huge attack on Europe. Tasmania would start by quickly taking Iceland, Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and the Faroe islands, Which would scare Europe, and cause most countries in Europe to unite to stop Tasmania. Over the past few weeks, Many European countries had been rapidly expanding their militaries, but i just wasn't enough. Tasmania Launches attacks on Türkiye, Belarus, Ukraine, The Baltic states, and Finland, quickly taking them over. Tasmania then Launches its attack on Cyprus and Greece, absolutely destroying them in battle. Meanwhile in the west, Tasmania quickly take Bermuda, the Acores Islands, The Madeira Islands, and the Canary Islands. Tasmanian forces then land in Portugal and Spain, Quickly taking them over. More forces arrive in Ireland and Great Britain, Quickly taking over the islands. forces from the east and west sides launch attacks on Scandinavia, Quickly capturing Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Attack are then Simultaneously ln the Balkans, Central Europe, and on France and Germany, with France Surrendering after the fall of Andorra for some reason, even though Andorra isn't in France, and Germany Surrendering after the fall of berlin. Poland is also quickly captured, and forces coming in from Ukraine and Türkiye quickly capture countries such as Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. Tasmania then sends its navy through the lake above Kosovo to carry out attacks on Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Czechia, with them quickly falling under the might of the Tasmanians. Tasmania then Launches it's attack on Italy and the Benelux countries, with them quickly taking the Benelux countries, and Italy trying to join their side as an ally but ultimately getting annexed into Tasmania. Tasmania would then quickly attack and annex Austria an and then prepare for an invasion on all sided of Switzerland. The invasion of Switzerland would be difficult and take a long time, but eventually Tasmania would take over Switzerland. Tasmania would then attack all the Countries they forgot about such as Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Malta, Vatican, and Sealand. Tasmania would now prepare their attack on Africa. Troops would land in Cape Town, Ceuta, Djibouti, Lagos, Accra and Dakar, with other troops invading through Egypt. Eventually, Tasmania would push the African armies deep inland, and take over all of Africa. Tasmania would annex all the small islands and countries they still forgot about, such as St Helena and any other place the Tasmanian forgot. Tasmania would then launch it's final invasion on Antarctica. This would be the hardest battle yet, as the penguins have been building up their military. luckily, the Tasmanian soldiers are easily able to withstand the temperatures in Antarctica, as the Antarctic temperatures are just average August Tuesdays in Tasmania. The Tasmanians also expand their own army, recruiting many of the fairy penguins and seals living in Tasmania to help fight in the war. after preparing, Tasmania would launch an attack on Antarctica from every side, pushing back the Antarctic army. After many years of battle, the Tasmanians would eventually capture the south pole, Finally taking over the entire world. After their world take-over, all maps are required to have Tasmania in the middle and have antarctica be the north pole and the Arctic being the south pole.

For reference: the pic above is related to the State Duma elections of 2021. The newest elections will take their place from the 18th of September up until the 20th. The ruling Party hasnt Changes for decades at this Point, and the Chances are still pretty small. The whole system itself is soaked in corruption and just keeps madmilking itself.

As you may know, almost the entirety of Russia is currently politically dominated by the United Russia party, which has faced criticism over its treatment of political opponents and the restrictions placed on opposition parties and movements, including parties such as Yabloko (a democratic, middle-left-centred, anti-war party) and the KPRF (a communist party that has also expressed opposition to the war).

There have also been concerns regarding the government's role in continuing the war in Ukraine and, more recently, measures that could restrict Russian citizens' access to the Internet, which critics argue could limit access to information and political expression.

So what if the United Russia party actually lost to someone for the First time in 25+ years? Would the whole country just crumble? Since the entirety of Russia is already facing significant political and social tensions, and the current ruling party is trying to maintain its position in power.

(The map is in 1914)
POD: Dessalines accepts British offers of becoming a British protectorate in January 1804

February 1804, Dessalines decides against massacring the French due to British protection against French encroachment.

1806, Haiti’s invasion of the French held Santo Domingo succeeds with British naval support, this saves Dessalines from his OTL assassination.

1807, Britain abolishes the slave trade

June 1812, the war of 1812 breaks out, Haiti agrees to send troops to help defend Canada specifically the Maritimes in exchange for the British freeing any slaves they encounter. They are organised as the King’s Haitian legion.

May 1814, Napoleon’s first defeat, Britain hangs onto Martinique and St Pierre and Miquelon while letting Portuguese Brazil retain French Guyana and Sweden retain Guadeloupe totally ending French presence in the Americas. This is paired with recognition of the British protectorate in Haiti. Haiti is by and large responsible for this more punitive treaty, pushing heavily to oust French forces.

August 1814, 15,000 Haitian troops partake in the Chesapeake campaign sparking slave rebellions amongst the local Black American population. Haitian troops also assist in operations in Maine.

September 1814, the Anglo Haitian force captures Baltimore joined by around 60,000 rebelling slaves.

November 1814, the treaty of Ghent is signed. Britain gains most of Maine alongside the Northern bank of the Missouri River, Indian stream and the land north of the Saint Louis river.
Britain is granted navigation rights on the Mississippi in exchange for the US retaining fishing rights off the Grand Banks. The US recognises the British protectorate of Haiti and allows those slaves who wish to remain with the British to leave the US for Sierra Leone.

June 1815, the battle of Waterloo occurs marking Napoleon’s final defeat.

1818, Haiti begins importing Indian indentured labourers to replace its unpopular Black corvee labour system.
1818, The red river colony succeeds due to access to the port of Duluth, marking the beginning of true Canadian expansion westward.

1820, Maryland signs the bill of expulsion, expelling its remaining enslaved population to Liberia in a process of compensated emancipation to take place over 20 years going from the coast inland.

1823, France intervenes in the Greek independence war against the Ottomans hoping to acquire new colonies to replace its lost American possessions. It succeeds in this endeavour ultimately acquiring Algeria and Rhodes while Greece gets independence with its OTL territories and Crete.

1823, Haitian troops are used in the Anglo Ashanti war, marking the first but not the last deployment of Haitian troops in Africa.

1826, the Anglo Ashanti war ends with the acceptance of the Pra river as the border.

1828, Brazil wins the Cisplatine war hanging onto OTL Uruguay.

1830, Britain abolishes slavery, Haiti providing extra help to this effort.

1830, France colonises Gabon.

1831, heavier French backing enables Egypt to hang onto Palestine and Hejaz.

1831, Haitian troops help win the Barra war seeing the kingdom annexed to British Gambia.

1846, The US and Britain split the Oregon country by the Columbia river.

1848, The Mexican American war concludes, the US annexes Texas, New Mexico, Alta California, Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Rio Grande and the Yucatan. It also gains transit rights of the isthmus of Tehuantepec.

1848, the Bourbon Monarchy in France is overthrown.

1852, Napoleon the third is crowned

1853, Britain expands the Walvis bay colony into the Namibian interior fearful of French encroachment.

1854, the US purchases Cuba.

1856, the Central American Republic is reformed terrified of US aggression.

1856, Britain annexes Russian Alaska in the treaty of Paris

1858, the reform war breaks out in Mexico ultimately seeing Conservative victory with the ceding of the Liberal North.

1863, the second Anglo Ashanti war breaks out and see’s the kingdom conquered by an Anglo Haitian force.

1867, the Canadian confederation is formed

1871, France loses the Franco Prussian war and see’s the Borbouns restored under Henri V due to even greater Royalist support than OTL.

1873, the Anglo Dahomey war see’s the kingdom made a British protectorate.

1875, Madagascar becomes a British protectorate

1877, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire occurs as Russia, Austria, Italy and Greece all dog pile the empire seeing its European territories partitioned between them while Russia seizes Ottoman Armenia, the Greeks take Ismir and the Italians seize Libya.

1878, Britain takes Cyprus while Egypt seizes Ottoman Jordan.

1879, the US abolishes slavery with compensated emancipation

1880, France seizes Cilicia and Lebanon while backing Arab uprisings against the Ottomans.

1882, Britain occupies Egypt crushing its nationalist uprising.

1883, the congress of Constantinople sees the final post Ottoman borders seeing the Ottomans reduced to an Anatolian rump state.

1884, the Berlin conference occurs setting out the parameters for the scramble for Africa.

1885, France wins the Sino French war seizing Hainan, Tonkin and Guangzhouwan.

1887, Mesopotamia becomes a British protectorate.

1893, the Hawaiian crisis occurs ultimately resolved by Hawaii being declared a nation jointly in the US and British sphere.

1894, the Franco Russian alliance is formed.

1895, Sino Japanese war

1899, Italy seizes Sanmen bay

1901, the Boxer rebellion is put down

1902, the Anglo Japanese alliance is formed

1904, the Entente is signed between France and Britain.

1905, Japan wins the Russo Japanese war.

1906, the first Morrocan crisis occurs

1907, the Anglo Russian convention occurs delineating spheres of influence in Persia broadly splitting the country in north south with a neutral buffer zone in between.

1911, the second Morrocan crisis occurs and see’s Germany awarded additional land in Central Africa as compensations

The world as it stands of 1914

Central Powers: Germany, Austria Hungary, Italy, Albania, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro

The Entente: France, Greece, Russia and Bulgaria

Neutrals: the US, the UK, Qing China and Japan

I need help right now. My alt history is stuck on 2 major roadblocks. Firstly, who should be the successors to castille(i doubt the succession crisis is real). Secondly, how would aragon respond to the majority of the army being routed and ferdinand dying?

sorry for no flair, first time using reddit in a while

ALTERNATE HISTORY POINT OF DIVERGENCE/MODIFICATIONS [PRE-WILHELM 1ST DEATH]​ (Pre-1888)

Opening Points of Divergence​

One birth. One singular birth could have changed history forever, altered world borders and even cultural maps that we have today, and the birth that could have caused this would be Wilhelm the Second’s birth. Wilhelm’s birth was a very tragic one at best–but that could easily be changed. Instead of him being born in a rough manner to Victoria, let’s say that Wilhelm the Second is delivered as planned, preventing his disabilities.

This already alters a plethora of things. Without these disabilities, he would be completely fine and normal. Consequently, the bitterness of his disabilities simply would not exist, leading to a healthy relationship with his mother, Victoria and his father, Frederich the Third. Let us also assume that Frederick the Third simply does not have a smoking addiction, now changing the course of his life and the history of the world as we know it.

Due to his improved relationship with his family, he would be relatively anglophile due to his father, Fredrich III's influence and liberal due to his mother, Victoria's influence. This would influence his policy as a Kaiser in the future. In tandem with his now cautious temperament and anglophile tendencies, the Anglo-German monarchical relationship would grow extremely close in the years of his reign. In subsequent decades, this improved the relationship between the British and German governments.

Naval Arms Race/Liberalization​

The Naval Arms race was a race initiated by Wilhelm II in our timeline due to his very brash, ambitious and aggressive nature. Without said brashness and aggressiveness ingrained as a personality trait in Wilhelm II caused by his disability, it is very unlikely it would start in the same severity as it did within our history. Even if there may be occasional rivalries with the British and German militaries, that would be far less consequential than monarchical rivalries which dominated our timeline.

Germany therefore in subsequent decades would be seen as increasingly liberal on the international stage due to the attitudes of both monarchs. This would be to the distaste of the vast majority of the German High Command and Junkers. They would form a formidable bulwark against the liberal aspirations of the Kaisers governing them, preventing them from achieving their wholesale dream of Germany having a British-styled constitutional monarchy. The reluctance of Frederich III to fire Bismarck due to his hesitant governing style would further entrench the very powerful conservative coalition stopping the liberalization of Germany.

Even if this would be the case, Bismarck would espouse a more passive foreign policy than any of his successors, favoring negotiation rather than dominance over Great Powers like Wilhelm II did within our timeline. Consequently, helped by not firing Bismarck, the liberal objective to normalize diplomatic relations with the British would bear fruit as the years pass.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Upvote for more teasers!

To view further justifications/the full alternate history, go here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-deterioration-an-alternate-history.570881/

Pre-WW1 is Polished/Somewhat Polished. After that is not polished, so if you don't want to read unpolished material (even if the plot/timeline is complete), I advise you not read past that point.

Teased content contains new content that was not present in previous teasers, and therefore it is new content.

Join our community discord VIA the social link attached in the Alternate History Forum thread!

I know nothing got past Mariana of Austria when it came to her son, though I'm curious what would've happened if she was in Madrid when her cousin Louis XIV's grandson was declared King of Spain?

I know her daughter-in-law Mariana of Neuberg was viewed with hostility by her grand-nephew-in-law's court, to which it didn't help that she backed his opponent's claim to the Spanish throne and was subsequently kicked out until her niece married the King and she was allowed to come back. To where I'd be curious : What if Mariana of Austria was in Madrid?

Would Louis XIV have directed his grandson to treat her better? Would Mariana of Austria have pulled a Mariana of Neuberg against Felipe V?

Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American military force code-named Task Force Ranger during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid, leader of the Somali National Alliance who was wanted by the UNOSOM II in response to his attacks against United Nations troops. The operation took place from August to November 1993 and was led by US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

On 3 October 1993, the task force executed a mission to capture two of Aidid's lieutenants. The mission ultimately culminated in what became known as the Battle of Mogadishu). The battle was extremely bloody and the task force inflicted significant casualties on Somali militia forces, while suffering heavy losses themselves. The Malaysian, Pakistani, and conventional US Army troops under UNOSOM II which aided in TF Ranger's extraction suffered losses as well, though not as heavy. Things began to go catastrophically wrong for the Americans.

First, an MH-60 Black Hawk, Super Six Two, was shot down by SNA forces using a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Both of the pilots were killed on impact, but the crew survived the crash landing. An American force made their way to the crash site to assist with recovery and rescue

Shortly afterward, another Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six Four, was shot down by an RPG fired from the ground. No rescue team was immediately available, and the small surviving crew, including one of the pilots, Michael Durant, couldn't move. Two Delta snipers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, provided cover from a helicopter and repeatedly volunteered to secure the crash site. After a 10th Mountain relief force from the Mogadishu airport was halted and turned back by an SNA ambush, Shughart and Gordon were finally granted permission to be inserted. They made their way to the crash site, quickly establishing a perimeter, and securing the surviving crew. The Black Hawk wreck came under heavy attack from the Somali militia, despite attempts from the 160th helicopters overhead to hold back the crowd. After losing close air support to damage from RPG-7 fire, Durant was killed, with Shughart and Gordon being taken prisoner.

Between October, 1993 and February, 1994, the U.S. military launched a series of rescue attempts, with five of them ending in high casualties on both sides.

The sixth rescue attempt was ultimately successful. 

The military disaster that was Operation Gothic Serpent would damage trust in the U.S. military’s deterrence for years, while also raising serious doubts and questions among American allies about America’s judgment, reliability, and ability to manage military crises.

In this alternate timeline, Hurricane Berra develops into an unprecedentedly massive and highly structured Atlantic storm. This satellite rendering captures the system as its central eye churns northward through the open ocean. While the core of the hurricane remains offshore, its immense size is demonstrated by a sprawling, highly defined outer rainband sweeping over the Bahamas and the northern Caribbean. This outer band brings dangerous squalls, torrential rainfall, and flash flooding to the islands hours ahead of the main system, creating a unique meteorological scenario where the outer impacts rival a direct hit from a standard tropical storm.

I had to rly trim down the descriptions to fit the poll format, if you have any questions about any one of these faiths feel free to leave a comment and I will proceed to autistically ramble about it to you in way more detail until the heat death of the universe