literature

The Spoils of Eden

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In this timeline, the discovery and initial incursions into the Americas went a bit differently, with the Aztecs avoiding colonisation and modernising at a blistering pace through diplomacy, cunning, trade for European weaponry and a hell of a lot of luck. Today, they control OTL's Mexico (including the Californian bits) and Central America and are one of the two premier powers in North America, the other being the Union of Gordonia.

Europe is dominated by Britain, France, Austria, Spain, and Prussia-Denmark-Norway-Courland, who have all enthusiastically taken to colonialism as OTL, with Africa in particular having virtually everyone take a bite out of the pie; on top of the other aforementioned empires, Italy, the Netherlands, the Ottomans, Oman, Gordonia and the Aztecs all have taken chunks out of the legendary continent. Right now, there is not a single square metre of land there that is not supposedly owned by a ruler on another continent.

France (which directly incorporates Belgium) did much better in the colonial sweepstakes, outmanoeuvring Britain and taking control of India and Canada (forgoing Louisiana), with British colonies in North America failing to make it as far as Lake Michigan. As OTL, they also control much of West Africa, along with a rather large portion of the Cape, the Cape IOTL being rather heavily divided. They are generally considered the economic and cultural centre of Europe ITTL, French being more widely spoken and their benevolent republic serving as a counter to Britain, known here as the hub for absolute monarchy. France has often made attempts to form a “Latin Union” of sorts with Spain (who controls Morocco) and Italy (Tunisia and Senegal), but Spanish nationalism and Italian instability has too often put the kibosh on such a plan.

The Ottomans suffered a rather precipitous decline as Austria managed to drive them back across the Balkans over the centuries, but have made a comeback in recent decades with the advent of the importance of oil. However, Austria has managed to put its colony of Libya to good use, marketing itself as a Godly alternative to Ottoman oil. The rivalry between the two empires has not ceased, as battle lines in the Balkans have been solidified and the Ottoman Egyptian territory (which extends into Sudan) is butting heads with Austrian Libya for space.

Spain avoided falling into the Habsburg's web, and as such has remained fairly aloof from mainland European affairs, becoming a secular, democratic republic and avoiding many of the troubles that plagued it IOTL. They managed to scoop pretty much all the territory in the Americas it did IOTL, but managed to make a much more peaceful decolonisation effort on the part of said territory. However, as mentioned earlier, they have also incorporated Morocco directly into their orbit, and, despite nationalist rumbles on the parts of both the Spaniards and the Moroccans, both have managed to integrate fairly well, Arabic even becoming a common second language amongst the Spanish. They also recently absorbed Portugal, along with their final remaining colony of Angola, which they are considering using for some horse-trading.

Russia never arose to Great Power status, Muscovy getting left out in the cold while Novgorod shacked up with the Swedes, only for the dynastic nightmare that is Prussia-Denmark-Norway-Courland to crush them to death and take control of the Baltic Sea. Prussia (et al.) has made a reasonably substantial colonial effort, snagging parts of West Africa, south-east Africa, Madagascar, and all of Ethiopia, along with South Japan and bits of China in Asia (none of the major countries in Asia managed to modernise and were divvied up and colonised; alas, there were no Meijis to be found here). They are trying to be on cordial terms with all parties, but the British constantly stirring up trouble is starting to test their patience.

Britain, alas, failed to make the great strides in human rights and democracy that we know them for, instead largely establishing its colonial structure as a source of plunder and tribute. Taking the Congo, a large part of southern West Africa, and much of East Africa, Britain has attempted to set up a system of near-direct rule over her colonies, with the monarch given as much power as possible to dictate the lives of the inhabitants. Catholicism in Ireland has been largely stamped out, as have the fires of Scottish nationalism, as disproportionate retribution has basically become the name of the game for the Brits.

The Netherlands and Oman also have bits of Africa, but to a much lesser extent than the major powers, with the Dutch focusing on developing their empire in East Asia, controlling a piece of South Africa to connect them to the Indian Ocean and a bit in Central Africa for posterity purposes, and Oman controlling Lower Somalia largely because no one else wanted it.

However, the Americas also have their fingers in the African pie, with Gordonia controlling bits of West Africa and Nambia, while the Aztecs also have their own share of West Africa (it's a pretty crowded region). However, both of these are largely prestige projects at present, both nations focusing their energies on competing with each other for control over the disparate, feuding nations of South America. With no Napoleon to drive the Portuguese monarchs abroad, Brazil ended up fragmenting, leaving no clear dominant power in South America.

The Aztecs have long since advanced to the point of parity with European nations, worshipping a hybrid Quetzalcoatl-Christian religion and having long since dealt away with the human sacrifice. They follow a fairly democratic system, though the Emperor has about the same amount of power and commands the same amount of respects as the OTL Japanese Emperor. Aztec aesthetics do tend towards being more gaudy and colourful than most other cultures, and they are also, by and large, non-racist, with a substantial minority having descended from fleeing Gordonian slaves.

Speaking of which, the Union of Gordonia. Formed out of British settlements, they banded together and were given the equivalent of Dominion status by Britain, but that all changed when Britain, in the 1890s, tried to force the abolition of slavery throughout the Empire (they may have created the Empire as a means to source wealth, but even Britain had its limits). The Gordonians, with the vast amount of their wealth tied up in human labour, fiercely resisted, and when the Home Islands tried to force the issue, the Gordonians went on the warpath and forcibly departed from the Empire. However, even they were not immune to the winds of change and, by hook and by crook, slavery was dismantled across Gordonia as well. Civil rights for blacks (they happened to source their slaves from the same place as OTL as well) are way behind OTL America, on par with the 1940s. Gordonia is known internationally for its corruption, unstable political system and expansionist tendencies.

Up north is the large French-speaking nation of Karlia, which dominates the northern half of North America. However, it is incredibly sparsely populated, with their settlements in Alaska having barely a few thousand people in them. However, they are fiercely nationalistic, and respond very poorly to attempts to violate their national sovereignty. Nonetheless, their role in international affairs is generally considered fairly insignificant, and they tend not to concern themselves with anything in the rest of the world that does not directly concern them.

Technology is behind, at barely 1920s-level. More of the world is industrialised, and the environment has suffered accordingly.

There has been no WWI-equivalent, but there have been many regional wars, and with the number of neighbouring polities in Africa being home to rival overlords, the smaller conflicts have had a tendency to balloon into larger ones. Fortunately, however, most have been fairly confined so far. However, Britain, sensing that the world is likely going to overtake it, has recently established ties with Austria and Muscovy in an attempt to unite the world's more conservative powers to try and maintain its place. This has, in turn, driven other European powers together into a counter-alliance, and one that easily rivals the British-Austrian-Muscovite one, so much so that they are even considering trying to patch things up with Gordonia to grant them some extra firepower. Should that happen, the Aztecs will likely be driven into the fold of the counter-alliance and the world will be primed for a devastating conflict. Think the Crimean War, but on a global scale.

Recently, however, a new player entered the field. Recently, the government of Prussian (et al.) Thailand was overthrown by a new revolutionary movement known as the Ergatocrats, who believe that the reins of society should be firmly in the hands of the working class. On top of that, it is also a fiercely anti-colonial ideology, viewing the idea of a monarch or government making decisions for people across entire oceans as repugnant. Said ideology already dominates Southeast Asia, itself dominated by the Thai Workers State, and has begun to spread to the disparate colonial states of *Australia, and is making inroads into Africa and South America. Needless to say, this is causing consternation for both sides of the conflict, as the Ergatocrats despise both of them equally, but while it could shake things up, it’s not likely to get them to join forces against the Ergatocrats any time soon.

Things are about to get messy.
A more modest project, with no aliens appearing out of nowhere like my last scenario. Just a bog-standard alternate history, with the premise being having as many different nations as possible colonising Africa.

Map from the diligent mind of QuantumBranching found here!
quantumbranching.deviantart.co…
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BadgingBadger's avatar
"I have a Denmark!
I have a Norway!
Uh!
Denmark-Norway!

I have a Prussia!
I have a Courland!
Uh!
Prussia-Courland!

Denmark-Norway!
Prussia-Courland!
Uh!"
Prussia-Denmark-Norway-Courland? How did such a personal union clusterfuck come to existence? And why didn't they directly annex finland?