Preview: INES II: Gone is the Old Guard
- Thread starter Imago
- Start date
You should seriously consider David McReynolds as President, the only worthy person.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McReynolds
Well, I think you know I'm putting the timeline together as people ask questions. Here we go:
A New Chaos in North America
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left many US citizens without a sense of purpose, since their arch-rival had fallen due to internal conflicts even though the United States had propped up endless morally suspect regimes in an attempt to weaken international communism. In a sense, people felt that fifty years of diplomacy had been based on a lie, since the world's greatest socialist state had collapsed in on itself without any real help. Added tensions rose when President George Bush (the first one, and the only one yet in this TL) drew up plans for deployment of soldiers around the world, in an attempt to "Win the Peace."
Riots spread throughout the United States and Canada, as the Ottawa government had proudly decided to stand with the superpower to its south. Liberal areas like California and quickly descended into strikes and chaos after anti-war protesters were violently dispersed by the police in seemingly endless and well-publicized incidents. The real kicker was when someone convinced President Bush to reinstitute the draft, which would essentially force American citizens to fight American citizens. Still, some patriotic Americans thought it was their duty to join the army and beat the hell out of the ingrates, provoking even more widespread violence. New paramilitary groups began to form in the US and Canada for one reason or another.
Far from expanding America's reach, President Bush was then forced to order a partial recall of troops abroad in an attempt to find some impartial muscle that wouldn't just worsen the situation, but that act provoked a panic as veteran American soldiers became convinced that their loved ones were in danger. Some returned officially with their Armed Service branch, while others slipped in and joined one group or another. Things got even worse when people realized it was election season and no one knew who Bush was running against. The Democrats, trying to distance themselves from the rioters, couldn't decide on a united front.
The final breaking point was when some people in the Northwestern United States and British Colombia declared themselves Cascadia and began organizing a convention to consider secession from 'two defunct and corrupt republics'. Bush didn't check to see how serious the movement was before he sent in the troops, but the fighting drove Cascadian nationalism into a reality. News of American soldiers fighting each other led some in the federal government to convince the President to step down, but by then it was too late. Dan Quayle proved no better at calming the American public down, and the utter disregard for the Canadian border in the midst of the Cascadian fighting led to rampant instability inside Canada, and Quebecois nationalism flamed as a 'New Way' out the North American nightmare.
Time passed, and Dan Quayle was defeated for reelection by an emergent liberal coalition, which was so widely reviled as being allied with the demonstrators who had started the whole mess that vast sections of their country declared independence. The federal government was in no shape to stop the unravling of the country. The LDS Church, which US government had been leaning on to provided stability throughout the West, declared almost half the country to be under its trusteeship. The South seceded as The Confederate States, looking for new conservative direction, while the huge concentration of American troops that had been shipped to the Pacifc coast to combat Cascadia supported a new Federal Republic of Alaska which included Montana and large parts of Canada. Cascadia itself had become defunct, now under the de facto control of the LDS Church, but it had been the nail in the coffin that turned the prosperity of two nations into a nightmare.
Later in the decade, the LDS Church declared an official Theocratic State of Deseret, annexing large parts of Mexico that had been in chaos related to the English-speaking meltdown. Canada split, with part of its heartland agreeing to join the reorganized American Federation after Quebec strong-armed its way into independence with expanded borders.
And that is that. I left the end open-ended enough for you and all the other North American players to decide for yourselves on exact internal situations.
A New Chaos in North America
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left many US citizens without a sense of purpose, since their arch-rival had fallen due to internal conflicts even though the United States had propped up endless morally suspect regimes in an attempt to weaken international communism. In a sense, people felt that fifty years of diplomacy had been based on a lie, since the world's greatest socialist state had collapsed in on itself without any real help. Added tensions rose when President George Bush (the first one, and the only one yet in this TL) drew up plans for deployment of soldiers around the world, in an attempt to "Win the Peace."
Riots spread throughout the United States and Canada, as the Ottawa government had proudly decided to stand with the superpower to its south. Liberal areas like California and quickly descended into strikes and chaos after anti-war protesters were violently dispersed by the police in seemingly endless and well-publicized incidents. The real kicker was when someone convinced President Bush to reinstitute the draft, which would essentially force American citizens to fight American citizens. Still, some patriotic Americans thought it was their duty to join the army and beat the hell out of the ingrates, provoking even more widespread violence. New paramilitary groups began to form in the US and Canada for one reason or another.
Far from expanding America's reach, President Bush was then forced to order a partial recall of troops abroad in an attempt to find some impartial muscle that wouldn't just worsen the situation, but that act provoked a panic as veteran American soldiers became convinced that their loved ones were in danger. Some returned officially with their Armed Service branch, while others slipped in and joined one group or another. Things got even worse when people realized it was election season and no one knew who Bush was running against. The Democrats, trying to distance themselves from the rioters, couldn't decide on a united front.
The final breaking point was when some people in the Northwestern United States and British Colombia declared themselves Cascadia and began organizing a convention to consider secession from 'two defunct and corrupt republics'. Bush didn't check to see how serious the movement was before he sent in the troops, but the fighting drove Cascadian nationalism into a reality. News of American soldiers fighting each other led some in the federal government to convince the President to step down, but by then it was too late. Dan Quayle proved no better at calming the American public down, and the utter disregard for the Canadian border in the midst of the Cascadian fighting led to rampant instability inside Canada, and Quebecois nationalism flamed as a 'New Way' out the North American nightmare.
Time passed, and Dan Quayle was defeated for reelection by an emergent liberal coalition, which was so widely reviled as being allied with the demonstrators who had started the whole mess that vast sections of their country declared independence. The federal government was in no shape to stop the unravling of the country. The LDS Church, which US government had been leaning on to provided stability throughout the West, declared almost half the country to be under its trusteeship. The South seceded as The Confederate States, looking for new conservative direction, while the huge concentration of American troops that had been shipped to the Pacifc coast to combat Cascadia supported a new Federal Republic of Alaska which included Montana and large parts of Canada. Cascadia itself had become defunct, now under the de facto control of the LDS Church, but it had been the nail in the coffin that turned the prosperity of two nations into a nightmare.
Later in the decade, the LDS Church declared an official Theocratic State of Deseret, annexing large parts of Mexico that had been in chaos related to the English-speaking meltdown. Canada split, with part of its heartland agreeing to join the reorganized American Federation after Quebec strong-armed its way into independence with expanded borders.
And that is that. I left the end open-ended enough for you and all the other North American players to decide for yourselves on exact internal situations.
EarlGrey
Chieftain
I would like to reserve Russian Republic.
Milarqui
Deity
I'll answer to that dare, and pick Brazil.
Although I might take Iberia instead, as I like them more. And I know their history better.
Although I might take Iberia instead, as I like them more. And I know their history better.
Haseri
Emperor
I guess my story when it starts will be the day after President Nelson Mandela leaves office to make way for President-elect Thabo Mbeki. The African National Congrees will be on the opposite politcial wing. Hahaha. Mine is an evil laugh.
EDIT: Question - Does the South African Union really control what I will call for sake of simplicity, Patagonia (the geographic name for Southern Argentina and Chile), or is it just unfortunate colouring?
EDIT: Question - Does the South African Union really control what I will call for sake of simplicity, Patagonia (the geographic name for Southern Argentina and Chile), or is it just unfortunate colouring?
D'Artagnan59
The Gascon
KR Narayanan for me.
Your eyes do not deceive you, that is South African Patagonia.
Milarqui
Deity
Iberia, then. It'll be easier to deal with their history.
Though, I'd like to request something: can I change its government so that it is a Liberal Democratic Republic instead of a Military Junta? It would be far easier to explain a Democracy instead of a Military Junta, because in the 1970s nearly everybody in Spain and Portugal wanted a democracy, and it would be easier to explain that. Also, I'd like to request for Iberia's capital to be in Madrid, which makes more sense than Lisbon.
Though, I'd like to request something: can I change its government so that it is a Liberal Democratic Republic instead of a Military Junta? It would be far easier to explain a Democracy instead of a Military Junta, because in the 1970s nearly everybody in Spain and Portugal wanted a democracy, and it would be easier to explain that. Also, I'd like to request for Iberia's capital to be in Madrid, which makes more sense than Lisbon.
Done. Your location would indicate you know the region better than I do, and, as incredible as it might seem, I'm actually shooting for some level of realism in the NES. Your stats now look like this.
I'll fix the maps as soon as you tell me if Madrid is the city north or south of the Tagus. EDIT: My source just told me north.
Milarqui
Deity
Nice. Once the main thread starts, I'll write a good backstory on why Portugal and Spain joined into a Republic, and then fought France.
Anonymoose
KING OF MEESE
Well Xavier Suarez was the first cuban-born mayor of Miami, and was wildly popular, so he may very well be my head of state. He was Harvard educated and doesn't look too Cuban, so the white people in the confederacy will like that. (Let's face it, people like a light-skinned leader here.) I'm making the flag and will post it shortly.
It occured to me that I created this thread without being clear how exactly I was going to run the NES. Recognizably modern alt-history games are few and far between on the forum, so there isn't much precedent. Instead of boring you with some long statement of purpose, I'll provide three links, some of which may be familiar, especially to those of my old NESers.
Icmancin's ICNES I: Troubling Future was a core inspiration for this NES (despite its regrettably abrupt ending), but obviously I'm not him, so I can't run it with his style.
My style from my last mod gig can be seen in INES Ib: Novus Ortus. It's predecessor, INES I: Anno Domini is probably less indicative of my current method, but I'm putting it here for the sake of completion.
Oddly, if you alphabetically sort all NESes from the beginning of time, you'll find that this preview thread is directly next to Icmancin's NES.
Icmancin's ICNES I: Troubling Future was a core inspiration for this NES (despite its regrettably abrupt ending), but obviously I'm not him, so I can't run it with his style.
My style from my last mod gig can be seen in INES Ib: Novus Ortus. It's predecessor, INES I: Anno Domini is probably less indicative of my current method, but I'm putting it here for the sake of completion.
Oddly, if you alphabetically sort all NESes from the beginning of time, you'll find that this preview thread is directly next to Icmancin's NES.
Milarqui
Deity
I already have worked out a rough timeline of how would Spain and Portugal join.
1974: The Revoluçao dos Cravos. The right-wing military junta that has been leading the Estado Novo de Portugal for more than 30 years falls in a coup by left-leaning soldiers. The symbol of this revolution is the carnations civilians gave to the military insurgents. Democracy is established in Portugal.
1975: Franco dies. Juan Carlos I rises to the throne as King. For the last year, the Junta Democrática de España and the Plataforma de Convergencia, formed by alliances of all pro-democracy (and illegal) parties in Spain have been pressuring for the re-establishment of the democracy that was lost in 1939 after the victory of the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. Both of them also advocate for a immediate breaking of the current legal system so that a democratic constitution may be written up. Meanwhile, in Portugal, the first democratic elections in many years, directed at the creation of the Constituent Assembly, go on, giving victory to Mario Soares' Partido Socialista.
1976: In Portugal, the first attempts to establish a true democracy work, with hard work by the politicians that wish for it to happen and going towards . In Spain, the Ley de Reforma Política, which will allow for the gradual reformation of the government into a true democracy, passes in a referendum by a wide margin, with more than 80% of positives votes.
1977: Spain sees its first democratic elections in many years: Adolfo Suárez, leading the Unión de Centro Democrático, wins by a large margin, with the left-wing Partido Socialista Obrero Español in second place. In Portugal, the first post-Constitutional elections start, and Mario Soares wins once more. In both elections, there is a surprising party: the Iberian Party, that calls for the creation of a joint Spanish-Portuguese nation so that both of them may be well heard in the world scene. They win 13 seats in the Portuguese Congress and 10 in the Spanish Congress.
1979: Spain goes through their second elections. The CDU wins again, but loses many seats. PSOE rises a lot, and the Iberian Party catches 25 seats, to the detriment of Manuel Fraga's Alianza Popular and the Partido Comunista de España.
1981: On 23rd February, extreme-wing elements within the Army attempt a coup d'etat in order to restore the Francoist regime. The Congress is taken by a group of 200 Civil Guards led by Colonel Antonio Tejero. There are only four deputies that do not hide themselves when the shots are heard: President Adolfo Suárez (who has presented his dimission), Defense Minister Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado (whom, even being 69 years old, is brave enough to face Tejero), PCE leader Santiago Carrillo and the Iberian Party leader Alfonso Guerra. This coup d'etat will be solved in less than a day thanks to the timely intervention of King Juan Carlos I, who manages to issue a speech in which he condemns the coup. However, as this is happening in the TVE studio, he doesn't know that tragedy has struck his family: in the Palacio de la Zarzuela, the official residence of the Royal Family, a group of pro-coup soldiers has entered and, accidentally, killed 18-year-old Infanta Elena, 16-year-old Infanta Cristina and, worse of all, the Prince of Asturias, 13-year-old Felipe. This will send the whole nation into mourning, as the Royal Family is well beloved in Spain. The trial against the coupers will see many of them sent to prison for more than 30 years each, and the killers of the Infantas and the Prince are killed by an assassin claiming to do this in vengeance for the children's deaths. It is soon established that King Juan Carlos had nothing to do with this: the King has been the whole time mourning next to his wife the deaths of their children.
1982: New elections in Spain and Portugal. The Socialist Party wins in both nations, but the great surprise is that the Iberian Party continues its meteoric rise. The potential entrance of both nations in the EEC is giving them wings, as both nations together will be able to fight for better standing in the world scene.
1986: Elections again in both Spain and Portugal. The Iberian Party finish their upsetting race by winning great majorities in both nations. They soon decide to hold referendums on whether a possible union between both nations is possible. Both referendums pass with more than three quarters of the voters favouring union. King Juan Carlos, heavily burdened by his loss of five years ago, decides that his time is over, and presents his abdication as King of Spain. Spain and Portugal join into the Iberian Republic. Its coin will be the Ducado, and it'll have Spanish and Portuguese as official languages, but as with the old Spanish Constitution, regions with other languages will be permitted to have them as co-officials. The nation will, curiously for a Republic, have two Heads of State: the first one will, naturally, be the President as chosen through popular voting, but the other will be Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, in recognition to the hard work he went through for so many years to restore democracy in Spain. The former King, at first, wanted to reject this honour, since he would rather live the last years of his life in peace. However, after an impassioned speech of new Prime Minister of Iberia Alfonso Guerra, in which he tells the great accomplishments the King has done in his life, the whole Congress of Deputies convening in Madrid (which will be the capital of Iberia) rises into a very long applause and cheering for Juan Carlos. It isn't long after this that an spontaneous manifestation starts in the most important cities of Spain, all of them cheering for Juan Carlos and offering their support for the man that lost so much and yet still gave a lot for the country. The images of King Juan Carlos I breaking down and crying like a child in the shoulder of his wife, Queen Sofía, go around the world, and give him great popularity in the whole nation, who has always liked him and now see that, even with such a burden on him, he is still a person like the rest of them.
1989: The Berlin Wall falls. As the Soviet Union breaks into several nations and the United States does the same, the equilibrium between the world's nations is broken.
1991: France, having undergone several years as a Socialist Republic, decides that the best thing it can do right now is to expand, since now there isn't anyone able to check on them. They choose Iberia, thinking that such a young nation will be easily pushed over. This will be a great mistake.
1993: After a hard war lasting 1 year and a half, the Socialist Republic of France and the Republic of Iberia make peace. France loses the French Pyrenées and the region of Aquitaine to Iberia for their role in starting the war, and this comes at the same time the regions of Alsace, Lorraine and a couple more secede from France and join the Central European Union.
2000: Present day. Currently, the President of the Republic is Javier Solana, and the Prime Minister is Joaquín Almunia. Juan Carlos de Borbón is still the Honorary Head of State of the Iberian Republic, and travels around the world, always making use of his diplomatic skills to attempt to broker peace between nations. Nowadays, Iberia is more united than ever, as Iberian nationalism has been a part of the culture ever since the Iberian Party rose to power.
1974: The Revoluçao dos Cravos. The right-wing military junta that has been leading the Estado Novo de Portugal for more than 30 years falls in a coup by left-leaning soldiers. The symbol of this revolution is the carnations civilians gave to the military insurgents. Democracy is established in Portugal.
1975: Franco dies. Juan Carlos I rises to the throne as King. For the last year, the Junta Democrática de España and the Plataforma de Convergencia, formed by alliances of all pro-democracy (and illegal) parties in Spain have been pressuring for the re-establishment of the democracy that was lost in 1939 after the victory of the Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. Both of them also advocate for a immediate breaking of the current legal system so that a democratic constitution may be written up. Meanwhile, in Portugal, the first democratic elections in many years, directed at the creation of the Constituent Assembly, go on, giving victory to Mario Soares' Partido Socialista.
1976: In Portugal, the first attempts to establish a true democracy work, with hard work by the politicians that wish for it to happen and going towards . In Spain, the Ley de Reforma Política, which will allow for the gradual reformation of the government into a true democracy, passes in a referendum by a wide margin, with more than 80% of positives votes.
1977: Spain sees its first democratic elections in many years: Adolfo Suárez, leading the Unión de Centro Democrático, wins by a large margin, with the left-wing Partido Socialista Obrero Español in second place. In Portugal, the first post-Constitutional elections start, and Mario Soares wins once more. In both elections, there is a surprising party: the Iberian Party, that calls for the creation of a joint Spanish-Portuguese nation so that both of them may be well heard in the world scene. They win 13 seats in the Portuguese Congress and 10 in the Spanish Congress.
1979: Spain goes through their second elections. The CDU wins again, but loses many seats. PSOE rises a lot, and the Iberian Party catches 25 seats, to the detriment of Manuel Fraga's Alianza Popular and the Partido Comunista de España.
1981: On 23rd February, extreme-wing elements within the Army attempt a coup d'etat in order to restore the Francoist regime. The Congress is taken by a group of 200 Civil Guards led by Colonel Antonio Tejero. There are only four deputies that do not hide themselves when the shots are heard: President Adolfo Suárez (who has presented his dimission), Defense Minister Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado (whom, even being 69 years old, is brave enough to face Tejero), PCE leader Santiago Carrillo and the Iberian Party leader Alfonso Guerra. This coup d'etat will be solved in less than a day thanks to the timely intervention of King Juan Carlos I, who manages to issue a speech in which he condemns the coup. However, as this is happening in the TVE studio, he doesn't know that tragedy has struck his family: in the Palacio de la Zarzuela, the official residence of the Royal Family, a group of pro-coup soldiers has entered and, accidentally, killed 18-year-old Infanta Elena, 16-year-old Infanta Cristina and, worse of all, the Prince of Asturias, 13-year-old Felipe. This will send the whole nation into mourning, as the Royal Family is well beloved in Spain. The trial against the coupers will see many of them sent to prison for more than 30 years each, and the killers of the Infantas and the Prince are killed by an assassin claiming to do this in vengeance for the children's deaths. It is soon established that King Juan Carlos had nothing to do with this: the King has been the whole time mourning next to his wife the deaths of their children.
1982: New elections in Spain and Portugal. The Socialist Party wins in both nations, but the great surprise is that the Iberian Party continues its meteoric rise. The potential entrance of both nations in the EEC is giving them wings, as both nations together will be able to fight for better standing in the world scene.
1986: Elections again in both Spain and Portugal. The Iberian Party finish their upsetting race by winning great majorities in both nations. They soon decide to hold referendums on whether a possible union between both nations is possible. Both referendums pass with more than three quarters of the voters favouring union. King Juan Carlos, heavily burdened by his loss of five years ago, decides that his time is over, and presents his abdication as King of Spain. Spain and Portugal join into the Iberian Republic. Its coin will be the Ducado, and it'll have Spanish and Portuguese as official languages, but as with the old Spanish Constitution, regions with other languages will be permitted to have them as co-officials. The nation will, curiously for a Republic, have two Heads of State: the first one will, naturally, be the President as chosen through popular voting, but the other will be Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, in recognition to the hard work he went through for so many years to restore democracy in Spain. The former King, at first, wanted to reject this honour, since he would rather live the last years of his life in peace. However, after an impassioned speech of new Prime Minister of Iberia Alfonso Guerra, in which he tells the great accomplishments the King has done in his life, the whole Congress of Deputies convening in Madrid (which will be the capital of Iberia) rises into a very long applause and cheering for Juan Carlos. It isn't long after this that an spontaneous manifestation starts in the most important cities of Spain, all of them cheering for Juan Carlos and offering their support for the man that lost so much and yet still gave a lot for the country. The images of King Juan Carlos I breaking down and crying like a child in the shoulder of his wife, Queen Sofía, go around the world, and give him great popularity in the whole nation, who has always liked him and now see that, even with such a burden on him, he is still a person like the rest of them.
1989: The Berlin Wall falls. As the Soviet Union breaks into several nations and the United States does the same, the equilibrium between the world's nations is broken.
1991: France, having undergone several years as a Socialist Republic, decides that the best thing it can do right now is to expand, since now there isn't anyone able to check on them. They choose Iberia, thinking that such a young nation will be easily pushed over. This will be a great mistake.
1993: After a hard war lasting 1 year and a half, the Socialist Republic of France and the Republic of Iberia make peace. France loses the French Pyrenées and the region of Aquitaine to Iberia for their role in starting the war, and this comes at the same time the regions of Alsace, Lorraine and a couple more secede from France and join the Central European Union.
2000: Present day. Currently, the President of the Republic is Javier Solana, and the Prime Minister is Joaquín Almunia. Juan Carlos de Borbón is still the Honorary Head of State of the Iberian Republic, and travels around the world, always making use of his diplomatic skills to attempt to broker peace between nations. Nowadays, Iberia is more united than ever, as Iberian nationalism has been a part of the culture ever since the Iberian Party rose to power.
Great timeline! Let me see if I can reconcile a point at the end with my North American narrative.
-You mention that the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall was the trigger for France's aggression. Above I mention the start date for the US collapse was 1991, so in 1989, the US wasn't due to flame out for two more years, meaning that France was aggressive while the US was still a superpower. Instead of explaining French internal politics, I'll tie the attack into the narrative into a different way: One of the reasons for Bush's fatal decision to increase American defense commitments abroad in 1991 was a feeling of guilt over American non-intervention during the Franco-Iberian War. The open question now is how French leaders correctly guessed that they would have a clear shot at Iberia in 1989 (despite their war effort not ending as intended).
-You mention that the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall was the trigger for France's aggression. Above I mention the start date for the US collapse was 1991, so in 1989, the US wasn't due to flame out for two more years, meaning that France was aggressive while the US was still a superpower. Instead of explaining French internal politics, I'll tie the attack into the narrative into a different way: One of the reasons for Bush's fatal decision to increase American defense commitments abroad in 1991 was a feeling of guilt over American non-intervention during the Franco-Iberian War. The open question now is how French leaders correctly guessed that they would have a clear shot at Iberia in 1989 (despite their war effort not ending as intended).
