A Brief History of the 20th Century: An Alternate timeline

[blah the Prussian]

And now for something completely different.

Serenes Forest Forums: General Forums: Serious Discussion

Topic: Nuking of Paris: Yay or nay?

Blah the Breton posted:

So, we're nearing that time again. 75 years ago, the German Empire destroyed Paris with a nuclear bomb, leading to their victory in the Second World War. Obviously this topic is controversial, but I believe it was absolutely justified, even if it led to preschool works of art and architecture like the Mona Lisa and the Arche de Triomphe being destroyed. So, what say you, SF? Did the bombing save Germany, or was Manstien a horrific war criminal?

Cheeky posted:

I think it was pretty clearly a war crime. The Germans could have used the bomb on French military positions, but they didn't. Instead, they used it to target innocent civilians. Using the bomb on French soldiers wouldn't just have not been a war crime, it would have been more effective too. There was no excuse for what Manstien did.

Solarflare posted:

@Cheeky: I'm going to have to stop you right there. If the Germans had nuked the French army, they would have been nuking GERMAN TERRITORY. Can you even grasp how much of a blow to German morale that would have been? It would have been insane.

Death posted:

Gonna have to agree with blah here. Documents indicate that Deloncle and Napoleon were planning to do some pretty horrific shit to the Jews of Europe but didn't do it because they were in the middle of a war. Those could have been my ancestors the bomb saved.

Cheeky posted:

And where might these oh so elusive documents be? This strikes me as just another conspiracy theory to drum up support for Judea, which is obviously a dangerous Communist rogue state.

Honesty posted:

Keep it civil here, guys.

Death posted:

@Cheeky: Seriously? Based on the insanely anti semetic rhetoric being cooked up by people like Deloncle, it was obvious something was about to happen. Obviously there is no way of knowing exactly what would have happened, but this is common knowledge here.

Joseph of Egypt posted:

Contrary to German and Russian propaganda, the anti semetic me of France was no better or worse than the antisemetism of Russia, or even Germany. Might I remind you that pogroms were only 50 years or so in the past? For that matter, many prominent Germans, like Joseph Geobbels and Leni Riefenstahl, were anti Semites. Seriously, why would Napoleon V kill the Jews? His ancestor actually freed them,

Blah the Breton posted:

@Joseph of Egypt: Are you seriously trying to draw a moral equivalency between the Fascists and the Russians? Yes, racism was a problem in Russia, especially before Rosenbaum, but fucking seriously? The French fucking enslaved the Algerians and used them as slave labor! There is no moral equivalency here, none at all, none whatsoever.

Aquitane4life posted:

Aquitaine STRONK! Remove Brie from the premises! 1974 best year of life! Haha stay in zoo filthy smell smell Frenchman. Zoo zoo Fcuk FCUK hall Deloncle Bonapartists.mFCUK

Blah the Breton posted:

Oh fucking hell, we have an Occitan nationalist here, do we? Seriously, get out of here.

TehGaulist posted:

Vive de Gualle! Düsseldorf never happened! Fascism is the way forwards! Fuck the Occitans! Bonapartist forever!

Honesty posted:

Okay, this thread is officially a Neo Fascist circle jerk. Aquitaine, Gaulist, I will be having a chat with you two via PM. It clearly says on the code of conduct that the kind of xenophobia you have displayed here is forbidden. Thread locked.

[henrymidfields]

Hahahaha. Well, looks like some things do not change, do they? I wonder if our alter egos would be playing the same Fire Emblem games as our real-life selves do.

[blah the Prussian]

Video games will be covered in a future update, but the same games won't have been made.

[Moblin Major General]

Who is who in these dialogues? And what of me and my liberal American Communist views? I am a minor player in SD after all.

[blah the Prussian]

Who is who in these dialogues? And what of me and my liberal American Communist views? I am a minor player in SD after all.

Blah the Breton is me, of course, Death is Pharoahe Monche, Honesty is Integrity, Cheeky is Chiki (he used to be around a lot and we frequently sparred on a number of issues) Joseph of Egypt is Essau of Isaac, the Gaulist guy is a stereotypical Neo Fascist Stormfront guy, and the Aquitaine guy is a parody of Serbian ultra nationalists in the style of Milosevič. I would look like an asshole if I made an actual person be really, really dumb. Anyway, the reason you're not there is that I couldn't think of a good enough parody name.

[Moblin Major General]

Here's probably me: Just as well, but did they really have to show us up by using such a dangerous weapon? If only it weren't for the Pyrenees, France would've been split. Maybe then it would've turned out for the better instead of being the same racist bull****. As for conspiracy, is that because my country was under that ******* Long when Israel was formed? What an ***hole.

[blah the Prussian]

Here's probably me: Just as well, but did they really have to show us up by using such a dangerous weapon? If only it weren't for the Pyrenees, France would've been split. Maybe then it would've turned out for the better instead of being the same racist bull****. As for conspiracy, is that because my country was under that ******* Long when Israel was formed? What an ***hole.

Then I say: Wait, you want half of France to be Communist?

In all seriousness, this was mainly foreshadowing for what is to come in France.

[blah the Prussian]

Note: If by chance this contradicts what I have previously said at any point, this canonically overrides whatever it contradicts.

Interlude: The Superheros

As discussed in previous chapters, the superhero genre was first created by writer and artist Joseph Geobbels, with his Overman character. Since then, superheros have gone from cheap entertainment to a legitimate genre of high works of fiction, with comics today being honored as just as important as other forms of art and entertainment. Thus, it is worth going into detail about some of the most important and recognized superheros, and their basic history.

Uberman:

Created by Joseph Geobbels, Uberman was the world's first superhero. His backstory is that he was the heir of the planet Krypton, before a Revolution led by the evil General Zod forced the royal family to send him as a baby to planet earth, where he was adopted by farmers in East Prussia. Uberman soon discovered he had incredible abilities due to being on Earth, and used them for the good of mankind. While his archenemy is the aforementioned General Zod, he has also clashed with such villains as Alexander Luthor, who has been everything from a corrupt politician to a business tycoon, to Braniac, an extremely intelligent robot. Uberman got his own movie in 1970, although recent movies starring him have flopped. Still, Uberman remains an iconic superhero.

Iron Man

The American comic writer Stan Lee would soon produce Communism's answer to Ultraman: Iron Man. Set in a world where America is still dominated by Capitalism, Iron Man stars James "Rhodie" Rhodes, a lower class worker who is employed by tycoon Tony Stark to test out his new suit of armor. After he discovers that Stark is evil, Rhodes vows to use his suit to fight the evil tycoon. Although its themes are obviously in favor of Communism, the Iron Man comics are still entertaining reads, and the Communist themes have decidedly toned down in recent years.

Colonel Germany

Another example of propaganda done right, Colonel Germany was originally a blatant recruiting advertisement during WWII, but he has since evolved into a very nuanced character. Gregor Halmann was a scrawny weakling who couldn't join the army, until he was injected with a serum that made him a super soldier. He wields an extremely sturdy sword and shield into battle, and his costume is inspired by the Teutonic Knights. Although his first run ended in the 40s, he was brought back in the 60s, the story being that he was frozen in ice in a fight against the French. His archival is the Monster, real name Jean Libert, who was forced by the Fascist French into a super soldier program as a child. The trauma left him insane, and he now has a position as the world's most dangerous serial killer/terrorist. The Monster is considered, generally, to be one of the most compelling parts of the comic. The Colonel would be joined starting in 1971 by Anne Libert, the Monster's good sister.

Nemesis

Nemesis is probably the second most famous superhero, after Uberman. He was created by Walt Disney, an American exile living in the Russian Empire. Nemesis was originally Bruce Wayne, a rich boy living in the fictional American city of Gotham. After the Revolution, his parents were murdered in front of him, and he became Nemesis, dedicated to getting revenge against the Communists. His comic is notable for being far, far darker than other comics, with Nemesis regularly killing his enemies. His enemies include the sinister Commisar Gordon, head of the PBI in Gotham, and the Joker, another resistance fighter who targets innocent civilians. The name "Nemesis" comes from the Greek god of vengeance.

[Moblin Major General]

I wonder if this Iron Man was always black, or if they made Rhodes black later? Also, the reversal of who's really the bad guy in Nemesis, because Joker might've been a close friend, but now don't see eye to eye because of Joker's accident at State Chemical Plant. Also, Alex Luthor is Jewish, just to include Goebbels being racist, but without a far right regime to exercise his beliefs openly.

[blah the Prussian]

I wonder if this Iron Man was always black, or if they made Rhodes black later? Also, the reversal of who's really the bad guy in Nemesis, because Joker might've been a close friend, but now don't see eye to eye because of Joker's accident at State Chemical Plant. Also, Alex Luthor is Jewish, just to include Goebbels being racist, but without a far right regime to exercise his beliefs openly.

Always black, because the USSA loves to point out how not racist they are. Those other two ideas are actually really good; also Jean Libert and Anne Libert are Johann and Anna Liebert.

[blah the Prussian]

How the World Ended

Just as the Cold War was beginning, everything ended all at once. The Aliens came. Viscous scum beings from the planet Neptune ruthlessly invaded Earth, crushing all resistance. After they won, they enslaved all of humanity, reducing human civilization to a footnote in galactic history. And that, i suppose, is where this story must end.

April fools!

[Moblin Major General]

American Communism done fucked everything up. Good job.

[blah the Prussian]

Alright, alright, real update.

Chapter 4

Big Trouble in Equally Big China

China ended WWII essentially devastated. The Chinese had been comprehensively defeated, their population had been devastated by Wang’s conscription of them in the last days of the war, and, finally, China was divided. Worst of all, the Qing Imperial Family had been completely wiped out by Wang, leaving a power vacuum. Although Japan and India would jointly occupy China for a few years, by 1950 it was clear that the occupation was unsustainable, and both parties withdrew. Meanwhile, Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sinkiang had been annexed by the Russian Empire. For China, the Warlord Era had begun.

Before getting into the war itself, the factions that fought the war are worth examining. Firstly, there was the Second Ming Dynasty, centered around Nanjing. When the Japanese had defeated the Wang regime, they had dragged up some sheltered aristocrat who was apparently descended from the Ming Dynasty named Zhu Rongji, and crowned him Emperor. Zhu was in practice dominated completely by General Chiang Kai Shek, who was one of the few generals of the Sinocentric regime to switch sides. The Second Ming Dynasty was deeply unpopular, and only controlled all of China in practice for about a day. Whatever the case, it was the shortest lived dynasty in Chinese history.

In the mountains of Southwestern China, meanwhile, were holdouts of the Wang regime who were still loyal to Chinese Fascism. They were a relatively minor faction, but their official revolt against the Second Ming was what would start the Warlord Era in the first place, so I am obligated to mention them. Moving on.

Speaking of warlords, they were essentially leaders of men, be they former generals, crime bosses, or bandits, who found themselves with the most guns in a given area, and then took over that area. Some of them genuinely aspired to rule all of China, while some just wanted money, but the significant ones were the Guangxi Clique in the south, the Shaanxi Clique in the north, and the Ma Clique in the west. The Guangxi and the Shaanxi were both Republican in nature, but neither of them could agree on who was MORE Republican. The Ma wanted an independent Islamic Chinese state.

And now we get to the main event. The I Kuan Tao. Zhang Zhulang. The unwanted fourth Abrahamic religion.

Zhang Zhulang was (hopefully)the kast prophet in history. He claimed one day in 1945 that Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed had come to him one day in a dream and told him that none of their faiths were the answer, and that the time was now to bring the light of Heaven to China. Zhang woke up the next day and launched into a fiery speech declaring that the Lord was punishing China with their hardships because they had lost the way. For millennia, they had worshipped heathen Emperors. Now, he, Zhang Zhulang, would bring the light of the Lord to them.

In virtually any other country, Zhang would have been dismissed as crazy. However, his rhetoric appealed greatly to the group in China that had always gotten the short end of the stick: the peasants. Zhang told them that their troubles were the cause of the immorality of their masters, and that to strike their masters down was their heavenly duty, and that everyone who helped him in his holy mission to conquer the world would surely go to heaven. Uniquely among the Abrahamic religions, and China, the I Kuan Tao faith did not discriminate against women. This gave Zhang an edge over his opponents, having, essentially, twice the (wo)manpower. By 1950, the I Kuan Tao was still relegated to the underground, but it was beginning to get more and more popular. When Guanxi forces essentially crushed the Fascists in 1952, those Fascists mostly converted to the I Kuan Tao. Zhang was growing in power and influence by the day.

So why didn't anyone stop Zhang before it was too late? Well, they were all fighting each other. Nanjing was devastated in a three way battle between the Ming, the Shaanxi, and the Guangxi in 1954, and the Ma had fallen into anarchy as more and more Chinese Muslims converted to the I Kuan Tao. Still, though, only 40% of Chinese subscribed to the faith. However, they were the ones with the guns. In the middle of the Battle of Nanjing, Zhang gave the order. The Night of Fire had begun.

Maybe the Emperor and the Warlords should have payed closer attention to their people. If they had, they would have noticed where all their deserters were going. They would have noticed armed bands readying for the day of reckoning. The problem is, though, that they didn’t, so when, at Zhang’s command, all the peoples of China rose up at once, well, it caught them off guard. When their soldiers refused to fight the I Kuan Tao, they must have known they were, in a word, fucked. We can’t know for sure because the Emperor, his family, and the warlords were all dead when the Night of Fire ended. Another thing: Zhang Zhulang was the new leader of China.

Styling himself the “Great Teacher”, Zhang began to bring his faith to the rest of China. His first act was to order the peasants to leave their fields, and hunt down the heretics. The famous British comedy sketch “No one expects the Chinese Inquisition!” parodies the events, but it is actually quite true to life: armed bands of fanatics roaming around the countryside, slaughtering anyone they felt like. Most dictators embrace order. Zhang Zhulang embraced anarchy. And his rule had just begun.

[henrymidfields]

So is this some sort of a personality cult seen with the Kim regime in real-life North Korea mixed with a really twisted religious extremism seen in real-life Al-Queda/ISIS? Desparate times comes with desperate measures indeed.

[blah the Prussian]

So is this some sort of a personality cult seen with the Kim regime in real-life North Korea mixed with a really twisted religious extremism seen in real-life Al-Queda/ISIS? Desparate times comes with desperate measures indeed.

Its more like ISIS mixed with the Khmer Rouge, and the Chinese Inquisition is similar to the Cultural Revolution and there Red Guards.

[blah the Prussian]

It was the same routine every fucking day. Wake up. Have breakfast. Look with envy at all the wealth he couldn't have. Receive his paycheck. Spend his workday caring for a spoiled brat who would never be grateful for anything in her life. I'm a veteran of the Second World War, the man thought ruefully, and this is how I am repaid?

The man thus began another day of his job as the personal butler of Princess Hiedi of Prussia, granddaughter to the Kaiser.

Just as he finished his breakfast, he heard the bell ring. The sleeping beauty had finally awakened. Good. He sighed, walking towards Her Majesty's bedroom. The ten year old was seemingly immune to the morning grumpiness that so affected him. "Good morning, Reiny!" she said brightly, using a pet name that she had devised for him years ago. How he hated that pet name.

"Did you have a good sleep, madame?" the butler dutifully enquired of his mistress, as he began to dress her. He did not need to be dressed when he was fighting at Hannover!
"Oh, it was positively wonderful!" she answered, more bubbly than ever. "I had a dream where I was flying in a giant spaceship, but then this other spaceship came, and..."

The butler began to zone out.

When he was, at long last done, he prepared to retire, as the Princess's lessons were to begin. It was then, however, that he remembered a fact that was rather unpleasant for him: it was Saturday. The Princess did not have lessons today. That meant... no...

The butler sat at the table, too small for him by far, in some unholy abomination his charge called a 'dress'. She looked up at him, smiling. "More tea, Reiny?"

Reinhard Heydrich hated his job.

[Moblin Major General]

It was the same routine every fucking day. Wake up. Have breakfast. Look with envy at all the wealth he couldn't have. Receive his paycheck. Spend his workday caring for a spoiled brat who would never be grateful for anything in her life. I'm a veteran of the Second World War, the man thought ruefully, and this is how I am repaid?

The man thus began another day of his job as the personal butler of Princess Hiedi of Prussia, granddaughter to the Kaiser.

Just as he finished his breakfast, he heard the bell ring. The sleeping beauty had finally awakened. Good. He sighed, walking towards Her Majesty's bedroom. The ten year old was seemingly immune to the morning grumpiness that so affected him. "Good morning, Reiny!" she said brightly, using a pet name that she had devised for him years ago. How he hated that pet name.

"Did you have a good sleep, madame?" the butler dutifully enquired of his mistress, as he began to dress her. He did not need to be dressed when he was fighting at Hannover!

"Oh, it was positively wonderful!" she answered, more bubbly than ever. "I had a dream where I was flying in a giant spaceship, but then this other spaceship came, and..."

The butler began to zone out.

When he was, at long last done, he prepared to retire, as the Princess's lessons were to begin. It was then, however, that he remembered a fact that was rather unpleasant for him: it was Saturday. The Princess did not have lessons today. That meant... no...

The butler sat at the table, too small for him by far, in some unholy abomination his charge called a 'dress'. She looked up at him, smiling. "More tea, Reiny?"

Reinhard Heydrich hated his job.

The least that bastard deserves. Absolutely beautiful.

[blah the Prussian]

The least that bastard deserves. Absolutely beautiful.

He actually said something akin to "I don't think Jews deserve to die, I just don't care." He was a sociopath, not an ideologue. Admittedly it is debatable which of those two is worse.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 5

Decolonization and Revolution in the Middle East

After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, the German Empire had received a good deal of the Empire’s land as “mandates”. To the leaders of the German Empire at the time, a mandate (technically a protectorate that would eventually get independence) was a colony. Now, though, with Germany hobbled from the Second World War, the time had come to finally grant these countries independence. Thus, the stage for the modern history of the Middle East was set.

Germany, in its confrontations with the Turks, had strongly backed the Hashemite Dynasty, which claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad. Hashemite monarchs had been installed by the Germans in their mandates of Iraq and Transjordan. Following WWII, the Italian mandate of Syria was handed over to German control. Following a referendum in 1945, the mandates of Syria and Jordan were united under one monarch, Abdullah I. Iraq, meanwhile, was ruled by Faisal II, after his father, Ghazi I, died. Germany granted independence both to the Kingdom of Iraq and the Kingdom of Jordan-Syria in 1948, along with the Kingdom of Egypt, which had also been taken from Mussolini’s Italy. Almost immediately, it was clear that these new nations were badly unstable. The consequences of this would soon become apparent.

Firstly, Iraq. Iraq was badly unstable for several reasons. Firstly, Iraqi nationalists desired territory held by the Kingdom of Kurdistan to the north. Secondly, the monarchy had become deeply unpopular with the people of Iraq, due firstly to its life of luxury and secondly to its perception as a puppet of Germany. This made Iraq fertile ground for the cause of Pan Arabic Nationalism, or Baathism. Baathism as an idea would come to define Middle Eastern history for the next several decades.

Syria-Jordan faced these problems to a much lesser degree. The Kingdom was far richer than Iraq, and in Syria at least the Germans were viewed far more positively. Syria-Jordan had a modern army supplied primarily by Germany. King Tigers, Mausers, and Stukas were common sights in the Syrian-Jordanian army. It was no coincidence that this nation was the nation from whence the modern Arabian Empire would spring. But I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Lastly, Egypt. Egypt’s King, Abbas, was a nationalist through and through. He was viewed by many as a strong leader, earning the nickname “The new Pharaoh”. He had military credentials to back this up, leading the Egyptian Resistance Movement against his brother, Farouk, a puppet of Mussolini. Now, though, Farouk faced a new challenge from the West in the form of the North African Socialist Republic, a Federation established from the North African nations the Americans had “Liberated”. Because of this, Abbas would be another staunch German ally, though more active in Africa than in the Middle East.

So with that, the stage is set for what would become the Great Middle Eastern War. This war would determine the politics of the Middle East, period. It cannot be overstated how decisive this war was. Three main events, though, would lead to the beginning of this war. It would be centered around the ongoing conflict in the Levant, the Kingdom of Kurdistan, and, finally, the struggle between Iraq and Syria-Jordan, between Fascism and Monarchism for control of the Middle East. So, how did the region get there?

The first event that led to war was the Turkish Revolution. Since WWI, the Sultanate of Turkey had been a very unstable Constitutional Monarchy. With the Caliphate abolished and Constantinople lost to the Greeks, the legitimacy of the House of Osman plummeted, a situation not helped by corrupt politicians. Turkish Nationalists centered around the Turanian Party, who dreamed of a new Turkish Empire stretching through the Caucasus and into Central Asia, were growing in popularity by the day. Their ire was focused mainly on Greece, who held the all important city of Constantinople, and Kurdistan, who they viewed as traitors to Islam who had sold out both Turkey and Islam to Russia(led by a woman, at that!).

The Sultanate had remained neutral in WWII, which only further inflamed nationalist tendencies. In the Turkish elections of 1948, the Turanian Party, led by the firebrand Nihal Atziz, won 40% of seats in the Turkish Parliament, a majority, but Sultan Osman Faud refused to name Atziz as Grand Vizier, nominating another. This led to Turanian Party supporters rioting across the nation. The Sultan ordered the army in to quell the riots, but General Ismet Inonu, who had Turanian sympathies, declared his loyalty to Atziz. On May 3, 1950, Sultan Osman fled into exile, and Atziz and Inonu marched into Ankara. The State of Turania was declared, and Turkey entered into a rearmament program.

Atziz turned to every anti-European dictator’s favorite sponsor, Huey Long. Long was very interested in Atziz’s designs on Constantinople; a power friendly to America in possession of the Bosphorus Straits would be a massive boon to American foreign policy. Of course, Long disapproved of Fascism, but then, anything to cripple the Capitalists. Thus, Communism and Fascism formed an unlikely alliance in the Middle East.

Another unlikely alliance the Turanians would form was with the Baathists. One might expect that Turkish and Arab nationalists would oppose each other, but Atziz had no real interest in reconquering the Ottoman Empire’s Arab lands, arguing that his state would be for Turks and Turks only. The Baathists, meanwhile, had no interest in Turkish lands, but merely wanted to unify Arabia. Both, meanwhile, had a common enemy in the form of the Kingdom of Kurdistan, which held lands both parties saw as rightfully theirs. Thus, when the second event happened- the Baathist coup against King Faisal II- Nihal Atziz and Iraqi leader General Abdul Qasim signed an alliance, with the clear goal of the partition of Kurdistan.

To get into the 1953 coup itself, it was essentially sparked by King Faisal II refusing to sent aid to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which, as mentioned before, was supported by Saudi Arabia. The King did not wish to support a terror organization, but the Baathists used this event (or lack of event) as proof that the King was a puppet of Europe. Thus, a military coup swept the Baathists to power. Iraq was now a military dictatorship with the goal of unifying all Arab lands.

One might wonder why Syria-Jordan was not effected by this unrest; King Abdullah I also did not send aid to the PLO. Abdullah, however, was already far more popular than Faisal amongst his subjects, and the military, being heavily supplied by Germany, was more pro-German. In addition, while King Faisal rejected Pan Arab nationalism, King Abdullah embraced it, especially after the Baathist takeover.

The third and final event that would lead to the Great Middle Eastern War was the death of King Abdullah in 1960. With his death, Abdullah’s 24 year old son Hussein ascended to the throne as an even more pan nationalist leader than his father. Hussein also recognized the danger posed to his country by both Turania and Iraq, and so signed a defensive pact with the Kingdom of Kurdistan. The stage was officially set for the war. All that was really needed was a catalyst for the shooting to begin.

That catalyst came as rioting broke out across Kurdistan during 1960 in response to foreign companies dominating Kurdish oil. Kurdish nationalist leaders protested the state of the Kurdish economy, demanding the wealth be used to benefit the people of Kurdistan more. A noble cause, to be sure, but it perhaps was not argued for at the best time, with the sharks of Turania and Iraq circling the Kurds. On October 20, 1962, Atziz and Qasim, seeing their chance, declared war on Kurdistan, to “reclaim the ancestral lands of the Iraqi and Turkish peoples”. Hussein immediately declared war on Iraq and Turania, as the forces of those two countries crossed into Kurdistan, still in a state of unrest. The Great Middle Eastern War had begun.

[blah the Prussian]

Chapter 6

Here Comes the Sun

Japan emerged from the Second World War as by far the strongest nation in Asia, commanding a new alliance that fought against both European Imperialism and Communism. During the 50s and 60s, East Asia would truly enter the modern age, as skyscrapers were erected in Korea, insurgents hid in the jungles of Laos and Cambodia, and the anime of Japan fascinated the world.

Japans rival as a superpower in Southeast Asia was unquestionably the Peoples Republic of India. India had gained its own sphere of influence in Burma and Thailand following the defeat of Sinocentric China, and was eager to expand it into Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The monarchies of Laos and Cambodia, at least at the time, were unpopular, being viewed (not entirely unfairly) as puppets of Tokyo. Thus, the Indian funded insurgents were able to control large parts of the jungles of Laos and Cambodia. This crisis came to a head when Indian backed insurgents were able to assault Ankor Wat the capital of Cambodia, in 1957. This led to King Norodorom Sianouk begging Japanese Prime Minister Hiroshi Yamauchi to intervene. As such, on September 13, 1957, the first Japanese troops landed in Cambodia and Laos, pushing the Communist insurgents back to the jungle. It was the start of what would be known as the Wars of Decolonization in Southeast Asia.

Now is as good a time as any to bring up the man who dominated these wars, and the period in general: Japanese Prime Minister Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi was born in 1927, to the owner and CEO of an obscure Japanese trading card company, established during the Meiji Restoration, called Nintendo. (Authors notes: this is actually true. Nintendo is that old. Look it up.) Unfortunately for Yamauchi, Nintendo was forced to declare bankruptcy in1929, when it lost its biggest market, the USSA, after Long cut off trade to Capitalist countries. The Yamauchi family was driven into poverty. This incident left Yamauchi with a great hatred of Communism, which, lets say, he would act upon during the Wars of Decolonization.

Yamauchi joined the Imperial Army in 1943, the earliest time he was of age, and served with distinction in Operation Overthrow, famously saving the life of Emperor Hirohito himself from a Chinese sniper when the Emperor was visiting the front. Rising to the rank of Captain, he became the youngest person ever to be elected to the Imperial Diet in 1950, at the age of only 23. Using his popularity as a soldier to his advantage, he became Prime Minister of Japan in 1955 on a radically anti Communist platform. Thus, two years later, when the Cambodians begged for help against the Red Menace, Yamauchi was outright thrilled to accept.

The General in charge of operations against the Communists was Prince Nobuhito, the brother of the Emperor. Nobuhito had had experience with guerrilla war before when serving in Korea. Seeing the Korean tactics against the Chinese, he discerned that the way to win the guerrilla war was to win the hearts and minds of the people of Laos and Cambodia. But how to achieve that goal?

Nobuhitos plan was quite simple. When the spring of 1958 hit, the Japanese and Cambidian/Lao armies swept out of the cities, identifying the farmlands of the areas as key targets. Time and time again, his armies would meet the insurgents, and time and time again, the insurgents would be forced to retreat, eventually retreating into the jungles of Laos and Cambodia. This was accomplished in its entirety by 1960.

What Nobuhito did next was simple: he essentially turned to the Kings of Laos and Cambodia and informed them that they had to get their shit together. With Japanese aid, Laos and Cambodia began to modernize. The peasants were being fed again. By targeting the power base of the Communists, Nobuhito had destroyed the effectiveness of their guerrilla war. He then stepped back and allowed the governments of Cambodia and Laos to finish the insurgents. In this way, the insurgencies were effectively defeated by 1965. Cambodia and Laos had entered the modern age. Meanwhile, some obscure rebel leader named Pol Pot died a death only significant for its flamboyance: as the Cambodian royal army converged on the positions of his soldiers, he retreated into a cave, only for the inside of that cave to be hit full force by a missile, and then collapse on top of him. His body was never found, and has likely been reduced to an atomic level.

Unfortunately for Japan, and the world, they were not so lucky in Malaysia and Indonesia. These two countries would become the birthplace of a new ideology: Islamic Fundamentalism, or Islamism. Islamism was a response both to Communism and secular Capitalism; it was the new reaction. Many credit the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the humiliation of the Caliphs, the House of Osman, that had a Potsdam like effect on Muslims. Indeed, Islamist rhetoric declared that the House of Osman had sold out to the West, and thus was no longer in the favor of Allah. A new Caliphate was needed, they argued, one that would not kowtow to the Infidel. Islamism would see its rise in Indonesia.

As mentioned previously, the Indonesian Federation had been granted independence by the Dutch after Japan had liberated it from Chinese occupation in WWII. Following this, the island was firmly in the Japanese sphere of influence, and was a vital supplier of oil to Japan. That all changed, though, when a Communist coup led by Achmed Sukarno and backed by Long seized control of Jakarta in 1958. Yamauchi was in a panic; losing Indonesia would be a huge blow to Japan. So he did the only thing he really could: give arms to any and all opposition groups: in this case, the Islamic Brotherhood of Indonesia, led by a charismatic Imam known only as Suharto.

The Islamist Insurgency was renowned for its brutality, with Communist forces persecuting Muslims, Islamist forces publicly beheading Communists, and both sides committing genocide against Indonesias Protestant, Hindu, and Buddhist minorities. After ten years of war, though, Suharto finally marched triumphantly into Jakarta, declaring the Islamic State of Indonesia.

Unfortunately for Yamauchi, he had just helped fill the Pandoras Box of Islamic Fundamentalism. This sowed the seeds for the Wars of Religion of the 1970s and 80s. But as they say, that is a story for another day, because the worlds attention was about to be captured by another crisis, from South Africa. The city of Soweto had been captured by insurgents, and Hendrik Voerward had done something that hadnt been done since 1941.

Soweto was destroyed by an Atomic Bomb.

Edited May 11, 2016 by blah the Prussian

[Moblin Major General]

Pertaining to my previous posts, my alternate username is "Field Marshall Montgomery". Use this in any other AU threads you devise. On to the topic: Wow, what scale of a nuclear war are we talking with Pretoria being leveled? Also, would the capital be Johannesburg or Cape Town? I also manage to avoid an Islamic crisis because, Ironically, Enver Pasha's envisioned "Turkey for Turks" spared several countries.

[blah the Prussian]

Pertaining to my previous posts, my alternate username is "Field Marshall Montgomery". Use this in any other AU threads you devise. On to the topic: Wow, what scale of a nuclear war are we talking with Pretoria being leveled? Also, would the capital be Johannesburg or Cape Town? I also manage to avoid an Islamic crisis because, Ironically, Enver Pasha's envisioned "Turkey for Turks" spared several countries.

D'oh! I meant Soweto was leveled. Fixed now. In any case, don't worry, its not a nuclear war. The capitol is Cape Town. Islamic fundamentalism happens pretty much for the same reason as it did in our world; Muslims get a Weimar Complex from the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate.

[henrymidfields]

Wow, so Blah!Japan's like the Asian version of the RL!-United-States. She even has hew own "Marshall Plan" that would become the soft power against Indian Communism. Is this version of the Special Higher Police (Tokubetsu Koutou Keisatsu) like the Japanese version of the CIA? Has it even got its own "Macarthy" and "House of Un-Japanese? Activities"? I'm also having a really bad feeling that...oh I'm not going to say it out in public. I'll send you a PM.

I also gather that because of how Blah!Japan is on the winning side of Blah!WWII, it's probably has a permanent seat in the Blah!UN council. Even RL!Japan used to (not sure about now) have a temporary seat in the RL!UN council, and they were on the losing side of RL!WWII.

I know that this is a touchy question, but how is racism in play in this universe? Are Europeans and Asians, in a general sense, on a slightly more equal footing?

PS Are you looking forward to Pokémon Sun and Moon? Drop by at my profile.

Edited May 11, 2016 by henrymidfields

[blah the Prussian]

Wow, so Blah!Japan's like the Asian version of the RL!-United-States. She even has hew own "Marshall Plan" that would become the soft power against Indian Communism. Is this version of the Special Higher Police (Tokubetsu Koutou Keisatsu) like the Japanese version of the CIA? Has it even got its own "Macarthy" and "House of Un-Japanese? Activities"? I'm also having a really bad feeling that...oh I'm not going to say it out in public. I'll send you a PM.

I also gather that because of how Blah!Japan is on the winning side of Blah!WWII, it's probably has a permanent seat in the Blah!UN council. Even RL!Japan used to (not sure about now) have a temporary seat in the RL!UN council, and they were on the losing side of RL!WWII.

I know that this is a touchy question, but how is racism in play in this universe? Are Europeans and Asians, in a general sense, on a slightly more equal footing?

PS Are you looking forward to Pokémon Sun and Moon? Drop by at my profile.

Japan isn't an analogue for the USA here, because it frankly isn't nearly as powerful. It is similar to America in that it is definitely the most economically Libertarian of the Great Powers. But yeah, Japan basically has a huge network of Asian countries that are open to Japanese markets. As for racism, it's a mixed bag. Apartheid South Africa is about to go boom, which I haven't been very subtle about. Generally speaking there isn't a nebulous "Asian" stereotype in this world because non Asian countries don't economically dominate it; instead Japan does. Japan, though, doesn't really economically exploit its sphere any less than America did in our world; those peasants in Cambodia and Laos are just trading factories for the fields, although their state is much better than before. In Japan since the far right never really got beaten down there is a lot of racist sentiment, particularly against the Chinese, who of course are busy getting torn apart by the Shanqing. In America, meanwhile, racism was superficially beaten out by the secret police; it still exists but under the surface, and it's being repressed. The main people who have it worse here are the Jews because there was no Holocaust to make people realize that Antisemetism is bad. Russia especially has a problem with this, and it will be addressed in a future update. Finally and much like our world Islamophobia is about to increase by a lot, but not quite yet. It is already present mainly, once again in Russia, because the whole part of Russia's identity involving bitchslap ping the Ottoman's hasn't quite faded.

[blah the Prussian]

And here we have a character tie in RP focusing on the rise of the USSA. I highly encourage any loyal readers to join:

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=63633