Lastly some real old stuff that I like because one is my favorite AH short story and the other one is just fun.
"Empire" Map
Right, so here in the Munroist style is my next AH map, this one being of the world of the 2002 Sideways Award Winning short-story “Empire” by William Sanders. For those whom haven’t read Alternate Generals II, “Empire” is set in a world where after the end of his Corsican adventure Napoleon by chance takes a ship to the United States, and eventually involves himself in a successful Burr Plot. Things happen, and Napoleon is the crowned head of an unnamed empire centered in New Orleans, and Burr is dead. If you haven’t read it, go, it’s worth it.
The map anyway, is set before the short story, at the high water mark of Napoleon’s Empire. The Republic of France continues to hold out, against irregular Coalitions assembled against it, with its main war at the moment being in Spain, though it still is willing to issue letters of Marquis against anyone who opposes it, especially the English, much to the benefit of American and Mississippian Privateers. In spite of a less dramatic French Republic, Germany is still pretty messed up, with a French Buffer Republic of the Rhine cutting across old borders and forcing a lot of the smaller states to try and figure out, what orientation they should take, between Prussia and Austria, that question incidentally has slowed any operations against France from the Germanys down to a Crawl.
Meanwhile in the Americas...
When the French invaded Spain, their ally in New Orleans looked south and said that Mexico was a rotten house that would cave in when the door was kicked open, and thus invaded. It took a year to make it from the Cajun Districts to Mexico City, a long hard fought year, but in the end, l’Emperor was able to crown his Brother Joseph the Ruler of all of Mexico. Surprisingly the people of Mexico and the Spanish that were in the Viceroyalty did not approve of this so much, and from those areas still unconquered by the Mississippians came forces loyal to the Spanish Crown, to the local strongman, to an idea of a free Mexican State. They hate each other, but they hate the Bonaparte’s a slight bit more, and refuse to give up the fight. Mexico has become a war of ambush and murder, as the Mississippian troops there fight tooth and nail for survival when they once fought for the nice land grants of Tejas they have been promised by their monarch, his brother, and by their much loved Marshals, Jackson and the late Pike.
The War of Independence as the Mississippians call it, or the Western War as the “Yankees” have come to call it, causes some serious problems for the United States. Jefferson’s failure to buy Louisiana, or to keep his Vice President and some Army Officers from tearing the nation in two, unsurprisingly cost him a second term. President George Clinton would come into office, accepting that the West was for now, not destined to be American. There was a growing issue over the Embargo Act that Jefferson had passed in response to the European War, but when the New England States threatened to leave the Union like their Western Cousins had, Clinton backed down, just short of a shooting war. Now the country is redefining itself, with dashes of Nationalism and by kicking up a fuss to hold onto Franklin and Washington the two states in the disputed border regions with Napoleon.
Canada was a third issue. Napoleon’s empire always had the lowest support in the Northwest territory, but that didn’t stop a small number of Rabble Rousers in Nova Scotia and Quebec from causing trouble. That, the military-based settlement of Lowermost and Upper Canada (OTL New Brunswick and Ontario), and the increased number of immigrants to Canada now that the United States has no more room to Expand and Napoleon is a radical, has led the British Crown to attempt a Canadian Version of the Albany Plan of Union for its colonies in the North, this is paying off now that Napoleon has invaded, and a French Naval Squadron is somewhere in the Atlantic probably heading for Quebec, as Canadian volunteer regiments are pouring in and guerrillas have not given up the fight. The Canadian House of Commons now in Halifax has been able to convince Americans to come aid it as its own regiments and Redcoats fight a tide.
And while the Emperor leads his legions ever northward up the St. Lawrence valley, intent on taking Quebec with French naval support and wintering in that city, trouble has begun in his rear. Tecumseh, an Indian leader in the north of his Empire is raising a banner of revolt, having once found sanctuary in Canada and now in Washington State, his small band travels from village to village, and increased skirmishing has led to warning from local commanders, who doubt they can keep the supply line open for the Emperor from the Mississippi, their calls though are being ignored, as the Emperor is sure to find supplies and support from the cities of Lower Canada, moaning under Anglo-Oppression.
Lastly is the issue of Haiti, (Which I have added) for when the Slaves of Haiti threw off their French Slavemasters, they found themselves not only at war with distant and besieged Revolutionary France but with a whole world that feared the idea of a nation founded by Slave Revolt. Amongst those whom feared it was the Empire of Mississippi whom as a French Ally was willing and able to do something about it. The Coastal Cities were conquered quickly but the Republic of Haiti was a harder thing to kill then that, since then an unpleasant race war has dragged on, with the Empires small merchant marine being used almost exclusively to support the Army on the island of Hispaniola, and to ship back the profits of the newly reestablished Slave Plantations there.
As the ruler who claims all from San Francisco Bay to the Atlantic coast of Florida sits in his chilly tent outside of Quebec though, victory seems assured. He has never been defeated before, no alliance of chaos in Mexico, no slaves of Haiti, no outnumbered British in Canada will defeat him, and who knows what will come after the conquest of North and South are settled? Perhaps then, his enlightened rule will be able to march over the Cumberland Gap, and bring in the Yankee South into his domain, surely the Aristocrats of the Carolinas can see the advantages of joining the most powerful Empire this continent has ever seen…
-------
The 8th Day of May.
Just a map I've thrown together, based on the events of the novel and classic Burt Lancaster/Kirk Douglas movie "Seven Days in May" both from the early 1960's but set in a vision of the 1970's where no counter culture ever developed, the cultural 50's continued, and while there was no war in Vietnam, the US and USSR fought a war in Iran that was similar to the one in Korea, and the unpopular but legal government of the US came close to being overthrown by Air Force General, and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, James Mattoon Scott, when the president proposed a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Russians. In the book and the movie, Scott’s Marine Corps Aid while opposed to the President’s plan stands with the Constitution and helps cut the legs out of the military coup before it ever happens. Here, “Jiggs” Casey was just another casualty of the Iran War and General Scott and his Cabal were able to overthrow the government with disastrous results. Of course, I’ve tweaked some things around to fit in my vision of what the 1970’s would have looked like, and the aftermath of Scott.
The Soviet Reaction of Scott was quick, panicked, and remarkably restrained. The few Soviet ICBMs that had yet to be disarmed flew off aiming for any known or suspected American Missile Silo, the Post-Khrushchev government in Moscow ordered the population into Bomb shelters as it avoided American Missile Bases, Scott, while interested in attacking Soviet Military Force, did not show such restraint towards the cities of Russia. As bombers and rockets flew towards nuclear hell, the one advantage was that the US and Soviet Union weren’t the only nations to have signed the disarmarment treaty. Britain, the People’s Republic of China, India (Who had had a lovely 1962-1968 eventually nuclear war with the Chinese in the mountains), France, Australia, Israel and Yugoslavia all signed as well, and no one was happy that the US had just become a dictatorship and was revoking the treaty. With the exceptions of Taiwan, Canada (Who didn’t REALLY have a choice before its artic stations were getting hit to bring down NORAD’s network), Turkey, the United Arab Republic, South Iran and Pakistan who had fought in the “Iranian War” in the late 60’s, the only places that stood with Scott, were places in Allied Country where Pro-Scott US troops went rouge, with disastrous results for their hosts. Eventually, some brave American Officer set off one of the stored, small-yield nuclear bombs that were in Scott’s command center, Mount Thunder and the third world war came to a whimpering end, with several millions dead, mostly in the United States and Soviet Union.
The years since the war have been trying for the world. In America President Lyman did not survive the coup, nor did a large portion of the non-Cabal members of Congress, In 1974 the one term president John Kennedy was returned to office in an emergency election, since then, the United States has developed an isolationist streak as it seeks to rebuild itself and its credibility. Social Programs continued to grow under Presidents Lodge, King, and Moynihan, but hard Libertarian parties and militias have developed in the western states hardest hit by the war, in the 1984 Presidential Election the leading issue was that of nullification and the Colorado and Montana Resolutions. The Soviet Union was forced to do a similar withdrawal from the world and even some of its member Republics. The Shevardnadze Regime has liberalized, on some fronts, as a free market has been introduced in some cities, such as Vladivostok and Leningrad (Once more the Capital), while at the same time, trying to rebuild cities in the ‘Stans and fight a nasty Islamic Insurgency there in. Control is only maintained due to the support of North Iran and the Afgan Peoples Republic.
In Europe, the Three German states united to form a non-alligned and disarmed state. On each side of them a more powerful European Alliance (The former Pro-US West) and the Confederation of European States (The Former Soviet Bloc, generally) serve as duel associations, teeing economics and military defense together, while giving stern looks at the former superpowers. In China, Mao and the hardliners died in the midst of China’s great victory, while the cities on the coast were destroyed in a Nuclear Hell, and Taiwan met a similar fate, reunification did occur. Not that anyone is too happy in China, where the technocrats in charge are trying to create a real socialist state without the fun of mass starvation, and to keep the former Soviet puppets they took over in line.
The once-superpowers aren’t quite done though, In Soutwest Africa/Namibia there is a nasty little spat going on between the two least decent of the superpowers clients, and South Africa and the African Front led by the- since 1963 -People’s Republic of Zaire are starting to shoot at each other. While the great fear is, that without nuclear stockpiles anymore, such a war might grow too large, and draw both nations into a painful slugging match. Hopefully though, the memory of the War of 1974 will keep them from taking a plunge into WWIV.