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AH Run-downs, summaries and general gubbins

Top 20 Largest Cities in the Pacific Republic:
  1. Los Angeles, CO - 3.01 million
  2. Tijuana, CO - 2.21 million
  3. La Paz, CO - 1.90 million
  4. San Francisco, NA - 1.57 million
  5. San Diego, CO - 1.03 million
  6. San Jose, NA - 1.01 million
  7. Gwinville, SO - 0.57 million
  8. Fresno, SJ - 0.56 million
  9. Sacramento, NV - 0.54 million
  10. Oakland, NA - 0.42 million
  11. Anaheim, CO - 0.34 million
  12. Stockton, NV - 0.32 million
  13. Santa Ana, CO - 0.31 million
  14. Alaska City, AK - 0.30 million
  15. Bixby, CO - 0.30 million
  16. Bear Valley, CO - 0.28 million
  17. Fremont, NA - 0.23 million
  18. Santa Clarita, CO - 0.23 million
  19. San Bernardino, CO - 0.22 million
  20. Ralston, SJ - 0.22 million
CO: Colorado
NA: New Albion
SO: Sonora
SJ: San Joaquin
NV: Nevada
AK: Alaska
 
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PLANET OF THE FREE
An American ISOT

The United States of America (#3b3b6d)

On July 4, 2026 - 250 years to the day after America liberated itself from the British Empire - the nation was liberated from the shackles of its world. As the firework-ash settled and Americans headed off to sleep, the United States found itself transported to a world barren of any human civilization - a "virgin earth", as some would term it. Some online communities (satellites in orbit would be brought along for the ride, ensuring that the Internet would survive the transition) would attempt to spread the term "ISOT", but it would ultimately be too esoteric to catch on in the mainstream. While whatever caused this transported Americans abroad back to their home country, Americans had suddenly lost contact with the rest of the world.

President Biden had faced a number of challenges throughout his tenure, most notably his nail-biting rematch with his predecessor, but despite his age he knew that this was the moment that the history books would remember. President Biden and his administration would implement rationing, and to help rejuvinate the shocked economy grand "green energy" projects were pioneered, to be built with American labor. Meanwhile, Biden would make several moves to discourage any founding of settlements outside of the United States, which would have variable success. It would be a controversial move, and be debated for decades, but the United States was able to stay together with minimal hardship for its people, and the storm was weathered.

Nonetheless, Biden left behind a divided party. The Democratic primaries of 2028 would prove to be contentious, and when Vice President Harris would ultimately win, leftist Democrats would walk out en masse. Meanwhile, Trumpist Republicans would walk out of the country, forming the CAC, which left a hole in the Republican Party - one which would be filled by Will Paul, the latest member of the Paul political dynasty, who would use his libertarian credentials to rail against the "big government" policies of Biden. Paul would stroll into the White House, and as businesses rebuilt with American labor and the economy rebounded, Paul would be swept to re-election in 2032, the most popular President since Reagan, despite his own Vice President turning against him.

Ten years after "the Event", the United States is still the undisputed center of the new world which it finds itself, and despite the shakeup of the "Change" it is rather similar. Open lands have created an "exhaust pipe" for more extremist fringes of both major parties, which means that there has been a bit of a reset to more harmonious politics, with more "out-there" candidates flocking to the two "new parties" which have gained quite a bit of steam.


Republican Party (#d3212d) | With Trumpists flocking south and Biden's actions perceived as "overreach" by most Republicans, the party has taken a more libertarian view, with Will Paul being elected twice on cutting down the bloated federal government. The new breed of Republicans mostly tries to be "civil".
Democratic Party (#0088dc) | The establishment has firmly entrenched itself here, and the Democrats have become the party of the "middle-ground", specializing in vague social politics.
Alternative Coalition (#9f2b68) | Heralded as the second coming of the Reform Party, the comparison isn't actually that far off - the Alternatives are an unholy coalition, ranging from neoconservatives to technocrats to leftists who find the Progressive Party too moderate, and they draw support from quite a few places. The Alternatives have become the darlings of the media giants, with most Alternatives kowtowing to companies such as Meta and Disney.
Progressive Party (#5b8930) | After years of being the underdogs, the Progressives finally split, and they have quite the support base. The new world allows for new, idealistic possibilities, and with various debtors and commitments erased America theoretically has much more of a capacity for the grand social projects that the Progressives have always advocated.

2021 - 2029: Joe Biden (Democratic | Delaware) {46}
2020 (with Kamala Harris (D-CA)) - def. Donald Trump (R-FL) / Mike Pence (R-IN)
2024 (with Kamala Harris D-CA)) - def. Donald Trump (R-FL) / Josh Hawley (R-MO)

2029 - present: Will Paul (Republican | Kentucky) {47}
2028 (with Tulsi Gabbard (R-HI)) - def. Kamala Harris (D-CA) / Pete Buttigeg (D-IN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (P-NY) / Raphael Warnock (P-GA)
2032 (with Robert O'Brien (R-CA)) - def. Dwayne Johnson (D-CA) / Andy Beshear (D-KY), Tulsi Gabbard (A-HI) / Andrew Yang (A-NY), Kyle Kulinski (P-NY) / Ro Khanna (P-CA)


---

The Constitutional American Confederation (#c2b280)

With a whole new world opened up, and Biden's authoritarian policies reviving Trump's political fortunes, Trump would lead an effort to settle south of the border (an irony not missed by various liberal commentators), which would ultimately be able to get off the ground and become the CAC. Founded in opposition to "Biden's America", the new nation would grow as the scope of Biden's plans became clear. The states of Baja, Rio Grande, Lincoln, Trump, and Cuba would be formed.

By the time he came to power, Trump was 81 years old, and was more than happy to rest on his laurels to have finally gotten the chance to win again, and leave the governing to his administration, which would come in two main categories - his family and his cronies. However, in another familiar display the new nation would find itself in a conflict between those favoring a strong central government and a federal government with plenty of "states' rights", who would name themselves the Sovereignty. Although Trump would easily win election and re-election, by the end of his tenure Trump was in no state to do much of anything, which included officially endorsing his son. Even among some Trumpers, the thought of ordaining Trump's son as his successor was a bit odd, and elder statesman Marco Rubio - who had played such a role in leading the Cuban exiles to re-establish their state with Trump's aid - would once again find himself pitted against a Trump.

In the end, the election would be disputed, and the two presidents find themselves in a staredown, with alternate administrations. Amazingly, this crisis has not boiled over into much violence - with state structures still being built from the ground up, the divides are only at the top level - but the Confederation Issue promises to play a key role in the American elections. Should the United States attempt to annex the young state, intervene on either side, or simply leave the place to its fate?


Trumpist Faction (#913225) | The personal loyalists of the Trump family, the Trumpists prefer a central authority, and play much more into populism.
Sovereigntist Party (#e1bd27) | The opponents to the Trump Family, the Sovereigntists are much more libertarian, and prefer a "states' rights" approach, where each state of the CAC is virtually its own country. The Sovereigntists can often be much more elitist.

2027 - 2035: Donald Trump (Independent / Trumpist | Trump) {1}
2026 - def. unopposed
2030 - def. various minor candidates

2035 - present: Donald Trump Jr. (Independent / Trumpist | Trump) / Marco Rubio (Sovereigntist | Cuba) (disputed)
2034 - disputed
---

The United Kingdom of Great Britain (#bc2d29)

The first "restored" state of this new world would be the first crowd-funded one - the restoration of the United Kingdom would be put on Kickstarter, spearheaded by now-King Harry, with especially generous backers gaining tracts of land for country estates. This campaign would come shortly after the Event, and would come at the perfect intersection of post-Event idealism about being able to "resettle the world" and the very beginning of Biden's policies - in the end, the proposition would be able to net millions of dollars despite the economic crash that would come. While most thought it would flop, especially after several other projects ended in very public disaster, the state would ultimately manage to be established - and it would be the only one that would last.

The United Kingdom very much tries to be its old counterpart - with a royal family (Harry and Meghan share power in the style of William and Mary), nobles, a Parliament, and very stiff-lipped guards with red coats and big hats, but the place is made up of either grand mansions or tourist traps. However, the Parliament is dominated by the noveau riche, who are happy to let Queen Meghan actually run things as Prime Minister Markle, which makes for some odd dynamics.


Liberal Democratic Party (#ff8c00) | Founded by people who simply liked the name, this party is essentially a carbon copy of the American Democratic party - moderate but very happy to dive into culture war issues. Its only quirk is that it's headlined by the Queen of England, who has been able to assume the same amount of popularity as her predecessor Elizabeth II.

Labour Party (#a62c2b) | Ultimately, the new settlers of Britain would maintain their American spelling and pronunciation habits. This party would be founded by the "common folk", who were only able to donate enough to get themselves a small townhouse and found that living under bourgeoisie pretending to be aristocrats was not the Merrie Old England they had expected. Those that didn't leave would rally around the restored Labor party, and despite fielding a somewhat popular retired late night show host they couldn't overcome Markle.

Tory Party
(#191970) | The party of those who were quite pleased at the thought of a Merrie Old England, the Tories have become the "conservative" party that also happens to include people who were hoping for this place to be some mixture between the second coming of the British Empire or an Anglo-Saxon paradise. They would nominate Boris Johnson - who'd happened to be in his country of birth to celebrate July 4th a few years after being kicked from Downing Street - but as it turns out Johnson was about as unpopular among transplanted Englishmen as he was among native-born ones.

2029 - present: Henry IX (Windsor) / Meghan I (Windsor-Markle)

2030 - present: Meghan Markle (Independent / Liberal Democrat)

2030 - def. various candidates
2035 - def. John Oliver (Labor), Boris Johnson (Tory)


---

Canadian Polities (#bb9351)

Building a state out of nothing is hard - there are reasons why there have only been two in the past ten years that have been anywhere close to successful (copious amounts of money invested). But while these various groupings are a bit too small to be called "states", they do certainly exist, and being so close by to the border it is quite easy for them to flourish. While some of these polities have been classified by location, they exist scattered north of the border.

American policy has been muddled and self-conflicting, with Biden much to preoccupied to get involved and Paul deciding not to expand the reach of the "big government". However, like the CAC, the troubles up north


Laurentian Republics (#ff1b2d) | Founded in the northeast of Canada, the Laurentian Republics stretch from the Maritimes to the Great Lakes, and most of them are an attempt to create states with social-democratic ideals on the model of Canada or the Scandinavian states. While they are just getting off the ground, the cooperativist nature of them and the fact that they are often founded by people who aren't the most poor means that they are viable at least in the short-term.

Transitional Compounds
(#ad4379) | As it turns out, a massive sudden unexplainable event leads to a reckoning of religions. Indeed, many new sects would form, from those believing that Jehovah had Rapture'd His chosen people to a new Eden-world to some mystical Earth goddess punishing mankind for its hubris to alien-lizards accidentally crashing their Matrix save-file. And soon, various cult leaders would find that fleeing American borders was quite an effective way to keep their followers under control, founding communities that are under their control. Mixed up with these are various utopian communities, as well as one or two Amish settlements in the Ontario peninsula.

The New West (#f4a460) | While the CAC was initially the choice for wannabe cowboys, the political turmoil down south has led many to turn their eyes back north, where ranchers on the border happily taking the opportunity to expand their grazing lands have already become cowboys. The place even has its Native Americans, with many deciding to move away from the reservations and attempt to restart their old lifestyles.

Cascadian Communes (#228b22) | The most left viable states, these ecological communes have been termed by many as the successors to CHAZ, with varying mixes of anarchism, green politics, communism, and other leftist ideologies taking on here. They are most common along the Canadian Pacific coast, especially its islands.

Yukon Frontier-Towns (#d3af37) | The home of wannabe pioneers, survivalists, and the most hardcore of libertarians, the Yukon Frontier is truly the fringe of civilization on this world. With gold still found in the Yukon, most of these towns are obsessed with the gold standard, with gold "Liberty coins" being the mode of exchange here.

Corporate Zones
(#2a3439) | Biden would heavily discourage companies from leaving American shores, but horrifyingly bungled attempts at colonization, such as the typhoon that obliterated New Japan, the horrors of Cryptoland, or the testimony of the malaria-ridden survivors of the attempted Congo rubber-harvesting zone, would be more than enough to convince most companies and any potential workers that these were fool's errand. Nonetheless, within North America (here, the "Canadian" title is a slight misnomer) some attempts would be more successful - the private Alaska-to-Washington highway (that Biden would end up nationalizing, making the status of western Canada quite unclear), the new Panama Canal, and the various "plantations" that would supply high-priced "authentic" coffee, chocolate, and other tropical goods. While President Paul has left these zones alone, they are an especial topic of debate, with many advocating nationalization of these zones at the very least.
 
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Factions in the Chinese States
in Turn Around, Bright Eyes

In "Kweisui" (Guisui, the Chinese Socialist Republic)

The "Revolutionary Die-Hard Clique": Very eager to expand the revolution, currently in power and funnelling money, guns and support to the communist rebels in the benighted Jin Dynasty lands, sure that it will lead to the ultimate victory of the Chinese socialist revolution there. And then expansion to liberate the Manchu and the southerners from their monarchies and drive out the colonisers at last, an united socialist China!

The "Revolutionary Pragmatist Clique": The ones that originally accepted the deal with the Jin Dynasty back in the 2000s, they have been unceremoniously pushed out in the power struggle as the Jin Dynasty enters a period of weakness, causing the Die-Hards to acquire strength.


In Manchuria (The Qing Dynasty, the Empire of Great Manchuria)

The Emperor Kai-ping: Well-educated, deeply 'Westernised', went to Castreleon University, knows very much that Manchuria is a British puppet. When he was younger, he had radical ideas for a return of Manchurian power and prestige. But now? As he has said to a diplomat once - "In one's youth, one cannot help but rage against injustice. Later on, one has to accept it." Indeed, by the time he reached the throne, all those dreams were cast aside. He will continue the system, but some observers has noted that he has done more than previous emperors to reassert the old claim to reigning China.

The British Consulate: The real power, some say, in Manchuria. They're fairly unhappy at present due to the benefit of propping up the Qing seemingly eternally futile. Sure, the country has a lot of industry, but... there's not a lot there is it, for British interest.

The Bannermen: The elite of the army, and some murmur that the Han Bannermen (as contrast to the Manchu, the Mongol or the Russian) have Goldshirt sympathies. The Emperor is notably nervous at this rumour, and has started a loose investigation in it. Will there be a second Goldshirt coup?

The Parliament: A relatively weak chamber, legally, but one that has more influence than it thinks, due to the people sitting there.
- The Industrialists: Manchuria has for the last century or so been investing regularly in industry to stave off the Jin trying to end the last hold-out of the hated Qing Dynasty. This has led to considerable influence of the industrialists. Moneyed and international, they are the economic power.
- The Liberals: A Manchurian 'liberal' is a very nebulous thing, but broadly one sympathetic to the 'people', more willing to support welfare, minimum wage laws, workplace safety laws, and a 'sinicisation' of Northern Manchuria. They are by far most sympathetic to Chinese nationalism.
- The 'Northerners': The people from 'Northern Manchuria', aka the formerly Russian parts. They're more politically radical, broadly resent Manchurian control, but are ethnically divided into Russians, Jews, Poles, Chukchis, Koryaks, etc.


In the Chin Dynasty (Jin, the Empire of Great Chin)

The "Goldshirt Movement": A bunch of weird nationalists who have extensive links to the military. They've now tried a coup on the Jin government in Beijing declaring the start of the "Chinese Revival", declaring that just as the Manchu lost the "Mandate of Heaven" to the Qing and the Qing lost it to the Jin, so they will take over. The main problem is that they have not selected an emperor for their new rule and seem resistant to such. Still, they claim to reject the 'vile republicanism' of the communists and Kuomintang. What are they even for? An eternal regency or a puppet emperor or what?

The "Millions' Resistance": The Goldshirt coup did not receive a nice welcome with many, especially the more working-class section of Beijing. The resistance isn't much ideologically coherent yet, but it does seem to be broadly a fed up, angry and very radical one. Perhaps even republican, the patience with the Jin was running fairly thin before the Goldshirt coup, and now there's urban battles in Beijing itself between the Jin, the Goldshirts and the Resistance. Chaos!

The Imperial Court: Currently holed out in Zhengzhou and trying to rally troops against the Goldshirts and the Resistance and the communists the blasted Guisui lot keep funding. Unsurprisingly, they're hopelessly divided on what to do in response.
- The Reformers: The Emperor is slowly allowing them to persuade him around on some ideas. The empowerment of the National Assembly, the abolition of the 'imperial guidance' system, allowing the Assembly to select a Prime Minister who would be confirmed by the Emperor, etc. The reformers are more or less lightly optimistic, but is it at this moment too late to salvage matters for the benighted and mandateless Jin?
- The Establishment: With a good deal of their more vocal number now backing the Goldshirts, the old establishment is on the back foot with the government-in-internal-exile, but the Prime Minister is trying to salvage matters, gingerly reaching out to some of his old comrades to see if they can't come to an understanding. The Emperor isn't particularly happy about that, and the Prime Minister may be looking for a new job.
- The Diplomats: In the complex web of diplomacy the Jin and Taiping play on the global stage, the diplomats have greater say than otherwise. One of the few saving graces the Jin Dynasty has is that it has managed to keep the diplomatic recognition and safety of the foreign diplomats while in exile in Zhengzhou. But such diplomacy is always so fickle, and the British chargé d'affaires (never ambassador or even minister, the British recognise the Qing) has been making... enquiries.

The "People's Revolutionary Guard": Flush with Guisui money and weapons, they have been causing havoc for a few years in the countryside, but rumour has it that they have started moving on to the cities in a dash to take advantage of the disorder in Beijing. The revolution is nigh, according to their very eager followers. The Jin will go, the Chinese Socialist Republic will triumph! Or at least that is what they claim will happen.


In Tientsin (Tianjin, the Concord of Nations Mandate of the Tientsin Concessions)

The Tientsin Mandate Commission: Currently in a rush to pack stuff up and flee, as the CoN has decided to revoke the concession and withdraw its people. There's a good deal of smoke coming out of the Commission's building's chimney, they're burning some compromising documents.

The Nationalists: Loosely associated with either the Goldshirts or the Resistance, or even the Kuomintang or communists, it's a very incoherent movement based around basically resentment at the CoN carving out Tianjin when they all thought the time of concessions was at least over. They're currently very happy at present, and rallying a lot. I believe some of the local elite are trying to form a State of Tianjin as a stopgap before full incorporation. But in what? The Jin, Guisui, Taiping, Taiwan, Fujian, or just a full on "fuck it, we claim to be a China now"?


In Kiautschou (Jiaozhou, the Province of Kiautschou (in the German Empire))

The Landtag: SPD, Centre, NLP, etc., it's all a bit irrelevant. Sure, some endorse the Republicans, others the Princess-Regent, even some the Austrians. But in Kiautschou, such allegiances pale to the fact that the province may fall eventually. The Landtag is primarily made out of white Germans or collaborationist elite and hence profit greatly from the province being possessed by an European power. However, others disagree...

Yiguandao: Always a high presence in the Province, especially since the Jia clamped down on them and many fled to Jiaozhou. The Landtag has an uncomfortable co-existence with the extent and strength of the Yiguandao organisation among the poorer Chinese. Currently the patriarch of the sect is not taking the Landtag's calls and has expressed certain... thoughts about the continuation of German control. Protests and strikes have grown as a result, and many in the Landtag are quietly worrying that the 2040s will see the end of the German 'weltreich'.


In Shanghai (the Grand Metropolis of Shanghai)

"Businessman's League": An informal caucus of the city's very moneyed corporate elite, they are consistently hostile to Taiping for their more radical policies, and many wish to just see Shanghai stay a bastion of free-market capitalism. Unification? God no, why would they ever support that.

Patriotic Labour Party: Working-class, vaguely Chinese nationalist, ideologically socialist, managed to get the mayoralty after a strike forced the city to reform the system to be more democratic-ish. The Upper Chamber, helmed by business interests, are blocking a lot of their policies...

Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang): Not as strong as the ones in Fujian or Taiwan, the Shanghai KMT has evolved into a weird 'Third Way' position of fierce Chinese nationalism and more corporatist economics (not corporationist). Decidedly third in popularity to the League or PLP.

Heavenly Society: The society representing God Worshippers in Shanghai. Obviously broadly for unification with Taiping, not always on the same line as Taiping itself, with Dissenters having a good deal of presence in Shanghai.

The Foreigners: Shanghai is an international city, and hence many foreigners live and work there. They're very uneasy about the recent developments outside of Shanghai, but it's not quite "time to flee" territory yet.


In the Heavenly Kingdom (Taiping, the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace)
The Imperial Court: A swirling maelstrom of whispers, doubts and intrigue.
- The Emperor: The descendant of the man who Taipingers believe to be a deity, he is a deeply arrogant man who has just received his first backlash after ten years fully indulging his father's clique in their radical policies. Time will tell how he replies.
- The Centralists: The governing clique, and one that has made waves in Taiping for good or for ill. Originally ushered into power fifteen years ago in the waning days of the previous Emperor, they successfully persuaded the current Emperor to let them continue. Economic reform after economic reform, slowly dismantling the state of the economy set out by the Heavenly King in favour of a centralised and 'stronger' one. This has brought controversy.
- The Traditionalists: A strange mixture of would-be socialists and deeply religious people who oppose the Centralist policies on a bunch of different reasons. Not Dissenter, but certainly the people who would dare brook that the Emperor has allowed himself to be... misled.

The Agriculturalists: The farmers who have taken up sticks in anger against the current Taiping Emperor and his corrupt clique's policies which has damaged farmers' livelihood. Many already murmur that divinity is not hereditary and the current Emperor is just a man, even if one with divine descent, and that his policies run contrary to the Heavenly King's ideas. Classic Dissenter theology, and ones that may spread like wildfire if things worsen.

Miscellaneous Dissenters: The non-rebelling ones. Broadly the people who would be considered "dissenters" in a God Worshipper context are those that unhesitatingly accept the Heavenly King as the son of the Heavenly Father, the brother of Jesus, and one of the Holy Quaternary, but do not agree with the orthodox interpretation that His descendants are similarly divine, or speak for their ancestor. It's a theology that grows when the Court is more unpopular, but markedly shrinks when the Court reclaims legitimacy with the people. It's not doing badly at the moment.


In Fukien (Fujian, the People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China)
The Revolutionary Committee: Currently not sure if they should take advantage of Taiping's disorder to stab further in, or if they should wait.
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang): The Fujian chapter, barely pays attention, if at all, to the one in Taiwan. Markedly more left-wing.
-- Left-Kuomintang: The head honcho faction in Fujian, they're the ones who led the 'Great Liberation' and established themselves firmly in charge, and were the ones to lead Fujian to declare that it carries on the real Chinese Republican ideals of Doctor Sun Yat-sen, not Taiwan.
-- Right-Kuomintang: A rump after opportunist defections to Left-KMT and some careful purges, they're still sympathetic, somewhat, to the idea of reunification with Taiwan, which the left-KMT dismisses as enabling sellouts. More cautious than Left-KMT on war with Taiping.
- Chinese Democratic Party (Minchutang): The Minchutang are basically the mushy centrist liberals that the more corporatist KMT just isn't, and apart from objecting to harsh 'liberation laws', has been a quiet part of the Committee, mostly there to make the Committee look less one-party.

The God-Worshippers: The Committee hasn't exactly been that kind to them, but while the Left-KMT continues publicly to 'crusade against religious delusion', the Committee as a whole has tried to reach out to the dissenters, with mixed results.
- Orthodoxes: Currently the ones most targeted, and as Taiping grows more embroiled in internal feuds this has only increased. Over MCT objections, it is now a crime to 'publicly venerate as a deity any currently serving head of state, or to imply that they are in any way infallible'. Why yes, the Catholics are fuming at this and the Left-KMT has managed to somehow bridge a giant schism between the two communities. Amazing.
- Dissenters: Historically not much in Fujian, but has became the majority of God-Worshippers since the 'Great Liberation' and KMT policies. Even if mostly out of fear at Left-KMT hard-handed policies, a good deal of people have abandoned the idea the Emperor is divine or speak infallibly.

The "Taiwan Group": The Fujian Revolutionary Committee declaring that Taiwan no longer is the legitimate Chinese republican government did not go down well with everyone. The Taiwan Group, as they presumably call themselves, is a very secretive organisation associated in some way with the Right-KMT and the MCT, although there are murmurs that there are some high-ranking members of Left-KMT among their ranks. It is by far the President of the Revolutionary Committee's obsession, fuelling his paranoia that his committee's project is being undermined.


In Taiwan (the Republic of China in Taiwan)
The Government: Apart from quietly bribing the British to protect their seas from potential enemies and the customarily shaking of their hands at Fujian, the present Government is very much Taiwan-focusing.
- Green Party Taiwan: The party of the young, the aspirational, the liberals, and those who just want to get on with making Taiwan great instead of trying to retake China. Since the "Fujian Betrayal", 'Taiwaniser' parties like the Greens have benefited big.
- Taiwan People's Party: The 'old-style' Taiwaniser party, eclipsed by the Greens now, but the Taiwanisers all have great respect for the party that fought for multiparty democracy and got it after fighting a KMT that was clamping down on dissent to create a base to reclaim China.
- Chinese Democratic Party (Minchutang): The Taiwan version, the only explicitly 'Chinese' party in the government at the moment. They ironically have more power and more say in a government disinterested in China than in one based around the fight to reclaim.
- Hakka Party: The most conservative of the parties in government, it primarily represents the Hakka people of Taiwan. There is some Taiping sympathies circling around there, but most of the Hakka in Taiwan ultimately descend from people who moved there during the fall of the Ming.

The Opposition: Try finding some coherency in this lot.
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang): The party of Sun Yat-sen, Wang Ching-wei and Chiang Kai-shek, originally an underground pan-Chinese organisation, managed to kick the British out of Liangguang in the late 1910s, fled to Taiwan once they returned, etc etc. Now they're stewing in opposition as a government seemingly completely disinterested in the idea of a reunited China runs the show. What a fate.
- Public Interest Party of China: The Taiwan branch of the Liangguang party, it is a fairly new party that nevertheless fills in quite neatly the 'left, but not Taiwaniser' niche. Still, it isn't much popular outside that small niche.
- Taiwan Indigenous Party: Since the 2000s Accord as part of the wider 'shift' in Taiwanese politics, the indigenous populace of Taiwan have enjoyed special dispensation for elections to the Legislative Yuan despite their relatively small size. The Taiwan Indigenous Party tends aloof from government, preferring to draw out concessions on an one-to-one basis, rather than agree to a sweeping government manifesto.


In Liangkwang (Liangguang, the Viceroyalty of Liangkwang)
The Viceroy: The office isn't what it once was. Once, it was basically the office that could get everything done and order everything be changed without any legal blockade. Since the 1960s, the post have been chipped away by reform after reform after yet another revolt proved the model infeasible. Now it's a toothless office most Liangguangers freely disregard and think of as an archaism. The current Viceroy well knows this.

The Government: A very nationalist one, Chinese nationalist in fact, and wishes to end the concessions and fold the cities into Liangguang proper, which has been causing no short of diplomatic headache for Britain (also a bonus to the government!)
- Public Interest Party of China: A federalist, nationalist, and vaguely socialist one, it has benefited off urban working-class dissatisfaction with the status quo and has harnessed that into a genuine nationalist-labour alliance against all what they deem ills. The King has snubbed the Minister-President at the last royal tour, which indicates fairly well Britain's attitude to Liangguang those days.
- Chinese Democratic Party (Minchutang): Even more recently set up than the Taiwan one, it has acquired immense support with young middle-class voters and has parlayed that support into being an indispensable part of the nationalist coalition governing Liangguang.

The Opposition: Currently languishing, it's not as if they're even popular those days with nationalism and populism in the air.
- Conservative Party of Liangguang: Sort of the Liangguang equivalent of the British conservative movement, widely seen as just the party of the coloniser to many Liangguang people, its base was always those more affluent and more connected to international trade, and the economic depression has currently led to well, less people being economically affluent, for short.
- Labour Party: Once connected to the British version, it has radicalised since and now supports full Liangguang independence and republicanism. It however, remains distrustful of nationalism, being much more a Marxist party. The most you'll hear from them is vaguely 'Chinese socialism'.
- Zhuang Representation Committee: The province of Guangxi is an autonomous part of Liangguang as part of the democratic reforms Britain was forced to grant to Liangguang to stave off further collapse of its presence. The Zhuang make up a lot of Guangxi's populace, and are represented in the Liangguang Assembly by the Zhuang Representation Committee. By necessity, it is a fairly politically broad-tent party.
- Liberal Democratic Party of Liangguang: The Liangguang branch of the British LDP, they basically collapsed as a result of the Minchutang's surge in the last election, and seems to be just collapsing further in presence as many younger voters continue the flight to Minchutang.
- Party for Hainan: Hainan has a strange history as part of Liangguang, and as part of a series of 90s constitutional reforms, it was granted its own autonomous province. It is a quite corrupt one but one that seems to know when to use it to sustain long-term. This is obviously their party.

Banned and Underground Parties: Ooh boy.
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang): Banned since the 1920s, they're still around. The current government has floated the idea in a circular or two of lifting the ban and allowing the party of Sun Yat-sen to compete legitimately. This has got blowback from the predictable people.
- Chinese Socialist Party: A radical party broadly aligned with Narodnik sentiment, banned early in the early days of the Cold War. Some murmur the Russians kept the underground party around and even that the people up in Guisui still give some money here and then to keep it around.
- Party of Heavenly Peace: A pro-Taiping party, banned as part of retrenching British control of Liangguang in the late 40s, still unofficially around as part of the God Worshipper communities deeply distrusted by Britain. The Public Interest Party got a lot of their votes last time around...
- Chinese National Youth Party: A 50s or so party, was a fairly radical, even anarchist at times, party that made great waves for their protests and sit-ins, and when some of them turned to bombings, the hammer came out, and well, the 60s was when British control went down hill for a reason...
- Chinese People's Party: The Jenmintang (see what they did there?) was a revolutionary socialist party that participated in the 60s movement against British control, and even though banned, a lot of their members ended up formative in the growth of the Public Interest Party.
- Revolutionary Communist Party of China: A party that makes the Socialists look tame, they've done a fair few bombings in the 70s and 80s during the uneasy times after the 'Revolution of 67' was both crushed and negotiated with and British control was slowly reeled back.
- Anti-Imperialist Alliance: This one isn't a Chinese nationalist party, but is broadly in the whole 'Sixtier' movement. Founded by white and Eurasian university students [the British broadly restricted applications to select universities to those racial categories] radicalised by the whole 'living in a country that is obviously there because an empire wanted a colony' (and reading Marx, that helps), it burnt short but bright as they successfully assassinated a Viceroy and most of his cabinet during a 'viceregal visit' to an university in 1965. Comprehensively banned and uprooted afterwards.


In Hong Kong (the County and Metropolitan Borough of Hong Kong (in the Commonwealth of England))
The Government: Currently in charge primarily because of the lower, popularly-elected, chamber superseding the upper. Although the chances at passing anything that goes against the old order is vanishingly small, much to the people's growing discontent.
- Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong: A left-liberal, vaguely populist, generally anti-colonial party that emerged as the voice of Hong Kong democracy back during the struggles in the 80s. Enjoys much support with the lower-middle-class.
- Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions - Labour Party: Or Labour for short, it's a fairly left-wing party with deep roots in the trade union movement of Hong Kong. This is the first time it has been in government since the 2000s and... the way that one ended.
- Liberal Democratic Federation of Hong Kong: The party of the moneyed middle-class uneasy about the last few governments' more hard-handed policies, it has joined the DAB-Labour coalition in exchange for a great say on monetary policy, which has made some Labour people uneasy.

The Opposition: With a comfortable majority in the Professional Chamber, they can safely block anything the Government does.
- Civic Liberal Party: Not to be confused with the LDF, this is a conservative party of real moneyed interests. The corporations dominating HK really do like the Civic Liberals, who regularly vote in their interest. This is why the Civic Liberals alone make up a great chunk of the Professional Chamber.
- Hong Kong Resurgence Order: Too much for even the DAB and allies, this new party has been making waves with its radical ideas of Hong Kong independence. Not even union with Liangguang, but full-on independence as the "Free State of Hong Kong" or whatever.
- Reform Club of Hong Kong: The traditional pro-democracy party albeit a pro-'colonial' one, it has gradually became eclipsed by DAB and others, and is now mostly significant only in the Professional Chamber due to a lot of appointments from its ranks once the democrats came to power.
- Labour Party of Hong Kong: Not to be confused with the other Labour Party (which is distinguished as FTU-Labour when need be), this is a radical party that is tangentially connected to a series of bombings back in the 70s. No clue how they're not banned, probably behind-doors negotiation.

Banned Parties: Gee, it's almost as if being a colony isn't universally popular.
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang): One can't forget that when Sun Yat-sen declared the Republic as part of the Liangguang Revolution, HK was part of that Republic both in name and in reality. Even now, the KMT has some underground popularity. The government would try to repeal the ban, but they know it wouldn't pass the Professional Chamber where the Civic Liberals and appointed 'functional representatives' would vote it down.
- Revolutionary Marxist League: Trots? In Hong Kong? Apparently the Antarctican communist garnered some sympathy with some HKers back in the 80s and this was a part of the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong. Banned in the final years before democratisation.
- People's Liberation Association of Hong Kong: Another hard-left revolutionary organisation, it was primarily a 90s thing, a lot of its members ended up in either Labour party after 'moderating' a bit on the whole "revolution" aspect.


In Macau (the Free and Independent City of Macau)
The Commission: Macau is ran by business interests very much overtly, keen to keep taxes low, the casinos buzzing and the radicals out.
- The "Establishment Clique": For this group, it is very simple. Macau is a place to make money. Spending money is not making money. They are the ones who oppose anything that isn't "low tax for the rich, corrupt subsidies for corporations, strong casinos, and strong law enforcement".
- The "Libertarian Clique": They are the ones who disagree with the Establishment on the subsidies. Subsidies are not making money, and it's just playing favourites when the Commission should be a neutral representation of all business interests. Very popular with smaller businesses.
- The "Reformer Clique": The smallest of the three cliques, they are the ones who think some sort of capital confidence could be strengthened by giving the poors some welfare in addition to shovelling subsidies to corporations. They are fairly popular with some working-class businesses.

The Alliance for Change: A broad-tent anti-establishment movement that has been garnering a lot of support with Macanese people. It is rumoured that out of the long list of banned parties in Macau, most of the active underground ones back the Alliance. It broadly demands democracy, and are doing a lot of peaceful protests that the Commission is torn on how to respond since going full mask-off would undermine capital confidence...


In Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (Guangzhouwan, the Province of Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (in the French Union))

The King: Well, François V is just one of the three kings of France, but he's the one that Guangzhouwan recognises, sooo... He lives primarily in Bhopal, but sometimes comes to Guangzhouwan. The reception seriously varies to his visits.

The Governor: Traditionally someone from Paris, the present Governor is the first one actually from the province, appointed by the President in a sop to the locals in an attempt to win them over after some growing nervousness over local troubles. It... hasn't quite worked.

The Provincial Assembly: Used to be completely consultative, but those days a vote from it tends to guide the Governor in signing something. Broadly dominated by 'French' parties because of very low turnout (and disenfranchisement) of Chinese voters.
- Socialist Party: The Guangzhouwan branch of the French PS, it is broadly one for a firm democratisation of the province and some of the more radical sorts (who haven't left for the communists) openly consider the idea of secession, which is technically illegal in France but...
- Union for Democracy: The broad centrist-ish liberal reformists, the main right-wing party for decades. They're very much in favour of private enterprise and all that jazz, and distrusts 'socialism' and the idea of Guangzhouwan seceding from France.
- National Party: A barely-hidden veneer for the old Kuomintang (which was of course banned), it is by far the most popular local party and regularly lobbies for Guangzhouwan to be reunited with wider China, including Liangguang. Firmly republican.
- Communist Party: A very strange party in where one can't really judge if it's a branch of the French communists or a branch of the pan-Chinese communists, it seems to have members who think both, and hence its stance on anything to do with constitutionalism is... incoherent.
- Democratic Party: The Minchutang got into the game as well, but the UpD is far more effective at mobilising votes.

Banned Parties
- Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang):
Currently masquerading as the 'National Party', France allows them to get away with it.
- Party of Communists of Guangzhouwan: A radical splitter off the Communists, it made waves for an attempted assassination on the King.


In Yunnan (the Islamic Sultanate of Yunnan)
The Sultan: As with all other sultans since the coup of the 1920s, the Sultan is a powerless figurehead, albeit one widely loved.

The Government: The military is still firmly in charge, but they have allowed a facade of 'democracy'.
- Federation for the Stability of Yunnan: The military party, it however does have pull of its own slightly distinct from the military. Think of it as more the pro-military party, since the Prime Minister is ostensibly a civilian nowadays, even if he receives his marching orders from the Army. The reason it is a Federation and not a party is because it's made out of a lot of ethnic parties with the formulaic name "United X Party for the Stability of Yunnan".

The Opposition: It is hard to be a Yunnanese democrat, really, when the government repeatedly bans or imprisons you.
- Movement for a Democratic Yunnan: Currently the democratic party, it has however been relatively tame in criticism of the government those days.
- Party for the Heavenly Way: The Taiping God Worshipper party, they are tolerated at best.
- Yi Autonomous League: A splitter off the United Yi Party for the Stability of Yunnan, this is a fairly radical-ish party that calls for Yi autonomy out of Yunnan. The government is keeping great notes on them, anxious to ensure they do not draw votes away from the FSY's Yi clientele.
 
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@Turquoise Blue
I'm speechless. All these fascinating states with unique and realistic political dynamics, interacting with each other and with a world so different from ours that still rings true...
This reminds me of some inchoate "Balkanized China" AH ideas I had a few years ago-save that this is a thousand times more detailed, plausible, and dynamic. It's one thing to simply posit a dozen interesting splinter governments, another to chart out their courses and potentialities in relation to each other over an AH "timespan" of decades.
I honestly think this is one of your best works.
 
The War That Came Early, But Turned Out To Have Come Just In Time


The Second World War (1992) - Episode List

Episode 1: The Centre Cannot Hold (1919 - 1938)
  • The Treaty of Versailles: the Dolchstosslegend, the rise of fascism
  • The New Germany: Hitler's seizure of power, the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the Thousand-Year Reich
  • A Spectre over Europe: Stalin's Terror, European anti-Communism, the Anti-Comintern Pact
  • From Abyssinia to Appeasement: Italo-Abyssinian War, Italo-German relations, the shifting balance of power in Europe
  • The Spanish Civil War: the Fascist uprising, international involvement, the Condor Legion, Guernica, the International Brigades
Episode 2: Into the Darkness (January - September 1938)
  • Rearmament: Europe arms for war, the relative war economies, the mythical Wehrmacht
  • Anschluss: German expansion, designs on the Sudetenland
  • Watch on the Ebro: foreign interventions in Iberia, the Battle of Madrid, the Battle of the Ebro, the exhausted Republic
  • The Czechoslovak Crisis: German demands, the Munich Conference, Heinlein's assassination
  • Return Engagement: declarations of war, Polish and Italian neutrality
Episode 3: In the Presence of Mine Enemies (October 1938 - February 1939)
  • Case Green: The invasion of Czechoslovakia, Entente rearmament, Soviet aid
  • Home Defence: Czech defensive strategy and the Beneš Wall, German casualties, "paper Panzers"
  • Between the Pincers: "Plucky Czechoslovakia"; Soviet and Entente aid; Hungarian and Polish opportunism; Czech scorched-earth tactics
  • The Stab in the Back: The Sudeten Freikorps, 'Hitler's Fifth Column' and the Czech stay-behinds
  • The Fall of Prague: The Czechoslovak Exodus, those left behind, the Lidice Massacre, the Free Czech Corps forms in France
Episode 4: End of the Beginning (November 1938 - April 1939)
  • All Quiet on the Western Front: The Waiting War; Denmark falls, German forces move west; Soviet mobilisation, the Polish Question and the Baltic Annexations
  • The Great Blockade: The Battle of the Atlantic; the U-Boat campaign, sinking Scharnhorst, the Battle of Ascension
  • Enemies Within: internal dissent in Germany, "the dishonourable war", the Generals' Plot and Beck's failed putsch
  • War in the Air: "The Bomber Will Always Get Through", terror raids, air superiority doctrines, 'clipping the Condor's wings', the Eagle Squadrons
  • Sanjurjo's Gamble: The Iberian Campaign; 'imperialists propping up a communist corpse', the Siege of Gibraltar, the Battle of Morocco, Entente blockade, sinking Graf Spee, French forces enter Catalonia
Episode 4: West and East (East Asia 1931 - May 1939)
  • Japanese Militarism: 'Government by assassination', the invasion of Manchuria, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
  • The Rape of Nanking
  • The United Front: Chinese resistance, Soviet aid, the Battle of Wuhan
  • American Relations: the Panay Incident, the Foreign Legations, the American position in East Asia
  • The Amur Incident: Soviet-Japanese relations, tensions over Mongolia, Japan's empire at 1 April 1939, the Nomonhan Incident, the Amur Incident
Episode 5: Advance and Retreat (March - June 1939)
  • The Low Countries: the Scheldt and Manstein Plans; the Battle of Belgium, the Six Days of Eben Emael, the Battle of Gembloux; the Siege of Holland
  • The Sickle Cut: 'Manstein's Bear-Trap' swings north; the Great Escape of the BEF, Georges takes command in France
  • Their Finest Hour: the Ardennes Feint; the Battle of Sedan, the Miracle on the Meuse, the Heer 'shot flat' by the Free Czechs and Tirailleurs, Guderian killed by 'the Man with the Elephant Gun'
  • In their Fathers' Footsteps: the Fall of Belgium, the Battle of Cambrai, the Dash for Paris, Storming Fortress Holland
  • Enemy at the Gates: Kleist crosses the Aisne, the Defence of Paris, the Battle of Soissons
Episode 6: Days of Infamy (East Asia, June 1939 - November 1940)
  • Hachi-Go: The Amur Campaign begins, the Battle of Mongolia, the Siberian Blockade
  • Not One Step Back: The Siege of Vladivostok, cutting the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Karafuto Campaign; Japan thins its lines in China
  • Blood for Blood! Death for Death!: the Martyrs of Vladivostok, the anti-partisan campaign, atrocities in Siberia, 'the forests speak Russian'
  • The Arduous March: the Fifty Regiments Offensive and 'Mao's Asculum', Chiang bides his time
  • Walk in Hell: the Three Alls, biological warfare, Unit 731, the Peking Legation Incident and the American Embargo
Episode 7: The Grapple (June 1939 - January 1940)
  • Reach Exceeds Grasp: German and Spanish forces halted, the Rock Stands, Maginot vindicated, Hess' death flight
  • Hammer and Anvil: the Panzer divisions fall short, Operation Agreement, the Oise Salient cut off; the BEF's fighting retreat into France, Gort replaced
  • A Difficult Undertaking: Kluge and Kleist isolated, the Exhaustion Campaign, the Defence of Calais
  • Two Fronts: The Iberian Distraction; the Relief of Barcelona, the Battle of Morocco, Italian-Entente 'encounters' and the Mutual Understanding
  • Winter of Discontent: Stalemate on the Western Front, Entente rearmament intensifies, colonial recruiting efforts, Chamberlain steps down
Episode 8: Tilting the Balance (January - June 1940)
  • Homage to Andalusia: Allied victory in Morocco, Operation Roderick, the Andalusian Offensive; the Second Battle of the Ebro, the Pyrenees Offensive
  • Through Darkest Europe: German-occupied Europe 1938 - 1941; anti-Semitism and the "Jewish Question", ghettoisation, resistance movements; Heydrich's reign of terror
  • The Empires Strike Back: Colonial forces on the Western Front, Australians in the Alhambra, Middle Eastern pacifications, the Indian Question; Wehrmacht atrocities against colonial troops
  • On Ne Passe Pas: the Oise Pocket surrenders, the 'Black Day of the Wehrmacht'; Operation Dynamo and the Dunkerque Offensive
Episode 9: Breakthroughs (June - December 1940)
  • La Guerre Éclair: Armoured warfare, de Gaulle's strike into Belgium, the Battle of Namur
  • The Noose Tightens: The Belgian Cauldron, the Fortress Orders, Germany loses the air war, Guernica avenged
  • Thieves Fall Out: Italy abandons Spain, Sanjurjo tries to flee; Hungary and Poland make plans, Germany stands alone
  • Bricks Without Straw: The 'Plunder Economy' collapses, Wehrmacht supply issues, internal resistance to Nazi rule; Japanese oil shortages
  • La Guerra Ha Terminado: Republican victory in Spain, the Great Reprisal, the International Brigades' next move; Entente and Soviet moves for influence
Episode 10: Drive to the East (November 1940 - August 1941)
  • Sleeping Giants Awoken: the Entente navies head east, the US Navy heads west, 'Shtern's second million' arrive in Manchuria
  • Retreat: German defence attempts, the Siegfried Line, the Hunger Winter; Japanese biological and chemical warfare intensifies, Siberian anti-partisan campaigns
  • Attack: Operation Lightfoot, the Rhine Crossing; Shtern's Masterstroke, the Sorge Ring, the 1940-41 Winter and Spring Offensives, 'Zhukov's Armoured Fist', the Battle of Tsitsihar
  • Coalscuttle: the Ruhr Offensive, the Entente advance in northern Germany; the Czechoslovak Uprising and the Battle of Prague
  • All Fall Down: Germany faces defeat; the Harbin Offensive, Two Great Defeats for the Emperor
Episode 11: In at the Death (August 1941 - March 1942)
  • The Big Switch: Poland and Hungary attack Germany, Italy cuts ties, the 'ratlines' begin to fill, 'On to Berlin!'
  • Days of Infamy: The dissolving Japanese position in Asia; the Red Army on the Yalu, Army-Navy rivalries and the Kyujo Incident
  • Downfall: The Ten-Year Reich, the Committee for the Salvation of the German Nation and the assassination of Adolf Hitler; the SS' Secret War
  • Last Orders: the fall of Nuremberg, 'Czechoslovakia, we have returned', the German Instrument of Surrender; the Emperor's Will, Soviet-Japanese negotiations
Episode 12: After the Downfall (1942 - 1946)
  • Settling Accounts: The Treaty of Potsdam; the Soviet-Japanese Armistice; China's civil war resumes, Chiang and Mao's successors
  • A World of Difference: Europe and Asia pre- and post-war; the balance of power reset, population exchanges in Europe, 'Germany down, the Allies in, the Russians out'
  • The Uneasy Peace: The Iron Curtain, the Burgess Ring; Soviet deportations in Europe and Asia; Japanese home issues
  • Aftershocks: Quit India, the Korean Revolt, the Chinese insurgency, Filipino independence, the seeds of decolonisation
  • Fallout: the Birmingham Project, Operation Whirlwind, the Atomic Era, the Balance of Terror and the Staring War, the American Colossus stirs
 
State of the Political Parties in the Union of Britain (1951):

In Government:


Social Democratic: Harold Macmillan very kindly accepted the offer from former Labour Party member Malcolm MacDonald to form a new Centre Left that will steer Britain away from the barbarism of Syndicalism, National Populism and whatever other bug bears threaten the new emerging democracy Britain is trying to build. It’s all very nice and all but Macmillan and his array of Fabian allies seem awfully keen on rebuilding Britain under the watchful eye of ‘nice’ technocrats, ah just like H.G.Wells would have wanted.

Democratic Labour: Oliver Baldwin has formed his own ‘Democratic Socialist’ party which mainly seems to consist of all the Syndicalists that supported his coup against the Grayson-Mosley cabal and a few of the Lefties that fled into exile in Canada but didn’t join the Macmillan Group. Baldwin seems to mainly exist to give Macmillan legitimacy amongst the Left and also not have Home Secretary Morrison just arrest all Leftists and ban the Trade Unions.

Opposition:

Liberals: Still technically a party that believe in Social Liberalism, though Selwyn Lloyd’s idea of Social Liberalism is very Gladstonian in feel, so Free Trade and Balanced Books for everyone I guess. I think it says a lot about the impact on British politics that the Syndicalists have left that the main Centre-Right party of sorts would be a mushy Centre Left party anywhere else.

Social Credit: A coalition of Farmers, Right Wing Independents, Douglasites and just John Beckett have united into a Centre Right Party of King, Country, the Land and Social Credit. Now C.H.Douglas doesn’t actually endorse them, he thinks Macmillan-Baldwin is a better path to see his ideas implemented but what does he know, wasn’t like he was imprisoned and tortured for a decade for publishing economic ideas...oh wait.

Fellowship: Leslie Paul and Richard Acland were both put off by the technocrats of the coalition government and the general awkwardness of the opposition party’s so they formed there own Left Party based on values of Cooperative ownership, Christian values and Ecological ideas. There main base is those small cooperative villages who only noticed the end of Syndicalism when the flags changed and D.H.Lawrence.

Unionists: The heirs to the official Centre-Right party, kind of just existing now that most of there exiled members are dead or refusing to return home. There most prominent member is Angus Maude and that’s because he’s in prison for leading a pogram against the Jewish population of Glasgow. So yeah, bet they’ll just end up defecting to Social Credit in time.

Extra-Parliamentary Parties:

Independent Labour Party: The shadow of Transport House looms over these ones, though the Lansbury’s have tried there best to set themselves up as the ‘Libertarian Left’ option and yeah they were arrested for there beliefs so it’s understandable that they think there’s hope for them. Though with Edgar standing down due to health issues and Minnie not far behind, the party organs look like to be in the hands of Albert Metzler...which is interesting.

National Unionists: Think that one dictatorship should be replaced by one of themselves. Incredibly Right Wing, Anti-Semitic and Anti-Leftists there awfully friendly with a number of those exiled Aristocrats with two chins and double barrelled names and even a couple of royals like them. They would be more scary if they weren’t incredibly incompetent and constantly failed at any kind of Working class support.

Workers Party: The ‘Grayson wasn’t wrong’ party, incredibly chauvinistic and nationalistic alongside the whole Syndicalist waffle. Though even they distance themselves from Mosley rhetoric and spend most of there time complaining about how there comrades keep on being arrested.

A vague idea of what a Time Enough Post-Syndicalist Kaiserreich Britain would be.
 
STAR TREK (2009) CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

TOM HARDY, a notable rising star from England, will be playing the role of Captain April - here, just taking command of the Enterprise rather than settled in as we saw in the show.

WINONA RIDER is taking on the role of the legendary Number One, executive officer and power behind April's throne.

CHRIS PINE has been cast as Spock, the calm and curious first lieutenant who runs the lower decks.

ZOE SALDANA will be taking on Yeoman Colt, though she's tight-lipped on whether the film will keep the groundbreaking romantic tension between her and April or actually having them kiss.

COLM MEANEY brings some heavyweight acting work to Dr Boyce, being a known fan in his youth of Doohan's worldly-wise Galway doctor ("if not some of the lines they gave him").

DIEGO BONETA, a Mexican actor just finished out a teen telenovela, will be playing an extra-hunky Jose Ortegas.

ANTON YELCHIN will be in as Ensign Chekov, debuting earlier than in the show because who doesn't want Chekov?

CLAUDIA BLACK of Farscape fame has been cast as the villain, a time-travelling Orion warlord named Livia - everyone assuring us she'll be more capable and menacing than the oft-camp villainesses of the original show.
 
BREAKING BAD - IF THINGS WENT A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY

Sony-owned AMC has announced a new show, spearheaded by former X-Files writer Vince Gilligan and titled 'Breaking Bad'. The show's premise is not known beyond being set in New Mexico, however, Matthew Broderick is set to star in the lead role. The show will debut on 20 January, 2008.

GAME OF THRONES - IF THINGS WENT A TAD DIFFERENTLY

(Following the success of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, GRRM decides to give ASOIAF to a film company. The franchise is almost completely changed by this.)

The fantasy genre has longed for another "Lord of the Rings" since the phenomenal franchise's success - and it seems that a new fantasy series is on its way. After The Golden Compass brought the work of Philip Pullman to life, the work of George R.R. Martin is next.
Columbia Pictures has announced the franchise's first movie, A Game of Thrones, which is to release in 2011. It will star Sean Bean, Cliff Curtis, Brian Cox, and Peter Dinklage. Guillermo del Toro is set to direct.

(I can't personally imagine Del Toro's spin on ASOIAF - but it's a fun thing to think about)​
 
THE CAST OF A GAME OF THRONES (2011), DIRECTED BY GUILLERMO DEL TORO, AS OF NOVEMBER 2010

PETER DINKLAGE as TYRION LANNISTER, a clever yet maligned nobleman
SEAN BEAN as NED STARK, a proud and loyal ruler
TAMZIN MERCHANT as DAENERYS TARGARYEN, heir to an old empire
DOUG JONES in an UNKNOWN ROLE
BRIAN COX as ROBERT BARATHEON, an oft-drunken king
CLIFF CURTIS as DROGO, a violent warlord of a foreign tribe and Dany's bethrothed
RON PERLMAN as ILLYRIO MOPATIS, a wealthy cheesemonger
 
United Kingdom does America's system because Mumble-Mumble

The Houses of Parliament is split into a lower house, Commons, and the upper house, Lords, though these names are a holdover from before the Parliament Reformation Act. A lot of things are a holdover, to keep Britain from being too much like the United States.

The basic block of parliament are the 99 historic counties ("shires", for Scottish ones). Each county elects one Lord; the number of MPs is based on that decade's population census, and the total number in Commons is capped at 500. In theory, the MPs represent local concerns & parties while the Lords take a broader national perspective, and so the Lords get to confirm the President's appointments and treaties. The Commons chooses a Prime Minister to lead the House, though in practice this is always the deputy leader of the largest party.

Similarly, in theory the President doesn't have to also be the leader of a party and anyone can run. In practice, they're always the leader of a party. They're not, however, always the leader of the largest party. President Thorpe was one thing but President Farage was a particularly infamous upset, proving more popular than David Cameron and governing with an unhappy PM Grant Schapps.

The Vice-President, who is also Speaker of the House of Lords, is not officially a member of any branch of government. Since their role outside of "emergency substitute leader" is vague and based on what the President feels like it is, the VP candidate is primarily a party member famous to the general public: Farage's Veep was the singer Morrisey, which didn't go very well for the Lords. Thorpe used the former director-general Hugh Greene, which made things very awkward for the BBC when he became President after Thorpe's impeachment.

Each Commons has a fixed term of five years, while Lords serve seven years to seperate them from the general election (except for the King-Sized Elections every 35 years).

The country retains a vestigial monarchy, and on paper the President is who the people vote in to serve the Crown (while MPs serve the voters). It's faintly absurd but survives based on the Queen's popularity. It'll probably be okay after that, maybe.

One idea for further reform is "Lord Governors": splitting England into five regions to go with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and all eight will directly elect a powerful local leader for local issues. Most of parliament is very, very opposed to bringing in that part of the American system and undercutting their jobs. Chuka Ummunah promised this reform in his presidential bid, hoping to boost Change UK votes outside of England (he didn't).
 
The political settlement of the European Commonwealth was established long before its founding. Unlike the United States, there is no organized political force opposed to centralism, though there are of course more or less anticentralist factions within each party; nations which could have formed a nucleus for such a party, such as the United Kingdom, simply did not join. As such, the central question of European politics is not "is the Commonwealth good?", but rather "why is the Commonwealth good?"

One political faction believes that the Commonwealth is fundamentally economic in nature: it promotes macroeconomic stability and regulatory harmony, balances the interests of the rich countries of Northern and Western Europe with those of the poorer countries of the East and South, and counterbalances the more ideological powers of the Earth to the benefit of smaller countries outside the bloc. This bloc has long been strongest in Northern and Western Europe, particularly the axis of France, Germany, and the Low Countries that most strongly supported the "troika" during the fiscal crisis of 2008; they are also strong in Muslim countries such as Bosnia, Lebanon, and Tunisia, as their support for cultural "benign neglect" compares positively to the opposition's focus on "European values". That faction competed under the banner of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats at first, and currently operates as the 22nd Century Group. Its nominees for the European Presidency in 2100 are David Havryliuk of Canada for the Political Presidency, Ayşe Yıldız of Turkey for the Economic Presidency, and Birgit Neumann of Austria for the Foreign Presidency.

The other was forged in the Russo-Ukrainian and Second Yugoslav Wars of the 2020s, and believes that the Commonwealth is fundamentally defensive; though Russia is no longer a threat, it is still vital to defend Europe against known rivals such as India and the Ascension Pact, as well as partners of negotiable loyalties such as China and Nigeria and more inchoate threats such as terrorism, poverty, and the loss of values. This bloc has generally been strongest in Eastern and Southern Europe, the former due to support for its mission, the latter due to opposition to the other side's; as such, it generally takes a redistributionist tack in economic matters. The faction competed under the banner of the United Conservatives of Europe, and currently operates as the Citizens of Europe. Its nominees for the European Presidency in 2100 are Adrienne Blanchet of France for the Political Presidency, Maya Sirakova of Bulgaria for the Economic Presidency, and Ilia Elisashvili of Georgia for the Foreign Presidency.
 
This Wouldn't Have Happened

Devolution and London Assembly was followed by the three North England regional assemblies, which was followed by assemblies for the remaining regions of England. The end result was that so much stuff was now run 'locally', and so many MPs finding their constituents going more to the ever-stronger assembly reps, that Commons became unfit for purpose.

The Commons Reformation Act of 2022 decided to abolish all existing constituencies: local issues would be forever devolved and national ones would be overseen by MPs voted by the regions under the D'Hondt method used for MEPs. Each region would vote ten, leading to 120 MPs.

Getting that act through meant bribing Cornwall's MPs with a thirteenth assembly and promise that Cornwall would get 3 MPs (i.e. each thought they had a 50/50 chance or could be Big Men in the assembly); bribing the SNP by saying Edinburgh-to-Glasgow would get their own 10 MPs; and bribing a few dozen backbench MPs with peerages. 133 MPs would also mean a greater percentage of a governing party or parties would get to be junior ministers, which won over a few greedy doubters, and that a few more roles could be offered to Lords, which helped sell the Upper House on it and especially the bribed soon-to-be-peers who expected promotions in their future.

This was all brought in by a Tory government hoping to sort out the mess with the assemblies. The 2023 election did not go that way, with the new voting system and reduced vote-the-local-boy factor being a boost for smaller parties - the Lib Dems, Greens, and Alliance all saw gains, as did some celeb independents, and an alliance of Resident's Associations and local assembly groups gathered under Farage's banner as the One Union Alliance. The Labour Party got the largest number of seats but not enough for a majority, going into coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

"Lib-Lab" ruled for over a decade, the core block with the OUA as the growing conservative opposition and the various celtic nationalist parties as a struggling third block. Both Alliance and the Green Parties found they could make demands for concessions. The end result was the Greens collectively gathering into the People's Green Party (conservative) and the Green Alliance (socialist-leaning), while One Union became a formal party that devoured most of the Tories and the declining DUP. The Union's victory in the late 2030s under PM Grimes would force the Lib-Lab's into a formal party, Liberal Labour, with the dissident left leaving to form True Labour and joining the Green Alliance as spoilers.
 
@Qaz_plm told me to post her list

Progressive Alliance: Matt’s first tweet as PM is “This is The Super Smash Bros of cabinets!” which is .. not the game I’d pick there but nonetheless I’m not Matthew Patel.
Democratic: If you want a vision of the next x amount of years(or months), Imagine op-eds like “Is it misogynistic to call Vicky Moore Chelsea Cheddar ?” and ”The killer of the Democrats ?: Wokeness.” ad infinitum.​
Reform: People are saying Tony the Terminator is mad about getting Culture,Youth,and Sport. Fellas,that’s his dream job; a nice little office he can use for his revenge fantasies​
Green: The Messiah herself is tweeting(I’ll give you a minute to pick your jaw off the floor) That 37 seats and two ministries is “An end to misogyny,an end to lesbianphobia,an end to transmisogyny,an end of our dark days“.​

Britain’s Lions: The old right wingers are dead. Long live the new scarier right wingers.
National: TFW it’s a hung parliament and you literally have the chances of TPSF have being in government
The People’s Socialist Future: I wonder if the American teens who make PM Mark Williams lists know it’s a Falun Dafa front.
Working Families: Same as always,reminding people that this cross out Next election you can return them to power and it will be like the 90s again!
Londependence: They have a seat now,no idea what they’re going to do now that Percy is out and Londoner Matt is in but they have a seat like in the house of commons
Legalize It: The party’s at a crossroad due to it being,well, legalized. Some think they should disband, some think they should switch to other drugs like opium @ComradeCoked420 would prove further updates on this modern day Red Wednesday.
Bonnie Scotland:Oh Donny you were going to change Scotland but instead you’re a victim of the #ReformSweep and your most lastings impacts are challenging a former Olympic gold medalist Wrestler to a fight and comparing Vicky Moore to an animatronic mouse. #VictimsofReform #SAD #Still have your casinos tho
The English Party: Okay so they have put “Resit Mat the Rat” posters featuring Mat as a rat and like the English Front previously “Matty the P*ki” posters also featuring Mat as a rat and are suing TEP. Like TEP was like “okay we want to be racist but not that racist” This is so fucking funny to me.
 
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One Step Forward, One Step Back
Supreme Court members, 2076-77 term
JusticeOriginBorn (age)EducationAppointed byLeaningPrevious serviceHome state
Cornelia Bassett Jr.11th CircuitJanuary 17, 2038 (age 38)Harvard University (JD)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)ConservativeNoneMississippi
Annaleigh Browning9th CircuitOctober 5, 2021 (age 54)Harvard University (JD)Nelson Barnes (D-U)Conservative2075-76 (holdover)Nevada
Denmark Cantrell7th CircuitApril 22, 2029 (age 47)Georgetown University (JD)Natalia Villanueva (D-H)LiberalNoneIllinois
Sheldon Danger13th CircuitApril 15, 2015 (age 61)Harvard University (JD)Aisha Bashar (D-H)Moderate2058-2059Oregon
Danielle DevisFederal CircuitAugust 1, 2030 (age 45)Yale University (JD)Natalia Villanueva (D-H)ModerateNoneMichigan
Sanford Lowell Forbes2nd CircuitJuly 13, 2006 (age 69)Yale University (JD)Jon Ossoff (D)Conservative2045-2046
2063-2064
2070-2071
Connecticut
Tyron Gao10th CircuitDecember 15, 2023 (age 52)Harvard University (JD)Nelson Barnes (D-U)ConservativeNoneTexas
Sinead Gomez1st CircuitSeptember 4, 2035 (age 40)Duke University (JD)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)LiberalNoneMaine
Ormond Green-Harding7th CircuitMarch 23, 2025 (age 51)Howard University (BA)Nelson Barnes (D-U)ModerateNoneMinnesota
Mustafa Hossein11th CircuitMarch 8, 2018 (age 58)Harvard University (JD)Natalia Villanueva (D-H)LiberalNoneFlorida
Trinidad James-Cardona8th CircuitJune 11, 2028 (age 48)UCLA (BS)Natalia Villanueva (D-H)LiberalNoneKansas
Osiris Khan2nd CircuitNovember 4, 2030 (age 45)Oxford University (BA)/Independent Law School (LLM)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)LiberalNoneNew York
Kelia MousaCapital CircuitFebruary 16, 2020 (age 56)Yale University (JD)Nelson Barnes (D-U)Liberal2069-70New Jersey
Mercy Nguyen-MelnykPresidential nomineeMarch 8, 2041 (age 35)Independent Law School (JD)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)UnknownNoneNew York
Rohan Ranning4th CircuitMarch 18, 2040 (age 36)United States Naval Academy (BS)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)UnknownNoneMaryland
Giannamaria Rhodes3rd CircuitJanuary 15, 2030 (age 46)Harvard University (LLB)Nelson Barnes (D-U)LiberalNonePennsylvania
Sennara Kenmore Rodrigues9th CircuitSeptember 3, 2033 (age 42)Yale University (JD)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)ConservativeNoneCalifornia
Ellamenopy Ostrovski6th CircuitSeptember 20, 2030 (age 45)Harvard University (LLB)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)ModerateNoneMichigan
Cobalt Stamper6th CircuitDecember 25, 2027 (age 48)Columbia University (JD)Nelson Barnes (D-U)Liberal2075-76 (holdover)Ohio
Arizona Watford Ruiz12th CircuitMay 1, 2028 (age 48)Yale University (JD)Natalia Villanueva (D-H)ConservativeNoneNorth Carolina
Devi Kostopoulos Zorinsky10th CircuitApril 4, 2037 (age 39)Independent Law School (JD)Phoenix Westinghouse (I)ModerateNoneTexas

Earlier today, the Supreme Court announced the full list of members for the upcoming 2076-77 term. The 21 justices are expected to form a fairly moderate court due to an even balance between conservatives and liberals, with many moderates and a few question marks. The new court skews younger and more politically diverse than previous years.

How are Supreme Court justices selected? At the end of each Supreme Court term in June, 20 new justices are randomly selected from the judiciary and 1 is appointed by the president. One judge is selected from each of the 15 appellate courts (13 circuits, Federal Circuit, Capital Circuit). Another 3 judges are selected from a combined pool of all the courts. The outgoing court selects 2 of its members to stay on for the new term. The incumbent president appoints one justice who is confirmed by Congress, for a total of 21 justices.

Who will be the Chief Justice? The Chief Justice is elected by the members of the new court. The most likely candidates for this term are Danielle Devis, Mustafa Hossein, Giannamaria Rhodes, and Cobalt Stamper. All four have connections to many of the other judges and are palatable to the majority of the Court and the nation at large. Controversial figures like Sandy Forbes, Osiris Khan, and the youngest judges are unlikely to be selected.

What is the balance of the Court? From a jurisprudence point of view, the Court consists of 8 liberals, 6 conservatives, 5 moderates, and 2 unknowns. These ratings are made based on their prior rulings and votes as aggregated by the Independent Judicial Observation Association. The 2 unknowns are presidential nominee Mercy Nguyen-Melnyk, who has never served as a judge, and Rohan Ranning, who has only been on the 12th Circuit for three months.

Most liberal to most conservative:
Sinead Gomez, Denmark Cantrell, Mercy Nguyen-Melnyk(?), Osiris Khan, Mustafa Hossein, Giannamaria Rhodes, Cobalt Stamper, Trinidad James-Cardona, Kelia Mousa, Ormond Harding-Green, Sheldon Danger (median justice), Ellamenopy Ostrovski, Danielle Devis, Devi Kostopoulos Zorinsky, Sennara Kenmore Rodrigues, Cornelia Bassett, Rohan Ranning(?), Annaleigh Browning, Tyron Gao, Arizona Watford Ruiz, Sanford Lowell Forbes​

Who are the big winners of the draft? President Westinghouse certainly has to be happy that seven of the draws are his appointments. With the addition of Nguyen-Melnyk that means the president has appointed 8 of the 21 justices, a formidable bloc, and a major shift from courts past which were dominated by Democratic elders. With time ticking down to election day, the president has one last chance to test the reforms he ran on four years ago before a friendly court. Of the appointments made by Democratic presidents, 6 are from the Hamburger faction and 6 by the Uticans. The remaining justice is Sandy Forbes, who has loosely identified with Uticans over the years. This composition is a major blow to Uticans, who have historically relied upon the Court as the sole branch of government under their control.

Who are the new justices? Most of the justices are your typical, unremarkable, court lifer legal experts. There are a few interesting figures, though. The most notorious selection is Sanford Lowell Forbes, who has somehow found his way back on to the highest court of the land the same year he will have to retire, for a record breaking fourth term on the Supreme Court. The radical firebrand turned archconservative narrowly made the cutoff for his age 70 year due to the fact that his birthday is after the selection date. Other than Forbes and the two holdovers, only 1 of the 18 remaining justices has previously been on the Supreme Court, Kelia Mousa, an all time low. Also of note is Rohan Ranning, son of Admiral Ranning, who is only a few months removed from his long confirmation process.

What about their education? 8 justices are from Harvard, 5 from Yale. Three are from the Independent Law School, 1 being Oxford-educated Osiris Khan, who attended the ILS in order to practice law in the United States. The remaining justices all represent prestigious schools from across the nation.

What issues will the new court address? Due to the shift in composition, numerous cases will probably be revisited by this court. Expect expansion of privacy protections (overturning Bancroft), vcommerce facing stricter regulations (reversion to Shelley), and a crackdown on unauthorized interstate compacts. If any of these get done before the election, it will be a massive boon for the president, who failed to deliver all three through legislation. It is unlikely the Court will overturn precedent on identity law or corporate cryptosecurity. Even the Westinghouse appointments aren't radical enough to go after these red button issues.

The new court will be sworn in by outgoing Chief Justice Marvella Mowat on Independence Day and begin their term in the fall.
 
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