- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
Well, the war was extremely bad for Bengal, which is almost like it being good for us.
Peace in Our Time! - A TRO Inspired Franco-British Union Quest
- Thread starter Fission Battery
- Start date
- Alt. History
Well, the war was extremely bad for Bengal, which is almost like it being good for us.
Mashriqi
"Once Upon a Time, I was Me"
- Location
- Lone Star State
Ok, this did not end as badly as it could have. Thankfully most of the damage was done to India-Bengal and our reputation which we can regain.
BUT! This war does highlight serious issues with our military. The main 3 problems I've noticed is:
Now as for the big elephant in the room, the Americans. We seriously need to bring them in together with us. We should probably set up a pro-FBU lobby within their country that will promote our foreign policy agenda or at least least further cooperation with us to the general public and to Congress. That way we at least have a section of Congress who support us even if the President doesn't. Now we can also get the US to cooperate with us more by involving them in military exercises with us as well as asking them to train and support Anti-Japanese Guerillas.
Anyways this is my short plan that we should highly adopt ASAP so we don't get humiliated again against Japan.
BUT! This war does highlight serious issues with our military. The main 3 problems I've noticed is:
- Ineffectual, incompetent, and outdated high command that underestimated our opponents, we need a purge/flushing old bureaucrats and pencil pusher officers and need to promote more experienced and youngers. Make it so that COs only hold their post 10-15 years and either get promoted, reshuffled to another position, or just made to retire.
- Outdated and outright useless equipment, we need a serious overhaul to procurement and modernization program. Sell the older equipment off to minor nations and our allies to boost them up.
- Our commonwealth militaries are incompetent and somewhat useless. We need to bring a unified command system similar OTL NATO officer rankings, we need to have regular military exercises, and also try and sell off both our older and newer equipment to bring them to a better standard as ours.
Now as for the big elephant in the room, the Americans. We seriously need to bring them in together with us. We should probably set up a pro-FBU lobby within their country that will promote our foreign policy agenda or at least least further cooperation with us to the general public and to Congress. That way we at least have a section of Congress who support us even if the President doesn't. Now we can also get the US to cooperate with us more by involving them in military exercises with us as well as asking them to train and support Anti-Japanese Guerillas.
Anyways this is my short plan that we should highly adopt ASAP so we don't get humiliated again against Japan.
Mashriqi
"Once Upon a Time, I was Me"
- Location
- Lone Star State
We were luckily left unscathed by the war which means our ability to commit to further conflicts is still good but India and Bengal are sure to be knocked off the international stage effectively for 10 years.
LuxemburgLover69
There are more things between Heaven and Earth...
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Tensions between the Soviet bloc and the Japanese bloc can hopefully be exploited if the two China's go to war. Which sounds like a possibility. Next term I want to really focus on reigning in our military.
Mashriqi
"Once Upon a Time, I was Me"
- Location
- Lone Star State
We definitely should elect a labor government next election to not only appeal to the Soviets as a worker-friendly government and do détente with them against the Japanese but also to fix the issues the Tory government caused domestically.
Nobody in London expected Azad Hind to build up a new officer core so quickly, or have modern equipment. They underestimated the cohesion of its army and the widespread support the regime has. In real life the Indian army did suffer issues post independence because of the lack of officers because mostly/only British people could hold high ranks. That was a deliberate policy to hamper the effectiveness of any all Indian army. India and Pakistan solved that by simply training new officers. London underestimated how quickly Azad Hind would churn out new officers, supplemented by Japanese advisors.
Oh hey, I wanna be as aggressive as we could now
(tho they still supply us with weaponry, oof)
America is always ready to sell weapons to allies. It's good for businesses.
America really fumbled the war. Shermans got introduced at the end of the war and in few numbers. The M3 Lee was their main battle tank during the war. I edited it to include M3 Lees too.
The initial idea was that it'd be more interesting CCP form a People's Republic of China in Xinjiang to create tensions with the Republic of China, rather than a People's Republic of Xinjiang. They're not going anywhere any time soon.
That's gonna be a running theme of the quest. It's unfortunately a common trend in British and French decolonization: fight tooth and nail against any reforms, burn the country to the ground, and then pull years after you've realized there was no point in staying.
That's a bit unfair to CAN. Outside of Spain, Portugal, and America, none of which directly participated in the fighting, they're all already used to working under a joint British command. They already use British equipment and derived equipment, in addition to America equipment. I do appreciate the "British official blaming allies" vibe of point 3.
That'd be truly impressive given America doesn't own Pearl Harbour. Japan would intercept the Franco-British fleet well before it ever reached Hawaii.
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Damn, just 50,000 British KIA? That's nowhere near enough of a catastrophe to kill the Tory party for a multi-generational period of time.
We need to find another pointless war to throw England's men into before the next election, otherwise the Tories are gonna remain politically relevant.
We need to find another pointless war to throw England's men into before the next election, otherwise the Tories are gonna remain politically relevant.
Mashriqi
"Once Upon a Time, I was Me"
- Location
- Lone Star State
That's a bit unfair to CAN. Outside of Spain, Portugal, and America, none of which directly participated in the fighting, they're all already used to working under a joint British command. They already use British equipment and derived equipment, in addition to America equipment. I do appreciate the "British official blaming allies" vibe of point 3.
Why of course it is never our fault! British soldiers never lose on the battlefield, they only lose because of their buffoon commanders, idiot allies, or enemy trickery!
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
Again: yeet the British Army of the Pyrrennees against into France. Nothing will burn the Tories down like another round of bombing and losing the rest of Europe - and probably most of the MidEast - to the Red Army!
In real life Britain lost something like 380k people during WW2. The number is probably similar here, overall. In Korea it lost 1,100 people, while America lost like 43k people. In the span of two years you lost 50k people, many of which were conscripts deployed during their national service. The BEF has to be rebuilt from the ground up, again. This is a complete and utter catastrophe. Thankfully it's nothing compared to India's losses, which the Franco-British media is more than happy to gloss over.
Glory to the franco british UNION
another smashing success
another smashing success
1948 to 1952 - Eden's Post War Government - Colonial Results
The Colonial Office, the source of many bad decisions
[] Plan: A Different Colonial Rationalization
-[][COL] Why pick? Didn't we just establish an agency to help with that? Resettle them all over the empire: Algeria, Kenya, Quebec, etc. Wherever there's space for racist Europeans, they'll find a home there, even at the expense of the locals.
-[][PAL] One State Solution: Palestine, Zionists will be equal to Arabs and Mizrahi Jews
-[][SOM] Give to Italy as a Mandate
-[][LIB] Italian protectorate
-[][ETH] With a heavy heart, yes, restore its independent government. It will be left in debt to London to pay for the occupation and "rebuilding"
-[] Restore the Kingdom of Greece in Crete and grant it Cyprus in return for being in debt to the FBU and granting us guaranteed military basing rights.
-[] Integrate Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland into the Dominion of South Africa
-[] Federate British East Africa, the Mandate of Tanganyika, the Ugandan Protectorate, the Mandates of Ruanda-Urundi and Northern Rhodesia into the Imperial East African Federation.
-[] Federate the British, French, and Belgian Congos along with French Gabon and Ubangi-Shari into the Imperial Central African Federation.
-[] Transfer French India to the Indian Dominion
-[] Federate the Southern and Eastern Arabian administrations.
-[] Begin a transition towards British-style colonial administration that relies on local chiefs and authorities as lynchpins to cut down on the cost of funding and manpower.
-[] Institute the switch-over of the former French Colonies that have not been reorganized into Overseas Territories, granting them native assemblies that may put forward policy suggestions towards colonial administrators, to be ignored or heeded at the latter's behest.
-[] Begin granting tax breaks to churches all over the Empire to intensify missionary efforts and opening new schools within the colonies.
-[] Grant the Americans naval and aerial basing rights within the various islands and coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in exchange for debt reductions.
-[][COL] Why pick? Didn't we just establish an agency to help with that? Resettle them all over the empire: Algeria, Kenya, Quebec, etc. Wherever there's space for racist Europeans, they'll find a home there, even at the expense of the locals.
-[][PAL] One State Solution: Palestine, Zionists will be equal to Arabs and Mizrahi Jews
-[][SOM] Give to Italy as a Mandate
-[][LIB] Italian protectorate
-[][ETH] With a heavy heart, yes, restore its independent government. It will be left in debt to London to pay for the occupation and "rebuilding"
-[] Restore the Kingdom of Greece in Crete and grant it Cyprus in return for being in debt to the FBU and granting us guaranteed military basing rights.
-[] Integrate Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland into the Dominion of South Africa
-[] Federate British East Africa, the Mandate of Tanganyika, the Ugandan Protectorate, the Mandates of Ruanda-Urundi and Northern Rhodesia into the Imperial East African Federation.
-[] Federate the British, French, and Belgian Congos along with French Gabon and Ubangi-Shari into the Imperial Central African Federation.
-[] Transfer French India to the Indian Dominion
-[] Federate the Southern and Eastern Arabian administrations.
-[] Begin a transition towards British-style colonial administration that relies on local chiefs and authorities as lynchpins to cut down on the cost of funding and manpower.
-[] Institute the switch-over of the former French Colonies that have not been reorganized into Overseas Territories, granting them native assemblies that may put forward policy suggestions towards colonial administrators, to be ignored or heeded at the latter's behest.
-[] Begin granting tax breaks to churches all over the Empire to intensify missionary efforts and opening new schools within the colonies.
-[] Grant the Americans naval and aerial basing rights within the various islands and coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in exchange for debt reductions.
===
1948 to 1952 - Eden's Post War Government - Colonial Results
===
In contrast to the relatively unified vision on domestic and foreign affairs, Eden's government had no clear approach to managing the Union's massive colonial domain. There were few steps taken to unify and rationalize the administration of many colonies. The distinction between French and British colonies remained in place, while lurching, contradictory steps were taken without a clear cohesive policy behind them. Africa found itself carved up again as lines on a map were redrawn with little rhyme or reason in order to streamline the numerous parallel colonial governments alongside a reduction in staff across many quarters in an effort to save money. London wanted to rule Africa with an iron fist for cheap. Those involved in the process called it "nonsensical, deranged, and self-sabotaging." The rearrangement of African colonies in particular made negative sense. The only sensible decisions made were those regarding occupied territories.
In a move to cut costs thousands of French colonial civil servants were fired. They were soon replaced with local proxies to run operations on the ground for the Colonial Office. However, many civil servants kept their jobs as nearly all French colonies were declared overseas territories. They were technically refiled as employees of the Home Office. Overnight the nebulous status of Franco-British Subject had been dissolved and instead replaced with full Citizenship, on paper. The new territories had local assemblies, but their power was extremely limited and they were not granted seats in parliament like Algeria or Corsica. French protectorates and mandates remained in limbo as nothing was done regarding Morocco, Tunisia, or Cameroon. French Equatorial Africa was divided up to create Central Africa, except for Chad. Belgian civil servants found themselves fired too. The decision created utter mayhem in the administration. While on paper a large Central Africa was a coherent colonial federation, in practice it was an empire unto itself filled with many more numerous empires. It was a feudal nightmare. Nobody knew who they answered too as lines of communication broke down.
The situation became more cluttered as Congo was turned into a 'joint economic zone' that allowed limited investment from other countries directly into the colonies. There were taxes and duties levied on any company doing it, including profit sharing schemes with London. That limited enthusiasm somewhat, but as the administrative chaos set in a miniature mineral rush began in Central Africa. The reorganization of colonial borders, coupled with firing much of the staff to replace them with proxies and local elites created conditions where nobody was quite sure who answered to who or who was even authorized to answer to anyone. In stepped private companies with backing from America, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, all looking to get their cut, despite the cost of entry. Many established jointly owned companies with French, Belgian, and British executives looking to help foreign companies find their footing in Africa. Corruption skyrocketed to an all time high as former civil servants signed and sealed documents for cash under the table, veteran bureaucrats fearing that their jobs were on the line, and locals fortunate enough to know the right people their cut for acting as liaisons.
Unsightly developments like private security forces began popping up in Central Africa. They were little more than hired thugs meant to look tough and beat workers into line, while any actual fighting was handled by the colonial garrisons. They were small in numbers in the grand scheme of things, but soldiers of fortune never looked good for an empire. Eden's government was less than pleased by the news, deciding to downplay it. The revenues generated from investments and taxes was certainly well received, even if the growing corruption wasn't.
The decision to federalize East Africa was somewhat smoother, if only because the widespread use of Swahili gave administrators a shared language. It also helped that they were all already British colonies, save for the mandates of Ruanda-Urundi which had previously been Belgian. The transition to a federal colony was handled much smoother as a result. The chaos was already a part of the system. Kenya took a leading role in the new federal colony, treating its constituent members as its subordinates. Unrest against the uptick in settlers caused tensions to flair in Kenya. Violence continued on as always against the native people in response to their protests. In another brilliant cost saving move the "church" was given more leeway with missionary work. Catholic and Anglican priests fought tooth and nail to save the souls of Africans by securing fiefdoms for their respective organizations. Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, The Gambia, and British Somaliland remained untouched by London's incompetence.
Unrest in Madagascar had been brewing for years prior to 1949. The promise of citizenship had stalled revolt until the truth of the matter became self-evident. There was no equality under the new system. The abuse inflicted upon the Malagasy people continued no matter how consensual London tried to make it sound. Hundreds of thousands of peasants rose up in revolt in 1949. They struck Franco-British garrisons everywhere they could before fleeing back into the highlands to hide. Many were armed with little more than spears. There were those that possessed old Lee-Enfields gained from unknown sources. MI5 suspected they were stolen from local garrisons or smuggled onto the island. Regardless, the revolt would last for over two years, ending by 1951. Franco-British forces brutalized the civilian population of the island, especially when the Bengal Intervention began that year. War planners were fearful Japan would give aid to the rebels or that it'd inspire similar revolts elsewhere in Africa while London's attention was elsewhere.
Ethiopia once again rejoined the world stage as Allied troops withdrew from its territory. Emperor Haile Selassie returned home triumphantly in 1947. He found a country suffering loss of life, destruction, and on the verge of famine from the war. Freedom had come at a steep cost, which Ethiopia's liberators were certain would be paid back. Loans taken out from American and Franco-British banks helped it purchase food and medicine, staving off further disaster while digging the hole deeper for itself financially. As a landlocked state it was granted limited use of Eritrean ports in exchange for lowering trade barriers with the FBU. Utterly surrounded by FBU colonies, the Emperor had little choice but to accept. In 1949 Ethiopia regained its place in the League of Nations as one of two African members alongside South Africa, and the only one ruled by actual black Africans. Moscow, Nanjing, and Tokyo celebrated Ethiopia's return to the LoN. It was seen by many as undoing the damage done by Mussolini's regime, righting a wrong the League had been previously unable to stop. Cries of "never again" were shouted by many European delegates. President Wang Jingwei personally himself delivered a speech declaring that the period of European domination was at an end and that the second half of the twentieth century would belong to the people of Africa and Asia. Given that the speech was delivered two years before China's invasion of Tibet, it was well received by Soviet delegates.
By 1952, Tokyo provided developmental aid to Ethiopia. The transfer of goods was heavily monitored by Franco-British authorities who were wary of Japanese cargo ships pulling into its ports. Tensions between CAN and CPS remained high during the Bengali Intervention, however limited trade still occurred. Ethiopia was also technically an independent state. It had a right to import whatever it wanted, though port authorities did their best to make sure weaponry and machinery were confiscated before they could make it to the country. London didn't want it to actually be able to stand on its own two feet after all.
London burnt any notes talking about relocating Selassie to a proposed Kingdom of Jerusalem in exchange for turning Ethiopia into a protectorate. The scheme circulated the cabinet for several weeks, gaining some approval among less informed members of the administration. It took several attempts to explain that the Emperor would not readily give up a throne which he had fought for to rule a land that wasn't his simply because he claimed to be from Solomon's line. It was utterly asinine, but tickled the fancy of a certain sort of statesmen's who's only knowledge of the region was the Bible half remembered from Sunday school. Why wouldn't the Jews want a king? Britain had a king. Arabs had a bunch of kings. It was only fair, so these unnamed buffoons claimed. In the end their proposals went nowhere, except the incinerator.
No, instead saner heads prevailed regarding Palestine. In a move of stunning humanity and competence for Eden's government, a multi-ethnic republic federation was pushed forward. All people of Palestine would be equal citizens in a parliamentary democracy similar to Britain's. Jewish citizens would be given extra seats so that their voices were heard in government. The move was deemed "quite expensive" as it'd require maintaining CAN garrisons in Palestine to oversee the hand over of power. It meant betraying the support of Zionists which had come to depend on and hate London's continued presence in the region. In no small part the decision was a cynical ploy to maintain the support of Arab rulers that surrounded Palestine. Carving out a Jewish state risked alienating them, potentially opening up the region to Soviet or Japanese influence. The decision was praised by many across Europe as a solution to unrest plaguing the region. Labour Zionists and Palestinian leaders announced their tentative approval of the plan, while Irgun and Lehi lodged protests by ramping up attacks on Franco-British garrisons. Labour Zionists themselves split over the issue as many believed strongly in settling the region to create a Jewish state. Those open to compromises were the ends that took the FBU's offer. Determined to hold onto the region despite the costs, London swallowed a bitter pill and footed the cost to help keep the new dominion of Levant stable. Einstein himself was given an honorary position within the government as "minister without portfolio."
As part of the policy of discouraging Zionism, the FBU had been turning away Holocaust survivors from settling in Palestine to avoid tensions from rising further. Many instead went to America or the Soviet Union, which had established an Autonomous Jewish Oblast in Crimea before the war. It was the core of Europe's surviving Jewish population. It proved to be more popular to many Jewish refugees across Europe too, especially when London was reluctant to take Jewish refugees in the first place. They were deemed a "security risk." Levant joined the League of Nations in 1949. The ongoing conflict would last for several years as Irgun and Lehi continued their insurgency against Arabs, British, and other Zionists. Nobody was off their list. They received the attention of Franco-British military police performing anti-partisan operations. The irony that the FBU was preventing massacres against civilians for once was lost on all involved, save those protected.
The decision to appease Arab rulers had paid off though. The decision to form a protectorate out of Britain's collection of coastal Arab states and treaty ports had been relatively well received by all involved, if only for lack of any other option. The protectorates were welded together into an unwieldy administration divided by nearly two dozen emirates that made it up. The noncontiguous country stretched from Kuwait to Oman and Yemen. Kuwait City was chosen as the capital city of the federalized colony, though it had little direct control over its vast and underpopulated territory. Its diplomatic and military affairs would remain under London's control, while domestic policies were mostly left in the hands of native rulers. The Protectorate of Arab Emirates would soon become very wealthy from the export of oil. Wells in Kuwait and Trucial States were more than enough to cover the cost of administering the rest of the protectorate. As always, London maintained control over military bases within the colony. It did cut down on costs on paper. Arab rulers in Transjordan, Lebanon, and Syria all watched the matter carefully as demands for independence rose. They could live with dominion status if necessary, but enough was enough. The mandates had to end, and soon…
The joint economic zone in the PAE went much smoother than it did in Central Africa. The local emirates were more than happy to take foreign money in exchange for drilling rights, though very soon Franco-British companies began to feel annoyed by the incursion of American oil companies into their perceived territory. The high barrier of entry and revenue paid to London and British executives mollified them only somewhat. It was fortunate that the PAE was a less interesting market to Americans than Saudi Arabia or Iraq. It was easier to grease palms with the independent kingdoms than bother jumping through London's hoops. The emirates without known oil deposits across the PAE desperately offered drilling rights in the hopes that they'd strike it rich too. There were no major discoveries as of yet. They were in a stronger position than the Congolese to negotiate actual returns on the looting of their nation.
The Republic of Italy was afforded its pre-war colonies back. Somaliland was initially meant to be turned into a LoN Mandate to give some internationally acceptable cover for restoring an ally's colonies against the wishes of the people that live in said colony. The Soviet Union protested the decision, instead proposing a joint British-Soviet-Italian administration for a period of two years to prepare the country for elections before turning over power to a popularly elected government. Failing that, it be turned over to Socialist Italy rather. The rather reasonable suggestions were refused by London. Somalians themselves were not consulted of course, neither were Somalians in British or French Somaliland. With the decision made, Italy required Franco-British aid in actually policing Somaliland, given they lacked the ability to do so themselves. It was easy since up until the transfer it had been previously occupied by Allied forces. The island bound republic was broke and lacked manpower, making it a somewhat worthless ally. All it did was run Sicily and Sardinia for London for cheap. Eritrea was a similar story, garrisoned by Allied soldiers who did most of the work running the place for Italy.
Libya somewhat changed that by giving them more farmland and territory under their control. Moscow once again suggested a joint administration that'd transition to independence, and once again with the involvement of Socialist Italy. Neither option was acceptable to London. Hundreds of thousands of fascists and refugees that fled the Soviet advance down Italy had ended up in Sicily. They often had little except the clothing on their back, government documents, and as much cash or jewelry they could grab, forced into living in cramped refugee camps on islands across the Mediterranean. With Franco-British and LoN help they found themselves resettled in Libya. Roughly over half a million Italians found themselves making a home in Libya. A similarly equal number of Libyans found themselves displaced from their homes, forced into slums to work on farms or displaced into the interior. Libya had become over 60% European by 1952. The FBU's imperial resettlement program played no small role in creating another apartheid settler colony in North Africa. It'd remain an electoral stronghold for the Italian Social Movement, a neo-fascist political party that "moderated" its rhetoric, for decades to come. They'd contest the Christian Democrats for the leading role in government every election.
An independent Kingdom of Greece was established in Crete and Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots were shafted by London's policy, remaining a significant minority on the island. They were legally equal, but in practice second class citizens to the Greeks. The island kingdom immediately agreed to lease naval and air bases to the FBU, join CAN, and take loans out from British banks. Its application to the League of Nations was immediately vetoed by the Soviet Union. Between Greece and Italy the Mediterranean remained divided between London and Moscow backed regimes. The close proximity between Sicily and the mainland alongside disputes over fishing rights would be a source of tension for years to come.
In Algeria the pied-noirs enjoyed a boost to their population. Between 1947 and 1952 the European population of Algeria went from 10% to 40%, a change of about 1 to 5 million by the end of the major resettlements. In effect they had become a permanent fixture of Algeria. The influx of settlers was not well received by Arab natives who much like their brethren in Libya found themselves pushed into slums, into the interior, or neighbouring protectorates for their rulers to deal with. Protests against the theft of land and lower status often turned violence. Algiers was quick to look away as paramilitaries supported by police brutalized Arab citizens. Vichy collaborators, Nazis, and Fascists were but a small part of the number of refugees settled. Many small business owners, industrialists, middle ranking party members, landlords, general anti-communists, and priests had fled ahead of the Soviet advance as well. They understood that under the Soviets their wealth and power would be taken away from them, even those that had dubious connections to the regimes took it upon themselves to flee when they had the chance. Darlan himself saw a huge boost in popularity among the newly settled refugees. The narrative around his "betrayal" of Vichy had shifted from a betrayal into an act that saved Algeria from possible communists. It preserved a section of the regime, and made peace with Free France, essentially allowing much of the population to politely pretend they hadn't contributed to the Holocaust. Algeria's Jewish population found itself increasingly squeezed out of society by the new arrivals. Algiers insisted that antiSemitism had nothing to do with the matter after an official investigation into the matter. Many would get the hint once sporadic pogroms began and high tailed it to America or Levant. The 50s would see North Africa's Jewish populations slowly migrate away from Algeria and Libya.
Kenya would receive a minor number of settlers. Canada took in more than it did, settling French refugees in Quebec. Quebec Premier Duplessis readily accepted the overwhelmingly conservative refugees to further shore up his hold over power and increase the province's population, though the amount was far lower than those that settled in Algeria. Petain's slogan of "travail, famille, patrie" found a receptive audience in the theocratic province. The few Ukrainian Nazi collaborators that escaped Moscow's reach found their pasts quietly buried as they integrated into existing Ukrainian communities in Ontario and the Praires. Their participation in the Holocaust was buried in favour of narratives of fighting for Ukrainian independence, accomplished by murdering fellow Ukrainians.
The prideful bastion of liberal imperialism continued holding its head high to avoid looking at the gore it found itself standing in. The largest colonial empire in the world had in effect taken a shotgun to its legs and praised itself for bleeding so much all over the floor. Its rocky balance on its remaining leg was seen as proof that the other wasn't needed in the first. Confusion would plague the colonial administration for years to come with little to show for it. For many in Britain the colonies were a drain on resources. Notions of captive markets and cheap resources meant little when the economy hadn't recovered from the war and bodies kept coming back home in coffins. The profits generated by colonial enterprises rarely impacted the average person in ways that benefited them. Bananas and bauxite could be gotten from the Caribbean cheaper and with less resistance than they could from Congo. Despite London's ineptitude, the formation of overseas territories out of colonies had many Africans paying attention. There was hope that it would actually lead to self government for the colonies. It was only a matter of time until Eden or Attlee disappointed them all…
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Map of Colonial Divisions in Africa 1952
Colonial Divisions in Africa, 1952
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
Huh, I just noticed that Switzerland no longer exists on the map. Did the Soviets invade and split it between Germany, France, and Italy?
And it survived the Nazi invasion? Did the Nazis never make it to the Crimea? That would imply they didn't manage to make it beyond the D'niepr. But then how did the war last until '47? Was Barbarossa, like, super-late?
And it survived the Nazi invasion? Did the Nazis never make it to the Crimea? That would imply they didn't manage to make it beyond the D'niepr. But then how did the war last until '47? Was Barbarossa, like, super-late?
A rare act of compitance. Although whether this federation survives is yet to be seen.
Total success! jolly good show!
With the successful demilitarisation of Bengal and Pacification of Africa we've got the commies on the ropes and rumbling like a powderkeg, It is my opinion that operation "Please oh god don't fucking do this ~ Churchill" be put into effect and we launch a full scale invasion of the USSR!
Alternatively, Ireland is chomping at the bit to rejoin the North, perhaps a humanitarian intervention is needed?
Glory to Eden!
With the successful demilitarisation of Bengal and Pacification of Africa we've got the commies on the ropes and rumbling like a powderkeg, It is my opinion that operation "Please oh god don't fucking do this ~ Churchill" be put into effect and we launch a full scale invasion of the USSR!
Alternatively, Ireland is chomping at the bit to rejoin the North, perhaps a humanitarian intervention is needed?
Glory to Eden!
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More Seriously, Our weaknesses are very clear, Our Domestic Policies are terrible and are more likely to collapse us into a *shudder* Labour Government so we need to actully spend some of the money we saved by doing fuck all, preferably on uplifting the poor into the Middle Class we tried to get so much support from yet barely exists.
Africa seems like a very mixed bag but our ethnic replacement policies will at least stabilise North Africa (they are too racist to revolt, yet, great success!)
Our Armed Forces need a total makeover, Hopefully having Vietnam/Korea mixed into one Hellish two year war has left scar that we can use to learn and improve for the next glorious foreign adventure we stage in the near future. Hopefully it will be more like 1991 Iraq than the Iraq/Iran War next time.
Africa seems like a very mixed bag but our ethnic replacement policies will at least stabilise North Africa (they are too racist to revolt, yet, great success!)
Our Armed Forces need a total makeover, Hopefully having Vietnam/Korea mixed into one Hellish two year war has left scar that we can use to learn and improve for the next glorious foreign adventure we stage in the near future. Hopefully it will be more like 1991 Iraq than the Iraq/Iran War next time.
Regency
PFP by vanathema (previously yubishines)
- Location
- Morioh Town, Mt. Ebbot
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh hey we have smth to do for the next colonial turn
Aw don't worry about that h a h a
Hello??? Lmao I sure af didn't expect Albert, 1st president of plurinational (still imperialized) Levant.
Pls I need Indonesian cranks like Yamin calling for CPS black ops to Madagascar in the name of "Austronesian brotherhood" to happen, it would be *magical*
Huh, I think Astra meant two protectorates -tho that would still include Kuwait as an ugly exclave.
What is Bukharin & co cooking???
Ah, ITTL version of war over fishing rights is gonna be *much* more dangerous
This and Libya's plight - caused by us - is pretty damn grim.
I wonder what happens if we say no
Mashriqi
"Once Upon a Time, I was Me"
- Location
- Lone Star State
We need to seriously promote devolution within our colonies, giving up local governance to local collaborators to appease the natives while retaining our control over the economic and military aspects. Decolonialization will still happen, it is inevitable and it is unstoppable. But, we can at least delay it long enough to secure the power of Loyalists in the region.
- Location
- SF Bay Area
That's not very Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules The Waves of you.
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Devolution? Why in God's name would we let those bands of savages govern themselves?
No, better to keep them under our steady hand*. They might not appreciate how much better we are at ruling them than they ever could themselves, but isn't that what the Army's for?
*The hand actually being steady is purely optional.
No, better to keep them under our steady hand*. They might not appreciate how much better we are at ruling them than they ever could themselves, but isn't that what the Army's for?
*The hand actually being steady is purely optional.
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Aren't we in too much debt to spend on the army?
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Switzerland got drawn into the war. Soviets weren't slowing down and refused calls for a negotiated ceasefire or promise to stop at the Rhine. It began letting Nazi "refugees" move through its border, started taking deposits of war loot, and refused to turn them over to Soviet forces as they got closer to the border. Switzerland started firing on Soviet aircraft. Once it was clear that Britain wasn't gonna manage a landing in Europe, Swiss threw their lot in with the Nazis rather than risk being surrounded on all sides by the Soviets.
I also didn't want Switzerland being this unchanged shape in Europe, so it got dissolved, like it deserved.
Soviets established the oblast in the 30s and took in more Jewish refugees than they did in real life, helping them settle there. Nazis still reached it during their invasion, but the Red Army managed a better defense and strategic withdrawal, allowing the population to be evacuated. It was still ravaged during its occupation. Bukharin's Soviet Union also just has better treatment of Jewish citizens than Stalin's, so after the war effort was put into rebuilding Jewish communities and giving them special attention to try to help them recover. There's no downplaying of the suffering of Soviet Jews like there was in real life.
He's not president. It's like an honourary doctorate. Fun fact, he was offered a minister post in real life too.
Indonesian cranks sound hilarious. I don't know nearly enough to comment.
I saw "federate east and south arab holdings" so I federated east and south arab holdings. You're welcome.
Another fun fact, Stalin offered a similar deal to the Allies for Libya. Somalia I'm not sure about. Bukharin offered it as basically a gesture of goodwill "hey, let's pretend to get along and act like allies, don't just give Italy its colonies back you fucks." Britain's refusal to grant self rule to former colonies was poorly received, especially since it didn't get the legal cover of being "mandates."
It's going to be sure fucked. Police will be arresting fishermen claiming jurisdiction over each others boats. Ramming will be very common between fishing ships. Just a constant low intensity war across the Med over fishing rights between the rival Italys and Greeces.
Yeah it's fucked. The worst part? Oil's discovered in 56. You've created an apartheid settler state filled with neo-fascists that's about to become a filthy rich petrostate. At the moment though you're footing all its bills actually running its empire for it.
You'd be pissing in Canada's face for literally no reason.
That's not very Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules The Waves of you.
Overcoming institutional opposition to dominionship and limited self rule will be a bit of a challenge. It's kind of incredible and depressing how many colonies Britain could have kept under its sway if it didn't fight them every step of the way. Though it is impressive that France managed to maintain much more influence over its former colonies than Britain ever did. It's kind of shocking how many African rulers would have tolerated dominion status and some control over national resources. Continued refusal to cede even an inch radicalized a lot of people.