A Different 1984

A Different 1984:
An ASB scenario of mine that I finally figured out coherently. In this time-line the USA underwent a Great Awakening in the 1920s as an extension of the Prohibition that by the Great Depression lead to an authoritarian theocratic government that promised a strong and moral society that would overcome the hardships of the world. The power of the theocratic government steadily increases and undergoes a series of government programs similar to the New Deal/5 Year Plans before they get involved in a war in the Pacific.

Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party succeeded in coming to power in Germany and the UK and France still took part in Appeasement not only due to the threat of the USSR but also of the USA. World War 2 lasted until 1949 (with an interim between 1946 & 1948) and was ended by the dropping of two UK developed atomic bombs on Berlin and Nuremberg whilst launching attacks on the continent spearheaded by thousands of colonial (cannon-fodder) regiments. The Third Reich eventually collapsed in 1949 with its government decapitated and its military divided between feuding generals. Areas of occupation were drawn up with the Soviets far further East than OTL. However the horrors of the war left the victors in turmoil and unfortunate reactions took place.

The Soviet Union suffered even more during World War 2 due to unfortunate armchair generalship from Stalin and by 1949 their troops had only just crossed the Dneiper. Stalin died during the war and the new Premier that took his place not only lived up to his oppression but seemed to exceed him. By the end of the war the Russian population had been devastated and was unable to expand far into Eastern Europe in the wake of the collapse of the Third Reich. Rebellions in their puppet governments shortly afterwards saw the Soviets expelled out of much of Eastern Europe by homegrown fascists backed up by remaining SS units that had yet to be hunted down. Thus the Soviets instead turned to East Asia where Communist uprising had been more successful than in Europe.

After the war with the threat of Communists and Theocrats still very real the British and French underwent a political union that merged the two colonial powers. However the economic dip that took place coupled with the damages of the war almost lead to a Communist uprising. However the reaction that took place after a series of Socialist riots was not pretty either and a fascist government took control. From there things got worse as their colonies began clamouring for independence that the government was unwilling to give.

It is now 1984 and things are looking very drastic.

The United Holy States of America is now a full blown theocracy reinforced by an enormous police state. The UHSA expanded into Mexico in the 40s and has established a number of puppet governments in Latin America and the Pacific. The US government uses their morality regime to justify the extreme control they exercise over their population as well as their puppets. Life in the UHSA is restrictive and conformist with an overbearing emphasis on Christian values. The death penalty now applies to numerous crimes and the government's Moral Patriot Acts provide the government with their veneer of legality that allows them to completely bypass the Constitution. The US government is now a one party system that is heavily intertwined with the Evangelical church of the state. Evangelism is imposed on their puppets with fanatical fervour. UHSA education and media is dominated by state and church ideology which allows the state to keep the people focused and morally upstanding.

Life in the UHSA puppets is even more difficult. The original drive to colonise their 'satellite' states was abandoned in the 1970s after several unfortunate incidents between the still largely Catholic natives and the Protestant colonists. Now the UHSA government has turned to forced conversion in order to make the native population comply. The government of these puppets is now filled with converts in hopes of setting an example. Various regions within the UHSA sphere of influence have already been placed under absolute military control in order to properly 'educate' the region. Life there is horrendous with hangings being a regular fact of life as the military searches for dissident elements from across the population. The UHSA's expansion in Latin America did limit their focus but before the end of WWII they were able to grab some territory in the West Pacific. The rebellion in Anglo-French Indochina did provide the UHS with an opportunity and they were able to fill South Vietnam with enough soldiers to hold it as a puppet state. The UHS also enforced a 'protective act' over the Chinese Republic-in-exile and stationed troops and nuclear bases in Taiwan and Hainan.

The Eurasian Union was formed in 1950 after the two Communist regimes of Russia and China united. Whilst the smallest of the two blocs they still have significant power through a combination of Russian resources and Chinese labour. The regime is practically Stalinist in terms of oppression and has modernised through a number of economic plans. The Eurasian Union is somewhat technocratic as they have recently moved to a computer controlled economy this has also allowed them to increase their own police state further and their embrasure of technology has allowed them to attempt to develop even more ways to monitor the proletariat. Government control is also what keeps the conflicting ethnicities of the population under control. Just as the government has control over the media they have also taken numerous attempts to create a single legal language for the people to speak but the results have been very unsatisfactory. The Union is the most economically backwards of the powers and pollution and environmental destruction are very bad. The Union citizenry all wear the same dirty overalls and work constantly in the factories that make up the periphery of the grimy new planned cities of the Union.

The Union also maintain several puppet states not yet incorporated into the Union itself. These states are watched even more closely than the Union citizens and conditions there are more often than not appalling. Several of these states do subscribe to traditional Stalinism rather than the new 'technological socialist autocracy' system of the Union but the corruption inherent in these 'allied' regimes makes them easier to control but also far less productive which often infuriates the Politburo and has lead to frequent purges of the puppet governments when they get to bloated and ineffective.

The largest but least developed of the three powers is the Anglo-French Commonwealth. The backward state of the colonies combined with the damage done to Europe during WWII led to very selective development as well as the increased extremism in politics. The Commonwealth is by far the strangest of the powers with a very complex make-up kept in check by the control of the state. The Commonwealth and every one of their puppets are one party states. The Church is dominated by the state and used as another means of control over the populace. The Commonwealth took control of the numerous states left behind by the Third Reich after the war and the collapse of the short-lived Soviet occupation. Life in the Commonwealth core territories is decent with the resources from across their empire fuelling the economy. However the agents of the state are omnipresent and the populace is constantly encouraged to report any treacherous activity from their neighbours. The Commonwealth also still maintains their colonial empires though a few regions have instead been given puppet governments. Life in their colonies is horrific as the local population are exploited as labour for the Commonwealth economy.

The Commonwealth's most troublesome colony is the Raj which has employed many horrible measures to keep control over the population. Despite their control over media and education the government has still failed to 'enlighten' the deepest and most obscure corners of their empire which continue to harbour rebellious elements. Religious and ethnic tension are still rife across much of the Commonwealth which has seen even greater government control in order to put it down.

Technology varies back and forth but is overall more advanced than OTL 1984. Nuclear energy and synthetics are more widespread. The three powers do still trade with one another despite their policies but the there has been significant attempts to move towards self-sufficiency. There are far more nuclear weapons around than OTL and the tension between the three powers is greater than the OTL Cold War. At this point in history anything could happen but none of it could possibly be good.