Crown And Country

Crown And Country:
A bit of an ASB scenario. A world with a slightly different American Revolutionary War that lasted a few years longer and drew the French and Spanish in further than OTL. The French Revolution takes place but ultimately has a different cast of characters and different ideals behind the faction that ultimately takes power. There is no Napoleon (he gets executed during one of the many regime purges) and instead a number of talented people instead take power. Through strength, determination and a lot of zealous fanaticism the French manage to duplicate many of the achievements of Napoleon before stalling in Eastern Europe.

The Revolution and subsequent wars led to a Reactionary phase in the British Isles that later evolved over time. In the 19th Century the British Empire had a more ambitious and talented monarch who actually managed to revive the power of the British Crown even if it was through other agencies and a form of patronage (not like the kind that existed before the American Revolutionary War). This strange new system would come to define the British Empire forever afterwards.

By 2013 the world is divided between the three power blocs that have dominated most of the globe for most of the 20th Century. The French System has survived the centuries and retained their dominance of Europe. By the 20th Century they had tied their puppet states to their economy so strongly that they had now become invaluable to the strength of the European economy as a whole. Keeping the German states divided into slightly larger chunks also helps them maintain their supremacy over the rest of the Continent.

The French Republic is a sort of fascist state that has gone to great pains to assimilate the Dutch, Belgians, Italians and Catalans in their territories. Their government elects a Consul for life from amongst the pool of potential candidates picked from amongst the party. The few parties permitted to participate in government are all varying degrees of fascist as well and other ideologies are banned from the Senate with the leaders of these other parties often spending most of their careers in prison before some means of banning them from politics is concocted. The army and the secret police also have significant power in government and their support is necessary for nearly any policies to be submitted and enacted. The Catholic church is supported by the French government but only so long as they do not interfere with their policies and ideals. In return the government leave their parishes alone for most of the time but occasionally the bishops are pressured to support and validate one of the government's new moves or judgements. Thanks to the various traditional ideals endorsed by the government the Church is actually still rather important in society for most people. The Catholic Church's opposition of the use of contraceptives certainly does smooth things over since the government always enjoys having a healthily growing population. Atheism is actually not that popular and is discouraged by the government as their rationalism often contradicts the government's proclamations and ideas concerning French predetermined supremacy over other nations and ideologies.

French society is surprisingly militarised and stratified. The old aristocracy was completely abolished and has been replaced by a ruling class of businessmen and bureaucrats that now dominate the positions of the Senate. Basic overtures towards democracy allow the people to decide which of the limited pool of predetermined candidates can take positions in the government. The French people are expected to serve the state and do their duty to the Republic and their ideology. Sexism is still rife in France and their allies, the French government want the population of Europe to continue to reproduce and so have banned contraceptives, endorsed pregnancy tax reductions, enacted pro natal laws and during their nastiest regime in the 1930s even set up rape camps that were dismantled many decades ago. The white population of Europe has yet to decline below replacement levels but is nowhere near as productive as it once was. However as the smallest power the French have fallen behind their rivals in terms of economic productivity, their smaller population and resource base means they are increasingly loosing ground to the Yorktown Pact and the Federation.

The United States formed in a very different manner to OTL thanks to an extended American Revolutionary War. The nation centralised far more than OTL and at one time was threatened with revolution. There was a civil war as the North overtook the South. It happened earlier than OTL and was more focused on State's Rights but the North and those who supported unification eventually won. The war lasted longer and even spread into Mexico which led to some of the Northern territory (which had been annexed by the Separatists) being absorbed by the USA after the end of the war. The United States actually adopted a number of 'socialist' practices under a run of their most successful pro-unification presidents. The government is still fairly federalised but the states have far fewer individual privileges compared to OTL. The US do not consider themselves the world policemen but do have a lot of investments overseas and are very close to many of their allies now. Their Civil War actually led to a period of increased militarisation and a move away from isolationism as the US and the other world powers began to directly interact with one another. American businesses are now regulated but a lot of the larger ones have managed to entwine themselves with the government to the point where trying to differentiate the actions of the two as separate entities becomes rather difficult. America prizes itself on being a tolerant and socially enlightened nation, a movement that was helped by a bigger “Back to Africa” initiative deporting most of the former slave population. They have received far less immigration over the past two centuries but this has been counteracted by a generally higher birth rate that has only begun to decline in the 80s. American media will often take as many chances as they can get to demonise the British, decrying their government as a tyranny. This of course is the main point of contention between the Yorktown Pact and the Imperial Federation.

There is no crusader mentality in American culture as they never saved the world from any evil empires but there is a righteousness that was left over from an ATL form of Manifest Destiny. Many Americans believe that the USA's rapid rise to power and wealth that the country has experienced is merely the beginning of an Empire of Liberty that will come to control and guide the planet. America's Russian allies are very close to the USA and even use their government as a guide for their own but they are also far more authoritarian and stratified. The Russian Empire had a revolution in the early 20th Century after a war with Britain led to the Tsar being overthrown and a short but nasty civil war. A more moderate Duma faction won out over the socialists and the loyalists and they have remained in control ever since. Russia is less tolerant of certain parties and ideologies but they do practice multi-party democracy. They are also far more religious than their American allies and the Orthodox Church has a lot of influence in society, almost to the point where it disturbs some people in America. Most other members of the Yorktown Pact are various American allies and dependencies in Latin America.

By far the strangest of the three power blocs is the Imperial Federation. The British system of neo-Royalism has survived the test of time though its success has depended on the talent and ability of the Royal Family. It has changed over time in order to incorporate the other members of the upper class into a new fairly elitist system. Of course the Constitution has been written in order to reincorporate the Royal Family into the rest of the government and objections have been raised at times. The move from empire to federation actually began in the 19th Century and the transition period lasted well into the later half of the 20th century as they struggled to find a balance between the British colonies, placate or subdue nationalist movements and organise the emerging federation into a coherent system. Much of the former British Empire have now developed to the point where they have autonomous membership in the Federation. India was by far the most difficult to integrate and now an incredibly complex state. India is a federal entity in and of itself that is divided into several political subdivisions that are subdivided further. The Indian economy is very decentralised which has kept the Federation from being dominated economically by India. The white dominions still have some privileges because they reached industrialised and reached dominion status before the rest of the British Empire.

British society is more stratified than the nations of the Yorktown Pact but far more mobile than the French System. There is still a certain elitist mentality that means that more established upper class families will often end up in positions of leadership in the government and most of the rest of society. The monarchy is still very respected across most of the Federation with an informal cult of personality being promoted. Most media are owned by the Crown or by various businesses associated with the monarchy which helps promote the Royal Family and their government system. The upper classes of the native peoples across the entirety of the British Empire have been incorporated into the elite and government of the Federation as well. In the early days of racial integration money whitened which made it easier for the elite and educated of Africa and Asia. Now most racial issues have been resolved, excluding racial extremists of every flavour but they are thankfully stuck on the political fringe. Religion has been harder for many to deal with and attempts to secularise the Federation has been difficult and the people of the federation are generally more religious than most of them are in OTL, including the white dominions.

Technology is roughly on par with OTL with a few fields further ahead. The three way Cold War and the increased industrialisation and education of the world has accelerated technological development and allowed it to keep up with OTL despite the more conservative and authoritarian nature of the world. All three power blocs now have extensive R&D programs, often supported by research divisions in the major corporations. Computer technology is not as available to the public as OTL and there is no internet either though a system of divided information networks does exist for the people of the various power blocs to access. However space technology is more advanced, the continued Cold War encouraging the expansion of space based facilities even if it is only a means to make orbital weapons and compete to see who can put the most stuff in orbit. There is an international Moon base that is being used as a mediator for the current period of Détente and the Americans managed to land a man on Mars last year. Climate change is more advanced and pollution is even bigger problem for the world. Genetically engineered crops are becoming more common and even more necessary to feed the population and deal with increasingly erratic weather patterns. Antibiotic resistant viruses are becoming even more worrisome and pharmaceutical companies across the planet are struggling to create new medicines to combat them. Even with the increasing number of peace talks the world's nuclear arsenals are still very large and putting them in orbit certainly didn't do the peacemakers any favours.