Rome Retaken

Rome Retaken:
On request from EmperorAlexander this is a map of the world from Rome Resurgent taking place in the year 2050. Nearly twenty years prior the Second Great War (the Grand Ocean War was renamed to the First Great War) finally ended after the short but violent nuclear exchange. The war between the Politian League and the combined might of the Innsbruck Pact and the Three Crowns lasted nearly seven long years and finally ended with victory for the Co-Dominium.

The Empire of Rhomania is finally reunited with its old homelands. The years of Politian governance left the northern lands impoverished and the war did no further favours for them either. Currently the Rhommanian's capital is still placed in Alexandria due to the damage to Greece and Anatolia. A lot of progress has been made in the reconstruction and new businesses are already replacing the decrepit industrial complexes of the Politian Rhommanians. Unrest and open rebellion were the biggest reasons the Politian government collapsed (followed very closely by invasion) and much of the population are very compliant with their Southern brethren. However the cultural disparity between the two has lead to some tension between the reconciliation and then there are the various rebel factions that do not wish to be under a monarchical government again. The Rhommanian has finally abandoned the remaining territory they had previously claimed and instead focused all of their attention on the core territories they liberated. The Rhommanians have also experienced a religious revival in their new Northern lands after many years of enforced atheism. This has created a fairly powerful political faction that are becoming worryingly powerful in society as they their often violently reactionary rhetoric throughout the rest of the empire.

The Second Great War was a truly horrific conflict that claimed many lives. The nations of the former Politian League received the worst of the impact and as the losers also received the roughest treatment after the war. The Co-Dominium did succeed in beating the massive UHPR into submission and attempted to occupy the nation in the aftermath. The occupation fell apart barely a year afterwards and soon enough the nation was abandoned as various factions fought one another. The successors to the Politian government were too weak and unpopular to regain control and new ideologies sprang up to replace them. It was the followers of a militant and nationalist ideology know as Augustinism that took command of the greatest portion of the nation and proceeded to retake control of all former Hesperidean territory. The collapse of Russia distracted the Co-Dominium and allowed the Hesperideans to rapidly expand. Their secret new army captured a lot of territory and revealed their new nuclear arsenal to a Co-Dominium too fragile and fractured at the time to respond violently.

The Republic of Hesperidea is an authoritarian state with a harsh militant regime and a a carefully oriented society. Society is organised along military lines with the old planned cities being reorganized in order to display the social standing of the members of society. Internal borders have been redrawn yet again by the government. Nationalist propaganda is everywhere that extols the virtues of the new government, the superiority of the state and the true conviction of the population. Secret police and special forces are everywhere and public programs encourage the population to inform any suspicious activities performed by their neighbours. Children are subjected to a harsh curriculum that involves some form of mock military service and regular drills and physical education. Schools also double as indoctrination centres where propaganda is expertly weaved into the lessons and range from obvious examples to subliminal ones. Lessons involve the collection and recital of whatever they are taught in their lessons and debates are discouraged. State sanctioned and controlled extra-curricular activities manage the lives of children outside of school and provide further physical education for the youth. The government is dominated by military officers, the more powerful industrialists and the surviving bureaucrats from the Politian regime. Corruption is hunted down by the more zealous officials but the sheer size of the system makes sure that it is endemic. At the head of the state is the Supreme Commander, a theoretical dictator who is often constrained by the inter-departmental rivalries within the government.

The subcontinent of India collapsed into anarchy after the first nuclear strikes decapitated the leadership of Industan. The Co-Dominium attempted to create a new Indian state to unite as much of the subcontinent as possible and provide stability to the region. However much like in Hesperidea the corruption of the Politians, the damages of the war, the resistance of the local population and the divisions between the indigenous cultures stretched the Co-Dominium's already overstretched resources. Order thankfully never broke down but the Co-Dominium pulled more and more garrisons out of India over time and soon enough the new harsh Augustine government that had taken power forced the final skeleton force off of the subcontinent completely. The Ausgustine faction of the new Indian parliament took power after fulfilling their promises of establishing order in the regions where they had influence. Lack of resources at the time kept the Co-Dominium from properly reacting and soon enough an alliance with the new government in Hesperidea kept them safe from any further nuclear reprisals.

India today is a complicated nation. Fear is the greatest tool the government possess to promote unity. Propaganda constantly spouts out the myriad threats that surround the nation and threaten their nation and way of life. The order between the many different cultures, races and denominations within the Indian Republic is also maintained through large amounts of anti-European rhetoric (the Hesperideans are descended from Europeans but have nothing to do with Europe itself in their eyes). Much like Hesperidea the education system is viciously difficult and more a form of indoctrination than a means of teaching the citizens of the state. The Politians are also a major target of government discrimination which is helped by the terrible treatment they had suffered under the previous government and the fact that the Politians are blamed for the war and therefore for the suffering they endured during it. Several local businesses have become enormous thanks to the large reserves of labour and resources available to them. Whilst still nowhere near the Co-Dominium or even the Hesperideans, the efficiency and prosperity of the Augustine government is far superior to the former Politian one and is undergoing a few more reforms in order to deal with previous issues that almost collapsed their very fragile economy.

The Co-Dominium still carries on but it is not what it used to be. The alliance has become very fragile and despite their victory in the Second Great War their failures in Hesperidea and Russia have only served to raise tensions between the two powers once again.

The Federal German Empire is now the uncontested ruler of Europe. The Second Great War revealed the inefficiency of the old federal system and the subsequent reforms have centralised the empire even further. Germany was finally united properly when the two most powerful cities in the empire joined together in a union. Today Frankfurt is ruled by the combined house of Hapsburg-Hohenstaufen and their combined holdings. The old dukes, princes and other aristocrats continue to hold their titles but their power is significantly reduced compared to before. There is also a parliament that posses a fair degree of real political power these days but it is still dominated by the social elite. Germany itself is still a land of machinery and engineering with massive grimy cities filled with productive industry. Whilst high technology is still a very small and uncared for industry the Germans are far more well known for building reliable products and refining what is already effective. The greatest change was the complete annexation of the Lombard League which had been under proper German occupation after Milan and Genoa were nuked by the Politian Rhommanians. An attempt at working through shared Germanic heritage has smoothed most relations between the Lombards and the other Germans but there are still a few civil issues concerning the former differences in certain laws and traditions.

The rest of the Innsbruck pact have grown even closer to their former benefactor as a result of the war. Whilst the threat of the Politians has been removed (mostly) the new threat of the Augustines has changed things once again. Augustine propaganda from India concerning Europeans is often circulated in order to unite the different nations together through fear of their opponents. Like Germany the Innsbruck pact nations are also monarchical states with fairly strong parliaments to balance their power. The Tripartite Monarchy has changed the most. Nationalist rebellions saw them finally abandon their prized colonies in North Africa which had consequences in the heartland. The Tripartite monarchy suffered political repercussions due to the influx of ex-colonial refugees from North Africa and several years of martial law and unrest threatened for a junta or even an Augustine takeover due to the conflict.

The most recent member of the Innsbruck Pact is the Empire of Russia. Russia suffered from several unprompted attacks from the Politians during the Second great War and began to fall into a period of unrest. This unrest collapsed into revolution and civil war a few years afterwards. Not wanting to see the rise of another Politian power the Co-Dominium moved in to restore order. Due to basic access the Germans spearheaded the effort and supplied the most troops. Soon enough order was restored over most of the empire with only a few major losses and a new Tsar took the throne and established a new parliament for the nation. Russia today is still rather backward but is modernising at a steady and healthy clip as they rebuild and reorganize their industry. The Russian Parliament is somewhat oligarchic with the new social elite largely replacing much of the old aristocracy. Life for the average citizen is still difficult due to the lower standards of living but that is changing. Russian society is also more sexist than most Innsbruck Pact states and very religious which has allowed the population to recover from the previous crises due to a high birthrate.

The other member of the Co-Dominium is the massive and complex Crown Empire of Britain. The former Three Crowns did make it through the Second great War in relatively good shape but things had changed. Before the war the Three Crowns of the Empire had been centralising and by the beginning of the war they were a massive and unwieldy entity. They did loose a few cities but pulled through and successfully retaliated against the Politians. The rise of the Augustines in Hesperidea saw them loose territory in Mexicha but also helped unite the Empire yet again. Today the British Empire has reformed several times, rewritten a few borders and is now a massive complex system of different federal provinces and protectorates. It is now the single largest political entity on the planet. British Hesperidea houses the capital of the entire empire but the economic centre of the empire may move away to Africa as it continues to modernise. The many different noble houses, inferior crowns and regional parliaments all manage their separate regions under the authority of the Central Parliament and Crown. The aristocracy and monarchies of Britain still possess significant power in government but filial piety, honour, endorsement of charity and a great sense of noblesse oblige have worked to make sure that their power is used responsibly for the good of the Empire. The parliaments are open to educated commoners and have enough power to counteract or debate the decisions of the aristocracy when government proceedings are being undertaken. The Empire is Catholic but other religions are now tolerated if not exactly encouraged. However homosexuality is still not accepted in the much of the Empire and many reactionary elements across the Empire still hold power over certain issues. The Empire is also very conservative and patriarchal but no longer racist.

Technology is only about 20-25 years ahead of current OTL levels but scientific progress is beginning to accelerate. Whilst still very repressive about what they teach the Augustine powers do feel more secure about scientific advancement than many of the old Politian powers. Societies are still very conservative but new liberal ideas are beginning to circulate within the Co-Dominium and their allies. However the attitude to these new ideas is less than enthusiastic. The damages of the Second Great War have mostly healed but a few cities are far smaller than they used to be thanks to trace radioactivity from the numerous nuclear strikes. The Second Great War had unfortunately turned rather uncivilized after the Politians began dropping bombs on cities but it thankfully had not escalated to civilization ending levels thanks to some anti-missile technology available to both sides. Climate change has turned into a noticeable issue now that sea level rise has been proved as a definite fact and several powers such as the Crown Empire have begun to invest in new technologies to combat the effects and some plans are being drawn up to deal with it. Surprisingly the possible threats of climate change may begin a Détente or start another war. One war ends and another begins, a monster is put down only for a new one to rise in its stead and the civilized world stays teetering on the brink of disaster.