We Never Got A War

We Never Got A War:

This is a world where Adolph Hitler died in the First World War. Without him the German Worker's Party never reformed and never took power either. Germany limped through a period of civil unrest until a more conventional right-wing government took power after a period of martial law. Unfortunately the next century didn't go very well anyway.

Japan continued to expand into China, disregarding the continuously ineffective League of Nations. The United States, meanwhile, despite some profit from selling oil to the Japanese, continued to flounder in its attempt to recover from the Great Depression. Home-grown fascist movements began to grow in the United States, destabilising the nation further. Stalin continued to enact more purges, consolidating his own rule but also depriving the USSR of even more professional leaders. The world limped into the 1940s with these relatively minor upheavals but things were beginning to build up.

The United States actually did elect a 'fascist' government but the crooked means through which they gained power and the oppressive policies they enacted led to resistance and eventually full on civil war. Germany ended up under a more conventional right-wing government and had to go through a short civil war to suppress a small communist uprising that hardened the fascists further.

The League of Nations refused to directly involve itself in China but as Japan ground their way through the north the British did begin to back the Koumintang to prevent total domination of the nation by the Japanese. Though the Japanese and British never came to blows over the issue both nations did increase their armament. Germany also rearms itself and even reclaims the Rhineland, almost coming to blows with France when the Rhur Incident still happens. There is no actual Anschluss but Austria ends up becoming a satellite of Germany, upsetting Italy who had recently been ejected from the League of Nations for invading Abyssinia.

As the 40s move on the USSR falls into its own turbulence. Stalin continues to purge the government and military of people he considers a threat but unfortunately also dies sooner due to food poisoning. His successors are not as competent, especially as, at the same time, the German government is especially unfriendly towards them and is trying to increase its influence in Eastern Europe. Eventually the USSR begins to try to start up communist uprisings in Eastern Europe.

World War II officially begins in 1945 when the USSR sent troops to support a communist uprising in Poland. Though it was called WWII it was in fact three separate wars made up of the war in Europe, the one in China (which was sort of winding down by that point) and the American civil war.

The war in Europe establishes a precedent early be having the vast numbers of the Red Army thrown into a meatgrinder. Despite purging most of the leadership, Stalin had also rearmed his nation exponentially prior to his death and his successors were happy to continue that policy. The Red Army may have ended up being poorly led and inexperienced but quantity ended up becoming a quality of its own and they did have the help of the communist partisans they had agitated. Most of Eastern Europe ended up overrun.

In order to open up a second front the British accepted Japanese control of China if they allowed their forces to operate in their waters. The Japanese, too busy digesting China to make demands, accepted the offer thus ending the initial war in East Asia. Britain did manage to get the majority of the Indians into helping them fight the Soviets but unfortunately most of the Raj was embroiled in a civil war between ardent communists and the Raj loyalists/anti-communist groups.

In Europe the war ground to a halt as Soviet numbers clashed with the more efficient and experienced armies of Germany, France and Italy. Robbed of the advantage of having communist partisans to sabotage League of Nations forces, the Red Army was forced into a stalemate.

In the United States the fascist loyalists began to lose ground. Supported by the British and Canadians, the American anti-government patriots (loyal to America's ideals, not the government itself) began to make gains. Unfortunately they found themselves having to deal with communist groups, secessionists and warlords who had sprung up in the chaos of the Second Civil War as well, prolonging the conflict further.

Britain pulled forces from the European theatre to help fight in India and East Asia. At the same time, violence spilled over the American border into Canada as the fascist government made increasingly bad moves and attempted to annex the Canadians who they thought were isolated from the rest of the British Empire due to the war. The British did send some forces to help the Canadians but most of their efforts were in securing India and the Middle East.

In Europe the war took a turn for the better when the German and French airforces managed to successfully cripple much of the Soviet airforce. Bereft of air support the Red army began to experience losses once more. In America uprisings began to take place against the fascist government and many lesser secessionists were dealt with by the patriot coalition. The Second Civil War began to wind down faster and faster as government strongholds were overrun by the patriots.

The Second World War finally came to an official end in 1949 when Leningrad had a newly developed British atom bomb dropped on it. Several remaining Red Army encampments were also hit with similar bombs. The government finally saw sense and surrendered to the Entente, suffering substantial territorial concessions as a result. The USSR was still too powerful and consolidated to dismantle entirely but they had large amounts of land taken away. The end of the war, however, did reveal the extent of governmental mismanagement in the USSR and how decrepit the nation had become by the end of the war.

The Second American Civil War was ended a month later when the last of the government strongholds was taken. There were still loyalist groups to round up but, on the whole, the USA was relatively whole again. Unfortunately the patriot coalition than had to deal with its own fractious nature.

By 2016 the United States of America has properly reunited itself and recovered completely from the effects of the Second Civil War but it has emerged as a rather different nation.

The present USA is a far more decentralised nation thanks to the Second Civil War. There are even parts of the USA that have been given special autonomous status within the union as a result of the rise of fascism. A new political right has emerged after the old one was stigmatised by the old fascist government, a right that actually argues in favour of further decentralisation of power and comes off as anarchistic but with a hard capitalist bent rather than a socialist one. Old fashioned nationalism has largely been discredited though racism is still around, especially in the areas where fascist loyalists used to have the most strength.

US culture is optimistic but also relatively humble. The fact that they elected their own fascist government into power and fought another civil war whilst the rest of the world battled communism has also made them far less prone to overt interventionism. There is, however, a new counter-culture that is developing in the nation's youth who are calling for more centralisation and a involvement in international affairs.

The autonomous regions of the US are the areas that were especially hesitant to the re-establishment of the federal government. It took a lot of work to prevent total secession by certain regions and there are still local political parties in certain states calling for a break from the US. These autonomous regions often have their own local governments and parties separate from the federal government and the primary parties. These regions are also the most likely to produce minor primary parties from the federal government that promote unorthodox policies.

The United Kingdom is one of the most influential nations on the planet. Without the US involving themselves in global affairs like OTL the British were the ones that moved into the niche of policing the world (a self-proclaimed duty of course).

Britain is a nation that won glory for leading the free world in the Second World War and contributing to the two western theatres (okay they abandoned Europe halfway through and didn't help that much in the US but it still counts). Jingoism and support for interventionism are common features of Britain's culture and foreign policy which also led to them trying harder in making something of the Commonwealth. The UK does still maintain a substantial navy though it is also supplemented by forces from the rest of the Commonwealth as well.

The Commonwealth of Nations, despite some losses, is a more substantial organisation in this world. The white dominions and some of the more easily manageable colonies are actually federal partners in a more united political entity. The other members participate in a manner more similar to nations in NATO. There have been attempts to unify the rest of the Commonwealth such as a proposed constitution and a single currency but they haven't really worked outside of the actual federated portions.

France, on the other hand, has set itself up as the leader of the Western European Community, a political and economic bloc composed of western, democratic European nations.

France has had a difficult time of the latter 20^th Century. They were forced to give up on their empire despite some admirable attempts to do what Britain did with the Commonwealth and were incredibly annoyed that they only got Western Europe in their orbit. They have managed to remain democratic despite a close brush with a militant fascist take over and are actually very prosperous. The portions of their empire that they have kept have been completely integrated into the metropole but there are concerns amongst conservatives about the flow of African immigrants into France itself.

The WEC has increasingly become a more unified federal state. There have been issues with nationalist groups but the political and economic integration has been gradually increasing. The central government is still relatively weak but it is becoming more substantial with time and new departments are being made to handle pan-national legislature. They haven't been able to set up a single military yet but there is a push for it in the central legislature.

Nominally associated with the UK and the WEC is Mitteleuropa, a collection of right-wing nations centred around Germany. After the Second World War right-wing politics, which were already widespread in Central and Eastern Europe, have managed to persist for the rest of the 20^th Century.

Germany is still a right-wing authoritarian state though it is only mildly fascist. Nationalist politics, social militancy and the maintenance of the Mitteleuropa are the most common political ideas endorsed by the government. Their politics have calmed down from the worst of the post-war heights but things are still very repressive. The government has incorporated social traditionalism into the military fascist government which has decreased the intensity of the military extremism as influence was spread around. Germany is one of the most productive states in Europe but it is offset to a degree by the cost of the military industrial complex and surveillance state that the government supports.

The other nations of Mitteleuropa are varying degrees of right-wing authoritarianism. Some, usually those further away from the mess of the former USSR, are simply nationalist states with a right-wing bent to their political system. Most of the others, however, are some flavour of fascist. There are some issues, especially amongst those that are more extreme than Germany and those with similar levels of authoritarianism. Germany, wanting to keep its current position as a nation of some prominence on its own is working to keep Mitteleuropa together despite the costs some of their member states are making.

The USSR went into a decline after the end of the Second World and failed to reform itself. Social unrest followed and escalated into civil war. The USSR fell apart completely in the 1970s and never really seemed to recover properly.

The former USSR is still divided into various states though the number has narrowed down. At present the largest and most stable is the Siberian government. Though they do claim control over the entirety of the former USSR most of the world regard them as the Republic of Siberia. Siberia is a capitalist oligarchy that does have a sort of state ownership of industry through the fact that the ruling oligarchs are the ones who personally own nearly all major industries. The population stabilised in the late 90s and has seen some increase. Part of this is due to a strong religious revival that does promote large families and the majority of the population still being rather rural.

The Russian Republic centred in Muscovy is a more conventionally fascist state. They too have intentions of reconquering the rest of the former USSR but are hampered by having fewer resources. They have had some success beating up some of the lesser warlords and coaxing others into their orbit but they are making far less progress. They are conventionally nationalist fascists with some aspects of clerical fascism added to it. Though they aren't that different from the Siberians in many ways both nations vehemently oppose one another.

The Japanese Empire didn't make it to the modern day fully intact. Despite their best (and most brutal) attempts to keep a hold over their colonies they were forced to abandon a lot of territory and were threatened with complete collapse at one point.

Japan's grip over China didn't make it that far into the latter 20^th Century. Between internal rebellion, overstretch and the chaos in the USSR washing over the border, the colonial government in the area was done for. China thankfully managed to reunify but the nation that has emerged is unfortunately rather unpleasant. The lengths Japan went to in order to crush the rebels saw most of the Chinese mainland gutted and crippled. Industry and most of the infrastructure were devastated by the Japanese retreat and the attempts to rebuild have been hampered by the nation's corruption and poverty.

The Chinese Republic is a nationalist state with elements of socialism as well. Unfortunately the damage done to the nation by the Japanese, combined with the brief but savage war that followed as the revolutionaries fought one another, submitted China to immense damage.

Japan did manage to make it into the present but it involved a coup by a moderate faction who overthrew the increasingly savage and oppressive military regime. Japan is still very militant and authoritarian but it has moved on from the oppressive autocracy that it had descended into in the later 20^th Century. Unfortunately it took Japan a long time to recover from almost becoming a global pariah. The reforms that have taken place are largely focused on rooting out corruption and making the empire more economically efficient whilst still retaining the remaining colonies.

They have declined in power but managed to remain a serious economic contender with the other major powers. The costs of trying to keep their remaining troublesome colonies are a problem for the current government but national pride is at stake and they refuse to shed them. The population is beginning to decline despite the best efforts to promote traditionalism which involved tactics ranging from pro-natal laws and programs to laws that penalised women who did not have a certain number of children (these were repealed when the new government took over). They are also starting to struggle with keeping up the technology race now that their traditionalism is beginning to seriously impede innovation.

Britain's pull out of India was even later than OTL and their attempts to meddle in the decolonisation process didn't do India any favours. The British did try to leave India in one piece when they did leave but it unfortunately didn't last. The breakdown between Hindus and Muslims led to a more violent breakaway than OTL. Pakistan eventually fell apart and has become a problem for the surrounding region as refugees constantly come out of the unstable warlord states that rose up to replace it.

India is a modernising state that has been forced to move on to the world stage earlier than OTL. The wars with Pakistan and the collapse of Japan's empire in China forced them to militarise far more than OTL. The rise of an increasingly nationalist government and culture has led to them building up a political bloc of their own. Despite this power projection the Indian bloc is more of a regional organisation and doesn't yet have a global reach.

The Middle East never experienced the same type of destabilisation as OTL. The collapse of the USSR did shake things up but the British – and later the Americans – moved in to set up their spheres of influence. Unfortunately popular Islamist uprisings led to the friendly governments getting overthrown. The region suffered several unpleasant wars before the British and Americans cut their losses and carved out the bits they wanted. The rest of the area outside of Turkey, Kurdistan (sort of), Egypt and the secured portions of Arabia is now largely under the rule of warlords of various flavours.

Socialism as a political force was dead after the USSR's collapse. It has, however, seen a recent resurgence after the South African bloc, a collection of apartheid states and their allies/puppets, fell apart. Now socialism (with an anti-white, anti-colonial flavour to it) is seeing a return under the Peoples Union of Africa. Already they have been gathering former colonial states that share their ideals into a new Comintern, a development that is disturbing the traditional power blocs.

Technologically this world is about a decade or so behind OTL. The political instability and more conservative nature of this world slowed technological innovation and development. Nuclear weapons saw a bit more use in this world thanks to the short nuclear exchange during the Soviet Civil War which has left people a bit more wary of nuclear war. Unfortunately this more unstable and less globalised world has also led to people being more dependent on nuclear power than OTL as well. Nuclear proliferation was unfortunately more intense than OTL as well as a lack of regulation led to a number of less savoury nations getting their hands on warheads. Even today there are fears concerni8ng the unsavoury individuals that could potentially get their hands on a nuclear weapon.

Computer technology is also further behind OTL. There is an internet of sorts but it does not have global coverage due to greater degrees of poverty and instability in many parts of the world. It is also more heavily monitored and censored than OTL due to the threat of criminals, terror groups and extremist recruiters from a variety of different groups. Portable computers and phones are becoming common but they're still very chunky and inefficient compared to modern OTL models, appearing similar to those found in the early 1990s.

This world is beginning to slowly stabilise as the warlike regions of the earth consolidate back into stronger nations but much of the world is worried about what is emerging from these areas. China is already a nation that concerns much of the free (and not so free) world and other pundits are worried about what might emerge from Russia. Then there's the Middle East where chaos from Russia and former Pakistan has been shaking up the region for decades. It is considered a miracle that nothing too big has developed in that area but it may just be a matter of time

Credit to B.Munro/Quantumbranching's Fewer Countries To Memorize for the US autonomous regions and the communist Greater South Africa.