The Two Americas Part IV

THE TWO AMERICAS ALTERNATE HISTORY PROJECT:

Part I: [link]
Part II: [link]
Part III: [link]
Part IV: You Are Here!
Part V: Coming Soon
America Map: [link]

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At the turn of the millennium, the world looked like it was about to enter another era of warfare. Communism had spread from Africa into the Middle East and Europe, and Imperialism was making a comeback in Italy, Russia, and Confederate States. Over the course of a mere fifty years, however, the world would change rapidly.

Communism was the major threat of the early 2000's. In 2002 the United States of Latin America came to be ruled by the Latin Communist Party under suspicious circumstances. Between 2002 and 2010, many Central American nations also fell to Communist coups and revolutions. In early 2011 the Confederate States intervened in Guatemala, which had been fighting Communist guerrillas since 2004. This revoked a response from neighboring Communist nations, to which the CSA responded with the full force of their modernized military. Some states, such as Gran Colombia and Peru voted in favor of annexation by the CSA (historians debate whether these events also took place under suspicious circumstances). Others such as Confederate Guiana, Uruguay, and Chile seceded from the newly formed Latin Workers Republic and came under "protective occupation" (and later agreed to annexation, again possibly under suspicious circumstances). The secession of these states caused a conflict with the Latin Workers Republic, which did not recognize their secession and considered the annexation an act of war.

As the Confederate States began to dominate South America, the war against Communism in Africa was raging. In 2006 France was the victim of a Communist coup, and the Italian Empire was quick to respond. Control of the Mediterranean gave them the superior naval firepower Italy needed to gain a foothold in Marseilles, from which the Italian Imperial Air Brigades repeatedly bombed Paris. The French, not expecting an attack so soon, were completely unprepared and surrendered after only a week. The Italian government was quick to claim France and all its holdings for itself, which put it at odds with the United Kingdom and United German States.

For the moment the British and Germans had to put up with the pompous Italians, as they were a key ally in the war against the People's Republic of West Africa. The Italians and Russians were fighting in the Middle East, taking on Communist Iran and the Socialist Ottoman Republic. Although they were invaluable allies, these two empires were seen as the biggest threat to the world second to Communism, and already plans were being made to destroy them as soon as the Communist threat was gone. In mid 2017 the Ottomans surrendered, and Italy annexed Anatolia and installed puppet governments in Kurdistan, Kuwait, Mesopotamia, and Syria (Cyprus, however, had been captured by the British in late 2016). Later that same year the Russians annexed Iran and turned their attention to a brutal civil war that had been gripping Greater China since early 2001.

On 18 April 2024 the People's Republic of West Africa finally fell, leaving only the Latin Workers republic as the sole remaining Communist nation (the British, with the help of the Basque, overthrew the Communist government in Spain in late October 2008). Most of West Africa was annexed by the Italians, who refused to surrender it in the Treaty of Rome, although they did return Morocco and the West Sahara to the Confederate States and Liberia to the United States. The Italians also refused to relinquish their claims on France and Turkey, and denied claims that the government they established in the Republic of West Africa was merely a puppet despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary.

The Chinese Civil War stretched on from 2001 until 2032 and brought an end to both Greater China and the Pacific League. The Russians established puppet states in the Chinese Federation and Laos, but Southeast Asia was for the most part left to fend for itself. Heavy colonization during the early part of the Twentieth Century had left most Southeast Asian nations "Japanized," with the majority of their population being Japanese or at least living under (mostly) Japanese cultural customs. Some like Thailand and Malaysia retained much of their culture, although it has been twisted or blended with Japanese culture and customs. Others such as Cambodia and Vietnam are almost entirely Japanese, although none were as bad as Korea where only 10% of the population was actually native Korean. These nations grew close relationships with Japan, adpoting similar governments and policies and sharing intellectual and cultural achievements. Over the course of the 2030's and 2040's they would slowly grow into an alliance called the Pacific Union, which would become a single superstate in 2049 with the Kyoto Charter.

Tensions between Europe and the empires of Italy and Russia finally reached their breaking point in mid December of 2037. The Italians and Russians had both been establishing puppet governments in the Balkans and Eastern Europe in an attempt to break the strategic cold war between them, and in the process they had wreaked havoc on the political balance of the world. The newly formed United Commonwealth of Great Britain, a union between the United Kingdom and many of its dominions, along with the United German States, the United States, and the Netherlands gave Russia and Italy an ultimatum; stop expanding or face war.

The Russians heeded the warning, as the great swollen beast that was now the Imperium of Great Russia faced many internal struggles and needed to reform their government yet again in order to avoid collapse. The Italians, however, responded by annexing several of the smaller Balkan states. On Christmas day, 2037, the world went to war with the Empire of Italy. The British focused their campaign in Africa, capturing Italian Ethiopia and Somali by late February, though at tremendous cost. American troops from the Philippines struck out at Madagascar, but failed twice to take it. The Italians managed to take and hold the Dutch island of Sumatra, but British naval forces from India and Australia prevented them from moving from their self-made prison.

Between 2037 and 2042 Arabia was conquered by the Italians three times, each time it was liberated by British forces. The Rhodesians had secured all of Africa south of the Italian Congo by 2040 and after American forces retook Sumatra from the Italians in late 2043 Madagascar finally fell on New Year's Day 2044. In March of 2044 the Italians agreed to an armistice, and eventually a treaty was signed. France was given back most of its territory, although Southern France remained under Italian control and Lorraine was ceded to the UGS.

It is now the year 2050, and things are still not looking up for this world. In 2046 the United States purchases the Dutch East Indies from the Netherlands, in order to help them pay off war debt and secure an American presence in the Pacific. Madagascar remains an American possession as well, and there is even talk of the two gaining statehood just like Liberia did back in 2039. The Confederate States now stretch from Virginia to Chile, controlling over half of the western hemisphere. This, coupled with the growing talk of "Manifest Destiny" in the nation, somewhat concerns the United States, though the US military and Confederate government assure every President that there is nothing to worry about.

In 2050 the European League was formed to create a closer bond between the nations of Europe, as well as keep them from becoming a prize if war should break out between Italy and Russia. It loosely binds Europe together, creating a shared currency and military as well as enforcing international law. For Great Britain the growing unity of the Commonwealth is the future; four more dominions are pending membership in the United Commonwealth, and associated states have been extended the right to join if they so choose (and if they meet certain criteria). The federal parliament has recently voted to secure more funding for space travel, as the North American Space Association has recently outdone its Martian colonization mission by putting a man on Ganymede. The Prime Minster is calling for a mission to conduct a manned exploration of our entire solar system, starting with putting a man on Venus, but securing the funding for such a project is unlikely. The Pacific Union is also allotting more funding for space exploration, beginning construction of a space elevator on Japanese Guinea based on the design of the one recently completed in Quebec.

Although the world is peaceful for now, it will still undergo one final act of inhumane violence before settling finally into a lasting peace. This is the beginning of the Era of Six, the superstates that will dominate the Earth. Russia and Italy have both declared themselves the Third Roman Empire. In Rome there is talk of an impending "March of Civilization" in which all of Europe and Africa will be united under the Italian way of life. And in Moscow a Mad Czar speaks of world domination and global conquest. The world of the two Americas will enter its finale in the next and last part, coming soon.