Pax America

[vovan]

Any time.

[Centauri18]

Map

Okay, I've finally got the map of the world at the end of World War 2. America and the Celts are colonizing Australia, and Russia is only a shadow of its formerself.
Well, here is is:

India had long since expanded into Southeast Asia, as shown on the map. America recevied Hong Kong in negotiations with the Chinese in exchange for Steam Power, and the Americans have built it into a cultural center, and an economic powerhouse of a city.
The Celtic takeover of England meant access to the former English prison colonies in Australia. America received some of the mini-continent in negotiations for English surrender just before Queen Elizabeth's execution by the Celts.
Persia expanded into Afghanistan through negotiations with India, and because mostly-Muslim Persia has powerful friends in the Indian province of Pakistan who are fellow Muslims.
America exploted its naval superiority by colonizing several groups of islands in the Pacific, and building a large naval and Air Force base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
Iroquois-Canada had expanded into northern Greenland, also thanks to Celtic concessions.
The World exists in an uneasy state of peace. German interests in Poland bring resentment toward the Celts. The French are surrounded by enemies - The Celts in Britain and Spain and the Germans.
Rome is witnessing reforms within the Catholic Church, but Caesar is looking to expand as well. He seems to miss Rome's former glory.
Arabia and the Ottomans are peaceful. The Ottomans have made Jerusalem an open city, free for any religious pilgrims to visit whenever they like. Just as Arabic Muslims regularly visit Jerusalem, Ottoman Muslims regularly come into Arabia to visit Mecca and Medina.
Greece, like Rome, is a shadow of its former glory, but has had the opportunity to expand its industry and culture. The Greek educational system is one of the best in Europe.
Russia is on the verge of collapse. There have been numerous attempts to assassinate Carina Catherine, and from her own people, no less.
Often it seems like the world is walking on eggshells. Sooner or later, something is going to break...

[Centauri18]

Okay, I think I've about got this. Almost done with the next chapter. Thank you all for being patient. Eventually I hope to have maps for all my chapters.

[Centauri18]

Uneasy Peace

New Washington Junior High School, 2003 A.D.
"So what happens today?"
"Do you even read the chapters, Tad? The years between the wars, I guess. The beginning of the 1920's up till the end of the 1930's."
"So we deal with everything before Europe went to hell?"
"Not my exact choice of words, but yeah, I guess so."
"Do you know much about this?"
"Just that America was at the pinnacle of modern technology. Modern for the time, anyway. Skyscrapers towered over practically every city in America, mainly because business grew so fast. Stock Exchanges in every city meant that people made money, and there was hardly a poor person in America. Practically zero unemployment in the factories producing new cars, TV's, computers... but then it had been like that for a while. Technology went on. America had put a dozen men on the moon, and NASA was working on putting an American on Mars. The first steps had been taken toward a joint American/Iroquois mission to a newly discovered planet in the Alpha Centauri system."
"What about the Iroquois?"
"They had just finished the new CN Tower in their capital city of Salamanca. It was bigger than the Empire State Building. The Salamanca Bluejays met the Phoenix Diamondbacks in the World Series. George Ruth and the D'Backs won it in seven. The Iroquois had railroads and superhighways, and everything. Just like us. The Iroquois were almost all connected to the Internet, the center of International research."
"The Iroquois built a building bigger than the Empire State Building?"
"Yeah, but the World Trade Center was being designed in those days. It was going to be even bigger."
"So... what about Lincoln and Hiawatha?"
"All I know is that they still spent a lot of time talking politics and such together. Lincoln kept to himself, mostly. He could have had his pick of women, but he still wasn't sure he could bear to marry and then outlive his wife, and any children they might have. Hiawatha felt the same way, so they had something in common. Besides being immortal."
"They spent a lot of time together, huh?"
"Not like that. Both men dated regularly. But nothing permanent. Foreign affairs were getting better. The Celts were a rising power in Europe, so we kept good relations with them. France and Russia were nations in decline, and so we could see where the real power was in Europe: Scandinavia and-"
"And Germany. Good morning."
"'Morning, Mr. Grant."
"Don't let me interrupt you two. I take it you forgot to read the chapter again, Tad?"
"Yeah."
"No problem. I'll finish. Listen up, class. Everybody do the homework? Read the chapter? Yeah? Good. Today we're getting into a period that is... well, less hectic than the last couple of chapters. We're dealing with a time of uneasy peace in the world."
"And the years between the wars."
"That's right. Now, while four hundred years passed between the first two World Wars, less than a generation would pass before the third. Not a good sign."
BRRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!

Lincoln looked out over the city of Washington in the recently-named District of Columbia. Columbus had been honored and overwhelmed, hearing about the new name for the area, but in the end he took it well.
But most of the time, Columbus was worried.
Europe was full of tension, and old rivalries waiting to be renewed. Carthage and Egypt were getting increasingly paranoid about their borders, Germany was re-arming, obviously with the intention of going after Celtic-held Poland. Russia was on the edge of collapse, and it seemed as if either Germany or Scandinavia were waiting to finish the formerly powerful nation off. An American political cartoon of the time depicted two vultures circling above an almost skeletal brown bear, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background so you knew this was taking place in Moscow. One of the two circling vultures wore a horned helmet, commonly associated with the VIkings. The other wore a helmet with an iron spike on top, which had been made popular by Bismarck during the second World War.
The two scavengers were just waiting for Russia to lay down and die before they devoured what was left.
The Mongols' hunger, meanwhile, had been satiated. The Mongols were building on their new land, and it seemed as if the Mongols were content to become a nation of builders.
China seemed to have taken its fill of the Russian Empire. The industrious Chinese were building their own railroads, and new cities.
Korea and Japan seemed to be on the verge of squaring off. There were no longer any nations to act as a buffer zone between them - but then there never had been, only a narrow sea separating Japan from Korea,
India had united most of Southeast Asia under its rule, and seemed to be the only sign of hope. India had signed an alliance with nearby Persia and Arabia. It was a strange friendship, the Muslims embracing a nation mostly made up of Hindus.
The Muslim religion had been reformed over the years. Critical passages in the Koran had been examined and reinterpreted. Women had an equal role in Arabian society, much to the changrin and anger of many hard-liners. These small groups were no trouble at the time, but in later years they would change the world...

In Germany, things were rough. While the nation had come out of World War One with virtually all of its territory, it was Celtic Poland that seemed to many Germans to exist only as a source of anger.
A rebellion briefly arose in Berlin, but Bismarck crushed it before it could seize the reins of power. The rebellious faction - calling itself the National Socialist Party - fell with the death of its leader.
The leader, a man named Adolf Hitler, was tried for treason and excecuted by a firing squad.

In Rome, nationalism was on the rise. Many radicals sought a return to the former glory that was Rome in the old days. But it was not possible. Rome's armies were technologically advanced, but hardly a match for the other, more batle-hardened nations of Europe.
France was not doing well. A sort of eternal pessimism had gripped the nation. The Eiffel Tower, which was suppoed to be the main attraction of a Paris World Fair, was never finished.

Life went on. The Modern Olympic Games went through Europe and America, and in 1936, Bismarck himself opened the Berlin Olympics. As always, America dominated the games, winning nearly every event, including the newly-added event of baseball.
Plans were made to establish a European Baseball League - which would even send its best team to play against the Americans, in a true 'World Series' - but these plans were put on hold as economic hard times gripped the continent.
America felt the effects of Europe's hard times, but not as keenly. Sure, a small recession gripped American shores, but things were certainly better than in Europe.
Also, the Great European Depression brought a new age of immigration.
The American continent, as well as the American and Celtic colonies in Australia, were suddenly full of immigrants from all over Europe and, to a lesser extent, Asia.
The two main cities for American immigration were New York and New Washington. Coming into New York, would-be Americans were greeted by the Statue of Liberty - some Greeks said that it was an obvious duplication of their Colossus, an ancient Wonder of the World located in Rhodes, but not many agreed with them - and were processed at Ellis Island. Lady Liberty was a gift from France to celebrate the 5900th anniversary of both their civilizations.
New Washington saw people being greeted by a landmark not even built by Americans. Spanish settlers had built the large statue of Christ with arms outstretched overlooking the city. Many incoming immigrants - Christian or not - saw it as a sign of good times to come.
[OCC: New Washington is real-world Rio de Janiero, in case you haven't figured it out.]
Immigrants built churches and synagogues and mosques and added culture to the cities they populated.
American culture had become a mixture of cultures. In a way, that was what it had always been. From the beginning, America had been a combination of other tribes, other nations. In a way, now it just became more obvious.

A great Missile Defense System was built in orbit over America, but this was not how it started. The SAM batteries in American cities had been developed after closer examination of the Barringer Crater north of Phoenix. Moves were made to make sure American cities would not have to worry about being struck by a missile. It was only later that the stations were updated to deal with nuclear missiles.
The White House was finally finished, I guess you could say, when the people built one last addition onto the Presidential Mansion.
[OCC: Needless to say, it's much bigger than the White House we all know and love]
Lincoln's aprroval rating had never been higher, and nationwide literacy was - as it is today - at one-hundred percent. Disease was at a minimum, and population restrictions were passed through Congress but never passed into law.
The new armor units and American F-15's trained for a battle that would likely never come. As had happened for thousand of years, Amerians and Iroquois squared off in war games partly to pass the time and partly to practice new tactics. Modern technology meant modern tactics. Cavalry was dead, probably forever, and so was the old European art of marching into battle in lines. That no longer worked. But then, it was a stupid idea to begin with, in a lot of ways.
American citizens on the coasts would regularly get a free show as Iroquois Hiawatha-class aircraft carriers and American MacArthur-class carriers launched their F-15 fighters over American soil and went into pretend dogfights. Most of the Iroquois carriers were moored at the harbor in Quebec City, and war games were often held there.
Most American carriers - hell, most of the navy - was moored at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii.
Hawaii had grown. Its Commerical Docks took in goods and currency from China, Japan, Korea, and even India. Occassionally, Mongol goods even came in.
Pearl Harbor was strategically important, too. Any planes launched from America could refuel in Hawaii and go on to strike at almost any target on the Pacific Coast of Asia, or go on to the Air Force base in Hong Kong, or similar bases in Sydney and Melbourne.
America sat uncontested as the major military power of the world.

Apparently the Europeans had short memories. Germany seemed ready for another big expansion move. France was weakened, and no longer a member of NATO. Beyond France were the mostly undefended Celtic colonies in Spain, and Celtic England itself.
The Vikings also seemed ready for expansion. As mentioned before, they saw Russia as weak enough to be completely wiped out.
But the biggest tension was in Africa. Egypt and Carthage, old rivals who had sworn eternal hatred of each other, were ready for war. Communist Egypt had devoted most of its resources to building a large military. Their spies had stolen technology from the more advanced Celts and Germans, and now had tanks.
Carthage was ready to fight, but only time would tell if they could hold out against Egypt.
As the 1920's became the 1930's, tensions increased. German Panzers were mobilized to the Polish border. Viking tanks were ready to attack Russia, and even Germany through Celtic Denmark.
NATO was disbanded by the Celts.
Soon the world would be at war again.

"So the whole world was ready to go to war again. The Americans and Iroquois were hoping to keep out of this one, if they could, but inevitably, the world's top superpower would become involved. Mongolia and China prepared for attacks by Japan, which had been building up its own military and was preparing to attack the Chinese and maybe the Koreans. Germany and Scandinavia were getting ready to expand again as well. Germany set its sights on France and Poland, while the Vikings were ready to attack Russia, Denmark, and ultimately, Germany itself."
"So were they the only nations involved?"
"No. Rome, Greece, Arabia, Persia, and India, the neutral nations, planned on staying that way, but eventually the Arabs decided that a war between the two African powers could benefit them in the long run. Plans were made to invade Egyptian Africa. Arabia would not stay neutral for long. Neither would the Ottomans or the Persians."
"Why not?"
"The Chinese, whose borders were now on the edge of Ottoman territory, were benevolent. If the Germans attacked the Russians, they might break through the new Chinese territories and attack the rich Ottoman Empire, and use their deep gold coffers to fund their war effort. The Ottomans were practically defenseless, but would not be for long."
"Persia and India?"
"The Ottomans and Arabs were their allies. They were obligated to help."
"So that was it, huh? Another World War?"
"Apparently so. But this war in many ways helped to build the world we live in."
BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

Next: World War

[vovan]

Very good. Keep the goods coming.

[Centauri18]

Thanks for the map, Vovan.

[Centauri18]

My next chapter has the Persians and Arabs expanding - representing, sort of, the threat that the Arabs, at least, will pose in later years. I also have Russia getting wiped out once and for all, and all this with America supporting a democratinc Germany. Not weird enough? Okay, America wipes out the Celts, and the Persians manage to keep the Chinese, who hope to expand west - from doing so, and even gain land.
Egypt and Carthage square off, but they don't manage to finish their feud... yet. The Arabs, on the other hand, expand into Egypt even as Egypt expands into Carthage.
That's all for now. No Nazis, though, in case you're wondering. Hitler was killed by a firing squad, after all.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Great stuff yet again

[Centauri18]

New Washington Junior High School, 2003 A.D.
"World War Three, right?"
"Wow, Tad. You actually read the chapter. I'm impressed."
"Cut the patronizing."
"Wow. 'Patronizing' - four syllables. You hurt yourself?"
"Are you finished?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry, man."
"No problem. So what's going on in this period in history? I just want to be sure I got it right."
"Okay. Basically the whole world goes to hell."
"That's it?"
"That's it. The whole power structure in Europe changes. Nations rise, nations fall, the whole thing."
"So is there any backstory?"
"We took care of that yesterday, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
"I'm surprised Mr. Grant hasn't gotten into things today."
"He's busy. It's nearly finals time."
"Oh, yeah. Crap, I haven't evn thought about studying."
"No big deal. We can do it at my place."
"Your parents won't mind?"
"My parents encourage it, buddy. Remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. Your parents, who love our country's school system so much that they left their native countries to come here just so their kids could have better opportunities than they did."
"Don't laugh, Tad. My dad was in the military. In his day, being a career soldier was the most steady job in Scandinavia. And Mom married young."
"I know. My grandparents on my dad's side were Russian refugees, so I know. I know the whole thing."
"Just don't make fun of my family, okay?"
"Okay, okay."
BRRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!

In the last days before war, in the year 1939, all of America's alliances had fallen apart, except for America's long-standing alliance with the Iroquois. The Celts and the Vikings had built empires using gifts of American technology. Carthage had backed out because it wanted to concentrate on Egypt. And they knew that the moment they let their troops out to play NATO-style war games, the Egyptians would strike.
France had backed out because Joan of Arc requested it. She now sat in her palace, as she had for years, letting her advisors take care of the people. Paris was no longer the center of art and culture in the world. In fact, almost all the works of art and artifacts from the museums in Paris and London, once the greatest museums in the world, had been sent to New York and Washington. The Germans had even contributed a large number of works of art. So had Egypt, Carthage, Rome, Greece... well, practically all the nations of the world contributed to American museums. American culture flourished. French culture was now insignificant. And the Celts sold the artifacts to America because they wanted the old English influences removed. Even the clock tower in London, nicknamed Big Ben, had been shipped to America, where it still rests in the Smithsonian, along with full-scale models of the old British Parliament building before the Celtic takeover. The Celtic Democracy was still a nation of warriors, like their Viking cousins, and there was little that American influence could do about that.
The Celts still ruled justly and fairly, but culture was not their priority. Even Shakespeare's descendants had packed up and gone to New York. The theatre was still there, but it was not used for Shakespeare's classics, but for Celtic performances based on old war ballads, and the occasional church service.
The Celts had indeed adopted Christianity, learned from their English subjects.
Celtic culture flourished. The people living there knew no other life.
America and Iroquois-Canada looked at this from across the sea and made plans to someday liberate England from its Celtic overlords.
The warrior Celts had little place in a culturally rich city like London.
It was time for the new American Alliance to get involved with world affairs again.

Germany mobilized troops on both of its borders - one with France and one with Celtic Poland.
Bismarck was astonished to receive a message from Lincoln and Hiawatha - they wanted to enlist Germany in building a new Europe. Democracy would help bring Europe into a new age.
Now while many scholars question the motives of Lincoln and Hiawatha, we now know that they chose Germany to help them confront the Celts and Vikings mainly because of Bismarck's record of always being true to his word. He had stopped several revolutions to maintain the German Republic. He had stopped a would-be fascist from taking over and possibly leading the nation of Germany into ruin. But that is an exercise in alternate history. We will probably never know what a fascist Germany would have been like. Fortunately.
America and Iroquois-Canada knew that Germany would not turn on them, and that Bismarck was a good person at heart. German culture was the strongest in Europe, and after all, the Germans had beaten the Romans back when they attempted to invade and subjugate Germany nearly two millennia before. And Germany had pulled itself out of the Depression, and militarized.
But Bismarck was wary. NATO had pushed him out of Poland and let the Celts take over. NATO had stood idly by and watched as the Asian powers tore Russia to shreds.
But NATO was dead.
the new alliance between the three nations was a controversial one, but then the Americans had helped Germany out after they were invaded and occupied by the French. Scandanavia was a continuing threat to Germany, and was becoming more and more powerful all the time. The Vikings would want a shot at Russia, and possibly Celtic Denmark.
Germany agreed to the alliance in exchange for the freedom to take care of France. Lincoln and Hiawatha agreed, reluctantly. France, much like Russia, was on the edge of collapse. Something needed to happen. France was dead - the problem was, simply. that no one had told them yet.
America would invade Spain for the second time, this time to liberate instead of conquer it.

It was September of 1939 when the strike took place. It happened on multiple fronts, and around the same time, the VIkings began moving their troops into Celtic Denmark. Bismarck's Panzers moved into both Poland and France, and American troops headed into Spain. Washington handled Ireland, while Shanendoah and Cornplanter, Generals in the Iroquois Army, handled England.
The French were forced to evacuate their own country, and set up shop in the formerly American Philippines, now given over to the French.
Lee and Sherman handled the German campaign while Grant helped the Germans move through Europe.
At the same time Germany blazed a trail toward Russia, the Vikings moved in on Celtic Greenland. They had no idea what the Americans, Iroquois, and Germans were doing, just that they were making their move on the Celts.
The Vikings and Germans together, without intending to do it together, finihed off the Russians, once and for all.
Spain fell to the Americans, Britain to the Iroquois, and Ireland and the Celtic colonies in Australia fell to the Americans, thanks to General Grant.
The Celts were forever gone. And so were the Russians.
The war seemed to be over. The Germans held hegemony in Europe, and the people subjugated by the Celts had finally been liberated. Shakespeare's compnay finally took up residence in the Globe Theatre in London again.
Germany held France, and began work to finish the Eiffel Tower. The French, surprisingly, welcomed the new arrivals. Joan of Arc had been a terrible leader as of late. Hopefully, being conquered and relocated would be enough to get her to go back to leading her people.
The Germans made moves to consolidate their empire, while the Vikings did the same. They couldn't go any further without risking war with the Mongols.
The armies had barely returned to American shores - and some to Spain and Ireland, or even England - when something else happened.
Pearl Harbor was attacked.
The campaign had taken a matter of months, and now the Japanese were attacking, fearing American involvement in their war against the Koreans.
We might have stayed out of it if they hadn't attacked, but there was a problem: they had attacked, and after dozens of ships were sunk and thousands killed, it spurred the American people to action.
The Armies were mostly busy quelling riots in the new territories, and helping the Germans fight off the Vikings. Very few troops could be spared. So those who could be spared to go to Asia were hopelessly outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before Korea was completely wiped out. Korean refugees took up residence in American cities, mainly in the Southern Continent.

The Korean War was a disaster.
And while America felt its first real defeat in war, war continued back in Europe and the Middle East.
China was now making a move on the seemingly weak Middle East, particularly the Ottomans. America protested the war, and protests were heard throughout the United Nations.
The Persians, it seemed, could hold their own. They pushed the Chinese invaders back, and actually gained land for their own nation. When the Persian Democratic Republic reached the southern borders of Scandinavia, the Chinese sued for peace.
The Chinese could now focus all their attention on India.
India held Thailand and Indonesia, and China wanted that land.
But the Indians held them back. No ground was gained, but the Chinese would try again in later years.

Arabia grew as well. They had begun an expansion campaign into Communist Egypt, even as Egypt closed in on its old enemy, Carthage. But when the Egyptians realized that the Arabs were quickly striking and taking numerous territories away from them, the Egyptians sued for peace with both sides. Persia took a big chunk out of occupied Russian territory, and then agreed to peace with the Chinese.
America's war with Japan, on the other hand, continued. Up to a point where America attacked with its most powerful arsenal.
In New Mexico, the Manhattan Project had been completed. Americans had split the atom, and used an ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile) on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Immediately, the Japanese sued for peace.
The Third World War was over, but a new kind of war took its place. Nations scrambled to get the bomb, hoping to be as powerful as the Americans. the Persians, Egyptians, Mongols, Chinese, and Germans were able to secure large amounts of Uranium for use in building nuclear weapons. While America was well-defended against such weapons - there were Defense Stations in each city now adapted to protect against these missiles in each city, as well as Civil Defense posts - other countries were not so well-defended.
America almost immediately moved large numbers of missiles to its bases in Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, and Ireland.
In this era, America and Iroquois-Canada came together in a completely new way.

In the wake of the Chinese making their own bombs, America took the initiative and created a defense post deep unerneath the Rocky Mountains, near the old defense post at Colorado Springs.
It was called the IAAD - Iroquois/American Air Defence.
History would know this new period of history as the Cold War.

"So we're into the heavy paranoia period?"
"Sort of. Mao hadn't held his Communist revolution in China yet, and Vietnam hadn't even taken place. But with Red Egypt having the bomb, and even Germany, which had proven itself to be a loose cannon, was a reason to be afraid. And with the Vikings purchasing technology from the Chinese, and soon having the bomb for themselves, it was a very scary time."
"For us, anyway."
"For everybody. Most nations had the resources to get both ICBMs and tactical nukes. One false move could turn the world into a radioactive mudball if it ever came to that."
"So what happened?"
"The Kyoto Accords."
"What happened there?"
"Plans to reduce the number of all kinds of nuclear weapons, and ban nuclear testing. And also crack down on pollution."
"Sounds good to me."
"Yeah, and everybody signed it. Even Egypt. But I think they kept a few extra nukes, just in case."
"Just in case of what?"
"Either Carthage or the Arabs getting too close to Thebes. Same reason we kept nukes. Same reason everybody kept a couple."
"Paranoia."
"Yeah."
"The American Strategic Missile Defense (Operation: Shield) would keep over seventy-five percent of enemy missiles from reaching American soil. And that meant that we coul retailiate with more than they threw at us. If it came to that."
"Did it?"
"Certainly not for us. So far, there has yet to be an all-out nuclear war."
'Fortunately for us."
"Fortunately for everybody, my friend. Fortunately for everybody."
BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

Next: The Cold War and Vietnam

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Fantastic stuff most gripping,

[Centauri18]

MAP

Oh, yeah. Here's a map of the world after World War Three:

[Centauri18]

By the way, I can make up more detailed versions of the maps for anyone who's interested.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Just one thing Id like if you could do a colour key to all the nations. I know most of them but unsure of a few, thanks in advance

[Centauri18]

Well, the blue is Germany, dark green is Persia, neon green is Greece, bright red is Rome, dark red is China, the two dark blues from left to right are the Vikings and Japanese, respectively (if those two ever come to a conflict, I promise I'll change the colors), the neon pink is France, the lighter pink is Arabia, the gray is the Ottomans, the dark brown is Carthage, the greenish-brown is Mongolia, purple is India. And obviously, the darker purple is the Iroquois, and light blue is America.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Thanks