Map Contest/Archive 21

Map Contest 21 (Open): The Little Guy
Challenge: Make a map showing alternate colonization, featuring colonization by countries with little or no colonization in OTL.

Time Frame: Two weeks, January 4 - January 18

Age of Colonies (Upvoteanthology)
In 1492, Columbus died at sea, in the middle of a giant rainstorm. The ship was found 600 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1982. In 1510, a Chinese merchant and his crossed the Pacific, after being separated from the mainland. After finding this virgin land, they set up a colony on its shore. After 25 years of small exploration, they managed to get a ship back to China, and got trade up with them. However, China revoked their independence and made this place a dominion of China. Japan soon found out the same, and set up colonies along the Pacific coast.

The information didn't spread until the late-1500's, when a rogue merchant from the Chinese colonies found their way up the Mediterranean and into Sicily. From there, the idea of a virgin continent traveled up the Italian peninula and north into the HRE. Poland couldn't afford to set up a colony, and neither could the HRE. But once the news reached Sweden, they immediately set up colonies in this New World. Scotland found out next, and claimed the entire Eastern seaboard. Their colonies became heavily populated extremely quickly. When England found out, they were forced to colonize the central region of the continent.

In the mid-1800's, many of these colonial nations wanted independence. The Scottish colony of Nova Scotia revolted in 1845, and soon gained independence. New Britain violently broke away from England four years later, and became a world power, colonizing Africa and Polynesia. Brasil was the last one to go, in 1886. They saw how well off Nova Scotia and New Britain were doing, and revolted themselves.

A Broken Hammer (Krasnoyarsk)
In 732, Charles Martel "the Hammer" is defeated in the Battle of Tours. The Ummayyad Dynasty conquers southern France, while repeated raids ravage the north. With the whole of Spain and Provence under Muslim rule, the Muslim conquest of southern Italy progresses more quickly, and the Byzantines are more deeply defeated, forcing them into the arms of the Italian mercantile city-states, eventually resulting in a Venetian annexation of the rump state of Byzantium. Meanwhile, the Muslims defeated an English attempt to reconquer France, resulting in an English conversion to Islam and gradual assimilation. Scotland unified with Ireland and assisted Flanders in halting the Muslim conquest. The HRE decisively defeated the Papacy and gradually centralized. Denmark gained control of the Hanseatic League and thereby the Baltic coast, while Sweden conquered Norway. As a result, Denmark, Flanders, Alba-Hibernia and Venice were the major European colonizers, colonizing OTL Patagonia, Colombia, the eastern seaboard of North America, and Brazil, respectively. Only the Celtic colony revolted after its parent nation weakened following a plague in the 19th century.

The Umayyad dynasty disintegrated much as OTL, leaving a rump Caliphate in control of Arabia while Anatolia fell to the Turks, who would eventually form a Volga Khanate. The Caliphate colonized Somalia and eventually unified with Aceh, forming a major maritime power. The Malagasy islamized and formed their own maritime Empire, encouraging the Kongolese and Nilotic tribes to centralize. Egypt and the Maghreb formed large nations, but exhausted their strength in repeated wars against each other and the Malian Empire to the south. China expanded north, and competed withe the Caliphate for mercantile influence, turning Brunei into a puppet state and helping it unify Indonesia. All three colonized Australia. Tibet unified the Shan and formed a buffer state between China and India, which remained divided. Japan was forced to become a maritime nation by Chinese pressure, colonizing much of North America, while China only colonized a small slice in the south. The Kazakhs conquered a swath of Siberia to escape the pressure of repeated Muslim invasions, and shifted North.

In 2014, the world is divided between two blocs; the Communalist Alliance, led by China, and the Jeddah Bloc, led by the Caliphate. The Communalists reject religion and implement communal ownership of property and a command economy, while the Jeddah Bloc is dominated by theocratic influences which believe in individualism within strict religious limits. Two past wars have resulted in bloody stalemates and negotiated peaces, but both groups are working on new secret weapons, of the biological and nucleic variety.

Eastern Wind -Seiga


In this timeline, Srivijaya manages to win the war against Chola in 1025. With this, Srivijaya would grow quickly in strength and power. Other rivals within the Indonesian islands slowly weakened and were quickly conquered by Srivijaya; and by 1328 most of the Malay Archipelago was under Srivijayan control. To counter the growing power of Srivijaya; Sukhothai, Khmer, Pegu, and Chiang Mai had merged into one nation named Siam. Vietnam would also grow in strength and go on to conquer Champa and colonise the Northern Philippines, and later allied with Siam. In 1389, Srivijaya had begun to colonise Australia and later sent a voyage to find new lands. Ten years later, the New World was discovered by Srivijaya, and soon colonised it. News of the discovery spread, and soon Vietnam, China, and later on Japan, went to colonise the lands as well. Meanwhile, Vijayanagara had managed to conquer the rest of India by the 15th century, and had became a powerful nation.

By the 16th century, most of the New World was split between Srivijaya, China, Japan and Vietnam; with India holding only a small portion of land around OTL Suriname and French Guiana. The Spanish soon arrived and attempted to take a part of the Caribbean, but were heavily defeated by the Chinese that were already there. Later, the Spanish went on to colonise around OTL Carolina while the Dutch colonised other parts of the Eastern Seaboard that wasn't claimed, the Danish-Norwegians colonised OTL Canada, and Portugal colonised parts of Brazil.

Around the 19th century, most of the colonies in the New World slowly gained independence. The only ones that didn't gain independence were Spanish colony of Carolina and Danish-Norwegian colony of Vinland, which chose to remain with their motherlands.

Later in the 20th century, high tensions in Europe led to a World War in the 1910s, and lasted for ten years. The Central Powers (which were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Spain, and Bulgaria) saw defeat and had lost some of their land, and in the case for Austria-Hungary, saw dissolution and was split into several nations. Yugoslavia also formed, and had annexed Bulgaria. Spain had to give Carolina their independence. Germany didn't suffer too badly unlike OTL, though still lost land. Russia underwent heavy reforms and had became a multiparty democracy, and a republic.

By modern day, Srivijaya, China, India, and Japan are the superpowers of the world. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Shinto are the major religions in the world. Scotland declared independence from the UK in 2014 via a referendum, with 63 percent saying yes, and 30 percent saying no, and four months later, independent Scotland joined the European Union.

The main characters of the Touhou Project are Reimu Hakurei and Byakuren Hijiri.

A New Start (CourageousLife)


A young man from Scandinavia sets out in the mid-1400's to seek the lands described in legends left by his Viking ancestors. Europeans are led to the new land and do what they do best.

Jons Axelsson returned to Europe in 1458 to find a restored Kalmar Union under Christian I of Denmark. After meeting with the young explorer, Christian realizes that this is a chance to further unite the Union. By obtaining funds from companies in all three separate countries, as well as from his own personal treasury, another voyage was sent to explore and colonize this new land. This event is seen as a pivotal moment in history, as it led to the stabilization of the fragile Union.

France and the Netherlands were quick to follow, establishing several small enclaves that promoted trade with the natives. The most notable were Kebecstad and Nieuw Amsterdam by the Netherlands and St.Jean by France. These eventually grew to envelop most of the northeastern part of the region.

Spain quickly explored the southern parts of the New World, and focused their colonization there, in hopes of finding gold and other riches.

The Wars of the Roses hindered England's entry into the colonization race. However, at the conclusion of the war, Henry and Elizabeth sought to establish colonies immediately, in the hopes of improving the damaged economy. New England was established in 1485, followed by Avalon and Celtia a few years later. The success of England's colonies can be attributed to the diversity of their regions and specialties. Erie, Ohio, and northern Kanawha and New England were focused on manufacturing. Southern New England and Avalon produced cash crops such as cotton and tobacco. Celtica grew food crops, most notably rice.



English Colonies: Collectively known as the Ten Colonies. Loose confederation-style government, with a capital in New London, on the New Thames. New England was the first colony, and most things there are the 'new' versions of the ones across the sea in 'old' England. Avalon and Celtia are the two biggest agricultural producers. Avalon is home to wealthy planter families - 'old money'. Celtia was founded by a Scotsman and an Irishman, so naturally there was a large amount of Celtic immigration there. Misisibi and Albamo are generally less populated, but come from a hardy stock. Albamo actually started as a penal colony. Mostly woodsmen. Shawnee is just as sparsely populated, although there are sizable amounts of native tribes. Kanawha and Kent are mostly known for logging and small mining operations. Ohio and Erie are more modernized than their southern counterparts, where manufacturing is a big industry. Erie is especially important because of its access to the St Lawrence River (kept it the same for simplicity's sake). England's colonies are second in size only to Scandinavia's.

Dutch Colonies: These colonies are all part of Nieuw Netherland. They are considerably modern and wealthy due to their strategic position for shipping. Controlling one side of the St Lawrence in the north and large port cities in the east makes the society very dependent on industry and shipping. Zeeland Eilanden and Lange Eilandt benefit the most from the shipping industry, as well as parts of Bergen and Zuid Holland. Farming can be found in western Noord and Zuid Holland. Most of the population of Kebec can be found near Kebecstad, which controls river traffic on the St Lawrence.

French Colonies: Nouvelle-France, like Nieuw Netherland, is very dependent on shipping and industry. One of the biggest industries is fishing, especially off of the Grand Banks. French Protestants migrated here en masse, and generally populate the northern and western parts of the colony. The Dutch territory of Zeeland Eilanden once belonged to Nouvelle-France, but was lost after a brief skirmish between the two countries. Francias Messipi sits at the mouth of the Messipi (Misisibi) River, and thus controls river traffic, much like Kebecstad. The claims attached to Francias Messipi are much larger, but the mouth of the river is the only undisputed claim. France, Scandinavia, and England all claim land across the river.

Scandinavian Colonies: Much of these colonies are very sparsely populated and undeveloped. This allows more peaceful relations with the local native tribes. Most cities are only around strategic shipping areas, such as Tkaronto and Adawe. It has been noted that some of these areas, usually Ouiskonsing and Neshnabe, bear a striking resemblance to the native homeland of the colonists, and are very popular for those in debt to relocate to. Fur trade is very prevalent, and has even sparked a new fashion trend in Europe. Vinland, along with Nouvelle-France, focuses on the fishing industry.

Spanish Colonies: Most Spanish colonies are located in the south of the New World, while Florida is the high-water mark. Florida is highly undeveloped, and remains for the most part untouched swampland and marshland. Just to the south is Spanish Cuba, which occupies the west side of the island. Its neighbor is Scandinavian Cuba on the east side of the island. To the east is English Hispaniola, with the Netherlands Antilles beginning at Puerto Rico, and French Jamaica to the south (place names have again remained the same to avoid confusion).

Political situation: All five nations remain tentatively at peace with one another (at least in the New World). Historically, the English and the Dutch have had a positive relationship since the Glorious Revolution, cooperating against France in many conflicts. Scandinavia or Spain would usually side with France.

There has been some bitterness between the colonies and their European counterparts in the latter half of the century, more noticeably in Nieuw Netherland and the Ten Colonies. In Nieuw Netherland, increased shipping and trade regulations from Amsterdam have been the big controversy, while in the Ten Colonies, exporting has been the issue. In the latter, Avalon and Celtia are leading the charge for more autonomy (and even independence in the case of some radicals). They generally receive support from the western colonies of Kent, Shawnee, Albamo, and Misisibi, while there is some resistance to this thinking in the northern colonies of Erie, Ohio, New England, and parts of Kanawha.

Rivers: The St Lawrence is shared equally by Scandinavia and the Netherlands, though the Netherlands controls the entrance to the river.

The Mississippi River marks the end of undisputed territorial claims. West of the river is the frontier waiting to be claimed. The river is mainly used by farmers from the western parts of the colonies to ship their goods south.

The Susquehanna river has become much more open with the improving of Anglo-Dutch relations. Since each side controls one side of the river, there is almost no conflict over territory or shipping rights.



United Provinces of Terranova: Formed after a rebellion by the colonists kicked the Brits off of the continent. The Brits did manage to hang on to New England, Ohio, and Erie for a notable amount of time, but eventually were forced out. The wartime capital of Charlotte, located in central Avalon, becomes the nation's new capital, replacing New London. France was a close ally of the Terranovans. After an uprising in France incapacitated the nation for years, forcing them to drop their claims in the New World, the UP negotiated deals with Scandinavia and the Netherlands to give them territorial claims that stretch all the way to the Pacific.

Dutch Colonies: The Dutch colony structure is one of the strangest looking in the world. The rulers chose to govern the Terranovan colonies as one. Technically, the regions of Nassau in the northeast and Orange in the southwest are one colony. It makes for a tricky legislature, but they make it work. The colonies are relatively satisfied with the rule of the monarch, although there was a little bit of panic when their neighbors rebelled. Nonetheless, Nassau and Orange still maintain decent relations with the UP. The agreement with the UP firmed up the northern border of Orange, though a separate deal had to be struck with Spain, diminishing a little territory claimed in the south.

French Colonies: The turmoil that wracked their homeland left the colonies of Nouvelle France, Orleans, and Chamacces to their own rule for a good amount of time. Now, France is back on its feet under a new Head of State, and is trying to re-assert its control over its colonies. The colonies don't like this, and murmurs mirroring those of their neighbors, the UPT, begin arising.

Scandinavian Colonies: Scandinavia keeps a loose leash on its colonies. One of the major rules, though, is about not messing with the natives. Once the borders were created with the UPT, colonists clearly knew where they could and could not go. Most European inhabitants of these colonies live in the south, along the border with the UP. Some of the most populous colonies include Vinland, Inoken and Ouiskonsing, which reminds many of the settlers of their native homes. Yuktan and Kuben are collectively known as 'the Gateway to the Imperial Gulf'.

Spanish Colonies: Florida is basically still a jungle, minus a few trading ports. Most Spanish activity is in the south. Taino is good for cash crops.

Political Situation: Scandinavia and Spain are still in a loose alliance system, as long as neither gets in the other's way. This works out pretty well in the New World, where they are mostly separated by the buffer of the Dutch and the UPT. The French colonies find themselves all by themselves, and are starting to gravitate toward the thoughts and ideas of the UPT. The UPT finds itself in a decent relationship with the Dutch and their colonies, leading to a lucrative trade business that keeps Nassau going.



United Provinces of Terranova: After a few world wars, the UPT seems to be the rising star in the West. They helped beat down Germany and Italy in the first, and Spain, Russia, and China in the second. They were able to patch things up with Britain and France, though Scandinavia annoyingly decided to remain neutral until they were sucker punched by Russia. The UP is very close with Nieuw Netherland, arguably one of the best diplomatic relationships in the world.

Nieuw Netherland: The regions of Nassau and Orange decided to unite into one country at the turn of the century. When Germany invaded in the first world war, the royal family fled, and set up a new capital in Nieuw Haarlem. They returned to ashes when the war was finally over. After a few years of rebuilding, Russia and Spain marched in and destroyed it all over again. Back they went to Nieuw Haarlem. By now, the Commonwealth's de jure capital is back in Amsterdam, while the de facto capital is in Nieuw Haarlem.

Former French Colonies: Near the turn of the century, the colonies revolted (which may or may not have been aided by the UPT). The rebellion produced two new countries: Nouvelle-France, which retained control of Chamacces, and Port d'Orleans. They quickly became satellites of the UPT, and followed its lead in the world wars.

Scandinavian Colonies: Northern Terranova solidified into Vinland around the same time the French colonies were rebelling. Not much went on during the world wars, though they did contribute at the tail end of the second, after Russia's sneaky little move. Has a decent relationship with its southern neighbors.

Caribbea: Formed out of Spain's colonies of Florida, Bahama, and Taino after the second world war. Heavily influenced by the uPT and Nieuw Netherland. Large producers of crops, notably sugar and citrus. Great vacation destination.

Spanish Dominions: Spain retained control of some of its territory, notably Mexaca and Maya. The two twins are playing nice nowadays.

Political Situation: After the second World War, the world settled down momentarily. Now, China is on the rise in the east, fighting for the role as a superpower with the UPT in the west. On the continent, things go smoothly.



Political Situation: The cold war ended with China splintering apart in the early 90's. Now, Russia is back and ready to play hard  ball. On the continent, all is well and going smoothly. Highway systems run from northern Taku all the way down into southern Florida and Chalisco. Vinland, Nouvelle-France, Nieuw Netherland, the UPT, and Caribbea are all part of the First World.

The Peace of Schlossburg (Mscoree)
''Make sure you zoom in a lot. Labelled map of the Americas (and probably polished maps in general) and timeline coming soon.''

Updated and recolored version

Mscoree (talk) 04:55, January 19, 2015 (UTC)

Mediterranean Zest (CookieDamage)


Make sure to zoom and such.

Brief TL: So basically, around the 14th and 15th century, there's a continued period of peace in southern and south-eastern Europe. Less hostile and infrequent engagements with the Ottomans allow both the Habsburgs and Ottomans themselves achieve a much greater level of prosperity than OTL. The Kingdom of Naples is able to resist French and Aragonese aggression and find opportunity across the seas, thus enabling Sicily and Tuscany to establish colonies as well. Cookiedamage (talk) 21:03, January 21, 2015 (UTC)

Voting:
Age of Colonies (Upvoteanthology) A Broken Hammer (Krasnoyarsk) The Secondaries Get To Start (LightningLynx98) Eastern Wind (Seiga) A New Start (CourageousLife)
 * -Seiga
 *  S-A-W-F-T! SSSAAAWWWFFFTTT!!!
 * Saturn120 (Talk/Blog) 13:34, January 20, 2015 (UTC)
 * Toby2: THEY CALL ME Mr. Awesome!!!

The Peace of Schlossburg (Mscoree) 18:22, January 19, 2015 (UTC)
 * Roman-spqr-flag.png Consul Ioshua  (Talk) SPQR_EMBLEM.jpg
 * Tr0llis (talk) 20:39, January 19, 2015 (UTC)
 * Vinland Flag.jpg Upvoteanthology ( Talk | Sandbox )

Mediterranean Zest (CookieDamage)
 * Shikata ga nai! 01:25, January 20, 2015 (UTC)