Rhodesia (1983: Doomsday)

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Pre-Doomsday:
The Kingdom of Rhodesia includes much of the former Republic of South Africa as well as the remnants of the former British Overseas Territories.

P.O.D
After the destruction of most urban centres on the British mainland, a huge effort was made by the British Armed Forces to relocate almost the entire remaining British population, aside from some stubborn MPs who later joined the Celtic Alliance.

Post-Doomsday
The government of the Great Britain declared immediate martial law and initiated emergency procedures for the evacuation of Great Britain. Using the RAF and the Navy to transport everyone who was willing to leave which was a full 98% of the population, The British government made the slow, painful transition to Rhodesia. Many thousands died of cancer due to the extreme radiation in central Britain and the prevailing wind they flew into was full of radioactive particles. The speed with which the Armed Forces reacted was all that prevented the British people from annihilation. A few people stayed behind and founded such countries as the Kingdom of Cleveland.

Steps were taken to ration food stuffs, medical supplies and fuel, this was done with little civil disorder and resulted bringing local communities together in communes to enable to supply of goods to those most in need.

After landing in Rhodesia many laws were passed that allowed members of the royal family to have any religion and marry anyone of any religion. It also did away with the law of the line of succession allowing men to leapfrog their older sisters in the line to the throne.

Military personnel set up a provisional government and Margaret Thatcher came to Rhodesia from the Falkland Islands where she had been congratulating members of the Royal Air Force in the part thy played in the defence of the Falklands from Argentina.A new state was created by the Anglo African people who regathered following doomsday, around the city of Port Elizabeth. On November 11th 1984 they proclaimed a new state, the Kingdom of Rhodesia, with Elizabeth II as Queen. The subsequent election to the Rhodesian parliament, was a contest between two parties, The Rhodesian Liberal Party, led by Garfield Todd and the Conservative party, which was led by Ian Smith until the arrival of former UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who immediately became leader. Thatcher won the election by a landslide and went on to win three elections. Rhodesia remained out of the new Union of South Africa which came into being in September 1984.Initially Mrs. Thatcher was in favour of union, but as the negotiations continued and the nature of the proposed union became evident she withdrew from the talks. This was necessary, she said, to preserve what was left of the British people as a nation. An independent Rhodesia offered the best hope of achieving this.

Deaths
Taking into account immediate losses in both South Africa and the UK, the initial deaths amount to 18’462’000 people. All of these people were ethnically British due to the lack f nuclear ordnance targeting the Third World

In addition, casualties from radiation fall out and long term sickness have added considerable burden to the formative years of the Kingdom. Each county reported continued deaths from radiation with the population of Rhodesia falling from 69.5 million to just over 50 million through sickness and starvation.

Fortunately because Africa was not targeted there was no immediate radioactive material. Nevertheless, the wind has carried some particles and the radiation that afflicted the British populace is still carried with them in the form of deformed offspring and a large amount of cancer related deaths.

Rebirth
The government suffered many setbacks in its initial attempts to provide food and supplies for the general population, yet there was little civil unrest, as the population seemed fully aware of the monumental task facing the country. Thatcher stood as a symbol of the bloody mindedness, determination and true grit that was required to see through the restoration of the British as Rhodesians in their new homeland.

Local elections were held to appoint mayors and MPs, many of whom had been killed in London on Doomsday, to the main areas of population to enable some form of government and legal representation in each area. Many Protestants in Northern Ireland, fearful of religious union with the Catholic Church, left for the Kingdom of Rhodesia, tempted to emigrate by generous land grants under the Thatcher government, as well as the cleaner air and healthier lifestyle and their continuing loyalty to Queen Elizabeth. 1) Northern Cape  2) North West   3)Gauteng   4)Limpopo   5)Mpumalanga   6)KwaZulu-Natal   7)Eastern Cape   8)Free State   9)Western Cape

1983-1986
A new state was created by the Anglo African people who gathered following doomsday, around the city of Port Elizabeth. On November 11th 1984 they proclaimed a new state, the Kingdom of Rhodesia, with Elizabeth II as Queen. The subsequent election to the Rhodesian parliament was a contest between two parties, The Rhodesian Liberal Party, led by Garfield Todd and the Conservative party, which was led by Ian Smith until the arrival of former UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who immediately became leader. Thatcher won the election by a landslide and went on to win three elections. Rhodesia remained out of the new Union of South Africa which came into being in September 1984.Initially Mrs. Thatcher was in favour of union, but as the negotiations continued and the nature of the proposed union became evident she withdrew from the talks. This was necessary, she said, to preserve what was left of the British people as a nation. An independent Rhodesia offered the best hope of achieving this.

Fuel: Due to the lack of fossil fuels, Rhodesia is forced to import from such countries as the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and counties in the Middle East.

Food: Given Africa’s histories with famine, it has been of no surprise to the population for the need to cut back on food consumption. All arable land has been turned to cultivation of diverse crops with a marked reduction in meat production. Further to this the southern fringes of Rhodesia have once again become havens for the re-emerging fishing industry. Nevertheless, food production is limited and the general population has become increasingly concerned about the raise in cases of starvation in the main centres of population. Fishing is done on a strict quotas basis so as to keep as stable fish supply. Such animals as elephants, zebras and crocodiles have been farmed for their meat which is high in protein. Native Bushmen have been extremely useful in the cultivation of wild foods.

Late 1980’s to 1992
In the late 1980's the nations of southern Africa began to emerge from the devastation of doomsday and rebuild their economies. There was little contact with the outside world. Eventually the Union came to be dominated by an axis of Orania and DSWA, and Mrs. Thatcher became more strident in her opposition. In September 1988, she angered many of her neighbours, by declaring in a speech in the Cape wine lands town of Stelenbosch that as long as she was Prime Minister Rhodesia would never accept membership of the Union "We have not successfully recreated a new Rhodesia from the ashes of doomsday and rolled back the frontiers of the state, only to see them re-imposed at a south African level, with a South African super-state exercising a new dominance from Cape Town". This speech led to the resignation of her defence secretary and former Rhodesian PM Ian Smith, who had assumed that he would be the natural choice to lead the country in 1984 and had harboured resentment ever since that his position had been usurped. Smith was becoming increasingly exasperated by the PM's preference for all things Australian, as opposed to South African. Shortly after this speech, various high ranking generals believed that a war with South Africa wasn't far away, so plans were drawn up in the case of a war.

1993-2009
Conflict remained at the heart of Rhodesian politics until 1993 when Smith mounted a leadership challenge when the PM was in Canberra. Thatcher retired from politics and ironically moved to Cape Town to be near her son Mark. She now resides in Constantia, an affluent suburb of the Oranian capital. Following Margaret Thatcher's departure from office, the new PM, Ian Smith advocated closer co-operation between Rhodesia and the Union. A referendum in 1996 rejected Rhodesian membership, and a similar proposal by John Redwood, following a major U Turn by the Redwood government was also rejected by a huge majority. Joining the Union was never seriously considered by the Hague government, and the current PM is strongly opposed to membership. In November 2008 the Prime minister ruled out Rhodesian membership "forever", concentrating instead on the Special Relationship with Australasia.

In April 2008, a severe economic downturn struck. Due to greed in banks and extravagant lending and borrowing, the housing market plummeted and many thousands of people became bankrupt and lost their jobs. The Conservative Party has dealt quickly and effectively with the "Credit Crunch". South Africa and Australasia are not dealing as well because they are heavily based on privatised economies, whereas Rhodesia has very few privatised industries and is a very nationalised and patriotic country. The current Prime Minister, William Hague has made a speech encouraging the Rhodesian people to face the unfortunate downturn bravely with a stiff upper lip and to learn from the lessons of the past.

Now however in early April, Rhodesia has been specifically hit with many scandals within its government, concerning MP's misuse of job allowances. This has lead to the Rhodesian National Party, which had been gathering power throughout the Noughties, to seize power and look once more to the West with hungry eyes.

War in South Africa
On 14th April 2009, the Kingdom of Rhodesia attacked South Africa. The ferocity of the attack overwhelmed South African defences. On midday of the 15th, Rhodesia had reached Capetown and forced South Africa into an unconditional surrender and claimed up to three quarters of the country's territory. At the same time, the small states of Lesotho and Swaziland were annexed. Other countries have been watching the goings on with much alarm.

War in Central Africa
Mere hours after the surrender in South Africa, the Rhodesian military opened up two fronts, one in Botswana and one in Mozambique. The people fought fiercely but were overwhelmed by the blitzkrieg tactics and mechanised infantry employed bY Rhodesia. tHESE two countries have been added to Rhodesia which is now commonly referred to as the Third British Empire. War with the traditional enemy of the British, France, now seems likely.