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Protectorate of Dubuque
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

OTL equivalent: Dubuque County
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Dubuque
Location of Dubuque
Capital Dubuque
Largest city Dubuque
Language English
Government QCA Protectorate
Governor
Population 25,000 
Currency Barter, QCA Dollar

Dubuque is a city in the former American state of Iowa located along the Mississippi River. It also was the location of a failed survivor state and today is a Protectorate of the Quad Cities Alliance.

History[]

Pre-Doomsday[]

The City of Dubuque is one of the oldest settlements west of the Mississippi. Julien Dubuque was the first permanent settler in the area in 1785, which was then under Spanish control. He got permission from the Spanish and created the first lead mines in the area. France, and then USA, with the Louisiana Purchase, gained control of Louisiana, where Dubuque lay. The area became part of the Iowa Territory in 1838 and then part of the state of Iowa in 1846. After the lead sources where exhausted the economy shifted to industry and industry remained the cities' main income source even into the 1980's.[1]

Doomsday[]

On Doomsday, the the Midwest region of the United States was devastated. Des Moines, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Chicago were just some of the cities hit with nuclear strikes. The Dubuque region soon became a massive refugee camp as people fled from the strike zones to the nearest available safe zones.

In the first few months, the city council worked on stabilizing the city and creating a functional government that would suit their situation. Furthermore, the bridges over the Mississippi River were closed to decrease the number of refugees entering the area. This caused rioting among the refugees that engulfed the town in violence. An attempt to re-establish order by a former Vietnam veteran known only as "Sarge" who overthrew the city council kept order for a couple of more years. Sarge's rule, however, was unpopular and in 1987 his enemies had him hanged. Unable to work together, the successors of Sarge's regime eventually abandoned Dubuque leaving only the most harden holdouts to inhabit the abandon city.

Protectorate of the Quad Cities[]

Following the defeat of the Republic of Iowa, the Quad Cities Alliance began to expand their sphere-of-influence in the Tri-State Area. Dubuque became a promising candidate for expansion since it was still relatively intact and its small population was not a threat to the QCA. In 1998, QCA soldiers occupied the town proper and declared it a "Protectorate of the Quad Cities Alliance." The population of Dubuque began to grow again as immigration from the QCA and local farming communities rebuilt and resettled the town.

Trade hub[]

Contact with other American survivor states transformed Dubuque into a major trade hub of the northern QCA. In February 2004, radio signals from the interior of the former state of Wisconsin were picked up from an outpost in Dubuque. A later expedition soon brought the QCA into contact with the Republic of Wisconsin North Star, and the Republic of Superior. Through Wisconsin and Superior, the QCA made contact with other survivor states in New England, Virginia, Canada, and in numerous other parts of the world.

By 2006, there was regular trade between QCA and Wisconsin/Superior. In 2008, a railway between Davenport and Dubuque and Madison was completed. This brought new trade and people into Dubuque, transforming the Protectorate into a major city in the QCA.

Economy[]

Pre-Doomsday, manufacturing dominated Dubuque's economy. Post-Doomsday that is still the case, but at a smaller scale from 1983. Much of the city is still being rebuilt as materials from abandoned factories are scavenged to build new ones.

References[]

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