 This 1983: Doomsday page is a Proposal.
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The European diaspora refers to the various communities formed by European refugees in the aftermath of Doomsday. With the collapse of the majority of state governments, the destruction of its largest population centers and the ensuing radiation caused by both the bombs and damaged or abandoned nuclear reactors, survivors near coastal cities and the few functioning airports that remained scrambled to flee to any nation that would receive them.
British Diaspora[]
Iberian Diaspora[]
The Spanish and Portuguese were perhaps the most fortunate nations in Western Europe. They also had the most options in relocation with little to no cultural adjustment needed as nearly an entire continent had been settled by their kin centuries prior.
With Portugal only recieving 3 strikes and Spain 12, the majority of Iberian civilians survived into October. It wasn't until the destabilization of France and overwhelming of the tiny scraps of the Netherlands and West Germany left intact that the Iberian peninsula became host to the largest refugee crisis on the planet. Nearly ten million refugees flooding into the peninsula (many attempting their way further south to Africa) destabilized the remaining local authorities and prompting many to begin evacuating their towns en masse to Latin America.
Part of the reason why Spain had been so slow to reform was in part of the total collapse in demographics. It was simply not seen as worthwhile combating the refugees (now organized into fixed societies of their own and in many cases embraced by other survivors, as was the case in the Iberian Confederation's formation).
Today, roughly 3 million Spaniards live in Mexico alone, with an additional 5 million across the various nations of the South American Confederation, and hundreds of thousands in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Given how many had distant relatives in the Americas on Doomsday, they are easily the most "settled" diaspora, it is unlikely that any will return in substantial numbers. In effect, this leaves many settlements in the Iberian highlands and coast alike as "blank slates" for future re-settlement.
Dutch Diaspora[]
While most nations struck in Doomsday lost cities or even whole islands, the majority of the Netherlands itself was physically destroyed ad a result of the flooding that ensued post Doomsday. The few parts of the Netherlands on higher ground further inland would go on to form Benelux and North Germany.
Most Dutch survivors attempted to seek refuge instead in the Caribbean islands of Saint Martin and the Netherlands Antilles, with the latter going on to become the recognized successor state to the Kingdom. Many others would find refuge in Suriname, which later went on to form the Guyana Cooperative.
French Diaspora[]
| European diaspora |
|---|
| Frenchdiaspora.png |
| World map of the largest concentrations of the French diaspora. |
| Total population |
| 5,000,000 (sources vary) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Africa, Oceania, South America |
| Languages |
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French, Creole, Occitan, Breton, Basque, Aranese, Arabic, others |
| Religion |
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Christianity, irreligiousness, Judaism, Sunni Islam |
| Related ethnic groups |
The destruction of Metropolitan France saw 11 of its 55 million citizens immediately incinerated, and more untold millions injured or exposed to lethal radiation levels, doomed in the days to come. Compounding the destruction was the ensuing meltdown of many of its nuclear power plants, whether irreparably damaged by the blasts or other failures. The island of Corsica was the only department of European France to be spared from nuclear bombardment, although it would soon break off relations with the mainland after the first winter saw severe hunger wrack the island, declaring independence outright in 1984 and refusing further mainland refugees.
The South of France soon emerged as a humanitarian and environmental disaster. Crater husks where its largest cities once stood, melted down nuclear reactors, and a never-ending slew of contaminated debris floating south along the Rhone all spelled disaster for what little remained of the South. Surprisingly, however, France's third-largest city of Nice was spared, containing one of the last major port facilities on continental France alongside smaller Perpignan, La Rochelle and others further west. With the near-certainty of death by radiation sickness to those who remained in the path of the irradiated Rhone, the only option remained was to flee east into Italy, with hopes of reaching the neutral countries of the Alps, or to flee south into North Africa, where many of those dubbd "pied noir" had been ousted from after resistance against the death throes of French colonialism mere decades ago. A lesser number of vessels formed flotillas to the Azores, where they would attempt to reach the mostly-intact Caribbean and South America.
German Diaspora[]
Modern Communities[]
British Residents of the Malvinas[]
In spite of Argentina's capture of the contested territory shortly after Doomsday, the Malvinas (formerly known as the Falklands) have still attracted emigrants from the British and Dutch diasporas. The Galenses , or Argentine-Welsh community in particular have seen a rebound in the Falklands compounded with newer arrivals from the British isles, as wider demographic trends in mainland Argentina eroded several of their historic areas.
Germans of Latin America[]
Dutch in Suriname[]
"Little Europe - Bissasgo Islands[]
Location of the communities known as Little Europe (the islands remain under Guinea-Bissau sovereignty)
"Little Europe" refers to the western Bissago Islands of Guinea-Bissau, which was the final country in continental Africa to accept refugees. The West African Union assembled several refugee camps in Guinea-Bissau corresponding to the largest countries of origin for each of the incoming refugee groups. As a result, the islands which had fewer than 15,000 before Doomsday are now home to over 60,000 people, many of whom were the poorest or most infirm who could not make arrangements for asylum elsewhere, or repatriation to the Portuguese, Spanish, French or British governments-in-exile. After much deliberation and vociferous debating, Guinea-Bissau naturalized the 60,000 residents of the former refugee camps as Permanent Residents in 2003.
All of these settlements exist alongside pre-war Guinea-Bissauan towns on the islands.
- Pouco Portugal - The largest and wealthiest of the autonomous communities, made up of Portuguese refugees as well as Brazilian economic migrants. Centered on the city of Santuário. Portuguese Population: 27,299
- Avalon & Wallace- Predominantly-Anglophone towns made up of British refugees on Ilha Carache and Ilha Maio respectively, many of which were in later convoys attempting to go to South Africa. Named after the English and Scottish cities of the same name. English Population: 21,828
- Occitània - Made up of refugees from southern France. Centered on the town of Provence. French Population: 12,371
- Nieuw Amsterdam - Made up of Dutch and Belgian refugees. The smallest of the communities and centered on the town of Nieuw Amsterdam. Dutch Population: 1,231
- Neubremen - Made up of German refugees that sought haven across Africa but did not make the journey further south or returned after civil unrest. Centered on the town of Neues Bremen. German Population: 5,234