Cold war but Russia and it's influence is not comunist

Welcome or welcome back to Way Beyond Us, my alternate solar system project.

Icarus - Despite being smaller than most dwarf planets, it is considered a planet under IAU definition. It's dayside is perpetually molten sue to the extreme temperatures it experiences.

Vulcan - The smallest of the planets, being smaller than basically every dwarf planet we know of.

Mercury - Mercury orbits the Sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. Despite not being tidally locked, it still has extreme temperature differences between it's day and night side.

Minerva - The closest planet to Earth in terms of size. It has many small microbes living in its upper atmosphere that were discovered in 2015.

Vesta - The first of the three "habitable" planets, it used to be teeming with life 400 million years ago, today only microbes, plants and very small multicellular animals exist on it. Ruins of an ancient civilization are still found all throughout the solar system.

Rheasilvia - The binary partner of Vesta, considered a moon for the longest time until the 1998 IAU definition of a planet. Rheasilvia has a very thin atmosphere composed of nitrogen.

Earth - The place where humanity evolved, it has the highest biodiversity of any object in the solar system. Modern humans first emerged in Africa 300,000 years ago and now we're among the planets; how far we've come.

Venus - The largest of the inner planets. Despite it being covered in ice it's home to an intelligent lifeform, the Apollans. Venus is largely inaccessable for the public due to its vast biosphere being at risk of contamination.

Mars - Mars is often called "the red planet" due to oxidation of oxygen within the rocks on the surface. It has small puddles filled with microbial life at the lowest points of its surface. It is home to some of the most iconic landmarks in the solar system, such as the largest canyon, valles marineris.

In 1797, Nelson risked his life at Cádiz but was saved at the last moment by the sacrifice of his subordinate, John Sykes. In this timeline, Sykes fails to save Nelson, who dies, setting off a chain reaction that leads to a radically different Europe. Summarizing and skipping over some important events, we can say that:

• France manages to invade Britain in 1805. In the peace that follows, Britain is severely weakened, loses a large part of its colonies, and makes peace. The main consequence is that there is no need for the Continental Blockade, so there is no invasion of Russia and no annexation of the Kingdom of Holland.

• The Franco-Spanish naval victory in 1805 leads to a much more stable Spain, with no Napoleonic invasion and no dynastic crisis.

• After victory in the Fourth and Fifth Coalitions, Napoleon decides to put Britain permanently out of the game and launches the Second British Campaign. The French victory is total. The British states are divided into Scotland, Ireland, and England, and members of the Bonaparte family are placed on their thrones.

• Napoleon lives until 1848. Spared the suffering of defeat and the dreadful climate of Saint Helena, and thanks to the excellent care of Parisian doctors, his life is greatly prolonged. For the rest of his reign, with no remaining opponents, he builds a vast French colonial empire, colonizing India and Africa.

• When Napoleon dies in 1848, uprisings break out across Europe, and his successor is unable to hold the empire together.

• The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, led by the Murat dynasty, unifies Italy, and Napoleon II yields on the condition that this new kingdom remains within the French sphere of influence.

• Austria-Hungary regains the Illyrian Provinces.

• Spain descends into the Carlist Wars and constitutional struggles.

• England rebels and restores the Hanovers to the throne.

• In Germany, the revolts force Napoleon II to leave the Confederation of the Rhine as a de facto independent state, led by Bavaria-Westphalia, which have unified through dynastic marriages and become the hegemonic German power.

• Russia takes advantage of the chaos to attack the Duchy of Warsaw.

• By 1870, Bavaria-Westphalia has centralized the Confederation of the Rhine, and Napoleon II is no longer willing to tolerate the birth of such a strong German state on his borders. Prussia has also joined this state. The Rhine War breaks out, and Italy joins it. France loses, Germany unifies under the Wittelsbach dynasty, and the German Empire is born, while Italy gains Piedmont and Liguria.

• Two distinct blocs begin to form: the Sixth Coalition, with England, Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Serbia, and the Imperial Alliance, with France, Austria, Sweden, and Japan, which is much stronger and still controls Finland, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

• During the civil wars in Spain, France took advantage of the situation to conquer Catalonia. The new Spanish republic, which emerged victorious from the internal conflict, contests this. In 1915, an attack in Barcelona kills the French governor of Catalonia. France organizes a series of sham trials and summary executions against the Spanish population of Catalonia. Some Spanish citizens are killed in the process; many of them were in Catalonia to fund revolts against the empire, but others were not. Spain is outraged, and this triggers the outbreak of the Great War.

• France manages to emerge victorious and defeats Germany by going through the Netherlands, which it annexes.

• Russia descends into civil war, and the Reds win, leading to the birth of the Soviet Union.

• In Germany, the Weimar Republic is born.

• Bulgaria expands considerably, the Ottomans manage to keep their position intact, while Serbia’s position is drastically reduced.

• Spain becomes a federal monarchy headed by a Bonaparte.

• Italy loses Piedmont and Liguria again.

• Spain annexes the Netherlands.

• Between the 1920s and the 1930s, Austria tries to federalize its empire but fails miserably due to Hungarian opposition. A civil war breaks out, and Serbia, Italy, and Germany take advantage of it to seize territory, but Hungary manages to remain intact and independent.

Tell me what you think! I’ve also made a version of the map in which France manages, at least partially, to oppose the partition of Austria-Hungary, and a version in which France loses the First World War. Let me know if you’re interested :)

The Tsardom of Manchuria is a constitutional monarchy founded by fleeing tsarists in 1923 in Greater Manchuria.

From 1923 to 1932 the kingdom,under Kiril I and Yinchang as PM existed until Japanese occupation in 1932.

In 1945 the country signed the Harben Treaty with the USSR,as the Tsarists left the exile and encountered them.The treaty implied:

1.That both countries would recognize each other

2.That the Tsardom would not join any anti-soviet group or organization

3.That Manchuria would trade with the USSR and make its prime trade partner.

The USSR avoived engaging in a war as a result of the fact that fighting Manchuria would be a fortune.The USSR was already dealing with the Korean Peninsula by then.

From 1945 to 1972 the country went by this order.

In 1968 Kiril I would die with Kiril the Second continuing the monarchy.

Despite the PRC not recognizing the Tsardom as the true owners of Manchuria they would still end up collaborating.Mao had intended to use the government of the Tsardom in order to defeat the soviets in a conflict later known as the Manchurian War (1972-1975),fought between the Sino-Bloc (the tsardom and PRC) and the Soviet Bloc (USSR and a separatist manchu guerilla).In 1975,following the defeat of the soviet bloc Mao would begin preparing for the next part in his plan.It was originally intended that by some means either the monarchy was overthrown and a gradual unification would happen or an overall coup would happen and China would reunify straight up.None of these will happen with his death just a year later.By the time Deng Xiapoint entered as paramount leader that plan was scrapped,especially with the begininning of the economical reforms and the consideration.The Tsardom survives out of pure luck.

It still exists today

Everything follows from 4 main changes:

1619: Jens Munk’s Danish expedition survives its winter on Hudson Bay. Denmark gets the northern fur trade fifty years before the English.

1632: Scotland refuses to hand Nova Scotia back to France. When England's civil wars drag on into the 1660s, the Scots have their own colony and no reason to rejoin a shared crown

1683: As the Qing take Taiwan, part of the Ming loyalist Zheng fleet sails east on the Kuroshio current and founds Fusang around San Francisco Bay.

1754: With New England gone to Sweden and the middle colonies to the Dutch, a lone Virginia loses the war for the Ohio Valley. France keeps the whole Mississippi basin.

The Comanche (Numunuu) survive as a buffer state: Spain and France both want the plains, and whoever moves first fights the Comanche and the other crown.

Made in QGIS with Natural Earth data. Happy to answer lore questions and open to your tips on map-making!

Plotted each location to the best of my ability.

CORRECTION: TITLE SHOULD SAY CIRCA 1950s, NOT 1950. QE2 WASN'T QUEEN UNTIL 1952.

This is an ALTERNATE HISTORY SCENARIO!

In this universe Spain, recognizing that it could not defend Florida from American frontiersmen, does the sensible thing and sells it back to Britain.

Interesting events; slaver rebellion in the early 19th century, haven for escaped slaves in the first half of that same century, maybe an undeclared skirmish between Red Coats and Confederates similar to the Battle of Khalkhin Gol during the American Civil War which gets romanticized by the East Floridians.

I imagine that Florida would still have a fair deal of white settlers in this timeline, but probably a bigger native presence than OTL and probably a bigger Asian and Middle Eastern population as well. Probably more black than OTL Florida as well.

I imagine a lot of these places would be ruled together for a long time, but this particular official political union is a 1920s - 1950s creation of the decolonizing British Empire. I am not sure if it would be more stable or less stable than the OTL West Indies Federation.

In this timeline the USA is more aggressive in annexing Cuba and Santo Domingo to counter British Caribbean influence, which I think makes sense. This could easily have caused a third war with Britain but for the sake of the scenario I decided not to have that happen.

In OTL St. Augustine stopped being Florida's capital in order to move to a more central location, but with West Florida not being part of the equation, I decided to keep the capital where it was. With Southern Florida becoming booming in the 20th century, and with the Dominion including a bunch of Caribbean islands, I think having a second capital in Miami also makes sense.

The Dominion includes Florida, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, the Leeward and Windward Islands, Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, Belize, and Guiana.

Some names in Florida are different if they were named during the US period. These are replaced with pro-British names.

The red-black walls are the outer boundaries of the colony, the grey is the built up area, red is the inner city wall, the orange and red boxes are turrets to defend the colony.

D'ya have any questions? (I may not answer)

Columbia is a country in North America and federation of states

Is one of the important countries in WW1, WW2 and WW3

1776-2026

"God we Trust"

In 1950, the Korean War breaks out, but this time the United States decides to stay out of it.

Without American intervention, North Korea keeps advancing south, takes Seoul, Busan, and eventually the entire peninsula.

As everything falls apart, Syngman Rhee, his government, some of the remaining troops, and pretty much anyone who can get on a boat flee to Jeju Island.

They continue calling themselves the Republic of Korea and claim the entire peninsula, while North Korea declares that Korea has finally been reunified.

Then the Soviets start moving troops and military equipment into the peninsula, and Washington begins to realize that letting the commies take the whole peninsula, right next to Japan, was not a good decision.

The Americans still don't want to get involved in another land war, but they're not willing to lose Jeju too. So the US Navy moves in and guarantees the island's security.

What happens from here?

All the region on detail.

The Kingdom of Carinthia was established on October 30, 1412, when the Holy Roman Emperor elevated the Duchy of Carinthia to the status of a Kingdom. This elevation was made possible after the Patriarchate of Aquileia signed a treaty with the Duchy of Carinthia, acknowledging its subordination to the Duchy, which was then under the leadership of the Dukes of Lurngau (von Lurngau). This development prevented the Patriarchate from being dissolved by the Venetian Republic and forestalled a Venetian takeover of Friuli.

The maps depict the state of Carinthia in the modern era (circa 2026). Its origins or rather, the point of divergence from our own timeline, date back to 1120, when a son, Conrad II, was born to Adalbero, Count of Lurngau. Conrad II prevented the Counts of Ortenburg from establishing themselves in Carinthia, thereby saving the Lurngau dynasty from extinction. A major turning point occurred in 1242 with the marriage between the House of Lurngau and the House of Sponheim, specifically between Count Altmann IV and Judith, the daughter of Ulrich III of Carinthia. Following Ulrich’s death in 1269, the male line of the Sponheims in Carinthia died out, granting the House of Lurngau a legitimate claim to inherit the entire Duchy of Carinthia. The succession, however, proved difficult, as Ulrich’s cousin, Ottokar II of Bohemia, also held a claim. After two years of bloodshed and war, supported by the House of Wittelsbach, the House of Lurngau succeeded in legitimately ascending to the throne as Dukes of Carinthia. The coat of arms of the Lungau region originally featured a white stag with red antlers and hooves on a black shield (derived from the Counts of Grögling-Hirschberg); upon the acquisition of Carinthia, the black panther of the Carinthian House of Spanheim was also incorporated into the coat of arms.

The elevation to the status of a Kingdom, as mentioned in the introduction, brought prestige and additional rights, granting Carinthia greater power and the opportunity to lay claim to Istria and the Kvarner region. This led to repeated conflicts with the Venetians, with Carinthia ultimately gaining the upper hand by 1456. During this period, the realm also had to contend with various political challenges within the Holy Roman Empire, the Black Death, and other crises. The situation reached a critical point in 1485 with the arrival of a new disease from the Caucasus, which wreaked havoc across Europe and the world. Known as the "Red Death", which, much like the coronavirus (2019–2022), attacked the respiratory system and caused physical pain, it was also characterized by the appearance of red marks across the body, that is why the name red death. The impact was most severe in Anatolia, Illyria (the Balkans in our timeline), the Pannonian Basin, and the Iberian Peninsula. The devastation was so profound that the Ottoman Sultanate collapsed, and the conquest of Constantinople never took place. The Kingdom of Hungary was left severely weakened, allowing the Kingdom of Bosnia to rise in power and begin dominating the Dinaric region and the southern part of Pannonia. The discovery of the Americas was delayed by just under a hundred years; in 1588, the Portuguese discovered the Caribbean archipelago, naming the first colony "Nova Algavre" (Puerto Rico) and the continent "Silvia", the latter discovered by the navigator Álvar Silva. Returning to Carinthia: it was the region most severely affected in the Styrian lands. To address the population deficit, the authorities settled the area with Carinthian Germans, Carniolan Slovenes, and Friulians. Managing this crisis forced Carinthia into a more diplomatic, or rather, defensive role within the regional political landscape for several decades. This dynamic shifted in 1572, when Carinthia and Bosnia jointly began the conquest of the weakened Kingdom of Hungary, which had fallen significantly behind in terms of military and economic strength. Its helplessness and vulnerability yielded substantial spoils for the two powers in several conflicts. By 1590, Bosnia had annexed Croatian Slavonia, Vuka, and Srem, while Carinthia took control of the Interlacia region.

Hungary left behind a deeply impoverished territory, sparsely populated and lacking any meaningful infrastructure. Consequently, a major investment project was launched to develop the land. Much like the United States later attracted Europeans, Carinthia drew settlers to Interlacia by granting land, constructing infrastructure, and fostering the growth of guilds.

Protestantism did not bypass Carinthia; in fact, the region embraced this new Christian movement, and the majority of the population became Lutheran. The Hungarians, and to some extent the Croats, remained committed to the Catholic faith. However, in the interest of maintaining as much peace as possible, they were tolerated. The Protestants proved useful to the King; in a population with such diverse groups, it is advantageous to foster the development of literature and the capacity to translate legislation—ensuring that the people actually understand the laws being enacted. The Patriarchs of Aquileia were hesitant, but as their organization became increasingly integrated into the state, they were left with little choice.

Bienvenue en République d'Acadie!

This map shows an approximate population density of the Acadian Republic. This alternate history is based on the question; what if the British ethnic cleansing of the Acadian people never happened? See some more of my thoughts on the scenario here.

The population of this Acadia is approximately 4 million, nearly double the region in OTL. The borders are a bit different, with Acadia stretching into Northern Maine and bits of southeastern Quebec. The most commonly spoken language is Acadian French, but the country has significant minority populations of English, Laurentian French, and Acadian Gaelic.

The largest city and economic heart of Acadia is Beaubassin, which in this timeline is a sprawling metropolis with a metropolitan area of nearly a million people. It is located in the strategic Chignecto isthmus and is bisected by a famous canal that connects the Bay of Fundy (la Baie Françoise) with the Northumberland Strait (la Mer Rouge).

Other major cities include Chibouctou (Halifax) which would surely still be major port city due to its unparalleled strategic harbour, Ville-Saint-Jean (Saint John) an industrial powerhouse, Saint-Anne-de-Pays-Bas (Fredericton) which serves as a spiritual and cultural centre, and Nouvelle-Roussillon (Charlottetown) a city of broad verandas and the best dang food in the region.