Well, I promised you that I'd post one of my Twilight Histories maps and here it is. With these maps I take what is said in the show and expand on it to try to flesh out the worlds and their histories. This maps was based on the episode
Cato's War and is set in 1962:
The South won the American Civil War. There were numerous factor that caused this. Among them included the deaths of Union generals Grant and Sherman early into the war, and the survival of Confederate generals Albert Sydney Johnson and Stonewall Jackson. The Confederates saw victory at the battles of Shiloh, Antietam and Gettysburg. These victories allowed the Confederacy to receive support from Britain and France. Eventually, the fighting came all the way to Washington DC. While standing on a rampart and observing a battle, Abraham Lincoln was shot by a stray bullet and died of his injures a few hours latter. Andrew Johnson was also injured, but not quite as badly; he died of his injuries a few months later. Johnson's successor proved to be less than competent at handling the war effort and was defeated in a landslide in election of 1864.
By 1865 the Union's will to continue the war had dried up, and the Confederacy officially received its independence. As part of the peace treaty Kentucky and Indian Territory were ceded to the Confederacy. The Confederate sympathizers within Kentucky had tightened their grip on the state government early on. Though Kentucky saw more battle than in our world, it also served as a buffer for the rest of the Confederacy. Though the Confederacy promised Native Americans a place in the new government, even granting them their own state of Sequoyah, they would violate these treaties increasingly over the years. Native Americans were frequently forced off of their land to make way for white settlers.
The early years of independence would come to define the Confederacy. The Confederacy was far from united, and many of its citizens had been opposed to the War of Succession. Rebellions are uprisings were frequent, but most were quickly put down, and this served to strengthen the power of the federal government. As the years went on, however, the Confederate government had to take increasingly authoritarian measures to maintain order. Eventually, the Confederacy devolved into little more than a tin pot dictatorship. Industrialization occurred, but at a snails pace and the Confederacy remained primarily an agrarian nation. An anti-slavery movements were quickly put down, and after considerable debate, it was decided that Native Americans counted as blacks and thus could be enslaved.
In the United States, the Republicans continued to unsuccessfully field candidates against the Democrats. Over the next few decades the Democrats ran almost completely unopposed. However, that changed when Theodore Roosevelt and a group of splinter Republicans formed the Bull Moose Party. Around the same time the Labor Movement, along with more left leaning Republicans, formed the Labor Party. In contrast to the Democrats right-wing nature the Bull Moose Party took a centrist stance, while the Labor Party stood as the primary left-wing party. The formation of the Bull Moose and Labour parties officially signaled the end of the Republican Party.
The United States lead an expiation to open Japan to the world. Over the years the two nations grew very close to each other. During the Spanish-American War the Japanese provided support for the United States. After the war Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam were ceded to the United States; while the Philippines was ceded to Japan. Eventually, Cuba and Puerto Rico were admitted as states. The United States had previously accepted the Dominican Republic's request to become a territory; it too became a state in time.
In China, the Taiping Rebellion was more successful. More emphasis was placed on civil administration, and foreign aid was received in exchange for favorable trade agreements following the rebellion. Hong Xiuquan was killed early into the rebellion, but his charismatic brand of Christianity would live on. Shi Dakai took over command of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and instigated reforms. One such reform was that Hong Xiuquan's interpretation of Christianity would be the nation's official religion, but other religions would not be penalized. Over the years the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom grew to encompass most of southern China.
The Ottoman Empire won the Russo-Turkish War. The empire had been undergoing reforms before the war, but victory over the Russians gave the reformers the extra boost they need to make real changes. In the issuing years the empire was reformed into a parliamentary monarchy, non-Turks were granted increasing rights and the army and navy remained at their peak. The Sultanate of Aceh appealed to the Ottomans for help fighting the Dutch. The Ottoman's defeated the Dutch and established Aceh as a protectorate, but in time would incorporate Aceh and Sumatra as a whole into the empire.
In Thailand, King Mongkut managed to survive his malaria long enough to name Prince Chulalongkorn heir to the throne. Chulalongkorn promised reforms such as the abolition of slavery and free elementary education for all citizens. Though an anti-reform faction soon arose it was quickly put down thanks to Chulalongkorn's strong political base. Upon ascending the throne Chulalongkorn began expanding the canal systems and ordered the construction of shipping fleets for increasing international trade. A general industrialization program was instituted, numerous schools and hospitals were established, and the military was reformed to be comprised of volunteers rather than the defendants of prisoners of war. Thailand also reaffirmed their good relations with nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Mexican Revolution ended in a victory for the Revolutionaries. This was partially thanks to support from the United States and the German Empire. Mexico, with the help of their American and German allies, was able to reform and mend most of its internal issues. Eventually, Mexico was raised to what we would call first world status. Mexico and the United States helped to unite the nations Central America into the United Proveniences of Central America. A canal was constructed in Nicaragua both to compliment and compete with the Panama Canal.
Over the years the United States grew close to the German Empire, and remained bitter at Britain and France for their support of the Confederacy. When the First World War broke out in 1914 the United States, along with Italy and Japan, joined the Central Powers. The Confederacy remained neutral during the war. The United States invaded Canada on the grounds that the British might use it as an invasion route (despite the fact that the British had never attempted anything like that before). Ultimately the war end with a Central Powers victory in 1917. Following the war the Ententes were stripped of large sections of their colonial empires and forced to pay crushing reparations.
Following the war the United States passed a bill granting universal Civil Rights to all of its citizens. Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was unable to solve its internal issues and collapsed in the early 1920s. The former empire was split between Germany and Italy. Among nations that were granted independence as a result of the war included Ireland (which included the Ulster provinces) and India (which was never partitioned). India is a federation of semiautonomous provinces, which has helped ease religious and ethnic tensions.
Russia had originally fought for the Ententes, but later pulled out due to their revolution. What few members of the Royal Family that managed to survive the revolution were able to find refuge in Ethiopia. Upon Lenin's death in 1924 a speech was read naming his successor as Premier of the Soviet Union. However, Leon Trotsky made a series of creative "edits" so that the speech denounced Stalin and named himself as successor. Unfortunately, Trotsky soon wound up alienating most of his would-be supporters and was soon assassinated. Some of the effects of this meant that the Great Purge never occurred and Jews received somewhat better treatment.
The Spanish Civil War ended in a victory for the Republicans. Following infighting among groups such as the Marxist, Anarchists and Communists it was decided that the Spanish Republic would be a social democracy. Since its founding the Spanish Republic has always been somewhat close to the Soviet Union, but has maintained good relations with the other major powers as well.
The war reparations France was forced to pay lead to runaway hyperinflation and economic collapse. Millions of French citizens were homeless and starving in the streets. France wanted revenge against the Central Powers, and they wanted it soon. The United Kingdom's reparations weren't quite as severe as those of France, but they too had grown bitter towards the Central Powers. While the British found solace in the assurances of the British Fascist Party, lead by Oswald Mosley, the French found hope in the form of Gaston Delacroix. Delacroix had written a nationally best selling memoir entitled The Dream Within: Those Who Seek Tomorrow. In his memoir Delacroix blamed France's fall from glory on the influences of foreigners, but especially the Romani. By 1938 Action Francaise had come to power and Delacroix now ruled as King of France.
By 1940 the world was in engulfed in a Second World War. Within a matter of months France controlled the Iberian Peninsula, the Low Countries, Italy, the Balkans and Greece. An anti-Delacroix coalition, lead by Charles de Gaulle, established a government-in-exile centered in Algeria named France-outré-mer. The exiles correctly guessed that Delacroix would focus more on conquering Europe and getting revenge on the Central Powers. The war raged on, but the Central Powers continued to push back the British and French. By 1946 victory was finally in sight thanks to a new invention created by a coalition of German and American scientists: the atomic bomb. The French and British formally surrendered following the atomic bombings of Orleans, Lyon and Southampton.
During the war hundreds of thousands of Romani had been shipped to Madagascar as part of Delacroix's anti-Romani policies. Unfortunately, many American and German submarines targeted several ships bound for Madagascar; not knowing the true purpose of the ships. As the war drew on it became increasingly costly to ship the Romani to Madagascar. As a result the Romani, along with several Irish Travelers, were shipped to a series of mass extermination camps. In total over 2,000,000 Romani died either in the camps, en route to Madagascar or due to poor conditions after arriving. However, over 300,000 Romani successfully made it to Madagascar.
After the war Madagascar was turned into a Romani homeland and received millions of immigrants. This was somewhat controversial as there had also been a movement to establish Madagascar as a Jewish homeland since before the war. It was decided that the island was more than big enough for both peoples, and at worst could be divided into two separate nations. The Romani and Jews have so far managed to coexist relatively peacefully, but the treatment of the native Malagasy, and their calls for great representation in the government of Madagascar, remains a pressing issue.
Japan stayed out of the European Theater and focused on securing its holdings in Asia and the Pacific. Following the First World War, Japan had taken Malaysia from the British and Indochina from the French; by the Second World War they had expanded their holdings to include Manchuria (renamed Manchukuo) as well as most of Indonesia. Japan attempted to extend its rule into China and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but ultimately this proved to be more trouble than it was worth. After the war it was decided the Japanese would keep Manchukuo, the Taiping would remain independent and a communist People's Republic of China serve as a buffer state between the two. Japan, along with the Soviet Union, acquired atomic bombs after the war thanks to the work of its scientists and spies.
The leaders of France-outré-mer had long since decided that they liked their new position of power reorganized themselves into the Republic of Algeria. Many international experts have noted, in light of the increasing tensions between the Algerian government and its native inhabitants, worry that the Algerian government may be heading in a similar direction to the Delacroix Regime and South Africa. Elsewhere, decolonization have been going slow, but also much more smoothly than in our world. Infrastructure is being established and the natives of the colonies are being educated in how to manage their nations when they achieve independence. Germany's colonies have been doing especially well in this regard. In a few years elections will be held to decide if the colonies will go independent, stay as they are or if the empire should be reformed into a federation.
The Soviet Union has been on everyone's minds lately. The Soviets first attempted to flex their international muscles when they intervened in the Greek Civil War, which resulted in a communist victory. The Soviets began to grow worried being surrounded by three nuclear armed nations. Things only got worse when the United States and Germany offered to help start nuclear weapons programs in the Italian and Ottoman Empires. In response, the Soviet Union attempted to send a shipment of atomic bombs to the Confederacy; and event later referred to as the Confederate Missile Crisis. For a few tense days it seemed that a Third World War would be imminent. However, the United States and Germany agreed to halt their efforts with the Italians and Ottoman's if the Soviets recalled the missiles from the Confederacy. Fortunately both sides held up their end of the agreement.
A space race has been established between the major nations of the world. Germany lead the way with the launch of the first artificial satellite in 1950, shortly followed by the first manned mission to orbit. The ultimate prize was a mission to the Moon by 1961. It was a close call but the Germans made it first, followed by the United States and Japan. The next major destination is a mission to Mars by either the 1970s or 1980s. Recently, work has begun on an international space station as well as establishing permanent bases on the Moon.
By the present day, the Confederacy has become an international pariah; it's only ally, and primary supplier of slaves, is South Africa. To overall state can generally be described as a cross between North Korea and South Africa under Apartheid. Seven out of ever ten citizens are slaves, technology is severely behind that of most other nations and there's a staggering wealth gap. Confederate slavery got so bad over the years that by the 20th century almost completely discredited all previous notions of racism. To many nations the Confederacy is evil incarnate.
However, things are about to change. In a textile mill in Stonewall, Louisiana lives a factory slave named Cato. To his friends he's easy going and makes the best of his horrible lot in life. He has a wife and children despite this being illegal for factory slaves. Cato may seem unassuming, but he's about to lead a rebellion that will bring the entire Confederacy to its knees.
