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Steampunk Alternate History Timeline

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LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#1: May 13th 2011 at 2:08:28 PM

AGE OF INDUSTRY:

  • 1805 - Rolf Wulfsheimer invents the Wulfsheimer Process, a Steam-based mechanism that produces nearly unlimited energy
  • 1810 - Wulfsheimer moves to England and receives a government contract, building his machines for the British government
  • 1811 - The secret to creating the Wulfheimer Process is stolen by an American spy named Jonathan Strauss
  • 1812 - The Great Imperial War begins, as Great Britain continues its wars against France and starts war with America
  • 1814 - France is conquered by Great Britain. Britain then begins to spread its military into other invasions, while America does likewise. The war begins to take on aspects of a "land race"
  • 1815 - The Mexican and Canadian territories are annexed by the United States
  • 1817 - Spain is made into a British territory. Use of Spanish colonies puts the war to Britain's advantage
  • 1818 - Cuba and Puerto Rico are invaded by the United States
  • 1819 - Britain conquers Italy and Germany. The United States gains South American territory
  • 1821 - The Iceland Treaty is signed, ending the war. The British Empire and the United States of the Americas are now the world's dominant superpowers.
  • 1832 - The Russian Czar swears fealty to the British Crown
  • 1834 - America opens trade with Nippon
  • 1837 - The Nipponese government acquires the Wulfsheimer Process begins a campaign across Asia
  • 1839 - Great Britain declares war on Nippon after it attacks its Filipino territories
  • 1841 - Great Britain forms a military alliance with China
  • 1845 - China falls to the Nipponese Empire
  • 1849 - The Great Imperial Treaty is signed between Nippon, Great Britain, and America
  • 1873 - Australia, with the secret aid America, rebels against the British government
  • 1878 - Australia drives off British rule, but soon falls into chaos as Australian warlords each seek to claim power.
  • 1879 - Slavery is abolished in the United States
  • 1886 - After nearly a decade of civil war, Australia is divided into multiple Principalities with an uneasy peace between one another
  • 1888 - The United States begins construction of Bay City, a metropolis rising out of the waters of the Chesapeake Bay
  • 1890 - The Philippines, which had been jointly ruled by Britain and Nippon as per the Great Imperial Treaty, begins a rebellion, receiving technological aid from the Canberran Principality
  • 1895 - The Filipino rebellion is crushed by Nipponese troops, with the aid of their new Sky Barge machines. Nippon declares itself sovereign ruler of the Philippines, increasing tensions between Nippon and Great Britain
  • 1896 - The United States purchases Madagascar from Great Britain. The mysterious Complex 716 is soon established there
  • 1899 - Under Nipponese encouragement, India rebels against Great Britain. Great Britain sets out to quell the rebellion and declares war on Nippon
  • 1907 - India wins its independence from Great Britain, but is soon invaded by Nippon
  • 1908 - Fearing what the United States was developing in Complex 716, Nippon attacks Madagascar. America allies with Britain and declares war on Nippon
  • 1909 - The Madagascar rainforest is almost entirely destroyed in an explosion. Information concerning the incident is suppressed by the American government
  • 1910 - The United States deploys the "Black Death", the world's first nuclear warhead. Four bombs are dropped, annihilating the city of Calcutta as well as nearly all of Sri Lanka. The Treaty of India (also called the "Black Treaty") is signed, banning the use of nuclear weapons, and an uneasy peace descends upon the world.
  • 1913 - Flight Tech, the world's first international corporation, emerges. The Age of Industry officially begins...

Questions, comments, concerns? Basically I want to know if this time is... well, not "realistic" exactly. It is Steampunk after all. But does it have enough verisimilitude to seem credible?

(edit: I suppose I should mention that is some slight tendency toward Urban Fantasy in this setting as well)

edited 13th May '11 4:55:03 PM by LizardBite

MattII Since: Sep, 2009
#2: May 13th 2011 at 3:04:38 PM

No it isn't credible, the Wulfsheimer Process is basically magic, not the normal super-engineering we tend to see in steampunk.

LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#3: May 13th 2011 at 3:38:49 PM

the Wulfsheimer Process is basically magic

Ya don't say. *sly grin*

blueharp Since: Dec, 1969
#4: May 13th 2011 at 3:57:24 PM

Where did Wulf start? just curious about his home country.

And no, I don't buy the bit with Spain, especially its colonies, which were on their own way to independence.

Also, Italy and Germany were not yet countries at that time.

LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#5: May 13th 2011 at 4:00:19 PM

He never revealed his exact origins, but he was born somewhere in Germany.

And I'm aware that Germany and Italy weren't countries, but the regions were generally identified as such.

Could you be more specific about the Spain bit?

blueharp Since: Dec, 1969
#6: May 13th 2011 at 4:43:38 PM

Sure, but it might be worth exploring the diversity rather than just lumping them up.

In Spain's case, check the progress of independence for their colonies. I don't think I'd count them as effective rulers of an empire, or their colonies as real tools for anybody.

I would also suggest keeping Russia independent, it does seem you're lumping a lot of blocks together, and that just seems less interesting.

LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#7: May 13th 2011 at 4:55:47 PM

Alright, I've edited the timeline. Things that are cut out are struck and stuff that's been added is italicized.

blueharp Since: Dec, 1969
#8: May 13th 2011 at 5:02:36 PM

So...what's happening in Africa during this time period?

If you want to do something, you could work up Liberia, or Ethiopia, or even the Zulu.

edited 13th May '11 5:03:13 PM by blueharp

lordGacek Since: Jan, 2001
#9: May 13th 2011 at 5:08:35 PM

I'm not really sure if, even with a source of unlimited energy, Britain would go all Genghis on the world.

LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#10: May 13th 2011 at 5:10:25 PM

[up][up]I don't know much much about African history, other than that Europe was dicking around with it for some time, which is why I decided not to include it in this draft. Well, except for Madagascar obviously. So Great Britian apparently has control of at least some parts of Africa. I'll have to write up what's happening with the continent after I've read up on the IRL history.

[up]But there are two other empires going all Genghis, so really all the cool countries are doing it. tongue

edited 13th May '11 5:12:03 PM by LizardBite

blueharp Since: Dec, 1969
#11: May 13th 2011 at 5:20:47 PM

The rampant conquering like somebody just turned in a set of cards in Risk is something I'm just accepting as part of the desired result.

For history, look up some history maps so you know how things were, and how they were changed.

It could be interesting.

Zersk o-o from Columbia District, BNA Since: May, 2010
o-o
#12: May 14th 2011 at 7:27:13 PM

Would Canada really be annexed? That was around the time of the War of 1812, and look at what happened to America then. Especially since Britain seems to be developing at a much faster rate and has more control in Europe. I mean, yeah, the outcome of the war would have been different if the whole of America had been behind this, but the British have had control of this "Wulfheimer Process" for a decade, whereas America has had it for only four. I'd imagine that Britain would be able to develop more than America by that time.

And how was nuclear weaponry developed so early?

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ
LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#13: May 15th 2011 at 3:45:57 AM

Britain only had the process for a year longer than America. Rolf didn't move there and start actually building stuff until 1811. America and Britain were the only two (unified) nations with access to it and both decided that that gave them the right to take over everything ever.

As for nukes: the Wulfsheimer Process sped up technological development. Automobiles appeared only a few years after the process did for example. Someone just happened to figure out atoms early and happened to have the tech available to make the bomb happen.

MattII Since: Sep, 2009
#14: May 15th 2011 at 5:13:33 AM

U-235 wasn't discovered until 1935. There's no causal link between the advancement of mechanical engines and particle physics.

Zersk o-o from Columbia District, BNA Since: May, 2010
o-o
#15: May 15th 2011 at 4:13:04 PM

Still, if that's so, then what stopped Britain from fighting America for control of Canada? Annexing that land could be considered an act of war, couldn't it?

And what ^ said. Though I guess that could have been discovered earlier as well. Also, the americans didn't really start developing it until they heard the Germans were inventing it first, thus they should. Or something. I can't remember how it works.

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ
LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#16: May 15th 2011 at 4:25:41 PM

[up]They'd been at war for three years when Canada was annexed.

MattII Since: Sep, 2009
#17: May 15th 2011 at 6:47:54 PM

Also, it seems a little improbably that it'd be the USA that manages to steal the technology, I mean they're a bit off-the-map aren't they there on the other side of the Atlantic? If anyone got it in opposition to the British I'd have thought it would be the Dutch or the Prussians.

breadloaf Since: Oct, 2010
#18: May 15th 2011 at 11:42:37 PM

As it is steampunk, I will flatly ignore the physics breaking of steam power being that awesome :)

So I'll start picking at certain things for you to justify:

Britain takes over France in 1814. So exactly what do they have with this steampower? The main reason Britain was maintaining the "status quo" on the continental area was because they didn't have enough manpower to actually take it over. So what changed? France isn't a pushover country by any means, it took the combined arms of all of Europe to defeat it in 1814. Moreover, if Britain wanted to take over France, nobody would ally with them. People would just be jumping sides in a decades long war like the Great Northern War depending on who was winning (except in this case, always jumping on the loser side to keep both France and Britain screwed up).

Canada and Mexico annexed by 1814 likewise is rather fast. I mean remember, in the real time line, the War of 1812 happened and American forces were soundly repelled from Canada. It wasn't for lack of military power, the logistics and command were completely inept. Unless America is a much better led country in your timeline, it won't happen.

Nippon was in the midst of a fairly messed up political situation in the mid 1800s. It wasn't until the late 1800s in real life that they managed to stabilise and then begin their imperialism. In this case, you're supposing that the steampunk tech cuts it down by a few decades. That's fine. But then to take over China, they'd have to crush through both USA and Britain (assuming they are likewise sped up) and China would be in the middle of an accelerated version of the "8 Nation Occupation". So it would be quite costly for Nippon to take over China in this method, not to mention the fierce resistance that would occur from Qing Dynasty. Also there is Russia, they wouldn't stand by and let China be taken over like that. So it wouldn't be a simple matter of marching soldiers unless Qing troops get mowed down like crazy (and even then, in real life that only resulted in the 8 nation occupation).

In 1879 slavery is abolished in America. What's the reasoning behind that? Lacking the Civil War, I don't see much social impetus for it. If America was winning so hard in the world with its wars, they would have far FAR less reason to abolish slavery.

There's nukes? :P

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#19: May 15th 2011 at 11:50:19 PM

I have to agree that there's too many Space Filling Empires showing up.

Zersk o-o from Columbia District, BNA Since: May, 2010
o-o
#20: May 16th 2011 at 4:24:52 PM

Any Space-Filling Empire is too many.

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#21: May 16th 2011 at 4:29:03 PM

[up]Oh, I think if a work isn't political-military based, one or two can be an Acceptable Break from Reality. But this is going overboard.

Dragon573 Sanity not included from Sitting at a bonfire Since: Jun, 2016 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Sanity not included
#22: May 22nd 2011 at 4:52:44 PM

I like it. It can improve, but it's better than some I've seen.

It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
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