![[Commission] Crusader States - 1444](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/4638e6ea-0e9c-453c-b44d-6b323ce8dd57/ddfen4n-62b34d30-bd71-4a33-98fc-1ef008d6e753.png/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,q_70,strp/_commission__crusader_states___1444_by_krisgabwooshed_ddfen4n-150.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTI4MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQ2MzhlNmVhLTBlOWMtNDUzYy1iNDRkLTZiMzIzY2U4ZGQ1N1wvZGRmZW40bi02MmIzNGQzMC1iZDcxLTRhMzMtOThmYy0xZWYwMDhkNmU3NTMucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwOTYifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.DREm-JWqUmS3vKiet90ZXM387eU6mfxXil7kRDEn1V8)
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Shattered Union: 2021
This is my attempt at a modern adaptation of the 2005 game "Shattered Union," which already has a bit of a bonkers timeline.
---Timeline---
2016 - Following a disputed election Donald J. Trump is elected as the 45th President of the United States, becoming the unpopular president in U.S. history.
2019 - The combination of white nationalist terrorist attacks and poor economic conditions contributes to the rise of civil discontent. With a new recession beginning, and labor demonstrations popping up in the Midwest, the President invokes the PATRIOT Act and declares marshal law on the southern border and in other areas of the country, though it is largely concentrated in important swing districts in the Midwest.
2020 - Though highly contested, a Supreme Court ruling upholds the purging of voter rolls in key swing states. Public outrage explodes when a sham election leads to incumbent Donald Trump accepting a second term in office.
2021 - During the 59th Inauguration Day Ceremonies Washington D.C is struck by low-yield nuclear weapon, destroying most of the city, and effectively wiping out the presidential line of succession, sending the nation into chaos. NATO meets in an emergency session, and votes to send peacekeepers to the Atlantic Seaboard and Alaska to secure international interests and protect European and Canadian expatriates in the United States. With separatist sentiment rising, the governor of California declares home rule, and California secedes from the Union on April 15, 2021. Texas follows a few days later on April 17, 2021, re-forming the Republic of Texas. Other factions form in the following months.
2022 - The Second American Civil War begins. California and Texas, formally partition their core states to maintain political power as they expand outward and prevent a repeat of their large states being undermined and underrepresented in the national government.
2023 - The Russian Federation moves in to take Kiev, and formerly reabsorbs Belarus. The front-lines of the American war have largely stabilized as the major factions secure strategic geographic positions. Interpol having coordinated with surviving members of the US intelligence community, reveals the results of its investigation regarding the Inauguration Day bombing. Members of the Russian intelligence community, apparently at the direction of Vladimir Putin, masterminded the D.C. bombing as part of his goal to disrupt the Western Alliance system, so that Russia could reassert itself over the former Soviet republics, and exert greater control over Europe. Transcripts between members of the FSB reveals that the bombing was sparked by the belief that Trump would likely be removed from office shortly after his re-election, and was no longer a viable asset. With the majority of their forces deployed to the former United States, NATO is unable to effectively retaliate.
...
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At least we Wisconsinites got some of that Minnesota land, awww yeah.
A very interseting setting. And I can totally imagine that with Donald Trump breaking all security rules to summon the so called 'Last survivor' to DC to celebrate his great victory, so the line of succession would be entirely broken.
Just a small mistake there, you wrote Kiev when you said Russia reabsorbed Belarus, yet Kiev is the capital of Ukraine, so I guess you meant Minsk?
I appreciate that you have recognized that control of the San Luis Valley is vital for the Republic of Texas (though I suspect your borders are actually following rivers and mountains instead). I have put quite a bit of thought into how a campaign (post-apocalyptic, mid Industrial Age technology) for control of that valley and its good farmland would play out. Without the food produced in the valley, Texas military campaigns west into the rest of New Mexico and Arizona as well as north along the spine of the Rocky Mountains become significantly more challenging if not impossible.
However, you have the Upper Arkansas Valley and the towns of Salida, Poncha Springs, and Buena Vista bordered by three nations and seemingly under Heartland rule. This might be a workable situation in peacetime, but in a war (or even during times of increased tension) control of the Upper Arkansas Valley and its three major mountain passes (plus three more minor passes and a major highway through a narrow canyon) would be the most strategically important crossroads in the region and the key to military control of Colorado.
Without control of the Upper Arkansas Valley, the Republic of Texas' possession of the San Luis Valley and thus Texas' strategic mobility in the region would be at risk. Therefore, Texas would be forced to pay any price to achieve control over the Upper Arkansas Valley. Likewise, the California Republic would have to seize the valley for themselves to put a firm check on Texas' ambitions in the west.
You can be sure that I would make Texas, California, and the Heartland all pay a very dear price for my home and maybe even carve out a small Colorado Kingdom in the heart of the Rockies at their expense.
If Russia ever attempt to nuke DC, the US would retaliate quickly with nukes. We get the "Great War (Fallout)" scenerio, where all countries exchange nukes, wiping out civilization in the matter of hours, except no one will survive.
I know I'm commenting late in the game, and even though this seems very prescient given events in recent months, since you are referring to various legal means that are in actual existence as your basis:
Martial law cannot be declared by the President as you describe. (Even though I could see Trump trying to.) Also, it is fairly well-known that on Inauguration Day one Cabinet member is chosen by lot not to be in attendance, so that if Washington DC was attacked and the entire administration killed, there would still be one official in the line of succession. I believe they take that Cabinet member to a secure area outside the DC region, so even a low-yield nuke wouldn't affect this.
But even with those nitpicks, I think you came up with a pretty good scenario here. I especially appreciate alternate timelines which have a decent amount of thought process behind them.
What does Europe look like during this same time period?
Sorry, I should really say that you did an awesome job here, its just that I became curious about this timeline's events.
He survives but is no longer fit for office so a rushed election is pushed though electing Adams, whose poor leadership and corruption lead to his assassination.
By the time the show starts the 2nd Civil War has ended but tensions between these new neighbors are still at an edge.
The show would highlight various people from Politicians the army, and regular people having to deal with this new dynamic.
One idea I have is, following the lore from the game, the Confederacy has very little in common with their predecessors. So one of their internal problems is dealing with militias and other outlaws who've formed over that fact, whose actions aren't helping the Confeds campaign to dispel their reputation as hicks by the other American Nations.
