Quantum Flux - Scandinavian Confederation

May 19, 2014

*In 1923 there was an attempt to create a confederation of Scandinavian states.  In part it was meant to be a mutual protection league to secure themselves against Russian aggression.  Political differences kept it from forming, but what if it actual was successfully created?  That's where this alternate history begins.

*The successful creation of the Scandinavian Confederation in 1923 united Norway, Sweden, Finland, Kareliya, Denmark, Iceland, and Greenland.  The Russian skirmishes with Kareliya that plagued the OTL were much reduced by the threat of the intervention of the rest of the Confederation.

*The stronger cooperation and free trade zone between the member states also helped the Confederation become one of the first European nations to emerge from the global depression of 1925-1929.  This improved economic situation kept Kareliya from falling into chaos during communist revolutions in 1927.  There were some uprisings and riots, but they were easily contained.

*The Confederation held strong and would only meet a true test in the 1980s.  The wealth brought in by the growing oil industry began to disrupt the traditional way of life.  Large oil corporations, both Scandinavian and international, were gaining more and more influence.  Not all regions profited and cultural changes were pushing some in Iceland in Finland to call for secession.  The confederation held, concessions given to reduce the chance of secessionists.

*Other troubles during this time period were the large increase of Russian immigrants coming to work the oil fields and platforms.  This added an additional element to the cultural changes of the '80s and '90s.

*By 2000 unrest in the Confederation dies down.  Increased oil production by other nations and a new generation of Scandinavians helped their nations to adapt to the increasingly complicated world.

*In 2014 a more peaceful Russia has helped insure the peace for the Confederation.  The oil reserves are even larger than were estimated in the '80s ensuring the near future of the economy.  However at some point either supply or demand of the oil will die down.  Hopefully when that day comes the Scandinavian Confederation will be prepared.

The Quantum Flux series of posts are from the point of view of an alternate history blogger in an alternate timeline; the Baltic Event timeline to be specific.

Quantum Flux - Roman Solar Empire

April 22, 2014

*Here we go with my first alternate history.  I'm working a little backwards on it, showing how a Roman dominated world might look by 2014!

*In 2014 (2767 AUC) The Roman Empire dominates most of the Earth and has colonies on the moon, Mars, and explorations to much of the remainder of the solar system.

*The Fourth Roman Republic became obsessed with space travel after the disaster of the Baltic Event in 2661 AUC.  Compared to the asteroid that may have killed off the dinosaurs the Baltic impact was not very large, but it did get Rome considering the long-term survival of humanity.

*TIMELINE OF SPACE EXPLORATION (all dates in AUC)*

*2667 - First successful space launch from Congo province in Australia.

*2673 - First chimp sent into space, named Astro.  Astro survives his return to Earth.

*2675 - First man in space, Iuvenalis Viridios Involo.

*2687 - First Roman lands on the Moon.

*2688 - Chinese begin construction of a space lab.  This early research lab is small and has a zero-g environment.  It is used to test concepts for a larger space station that begins construction a few years later.

*2703 - First permanent base on the Moon.  The original name is Luna Alpha.

*2706 - A lunar cycler craft is constructed in a permanent orbit between the Earth and Moon.  This allows cheaper transportation of people and supplies to the new base.

*2711 - A second colony, this one on the dark side of the moon (Luna Beta) is established.

*2714 - First large-scale Chinese space station is completed.  It has two large rings and the station spins to simulate gravity.

*2736 - To help coordinate space exploration and improve relations between the two nations, Rome and China establish the Joint Space Defense Command.

*2742 - As space is seeded with nuclear weapons and mass drivers to defend against space debris the military potential of these systems is noted.  In an historic move the Romans and Chinese transform the Joint Space Defense Command into the Terran Defense Organization.  It is given a great deal of independence from the home nations.  Rome and China still have sovereign territories on other worlds but the weapons of mass destruction and international space-laws are governed by the new entity.

*2743 - Dozens of probes are sent to the asteroid belt in attempt to create accurate maps of it.

*2752 - Joint manned Mars landing.

*2767 - Lunar population reaches 10,000.  Initial mapping of the asteroid belt reveals no immediate threats to the Earth.

*I will continue to build on this timeline (as well as other new ones).

NOTES
This post is a bit of an experiment. It is a copy of a blog post an alternate version of me made to his blog on alternate history! Sort of in the neighborhood of a double-blind what if. I've chosen the Baltic Event timeline (Beta-004) to be the world my analog inhabits. Chances are with a major disruption to European civilization in 1908 I would not have been born, but anything is possible. The Unites States and Ireland were not affected as directly as the Baltic region itself so it is still theoretically possible my great-grandparents and those coming after them would still have met and gotten the timing right on various necessary actions.

In any case here I am in another world with another life (which I'm still working out the details on) but still blogging about alternate history. I envision computer technology being a little bit behind the OTL.

For this first timeline developed by the other-me I've chosen one of my earlier timelines (one where the Roman Empire/Republic kept dominance on Earth) and changed it a second time in AD 1908 for the Baltic Event of the point-of-view universe.

Hope that all makes some sense. Feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions!