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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Timeline of the Domination[Places are listed under their Draka-timeline names. Their equivalent in our history is given in parenthesis on first mention. Thus Virconium (Durban, South Africa); Shahnapur (Maputo, Mozambique), etc. Events prior to 1783 with an outcome different from that in our history are marked, thus* .] 1776 -Outbreak of American Revolution. Major Patrick Ferguson invents early breechloading rifle. 1779 -France, Spain, Netherlands* declare war on Great Britain. 1779 -British fleet under Admiral Lord Cochrane lands occupying force in Capetown.* 1780 -Colonel Ferguson's loyalists victorious in battle of Kings Mountain.* Several Loyalist units, including Tarleton's Legion and the newly formed Ferguson's Legion, re-equipped with Ferguson breechloaders.* Savage partisan warfare throughout Southern colonies. 1781 -General Cornwallis besieged at Yorktown in Virginia, surrenders to American rebels and their French allies. 1782 -British naval victories in Caribbean, occupation of Haiti and Trinidad.* 1783 -Second Peace of Paris. American independence recognized; British Florida and her conquests in Caribbean are exchanged for possession of Dutch Cape Colony.* 1783 -Loyalty Acts passed by British Parliament: the Cape is renamed the Crown Colony of Drakia, and all colonials who fought or otherwise suffered for their loyalty to the Crown are offered transport and land grants; so are the Hessian and other German mercenaries in British service at the time. Legislative Assembly meets in Capetown. General Patrick Ferguson is first Governor-General. 1780–83 -First Loyalist refugees arrive in Capetown. Conquest of Southern Africa begun; border pushed to Tugela River. 1783–86 -95,000 Loyalists and their families (not including some 10,000 slaves) arrive; 10,000 Hessians soon follow, with relatives and families arriving in a steady trickle from Germany. At this time the Dutch-Afrikaner population is less than 9,000, and is soon assimilated through intermarriage. 1784 -Founding of Virconium (Durban, South Africa), and Venta Belgarum (East London, South Africa). General Banastare Tarleton becomes first Commander-in-Chief. 1783–84 -Volcanic eruptions devastate Iceland. 25,000 Icelanders offered asylum in Drakia, arriving 1783–86. 1784 -Diamonds discovered in northern interior. Founding of Archona (Pretoria, South Africa). 1785 -Gold discovered on Whiteridge (Whitwaterstrand) and in eastern Archona Province (Transvaal). First steam engines imported. Output reaches 1,000,000 ounces by 1786. 1786 -Drakian Legislative Assembly passes Indentured Labor and Master and Servant Acts, establishing system of debt-peonage for conquered nonwhite population. This rapidly becomes indistinguishable from chattel slavery, which is also practiced. 1786–90 -Rapid growth of economy and population. Export trades in diamonds, gold, copper, sugar, woo1, salt, hides, ivory, etc., established. Drakian ships active in Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades. Zanzibar seized in 1789; Aden, 1791. Free population reaches 175,000; slave/serf 2,000,000. Transportation Directorate established to build road network to mines and settlements of far interior. 1788 -Colonel Freiherr Augustus von Shrakenberg retires, receives 20,000 acre land grant under Maluti Mountains, South Interior province (Lesotho). Marries Alexandra Hugeson, of a New Jersey loyalist family. 1790–92 -Universities of Cape Town, Virconium, and Archona founded. Anglican bishoprics established in Cape Town and Virconium. 1792 -Conquest of Northmark (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe); settlement and development proceed. Gold output exceeds 2,000,000 ounces annually. 1793 -First coal mine in northern Natalia. Outbreak of French Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars. 1790–96 -Period of rapid growth continues, with serious slave/serf revolts in 1792, 1794 and 1795–97. Slave Code of 1797 grants all freemen power of life and death over "slaves and other bondservants." Militia Act of 1792 establishes peacetime conscription and reserve service to age 60. Women's Militia Auxiliary founded as volunteer group. First Janissary Legion recruited from slaves bought in West Africa. 1795 -African Mining and Metals Combine founded. Granted monopoly of large-scale mining, leases smaller deposits to discoverers. School of Mines founded in Archona. 1796 -Richard Trevithick arrives in Virconium from Cornwall, appointed Inspector-General of Steam Engines by Mining Combine. (PK: One of the next two entries is either out of order or has the wrong date. I can't tell which.) 1799 -Founding of Diskarapur (Newcastle, South Africa) and Shahnapur (Maputo, Mozambique). Trade with India produces fad for Persian/Moghul artwork. 1794–97 -French population of Santo Domingo/Haiti flees before slave revolt. 11,000 arrive in Drakia. Royalists from European France follow. 1800 -Free population reaches 350,000. First iron-works, machine shops, shipbuilding yards started as Revolutionary/Napoleonic wars render imports uncertain. Cotton becomes important crop. Large-scale public works in roads, harbors, irrigation. 1800–02 -Conquest of Egypt (occupied by French) and Ceylon, a possession of Dutch Republic allied with France. French colonies in West Africa seized. 1803 -Revolt in Egypt suppressed; 300,000 rebels deported to Sinai work camps to begin construction of Suez Canal. 1803 -High-pressure steam engine perfected by Richard Trevithick. Construction of Archona–Virconium railway line begins in 1805. 1804 -First steam "drags" (trucks) and steamships. 1807 -Ottoman Empire declares war on Britain due to Drakian refusal to evacuate Egypt. Drakian forces seize Cyprus, Crete, Tunisia. Suez Canal completed. 1812 -Americans overrun and annex British North America. 1815–16 -Peace of Vienna confirms Africa as British/Drakian preserve. Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique purchased. British veterans and Napoleonic refugees immigrate. Madagascar conquered. 1820 -Cache of papyrus manuscripts found in Western Desert by Drakian Camel Corps patrol. Virtually all lost works of Classical literature and philosophy recovered (e.g., Sappho, Euripides, Aristotle, etc.). Classical revival affects Drakian culture. Foundation of Alexandria, growth of Combines. Petroleum first used as motor fuel, 1831. 1820–40 -Rapid growth of export agriculture and manufacturing/transport. Abolitionist groups in England and northern U.S. begin cultural/political campaign against Drakia for alleged "depravity" and other violations of Victorian middle-class norms. This produces defiant anti-bourgeois sentiment in Drakia. Thomas Carlyle immigrates to Drakia. 1800–40 -"Drakia" becomes elided to "Draka" in popular usage. Free population reaches 1,000,000. Conquest of North Africa requires mobilization of over 150,000 men for most of period 1825–1850. Increased employment of citizen women produces legal reforms, franchise agitation. 1848–49 -Mexican–American War. "Young America" faction forces annexation of all of Mexico over objections of President Polk. 1850 -First transcontinental railway (Shahnapur–Luanda). Katanga copper discovered. Mombasa–Nile line built. Conquest of Sudan and Senegal. Brass-cartridge repeating rifle adopted by Draka forces. R.J. Gatling settles in Diskarapur, develops world's first practical machinegun. 1854–57 -Draka expeditionary forces assist British in Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. Dominion of Draka Act, 1858, grants "responsible government" to Draka (practical sovereignty in effect). Hall process patented by Ferrous Metals Combine, enables steel to be produced as cheaply as wrought iron. Rival Bessemer method quickly eclipsed. 1854 -Cuba, Philippines, Hawaii, Haiti, and Santo Domingo annexed by United States. Japan opened to Western trade. "Empire of Central America" established by Southern adventurers under command of William Walker; extends from Guatemala to Panamanian territories seized from Columbia. 1860–66 -American Civil War begins as President Douglas bombards Savannah. Dominion of Draka provides massive clandestine aid — repeating rifles, gatling guns, steam warships, steam-powered warcars — to Confederacy. Union casualties exceed 700,000, including large numbers of Mexican conscripts. Mexican territories achieve statehood. Douglas assassinated in 1865 by Confederate fanatic; Vice-President Lincoln inaugurated. 1866–70 -Louis Pasteur, at Shahnapur Institute of Tropical Medicine, establishes mosquito vector of malaria. World total of private autosteamers reaches 100,000, 75 percent of them in Dominion of Draka. Panama Canal under construction. Taiping Dynasty established in China, failure of effort to modernize. Bismarck unites Germany. Antiseptic surgery, anesthetics. 1865–68 -150,000 Confederate refugees settle in Dominion of Draka. Central American Empire annexed by United States. Freidrich Nietzsche immigrates to Dominion. 1872 -Steam turbine perfected by Alexandrian Technological Institute. First rigid dirigibles. Archona and Alexandria become first cities to establish telephone networks. Uruguay and Paraguay annexed by Empire of Brazil. Columbia, Venezuela, and Ecuador establish Republic of Grand Columbia. Australasian Federation unites Australia, New Zealand. Electric lighting. 1879–82 -Anglo–Russian war, fought largely in Bulgaria and Afghanistan. Dominion of Draka rescues British from defeat; Odessa destroyed by Draka dirigible raid; worldwide condemnation of 50,000 civilian casualties. Draka introduce land mines, submarines, poison gas. Austro–German alliance with Ottoman Empire, construction of Berlin–Baghdad railway. Uprisings in Congo Basin result in large-scale deportations and unrest. 1882 -First transAtlantic flight by Draka dirigible, from Apollonaris (Dakar, Senegal) to Recife, Brazil. Women's Auxiliary Corps made permanent part of Draka forces (in noncombatant roles). Free population of Dominion reaches 10,000,000. Bondservant Identification and Control Act requires fingerprinting and neck-tattooing of all serfs. Security Directorate founded as successor to General Constabulary. Karl von Shrakenberg born. 1883 -Revolt of serfs in textile mills of Alexandria (Alexandria, Egypt) suppressed; 150,000 dead. Cape Town–Alexandria railway completed. 1890 -Nomenclature Amendment Act makes popular term "serf" for debt-peons official. 1891 -Libyan and Algerian oil fields discovered. Submachine gun developed by Technical Section of Draka armed forces. 1892–96 -Regular airship lines established in several continents. Diesel engines come into general use for dirigible and other special uses. Autosteamer output in U.S. surpasses Dominion of Draka's for first time. 1897 -Diskarapur Institute team achieves heavier-than-air flight with steam-turbine aircraft. An internal-combustion model flies in France a year later. 1898 -Hawaii, Cuba, and Philippines become states of U.S. Guatemala and other Central American territories follow. William Jennings Bryan President. 1899 -Military reform in England produces general election. Chinese–Japanese war; Japan annexes Formosa, Hainan, Korea, several ports. Thermionic valve invented. Radio broadcasts. 1900 -Japanese–British naval alliance. Anglo–German naval/dirigible armaments race begins. Germany, Austria, and Turkey sign Triple Alliance. France and Russia form Double Entente. Britain begins staff talks with France. Motion pictures with sound become common in U.S., shortly later, elsewhere. 1905 -Russo–Japanese war, catastrophic Russian defeat; first instance of battleships sunk by aerial bombardment. Japan annexes Manchuria, establishes quasi-protectorate over weak Taiping government of China; attempts at occupation bog down. Revolution in Russia produces limited constitutional monarchy, administrative chaos. Experimentation with internal combustion engine for ground transport, esp. for military purposes. Wars in Balkans, etc. Women declared liable for peacetime conscription for noncombatant and second-line tasks in Dominion. Steam turbine used for railways. 1914 -Dominion of Draka has free population of 28,000,000; serfs, 210,000,000. Total population of U.S. reaches 140,000,000. GNP of both nearly identical, but with great differences in distribution, etc. 1914–19 -Great War between Triple Alliance and Entente powers (joined by U.S. in 1917, under President Theodore Roosevelt). Draka defeat Austrian and Turkish forces, occupy Middle East, Thrace, Bulgaria. Widespread use of dirigible bombers, firestorms and poison-gas bombardments. Biplane pursuit fighters developed as defense. Civilian casualties in the 500,000–3,000,000 range in all major combatants except the Draka and U.S. Revolution in Russia followed by Draka seizure of Central Asia, much of western China. Turbocompound engine developed; antibiotics, self-loading rifles, portable machine guns. Tank introduced on stalemated Western Front by both sides in 1916. John von Shrakenberg born. 1918 -Eric von Shrakenberg born. Draka Women's Auxiliary Corps abolished; women integrated into military. More noncombat and near-combat tasks opened to female personnel. 1919 -Unconditional surrender of Germany. Peace of Versailles. Draka refuse mediation of Powers, annex all conquests, enter period of economic and diplomatic isolation; last ties with Britain cut off, "Domination" becomes official title. U.S. also enters isolationist phase. Defeat of attempt at Prohibition in U.S. Marijuana becomes major social problem, Mexican gangsters prominent in many cities. "Jazz Age." 1920–22 -Second Russian Civil War between rivals to succeed Lenin. Stalin victorious. "Hermit Kingdom" established, forced-draft industrialization. 1921 -Mussolini takes power in Italy, seizes Dalmation coast and Montenegro. Japanese dethrone last Taiping emperor and annex all of China not overrun by Draka. 1925 -Domination invades and annexes Afghanistan. Prolonged resistance results in death of 65 percent of population; wars of pacification in other areas of New Territories. Gradual abolition of remaining restrictions on female personnel in Draka armed forces, with complete unification in 1933. Fuel cell developed as power source; experimental use in submarines. Hormonal contraceptives. Advances in quantum theory. 1930 -Stock market crisis leads to mild but chronic recession outside Domination. First chain reaction observed. Closed-circuit television. Eva and Asa von Shrakenberg born. Death of Mary von Shrakenberg. 1932 -Hitler elected with majority in Germany. F.D. Roosevelt elected President in U.S.; declares "New Deal" for lower classes, Hispanics, etc. Limited recovery. 1936–37 -Civil war in Spain; defeat of Nationalists by 1937. Soviet Republic of Spain established. Germany takes Austria. French and British abandon Czechoslovakia; Sudeten War follows. Clashes on Draka–Japanese and Draka–Soviet borders. Experiments with electrodetection (radar) in several countries. Domination begins long-term project to harness nuclear energy. Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi move to U.S. 1939 -France and Britain guarantee Poland. Eurasian War begins. Nazi–Japanese alliance. Transistor invented in Toronto, State of Ontario. First commercial tape recorder. 1940 -Fall of France. Battle of Britain ends in stalemate; Nazi submarines effectively close Atlantic. Japanese aggression in Southeast Asia produces severe tension with U.S., Australasian Federation. 1941 -Domination attacks Italy with tacit consent of Germany. Germany attacks and defeats Soviet Union. Moscow falls October 1; Germans reach Urals and Caucasus by first snow. Imperial Japan attacks U.S. on December 3rd, occupies eastern Siberia, destroys entire American Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. Hawaii, Philippines overrun, West Coast raided, landings made in Panama. U.S. declares war on Japan and Germany. 1942 -January–March: Hawaii overrun by
Japanese; widespread atrocities. Philippines conquered; Japanese begin roundup
of 900,000 'North Americans' (U.S. citizens from the mainland states); West
Coast raided, Acapulco bombarded by battleships lead by Yamato, landings made in
Panama. 1942–43 -Both sides in European war
pause; the Draka have outrun their logistic train and are frantically building
up supplies and repairing road–rail links in the territories behind their
lines. Germany has lost 2,500,000, dead and prisoner, plus most of the heavy
equipment stationed in the East and much productive capacity. Scores of new
French, Belgian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Swiss divisions are
raised. Minor ground action and intensive air action along front lines. 1943 -U.S. jet fighters and glide bombs
inflict severe defeat on Japanese navy in Battle of the Sea of Cortez, defeat
attempt to land in Baja California. Japanese evicted from Panama Canal Zone.
South American powers sign first Treaty of Rio with U.S., declare war on Axis
and co-ordinate economic, diplomatic policy. U.S. submarine fleet begins
destruction of Japanese merchant marine on huge scale. U.S., Brazilian,
Australasian forces totaling 2,000,000 defeat Japanese in New Guinea (a
highly-developed area in Domination's timeline) and begin offensive into
Indonesia. U.S. surface navy reappears in Pacific, together with British forces.
Tension and skirmishes but no full-scale warfare between Domination and Japanese
Empire on land frontiers in Asia. Vast economic mobilization in Western
hemisphere, armament production of U.S.–U.K.–S.American–Australasian
Alliance For Democracy outpaces Domination and Third Reich combined. 1944 -Taos Project detonates first
fission bomb (plutonium, shaped-charge implosion type, 40 kilotonnes) on
February 1st, in New Mexico. First Draka test (uranium bomb, two sub-critical
masses) March 4, in central Sahara. Both countries begin work on series
production, fission weapons. 1945
-January–March: Sweden surrenders, Norway, Netherlands occupied by
Draka; Finland and Switzerland isolated for future attention. Pyrenees forced
after blitz with remaining stockpile (12) of fission weapons wipes out major
concentrations of Euro-Spanish forces, communication centers etc. Spain overrun.
Massive shift of Draka forces to Far East begins by rail and airship. Europe
from the Urals to the Atlantic, from North Cape to Gibraltar, is under Draka
occupation—also devastated and starving. The Draka forces are thinly
stretched, concentrating on the main cities and lines of communication. Hundreds
of thousands of refugees, armed fragments of European armies and followers of
dozens of political and nationalistic movements are drifting, regrouping and
beginning active resistance, only momentarily cowed by the psychological impact
of nuclear weapons.
EURASIAN WAR ENDS.
2nd Treaty of Rio continues Alliance For Democracy on permanent basis. Grand Council of U.S., U.K., Brazil to set policy. Assembly of member states includes all S. America, Southeast Asian Federation (Indochina, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia), India (includes our Pakistan and Burma), Australasian Federation. Free trade, joint military forces, joint currency, local autonomy. 1945 -Strategos Eric von Shrakenberg married to Sofie Nixon, Nova Cartago (Bizerte, Tunisia). Civil ceremony, Johanna and Karl von Shrakenberg witnesses. 1946 -Senior Decurion McWhirter killed by terrorist time-bomb while on antipartisan duty near Bratislava, Carpathian Province. Italy declared open for settlement; Johanna von Shrakenberg married to Centurion Thomas Ingolfsson at Claestum Plantation, their Tuscan estate. Eric and Sofie von Shrakenberg witnesses; Karl von Shrakenberg, Dominarch John Teesdale also present. l946–50's -Guerilla and terrorist
warfare in newly occupied portions of Domination. Deportations, executions, etc.
All schools in Europe closed, printed material confiscated. Death penalty for
unauthorized education, possession of radio receiver. Partial demobilization of
Draka armed forces; conversion to airmobile light-infantry units widespread,
Janissaries kept at strength and new units recruited from Europe, Asia.
Plantations set up in more secure zones of new territories, compound-factory
system extended. Massive economic reconstruction, "mega projects":
damming of Mediterranean Sea at Gibraltar, redirection of Arctic rivers to
Central Asia, etc. 1947 -S.L.A. Marshall elected president
of U.S. O.S.S. begins clandestine operations in support of European Resistance.
Switzerland surrenders to Draka after mass famine. Finland crushed, but becomes
"hardship posting" due to extensive resistance. Mass deportations of
Finns to east Asia. 1950 -Strategos Eric von Shrakenberg retires from active list, appointed Senator, junior member of Long-Range Strategic Planning project. Publishes The Price of Victory, novel of war experiences. Security Directorate fails to have it banned, due to Senatorial immunity, and it becomes a best seller, esp. among young war veterans. Sweden, North China, Korea declared open for settlement. Price of unskilled European serf drops to 53 aurics. 1951 -Draka Harmost of Loire Province (northern France) killed with most of her staff by mass poisoning at official banquet at Versailles marking third anniversary of Provincial status. O.S.S. "infiltrators" blamed; clashes between Draka and Alliance aircraft over English Channel. Ten thousand Parisians impaled along Champs Elysees in reprisal. 1952 -Uprising in Barcelona overruns Security Directorate H.Q. Draka personnel evacuated by helicopter and city destroyed by nuclear bomb. Films, survivors shown over occupied Europe. Timeline of the Domination of the Draka and the Terran Dispersal1947 -Fission power reactors; breeder reactor under construction. 1948 -Frederick and Marya Lefarge born, Hospital of the Sacred Heart, New York. 1954 -Yolande Ingolfsson born, Claestum Plantation, Italy. Myfwany Venders born, Arethustra Plantation, Sicily. 1955 -Ramjet suborbital missile exceeds Mach 8. 1959 -First scramjet flight to orbit. 1961 -Space stations. 1962 -Manned moon landings; first permanent Lunar settlements. 1963 -Successful activated transfer of
mammalian genes, Virunga Biocontrol Institute. 1964 -Alliance, Draka expeditions to Asteroid Belt, Mars. High-boost probes to Venus, Mercury, outer planets launched from Earth Orbit. 1965 -Magnetic catapult launchers on Luna, supply of minerals to orbital fabricators in zero-G. 1966 -First free-electron laser boost to orbit from Earth. 1968–9 -Two-ship Van Riebeck expedition
to Jupiter; one lost. 1970 -Second-generation pulsedrives;
subcritical plutonium pellets compressed by collision from railguns. Liquid
reaction mass used to cover carbon steel thrustplates. 1972 -Space-generated solar power beamed to Earth via microwaves. 1975 -Secession of Indian Republic from Alliance for Democracy. Draka conquest of India. 1980 -Third-generation pulsedrives; fission pellets compressed by lasers. Fourth-generation pulsedrives; deuterium-tritium fusion pellets imploded by laser/electron beam system. 1989 -First planet-based fusion reactor, Nova Virconium, Mars. 1996 -Fifth-generation pulsedrive; deuterium-boron-11 fusion pellets.
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