Secure bus travel
Yesterday, I wanted to go to Edinburgh by bus, and I managed to get a return ticket online at a reasonable price.
I arrived at the bus station two hours before the bus was due to leave to make sure I’d be on it.
I then had to stand in a long queue to check in.
They checked my passport, but then they said my bag was too big and I had to check it in, which cost me an extra five quid.
I saw my bag move away on the conveyor belt, and I then went through security.
I had forgotten I had a pen knife in my pocket, so they of course confiscated it, but apart from that, I got through without any problems.
I was very thirsty, but of course I couldn’t bring any drinks through, so I had to buy a drink at a far too high price in the transit area. I just wished I could wait outside, but of course that wasn’t possible.
Finally my bus was ready for departure, and I went to the stance and went on board.
When we arrived in Edinburgh, I went to pick up my bag from the carrousel, but it wasn’t there. At the information counter, they said it had ended up on the wrong bus and was now on its way to Inverness, but they’d get it back to me asap – which turned out to be two days later.
All in all a normal bus trip. But sometimes I wonder why bus travel can’t be as easy as flying?
Background information about the recent ethnic tensions in Zhongyu
Name:Zhongyu (Central Europe in Chinese).
Official languages: Chinese and Lingua Franca.
History: The Germans are the largest ethnic group in Zhongyu and the one that benefited most from colonialism, via education and employment. Some Germans fought back against the Chinese seizure of their lands. When Zhongyu’s first president, Herbert Schmidt, demanded “independence now”, China tried to form an alliance of other ethnic groups in opposition. The plan failed, and sowed the seeds of mistrust between Zhongyu’s peoples. Schmidt, a German, rewarded his followers with land abandoned or sold by yellows who left after independence. Much of it was outside traditional German areas. Schmidt was succeeded by Chang Palich, a Serbian. He could not enrich
his own people – there was less to distribute – but a few of his political cronies did grow hugely wealthy. When Palich was succeeded by Schwarzkopf, a German, in 2002, the Serbian elite was squeezed out and Germans politico-business bosses took over. Promises of a fairer constitution promised by Schwarzkopf in opposition were abandoned. Today, businesses in Zhongyu that are not run by Americans are predominantly in the hands of Germans – even outside their own areas. Others perceive that this is the result of political manipulation. That is why the angriest group are the Serbian. Other groups have once again failed to get to the table. The Serbians were at the table and got pushed aside.
Alternate American map
Speaking of American maps, I recently found this nice map that shows how the map of North America would have looked if there had been many more independent countries. Not just the CSA and Texas, but also places like California, Five Nations and Vermont.
I like it. Somehow it makes it look more like Europe, no?
I do wonder, though, whether the USA in such a scenario would have had that many more inhabitants than the other countries. Wouldn’t many of them have been better at attracting immigrants on their own, and wouldn’t the US have been less popular?
Presidential primary elections
Skopje, 10 June 2033. Voters here in Macedonia today took part in the primaries deciding who will be the candidates for president of the European Union for the European People’s Party and the Party of European Socialists.
Slovenia is also organising primaries today, and as in past election years, there are complaints from other member states that Macedonia and Slovenia get too much influence from being the two first countries to hold primaries. However, it is seen as healthy for the democratic process to start out with two small member states where the candidates actually get a chance to get out and meet the voters.
The main candidates for the EPP are Dominik Stoiber (Bavaria), Gunnel Bildt (Sweden) and Anita Aznar Botella (Spain). Gunnel Bildt knows the Balkan region much better than her rivals and is therefore expected to do well in the primaries today. The big question is whether this will give her enough of a boost to get past the primary in France next week, where Aznar as a Romance-speaker is the favourite. Stoiber is not given many chances outwith Bavaria, Austria and Germany, but those three states have so many votes in the electoral college that a few surprise victories could give him the victory.
For the EPS the top candidates are Euan Blair (England), Mazarine Pingeot (France) and Rolandas Brazauskas (Lithuania). None of these know the Balkans well, so the decision will here be made more on a political basis, with Blair being seen as being significantly to the right of the others. Religion is not going to play a role, given that all three candidates are Roman catholics.
According to polls across the Union, it is most likely the eventual presidential candidates will be Bildt and Blair. If this is the outcome, Bildt is expected to secure an easy victory, given how peripheral to the EU England is seen, especially after Scotland became independent 15 years ago.
In at the Death
I finally got round to reading In at the Death, the successor to The Grapple.
Whereas my objection to The Grapple was that it mirrored WWII in Europe too much, and especially based the CSA far too rigidly on Nazi Germany, In at the Death has the opposite problem (spoilers follow).
The great powers are throwing atomic bombs all over the place, rather than stopping the war after one or two. And after the USA occupy the CSA, they can’t think of any solutions other than either pulling out or annexing it. I would have thought an obvious solution given what happened after WWII in Europe would have been to form a Coal and Steel Community, tying the USA, the CSA, Canada and Quebec (and perhaps Texas and Mexico) into an ever tighter union, perhaps renamed in the 1990s as the North American Union.
I’m also disappointed no solution is suggested for the remaining CSA blacks, perhaps setting up a new country for them somewhere (that is, mirroring the creating of Israel in OTL).
All in all a disappointing book. I wonder whether it’s truly the final book in this TL, given that so many problems are never resolved at the end. But perhaps that’s because I’m European. Perhaps to an American reader, it makes sense to end the series with a crushing US victory so that a unified USA can be recreated as in OTL, just three generations later.
Little Sweden
Denmark was a staunch ally of France throughout the Napoleonic Wars and was duly punished during the war by the British (who bombarded Copenhagen) and afterwards at the Congress of Vienna, being forced to swap Norway for Swedish Pomerania.
Sweden, on the other hand, pursued a mixed policy, changing sides several times, losing Finland during the war but gaining Norway afterwards, and electing a French general as their new crown prince.
Given that Frederick VI of Denmark was descended from George II through both his father and mother, it’s a bit odd that he would be such a firm supporter of Napoleon.
All of this makes me wonder whether things could have happened very differently…
What if Denmark had changed horses at some point during the wars, preventing the destruction of the fleet, and ensuring that the sound wasn’t blocked by the British, thus ensuring that Sweden could have been attacked more efficiently while they were at war with Russia over Finland? And what if Sweden had been less volatile, ending the war on the wrong side and thus being less fortunate at the Congress of Vienna?
Could we have seen Denmark conquer Scania and Blekinge during the war, and demanding Bohus and Halland back at the Congress? Perhaps even getting present-day Gothenburg to make Norway and Denmark meet? A clever Danish king might have traded in Holstein (but keeping Schleswig) in return, thus preventing the war of 1864 (but Sweden would have lost this around that time instead).
It would have been a very different Scandinavia today: A big Denmark-Norway, all speaking one language, and a small Sweden, but probably more densely populated than today.
Christian the Great, King of the Incas
I posted the following to the soc.history.what-if newsgroup back in 2003. It didn’t attract any attention, though, so I’m reposting it here now, since I think it’s one of my better ATLs.
PoD ca. 1518. King Christian II of Kalmar decides that fighting the
Swedish rebellions will only harden their resistance. Instead, he
sees possibilities in the Americas, discovered only a few decades
earlier. He thus sends out exploration teams headed by the most able
Swedish noblemen. The remaining Swedish nobility is easily silenced.
Around 1523, a small strong force including Gustav Vasa, a young but
very determined nobleman, arrive in the Inca Empire, beating the
Spanish by a few years. In the following years, they manage to
conquer the empire. Gustav Vasa becomes the Governor of this new
Kalmar possession.
In the 1530s, King Christian II is convinced (i.a. because he wants to
divorce his wife and marry his long-time lover Dyveke instead) to
introduce Lutheranism in the Kalmar Union. The whole Bible is
translated (“Biblia, Det er All den Hellige Scrifft”), based on
Luther’s German translation, into one language which forms the basis
of the Kalmarian language to our days.
To deal with the American trade, a new city is founded in 1542 on the
mouth of the Göta River: Christiania. This also helps to keep the
Swedish nobility happy, since not all money now flows directly to
Copenhagen. The vast amounts of gold of silver flowing in from the
Inca lands helps finance more colonies while playing a strong role in
the European power game.
1559: Christian II (“The Great”), King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway,
of the Goths, Wends and Incas, duke of Sleswig and Holstein, dies,
mourned in all parts of his possessions. He is succeeded by his son,
Hans II.
The Grapple
I just finished reading Harry Turtledove’s Settling Accounts: The Grapple, taking place during World War II in an alternate world where the South won the American Civil war. As usual, the plot moves along at a snail’s pace, the dialogues are unimaginative, and the whole thing is totally predictable as soon as one realises that the Confederate States = Nazi Germany.
So why did I buy it as soon as it came out, not even waiting for the paperback? I guess it’s like watching a sitcom. I read and enjoyed How Few Remain, and after that I always just wanted to read the next book in the series. I had not in my wildest dream imagined Turtledove would write so many books (How Few Remain, American Front, Walk in Hell, Breakthroughs, Blood and Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, The Victorious Opposition, Return Engagement, Drive to the East and now The Grapple).
But by now I need to know how it goes on, so I’ll preorder In at the Death as soon as I can. :-/