This is an alternate history. And guess what?
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NAZIS.
OR ANY OF THE WHATEVER-PUNKS.
I just blew your mind, didn't I?
So this is pretty much an alternate American Revolution, but when I say alternate, I mean alternate. The Industrial Revolution already happened, and occurred in China in the year 900. Using steam power, China's industry suddenly became unimaginably powerful when compared to that of the other nations. With their vastly superior army, China began to conquer other nations. Genghis Khan's attempt to conquer China was met with rifles and machine guns, tearing apart any hopes he had of conquest. China's knowledge spread to Europe through the Middle East due to trade, and Europe went through a period similar to the real life Industrial Revolution.
However, technological advancement didn't stop there. China happened to be rich in a mineral called "Lánméi" (Blue coal), a high-temperature superconductor. Long story short, we end up with 1942's technology in 1492 (Sans airplanes, mainly because electricity was used for propulsion instead of diesel and the like, and materials at the time were far too heavy to be flown on electrical power). The Santa Maria was a WWII-style dreadnought, and ended up at mainland South America after a few weeks while trying to chart a trade route to China. Instead of being named "America" much later, the continents were named "Columbia" and "North Columbia" by Columbus (for obvious reasons). The natives of both Columbias remained at the same level of technological development as they were in real life, as they had never come into contact with the Industrial Revolution. Spain easily conquered all of Columbia and Mexico, while France and the British Empire had both taken the lands they owned in real life (with the exception of large parts of Canada), with the exception of having moved much further west and having much denser populations, as well as having done so centuries before they did IRL. Interestingly, Sweden took over Scandinavia and became a major colonial power, taking the vast majority of Canada.
China, still a relevant superpower, took the entire west coast of North America, and as time moved on, both continents became fully industrialized by the 1600's. Technology continued to progress at an astounding rate, with factories becoming automated around the same time, and nuclear power being discovered. As it happened, Lánméi was a perfect Fission fuel, and began to be used in nuclear reactors as well as being used as a conductor in every electronic device. Electric cars were used all over the world by the common man, and skyscrapers popped up all over the world. The tank was born as well, being electrically driven, every division required a dedicated engineer group to provide power. Gunpowder was phased out, replaced with the railgun and coilgun.
In the early 1700's though, something began to change. The colonies in the Columbias began to feel exploited. Having been loyal citizens of their respective nations for centuries, not one colonial power gave their colonies a say in their government. Instead of calling themselves "Chinese" or "Spanish", the colonists began to call themselves Columbian. Tensions started to grow, and a riot occurred in the Chinese colonial city of Chéngshì Cáifù, where demonstrators sunk a cargo ship filled with Lánméi, using a small nuclear device. As unity between the colonies grew alongside tensions with their homelands, something became very, very clear.
A rebellion was brewing.
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So yeah, there's the crazy backstory. A couple things I didn't mention are that planes and rockets still don't exist (There are electrically powered airships though), and the telephone was never invented, but the transistor was. Mobile phones are there, but as I mentioned earlier, voice calls aren't a thing, and instead they send messages in Morse, which is translated automatically into text. One of the other large differences is that the Internet doesn't exist, as globalization is in it's infancy. Each nation controls it's own internal internet, though, and programs exist that allow connection to the networks of other nations (Tor, which is pretty much exactly the same as it is IRL, is one of these). Censorship is widespread on all networks.
As for what the colonies and nations are like, here's something to give you an idea:
China/Chinese Colonies: Skyscrapers built for function and made entirely out of metal are common, as are electronic billboards displaying advertisements for a huge variety of companies. Smaller buildings have a much more traditional appearance. The wealth gap is unprecedented, with most of the poor being in the colonies. Socialism is becoming popular, the symbol being an aquamarine-colored (representing Lánméi) flag with a hammer and gear.
British Empire: Skyscrapers are usually square glass ones, held up by white, metal support beams. Smaller buildings look the same as the ones that existed at the time. The society in general is the same as it was IRL at the time.
British Colonies: Building styles are nearly identical to that of the modern USA, the middle class are dominant and the socialist ideals of the Chinese colonies are slowly seeping into the British ones.
France: WIP
French Colonies: WIP
Sweden: Building designs are modern, with unconventional skyscraper shapes and glass houses being common. A system similar to the Nordic Model is in place, and the nation still has a large number of people that follow the beliefs of Norse Mythology, making it a much more tolerant nation than others.
Swedish Colonies: The Swedish Colonies are the odd ones out in North Columbia, being generally against socialism as well as the Nordic Model, though their buildings are identical to those found in Sweden.
Spain: Think about modern Spain. It's that.
Spanish Colonies: Like Latin America today, but with far superior industry.
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So yeah, that's about it. Obviously things are subject to change.
Anyone interested? Anyone want to hang me? Anyone want me to become President of the Universe? Anyone love everything but that one little thing that they absolutely hated? Anyone hate everything but that one little thing they absolutely loved?
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Alisdragon911
TokyoPewPew