Reverse History Map Game, 2017 Edition!

[Grockstar]

So, truth be told, I've always wanted to do one of these, but never had the time or computer that could handle it without committing seppuku. UNTIL NOW THAT IS!

If you haven't played any of these games before, allow me to give you a brief refresher of the rules. The player has four votes, each of which may be directed at a single country (or in the case of ISIS/Rojava/Novorossyia, proto-states) of his/her choosing to influence it in someway, shape or form. Each turn is one year, and will probably only get faster when we start to go VERY far back, if we do get that far at all.

Unlike the usual map game, we will not be going forwards, but moving backwards. For example, the 2017 turn will be done before 2016, 2016 before 2015, and so on and so on. Despite this, the present that the game starts in is the same as the one we currently occupy. The only difference is how we got there.

For instance, both the Washington Monument and the few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall still exist, even if they came into being due to drastically different circumstances. For instance, the Statue of Liberty may have only been built last year, or five centuries ago.

As such, a lot of the normal plausibility and other limits go right out the window, so the only real limit is background progression. As I want this to feel like a real history that could have happened and not like a disorganized mess, please try to gradually ease your way into things, and make gradual and small changes at first. No continent spanning empires in 2012, please and thank you.

Anyone who wishes to join may do so at anytime. More votes = more chaos = more blood for the blood god.

First, allow me to remind you of all the wonderful things that happened in this WONDERFUL YEAR before the game may begin.

2017 CE

2017 began with a bang, with the inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America, in a stunning upset victory last year. The controversial and historically unpopular candidate ran on a right-populist and "alt-right" platform. Millions march on the same day he is sworn in, in the largest single day protest in US history and largest world protest in recent history. His first year is largely marked by multiple failed attempts to repeal the ACA of his predecessor, and an investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election that quickly begins to drag under many of his administration's officials.

Elsewhere, alt-right candidates in Europe try and fail to coast the alt-right wave to political office in France and the Netherlands, although in Germany, the AfD manages to break into the Bundestag as the 3rd largest party in Germany, winning 13% of the vote. Meanwhile, on another part of the European stage, a referendum declared "illegal" by the Spanish government sees Catalonia briefly declare independence, only for it's claim to go unrecognized, and it's provisional government swept away.

Multiple terror attacks by ISIS are launched through out the year, which devastate England, Iran and Egypt respectively, although the "caliphate" itself is driven back by Iraqi, Assad regime and SDF forces to a few strongholds in the desert, and the major cities of Mosul and Raqqa are declared liberated in July and October respectively. Iraqi Kurdistan attempts to break off from Iraq via referendum, but the results are ignored and Kurdish militias are forced to withdraw within Kurdistan proper by Iraqi troops.

The North Korean regime demonstrates to the world it's capability to launch it's first successful ICBM, and tensions rapidly rise on the Korean Peninsula, while the US attempts to nudge China and Russia to cease backing the rouge nation, with mixed results. For now, it seems that North Korea may very well be the world's newest nuclear power.

Zoomable map here

And with that, good luck, and may history be in your favor!

[20 characters!]

Grock,I...um I think you mean reverse, not reserve with that title.

[Grockstar]

Grock,I...um I think you mean reverse, not reserve with that title.

you saw nothing

[joshthehawk]

ISIL finish of their genocide of Nestorian christians, a branch of christianity that is now extinct. Most of these nestorians were Assyrians.

Prëla Cacaj, the last speaker of the Brazilian Albanian Language, also known as Amerikan, dies of old age in Fortaleza.

The last Maoist holdouts are destroyed by the Mongolian Armed Forces, thus ending the Mongolian Civil War.

The people of East Timor enjoy their third election since the death of the old dictator, Salvador Amaral, who remained in control of the country after Portugal gave it independence.

[GabrielGG]

- The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Oeste is sold to Paraguay, becoming the Paraguayan department of Alto Paraguay.

- The last tribes with traditional religions of Madagascar, nations that were considered modern city-States (scattered throughout the Fianarantsoa Province), are integrated to the republic, ending the bloody War for Sovereignty over the Island of Madagascar between the Alliance of Traditional Tribes and the Republic of Madagascar.

- A part of South Africa, composed of the states that became Butha-Buthe, Berea and Leribe, declares independence from South Africa and become part of Lesotho.

- The state of Aceh joins Indonesia.

[Grockstar]

Anyone else interested? I need like, one or two more people to release a turn at all, or else there is no game, period.

Anyone at all?

[ElectricDreams]

Ireland lets Brexit go on without discussing the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

China doesn't cut off their trading with North Korea.

The Zika outbreak was bigger and more dangerous.

Erdogan gets in power in Turkey.

[Ewery1]

Countries begin to phase out space exploration and move over to private companies, marking the end of a golden age in technology.

The previous president of the United States, Katherine Jackson, is brutally assassinated by alt-right forces after a seventeen-year-long presidency, shaking the country and causing the 22nd amendment to be ratified.

North Korea threatens South Korea with a show of military might at the border, but China decides to stop funding their operations if they continue, marking tenuous times for two previous close allies.

The Federation of Antarctica withdraws their final colony from the Trinity Peninsula.

[Grockstar]

Votes are locked!

[Grockstar]

2016 CE

The Americas:

2016 ends up becoming known as one of America's blackest years yet, as in early March, the beloved President Katherine Jackson is shot by an alt-right terror group, mostly made up of former KKK members, towards the end of her term. While Jackson had previously stated her intent not to run for a fifth term, with the rise of the alt-right as a serious political force, Congress quickly passes the 22nd Amendment, limiting a president to two four year terms in office. Despite all hopes and a desperate campaign, Donald Trump wins the presidency, much to the shock and horror of many.

Large portions of southern Brazil are sold to the country of Paraguay, which doubles in size practically overnight.

In Fortaleza, a drug cartel raids and slaughters the last surviving Amerikan (Brazilian Albanian) community in a moment of international condemnation, especially since many of it's inhabitants were in their sixties and seventies. The only survivor, Prëla Cacaj, a 86 year old woman, died of her wounds in the hospital the following night. The Amerikan nationality and language had been just barely clinging to life before the incident, and met a violent and bloody end.

Europe:

A public referendum sees the UK vote to leave the EU by 2020 in what becomes known as "Brexit", however the process of leaving the European Union will not be allowed to proceed until it can be determined if the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will be "hard", like any other national border, or "soft", like the average border between two countries in the EU.

In Turkey, factions of the Turkish army attempt to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, citing an erosion of secular and democratic government guaranteed in the constitution, attempting to secure important places in Ankara and Istanbul, but failing. In the end, the attempt fails, and is used as an excuse to implement increasingly authoritarian policies, with some wondering if it was even a real coup in the first place, or merely an attempt to strengthen his power. Ankara continues to drift further and further from the West and Europe in general.

Africa:

In a public referendum, the Sotho people of South Africa overwhelming vote YES for independance from South Africa, resulting in the creation of the nation of Lesotho, with a figurehead monarch appointed as head of state, and elections quickly being held for Prime Minister. However, the new nation will likely face severe challenges in it's future, with a quarter of the country's population suffering from AIDS and 40% of it being below the poverty line.

The conflict between the Alliance of Traditional Tribes and the Republic of Madagascar finally comes to an end, with the divided tribes surrendering to the country's armed forces. Previously, the region had been a divided patchwork of villages and city-states who mainly practiced the traditional folk religions of the island, and refused to submit to the Republic's armed forces. Attempts to integrate the region will likely last decades to come.

Asia:

The extremist group known as ISIS or Daesh continues it's bloody jihad in Iraq and Syria. However, the tide of the war is beginning to turn in the favor of the SDF, Assad regime, the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga. While several villages worth of Nestorian Christians, the vast majority of which being Assyrians, are executed by the terror group, the minority still stubbornly clings to life, frustrating the higher ups, as the extermination and subjugation of the infidel is naturally a significant part of it's ideology.

In Mongolia, the last divided holdouts of the Maoist rebel group MPLA (Mongolian People's Liberation Army) fall to Mongolian forces, and it's leaders flushed out, marking an end to the Mongolian Civil War that has racked the country.

The newly declared Republic of East Timor holds it's first elections after the death of the dictator Salvador Amaral, who had ruled for life after the country gained it's independence from the nation of Portugal without incident, and the new democratic government takes power with no protest.

Along with it's largest nuclear test yet, North Korea deploys several thousand troops to it's border and runs wargames in a display of military might, prompting international condemnation. However, China refuses to cease supporting the Kim Regime, and continues to supply the rogue nation with military equipment, and prop up it's ailing economy.

Antarctica:

Facing bankruptcy, and an ever dwindling population, the Federation of Antarctica abandons it's last colony in the Antarctic Peninsula, and it's residents mostly return to their countries of origin, marking the end of the ambitious project to settle the continent. Both the UK and Argentina immediately lay conflicting claims to the land.

World:

With a growing disinterest in outer space, and the outsourcing of the few remaining missions to private corporations, the end of a golden age of space travel finally comes to an end.

The world as of January 1st, 2016 CE.