| American diaspora |
|---|
|
| Total population |
| 22,000,000-23,500,000 (includes descendants) (2023) |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Mexico (11,000,000) South American Confederation (2,000,000-2,500,000) |
The American diaspora is the name for the movement of American refugees to new homes in Latin America and Oceania following the aftermath of Doomsday. Today, the successor American states in North America and nations such as the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Mexico are homes to large populations of people who identify themselves as Americans.
History[]
Before 1983 there were millions of Americans throughout the world. Not counting American military personnel, there were an estimated 3.1 million Americans living in every corner of the world. From scientists at the South Pole to missionaries in the interior of Africa, from diplomats in Lima to merchants in Hong Kong.
From its beginning, the United States had its diplomats and as the country grew, merchants began to make contacts all over the world to bring in goods that were once only available through contacts in London and Paris. In time, the United States would surpass England in sending out Christian missionaries (eventually sending them to England and Europe as well). By the mid-twentieth century businessmen would be working in foreign countries to better reach the new markets as they opened to products from the United States. In time, management teams would relocate to what became known as "multinational" corporations producing products such as Coca Cola and services such as hotels and fast-food outlets.
1962 map of US military bases around the world during the height of the Cold War. While obviously outdated for 1983, this is the closest map ever made from existing records and hence, would be accepted by historians and the WRCB.
Doomsday[]
September 25-26, 1983, saw the end of a weekend and the beginning of a life in exile for millions of Americans living abroad. In some places, of course, the Americans fared as badly as their compatriots in the homeland. Large populations in England and France, for example, would perish even before America was struck. At the same time as America was being pummeled, the populations in Canada, being mostly in the cities along the border with the USA, would also perish. South of the border, though, in Mexico, the existing population of over 500,000 Americans would swell to at least double that as refugees began to show up in the weeks and months following that fateful day.
Surviving Americans in Central America would face the mounting hostilities as governments there fell and rose again. American troops would assist, of course, in keeping those near the bases that were occupied but not targets. The presence of American troops in the Panama Canal Zone, however, spelled death to thousands of Americans and Panamanians alike. In South America, spread from Bogotá to Lima, were over 125,000 Americans in what would soon become, for the most part, unfriendly territory.
At the same time in the Caribbean/Atlantic area, from Bermuda to Belize, there lived over 100,000 Americans. Though there were three strikes - two in Cuba over Havana and Santiago, and one over Vieques Island, Puerto Rico – most of these Americans were unharmed by any immediate effects of Doomsday. However, unrest in Haiti brought the 10,000 or so in and around Port au Prince much distress. Residents of the Bahamas felt the effect of the North American EMP on the westernmost islands near Florida. Most of the fallout from the east coast had been swept north with the winds of tropical storm Dean.
USAF E3 Sentry in Saudi Arabia.
In the Middle East, major concentrations of Americans were in Israel, Lebanon, and a squadron of U.S. Air Force E3 Sentry Early Airborne Warning planes in Saudi Arabia. Because of its alliance with the United States, Israel was targeted by Soviet missiles although the Israeli Air Force managed to shoot down some of the missiles targeting their cities. Saudi Arabia itself was a target but the intended missiles were all shot down by the Saudi Air Force thanks to the E3 Early Airborne Warning planes. In Lebanon, the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force was composed of forces coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. Because of the major presence of the U.S. Navy and over 1200 US Marines on the ground, the MNF fleet was targeted at sea, resulting in the destruction of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), numerous nearby allied warships, and the deaths of over 10,000 sailors.
In Asia the only major American concentrations post-Doomsday were in the Philippines and South Korea. Largely comprised of military personnel and tourists, these were spared the bombs that fell on their compatriots in Japan.
Along the Pacific, the majority of the Americans were concentrated in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the UN Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and several military bases on islands and atolls. Because the majority of these were military installations, the islands of Guam, Wake, Kwajalein Atoll, and Johnston Atoll were all but destroyed by Soviet nuclear weapons during Doomsday. Surviving ships and units would ultimately be called to gather in Australia after the famous Gathering Order.
Post-Doomsday[]
Crisis at Guantanamo Bay[]
Already on high alert with word of a nuclear exchange, the U.S. forces at Guantanamo Bay Naval base had been shocked that the U.S. had actually bombed Santiago. This act signaled to local Communist troops that the treaty of 1902 was considered voided. Cuba was now at war with the USA, making Guantanamo Bay fair game. However, the perimeter of the U.S. Naval Station was impenetrable to their meager attempts by land. The local forces nearby had no other choice but to call Havana for instructions. Havana, of course, had also been bombed.
Navassa Island.
In the meantime, the U.S. forces began an orderly withdrawal of their troops and supplies from the now useless stronghold. It was known that it would be only a matter of time before the remnant governments of the U.S. and Cuba would be in negotiations, and that the base would have to be closed. Before the end of November, 1983, nothing was left at the base but empty buildings. Shortly thereafter, Cuban forces occupied the base during their campaign to restore order to Cuba. The U.S. forces had relocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica. Oversight over the American Diaspora was established from the capital of the the U.S. Virgin Islands. Meanwhile, the government of Puerto Rico became independent with many white Americans there left with the option of moving to the U.S. Virgin Islands or holding dual citizenship.
In time the tiny uninhabited island of Navassa became a military outpost for the American Diaspora with close communication with its troops stationed in the newly independent Jamaica.
Organizing the Remnant[]
A group of U.S. soldiers trekking the Panamanian countryside on their way to the Atlantic Coast. Many of these would end up in Puerto Rico and the USVI.
In May of 1984 communications officers of the Atlantic Fleet received what many thought to be a bizarre message purported to be from George Bush, president of what had become the acting government of Americans around the world. The American Provisional Government, set up by the late president Ronald Reagan (who died at sea on the way to Hawaii), had decided that it needed to protect the assets of the U.S. Armed Forces. General Order 0001-1984, known as the Gathering Order, called all forces to gather and rally up in the Pacific.
A derelict freighter from Panama after arriving in Charlotte Amalie, 1986
Most of the Atlantic Fleet which had been stationed in the Caribbean, however, felt they had no choice but to mutiny. Whole units decided to stay "in America" to support the survivors. Most of that "America" was the diaspora in the Caribbean. Concentrated in the Virgin Islands, the units made contact throughout the Caribbean and Atlantic islands - from Bermuda to Belize. Negotiations with the small island nations of the Caribbean, which were soon to revive the old idea of the West Indies Federation, helped to smooth the transition of the Americans to life in exile. By 1986-1987, majority of the U.S. troops and civilians from Panama have arrived in the Virgin Islands. Many went to work on Navassa Island.
Bush led the formation of the American Provisional Administration (APA) to administer the surviving territories in the Pacific. The legal capital and center of operations was in Hilo, Hawaii, but much of the work of administration was done from Australia and New Zealand. The APA had some successes. Most notably it cooperated with ANZ forces to drive Soviet occupying force out of mainland Alaska, though it failed to liberate all U.S. territory. It also formed the ANZUS Commonwealth in 1988, committing all three Pacific allies to a common policy and mutual support. However, the APA was beset by constant crises and lacked the resources to restore the republic. If finally folded in 1995. ANZUS was replaced by a new Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, and most American territories in the Pacific became associated with it.
Units of the former U.S. Armed Forces, by their actions at odds with the Bush Administration in the Pacific, would have trouble for the decade following the formation of what came to be called the United States Atlantic Remnant (USAR), but it would outlast the APA.
Contact with survivors[]
Cruise ship carrying refugees to the Caribbean islands.
From the mid-80s to the 90s, most of the Americans stranded abroad would receive little to no information regarding the fate of their homeland. Although Americans heard of the nearby surviving states in the areas they were stranded in, as well as to the extent of Doomsday, majority were unaware of the American Provisional Administration in Canberra, Australia.
In 1984, after tense negotiations with the remnants of the Japanese government (in which the nation became increasingly anti-American following America's "failure" and "betrayal" to protect the country on Doomsday), U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) left for the Korean island of Jeju. Some Americans ultimate chose to remain in Japan, slowly integrating into Japanese society. Along with the troops comprising the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), they eventually formed the American Forces of Korea (AFOK) and decided to set up headquarters in Jeju Island. However, Jeju island was overrun by Chinese marauders since the October of 1983. The invasion was a costly one, with many casualties on both sides, though the marauders suffered many more than the AFOK. Very little of the former population of the island was left, most having been killed by marauders. Seeing this, the AFOK began to invite civilians to immigrate to the conquered territory. The response came mainly from Displaced North Koreans and especially from Korea's new Chinese population. The Americans gradually began to assimilate into the culture of their new home, but the resulting culture was a unique blend of Chinese, American and Korean customs. Majority of these Americans permanently stayed in Jeju island, thus it being called a "foreign isle" and bringing in some degree of controversy among nationalistic Koreans whether it should be called a province or not.
In Germany, some of the surviving U.S. troops; along with their remaining NATO allies, intervened with the violence in East Berlin and integrated the remaining Soviet and East German troops with them to maintain order. Most of these American soldiers would stay the in the country in what would be known as the Kingdom of Prussia following its establishment in 1992. Members of the USAF from bases in Bentwaters and Woodbridge, both in Suffolk County, would later establish the small survivor state of Woodbridge in eastern England.
The twin city of Niagara, both located on the New York-Ontario border, became a haven for surviving Americans of New York State. The majority of these citizens were refugees from the nuclear strike at Buffalo, NY. They were joined by Canadian refugees who escaped the strikes in Toronto. Eventually, in 1986, the city became a unified city-state, home to both Americans and Canadians alike.
In 1986, President Bush visited Singapore and Indonesia to boost economic ties and cooperation among the known surviving states in the area. Upon arrival in these countries, he was greeted with joy from both locals and American nationals stranded since Doomsday. For the first time, some of the American diaspora finally heard of the surviving government in Australia.
American nationals in the Philippines prepare to settle in Australia, 1997.
In 1992, the USS Benjamin Franklin crossed the vicinity of the Spratly Islands near the Philippines. It received garbled messages in both Tagalog and English. Four years later, in 1996, an ANZC recon force arrived off the coast of Davao and confirmed the existence of a functional state and government. The Americans stranded in the country, mainly soldiers, servicemen, tourists, and embassy personnel (including U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines: Michael Armacost) were informed of the APA based in Canberra disbanded a year before in 1995. While the majority of these Americans left to settle in Australia with the integrated American diaspora, some stayed in the Philippines to become naturalized Filipinos.
Return to America[]
On the American mainland, the State of Wyoming in 1992 led the formation of a new Provisional United States of America, together with surviving communities in four other states, military personnel from Cheyenne Mountain, and former officials in the Reagan administration who had been evacuated to Colorado but failed to establish a durable emergency administration. Torington in eastern Wyoming became the provisional capital.
Following President Bush's suspension of the U.S. Constitution in 1995, not all Americans found this favorable. Although the majority followed President Bush to slowly integrate into Australian society, patriotic Americans in the mainland and the USAR found themselves in time to be the legal successor of the USA.
In 2010, word went out from Torrington that the United States of America was being restored not as a provisional entity, but as the true continuation of the republic. Diasporic Americans from Europe to the Caribbean to Australia, where George H.W. Bush now lived in retirement, learned that the American spirit was still alive.
Possible Future Repatriation[]
The current Torrington-based United States has 16 states. The most recent survivor state to join the current Union is Minnessota, gaining statehood in 2021. Meanwhile, ties between the once-Provisional U.S. and the USAR have grown stronger, opening possibilities for unification. The Committee to Restore the United States of America had also been advocating several U.S. survivor states across the North American mainland to return to the Union. This received mixed reactions from the survivor states especially in the wake of the American Spring; some are currently in talks to return to the USA while some are openly hostile to the CRUSA.
The CRUSA has also been supportive of U.S. efforts since 2009 to send diplomats and delegates to countries in Europe and the Pacific, including efforts to reach out to elements of the diaspora living there.
As of 2017, the American diaspora continues to practice the cultural practices of the pre-Doomsday, usually hallmarked by the distinctive of American English along with playing American sports and practicing American holidays such as baseball, basketball, football, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Veterans' Day.
On September 26, 2018 - the 35th anniversary of Doomsday - Americans abroad and at home marked a solemn celebration of the day their nation and the world changed forever.
On the 40th year to the day since the bombs fell, the United Communities and WCRB would release a joint report estimating the contemporary size of the American diaspora to be roughly 22-25 million people worldwide.
Regions with Significant Populations[]
The American diaspora is mainly located throughout Oceania and the Americas. Surviving military personnel and stranded tourists who chose to stay make up majority of American populations in Europe and Asia.
Alpine Conf.- Bahrain
- Belau
- Brazil
- Canada
- Celtic Alliance
- Colombia
- Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand
- Costa Rica
- Caribbean Federation
- Dominion of South Africa
- Greece
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Prussia
- Korea
- Liguria
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mexico
- Nordic Union
- Northern Germany
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Panama (defunct country divided into several zones)
- Peru
- Philippines
- Portugal
- Republic of the French Southern Territories
- French Polynesia
- French Antilles (St. Martin & St. Barthélemy, Martinique, Guadeloupe)
- New Caledonia
- the Rhineland
- Republic of Spain
- Saguenay
- Sardinia
- Singapore
- South England
- Southern Italy
- Württemberg
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Tuscany
- Turkey
- Venetian Republic
- Victoria
- Woodbridge
- Yukon
Little America[]
The Pre-Doomsday Flag of the United States of America. This is commonly seen in American ethnic enclaves known as "Little America".
A "Little America" is a ethnic enclave of American people located outside of the former United States, most often in an urban setting. Neighborhoods known as "Little America" exist throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The origins behind the Little Americas come from the large flow of American refugees escaping the post-Doomsday United States or from overseas military personnel that survived the destruction of Doomsday. The first Little America neighborhood was established in the Australian city of Canberra by government officials from the American Provisional Administration to house their families and was informally known as "New Washington". Other notable examples include "Pequeña América" in Mexico City and the "Little America" in Brisbane. These enclaves were inhabited by Americans of all races and were modelled after their pre-Doomsday society with architecture that heavily resemble nuked cities such as New York or Los Angeles.
"Little Americas" have also led to the proliferation of American culture across numerous countries especially Mexico and ANZAC, which have since passed legislation that officially recognized the Fourth of July as an holiday as well as the growing popularity of football and baseball. The Mexican government has also declared English as a recognized language on a federal level. Even with the re-establishment of the United States in 2011, most Americans still live abroad, away from their former country.
Organizations[]
The following is a list of organizations that are a part of the American diaspora:
People[]
Gallery[]
See also[]
- British Survivors Administration - an organization set-up by the British diaspora with similar goals as the CRUSA.
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