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Kingdom of Maudland
Kongeriket Maudland (no)
Konungariket Maudland (sv)

Timeline: Great White South

OTL equivalent: Portions of the British Antarctic Territory and Queen Maud Land.
Flag of Maudland
Flag of Maudland
Location of Maudland
Location of Maudland
Motto
For demokrati og kongen (Norwegian)
("For Democracy and the King")
Anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet"
Capital Ny Oslo
Language
  official
 
Norwegian and Swedish
  others German, Ognian, Russian
Religion Protestantism
Demonym Maudlander, Maudlandic
Government Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
  Legislature House of Legislature
King Harald V
Premire Johanna Nordenskiöld
Independence from Norway
  declared January 26th, 1965
Currency Krone (MDK)
Internet TLD .md
Organizations AF, UN

Maudland is a nation in northern Antarctica. Formerly a Norwegian colony, it was the home of the Norwegian parliament-in-exile and Royal Family during the Nazi occupation of Norway in World War II; and after the Second World War it was granted expanded autonomy. This continued with the introduction of self rule in 1965 under the rule of Anna Lykke and independence in 1983 under Thobias Mjoen. Despite this, it still has the Norwegian King as head of state and the Norwegian parliament can technically enforce laws on the House of Legislature.

History[]

Sweden-Norway (1880-1905)[]

Otto Nordenskjöld

Otto Nordenskiold, The Second Governor of the Colony of Sofia'sland

Norwegian explorers from the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway arrived in Antarctica in 1870. The area was claimed by the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway in the same year but settlers from Norway only arrived in 1877, seven years later with the colony being established officials in 1880. When these settlers finally arrived, they declared the land to be part of Norway and founded the capital city of Ny Oslo (New Oslo). Norway was the last colonial power to arrive on Antarctica except for the Germans in New Swabia, three years later, which meant that Sweden-Norway could only claim a small area of land. However, this did mean that the Norwegian colonists had fewer problems with the natives, and although small, the Norwegians soon established themselves as a dominant colonial power in Antarctica.

Sweden and Norway ended their personal union on the 7th of June 1905, and Norway gained control of this Antarctic colony. Relations between the Swedish and Norwegian colonists had always been peaceful unlike those on the mainland but the colonial referendum was evenly split between those who wanted to join Sweden and those who wanted to join Norway. Norwegian politician Karl Lykke, however, came up with a solution, in exchange for Swedish people and the language being held in equal regard in the colony's law the country would join Norway and the colony would be renamed Maudland. Maudland elected one MP to the Norwegian parliament.

Early Norwegian Years (1905-1939)[]

Norway continued the tradition of sending settlers to Maudland, and over 100,000 settlers arrived in the colony between 1905 and 1917 . During the early 20th century, Ny Oslo became one of the largest port cities on the continent as people from across Scandinavia made their way to a new life in Antarctica (seeing it as the "New York of Antarctica"). Most Maudlanders were content being ruled by Norway as although they weren't independent, they had exactly the same rights as all Norwegian citizens - including the right to vote. As Norway was neutral in WW-I, it wasn't involved in the Antarctic campaign, but did allow British troops to operate within its borders.

During the Russian Civil War, some Norwegians from Maudland fought alongside White Russian forces in Russian West Antarctica, but the official policy was of neutrality. Following the First World War thousands of people from Europe traveled to Antarctica to escape the poverty in their home country and Ny Oslo acted as a gateway for many people from northern Europe who were seeking a better life in what became known as the Antarctic Dream. The colony grew with immigrants from both Scandinavia and Russia and in 1925 the Ny Oslo region grew to over 100,000 inhabitants making Ny Oslo one of the largest cities on the Continent. In fact, immigration became so great that the Norwegian population was in danger of being outnumbered, and the Norwegian Parliament passed the Maudland Immigration Act of 1928, which said that any non-Norwegian immigrating to Maudland would have to speak Norwegian and pass a series of tests. After this immigration, to Maudland began to fall although it would pick up again during the great depression.

In the 1930's, Maudland was hit hard by the Great Depression, and the colony's economy (Based around exports of fish and trading) started to collapse, This was also shown in an increased desire by many Maudlander's to have more representation, in the Norwegian Parliament as they felt they were not being represented properly by their lone MP. Eventually, though the colony began to move out of the Depression, there was discussion in the Norwegian Parliament about granting Maudland a second MP and more autonomy. In early 1939, the Norwegian parliament granted Maudland a second MP in the 1940 elections, but this was interrupted by World War II.

World War II and the Government in Exile (1939-1945)[]

After Nazi Germany's declaration of war on Norway, troops from neighboring New Swabia invaded Maudland with the intent of occupying it and prolonging the war with the Allies. Large swaths of Maudland were lost to New Swabia but the resistance movement was strong in Maudland and with the arrival of Free Norwegian forces Maudland's central territory around Ny Oslo was secured. Because of the strong Free Norwegian presence the Royal Family and Norwegian Parliament moved to Maudland after the fall of Norway and it became the central command post for the Norwegian resistance. The territory lost to New Swabia was eventually regained when the USA entered the war and New Swabia hastily surrendered.

For the remainder of WW2 Maudland was home to the Norwegian Parliament and Royal Family and was a base for Norwegian navy ships operating alongside British and Australian vessels in the pacific as well as being a safe haven from German submarines. Despite being thousands of miles away from Norway the Maudlanders were honored by the presence of their Royal Family and even the most vocal pro independence groups changed their tone to one of Autonomy. In the latter days of the Second World War Maudland was home to Norwegian bomber squadrons hunting down subs and following the end of Nazi Occupation of Norway was granted Autonomy. Under its new system Maudland still sent two MP's to the Norwegian Parliament but had control over the Justice System, Education, Transport, Health Care and Immigration but Norway would still be responsible for the economy, defense, etc.

Rebuilding and Move Towards Self Rule (1946-1965)[]

Parts of Maudland had been badly damaged in the Antarctic campaign and one of the first priorities for the newly established House of Legislature was to build up the country’s transport, education and health care infrastructure. Like Norway and Great Britain Maudland introduced a free healthcare system and nationalized the few existing railways and transport companies. The country received even more immigrants from Norway and the House of Legislature was forced to use its newly given powers on Immigration to reduce the number of immigrants coming to Maudland, despite this Ny Oslo retained its image as the Gateway to Antarctica as it was one of the first places on the continent that had a regular air service running to and from it. By the end of the 1960's Maudland had a population of over 1,000,000 people and was regarded as having a Health Care and Transport infrastructure at least as good as Norway’s.

Despite their new found freedom as a nation the pro independence party in Maudland grew even larger citing their success as an Autonomous territory as proof that the nation was sufficiently capable of running itself. Opponents of independence pointed out that had the Norwegian armed forces not intervened in WW2 they would have been occupied by New Swabia and that they all owed allegiance to the king of Norway but the pro independence parties changed their mind declaring that they would still recognize the Norwegian monarch as head of state in a way similar to Australia and that as one of the richest territories on the continent they could fund their own armed forces now. Eventually in the 1965 election both MP's were from a pro independence group and the idea was brought up in the Norwegian Parliament, ideas ranged from merely granting them slightly more powers to complete independence but eventually it was decided to reduce the number of MP's Maudland sent to Parliament to one but Maudland's Parliament (The House of Legislature) was granted powers over everything except foreign policy and criminal law.

New Swabian War[]

After Spain's transition into a democracy in the 1970s, New Swabia was left alone as a fascist state, but even then the nation was on the verge of change. Although the NSDAPNS were still determined to maintain control the general public were determined to bring freedom to New Swabia through any means necessary up to and including violent options. The leader of the unofficial New Swabia liberation party (NSLP), Otto Dietrich went to Maudland to try and plead with Premier Thobias Mjoen to organise a Norwegian/Maudlanic invasion that would restore democracy.

Mjoen promised that he would try to convince the Norwegian Parliament that the invasion was necessary but that he would need some evidence of New Swabian activities in Maudland to convince the King and Parliament to invade. Therefore Dietrich decided to organise fake raids into Maudlandic territory so they would have reason to invade. Mjoen was able to then convince King Olav V to authorise the Norwegian intervention and the bill was passed by the Norwegian parliament.

Following this Norwegian troops moved into Maudland and the Maudlandic Defense force was activated so that there would be enough forces to both defend Maudland and attack into New Swabia. Suported by the NSLP Norwegian/Maudlandic forces (The Armed Forces of Norway and Maudland/AFNM) quickly moved into New Swabia but the New Swabian army was able to push the AFNM back into Maudland and even make some small gains of its own. However, the Norwegians had one card that the New Swabians would be unable to counter, The Air Force.

Although Maudland did retaliate the involvement of Britain and Argentina shifted the war onto the global stage. Argentina devoted large amounts of resources to the conflict and Maudland lost more ground to New Swabia. However, with the help of the NSLP and Maudlandic Commander Thomas Lykke, the Maudlandics counter attacked and were finally victorious with the help of their Israeli allies.

Independence to Present (1982-2010)[]

After the New Swabian War finished both the Norwegian and Maudlandic parliaments looked at the increased desire for independence within the region. Mjoen's parliament included several MIP members and they urged him to campaign for independence, he did so and the Norwegian parliament passed the Maudland act of 1983 which released Maudland as a independent nation. It has one of the highest standards of living in the world and has a well developed and built up Education, Health and Transport system. Maudland has slowly developed its own Civil Law, Defense Policies and has in the years since being granted independence created a fully independent national infrastructure. Immigrants continued to arrive in Maudland from Norway and other countries in the late 20th century and the country reached 2,000,000 inhabitants in 2001. The population of Maudland has become so great in the past 20 years that a new city was commissioned by the House of Legislature; Ny Bergen, the city was completed in 2002 and is now the largest city in Maudland.

In 1990 Maudland ended its last major dependency with Norway when the Norwegian Parliament passed the Maudlandic Armed Forces Act of 1989 which allowed it to commission its own army, navy and air force, it received several thousand Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifles from Norway to equip its army as well as training and also purchased some Diemaco C7 assault rifles from Canada to equip its elite forces. The Act also transferred three Oslo class frigates to Maudland's navy alongside one Hunt II class destroyer and gave them the option of purchasing four Elco Torpedo boats and an undisclosed number of outdated coast guard ships and the Air Force gained most of Norway’s aircraft that had been or were due to be withdrawn from service. Overall the Act gave Maudland an outdated but large Armed Force that was perfectly capable to defending Maudland and cooperating with Norway in international missions.

Geography[]

Atlas of Maudland

Maudland is located on the north-east coast of Antarctica, it has mountainous regions further inland with three areas of flat ground upon which three cities of Maudland are built. Maudland is divided into five regions (four counties and one metropolitan region), which each have a Capital (Ny Oslo, Ny Bergen, Ny Fredrikstad, Ny Kristiansand and Ny Trondheim). The majority of the country’s citizens live in the cities with only 70,000 people living in towns.

Counties of Maudland[]

Main article: Counties of Maudland

Maudland is divided into five states (one of which covers only one city).

Name Name (English) Capital Population MPs
States of Maudland
Kapital Distik Capital District Ny Oslo 500,000 75
Kyst Region Coast Region Ny Bergen 900,000 75
Fjellandskapet Mountain Lands Ny Trondheim 200,000 50
Hoy Regioner High Region Ny Kristiansand 200,000 50
Grenselandet Borderlands Ny Fredrikstad 200,000 50

Government[]

Graph

Maudland is a Parliamentary Democracy that holds elections every four or five years (Although they can be called earlier at the decision of the incumbent Premier). The Premier is normally the leader of the governing party, which is the party that can secure a parliamentary majority of 151 seats (The House of Legislature has 300 seats), The current Premier is Johanna Nordenskiöld who leads a coalition of the Christian Democrat and Social Democrat party as well as the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party which together hold a majority of 10 seats with the Labour party in opposition. This Coalition took power in July 2010 when the SPD left there coalition with the Labour Party and chose to support the Christian Democrats instead. The Norwegian monarch generally visits two to three times a year on state visits or for the opening of parliament. As well as electing MP's to its own parliament, Maudland also elects one MP to Norway’s parliament.

There are six political parties in Maudland two of which are Maudlandic branches of their Norwegian counterparts, the political parties in Maudland are as follows;

  • Major Political Parties
    • Maudlandic Labour Party(93 Seats Opposition Party)
    • Maudlandic Christian Democrats (90 Seats Ruling Party (In a Coalition))
    • Social Democrat Party (59 Seats Coalition Partner)
  • Minor Political Parties
    • Socialist Left Party (20 Seats)
    • Maudlandic Independence Party (ten Seats)
    • Maudland First Party (11 Seats)
    • Maudland Conservative Party (nine Seats Coalition Partner)
    • Maudlandic National Party (six Seats)
    • Progressive Party (two Seats Coalition Partner)

Autonomy[]

Since its foundation, Maudland has gradually gained more Autonomy from Norway:

  • 1873-1880: Unorganized settlements belonging directly to Sweden-Norway (almost no autonomy)
  • 1880-1905: Colony of Sweden-Norway (almost no autonomy)
  • 1905-1940: Overseas Region of Norway (on par with Norwegian counties)
  • 1940-1945: Home of Norwegian Government-in-Exile (on par with Norwegian counties)
  • 1945-1965: Autonomous Region of Norway (greatly increased autonomy)
  • 1965-1982: Autonomous Region of Norway (almost total autonomy)
  • 1982-Present: Kingdom of Maudland (Independent)

Transport[]

Snow-in-road-wallpaper

A minor road in Maudland

Trans siberian

A train leaving Ny Oslo

Maudland's major form of transport is automobiles and snowmobiles, There are three major roads and several minor roads that are suitable for road transport and most Maudlandic families own one car. There is also a railway network that links most of the tourist towns and cities which is commonly known as the Tourist Express. The other major form of personal transportation are Snowmobiles which are popular amongst the younger population and are the only way (Other than the train) to reach some of the tourist towns.

Military[]

Maudland has a large and well-equipped navy and air force, as well as a skilled but small army, that are capable of defending Maudland, and cooperating in UN and NATO deployments alongside the Norwegian armed forces. Currently, Maudland has forces deployed in the following countries:

  • Afghanistan
  • Iraq
  • Kosovo (Replacing the Norwegian complement)
  • Somalia (As part of the Norwegian forces)
  • Gaza (Part of a UN task force)

Economy[]

Maudland's economy is centered on the extraction and sale of resources. It has deposits of several rare materials within its territory, which make up the majority of the countries natural resources. Maudland also has a thriving industrial sector which is responsible for the creation of utilities and snowmobiles. There are is also a tourist industry, centered on the country's wildlife.

Foreign Relations[]

Maudland has close relations with Norway, and Maudlandic goods are sold at a discounted price to Norway. It is also a member of the Western Bloc and has close relations with the other Scandinavian countries. It also has a close relationship with Santiago.

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