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Federal Republic of Southern England
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

OTL equivalent: Southern coast of England
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of Arms
Location of Southern England
In dark blue: Territories under control of Southern England.
Motto
Pax quaeritur pax (Latin)
("Peace is obtained through peace")
Anthem "There'll Always Be An England"
Capital Poole
Largest city Exeter
Other cities Bognor Regis, Hastings, Worthing, Ventnor, Weymouth, Exmouth, Barnstaple, Falmouth, Truro
Language English
Government Federal parliamentary republic
  Legislature English Parliament
President /
Prime Minister /
Population 589,000 
Independence 25th December 1992
Currency English Pound

The Federal Republic of Southern England is a small country in the far south of what was once the UK. Its territory stretches along the coast from Cornwall to Kent.

History[]

Doomsday & Aftermath (1983-1987)[]

The southern parts of the UK were hit badly on Doomsday with missiles hitting Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth and Plymouth. From Southampton and Portsmouth, several thousand survivors tried to make their way to the Isle of Wight, believing it to be a safe haven. But many died as they failed to find seaworthy boats and tried to swim. The Isle of Wight itself was raked by radioactive fallout from the two blasts and could not support such an influx.

Three fortified sites were made emergency centres of government in southern England. The submarine training facility HMS Osprey, on the Isle of Portland, became the UK's emergency capital and the seat of the erstwhile Deputy Prime Miniser, now PM, William Whitelaw. Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, was supposed to be another evacuation point for Cabinet ministers and Permanent Secretaries; but the only official able to escape in time was the Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe. Both of these were minor military sites not expected to be targeted, and both had been prepared to house fragments of the national government. In between them was the Hope Cove RAF radar station near Salcombe in Devon. While Osprey and Culdrose were refuges for national officials, Hope Cove was to take charge of administering the southeast of England.

The presence of three emergency sites so close together helped the far south to maintain some order in the days following Doomsday. But they were also very close to two of the most devastating nuclear attacks in the country, Portsmouth and Plymouth. Almost all the efforts of the administrators went toward finding relief and shelter for the survivors. The Royal Navy assisted in carrying refugees from the ruins to more outlying areas, but fuel began to get scarce.

William Whitelaw was confirmed as prime minister in a radio call with Queen Elizabeth II shortly after landing in Portland. His task was nothing less than holding together a nation that had been blasted apart, a task which would have been impossible for any leader, much less one who had only just stepped into the job. Britain disintegrated steadily. In April 1984 the Queen succumbed to an infection in her hiding place, the Royal Yacht Britannia anchored off northern Scotland. The new king Andrew, like Thatcher, was stranded thousands of miles away.

The Royal Navy began to depart two years later. A South African monarchy had improbably formed around King Andrew in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and the government there offered to take British ships that could not be maintained at home. It seemed reasonable that the vessels should remain active and protect the King rather than deteriorate in England, so Whitelaw consented to a naval convoy in 1986.

But the following year, Foreign Secretary Howe suggested that the surviving members of the Cabinet and Parliament also go into exile, together with most of Britain's remaining naval strength. Whitelaw refused to go along with this plan, and it caused a rift in the War Cabinet. Howe insisted on leaving, along with much of the personnel of the Culdrose base, many MPs, and a modestly sized group of civilians. This marked the collapse of Whitelaw's administration and the end of any government that could claim continuity with the prewar United Kingdom.

Reforms and resettlements (1987-1990)[]

The economy of the south had to shift entirely to food production. For the first two growing seasons, agricultural conscription and collectivisation seemed the only possible way to make this shift; by 1987 the emergency administrations were enacting land reforms to get people working the land for the long term. These radical changes were not sufficient to overcome the hardships of the aftermath. The population continued to decline sharply over the course of the 1980s as people succumbed to radiation burns and poisoning, post-industrial contamination, hunger, epidemics, and unsanitary conditions.

Other reforms began to transform the emergency national administration into a regional authority concerned exclusively with Southern England. A natural division of labour emerged early on: the personnel of each emergency site did what they could to manage its respective county, overseeing resettlement and food production. An additional local government was organised in 1985 to cover northern Devon. In 1986 the former MP for Worthing, Terence Higgins, was tasked with forming an administration for the Isle of Wight. In 1987, the departing Culdrose leaders left behind a provisional civil government based in Truro. The next year, the 30,000 survivors in the town of Hastings, led by Kenneth Warren, began coordinating with Portland and the rest of the southern emergency government. Gradually, rule by the "three bunkers" was giving way to a constellation of local bodies.

On Wight, Higgins' first priority was supporting the development and manning of a wind-powered fishing fleet. The bulk of the people on the island had fled there from the mainland, and they were put to work in the boats rather than the fields. As more boats were put to sail, they became essential for communication and resettlement, as well as food. Thousands of people were ferried from overcrowded camps to more sparsely-populated areas, where they could be added to the rural workforce. A large portion of the survivors around Brighton and Bognor Regis ended up being carried westward.

Worthing, meanwhile, came under the rule of an armed gang that spurned all efforts at control from without. In 1988 an argument with agents from Portland escalated into shooting, and the team fled under fire. English authorities promised evacuees from Worthing that they would work to restore peace to their town, but in the meantime had no ability to impose their rule by force.

Cooperation with the Celtic Alliance (1990-1992)[]

The Irish-Scottish Alliance - the future Celtic Alliance - had largely been isolated from southern England in the 80s, each power being completely occupied with its own problems and unable to extend help to the other. Now the Alliance became increasingly involved in southern England in the early 90s. Medical staging posts (MSPs) operated by the Alliance were opening around the coast of Britain, including in Cornwall and Dorset and as far away as Kent. These were important sources of relief for those living near them. They supplemented the meagre level of care that most communities in the region were able to offer.

Cooperation also began around security issues. The Needles Batteries off the Isle of Wight had once been a facility for testing missiles, having served as the launch site of the Blue Streak ICBM and the Black Arrow Carrier Rocket. The Alliance was interested in using the Batteries for defense and, perhaps one day, for space exploration. In 1991 the Alliance moved scientists into the test facility.

The next year, Ireland assisted the English in ousting the faction in control of Worthing. In early 1992 Irish marines landed near the town with the help of English boats. They caught the defenders of Worthing by surprise and by the end of the day the town was under English control. A governing authority was established over the next eight months, adding a seventh member to the group of southern English communities.

For a time, it looked as though this involvement from Ireland would eventually draw Southern England into its Alliance. But the region was already beginning to form a new structure and identity and follow a separate course.

The Republic (1992-2000)[]

It was clear that Southern England needed to create something new. The emergency system of 1983, with its ad hoc developments added over the years, was no longer adequate. Waiting for the restoration of the United Kingdom was futile. The south, perhaps more than any other part of Britain, had deeply felt both the grief of Queen Elizabeth's passing and the sense of pain, even betrayal, at the new King who would not return home. The departure of the naval convoys of 1987 had increased the people's sense of abandonment. By the 90s this bitterness had not faded.

Early in 1992, the then six local authorities (Cornwall, North Devon, South Devon, Dorset, Wight, and Hastings) created the region's first new civil structure since the war: the Local Authorities of Southern England. This new organisation admitted Worthing into its membership a few months later.

This association was short-lived, however. On its very first day in session, its Council debated the idea of forming a new, permanent nation-state that would replace the United Kingdom. Whitelaw, head of the Local Authorities and still the titular Prime Minister of the UK, supported these efforts. A Conservative in almost every sense, even he was ready to move on. The departure of his Foreign Secretary for South Africa had affected him greatly, and he had seen the need for the different emergency authorities to adopt a more unified structure.

Republicanism had never been remotely popular in England, but the circumstances were right for it. The Constitution of Southern England that was adopted did not entirely rule out the idea of restoring someone to the throne - but it did specify that the current King was disqualified. On Christmas 1992 the Local Authorities were officially dissolved and replaced by the Federal Republic of Southern England. Fully embracing its newfound republicanism, Southern England later adopted the three-banded Chartist flag.

With some help of the Celtic Alliance, the Republic slowly began to rebuild the damaged areas of land that it controlled. It helped the Alliance set up one of its MSP's in Brighton with the understanding that the city would eventually become Republic territory once the radiation levels had dropped. It also created the foundation for a new Southern English Army. The action at Worthing had shown the inadequacy of the Southern English irregulars next to the Irish.

Trade was growing with both the Celtic Alliance and some of the French survivor states. The Republic set up schools and hospitals along the south coast to help restore civil society. It also created so-called immigration highways, ports that allowed anyone who arrived at them access to the Republic and the services it provided - the days of overcrowded camps were over; now Southern England pursued a policy of population growth. The highways were highly controversial, however, and in 1996 the scheme was canceled. However they had done their job as the population of the Republic had climbed by several thousand people.

Many still expected that the South would eventually become part of the Celtic Alliance; but instead it pursued its own course. CA medical and security aid ebbed away. Slowly the Republic began to lose its dependency on the Alliance, especially after the purchase of an airship from the New Zeppelin company in 1999.

A New Millennium (2000-2005)[]

The new Millennium was marked by the first successful launch of the Blue Streak rocket, Instead of a normal payload it had contained several hundred fireworks which went off over the Irish Sea as a celebration. The first half of the decade was marked by a a newly independent spirit and the development of a new national consciousness, as well as resumed contact with the King in South Africa. Sentiment toward the monarchy remained poor; many people still thought that they had abandoned England. To this day the Republic refuses to acknowledge the king as ruler of the Republic and they await a true heir to the British royal family.

A New Politics (2005-2013)[]

On May the 2nd 2005 the first national election in over two decades was held in the Republic with candidates from the Conservative Party, The Liberal Party and The Labour Party standing in a variety of seats. Incumbent Terence Higgins remained Prime Minister but the Liberal party gained several seats. The Labour Party gained only 10 seats in the council, leading to its collapse and reformation as the SDP.

As the world became more interconnected, the nation mostly pursued a policy of nonalignment and nonintervention, another expression of the will to repudiate much of what old Britain had done. Its most notable foreign commitment was its position as home to the Celtic Alliance's modest space program. In the later 2000s this became part of the Atlantic Space Program of the Atlantic Defense Community. This international agency has in turn shifted most of its activity to the Guiana Space Centre in South America.

In the 2010 election Terence Higgins was voted out of power and the Liberals under Peter Brand became the largest party. In line with their election promises, they began the process of integrating the republic into the Organisation of British Nations. This brought Southern England into some of the expansionist plans of the rest of the OBN and provoked conflict with some of the smaller communities of the interior. This was first implemented in August when the Republic invaded parts of Sussex.

The interior of Sussex had been on the margins of Southern English control since the original days of the emergency government. Settlements like Chichester had passed in and out of direct association with the Republic. A major problem for the Republic was the ruins of Portsmouth and Brighton, which presented a formidable barrier to the interior and were believed to still contain radioactive hazards. Another problem was the True British Army, a militant group that had formed in the mid-90s in part as a reaction to the triumph of republicanism in Southern England. The TBA's influence had waned and waxed with the years and was now based mostly to the north in East Anglia. But its influence again was on the rise, largely in response to the expansion of the Organisation of British Nations. As ties strengthened between the OBN and the South, support grew for the True Army in the interior.

Early in 2010, supporters of the True Army staged an uprising in Chichester, taking control of the city government and expelling anyone connected with the Republic. Under the Conservative Party, the Council had for the most part ignored the interior districts. The Chichester uprising helped build support for the Liberal Party and its more aggressive policy plans.

After the election, the new government approved a military operation in Sussex, using plans that had been drawn up since 2008 but never implemented. The Invasion of Sussex commenced on 7 August. The RN, RAF and Federal Army began combat operations with the stated goal of pacifying the districts of Rother, Wealden, Eastbourne and Chichester, with the first priority given to Rother and Chichester. The operation ended on the tenth of August when most of the TBA faction in East Sussex fled and the town of Chichester surrendered to Federal Army troops. Steps began to integrate the area more fully into the Republic.

The following year, Brand's government planned another operation with its OBN ally Essex. This time, the target was Kent. Southern England wanted to expand its holdings around the strategic port of Folkestone and the dormant nuclear reactors at Dungerness. Essex wanted farming land for itself and was willing to concede those strategic points to Southern England. Essex and Southern England agreed to partition Kent between them and began the occupation of Kent on 15 May 2011.

Such a partition might have been possible at a different time, but decades of neglect combined with the events of the past year meant that the inhabitants of Kent did not welcome this kind of high-handed treatment. The invasion began with an impressive show of force by both armies, and they made rapid progress toward their goal, the town of Ashford. In fact the town and roads to it were occupied with very little resistance. But a guerrilla campaign began not long after. The armies had entered Kent expecting to take key towns and be recognized as the legitimate government. Instead they faced the difficult task of pacifying an unruly countryside. The operation was concluded in June when Essex withdrew the bulk of its troops - they were needed elsewhere - and Southern England reassigned most to more securely-held positions along the coast. The operation failed to achieve its objectives.

In 2012, a new crisis came in the form of an epidemic called the White Death. OBN authorities handled it clumsily, rejecting offers of international aid and insisting on England's self-sufficiency. This caused many needless illnesses and deaths. Meanwhile, the True British Army was resurgent in East Anglia (though not, in general, in Sussex). Core OBN ally Woodbridge was racked by a corruption scandal in its government. Just two years earlier, the Organisation had seemed like the new hope for Britain, and its triumph appeared inevitable. Now it was looking like a failure.

Return to nonalignment (2013-)[]

Beset by these crises, Peter Brand's Liberal government fell 2013 to a shaky but formidable Conservative-Labour coalition. The new government called for a renewed policy of neutrality and nonalignment, stances that had characterised Southern England in past and that now appeared the wisest course. The new PM was Conservative Nicholas Soames, an aged pillar of pre-Doomsday British politics, who appeared to offer a cautious, steady hand. Shortly after assuming power, he began the process of withdrawing from the Organisation of British Nations. In a memorable address to the Council and the nation, he said, "I believe with all my heart that Britain will one day be a nation again. But this was not the moment, and this was not the way."

Peace and neutrality helped create a good environment for economic growth as Southern England sought to restore close ties to the Celtic nations and to Europe. Merchants all along the coast sought to develop the republic as the Continent's gateway to Britain. Obstacles to this included Southern England's lack of any one major city to serve as a metropolis, and an economic downturn that affected much of Britain in the middle of the decade.

In the late 2010s, Edward Poll of Kesteven led a new populist movement that swept the East and drew enthusiastic adherents both in the remaining OBN states and the communities associated with the True Army. In 2020 a new organisation, the Commonwealth of Great Britain, emerged to unite the entire East; Poll immediately became its leader. The consolidation of a strong new power, with a leader who often indulged in violent and aggressive rhetoric, was alarming. Southern England prepared for incursions along its eastern borders. Hostilities did not erupt immediately, but the diplomatic atmosphere remained tense into the early 2020s.

Government[]

Since 2005 the country has been a multi-party democracy in which MP's are elected from various parties and the largest party gains control of the Parliament. Before 2005 it was a de facto dictatorship, effectively a continuation of the emergency "bunker" regime of the 80s and 90s.

Regional alignments have dominated much of the political debate over the course of the Republic's history. Terence Higgins remained popular throughout his career, but his Conservative Party grew unpopular due to their alignment favouring the Celtic Alliance. The Liberals, by contrast, supported a more aggressive stance favouring the OBN. In the 2010 elections Higgins was finally removed from power and was replaced by liberal Peter Brand. Brand fell in turn to a resurgent Conservative-Labour coalition in 2013 when the political tide turned against the OBN. Since 2013, Labour and Conservative governments have sought a neutral course, favouring neither the CA nor the OBN nor any other regional bloc.

Constitution of Southern England[]

For the first two years after its establishment in 1992, the Republic used the UK's bill of rights and other articles of British law as a basis for its government. Aware of the problems associated with that type of framework, the government assembled a committee of lawyers, politicians and academics to write out the constitution of the Federal Republic. Modeled in part on constitutions of the USA and several nations of the old British Commonwelath, it laid out the form of government and finalized the Republic's position on the monarchy - an attempted compromise that left the door open for a future restoration.

Military[]

Southern England has a small but efficient armed forces division that exists to protect its territories. The military was first cobbled together from surviving British Army forces and converted aircraft and ships.

The army is the largest of the three divisions of the armed forces, about 8,000 strong. It is equipped with pre-Doomsday British army equipment as well as some equipment recovered from barracks and armories.

The navy consists of modified fishing boats, a few ex RN patrol boats and three converted SR.N6 hovercraft which operate alongside the flagship RNV Isle of Wight (A converted SR.N4 class hovercraft that had been due to be scraped in 1983). In addition to this the navy has recently launched (But not commissioned) a WW2 Grom class destroyer to be its new flagship.

The air-force operates two Zeppelin bombers alongside several Islanders and Trislanders converted for military use as well as a squadron of spitfires built to WW2 specifications by Airframes Assemblies and Britten-Norman. The metal for these aircraft and ships has predominantly come from two IOW ferries that had reached the end of their lives. These aircraft and ships are powered in part by bio-fuels from domestic farms and in part by petroleum, which the republic must buy from abroad.

Sport[]

Association Football remains the most popular sport in the Republic with teams from all eight of the Republic's states competing in a football leagu. The country became a member of FIFA in 2010 and took part in the 2014 world cup. It is one of the largest supporters of a unified British football league. The other large sport in the county is Rugby Union and the country took part in qualifications for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Republic also has a strong fencing team and it is hoped that young fencer Luke Deamer may even win a medal at the Europa Games. On an individual level cycling is also very popular.

Transport[]

The Isle of Wight Steam railway and British Rail lines on the Mainland were merged into one company, officially known as Federal Railways (FR) and are mainly operated by steam locomotives from the Isle of Wight Steam railway, it has recently began operations on the OBN's East Coast Mainline using class 25 diesel locomotives, 2 Maunsel U class locomotives, 2 West Country/Battle of Britain pacifics and a 9F 2-10-0. These trains are operated in co-operation with several Isle of Wight ferries operated by SR.N6 hovercraft and Ro-Ro ferries and the trains are transported to the mainland by specially modified ferries. The republic is served by a string of small airports rather than one major international hub.

Recently the Federal Railways have begun production of modified West Country pacifics for use on the main lines on the mainland and the East Coast Mainline up to Bourne.

Economy[]

The Federal Republic's economy is dependent on trade with the Celtic Alliance and other British survivor states. While it is capable of providing enough food for its people, it has barely any factories, lacks raw materials and while it can repair its equipment, railways and boats it is incapable of finding the parts instead having to purchase them from the Celtic Alliance. There are several farms involved in bio-fuel production but the majority of arable land is devoted to food crops.

Religion[]

Protestant Christianity is the most prominent religion in the country but as Roman Catholicism is one of the few remaining organized religions left in the world it is beginning to gain prominence. Atheism is also popular in the country as Doomsday caused many people in the region to lose faith. Islam and Judaism remain popular and there is also a fringe religion called the Cult of Doomsday which views Doomsday as a chance for humanity to rebuild itself. Currently the percentage of the population which follows each religion is shown below:

  • Atheism 44%
  • Protestant Christianity 20%
  • Roman Catholic 16%
  • Judaism 9%
  • Islam 9%
  • Cult of Doomsday .5%
  • Other 1.5%

Media[]

The local BBC broadcasting station for the Island remained intact after Doomsday and is used by the state-backed RBC (Republic Broadcasting Corporation) to broadcast news and some sporting events. The RBC operates the Republic's only TV station in Poole, which was reintroduced in 2003; but radio stations operate throughout Southern England. The following radio stations and TV stations are broadcast:

  • RBC 1 (TV Station) broadcasts news and sporting events.
  • RBC 1 (Radio) broadcasts the same things as its TV cousin but is broadcast in all eight republic territories.
  • RBC 2 broadcasts music and some radio sitcoms.
  • RBC Sussex is broadcast from short range transmitters on the mainland and focuses on local news.

Public Infrastructure[]

The Education system in Southern England is one of the largest and best in the south of former England, its education system is envied by most survival states and is one of the main reasons why it is such a popular destination for immigration. Its health system is also well built having retained most of the pre-Doomsday NHS hospitals as well as forcing private hospitals to take some non paying patients. However the Education and Health systems are only open to natural born citizens and those who arrived through the immigration highways and for other immigrants there is a transition period (5-10 years).

Foreign Affairs[]

The Republic has good relations with the Celtic Alliance and other British survivor states. It is not a member of any of the major political pacts. From September 2010 to late 2013, it was a member of the OBN.

See Also[]


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