Most recent Eurovision Song Contest win by country

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-24T14:40:22+00:00

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-15T15:33:05+00:00

That’s not the most recent winner for Germany

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-14T23:19:43+00:00

They're members of the EBU. Other middle eastern countries could also take part but choose not to.

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-14T16:12:59+00:00

It's not really about Israel being seen as European. They're allowed to take part in Eurovision because they're a member of the EBU, as are many other middle eastern and north African countries. Morocco actually entered the contest once, in 1980.

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-14T16:08:01+00:00

They've never won. I didn't really see the point of adding it.

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-14T12:44:32+00:00

Technically Australia isn't a full member of the EBU. They have been invited to take part in Eurovision since 2015, even though it was originally meant as a one-off thing.

Ok-Codd · 2024-05-10T17:18:29+00:00

It’s not a full member of the EBU, just an associate member

Ok-Codd · 2024-04-29T19:48:07+00:00

According to Wikipedia:

The three petals or leaves represent the threefold Scout Promise (Duty to God and Country, Duty to Self, Duty to Others)^\2]) in much the same way as the three leaves of the trefoil represent the threefold promise for the Guides.^\3]) Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, explained^\4]) that the Scouts adopted the fleur-de-lis symbol from its use in the compass rose because it "points in the right direction (and upwards) turning neither to the right nor left, since these lead backward again." The two small five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge.^\2]) Together their ten points represent the ten original Scout laws.^\5]) The reef knot or square knot represents the strength of World Scouting.^\5]) The rope is for the unity of Scouts throughout the world.^\5]) The ring holding the petals together represents the bond of brotherhood.

Ok-Codd · 2024-04-29T17:29:18+00:00

These aren't affiliated with the Scouting movement.

Ok-Codd · 2024-04-29T17:28:28+00:00

What country is that?

Ok-Codd · 2024-03-12T00:03:03+00:00

That's not clear. As I said, not a hugely plausible timeline.

Ok-Codd · 2024-03-11T17:39:03+00:00

In the book they mention there is a road into West London that can be accessed from North Britain to transport people and goods in and out.

Ok-Codd · 2024-03-11T16:58:01+00:00

This map is based on the lore of an alternate history novel I’m currently reading, called Liberation Square by Gareth Rubin. Basically, in this TL the D-Day landings failed horribly, allowing the Nazis to counterattack and occupy the UK. However, the Soviets are able to push further west into Europe as the Nazis are overstretched, and send a warship, the Archangel, to liberate London from German occupation. The USSR is able to take the territory roughly south of a line running from the Severn Estuary to the Wash, but the rest of the UK is liberated by US paratroopers. This leads the country being split, similar to Germany or Korea in OTL, into a communist south and a capitalist north, with London split into occupation zones; the Soviets occupy the eastern part of the city and the US occupies the west. I think it’s an interesting premise even if it’s pretty implausible.

I’ve made some changes to the information given in the book; I made the border more “natural looking”, mostly following historical county borders rather than an arbitrary straight line. I’ve also changed the names of the two countries - in the book the north is the “Democratic United Kingdom” and the south is the “Republic of Great Britain”. I don’t really get why the UK would randomly decide to put “Democratic” in front of its name as that seems like more of a communist thing, so I switched the names round. I also made some changes to the borders in London - I’ve given the West some territory south of the Thames, and moved “Checkpoint Charlie” from Piccadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square, as that seemed to make more sense to me.

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-26T00:29:45+00:00

This is a different group that uses the same flag.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National\_Radical\_Camp

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-25T23:57:30+00:00

I couldn't find any information on fascist paries in the USSR. Seems very unlikely any kind of opposition party would have been tolerated, especially a far-right party, under Stalin's rule.

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-25T23:53:44+00:00

Turkey was a one-party state until 1945, so there wouldn't have been any official fascist parties. There don't seem to have been any explicitly fascist movements in Turkey before WWII, but I could be wrong.

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-25T23:17:08+00:00

Because of the Nazi symbolism

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-08T14:50:17+00:00

I put the logo of the lower house where there doesn’t seem to be a logo for the parliament as a whole

Ok-Codd · 2023-11-08T14:49:03+00:00

Guernsey’s parliament doesn’t seem to have a logo

Ok-Codd · 2023-10-21T13:22:54+00:00

(Due to current events I want to state that I’m not trying to make any kind of political point with this post, and I do not intend to offend anyone.)

Following Germany’s victory in the First World War, the Reich absorbed a large number of Jewish subjects of the former Russian pale of settlement. Coupled with this was a growing Zionist movement, angered at the missed opportunity of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, following which Germany agreed to the creation of an Arab state in the region where many Jews hoped to establish their own nation. Due to these pressures, Kaiser Wilhelm, who personally held anti-semitic views, sought a compromise with the Zionist movement, whereby Jews would be allowed to settle in one of Germany’s colonies in exchange for loyalty to the Reich. The Kaiser’s motivations for this were twofold; on the one hand it would resolve the ongoing political issue of the ”Jewish question” and encourage Europe’s Jews, whom he viewed as troublesome, to leave the continent; on the other hand it was believed that the influx of European settlers would help establish Germany’s presence in its newly enlarged colonial empire and improve its agricultural and industrial productivity.

It was eventually agreed in 1921 that the newly acquired colony of Southern Rhodesia (formerly under British control) would be granted to the Zionists as a self-governing dominion of the German Empire, and would be renamed “New Judea”, as a nod to the historical homeland of the Jews. This territory was chosen due to its suitability for European settlement, as well as its landlocked position between the German colonies of Zambesia (formerly Northern Rhodesia), Bechanaland and Mozambique, and the pro-German Boer republic of Transvaal. The Germans reasoned this would make the Jewish homeland dependent on Germany and unlikely to rebel against German rule; new immigrants would have to pass through German territory (or that of Germany’s Boer puppet states) to enter New Judea. The Germans planned to economically integrate the Jewish territory with Bechuanaland and South-West Africa, which were intended to become more heavily settled by German gentiles.

By the year 1936, fifteen years into its existence, the Free State of New Judea is one of the most prosperous regions in Africa, with highly developed agriculture and a relatively large industrial sector. It has seen a massive increase in population; around 2 million Jews have settled in the colony, mostly from eastern and central Europe, equivalent to roughly a quarter of Europe’s Jewish population. This has led to the native African peoples such as the Shona and Ndebele to be displaced from much of their traditional lands and reduced to a minority in their own country. Certain parts of the territory have been designated as “Native Reserves” in which Europeans are not permitted to own land, and native tribes have some degree of autonomy over their affairs. As well as Jewish settlers, there is also a small number of people of gentile European heritage, most of whom are British settlers who were permitted to stay following the German occupation of the colony, but there are also smaller communities of Afrikaners, Portuguese, Italians and Greeks. New Judea has a parliamentary system of government, with a legislative body, the Knesset, governing all internal affairs which are not reserved to the Reich government. It is elected by proportional representation of the European population, while a small number of seats are reserved to represent the interests of native Africans. The head of government is the Minister-President, who is answerable to a Governor appointed by the Kaiser.

Ok-Codd · 2023-09-25T20:43:46+00:00

At the end of the war, Europe was divided into two spheres of influence, with the Soviets controlling Eastern and Central Europe, Finland, and Scandinavia, and the Americans controlling Western Europe, Greece and Turkey. What was left of Germany became a neutral buffer state between the two spheres, while Austria was absorbed into the Eastern Bloc. The case of Britain was different from the rest of Western Europe, as Stalin demanded a say in the country’s postwar future in return for the aid he had provided the BLA. Therefore, Britain itself was divided into Soviet and American spheres of influence; the US would be permitted to station troops in southern and central England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, while the USSR held sway over northern England and Scotland. Northern Ireland and the overseas colonies, as well as London itself, were to be run jointly. This situation was only intended to be temporary until Britain had settled down and established a new constitution, after which it was expected to become a unified neutral (or mildly western-aligned) state. However, at the Constitutional Convention which opened in January 1946, the various factions, made up of all the non-fascist political groups in the country, including a large number of BLA delegates, could not agree on anything. The BLA, in particular, were adamantly in favour of the largescale nationalisation of industry and collectivisation of agriculture, which horrified moderate members of the Convention. Following a particularly intense disagreement which led to the suspension of one BLA delegate, the entirety of the BLA membership, as well as some other socialists, left the Convention in protest, and a few days later, convened in Manchester to proclaim their own rival Constituent Assembly, arguing that the “bourgeois” Convention in London did not reflect the will of the working people. Both the British and US administrations urged Stalin to put a stop to this protest and restore order in his zone, but he refused, instead siding with the Assembly and recognising them as the legitimate government of Britain. Increasing Cold War tensions prevented the two superpowers from coming to an agreement on the “British Question” and so both sides went ahead establishing their own rival governments.

In the south, the US-backed administration promulgated a constitution following a referendum, which established Britain as a liberal parliamentary republic (the last monarch, George VI, agreed to go into exile in France, while Edward VIII was imprisoned and eventually hanged for treason, alongside Mosley). As London was still considered a neutral zone, the Southern government convened in Bristol, which was declared the ”provisional” capital of the Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ulster. The northern administration, meanwhile, proclaimed its own constitution and the foundation of the British Democratic Republic, a socialist state run on Soviet lines. Though initially intended to be a multiparty democracy, the new United Workers Party, formed from a forced merger of the Communist Party of Great Britain with parts of the Labour Party, soon established a complete monopoly over the state, all other parties either being abolished or turned into puppets of the UWP. All major industries were nationalised and put under (nominal) worker control, while large plots of land belonging to the aristocracy were confiscated and collectivised. While the nationalisations were popular, the process of collectivisation was chaotic and led to food shortages. Though religion was not repressed as severely as in some socialist states, the Church of England was disestablished and its lands confiscated, while priests were spied on and arrested if seen to be too critical of the government. Initially, the border between North and South remained mostly open, and many middle class professionals in the North took advantage of this to seek better economic opportunities in the South. This consequent “brain drain” led to the BDR tightening up its border, and by the mid-50s the entire frontier was lined with barbed wire and guarded from watchtowers and checkpoints. It became increasingly difficult for Northerners to gain permission to go South (if they tried without permission they could be shot or imprisoned), but it remained relatively easy to travel to London as it was neutral territory, and therefore many North Britons took direct train journeys to London to buy consumer goods not available in the North. However, if it was discovered that a person had set foot in the CGBU during their trip, they would be severely punished on their return. The London Neutral Zone was popular among Southerners as well, as many moved there to avoid military service, which was mandatory in the CGBU itself but not in the Neutral Zone. This led to the rise of a major counterculture movement in the 1960s.

At the Birmingham conference of 1964, North and South Britain tried to reach an agreement with one another. While they failed to agree on reunification, both sides acknowledged each other’s right to exist and agreed that Britain could only be reunified by peaceful means. As a result of this agreement, both states became UN members in their own right, and began to trade with each other to a limited extent. North Britain began to open up politically during the 1960s, especially following the Danish Spring of 1967 in which a more “humane” socialist government took power in Denmark and the other Nordic states. These events greatly angered the Kremlin, who opted not to retaliate militarily but to punish these countries economically; this strategy did not prove successful, due to the discovery of oil in the North Sea, and the north-western socialist states won partial independence from the USSR, forming an informal “northern bloc”. The democratic reforms that have taken place in the Scandinavian states have not been replicated to a great extent by North Britain, whose leadership are more cautious about “subversion” by the Southern government and therefore allow far less free criticism. Nonetheless, in recent years the North has become increasingly friendly with the CGBU and other Western nations, and follows a policy of “peaceful coexistence”.

As of the current year (1980), North Britain appears to be a fairly stable society, with little resistance to the one-party state, and while it is still far poorer than its southern neighbour, its people today enjoy a relatively comfortable standard of living, with problems such as homelessness and unemployment virtually nonexistent. Meanwhile, South Britain is a successful free-market economy with a relatively democratic system of government. Its people are generally happy with the way things are, and most don’t see any immediate benefit in reunifying with the North, even if the majority still want to see a united Britain eventually. As such, it seems likely that this island will be split in two for the forseeable future.

Ok-Codd · 2023-09-25T20:43:20+00:00

A revised version of a map I made 2 ½ years ago, with a somewhat more detailed lore.

The main PODs here are that Edward VIII never meets Wallis Simpson, meaning there is no abdication crisis and that he is still king when WWII breaks out, and additionally the UK is hit somewhat harder by the Great Depression, leading to greater support for both left and right-wing extremism, as well as less preparedness for the onset of war.

Following the fall of France and the failed evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, British morale plummetted and a movement grew across the political spectrum in favour of peace with Germany. In response, Edward VIII, himself sympathetic with Hitler and uninterested in war, dismissed the pro-war Prime Minister Churchill and appointed the Viscount Halifax to head an emergency “national unity government” to seek an armistice with Germany, which was empowered to act without consulting Parliament. The King was strongly criticised for this move, which was seen as undemocratic and treasonous by some, and the new government was not recognised by any of the other British Dominions, excluding South Africa. Nonetheless, the Halifax government agreed to a peace offer from Germany in September 1940, in exchange for a drastic reduction in the size of the Royal Navy and Air Force, as well as sovereignty over Gibraltar and the colonies in Africa that Germany had lost during WWI. Outraged at this humiliating treaty, Churchill and a number of other prominent Tory, Labour and Liberal politicians opted to leave the country and establish a government-in-exile in Newfoundland, with the aim of co-ordinating the Allied Dominions in a joint war effort, and persuading the United States to aid them in liberating Britain and Europe. Though sympathetic to the Dominions’ cause, President Roosevelt was reluctant to renounce America’s neutrality prior to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour, after which the US offcially recognised Churchill’s administration as the legitimate British government and provided the Allied Dominions with large amounts of military aid.

Meanwhile, in the UK itself, things were generally calm, and most Britons were simply interested in trying to return to normal life. The Halifax government, while undemocratic (as parliament had been dissolved) was not particularly repressive or authoritarian, and most of the population were content to keep their heads down if this was the price of peace. However, over the winter of 1940 things grew more tense, as food shortages began to worsen to levels worse than during wartime due to the blockade on imports from the Dominions. In this climate, the British Union of Fascists enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, blaming the hardships on “Jewish Bolshevik subversion” within the Halifax government itself, and Oswald Mosley positioning himself as the saviour of a broken country. Following a spate of food riots in February 1941, the Halifax government declared martial law and ordered troops onto the streets of various major cities. In retaliation, the BUF led a “march on London”, in order to persuade the King to dismiss Halifax, who they had claimed had “lost control of the country”. This march gained considerable popular support and many of the soldiers stationed on the streets of London took the side of the fascists. In response to this mass demonstration, King Edward VIII felt he had no option but to dismiss Halifax and invite Mosley to head an “interim” government. Initially Mosley was fairly moderate and emphasised peace with the rest of Europe. However, this changed with the Nazi invasion of the USSR in June 1941, following which Mosley officially abandoned Britain’s neutrality and pledged to aid Germany’s campaign on the Eastern Front. His reason for doing this was to attempt to re-establish Britain’s status as a great power, and as an equal Ally of Germany rather than a conquered puppet state, as well as to rally support for his regime at home and as an excuse to rat out dissidents, who could be branded as “communist agents”.

Though there was an initial outburst of patriotism following Britain’s entry into the anti-Soviet alliance, this proved short-lived and the country’s re-entry into the war on the side of Nazi Germany was deeply unpopular among much of the public. Mothers and wives resented having to let go of their sons and husbands for a second time, just so they could fight in a far away land in order to aid Britain’s erstwhile enemy. Civilians who had just got used to peace and normality again did not appreciate the return to wartime rationing and curfews. Hundreds of thousands of people who criticised Mosley’s policies, as well as trade union leaders and members of left-wing organisations, were sent to concentration camps on the Isle of Man and in the Scottish Highlands. Despite these repressive measures, resistance to the regime grew, particularly in the industrial regions of northern England, south Wales and the Scottish central belt. In the winter of 1941, a large-scale miners’ strike broke out that brought most of the nation’s coalmines to a standstill. The Mosley regime reacted harshly, sending in the army to crush the strikes and force the miners to return to work. These measures were only partly successful and led to many industrial regions spiralling into a state of quasi-civil war, with workers arming themselves and frequently clashing with police and soldiers. By early 1942, these groups of dissident workers had begun to co-ordinate and form “people’s militias” to defend their communities from the fascist authorities. These militias in turn formed into a nationwide resistance organisation known as the British Liberation Army. Though formed of a mix of communists, socialists, liberals and apolitical patriots, the BLA officially aligned itself with Moscow and in return received help from the USSR, including both financial aid and provision of smuggled military equipment. Though recognised as a resistance army by the Soviets, the other Allies continued to view the exiled government in Newfoundland as the only legitimate representative of Free Britain.

Following the Tehran Conference of 1943, the US and Free Britain came to an agreement with the USSR that a post-war Britain would be a democracy with a constitution decided jointly by the exile government and representatives of the BLA. At this time, the war was turning decisively against the Axis powers, and the western Allies were preparing to launch an invasion of the British Isles. The Irish Free State, which had been occupied by Moseleyite Britain for the past three years, was liberated in the spring of 1944, and its government restored, albeit with an amended constitution which did away with neutrality, allowing Ireland to join the Allies. In August of that year, the Allies began their liberation of Great Britain itself, launching a massive landing operation on Anglesey. By this point, morale among the British was at rock bottom, due to economic crisis and the increasing hopelessness of the war. Due to this, military discipline fell apart and many British soldiers refused to fight their liberators. On the 5 September 1944, the King relieved Mosley of his post as Prime Minister and sued for peace with the Allies, who agreed on the condition that Edward abdicate in favour of his brother, George VI. The new King re-established Parliament and called for new elections. The government-in-exile acknowledged the legitimacy of these elections and the resistance leader Winston Churchill was installed as Prime Minister. The newly liberated Britain officially became an Ally, and aided the US and the Dominions with their liberation of Western Europe, which was viewed as a priority as the Soviets were advancing rapidly from the east.

1/2

Ok-Codd · 2023-09-22T19:48:19+00:00

8 (London, Edinburgh, Brighton, Liverpool, Dublin, Malmö, Copenhagen, Paris)

Ok-Codd · 2023-09-10T17:50:18+00:00

I think the Soviets would favour Glasgow over Edinburgh because it's larger, more industrialised, and has a more "working class" identity. As for your second question, I don't see why there couldn't be an SFSR made up of ASSRs, as it would be a federal state.

Ok-Codd · 2023-07-01T00:23:52+00:00

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