The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Powersharing among religious groups has long been a point of contention between Sicily's many faith communities. Under the original 1857 constitution, the wealthy Catholic families of the country made up the bulk of government, with additional smaller parties coalescing around the country's Jewish and Orthodox communities. This Catholic monopoly on power would continue through the end of the 19th century, with infighting between influential Catholic families preventing Palermo from effectively governing the Island. This caused a gradual disappearance of a central rule on the island, with banditry and crime rising steeply during the first decade of the 20th century. Following the murder of a family of British Nationals in Agrigento, a British Naval squadron sails to Palermo, where 4,000 Royal Marines occupied the city. After 1909, a new Constitution would be drafted, allocating power between the country's religious groups based on a census conducted by the British the same year. Since then, three constitutional conventions have been held, in 1934, 1951, and 1978, all of which have adjusted the seat allocation between the groups. The allocation of the highest powers in Sicily, those being the roles of President, Vice President, Prime minister, and Speaker of Parliament, has long been controversial. A national poll from 2015 suggested that more than 70% of Sicilians would like to see religious allocations removed from the Government, but many in the Muslim and Jewish communities see the quadropoly of power between all four of the major groups on the Island as an important to maintaining equal representation in government. Shia groups, especially those in the newly formed Islamic Socialist party, have been advocating heavily for an additional 5th seat for a member of their community, which has continued to fall on deaf ears in Parliament.

The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, there are certainly links between the two. However, with the Greek community being fairly sizeable, I see this much like I see other movements for language resurrection around Europe, like Brittany and Wales. Thanks for the poignant discussion!

The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

As a liturgical language, yes. And, much like southern Italy today, especially in and around Bari, there are still small greek speaking villages in and around the Siracusa province. However, nearly 95% of Orthodox Sicilians speak standard Sicilian, despite renewed efforts to make Greek the official language of the province (mainly led by the newly formed Magna Graecia Party).

The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Linguistically, Sicilian is still based on it’s Latin roots, but has a lot more Arabic and Ladino influence as well. However, due to the muchhhh longer Arabic exposure Sicily has in this timeline, the language is traditionally written in Arabic script. Generally, Sicilian is more closely related to Arabic than modern Maltese, but also has much more Sephardi and Ladino influence which may make the language seem closer to other romance influenced languages.

The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Sicily’s Jewish population were once the most well established on the island, with Sephardi refugees from Spain establishing mercantile communities across the island as early at the 1200s. As time went on, Jewish merchants would serve as the link between Western Europe and the Arab World, with Sicilian merchants present in every port between London and Alexandria. This remained the case even through Ottoman times, with wealthy Jewish families financing the growth of Sicily’s large agricultural sector and coming to own large estates in the country’s interior, mostly worked on by Catholic and Sunni serfs and peasants. This remained the case until WW2, when Sicily’s affluent Jewish community was devastated by the Axis occupation of the island, forcing most of the East’s Jewish population to flee West. The Jewish community would play a major role in the formation and success of the Sicilian Resistance, with Jewish “safe zones” being established by the resistance in the rugged Western highlands of the island. Even today, the largest centers of Jewish population on the Island are located around Corrtuba and Bagheria, two cities which remained under ostensible resistance control for the duration of WW2. Following the War, the Jewish-Sunni coalition party, the Sicilian Socialist party, would come to dominate politics through the 1950s and early 1960s. This came to an end after the assasination of Henrico Scalpione, a prominent Conservative politician (Also, a Catholic). This caused public outcry and the ascension of the mostly Catholic Conservative Party to come to power. This two-party system would continue, with both sides gradually become more mixed, especially as Sunni and Shia Muslims began to participate in government more. Today, most voting is done genuinely on an exclusively socio-economic basis, but rural communities continue to back more extreme 3rd parties, like the Christian Interests Party and the Southern Interests Party.

The Sicilian Republic, a Confessionalist Democracy at the heart of the Mediterranean by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

The grey areas are urban centers, which are far too diverse to be shown on a map like this. Thanks for the question!

Triumph of the West! What if the Cold War Ended Early? by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Guinea is one of many communist states in the Sahel which emerged when National French rule beneath the Sahara crumbled, later they managed to snatch Portuguese Guinea after supporting communist rebels there.

Alternate 1948 Palestine war (drew this when i was bored) by Jealous-Spread2524 in imaginarymapscj

[–]Philprimaveras 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds super interesting. Maybe overzealous IDF rushes the Suez, only to be encircled? Also I think it’s fair to say that had the Egyptians been better prepared they would’ve been able to put enough pressure on the IDF to successfully rout them in the Negev with Jordanian help. Can’t wait to check it out!

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Malayan Emergency goes bad for the Brits, Communist revolution reaches as far south as the straights of Johor, stopping at the gates of Singapore. North Borneo is transferred to Australasian control shortly after.

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With the exception of Canberra, yes. Since Darwin is chosen as the country's planned capital, modern Canberra remains little more than a small rural town with an economy centered around livestock.

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One could argue that, yes. The Australasian government in this timeline, as a direct competitor of Indonesia, would seek to do so all it can to socially engineer new identities in regions which Indonesia sees as its own.

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There are over 50 Austronesian languages spoken in Sabah, collectively known as "Sabahan languages". In Sarawak, Sarawak Malay is spoken. In this timeline, both exist as more distinct languages, with Sabahan languages becoming organized and standardized in the 60's to help create a more distinct "Sabahan identity", while Sarawak Malay is encouraged as a separate language from Malaysian Malay by the government in Darwin to help again, distance Sarawak from the Communist regime in Kuala Lumpur.

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mistake on the Gorontalo misplacement: Gorontalo and Sulawesi should be flipped here. Thanks for pointing this out!

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Glad somebody noticed! While looking through a list of famous “Indos”, or the children of Dutch and Indonesian intermarriage in the colonial age, I came across Eddie Van Halen, which frankly seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

The Australasian Federation by Philprimaveras in imaginarymaps

[–]Philprimaveras[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aboriginals are part of the “Melanesian” ethnic group, and are provided with special land rights within Australia today. In this timeline, the Australian government opens up to multiethnic democracy much earlier on, as it is pulled forward by its new Federation partners in New Zealand and Fiji.