The Great Experiment

After the treaty of San Juan was put into effect free travel to the Towers Quito and Macapa, and the newly completed towers Atlantis and Darwin's Tree gave the millions of refugees the means to seek new lives in the colonies. The vast majority would go to Venus, who's working groups were willing to accept early settlement before the official projected habitability date of 2145. A few extra rads never hurt anyone. The new towers and linking infrastructure built by the Army Corps of Engineers (Colonial) also gave much needed relief to the Earth in terms of food. The Winter of 39' had left the farm belts with record low production, and some regions were fallout fell in above average volumes were reporting mass die offs of livestock. The bounty of the colonies would feed the Earth, but it was not enough to stop the Disporia that lasted until the mid 2150s. The war had left planet's greatest cities in ruins, fallout from nuclear weapons would clear, but the cold was simply too much for some. Venus was warm and lush, a planet that promised a sanctuary from the devastation of Earth.

While millions fled for the Colonies, many people felt that parts of the Earth were under the management of the Colonies. General Loveridge was functionally Emperor of Europe and Zaya had brought China and India back together where no one else could. American military governments were now commonplace, and this was simply not sustainable. Since the colonials arrived, President Halvidar had been working with the recovered powers of the world on a Great Experiment, a project that would allow military rule to be phased out and built a post-war world where the prosperity of the colonies could come to Earth. Colonial policy of full disarmament of liberated nations and partial implementation of the Quantum Economic Model was already underway, but this new venture would make these things permanent fixtures of life on Earth. The London Conference of 2138 was where the first step was made to bring it all together. Leaders from Japan, the provisional Chinese and French Governments, Korea, India, and even the German provisional governments were all gathered to discuss the post-war world. President Halvidar announced that the US was no longer going to pursue an agenda of keeping Eurasia divided, but rather they hoped to unite it and indeed the world. The first steps would be made by establishing new regional states in a free association with the US, allowing the QEM to be administered across the planet. The members of the conference weren't really in any position to challenge the US on this, and the promise of full integration into the QEM was more than enough to bring them to the table. The process would be a continuation of what already had started. China, India, and Atlantic Europe would all be united under singular governments Buffer zones of varrying degrees of American occupation would be slowly eroded to expand these Associations, but the goal was to one day unify all the world under this system. Certain key territories would become direct protectorates of the US, kept out of the hands of local powers to prevent conflict over strategic territory. Shpping choke points and the like, and all military forces would ultimately be structured under the Unified Command Structure. The US made it clear to the conference that two things would be non-negotiable: the Elevators would remain under U.S. control, and it would treat any military not part of this new system a direct threat to global peace... of course, that last part was only half true. The Samara Republic and Urals had the good sense to remain neutral during the war, and were both nuclear powers, but nobody wanted to start another fight after wrapping up the last one, and the independent nations were wise enough to at least reduce forces. Those would be battles for another day.

The process started with small things. The formal reunification of German and France, Lombardi declined to rejoin the Italians just yet, playing a wait and see game. A special assembly at the Hague realized the dream of a united European Association... well, mostly united anyway. The bulk of the former-Intermarium was still under U.S. occupation, as is much of Iberia, but as per the London Conference, territory would be slowly transferred to the Brussels government. East Asia was the greatest of successes, Zaya's unification efforts had largely brought the region under a unified state to begin with, and with a little arm twisting the Association of East Asia was born on New Year's day 2140. India was largely united, but its southern tip was still too unstable to be directly ceded to the local government just yet. Africa was where things were more complicated. Brazil was guaranteed protectorate status by the Treaty of San Juan, a right that extended to ALL of its allies. Thus, Africa would remain divided for now, with regional governments being set up from within existing trade unions. East Africa has been reforged, it too, basically a US protectorate, and one without Tanzanian unification. The territories conquered by Liberia were directly annexed by the U.S. after a petition for cession was sent before the Congress... one that colonial General Mustafa assured the President he had nothing to do with. The Middle East and South East Asia were in a disorderly state of reconstruction as well, the Sinai stubbornly refuses to join any new regional government, but the presence of naval forces on all sides seems to be eroding their resolve.

Finally, it comes to the Western Hemisphere. The diaspora was emptying out Mexico and the Southwest, and South America was left under an American occupation that was intended to be a temporary solution, but the destruction of the war had left the region facing a permanent military regime. There were two options facing President Halvidar: accept the San Juan treaty as the permanent condition that would leave the US military permanently occupying half of two continents, OR apply the London Conference's principles to the US. On April 19, 2140, President Halvidar submitted before the Congress a bill that would absorb Mexico and its sphere into the Union. While the representatives from Earth were largely split on the bill, the colonials hailed it as long overdue. The bill passed on May 30th, 2140 after the Earth delegation of the Senate relented in its filibuster. The Latin American territories (minus Brazil) would be slowly admitted into the Union on the same reconstruction policy as was implemented in the Southwest, and the Colonial forces would withdraw as local leaders were re-established. The colonial forces along with regular military units would slowly withdraw from their deployments over the next ten years. A sizable number of colonial units actually elected to remain behind on Earth upon being discharged, having come to know their homeworld better than before.

On January 20th, 2141, President Cora Fabian took office on the steps of the new Capitol Building. The world her presidency would know was not united, not truly at peace, and not truly prosperous. Like the new Capitol Building she stood on, it still needed a lot of work, but the foundation had been laid for something great to come.