OP: Arvenia
Co-OP 1: Vacant
Co-OP 2: Vacant
Co-OP 3: Vacant
It has been 33 years since the Cold War ended and the USSR collapsed. It was believed that global peace would be achieved once the conflict was over. However, it never became so. As the Second Cold War is looming, countries across the world are nervous. With the Global War on Terrorism and the Great Recession, the global balance is hanging on a thread. It is a matter of time before even WW3 breaks out.
Intro
Welcome to "2024: Cold Interbellum", an AH/MT RP set in 2024. In this RP, you take control of a nation and manage it with skill. Diplomacy and war is present here, so be more wise and don't do mistakes. That's the last thing your nation want.
While I would like to see some real-life nations (save for communist Russia and democratic China), other countries such as Czechoslovakia or a constitutionally monarchist Romania are allowed. I want this RP to be like "2021: A New Decade" and "2024: The Long Peace".
The 1950s saw deterioration in Sino-Soviet relations after the USSR entered peaceful coexistence with the Western Bloc, which China (PRC) decried as "revisionist". The tensions were so bad that the two countries began drifting towards war. Such war wouldn't start until 1969, when a small-scale border conflict between the two countries escalated into a full-scale war. This war, dubbed the Sino-Soviet Border War, saw the Soviet military invading both Xinjiang and Northeast China. Since China was both experiencing the Cultural Revolution and recovering from the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the USSR had the upper hand in the conflict as the Chinese forces didn't stand a chance against their Soviet counterparts. Eventually, the war ended in Soviet victory. The aftermath was more disastrous for China, who not only had to deal with destroyed infrastructure and heavy military casualties, but also had to cede both Xinjiang and Heilongjiang to the USSR, who is now the dominant power in the Eastern Bloc. Following this, the USSR reorganized both provinces as the Uyghur ASSR and the Harbin Oblast. This loss would come to haunt China for decades.
Meanwhile, events such as the Moon Landing, the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War occur as they did IRL. However, two years after the Sino-Soviet Border War, China was suffering too much from increased instability, both political and military, that it had to let go of Tibet, which results in the latter gaining back its independence after 12 years of Chinese occupation. China would also try to increase military spending, although this leads to economic growth being much slower than IRL. On the other hand, decolonization ensues in Africa, although conflict and repression would emerge shortly thereafter.
In 1979, the Islamic Revolution breaks out in Iran, resulting in the country becoming a Shia Islamist theocracy, which then leads to US embassy staff being taken hostage by the new government. In the 1980s, anti-communist protests erupt across Eastern Europe, just as Chernobyl suffers from a nuclear meltdown in 1986.
The year 1989, aside from the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe, would see the horrific Tiananmen Square Massacre, where the PLA kills thousands of civilians. The aftermath is much more severe, due to the massacre having caused less general trust in the Chinese government, as well as more protests across the country. As a result, the CPC elects Nu Leiying, a low-ranking government official, to serve as China's new paramount leader, as the party believed the public would trust a not-so-known official. However, the CPC are not aware of the fact that Nu deeply resents both the party and communism at large, due to him having lost his family and friends during the Great Leap Forward. As a result, he began embracing democratic socialism and planned on bringing down the CPC. Together with some friends in the CPC, Nu began a silent purge against high-ranking officials, including those responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre. He also had many protest leaders and pro-democracy activists pardoned in order to gain trust from the pro-democracy movement. Deng Xiaoping was also arrested during the purge. Once the purge ended in 1990, Nu officially dissolves the CPC and forms a new democratic socialist party called the "Shehuidang" (SHD). He began freeing China from communist influence and implementing democratic reforms, as well as building better relations with Taiwan (ROC), mostly in order to make Chinese reunification a reality. Meanwhile, China supports the US-led coalition during the Persian Gulf War. After three years of negotiation, China and Taiwan is reunified as the Republic of China. This new ROC has the same type of government with five branches existing alongside a President, while a two-party system exists with both the KMT and the SHD as the dominant parties. Since then, power has switched between both parties through election just like how power in USA switches between Democrats and Republicans. On the other hand, Taiwan becomes a SAR (special administrative region) with its own parties and more political autonomy, while Hong Kong remains as a British overseas territory and Macau eventually becoming an independent state with membership in the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries). Korea remains divided between North Korea and South Korea, albeit China has since 1990 placed diplomatic and economic sanctions on North Korea.
Meanwhile, the Cold War ends in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR. Despite this outcome, the Russian Federation only lasted until 1993, when Boris Yeltsin gets overthrown by a new communist force called the "Communist Party of Russia" (KPR), which is led by a high-ranking KGB official named Ivan Zakhaev. Following this coup, which happened in the middle of a constitutional crisis, the Russian Federation is rebranded as the "Russian People's Federation" (Российская Народная Федерация/Rossiyskaya Narodnaya Federatsiya), which adopts certain elements of the old PRC, such as a socialist market economy and many government-approved organizations. As a result, Russia faces a wave of anti-communist protests, which are led by a pro-democratic organization called "Free Russia" (Свободная Россия/Svobodnaya Rossiya). Despite this wave, the new communist regime is fully capable of cracking down on these protests and arresting several protesters without issue. This causes many democratic elements of Russian society to flee to Kaliningrad Oblast, who quickly declares independence as the "Republic of Kalinia" (Республика Калиния/Respublika Kaliniya). A large portion of the Baltic Fleet defects to the new country and reforms itself as the Kalinian Navy, while the smaller portion remains loyal to Russia and uses St. Petersburg as the fleet's new HQ. Even the Russian Orthodox Church and some political parties defects to Kalinia, with Free Russia, now based there, fully reorganizing itself as a political party advocating for pro-Western policies. This diplomatic conflict remains active to this day.
In Southern Europe, the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1999) occur as they did IRL, albeit some differences. While Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo and North Macedonia remains the same (with Kosovo becoming independent by 1999), both Bosnia-Herzegovina and what's left of Yugoslavia are different. Yugoslavia, now composed of Serbia, Montenegro and North Kosovo, is still a communist state as of 2024, albeit it is now ruled by a new party called the "Workers' Party of Yugoslavia" (Радничка Партија Југославије/Radnička Partija Jugoslavije/RPJ). On the other hand, Bosnia-Herzegovina is divided into two countries, the Serb Republic (Република Српска/Republika Srpska), aka Serbland, and the Croat-Muslim Federation (Hrvatsko-Muslimanska Federacija), aka Bosnia. The former is an ethnically Serb unitary state that controls Republika Srpska, Brčko District, Posavina Canton, Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde, Ravno (which is part of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton) and a part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County (which borders Ravno), while the latter is a predominantly Muslim federal republic that controls Sarajevo Canton (including Sarajevo), Canton 10, Tuzla Canton, Zenica-Doboj Canton, Una-Sana Canton, Central Bosnia Canton, West Herzegovina Canton and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (excluding Ravno). The Republic of Vojvodina, formed in 1995, is an independent state that resembles Bosnia-Herzegovina by being ethnically composed of Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, Slovaks, Romanians and Pannonian Rusyns (aka "Pannonians").
The 9/11 attacks occur as they did IRL, followed by the War on Terror, the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the controversial Iraq War. Later on, the Great Recession occurs, which sees the US nearly lose its status as the only superpower in the world. The Arab Spring would eventually spark the Syrian Civil War and then Euromaidan occurs. Once Euromaidan resulted in Ukraine leaving the Russian sphere of influence, Russia invades and annexes Crimea. Shortly thereafter, pro-Russian uprising breaks out in eastern Ukraine. In 2016, Russia purchases both Ida-Viruu County and Lääne-Viruu County from Estonia, much to the anger of the EU. As a result of the Donbass War, Ukraine formally names itself the "Western Republic of Ukraine" (Західна Республіка Україна/Zakhidna Respublika Ukrayina) as a sign of joining the West. Meanwhile, protests breaks out in Belarus, a "Sovereign People's Republic" (SPR) within Russia since 1996, after the Belarusian government proposes a very controversial law.
Brexit, the European migrant crisis and the Venezuelan crisis, as well as political polarization in the US, occurs as they did IRL.
- No godmodding or metagaming.
- Listen to OP and Co-OP.
- Be realistic.
- Respect the lore.
- Don't just post about war, you have a country to manage.
- Bad grammar isn't nice.
- No toxicity.
- Reservations lasts for a week.
- Posts must be longer than one paragraph.
- Inactive nations are removed after two weeks while players can revive them within a month.
- No WMD.
- City-states (except for Singapore) are non-playable.
- The POD is in 1969, although certain real-life events still occurs and the Cold War was still the same as IRL.
- The time scale is 1 month per page (might be subject to change).
- Have fun!