Greetings, What-Iffers!
Here's a fun little alternate reality to ponder in light of recent headlines...
1878 - After an extended period of concentrated discrimination the Ohmish people of Europe decide that they will never be free of persecution until they have their own state to live in. Immediately they set their collective sights on establishing a new homeland within the expansive, prosperous and peaceful borders of Canada. At the time, 97% of the population of Canada is identified as Canadian while only 3% of the population is Ohmish.
1882 to 1914 - Named after the prominent Ohmish activist Bygor Flemmeth, Britain and the United States spearhead the Flemmeth Accord which commits to the establishment of an Ohmish homeland in Canada. Although they harbor no pre-existing ill-will towards the Ohmish people, the Canadian government is in vocal opposition to the Accord, claiming that it's in direct violation of the MacKenzie - Grant Declaration of 1915 which guaranteed Canada's right to self-determination. Regardless, the Accord is ratified by the United Nations in 1917. Not long after, close to 70,000 displaced Ohms immigrate to Canada. Over the course of thirty years, Ohmish lobbyists continue to pressure Britain into establishing the infrastructure required to establish statehood for the Ohms in Canada, including the creation of an armed defense force.
1922 - Census data has 88% of the total population identified as Canadian with 11% listed as Ohmish.
1920 to 1931 - Almost one-hundred and ten thousand new Ohmish settlers arrive in Canada. Almost immediately hostilities flare up between the native population and the immigrants. In reaction, the Ohmish Defense Force, now a fully constituted military presence, begins to evict Canadians from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
1931 - Census data has 82% of the total population identifying as Canadian while 17% are Ohmish.
1932 to 1945 - During the Nazi's rise to power, European Ohms suffer an intense period of persecution as well as the horrors of mass genocide. Before the end of World War II in Europe, 294,000 Ohms immigrate to Canada. To make amends for the Holocaust, there is a renewed push to have a section of Canada declared the official homeland of the Ohmish people.
1947 - With clashes between Ohmish immigrants and native Canadians spiraling out of control, Britain turns the problem over to the U.N. who propose splitting the country up into two separate states. Canadians are evicted from Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, leaving them with 43% of the country's land mass, despite having 70% of the population and legal ownership of 92% of the land.
On the flip side, the Ohms receive 56% of the country's land, despite having 31% of the population and technically owning only 8% of the land.
Another major disparity in the division soon becomes apparent: the Ohms have been granted the most fertile and prosperous territory in the country. Although native Canadians are quick to protest the division, their disparate efforts are easily extinguished by the Ohmish military. Before the end of the year, the Ohmish army has assumed control over all major metropolitan Canadian cities. The expulsion happens so fast that many Canadian families are forced to flee from the chaos without taking their belongings with them.
At the end of 1947, unconfirmed reports begin to circulate that one-hundred Canadian men, women and children were killed during the occupation of Degelis, a town close to the New Brunswick border. Fear and mass panic ensues in the wake of these reports as displaced Canadians scramble to relocate anywhere behind their newly designated re-settlement zones.
1948 - In May Ohmstad is officially declared a state. In reaction, Australia attempts to intervene on behalf of Canadians by sending relief supplies as well as military equipment and personnel. There is an abortive attempt by the native Canadians to fight back but sheer logistics are against them and the attack fizzles.
By the time the Ohmish army is finished consolidating the borders of their new nation, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and most of British Columbia have also been annexed; nearly 80% of the country's land mass. From Atlantic Canada and a small patch of land on the west coast now known as the Prince Rupert Strip, hundreds of thousands of refugees languish in hastily assembled camps, some still in sight of their former homes which they still legally hold ownership of.
Most of these towns are systemically obliterated, either re-fashioned into Ohmish settlements or flattened in order to convert them into fertile land. By the end of 1948, its estimated that nearly five-hundred Canadian villages have been destroyed.
1956 - Concerned that such a heavily-armed new nation now sits so close to its borders, the Soviet Union makes several tentative aerial incursions into what was once British Columbia. The United States intervenes, nearly prompting a Soviet amphibious invasion of Alaska. At the last minute, the U.N. steps in and tensions slowly begin to abate.
1967 – A renewed attempt on behalf of Australia to support a Canadian armed uprising stalls within a week.
1973 – Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland conduct a clandestine joint effort to sponsor a third Canadian uprising. The resulting month-long conflict is better co-ordinated but ultimately does very little to dislodge the Ohmish occupation. When their involvement in the rebellion is revealed, all four sponsor countries face heavy sanctions imposed by the United Nations.
1974 – The F.L.C. (Front de libération du Canada) becomes the sole political representation for the Canadian people at the United Nations.
June–December 1982 – The New Brunswick War takes place. Weary of constant guerrilla attacks along their Eastern border by the F.L.C., several divisions of the Ohmish Defense Force invade New Brunswick. This results in the expulsion of Canadians from most of "The Picture Province" and the creation of a security buffer zone in what was once York and Northumberland counties.
1987–1991 – "We Rise": The first truly unified Canadian uprising occurs against the state of Ohmstad in both Nova Scotia and along the Prince Rupert Strip, resulting in a protracted series of deadly skirmishes. But whereas the Ohms are using arms and armaments procured from American and British defense contractors, the Canadians are forced to use stolen weapons, antiquated equipment and improvised explosive devices.
1993 – A tentative cease-fire in the form of the Stockholm Accord is signed in Washington between Elme Narsfursian of Olmstad, John Chrétien from the F.L.C. and Bill Clinton of the United States. All parties agree on the principle of Canadian self-determination and the Olms also promise to withdraw from contested regions along the Prince Rupert Strip as well as Restigouche and Madawaska counties in New Brunswick.
2000–2005 – "We Rise Again!": With the Olms still firmly entrenched in the regions that they promised to vacate, a second mass Canadian uprising occurs along the Prince Rupert Strip and in New Brunswick. What begins as a massive co-ordinated demonstration by Canadians soon turns violent after the Ohms deploy their military to tamp down the protests. Without the weapons and equipment needed to compete against the overwhelming might of the Ohmish army, the Canadians launch a protracted campaign of guerrilla attacks. For the first time ever there are reports of suicide bombings conducted within the state of Ohmstad. Destitute and separated from their lands and loved ones, this sees to indicate that some Canadians have become so patently desperate that they have nothing to live for.
2002 – Due to the increased frequency of Canadian suicide attacks, Ohmstad constructs the Madawaska / Resitgouche Wall, claiming that it's required to protect their citizens from acts of Canadian terrorism. True to the barrier's intent, suicide bombings decrease considerably over the next three years. Canadians who are routinely forced to cross through the security checkpoint for work or other reasons now find that quick travel is next to impossible. To Canadians, the wall becomes yet another symbol of restriction and detainment within their own country.
2005 – Under pressure from the United Nations, Ohmstad begins to abide by promises made during the Stockholm Accord and begin to withdraw their citizens from twenty settlements along the Prince Rupert Strip as well as Edmundston, Kedgwick, Campbellton, Charlo and Dalhousie in New Brunswick.
2008 to 2009 – The Prince Rupert Skirmish: An extremist wing of the F.L.C. uses a battery of obsolete rockets procured from clandestine sources to target several major Ohmish cities including Farfhand, Nurben, and Liederzaus (formally Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary). In response, Ohmstad Defense Forces attack dozens of targets in the Prince Rupert Strip with planes, tanks, helicopters and artillery. Dozens of civilians are killed on both sides.
2012 to now - The Ohmish Defense Force initiates Operation Shell-Shock, a full-scale military operation in the Prince Rupert Strip in response to hundreds of rockets being launched at military targets within the state of Ohmstad. When challenged over the attacks, radical F.L.C. leader Stephen Harper claims that his only intent is to force some semblance of stability in Western Olmstad by attacking what his claims are "terrorist assets". The Ohmish campaign escalates after Harper is assassinated in November.
To be continued...
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