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Well that war in the Middle East will provide perfect cover for any number of shenanigans.
 
Well that war in the Middle East will provide perfect cover for any number of shenanigans.
It will certainly impact India, with its considerable Muslim population.
 
Chapter IX: The Great Middle Eastern War
Chapter IX: The Great Middle Eastern War
20th of December 1937 – 19th of March 1938

In a matter of weeks, the Middle East had found itself in a state of utter chaos. The Cairo Pact countries of Egypt and Rashidi Arabia had secretly made a deal with Persia to carve up the Ottoman Empire, inspired by the Sikes-Picot Agreement conceived during the Weltkrieg. It was time the Arabs set aside their differences with the Persians to take back what the Turks had taken from them in the past few centuries. In the Ottoman press, the Cairo Pact and Persia were soon called the Axis of Evil, in the west, they were simply called the Axis powers. However, the Great Middle Eastern War had also consequences for the Indian subcontinent. In the Dominion of India and in the Bharatiya Commune, there was a considerable Muslim population. A division quickly arose. On the one hand, there were those who saw the war as a danger to Muslim-unity. They feared that conflict would weaken the Middle East and consequentially India and open the area up for further involvement from the German Empire, which already held a key position at Suez. Muslim unity could serve as a wall against imperialism. This movement originated in the Dominion, but quickly spread to the Muslim population in Bengal. They found common ground in the call for Indian reunification. A unified India with a strong Muslim presence would lead the Islamic world of tomorrow. On the other hand, there were those who feared that the Axis, and particularly Persia, would become too powerful and eventually invade India. This movement was particularly strong in the Dominion and called for a military intervention by the Entente on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan. When it became clear that the Entente wasn’t going to intervene (mainly due to Canada prioritizing the American Civil War), the Khilafat Movement, as they called themselves, began looking towards Germany instead. This triggered an alarm for the government in Delhi, driving them to action.

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Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who has recently taken over the Ottoman government and has begun his reform program. However, he would not succeed in fulfilling his task as he would die in November of 1938 as a result of liver cirrhosis.

20th of December 1937, Delhi, Dominion of India.

Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Jinnah was pondering about the whole situation in the Middle East. The war had now been raging for well over a month and the end was not yet in sight. Persia had made some gains, mainly due to a Kurdish uprising near the border. The Arabians mainly relied on hit and run raids on Ottoman garrisons, but made no major gains. Meanwhile, the Egyptians had managed to take advantage of their surprise attack and were almost at the gates of Jerusalem. Jinnah was not all too worried about the war itself, but he was worried about its consequences for India. First of all, a stronger Persia driven by nationalism might challenge the Dominion of India. Delhi would then be faced by dangers from three sides: Persia in the west, the Commune in the east and the Federation in the south. Second of all, the Khilafat movement openly challenged the British hegemony and approached Germany to intervene in the war. Jinnah could not allow this. Allowing the Germans to use India as a stepping stone to Persia was a red line Jinnah would not cross. But the question still remained, how would the government deal with this growing movement? Jinnah, a Muslim himself, had heard of a countermovement. One opposed to European involvement in the Islamic world and pan-Islamic in nature. Although Jinnah wasn’t really in favour of a pan-Islamic state, he did welcome a reunification with the Muslims in Bengal if possible. After all, one of the possibilities his political advisors proposed in light of a possible reunification deal with the Commune was a two-state solution. Jinnah had grown to like the idea of a separate Muslim state and a separate Hindu state. It would liberate the Bengali Muslims from a majority Hindu socialist state. The big problem though was the fact his British overlords would never allow this. Selling half of the country to Hindu nationalists and socialists would endanger the vital steel supplies from India. Jinnah would have to settle on one unified India, for now. Then it dawned on him. What if he used the pro-reunification movement among the Muslims in Bengal and the Dominion to his own advantage? If Gandhi recognized their role in the peace process, he might be more willing to give in to Jinnah’s demands regarding the rights of Muslims. Jinnah called his secretary into the room and said: “Would you please invite Imam Hameed Bukhari? I need him to advise me on a religious matter.” The secretary left and Jinnah started writing some ideas down on paper.

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Jinnah’s Fourteen Points, the demands which he would put forward in case Gandhi invited him to reunification talks.

26th of December, Delhi, Dominion of India.

Imam Bukhari entered Jinnah’s office and was greeted by the Prime Minister of the Dominion. After discussing the war in the Middle East, Jinnah addressed the reason why he had invited the Imam: “You have probably heard of the unification movement among the Muslim population in the Dominion. Well, I have been trying to figure out how we as a society could gain from this. We’ve come at a point where reunification could be on the doorstep. The press already speaks about reunification fever. Some say it is getting out of our control, but the only way to get control over it is by going with it. That’s why I worked out my demands in case Gandhi invites us to a summit. I’ve invited you to inform you of the nature of the demands and I ask you to spread them throughout the mosques of our country. We need a strong base to convince the other side into accepting in.” Jinnah handed a piece of paper to the Imam. The man started reading it diligently, mumbling some words as he went along the more difficult parts. When done reading, the Imam started speaking: “Prime Minister, I wholeheartedly support your demands. However, there is one controversial issue which remains unaddressed: the status of Sindh and Kashmir. While Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state ruled by a Hindu, Sindh has a large amount of Hindus, but is ruled by Muslims. I suspect Gandhi and his Hindu cabinet will raise the question of Sindh, while we will bring up the question of Kashmir. If you want to truly unite the people of India, you will have to overcome the issues that exist between Hindus and Muslims. And Gandhi will have to do the same. Guaranteeing the rights of Muslims won’t be enough. If you and Gandhi come to some kind of deal, it will have to encompass all groups that live on this subcontinent. Only then will I spread your message, only then will we walk the path of peace.”

15th of January 1938, Calcutta, Bharatiya Commune.

Ever since Bose’s plans in Nepal failed, he and his followers had been trying to salvage what had been lost. The smuggling of equipment across the border into Nepal was all in vain now that Gandhi loyalists had taken control over the region. Bose’s training camps with fresh manpower were all overrun, first by the Nepalese, then by the Indian army. And to make matters worse, the valuable camp in Dehradun, the staging point for a future invasion of the Dominion, was now solidly in the hands of Jinnah’s army of Imperialists. They needed a new plan of action and soon, before Gandhi could finish his reunification plans. Then there was also the question of how Gandhi got all his information. There weren’t many people in Bose’s circle of trust to begin with, so betrayal from one of them was already quite unthinkable. And so Bose had decided to keep taps on his inner circle. His spies had never been so busy, Bose would never have imagined how many of his generals frequented Calcutta’s many brothels. But one general in particular had not been doing in that, Lakshmi Saghal. Instead of sneaking of to a shady business, she had been consistently meeting with Abdul Razak, the Government’s Head of Military Intelligence and a staunch supporter of Gandhi. Bose had found his mole. The question now was what to do with her…

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Subhas Chandra Bose inspecting his troops.

19th of March, Teheran, Persia.

The capital of Persia was bustling with activity as delegates from all over the Middle East were gathered for the peace conference. Some had even come from India to observe the negotiations. Both the Dominion and the Commune had sent an official delegation to Teheran. Although it was not intended by their respective governments, the two delegations sought each other out to establish some diplomatic contacts. It was a clear sign that reunification fever was running all the way up to the foreign affairs cabinets of both countries. Not surprisingly, Gandhi had foreseen this and he had prepared for this. The Bharatiyan delegation carried an official invitation with them. An official invitation to hold reunification talks. The Dominionist delegation eagerly took the invitation and promised they would deliver it to Jinnah as soon as the Conference of Teheran had ended. As the hallways were filled with Persian, Arabic and English among many other regional languages, deals were being struck left, right and centre. Even the Indian delegations managed to successfully lobby with Egypt to keep their interest in mind. The result was a complete redrawing of the map. The Ottoman Empire was reduced to Anatolia, while Egypt, Rashidi Arabia and Persia divided the spoils among them. Egypt puppeted Libya and the Ottoman territories in the Levant were put under an independent Levantine Federation. Rashidi Arabia gained the Arabian coast with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, while also gaining some territory in Iraq and Yemen. The rest of Iraq was given to Persia, provided that their occupation would only last 10 years, after which an independent Iraq would have to be instated, something the Indian delegation had pushed for in order to keep Persia somewhat weak. The Egyptians and Arabians had accepted their demand, due to the fact that they themselves also didn’t want a strong Persia (due to Persia being a Shiite majority country). German control over Suez was formally reconfirmed, preventing a further escalation of the conflict.

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Outcome of the Conference of Teheran (1938).
 
Well now, what to do with her I note

Seems like the Commune has plenty of internal matters to sort out before thinking overmuch about foreign affairs.
 
Well now, what to do with her I note

Seems like the Commune has plenty of internal matters to sort out before thinking overmuch about foreign affairs.
One thing is sure, the conflict between Gandhi and Bose will have to be sorted out before India can unify.
 
Chapter X: The Maximist Uprising
Chapter X: The Maximist Uprising
1st of May – 31st of May 1938

1st of May, in the evening.

Almost three months had passed since the Commune had officially sent its invitation along with the delegation to the Teheran Conference. Gandhi had signed it personally and added a little personal note for Jinnah. The invitation was not really an invitation in the classical sense of the word. It was an invitation to hold a summit to reunite peacefully, but the details were to be filled in by the government of Delhi. This was as to assure their agreement to the summit. Now, finally, their answer had arrived and the entirety of the Commune’s government cabinet gathered in Gandhi’s ashram to discuss how to move further. Mahadev opened the letter and started reading it:

“On behalf of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Jinnah, I have the pleasure to inform the Government of the Bharatiya Commune that we accept your request for a summit on the reunification of the Indian subcontinent. As per your request, we have thought about the date and location of the summit. Our Government proposes to hold the conference at Lucknow on the 10th of July of this year. This gives both our nations roughly two months to prepare for the negotiations. On behalf of the Prime Minister, I have also included his Fourteen Points for the future of India. The Prime Minister wishes to make clear that these points are his demands and are to be taken as they are. If there are points of dispute, it is up to the Prime Minister to decide during the Summit whether or not changes are needed. The Government of the Dominion looks forward to seeing President Gandhi and his associates in Lucknow. May God be with you and guide India on the path of peace.”

Gandhi was the first to speak: “This is wonderful news. Jinnah’s Fourteen Points have been circulating for a while now and they are not entirely unreasonable. This great country has a history of being divided into many smaller states. Therefor Jinnah’s proposal for a federal state is not entirely ridiculous. Now, on the matter of religion. My support goes to a secular state where ideally religion doesn’t play a role. But I do understand the concerns of the Muslims. They want to be protected and have an equal say in government. Cementing their rights in a future Constitution will be a necessary step in unifying India. With Jinnah’s demands now clear, it is time that we put our own demands forward. Any suggestions?” Minister of Internal Affairs Amrit Kaur answered Gandhi’s call: “I must say that I am very pleased with the response from Delhi. However, I must also say that unification will have mayor consequences for my cabinet. For example, the National Bhoodan Committee has been doing wonders with the country side. Our latest figures show an immense increase in education investments from the local Bhoodan Councils. We as a government should be proud of this achievement and we must try to keep this wonderful piece of legislation alive in a unified India.” Everyone in the room nodded. Then it was Razak’s turn to speak: “I’m a bit concerned about what position a unified India will take on the world stage. I mean both the Commune and the Dominion are part of an international alliance. We have our own unique bond with Burma in the Eastern Syndicalist Union, while the Dominion is an integral part of the Entente and the British Commonwealth. I feel like this issue could dominate peace talks and maybe even sabotage them. We must ask ourselves what our future relationship with Burma will be and what kind of relationship we want with the Entente and Commonwealth. We do not want to put ourselves back in the position of British subjects, but I suspect that Jinnah wouldn’t like to just cut all ties with the Entente.” Gandhi understood Razak’s concerns and said: “Part of the peace process is also mending the bond between the Indian people and the British. For too long has our relationship been one of inequality. If the British are willing to treat our people and our democratically elected government as equals, than there is certainly a place for the British in our house of friendship and peace. I’m quite sure they have too many financial and economic interests to just let the Dominion go, but we can hold that against them. If it looks like Delhi is slipping from their grasp and we can offer to guarantee trade relations with the Entente, then I suspect they’d be more than willing to accept reunification. As for Burma, I am sure that trade and cooperation will continue. My plans for the Burma road could also benefit industry in the Dominion, so they would also favour a friendly neighbour, even if they are syndicalists.” Tagore, the Commune’s premier, then chose to speak: “My friend, there is one last issue which I think is vital for our nation after reunification and that is the matter of collective industry. As it stands now, our people are shareholders in the companies they work for and this status is protected by the law. The Dominion on the other hand is a capitalist country and does not provide the same legal provisions for collective industry. If we were to join our two countries, then competition from the capitalist industries in the west might root out our collective industries in the east. We must provide legal protection for these industries and make them more competitive, without losing workers’ rights of course. This will be a difficult balance, but an important one nonetheless. I think Jinnah will have an ear for our concerns on this matter, as he’s a social democrat himself.” Gandhi thanked Tagore for his thoughts and replied: “We must indeed not forget about our own economical interests. But let’s not forget that competition is an aspect of capitalism. We must ask ourselves if capitalism is what we want to achieve. My intentions for this country’s economy have always been self-sufficiency, autarky or whatever you want to call it. Feeding and clothing our own people should be our priority. Whatever extra profits we make, we could use for foreign trade. But we must never lose sight of the poorest and weakest in the country. I have recently come across the ideas of a man called John Maynard Keynes. His thoughts on economical processes are truly wonderful and we can use them in our own nation. Keynes advocates raising the purchasing power of the people to increase the demand for goods. Our priority as a government should therefore be increasing the purchasing power and making sure that the demands of the people are filled. Increasing the supply of goods without having a population that can buy that surplus leaves our economy vulnerable to the demand of foreign countries.” Minister of Economy Sitaramayya was amazed about Gandhi’s thorough knowledge of economical theory and said: “Bapu, you have a good point. This Mr. Keynes who you are talking about is indeed the hottest new topic among economical theorists all around the world. Even in Canada his theories are put to the test. I think we could quite easily convince Jinnah with this logic.” The discussion went on for another hour before the Cabinet agreed on a preliminary draft of demands and disbanded.

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2nd of May, in the morning.

Field Marshal Bose had called together his followers for one last time. News had reached him that the Dominion had accepted Gandhi’s invitation. Bose was furious, this was his last chance to try and stop the government. The Field Marshal had also invited the mole, he finally figured out how he could use her against Gandhi. When everyone was gathered in his home, Bose started talking: “Friends and allies of the resistance, the time has come to rid this nation of its traitors. I have received word that the imperialists in the west have accepted Gandhi’s request for negotiations. We cannot allow that fool to sell our country to Ottawa. I have therefore sent the order to our soldiers to start the dismantling of Gandhi’s weak government. Tonight, we march onto the government building and remove Gandhi himself from office. If all goes well, in the following weeks we will have taken over complete control of the Commune and we will start preparing the invasion of the Dominion.” The crowd cheered after Bose’s speech, but General Saghal was terrified. She snuck out to bring this to Gandhi’s attention. That was exactly what Bose had hoped for. Unbeknownst to the General, the Field Marshal had rigged her car with explosives. As soon as she would reach the Presidential Residence, her car would explode, hopefully killing Gandhi and Saghal in the process. Bose could then easily fill the power vacuum by proclaiming himself the Commune’s next president.

Lakshmi Saghal hurried towards her car. As soon as she got it running, she drove towards Gandhi’s residence. But along the way, she decided to make a stop at Abdul Razak’s house and inform him of Bose’s plan, so he could start their own plan to counter the Field Marshal. She left the car running while she got out and ran to Razak’s door. When he opened the door, Razak recognized the General’s shocked face. “Abdul, I have no time to explain, but Bose will start his uprising today. He plans to storm the Presidential Residence tonight. You must get the Red Army on high alert and double security on Gandhi as soon as you can”, the General said as quickly as she could. As soon as she had arrived at his door, Lakshmi was gone again. When she got back into the car, she pressed the gas pedal as hard as she could, but her engine gave up. She tried to restart the car, but an explosion blew her car from its framework, killing the General in the process. Razak, who had seen everything and was still a bit shocked by Saghal’s sudden appearance at his door, hurried towards the car. Pieces of wreckage lay all over the street, but there was no sign of the General. If what she said was true, then Gandhi must be informed as quickly as possible. Razak hurried towards his own car and speeded towards the Presidential Residence.

2nd of May, in the evening.

Bose just received word that his plan to kill Gandhi had failed. In the meanwhile, military presence in the capital had nearly tripled since this morning. Bose knew that storming the Presidential Residence at this point would be suicide and he decided to flee the capital and join his forces in the Bengal countryside instead. Before he left though, he ordered his followers to spread misinformation in Calcutta and deliver an ultimatum to Gandhi. The Mahatma, as idealistic as he was, of course refused the ultimatum, leaving Bose no other option than to reorganize in the west.

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3rd of May, in the early morning.

Bose had prepared for this very moment for months now, but so had the late General Saghal and Abdul Razak. Their focus had been on reducing Bose’s forces even before the war had started. Now it was all up to Razak to defeat Bose and at the same time keep casualties low on both sides. As it stood right now, Bose’s Maximists controlled parts of Orissa and almost the entire area bordering the Dominion. Loyalist troops were primarily stationed around the capital after the recent bombing and now had to be transported to the front as quickly as possible. In the meantime, a telegram was sent to Burma, requesting their assistance in putting down Bose’s uprising.

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4th of May.

Razak’s first priority would be to ensure that Bose remained isolated from the rest of the world so he couldn’t receive any supplies or volunteers. To achieve this, Razak ordered the Red Army to occupy Orissa and prevent Bose’s Maximists from reaching the ocean.

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7th of May.

While the Red Army was keeping the Maximists in the south from reaching the ocean, Maximists in the north were trying to reach Darjeeling and seek connection with their former training camps in Nepal. In the meanwhile, Razak ordered an advance into Maximist territories in between a gap of the enemy’s defences.

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10th of May.

Instead of cutting of the Red Army’s push towards Patna, Bose made the tactical mistake of pushing south to cut of the troops that are heading towards Raipur. However, the Red Army is quick enough to fill the gap and prevent the Maximist from driving a wedge between the two fronts. In the meanwhile, a division of the Red Army is able to get closer to Bose’s hideout in Patna due to his troops being engaged in the east.

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11th of May.

Razak’s plan to cut the enemy’s forces in half has worked. There are now two pockets of Maximist resistance. While the northern pocket is close to collapsing, the Maximists in the southern pocket are still trying to push towards the ocean, but the Red Army is holding them off for now.

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12th of May.

Patna is taken, but Bose was able to flee south nevertheless. Razak expects him to head towards Raipur and lead the troops there. In some places, guerrilla warfare has broken out between the Maximists and the Red Army, further complicating the Bharatiyan Civil War.

27th of May.

The Maximists still aren’t put down, but the northern pocket is on its last legs. Meanwhile, Bose has regrouped in the south and is trying to seek a connection to the northern pocket. The south however is also close to collapse, with Raipur being taking at the moment.

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31st of May.

The conflict is over, the Maximists have capitulated. More important though, Razak has managed to keep the casualties quite low. 245 brave men lost their lives on the side of the Red Army, while 14 140 Maximists were killed, most of them died in the last days of the war when the pockets of resistance were finally dealt with. Bose himself was found dead in Raipur. He had committed suicide to save himself from capture and humiliation in Calcutta. In exactly one month, Razak was able to defeat the uprising and end the civil war. Gandhi and his government could now fully focus on reunification. Members of the Indian National Congress raised the question of what to do with the traitors and have even suggested execution, but Gandhi refuses to sign any order to kill and has instead chosen to imprison them and has asked for their transfer to Burmese prisons. The battle’s won, but the child is lost.

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Bonus points to whoever can spot the reference to a popular show in this chapter.​
 
Excellent. Bose has fallen
 
great AAR, one thing I didn't get though, did you play all your AARs simultaneously on multiple PCs and writing them one by one?
 
great AAR, one thing I didn't get though, did you play all your AARs simultaneously on multiple PCs and writing them one by one?
So these are all different playthroughs in different savegames. My Canada-USA AAR was multiplayer as I played with a friend of mine and that game kind of established the base line for the shared universe. I then expanded upon it heavily through my Belgium AAR which took place in a different savegame. My Cuba AAR was set in the 1960s, so I modded the map of the Cold War mod to fit the already established cannon. And now with this one I decided to expand upon some things in Asia and fill some other gaps that I left out in my previous AARs.
 
Chapter XI: The Lucknow Summit
Chapter XI: The Lucknow Summit
10th of July – 29th of August 1938

10th of July, in the afternoon.

Gandhi and his entourage had travelled to Lucknow by train, in the utmost of secrecy. Most people in the Commune and in the Dominion weren’t even aware of the Summit. But people had died so this could happen, so Gandhi was determined to let this summit succeed. Gandhi and the Bharatiyan delegation had been welcomed by a small contingent of Dominionist troops and were put under maximum security. Gandhi’s requests to go for a walk in the city were continuously refused and the Mahatma had to settle with a short walk in the courtyard of their hotel. They had heard nothing yet from the people who were supposed to sit on the other side of the negotiation table today. It wasn’t until shortly after lunch that a representative from the Delhi government arrived and took the Bharatiyan delegation to the Bara Imambara, escorted by a military cohort. The Bara Imambara was one of the many imambaras in Lucknow. Along the way, Gandhi summarized the Commune’s interests with Mahadev, who as Minister of Foreign Affairs had come along. It mainly came down to four points: 1) collective industry should have a legal status within a reunified India, 2) implementation of Bhoodan should continue in order to gradually root out the Zamindar system, 3) a reunified India must break all ties to the Entente and the Commonwealth and 4) politicians from the Commune should be allowed to work in the new India. Gandhi and Mahadev hoped that these points would also be appealing to Jinnah and his social democrats.

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The Bara Imambara in Lucknow as it stands today. From all over the world, tourists come to visit to see the spot where Gandhi and Jinnah signed the Lucknow Declaration.

Gandhi, Mahadev and their entourage arrived in a large hall with a round table set up in the middle. The Dominionist delegation was already seated and ready to get to the point. Gandhi recognized Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Delhi’s Prime Minister and a major advocate for Muslim rights. Gandhi expected a long list of demands and guarantees from Jinnah, and he was right. The Prime Minister had spent a lot of time thinking about a workable unified India and had come up with at least 14 points. These points would later be known as Jinnah’s Fourteen Points and would form the basis of the Indian Federation we know today. Once everyone was seated, Jinnah officially opened the summit: “Mr. Gandhi, delegates of the Bharatiya Commune, as Prime Minister of the Dominion of India, I formally open this summit.” Jinnah then went on to setting out his view on a reunified India. In Jinnah’s unified India, the rights of Muslims would be protected by devolution of government and constitutional guarantees for Muslim participation in government. Jinnah proposed a federal India, with the central government holding most of the power and the provinces getting the residuary powers. All elected bodies on the central level should include at least one third of Muslim representation. In provinces with a considerable amount of Muslims, the same principle applied. Changes to the Constitution would only pass with an approval of the provinces constituting the Indian Federation. Jinnah’s 14 points heavily touched upon a Constitution for a reunified India. While Gandhi could understand Jinnah’s concern regarding Muslims’ rights, he also thought that India should remain a secular state and that the matter of the Constitution should be something to be discussed later on in the peace talks. After Jinnah had spoken, Gandhi took the lead: “My friends. We are here in Lucknow, the place where 22 years ago a pact was made between the Hindus and Muslims of this country. The Lucknow Pact still has value today, proven by the fact that we are here to talk about peace, non-violence and reunification. My dear Jinnah, you and I are brothers born of the same mother India. If you have fears, I want to put them at rest. If I recall correctly, you and I were both here back in 1916 when the pact was made. Today I still stand by the agreements made back then and I hope you still stand for a unified and independent India, my dear Jinnah.”

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The Mahatma during the Round Table Conference in Lucknow.

With the opening statements made, the first round of negotiations could begin. The hot topic of today was the status of a unified India in international politics. While the Commune wanted nothing to do with the British Empire, the Dominion didn’t want any ties with syndicalist countries like Burma. But both had big economic interests. While the Dominion was the Entente’s largest exporter of steel, the Commune had invested millions into expanding infrastructure between Bengal, Burma and China, Gandhi’s so called Burma Road. It was clear that both sides had to make some concessions. Gandhi began expressing his point of view: “The future relationship between India and the British Empire will have to be one of equality and not of British dominion over the Indian people. 100.000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350.000.000 Indians if those Indians refuse to cooperate. As far as I am concerned, this does not mean that private corporations should be forced to end their financial and economic ties to the Entente, but efforts should be made to integrate them better within an Indian market and not an international one.” From the other side of the room, the Dominionists were dismayed with the notion of leaving the Commonwealth. Particularly a British fellow, probably a prominent industrialist stood up and said: “This is outrageous. India is a historical and integral part of the British Empire. We have brought civilization and wealth to this country! I refuse to submit myself to a populist like Mr. Gandhi! There can only be one ruler of India: His Majesty the King-Emperor! After all, India is the Crown Jewel of the Empire and must remain so.” Jinnah was somewhat displeased that someone with such outdated views, even in the Dominion, was allowed to participate in the talks. The Prime Minister stood up and addressed his audience: “Such imperialist views serve only to drive the Indian population further into the arms of the extreme. It is time that the British gave up their claims in India and let the Indians rule themselves. But I assure you, when I will visit the Viceroy this evening and inform him of the results of today’s talks, I will tell him what I am telling you now. India will remain the largest exporter of steel to the Entente.” Upon hearing that, some within the Bharatiyan delegation were angered and one member even shouted: “India will not export steel to fuel a war machine intended on destroying syndicalism in Europe!” It began to look more and more as if both Jinnah and Gandhi didn’t have full control over their own delegations. And so Gandhi decided to ask Jinnah for a private discussion on the matter. Jinnah eagerly agreed, all was it because he loathed being kept on a leash by the British imperialists in the room.

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Gandhi and Jinnah after their private meeting in Lucknow. Historians now think that in this meeting, the two men agreed on unification and laid out its terms that would dominate the rest of the talks.

11th of July, around noon.

Yesterday’s negotiations had almost been a complete failure. If it wasn’t for the decision to keep the talks in private between Gandhi and Jinnah, the negotiations would surely have spiralled into accusations from both sides. The two men had come to an agreement: India would break all ties to the Entente, but would allow free trade to continue between India and its former overlords. At the same time, the Commune’s treaty with Burma would be revised and Burma would be forced to hold democratic elections if they wished to continue receiving investments from India. Today’s talks would touch on the topic of collective industry in Bengal and the status of aristocratic elites within both the Dominion and the Commune. As many of the imperialists who had threatened yesterday’s talks had become disinterested in the negotiations, as they thought there never would be a viable compromise anyway, the table was mostly filled by Social Democrats on the Dominion side and Syndicalists on the Commune side. Gandhi hoped to appeal to their common visions on workers’ rights to protect the collective industries in Bengal. With the session officially opened, Gandhi began his plea: “In the Bharatiya Commune, there is a wonderful system in place. We are one of the few countries where factory workers are shareholders in the companies they work for. Sure, this system isn’t perfect and some within the INC would rather see the industry in the save hands of the government. But nonetheless, this creates great opportunities for the workers of this country. That is why I stand here today to defend this system. A unified India must protect its workers. As I see it, allowing collective industry to be destroyed by capitalist competition is allowing the property of workers to be taken away. Therefore their right to be shareholders should be protected and collective industry must continue to exist in a unified India.” Gandhi had put his words in such a way that disagreeing with him was equal to expropriating the individual property of workers. His motion was put to a vote and due to the absence of the industrial imperialists of the Dominion, was carried almost unanimously.

15th of July, in the afternoon.

Over the last few days, the Bharatiyan and Dominionist delegations drafted a Constitution for a unified India. Heavily inspired by the United States’ Constitution, both delegations agreed on a final draft that would both see a strong central government and extensive autonomy to India’s provinces. In addition, the borders of the provinces were redrawn and separate constituencies were set up for Muslims and Hindus to ensure their proper representation in the Indian National Congress, the new federal parliament. Gandhi and Jinnah agreed on holding elections within the next month for a two-year term Congress and government to finish the reunification process. For the time being, an interim government was set up with Gandhi as President and Jinnah as Prime Ministers, all other posts were equally divided between members of the former Commune government and members of the former Dominion. After both Gandhi and Jinnah signed the final draft of the Lucknow Declaration, they left the Bara Imambara and were greeted by press from all over the world. Unification had been achieved, but the country was far from unified.

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Unified India’s new Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Jinnah and new President Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi after the signing of the Final Declaration of the Lucknow Summit.

15th of August.

The whole of northern India was going to the polls to decide how the first Indian National Congress should look like. But in fact, the elections were all about whether or not the Indian people accepted Gandhi and Jinnah’s platform of a unified India. While, in the Princely Federation war had broken out between the Deccan Federation and the Madras Presidency, millions of Indians were deciding the fate of India by putting a piece of paper in a wooden box. Gandhi ran as leader of the Socialist Party, founded on the coalition between his Agrarians and Nehru’s Moderates from the former Bharatiyan INC. Jinnah ran with his more moderate All-India Social Democrats, which was expected to do well in the Muslim provinces in the west of India. The Unionist Party, led by Sikander Hayat Khan, formed the main opposition to Gandhi and his socialists and openly opposed some of the elements of the Final Declaration of Lucknow. In the former Commune, unrest had been brewing because many Maximist politicians were not allowed to run for office. In some places this has even escalated into open terrorism against the state.

29th of August, in the evening.

All the votes were finally counted and the results were made public. Gandhi had chosen to remain at his ashram during the elections, so Mahadev had come all the way from Calcutta to deliver the good news. Mahadev entered Gandhi’s room and greeted his friend, who was spinning. “Bapu, I have good news. The choice of the Indian people has been made public. Our Socialist Party won 46% of the votes. This brings us close to an absolute majority. I expect that Jinnah and his All-India Social Democrats would be all too happy to form a government with us and work further towards integration and unification.” Gandhi stopped spinning and it was only then that Mahadev saw what the Mahatma had made himself: a large tricolour flag bearing the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel. Gandhi stood up and asked: “What do you think, my friend, would the Indian people prefer this flag?”

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The Indian flag, based on a design by the Mahatma Gandhi.

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Largest party per province: the Socialist Party (red), the All-India Social Democrats (pink) and the Unionist Party (blue) all managed to grab the majority in at least one province, while the liberal Swaraj Party saw its votes spread out all over the country.

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The composition of the new Lower House of the Indian National Congress. The Socialist Party (red) has got the most seats (279), followed by the All-India Social Democrats (pink) with 146 seats, the Unionists (blue) are the third largest party with 66 seats. The Swaraj Party (yellow) closes the ranks with 54 seats.

 
nice and peaceful reunification, although I was expecting some alt-flag :)
 
The Path of peace indeed! Finally something a bit more pacific
 
nice and peaceful reunification, although I was expecting some alt-flag :)
Hadn't really thought about an alternate flag, as the default Indian flag was the one the game itself gave me.
The Path of peace indeed! Finally something a bit more pacific
While northern India might be peacefully unified, there's still the Princely Federation to challenge the legitimacy of Gandhi and Jinnah.
 
Long live the Republic of India! But not everybody in Northern India is going to peacefully accept the new order and the compromises required to make it and there is the princely federation in the south.
 
Long live the Republic of India! But not everybody in Northern India is going to peacefully accept the new order and the compromises required to make it and there is the princely federation in the south.
Exactly, the election results show more or less what regions are less content with Gandhi and Jinnah's reunification platform. And the Princely Federation in the south is certainly not going to stand by and watch as the princes in the north see their power weaken.
 
Chapter XII: The War of Southern Aggression
Chapter XII: The War of Southern Aggression
13th of November 1938 – 28th of September 1939

13th of November 1938, Pondicherry, Madras.

The situation looked dire as Madras was reduced to its coastline. When Madras declared war on the Deccan Federation in hopes of regaining its autonomy, many hoped that the newly unified India would come to their help. But Delhi was too busy with internal affairs, as far left resistance in Orissa and Bengal threatened the stability of the region. The Madras Armed forces would not last one more day. Around noon, the order to surrender arrived from Madras. The fighting was over and the Deccan Federation could divert its attention back to the north, where Gandhi and Jinnah were increasingly limiting the power of local princes.

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16th of November, Delhi, Indian Federation.

Gandhi and Jinnah had been used to working with each other for a couple of months now, but never did they face a bigger issue then today. In the Indian National Congress, a more radical member of Gandhi’s Socialist Party had submitted a proposal to end the Diarchy, the shared rule between democratically elected bodies and local princes in the former Dominion. Not surprisingly, the bill managed to pass with wide support across both the Socialist Party and the All-India Social Democrats. The moment the results were made public, members of the Unionist Party stood up and left the Congress angrily. But Gandhi and Jinnah were now faced with a difficult task. How would they go about and abolish the Diarchy. Implementing something similar to the Bhoodan system would not work, at least not everywhere. The princes held far bigger power and much larger estates, so turning them into local administrators would not work. Abolishing indirect rule was a given here, but how far would Gandhi and Jinnah go? The bill which was passed mentioned expropriation, but the Swaraj Party tried to pass an amendment to replace that with granting the princes a pension, a motion which barely failed. Seeing the amendment got wide support within the Unionist Party, granting pensions instead of expropriating the princes might bring them back on board the unification process that has been going on since Lucknow. But nonetheless, Jinnah and Gandhi were powerless, as the bill was as it was. The only thing they could do within the legality of the proposal was a small compensation for the properties that the princes would lose.

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25th of January 1939, Delhi, Indian Federation.

The Unionist Party increasingly voiced their opposition to the government’s reunification programme. As the last remnants of British rule are being swept away by Socialist and Social Democrat legislation, the members of the Unionist Party, mostly princes themselves, stood by powerless. Today was the last drop that made the bucket flow over. When Congress was debating about the defence budget for next year, a member of the Swaraj Party raised the question of whether or not funds would be set aside for the princes’ private armies. The member of parliament had no intention of sparking an intense debate, but the Socialist Party was enraged that this system still existed. In their opinion, the state should be the only one with an army, so a bill was proposed to integrate the princes’ armies under the Indian National Defence Forces. The proposal passed, being supported by the government’s parties. But this time, an amendment from the Swaraj Party did manage to pass. The Swaraj Party argued that the army was in need of new officers after the exodus of British officers and so they proposed to let the princes remain in control of their divisions. Surprisingly, the amendment passed because some members of the Socialist Party feared an outright resurrection in Bengal and recognized the need for a well-organized army. Jinnah and the All-India Social Democrats were enraged and threatened with a vote of no confidence. And so Gandhi vetoed the amendment, putting the princely armies under parliament control instead. The Unionist Party was furious to say the least. In their opinion, Gandhi had shown his true face as a dictator. Some Unionists even called for outright rebellion, but for now the party issued a statement saying that they would not participate in Congress debates until the mistakes were undone.

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27th of January 1939, India.

After the integration of the princely armies into the Indian army, a mutiny spread among the soldiers in Kashmir. Reason being that their salary under parliament control had dropped immensely compared to what they received from the princes. Violence quickly escalated and troops from a neighbouring region were brought in to stop the mutiny. The violence spread south, all the way to Gujarat. Despite efforts of the Unionist Party, the largest party in Kashmir and Gujarat, to calm down the people, the violence continued. After a report that soldiers from Bengal fired on an unruly crowd, the princes of Kashmir and Gujarat announced the secession of their regions from the Indian Federation and their intention to join the Deccan Federation. An all-out rebellion broke out in the two Provinces and as Commander in Chief, Gandhi was forced to deploy more troops and prevent total chaos. Jinnah warned Gandhi that war with the Deccan Federation may be on the horizon as troop movements along the border had led some to believe that the South was gearing up for war. Gandhi tried to open diplomatic channels with Hyderabad, but he got no answer from the Deccan government. And so he prepared for the inevitable.

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The Kashmir Mutiny of 1939 would mark the beginning of the largest conflict on the Indian subcontinent since the colonization of the British.

30th of January, in the vicinity of Nagpur, on the Indian side of the border.

Under the cover of darkness, Deccan forces crossed the border into India. Their objective was clear: reach the garrison at Raipur as quickly as possible before Gandhi and his government realised that war had been declared. Unbeknownst to them, India was prepared for war. Despite Gandhi’s credo of peace, the Indian President still foresaw the threat of an invasion from the south. As a result, the Deccan forces were met with fierce resistance and as soon as the word of their attack went out, Indian forces all along the border went on the offensive.

The Kashmir Front

The war was spread out on three important fronts, the first one being the Kashmir Front. Five fresh Indian divisions were hastily deployed to deal with the insurgent region quickly. However, due to the harsh conditions in Kashmir, dealing with the two Princely divisions took longer than expected. By the 5th of March, the enemy was surrounded and cut off from Kashmir’s biggest city, Srinagar. Nonetheless, the Kashmiri forces were able to make a break south towards Lahore, but they were stopped in their tracks. By the 16th of April, their organization was as good as gone and the Kashmiri pocket was cleared not long after.

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The Gujarat-Bombay Front

The second major front was located in the breakaway province of Gujarat and would later on shift towards Bombay. It was by far the most deadly front of all. After the uprising in former Indian territory, two divisions found themselves behind enemy lines and were being attacked from Ahmadabad. They managed to hold the line and gain a foothold, isolating Gujarat from the rest of the Deccan Federation. For a while it looked like Gujarat would be easily dealt with, but due to a Deccan counteroffensive on the weak southern defence line of the Indian forces, they were able to connect back to Gujarat.

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The Indian army regrouped and five fresh divisions were quickly deployed to hold the line. This resulted in the encirclement of some Deccan troops who were too quick to advance into Indian territory. Over the next few months, the front remained relatively stable with the Indian army gaining only minor advances in Gujarat. It was only because of the arrival of the troops from the Kashmir Front that a new offensive could begin. In May, an effort began to once again encircle Gujarat to cut it off from the reinforcement lines running to Bombay. By the end of May, the attack had succeeded and had even managed to create a second encirclement.

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In June, the advance continued with Bombay as its new target. By August the northern front of the Deccan Federation collapsed and Indian troops were now at the doorstep of Bombay. On the 6th of August, Bombay was taken and more Deccan troops were encircled. By the end of August, resistance north of Bombay was dealt with and the focus of the attack moved further south. With Bombay and Poona taken, Kolhapur was the next target. At this point, the Gujarat-Bombay Front became pretty much indistinguishable from the third front: the Hyderabad Front.

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The Hyderabad Front

The Hyderabad Front was the most important front of the War of Southern Aggression between India and the Deccan Federation. Hyderabad was the Deccan capital and was therefore the main goal for the Indian army. In the early stages of the war, the Deccan forces were the ones deciding the battles. But soon they became exhausted of all the fighting and the Indian army started to push back, encircling some divisions in Nagpur. By March, the Indian army had managed to cross the Godavari River. In April, the Indian army was at the doorsteps of Hyderabad and the Deccan government was forced to flee south. In June, the Indian army finally managed to take the Deccan capital, while in the south, a breakthrough was made.

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In July, the opening in the south almost turned into a disaster as one Indian cavalry division was too bold and got surrounded. At some point it looked like the Indians were on the retreat, but by September the situation got completely turned around. Two breakthroughs could force an opening towards the western coast of the Indian subcontinent. With encirclements left, right and centre, all Deccan resistance surrendered one after another. On the 22nd of September, their fight was over as the government, now in Madras, formally surrendered itself to the Indian Federation. The war was over and South India could now be integrated, but the victory came at a high cost and resistance to occupation would last for a couple more months.

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28th of September 1939, Delhi, India.

During the last month of the War of Southern Aggression, events occurred which shook Gandhi and his cabinet. In Europe, the Commune of France had declared war on Germany, while the Kingdom of Canada had declared war on the Union of Britain. Many inside the former Dominion were happy that a unified India had escaped this international conflict, but at the same time, bags of bodies returned from the front in Southern India. With the war over now, the Indian Federation came out on top as a power to be taken into account. While a new Weltkrieg was raging in Europe and war between Japan and China was escalating, India declared itself as a power for peace and protection. This bore results as an Omani delegation arrived in Delhi, asking Gandhi and Jinnah for protection against their Arabian and Persian neighbours. Of course Jinnah was eager to accept their request and Gandhi agreed to uphold peace in the region. It was the first sign of a new world order, one in which India would take a lead.​
 
For an AAR called "The Path of Peace" we are now seeing our second major war.

Perhaps this is a definition of the the word peace along the lines of "they make a wasteland and call it peace" kind of peace?

:D
 
For an AAR called "The Path of Peace" we are now seeing our second major war.

Perhaps this is a definition of the the word peace along the lines of "they make a wasteland and call it peace" kind of peace?

:D
Haha well yeah, the Path of Peace is forged through war. But I assure you, this was the last war fought by India in this AAR.
 
Chapter XIII: The 1940 Elections
Chapter XIII: The 1940 Elections
23rd of May 1940 – 14th of November 1940

23rd of May 1940 , Delhi, India.

Time had gone by so fast for the young Indian nation. After two years of unification in the north and one year of unification with the south, much of the legislation had been harmonized. This meant that the stakes at the 1940 elections were mainly about other topics such as industry and security. Gandhi’s Socialist Party had mainly campaigned on the successes of the last two years, but the war with the Deccan Federation was a bloody stain on Gandhi’s repertoire of non-violence. Jinnah’s All-India Social Democrats had mainly campaigned against the Unionist Party, which they blamed for the escalation of violence in Kashmir and Gujarat which ultimately led to the war with the south. The Unionist Party argued that they had actively tried to de-escalate the violence, but that they ultimately failed because the Socialist and Social Democrat government was too radical with their implementation of anti-princely legislation. And finally, the Swaraj Party campaigned on a program of reconstruction in the south, funded by industrialists from the north, they avoided the topic of the war as much as possible. For weeks now, the votes of last month’s elections were being counted. Exit polls had shown a considerable loss for the Socialist Party and some gains for the Unionist and Swaraj Parties. When the final result came in, there were clear winners and losers. While still holding a majority in parliament, the Socialists and Social Democrats now had to face a much bigger opposition from the Swaraj Party and the Unionists, while Ceylon separatists also made their entry into the Indian National Congress.

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Socialist Party: 219 (V60)
All-India Social Democrats: 120 (V26)
Swaraj Party: 114 (^60)
Unionist Party: 82 (^16)
Ceylon Independence Party: 10 (^10)

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The Socialist Party still was the largest party in many provinces, but lost a considerable amount of seats due to the addition of southern India into the INC. The Swaraj Party was the strongest party in southern India, while Ceylon was won by separatists.

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The new cabinet includes two members of the All-India Social Democrats, while the rest is a continuation from the Commune’s government before the reunification. Jinnah’s demand that one third should be Muslim is also fulfilled with himself, Khan and Razak all being Muslims.

The question of the Princely armies was one of the causes of the war and the government was often criticized for their too radical legislation which caused widespread mutiny and violence. After the War of Southern Aggression, it became clear that India’s army was not that unbeatable. On several occasions, the Deccan Federation had the upper hand. India was only able to win due to the advantage in manpower. That fact was visible in the casualty statistics. Gandhi wanted to wash this stain off his legacy. He was a pacifist at heart, but knew that in the current geopolitical atmosphere war was a real threat. In Europe, the Second Weltkrieg was still raging. Its effects could be felt on the Indian economy. The high demand for steel made the prices skyrocket. While this was beneficial for Tata Steel, a major Indian steel corporation, this also meant that other Indian producers had a harder time getting their resources. Because unlimited steel exports to the Entente were part of the reunification deal, Gandhi could not raise limit resource exports. Instead, Gandhi pushed through a bill that would see the government buying steel from Tata to sell at a much lower price to local industries. One of the side-effects was that gun manufacturers from Entente countries such as the US started an Indian branch to be able to tap into that national stockpile and produce guns more cheaply. Some members of Gandhi’s party were enraged, because in some way India was contributing to the downfall of the syndicalist nations in Europe. Gandhi simply called them back and said that these foreign corporations were giving a much needed boost to the Indian economy while also providing employment for India’s poorest workers.

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J.R.D Tata from the Tata family, India’s biggest exporters of steel.

5th of June 1940, Delhi, India.

Still the issue of India’s weak army remained. With Russia expanding into Central Asia to reclaim their lost territories and China and Japan fighting out a war, India was caught in between all that conflict. While Japan’s ambitions of a Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere might be acclaimed in some ways, the Russian ambitions were purely imperialist in nature. While India had the Himalayas to defend from China, its border with Persia and Afghanistan were less defended. At the same time, Burma was a possible unreliability in case of a joint Japanese-Siamese invasion. Gandhi sat together with Jinnah, Desai and Razak to discuss a possible solution to this problem. Mahadev Desai, Minister of Foreign Affairs identified three problems. First of all, India’s army was in need of new officers. Second of all, both people within India and people outside of India criticized the government’s pro-Entente course, which might spark internal rebellion or a foreign declaration of war. Last of all, India’s borders with Persia and Afghanistan and Burma’s border with Siam were mostly unguarded and would need an upgrade in fortifications. Abdul Razak, Head of Military Intelligence, proposed to pardon officers of the former Deccan Federation and accept them into the ranks of the Indian army if they were willing to swear an oath of loyalty to Gandhi and the Indian government. Gandhi agreed with Razak. A hard confrontation was the last thing they needed and reconciliation with the princes might prevent future mutinies from happening. That left two problems still unsolved. The problem of the Entente would probably remain an issue for the foreseeable future. The reunification deals left Gandhi and Jinnah with little room to move away from a pro-Entente foreign policy, even if India was officially neutral in the conflict between the Internationale and the Entente. Then Desai came up with an idea. Portugal, a member of the Entente, currently still had a colonial possession on the Indian subcontinent: Goa. If India were to seize that colony, the government would show that it isn’t a puppet of the Entente. The plan was risky and Gandhi didn’t fully agree with seizing land in such a way. Still it was the best option to show both internal critics and foreign enemies that India wasn’t a playball of European powers anymore. Jinnah stood up and proposed a different approach. Seize Goa, but inform the Portuguese that they have a week to leave. If the Portuguese comply, conflict will be avoided. If they refuse, Jinnah would take it up to the Kingdom of Canada and demand that Portugal retreat from India if the Entente wants to receive steel from India. Gandhi accepted Jinnah’s proposal and the message was sent to Lisbon. Lastly, the issue of India’s borders was discussed. Gandhi approved a small budget for upgrading fortifications, but no major agreement on improvement could be made yet.

16th of June 1940, Goa, Portuguese India.

Governor-General José Ricardo Pereira Cabral was taking his afternoon nap when he was suddenly awakened by one of his Indian aids. “Sir, a telegram has arrived for you.” The Governor General took the piece of paper out of the aid’s hands and started reading.

On behalf of His Royal Highness Duarte II of Portugal, you are hereby relieved of your duties as Governor-General of Goa and ordered to return to Portugal at once. Any troops under your command are to be transported to Portugal as well to help in the defence of the Iberian peninsula against the Commune of France.

Those damn syndicalists in France had ruined José Ricardo’s career. With them reaching across the Pyrenees and getting all the way to Barcelona, the government in Lisbon must be scouring for all available reserve troops to help in the defence of their home country. The Governor-General would never learn of the secret deal made between Portugal and India. Mere hours after all Portuguese troops and officials had left Goa, Indian forces moved in and set up their own administration, integrating the region under the Bombay Province.

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Civilians welcoming the Indian army into Goa after the departure of the Portuguese.

14th of November, Delhi, India.

A group of scientists entered the Presidential Palace, Gandhi had invited them personally. Among the invitees were Homi J. Bhabha and Satyendra Nath Bose, both experts of nuclear physics. Bhabha and Bose weren’t quite sure why the President had invited them, but they did suspect that he might want to get them to work on a government project. Gandhi, draped in white cloths and with a walking stick, entered the room and greeted the scientists, while an advisor followed closely behind him. After the usual getting-acquainted conversation topics, Gandhi got to business. “Gentlemen, I invited you here today because you are India’s brightest minds. I admire your thorough interest in unveiling nature’s mysteries. I personally believe that our country must put itself in harmony with nature and find a good balance between mankind and its environment. I invited you here today because I believe that you can achieve this for our nation. I believe that with adequate government funding, your research could turn India into a scientifically advanced society. That is why I ask you, gentlemen, to develop a way to produce energy in an efficient and environment-friendly way.” Bhabha looked at the President with surprise and said: “According to the latest theories, nuclear energy could provide enough electricity for entire cities.” Gandhi’s curiosity rose and asked: “And you believe that you could successfully generate energy from this?” Bhabha nodded and answered: “With enough enriched uranium and government support, yes I believe a group of specialized scientists could achieve successful generation of electricity from a radioactive source.” “It is settled then,” Gandhi said, “I will try to get you the funding you need. In the meantime, feel free to fill in my advisor here on the details of your research.” The scientists eagerly began discussing the future of nuclear technology, while Gandhi left them to attend to other matters.

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Homi J. Bhabha, often called the father of India’s nuclear programme.