Kingdom of Lille-Wallonia (1962: The Apocalypse)

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=History == The Kingdom of Lille-Wallonia Royaume de Lille et de Flamande is a kingdom located in Western Europe and is one of the most economically and politically successful nations to exist in the region. It is a close ally of Kentshire and East Anglia.

Doomsday 1962
Nuclear weapons hit on Chièvres Air Base (2x 1kt), Oostmalle (1x 1kt), Zorersell AFB (1x 10kt), Brasschaat AFB (1x 10kt), Utrecht (1x 1kt), Weelde AFB (1x 10kt), Charbonnage de Beringen coal mine in Belgium (1x 1kt), Paris (1x 1kt, 2x 10kt and 1 x 20kt), Strasburg (1x 10kt and 1 x 20kt), Aachen (1x 1kt), MOD Osnabrück (2x 1kt), Bitburg Air Base AFB (1x 10kt), Bitburg (1x 10kt),  Prüm (1x 1kt),  Bastogne (1x 1kt), Calais harbour (1x 1kt), Brussels airport (1x 1kt) and Dunkirk (1x 1kt). Hainaut, Namur Picardy and Nord - Pas-de-Calais provinces would get of relatively lightly on Doomsday. Most of the 1kt and 10kt devises were delivered by Soviet bombers and not ICBMs, unlike the 20kt devices that hit Paris and Strasburg. Contact with the Congo Free State ceased as of Doomsday.

Survival
As the inevitable chaos insured, surviving troops, Gendarmes and police to help retain order in the early years. The regional governments of Hainaut, Namur, Picardy and Nord - Pas-de-Calais coordinated their efforts to help the victims of the nuclear bombings as best as they could, but electricity supplies failed with in a few hours and water supplies stopped after a week. As Dutch, German and French refugees flooded in the provinces found it impossible to cope and closed the border in the January of 1963. By the time of famine and cholera epidemic of mid-1963-64 things had turned for the worse and about 40% of the 75% who had survived the attacks died. Martial law and heavy food rationing was declared in the March of 1964 and would last until the May of 1974. The mayor of Hainault, Philippe De Lyon, who was the emergency committee’s de facto leader and his ad hoc Franco-Walloon militia, became the only source of stability in the land. This was even more so with the growing raids by the numerous desperate tribesmen of the bombed out Bitburg-Prüm region of Germany in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Philippe De Lyon later declared himself ‘King’ of a unified on May 1st, 1964, in order try to stabilise the decaying political climate. As harsh laws were passed, so the repair work continued and the living standards slowly rose.

1965-1972
Liège and Luxembourg were contacted in 1968 and the prior assimilated in 1978. The Charbonnage de Courcelles Nord coal mine was reopened in 1972, using a mixture of penal labour and captured tribesmen from Bitburg. Sadly, the abuses of human rights in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were cruel and atrocious, but necessary!

1973-1983
The Charbonnage du Gouffre coal mine was reopened in 1974, using a mixture of penal labour and captured tribesmen from Bitburg. The abuses of human rights in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were cruel and atrocious, but necessary! Both the villages of Eupen and Bastogne were invited in to the union in 1979.

Fist contact
Whist fishermen from Kentshire and Lille-Wallonia had often met informally at sea since the fleets were officially reached in the summer of 1969, official contact was made in 1972. East Anglia would also start relations in 1973. Kentshire, East Anglia and Lille-Wallonia would become close allies as time passed.

1983 to date
His more democratic and humane son King Anton Marc De Lyon would inherit the throne in 1985, after his farther resigned office as a result of the 1985 general strike. The King banned cock fighting in 1986 and legalised trades unions in 1987. The fist parliament met in 2000. Elections are held every 4 years by the fist parts the post method, by any nationals over the age of 17. His far-reaching reforms changed the formerly unitary state into a federal state, ending a long period of political instability that had occurred beaten Walloons and Picards over years of unequal economic development, which favoured the Walloons.

Earthquake and tornado
A (ATL) tornado ripped through Namur killing 2 people in  the winter of 2001, the winter of 2009-10 was the worst in 50 years (as in OTL)  killing 60 people and a (ATL) Richter  scale 6.2 earthquake caused major damage and 3 deaths in Oostende in 2008.

Former refugee camps

 * 1) Namur
 * 2) Arras
 * 3) Hainault

Battles

 * 1) In Aachen

Utrecht in 1979
Whilst a village of some 1,000 people was found and assimilated by 1982, the surrounding land was a swamp infested with hostile tribesmen.

Zorersell AFB 1989
The overgrown and radioactive ruins and the surrounding land was a swamp was partially under the control of hostile tribesmen.

Aachen, Prüm and Bitburg in 1989
The local tribes had formed in to minor barbarian nations around Aachen, Prüm and Bitburg

Ardennes department 1989
Many friendly independent farming and forest communities were discovered and were assimilated by 2004. Most of France south of the region lies in ruins due to a series of localised atomic bombings during Doomsday.

Government and politics
King Anton Marc De Lyon holds a near monopoly on power, but is a caring and benevolent leader, who puts the interests of his people first. He had started to democratise the country as of 2000.

Local government
The democratic systems that existed befor Doomsday were restored in 2004.

Economy
The economy of the nation dependent on coal mining, agriculture and forestry. However, since the economic reforms 1998, the economy has become more diversified.

Transport
Due to the high number of electric trains, most of the remaining railways were ruined by the EMP pulse on Doomsday and both horses, bicycles and canal boats became the transport norm until more steam trains were made in 1977. Alcohol and petrol cars started to return in the 1980’s and 1990’s respectively, but are still scares. The railways now own (as of 2008) 18 x Maldegem stoom 3 steam locomotive 15x CFV3V-MF33 steam locomotive 16x Steamtram SNCV steam trams 2x Belpaere type steam locomotive 33x passenger carriages 23x freight carriages

Healthcare
Thyroid cancer is still a major problem, but became much lower since 1974.

Waterworks
The network of rivers and canals provide the nation with most of its water supply.

Media
The right wing La Libre Belgique newspaper has been in decline since 1984 due to the increasing sales of the non-political Kentish newspaper, the Dover Supernova (Founded 1980, Walloon and Picard supplements issued 1999). The national radio station started up in 1994 in Arras, Mons, Namur and Liege., and broadcasts for 6 hours a day on 2 medium wave frequencies.

Wine
Picard wine went back on sale in 1989 and was exported to Kentshire, East Anglia and Southern England ever since the trade deal of 2004.

The Death Penalty
The death penalty was scraped in 1982 and replaced with life without the possibility of parole.