United Provinces
"The man responsible for butchery in Gallipoli, where ANZAC forces were gunned down for no gain. The tyrant behind the chemical weapons used in the Middle East. The dictator of India, where entire villages vanish. Winston Churchill is a broken man, who cannot stand the blood he drowns in every day. What will happen to poor Winston? He is propelled forwards by nothing but the expectation that more pain-dulling whiskey is on the horizon, not seeing the knives sharpening around him." In-game description.
The United Provinces; one of the last places in India that remains under British rule after the collapse of the British Raj and the personal fiefdom of Winston Churchill, a failed British statesman washed up on the shores of India after one too many failures and is now desperate and hellbent on succeeding at least once in his career.
During the Great War, Churchill was disgraced after the disastrous failure of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, where around 95 000 ANZAC soldiers were killed for no gain, and the Anzac and British Indian forces all but disintegrated during the retreat. This humiliating embarrassment meant the Churchill resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty and was later quietly withdrawn from service.
Soon after the war, Churchill was sent to work in Kurdistan but there, another travesty happened when forces under his command opened fire against rioting civilians and caused 157 deaths. This prompted the British to relieve Churchill of his post and he was sent to Uttar Pradesh in the British Raj to work as an administrator. Churchill was sent to India to do paperwork, but unfortunately, his charisma and ability to speak to the leaders with a passion got him more and more attention, until he was allowed to test his theory of "gas the natives to keep them in line." Importantly, however, he only advocated for the use of tear gas and other non-lethal agents
But when the British Raj collapsed, it all changed. Churchill and his forces were able to retain control of Uttar Pradesh while the rest of India descended into chaos and anarchy but he now found himself alone, cut off and running low on supplies.
Additionally, it was discovered that tear gas and non-lethal agents were not enough. Churchill began a home industry of producing chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas, in hopes he wouldn’t need to use it, but as supplies ran short, eventually, he bit the bullet. Originally intended for the most troublesome peoples, its application gradually became broader and broader, until eventually it was a nearly de facto fact of life that rebellious behavior was rewarded with gas attacks. But he did show some restraint - he didn’t use it in the cities.
But after years of fighting, years of drinking, years of constant guilt and self-abuse and worsening depression, Churchill has become apathetic, despondent and bitter, permitting the use of gas every time a general asks. Now, the smell of chlorine, phosgene and sulphur mustard has been burned into the minds of the people of Uttar Pradesh as the symbol of Churchill and his oppressive rule. Their friends, families, relatives, all have been butchered by Churchill’s men, and increasingly the nation (and its leader) is seen as a decaying corpse, still kept walking around only by virtue of the fact its factories still produce guns and gas. But even those machines are wearing out and threatening to break down. It’s only a matter of time until something bad happens and everything comes crashing down, and Churchill knows it.
Something needs to be done, and, from where he stands, Churchill can see three paths for him to take;
- The first path he can take is one of old British values - he can decide to give up on his tyrannical habits and install a democratic system, where every man has a say in his own destiny. While this may sound like a good thing to do, given everything that Churchill has already done with gas and everything, it is somewhat doubtful that giving the Indians democracy will allow Churchill to live.
- The second path he can take is to simply continue on as is; steady as she goes. To maintain his regime and try to contact the British. This is the most straightforward path, but given the decrepit state of the United Provinces and the growing anger among the Indians, it may be unwise to simply do nothing and continue on. As his days progress, Churchill is becoming sadder and sadder, more and more despondent and the chances of making a fatal mistake grow higher.
- The third path that Churchill can take is the darkest one, but it may be the only way for him to survive. He can decide to double down on his brutal and tyrannical rule, In other words - dissent will be punished with death and the Indians will be made to toe the line and become loyal subjects by force. They will speak English, they will be made to adopt English customs, they will abandon their "savage" Gods, they will look to Churchill as leader, sole leader, to guide India towards unification and will learn to adore him and speak his name with respect. This means curfews at night, labor camps for dissenters, bullets for protestors, prisons for troublemakers and far worse for those who actively fight Churchill. The ultimate goal of this path is to unite all of India under Churchill's rule and restore order to the subcontinent. After all, if Churchill manages to successfully restore the British Raj, the British will not be able to deny his success. India will be in Churchill's image.[1]