Alternate History Fiction: India after WW2

The Tiger Ascendant: Empire Reclaimed

What if the Indian Army seized the moment after the fall of Berlin? The Indian Army takes charge — militarily and politically — and prevents the fracturing of Asia into Western puppet states. A bold, proactive revolution led by battle-hardened Indian soldiers.

Prologue: "Berlin, 1945 — The Turning Point"

Scene: Indian Army units, battle-scarred and triumphant, raise the Union Jack in Berlin alongside Allied forces. But inside German command bunkers, Indian generals meet in secret: “We’ve spilled blood across three continents. Now we reclaim our destiny.” The decision is made: the Indian Army will not return home to be divided and ruled. An officer: “Before they split us by religion or race, we take the Empire — or what's left of it — together.”

Part I: The Mutiny of the Victors (1945–1947)

• Chapter 1: Unity of the Sword. Indian, Gurkha, Burmese, and African colonial units form an unofficial coalition: The Eastern Legion. Officers and NCOs, united by shared hardship and betrayal, refuse disarmament orders. Indian soldiers occupy British military installations from Cairo to Singapore.
• Chapter 2: The Empire Pushes Back. London tries to assert control by replacing Indian commanders, offering early independence — but only on their terms. A British convoy in Karachi is turned back by Indian troops; radio broadcasts from Rangoon call for unity and resistance. Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist soldiers hold the line together — avoiding Partition.
• Chapter 3: The Cairo Uprising. Indian troops in Egypt side with Arab nationalist movements. In a joint strike with Egyptian revolutionaries, they seize the Suez Canal before the British can re-fortify it. The move galvanizes anti-colonial forces across Asia and Africa.
• Chapter 4: Operation Lotus. A coordinated campaign from Calcutta to Damascus led by Indian and local revolutionary forces. British administrators flee Vietnam, Burma, and Malaya as Indian units support indigenous governments. French attempts to retake Vietnam are repelled with Indian-Japanese air support.

Part II: The Great Arc (1948–1956)

• Chapter 5: The Delhi Accord. A pan-Asian Congress is held in Delhi, hosted by military leaders and civilian revolutionaries. The Confederation of Eastern Peoples (CEP) is formed: a military-political pact uniting the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Japan. Japanese scientists and Indian engineers begin massive reconstruction projects.
• Chapter 6: The End of Empire. The last British bases in Asia fall. A failed British-backed coup in Lahore is crushed. Indian troops support African anti-colonial movements in Kenya and Rhodesia; calls grow for a second front in West Africa.
• Chapter 7: The Asian Economic Revolution. CEP begins building transcontinental railways, oil pipelines, and a joint high-tech industrial base with Japanese design, Indian brains, and the vast labor pools of the CEP. Tokyo and Delhi become twin capitals. The first Eastern Credit notes are issued in Tehran, replacing the pound.
• Chapter 8: Peace Through Strength. Britain and France withdraw completely from Asia. American pressure mounts: covert support for rebels in Indonesia and proxy wars in Central Asia. CEP’s intelligence and diplomacy teams defuse conflicts and offer infrastructure, not occupation.

Part III: The Golden Crescent (1957–1975)

• Chapter 9: The Islamic-Indic Synthesis. From Cairo to Jakarta, a new political identity emerges: inclusive, multi-faith, meritocratic. Religious leaders form a Concord of Faiths under a shared Eastern Charter. National militaries remain, but operate under the Eastern Confederation's strategic umbrella.
• Chapter 10: The Red Line. The Soviet Union and China attempt to co-opt anti-Western momentum. Indian generals and Japanese diplomats prevent escalation through a policy of "armed neutrality." CEP becomes the “third pole” between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
• Chapter 11: The Sky Beyond Empire. CEP launches Indra-1, the first Asian satellite. The oil wealth of Arabia, manpower of India, and technology of Japan converge to push rapid space and AI development. Western powers attempt sabotage, but are outpaced.
• Chapter 12: The Day the West Looked East. In 1975, the UN formally votes to move its secondary headquarters to Delhi. Africa forms its own Continental Confederation under CEP guidance. A British prime minister, visiting Calcutta, publicly acknowledges the Indian Army as “the force that reclaimed history.”

Epilogue: "Ashoka’s Heirs" (Year 2025) A 21st-century historian walks through a unified transcontinental arc — from Cairo to Tokyo — under stable, advanced governance. Statues in Berlin, London, and Paris commemorate the Eastern Legion that chose unity over partition. Final reflection: “Empires fall when they forget who bled for them. This one rose because its soldiers remembered.”

History:

• https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/britain-and-decolonisation-in-south-east-and-south-asia-1945-1948. As of July 21, 2025:
• In July 1945, the Allied powers decided that South East Asia Command, under the command of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, would be responsible for occupation duties across the region. Indian Army formations also helped restore colonial empires in Saigon in French Indo-China (Vietnam) and on the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), as well as contributing to the occupation forces in Japan and the British colonies such as Burma (Myanmar) and Malaya. 
• Ceylon (Sri Lanka). South East Asia Command made Kandy its base in April 1944, with a staff of over 5,000 people, and the island was a vital source of natural resources.
• https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-operations-after-1945/