The Fallen Continent: Iowa

Exploring the bitterly divided Hawkeye State thirty years after the Great War.

Oct 15, 2024

Population: 580,000
Largest City: Ames

But what the heck? You're welcome!
Glad to have you with us—
Even though we may not ever mention it again.
You really ought to give Iowa a try!

Introduction

The Hawkeye State is deeply divided between three rival state governments, a fourth secessionist state government, a military district, a Soviet republic, a county alliance, a small national contender, and a half-dozen other minor factions, all vying for control. The Great War first took its toll by taking Des Moines, Davenport, Burlington, Council Bluffs, and Sioux City. Cedar Rapids survived the first wave of attacks, but was destroyed in a follow-up strike. In one of the confusing mishaps of the Third World War, the provisional capital of Ames was not destroyed in any secondary strikes, but Waterloo was targeted instead.

This spelled the end of nearly all of urban Iowa, but the state had plenty of resources to survive the coming nuclear winter: a large rural population, plentiful food stockpiles, and the survival of its university system. They were poised for success, to be another Kansas or Oregon, but mass hysteria over the nuclear winter and government mismanagement led to a less saccharine outcome.

State of Iowa

Capital: Ames
Classification: State Legacy (Technocratic emergency government)
Allegiance: United States of America (Mt. Pleasant)

The modern State of Iowa was established by the Iowa Transportation Commission, who took the liberty of inviting surviving state officials and legislators to re-establish control. More importantly, the ITC assembled a large team of technocratic experts and professionals. These included professors and PhDs from the University of Iowa and Iowa State, federal employees from the US Departments of Energy and Agriculture, and policy wonks from the surviving members of the Iowa General Assembly. The initial provisional government was dismissed and replaced by the technocratic emergency government made up of these individuals. Under the rule of the technocrats, the state government set about re-establishing the state bureaucracy, organizing rationing efforts, constructing housing or at the very least sheltered camps for the refugees, practicing agriculture inside greenhouses, and retooling their remaining manufacturing capabilities for their immediate needs.

Despite Iowa’s strong position afforded by their preexisting advantages and the government’s competence, the technocratic administration left little room for the politicians, who were upset about being sidelined and relegated to a symbolic role. The technocrats were also outright bad at PR; while they helped save more from starvation than most postwar regimes, the public was more dissatisfied by their policies than many terribly starving states. Their lack of a real or imagined external enemy, like USA-Dodge City, or an internal one, like the Acadian People’s Republic, still could have been overcome by good propaganda, but the technocrats nevertheless failed to put any kind of spin on their rigid and heavy-handed rationing policies.

This problem was only made worse by errors on the technocrats’ part that sparked a mass hysteria that spread like wildfire throughout the Upper Midwest. Pessimistic estimations by the Ames government led to the widespread belief that the nuclear winter—which affected the Upper Midwestern states especially badly—was going to last much longer than it actually did. Particularly extreme rumors emerged that the nuclear winter would last forever, or at least long enough to render agriculture permanently impossible. As a result, food security-based paranoia gripped the region, both among leadership and the citizenry, leading to greater political instability. The actual nuclear winter only lasted for two years, and agriculture was viable within three years of the nuclear exchange, but the damage to the Upper Midwest’s postwar governments had been done.

Despite the technocrats’ base-level competence at managing the post-nuclear disaster, they couldn’t handle the subtler demands of a human society, and the State of Iowa began to fall apart. Opportunistic politicians, disgruntled with their lack of influence under the technocratic administration, broke ranks and escaped to the fringes of the state, where they joined emergent factions or founded their own. Up north, Iowa National Guardsmen, inspired by the Minnesota National Guard’s “Cold Summer Mutiny,” split off and joined the St. Cloud government. In the south, several counties split off and formed a localist regional association, while the east and west were seized by warlords.

The Ames government was reduced to a rump state in the center of Iowa, but did not entirely ignore the developing threats. While they could not crush either rebellion in a two-front war, they successfully defended their remaining territory. The rebellions have only strengthened technocratic rule, which has slowly evolved from a mere emergency government of technical experts into a new, authoritarian machine-state. After a long period of ceasefires, the Iowa Wars have flared up again, thanks to the arrival of the Wisconsin socialists. Ames has recently enacted mass conscription in order to raise army capable of potentially retaking the state, believing that the war between the PAAG and the ASFR has given them an opportunity to turn the tide.

The State of Iowa has recognized the following federal governments in order: Twin Falls, Amarillo, Ingersoll’s Dodge City/Midland, Walla Walla, and then the St. Cloud, Minnesota government, up until it was replaced by the Provisional All-American Government. Ames immediately denounced the military coup that overthrew President Hunding, and conflict began as soon as the PAAG sided with the Charles City mutineers against the technocratic government. Now Ames recognizes the United States government in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. They’ve heard bad things about Acting President Salomon, but they need all the support they can get, and at least some mutual enemies with the Michigan regime. Fortunately for them, Mt. Pleasant is pretty far away, and Salomon is in no position to make demands of the Ames government.

Southern Iowa Free Counties

Capital: Ottumwa
Classification: Local Government (County alliance)

The Southern Iowa Free Counties are just what their name entails; they are an association of counties that broke off of the Ames government due to concerns over the technocratic leadership. Although they are a state-like faction with their own elected regional assembly and executive leadership, they don’t claim to be the heirs of the State of Iowa. They saw the violence that broke out between rival Iowa state governments and wanted to avoid plunging into a similar conflict. Instead, the SIFC is a body of fence-sitters who contend that they can govern themselves perfectly fine without a central state government telling them what to do. The Regional Assembly even includes members of the Iowa General Assembly that would rather move south than stay in Ames as benchwarmers for the technocratic government.

Despite Ottumwa’s hopes for neutrality, the heavy-handedness of the Ames government and saber-rattling of some of their neighbors has brought the SIFC into armed conflict on several occasions. Cooler heads and general non-belligerence on Ottumwa’s part have prevented the conflict from spiraling into an all-out war, but there are raiding parties on both sides, and Ames troopers like to press their luck by seeing what they can get away with down south. The fact that the SIFC still technically recognizes the Ames government makes matters even more confusing.

The SIFC has a complicated relationship with the Heartland Social Republic. On the one hand, they’re concerned about Nebraska City’s ambitions within the Hawkeye State and don’t want to get swallowed up. On the other hand, the HSR serves as a necessary counterweight against Ames and did clean up a really messy situation of minor warlords in the southwest.

Boss Hayden

Capital: Centerville
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Political machine boss)

Boss Hayden is the corrupt county commissioner of Appanoose County, who’s been running the place as his private fiefdom since the Starving Time. He’s also among the last of the southwest Iowa anarchy that the Heartland Social Republic put to bed in recent years. During those years, he thrived as the master of the threshold between the more peaceful, civilized SIFC and the chaos of southwest Iowa, which mimicked the Badlands in its lawlessness and desolation. Nowadays, he’s fallen on hard times and is trying to keep business going as a gun runner smuggling weapons to the Missouri Militia Alliance. Both the SIFC and HSR have grown weary of Centerville, but its position as a useful buffer between the two has bought Boss Hayden a bit more time to enjoy his own little petty kingdom.

Free and Sovereign State of Iowa

Capital: Shenandoah
Classification: Special Case (Heartland state government)
Allegiance: Heartland Social Republic

Far removed from the seat of government in Ames yet close to the chaos of the Omaha Exclusion Zone, southwest Iowa experienced brutal anarchy and warlordism for most of its postwar history. It represented something of a transition between the warlord-dense, battle-scarred Midwestern Anarchy and the desolate, high plains chaos of the Badlands, and contained a microcosm of both.

Brendan Wagner of the Heartland Social Republic was quick to conquer the eastern bank of the Missouri River bordering Nebraska City, never expanded far into the state. It was his son Nathan Wagner who returned to continue his predecessor’s work by bringing order to this lawless land. The small sliver of Iowa that was once administered as a part of Free and Sovereign Nebraska has grown into the Free and Sovereign State of Iowa, which has expanded east as far as Chariton. A small part of Iowa has been set aside for the eastern half of the Capital District, the territory which houses Nebraska City, the HSR’s capital.

The state government here is weaker than the other Heartland states. Nebraska obviously forms the basis of the republic, while Kansas and Platte were adapted from already-existing legitimist regimes. Free and Sovereign Iowa, meanwhile, had to be constructed basically from scratch. The best that Nathan Wagner had to work with here was the localist and fiercely overprotective militia of Union County and the rump Page County government, which had been reduced to a city-state in Clarinda, holding on for dear life. Red Oak was the domain of an especially brutal and sadistic gang leader, the kind that even Aztlan or East Kansas wouldn’t take for a neo-feudal vassal. The rest of the region was like the Badlands: tiny wasteland towns at the edge of civilization, trading hands between nomadic warlord gangs.

All things considered, it’s a wonder that the Heartlanders have done as much as they have in such a short time. Federal rule is strong here, and the military influence is pervasive throughout the state. Some towns are still walled and fortified to keep raiders out, who mostly come from the Des Moines Exclusion Zone and Nebraska-in-Exile. Much of the countryside is now settled by Nebraskans and Missourians, as well as local Iowan veterans of the Heartland military. The pacification and resettlement of southwest Iowa has done wonders for Wagner’s popularity, however, and has cemented him as a capable successor to the republic’s founding father. The voting population of Free and Sovereign Iowa is certainly thankful for him and backs him as a solid voting bloc.

Iowa Western Counties

Capital: Onawa
Classification: Special Case (Heartland county alliance)
Allegiance: Free and Sovereign State of Iowa, Heartland Social Republic

The Iowa Western Counties are a special case within Free and Sovereign Iowa. This exclave north of the Omaha Exclusion Zone is sparsely-populated and disconnected with the rest of the state. One of the HSR’s primary goals in Iowa right now is to close the gap and reconnect the self-governing Western Counties with southwest Iowa, but two other factions, the last of the southwest Iowa anarchy, remain in their way. Nebraska-in-Exile could be crushed without too much difficulty if Nebraska City set aside enough resources, but Shelby County presents a greater challenge, as it belongs to the SIFC and technically is still a part of the Ames government.

The HSR isn’t too afraid of a confrontation with Ames on their own; it would be the toughest war they’ve yet fought if war were to break out, but the Heartlanders are pretty confident that they would win. Of far greater concern to them is what the United States of America—Dodge City would do if the HSR was occupied with such a costly war. The SIFC presents far less of a military challenge, but the Heartland is holding out for a diplomatic solution with them and would like to use the Free Counties as leverage against the Ames technocrats.

Nebraska-in-Exile

Capital: New Omaha (Atlantic)
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Exiled legitimist regime)

Columbus, Nebraska was once home to a formidable, yet isolated legitimist regime that challenged the provisional state government in Grand Island for succession over the State of Nebraska. When Brendan Wagner’s HSR descended on Columbia, the Columbus government’s Director of the Department of Corrections broke ranks, rounded up as many supporters as he could, and fought his way east into Iowa. After gallivanting around the chaotic southwestern region of the state, Director Adel Pleasence and his warlike band (which, by this point, consisted more of local Iowan bandits than Nebraskans) settled down in Atlantic, which they promptly renamed to New Omaha. Vowing to keep up the fight against the HSR, the Director proclaimed himself the Acting Governor of the State of Nebraska-in-Exile.

As Director of the Department of Corrections, Pleasence was in charge of the Columbus government’s prison system and effectively the biggest slavemaster of the realm. He’s brought his slaver practices to Iowa and launches raids into the smaller wasteland settlements to round up “vagrants” and intern them in work camps. He’s got an understanding with nearby Shelby County and, as much as he loathes the HSR, knows better than to pick a fight with them for now; therefore, most of Nebraska-in-Exile’s victims are taken from the sparse Iowan countryside. Pleasence is banking on a war breaking out between Ames and the HSR so that he can make a move towards retaking Nebraska, but it’s more likely that the Heartland will crush him with a punitive expedition before that can happen.

Shelby County

Capital: Harlan
Classification: Local Government (County emergency government)
Allegiance: Southern Iowa Free Counties

The lone exception to the madness and mayhem of southwestern Iowa during its long period of anarchy was Shelby County, a relative rock of stability. Though the county commissioners weren’t decisive to act during the Starving Time, they were quickly ousted by a triumvirate consisting of the County Sheriff, the Mayor of Harlan, and the citizen’s militia captain. These three offices have continued to share power in Shelby county ever since under a persistent emergency government. There are still elections in Shelby County, but the Mayor and Sheriff are elected-for-life positions, and the captain of the county militia is elected only by his own men.

Ever distrustful of the Ames government, Shelby was quick to denounce them as soon as they showed their disregard for traditional government officials. Instead, they’ve thrown their lot in with the Southern Iowa Free Counties. They officially belong to the SIFC, but the distance between them and the rest of the alliance keeps them self-reliant and removed from the internal affairs of Ottumwa.

Official Government of the State of Iowa

Capital: Le Mars
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue localist regime)

The assertively-named “Official Government of the State of Iowa” is only debatably the rightful successor to the Iowan government. It does descend from it, in that two of its founding members were Iowa state legislators who left for their home towns once it became clear that the technocrats in Ames weren’t keen on sharing power with the General Assembly. State authority was already weak here ever since the Ames government withdrew troops and law enforcement towards the center of the state, so there was not much stopping the two legislators from forming a legitimist regime here by stoking localist sentiments. Because “official government” is not a very neutral term, some people call the Le Mars regime “the politicians’ government,” in contrast to the technocrats of Ames.

They initially sympathized with the National Guard mutineers to the east, and cooperated with them in unofficial recognition of the Provisional All-American Government. Now that the war in Iowa has ground down to a stalemate, the politicians’ government is showing reservations about their continued collaboration with St. Cloud. As a result, they’ve been steadily withdrawing themselves from the Iowa Wars and are trying to hedge their bets by making amends with Ames.

Iowa Military District

Capital: Mason City
Classification: Military Faction (Military occupation government)
Allegiance: Provisional All-American Government

Whether out of opportunistic cynicism or genuine idealism, many in the Iowa National Guard deeply distrusted the state government and its cabal of policy wonks and scientific experts. Anti-government sentiments were especially strong in the colder north of Iowa, which received little aid from inwardly-focused Ames. Here, civilians and Guardsmen alike denounced the state government as illegitimate and not answerable to the people. Further north in Minnesota, the USA-St. Cloud was paralyzed by mutinies and revolts by both the state police and the National Guard, and such revolutionary sentiments quickly spread south to Iowa.

And so, two months after Blake Carlton’s St. Cloud coup, the Iowa National Guard attempted a coup of its own. Their attempt to seize the state capital was feeble and easily-thwarted, but they successfully captured much of north-central Iowa and proclaimed a rival military government from Mason City. Like Carlton’s Provisional All—American Government to the north, the Iowa Guardsmen prided themselves on their coldness, hardness, and for being in-touch with the common people, as opposed to the (real or imagined) image of the Ames technocrats in their ivory tower. They were quick to recognize the PAAG and join forces with them, and were incorporated as the Iowa Military District.

The ongoing Red-White War between the PAAG and the ASFR has not developed to St. Cloud’s advantage, though there is still hope for the military government and its allies. The southern front of the war in Iowa has slowed down and bought the Whites time to prepare for the next communist offensive, as the Red Army’s main offensive thrust was in the north. The lull in the fighting has also allowed the Ames government to rebuild and begin retaking lost territory, however. Should the Supreme Leader’s daring counteroffensive through the Minnesota Wasteland be successful, they’ll need to spare some reinforcements to shore up the southernmost front against Ames.

Iowa Autonomous Socialist Republic

Capital: Decorah
Classification: Left-wing Ideological Faction (Socialist military governate)
Allegiance: American Socialist Federative Republic

Despite its small antebellum size of 7,000 souls, Decorah, Iowa was renowned as the center of America’s Norwegian diaspora community. The Great War occurred on the eve of Decorah’s Nordic Fest, when 70,000 people had gathered in celebration of their Norwegian-American identity. When state authorities withdrew from northeast Iowa, a charismatic strongman within Winneshiek County took control. He capitalized on the localist platform by leaning into the Norwegian identity and christened his regime “New Norway.” This wasn’t a fully-fledged national revival like Acadia or even the Texas Germans of Fredericksburg—no one in Decorah suddenly started speaking Norwegian—but Governor Knudsen successfully promoted a “New Norwegian” identity to displace the state and national identities that so many Americans have grown disillusioned with.

New Norway was one of the Midwest’s more successful legitimist regimes. It was undeniably a dictatorship, yet it was a popular one that navigated the pitfalls of public opinion far more deftly than Ames ever could, even if they weren’t the most efficient at rationing or synthesizing gasoline. Local popularity and internal stability, however, wasn’t enough to defend Knudsen from the invading Red Army. Drawn into Iowa by the Red-White War with the PAAG, the more numerous, better-equipped Reds crushed New Norway and scattered its forces throughout the region.

With Decorah in their hands, the American Socialist Federative Republic dissolved the local government and proclaimed the Iowa Autonomous Socialist Republic. Like its northern neighbor in Minnesota, the Iowa ASR is too unstable and recently-captured for socialist party rule. Instead, a provisional Red Army council governs the territory until the war with the PAAG is concluded.

Although Red Army progress in Minnesota and Wisconsin has been rapid and dramatic, the front in Iowa is slow and stable. After establishing their foothold in Decorah, Green Bay has shown little interest in shoring up the Iowa front for any more offensives. Instead, all their efforts are on keeping up the momentum in the north, so that they can finally swing west and descend on the militarist capital.

Northeast Iowa Emergency Administration

Capital: Charles City
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Civilian dictatorship)

The Northeast Iowa Emergency Administration is a regime in flux, with rapidly-shifting allegiances. It began as the fiefdom of a renegade state legislator who returned to his home district to rule it rather than submit to Ames. Under his leadership, Charles City was little more than a city-state, but his successor greatly expanded the regime. Attempts at westward expansion were thwarted by the formidable National Guard regime in Mason City, but the east showed more promise.

The NIEA was long the foe of New Norway, and had often hoped that one of the stronger powers in Minnesota or Wisconsin would help take them down a peg. Once the threat of the Red Army actually materialized, however, Charles City grew terrified of a communist invasion and made amends with New Norway in its last moments. Now, they’re hosting the New Norway government-in-exile and field a legion of fighters from Decorah, bent on reclaiming their home city. They’ve also buried the hatchet with the PAAG in order to present a united front against the communists.

This diplomatic maneuvering has helped buy the NIEA some time, but they are still in a precarious position. That position is growing even more untenable with local revolts and a renewed effort by the Ames government to push north and quash the rebels.

Second Revolution

Capital: Independence
Classification: Warlord (Rebel warband)

Independence was one of the first cities in Iowa to fall to warlordism, after it was toppled first by a refugee gang from Cedar Rapids and then another rival gang from Waterloo. They, too, fell after the Northeast Iowa Emergency Administration conquered them and were replaced by new management. The revolving door of leadership has produced yet another ruling power in Independence, the Second Revolution, who revolted against the NIEA at the outset of the ASFR invasion of Iowa.

Although these rebels promise dramatic reforms and vow to crush the tyranny of Charles City, they’re just as bad as the previous rulers and lack any system more intricate than brute force to uphold their rule. Still, they have their supporters throughout the NIEA, who comprise a troublesome fifth column for the Charles City regime.

American Salvation Coalition

Capital: Dubuque
Classification: Right-wing Ideological Faction (Far-right legitimist regime)

The American Salvation Coalition is the result of a merger between two far-right factions, the American Watchmen and Saving America. The American Watchmen are not particularly interesting; like many other right-wing militias, they were small and irrelevant before the Great War, until waves of refugees caused them to balloon in size. What made the Watchmen different is that they earned the endorsement of Sigmund Gallatin, an Iowa state legislator who co-opted them to help take over his home city of Dubuque when it was abandoned by the Ames government.

Saving America’s origins are unique among wasteland factions: they are the one of its only movements founded on the internet. Saving America was once a far right internet show hosted by Chicagoan youth Chadwick Andrews, who made a name for himself with his fierce debate tactics, hotheaded attitude, and ability to electrify and galvanize his young supporters into political extremists. He became a bogeyman of both left and right-wing politics; actions taken by both private internet services and the US government led Andrews to claim that he was “the most censored man in the world.”

Andrews moved away from Chicago in the years before the Great War, and managed to leverage his influence to scrape together a handful of followers during the Starving Time. Most of these were not former viewers of his show, but were refugees who held right-wing political views and had already organized themselves into an ad hoc militia. Andrews wasn’t even their sole leader at first, but managed to weasel his way into power after riding their coattails through the first winter. Saving America ceased to be an internet show and had become Andrews’ private warlord band. They tried to stem the tide of violence caused by the horde of looters, raiders, and gangsters, many of whom now belonged to exiled Chicago street gangs. Standing their ground in Illinois was a lost cause, so Saving America fled west into Iowa and joined forces with Governor Gallatin and the American Watchmen. Together, they formed an alliance and carved out a right-wing statelet along the Mississippi River.

Now that Gallatin is long dead, the aging Andrews has taken over as the sole leader of the Coalition. The Coalition has never formally recognized any national government, and Andrews denounced the far-right Regenerated Congress of Hattiesburg, Mississippi for betraying their principles after their rigged presidential elections. Nevertheless, they are unofficially allied with the Provisional All-American Government. Now they are bracing themselves for the coming assault of the Red Army, hoping for a miracle—or at least a means of escape, if their defenses fail.

Hawkeye Republic

Capital: Iowa City
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue law enforcement regime)

The Hawkeye Republic is rather straightforward, as legitimist regimes go. Faced with the threat of refugee invasion and emboldened by the Ames government’s withdrawal from eastern Iowa, a retired prewar police captain took up arms and seized control of Iowa City. He proclaimed the Hawkeye Republic and claimed dominion over the entire state as the self-proclaimed successor to the State of Iowa. Despite their wide-ranging claims, they haven’t expanded much, and aren’t a likely contender for future ruler of the entire state. Though the captain maintained a permanent state of emergency police government until his death, his successor has slightly liberalized, and now regularly holds rigged elections to legitimize his rule.

Muscatine Safe Zone

Capital: Muscatine
Classification: Warlord (Warlord bartertown)

The Muscatine Safe Zone is the warlord haven at the edge of the desolate Great Lakes states. Carved out of the anarchy by refugees from further up the Mississippi River, they fought hard to defend their newfound home from the larger wave of greater Chicagoan refugees who tried to displace them. Once the dust had settled, however, Muscatine felt they could serve a wanted niche as a stopping point along the road between east and west. They’ve carried on as a typical wasteland bartertown, under the rule of a brutal, yet even-handed gang whose first and foremost interest is to maintain stability and promote commerce, even if their customers are unsavory individuals.

As time goes on, the bartertowns are beginning to lag behind larger factions with modern industry and a coherent economic policy, much like how small-time petty warlords are being eclipsed by legitimists and legacy governments. They aren’t down for the count yet, however, and the remaining bartertowns still have a chance to modernize and stay relevant, like the Republic of North Dakota or the Taos Republic did.

Henry County Guards

Capital: Mt. Pleasant
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Local militia regime)
Allegiance: Provisional All-American Government

The Henry County Guards originated as a Lutheran parish militia who grew in size and scope before they took over the defense (and subsequently, the entire government) of Henry County. They aren’t a religious faction in the sense that Messianic regimes and theocracies are, but they do blur the line through their promotion of a particularly conservative strain of Missouri-Synod Lutheranism as their preferred religion. Still, they remain a militia regime first and foremost, and they at least pretend to be tolerant and impartial.

Because of their Lutheran religion, religious conservatism, and militaristic structure, the Henry County Guards naturally support the Provisional All-American Government with great enthusiasm. The PAAG is too far away and too hard-pressed to help them out, but they appreciate Henry County’s show of support and promise they’ll respect their local autonomy if they ever get around to linking up with them. The Guards aren’t in much of a hurry for that to happen, as they’re isolationists whose chief concerns are still keeping out bandits and trying to feed everyone through the winter.

Index

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