The setting is an alternate 1998, in a post-WW2 world where the Axis powers and The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were victorious in 1941. This shift was influenced by rising fascist sentiments in France, spurred by the Parti Populaire Français and La Cagoule, and in the UK by the British Union of Fascists. This was compounded by Alf Landon's win in the 1936 U.S. election and his unwavering isolationist stance, partly in response to Francisco Franco's acquisition of Puerto Rico and Cuba. In this alternate reality, the U.S. made up for its lack of direct involvement by boosting trade and economic aid during a heightened Great Depression. As a result, without American support, France and the United Kingdom experienced a marked decline in American consumer goods and military assistance from 1939 to 1941.

Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) and their allied organizations were increasingly influential in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, while Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party faced defamation and eventual disbandment due to dwindling membership and a growing fear of left-wing politics. The United Kingdom, a cauldron of instability, was set to boil. Starting September 1, 1939, the BUF consistently opposed war, advocating for peace with Nazi Germany at any cost. On May 10, 1940, the Battle of France commenced alongside the Occupation of Iceland. Operation Dynamo was a catastrophic failure; instead of evacuating 340,000 personnel as in our timeline, only 27,000 were rescued, largely due to relentless Luftwaffe bombings and mutinies within many French divisions. This marked the end for democratic Britain. A coup d'état erupted on the streets of London, led by Army Officers supportive of Mosley's fascists, lasting from June 1 to June 13, 1940, with the Royal Family fleeing to Canada and vowing to reclaim the home islands.

An armistice was signed on June 15, 1940, between the collaborationist UK government and the Axis powers, with a formal treaty following in early 1941.