 towers to guard the entrance to the Rideau Canal. Kingston's location at the Rideau Canal entrance to Lake Ontario, after canal construction was completed in 1832, made it the primary military and economic centre of Upper Canada. Kingston had the largest population of any centre in Upper Canada until the 1840s. Military ships were built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard at Point Frederick from 1788 to 1853.
Kingston was chosen as the first capital of the united Canadas and served in that role from 1841 to 1844. The city was considered too small and lacking in amenities, however, and its location made it vulnerable to American attack. Consequently, the capital was moved to alternating locations in Montreal and Toronto, and then later to Ottawa in 1857. Subsequently, Kingston's growth slowed considerably and its national importance declined. Its military role continued, however, and was even expanded.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kingston remained an important Great Lakes port and a centre for shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturing, including the Canadian Locomotive Company, at one time the largest locomotive works in the British Empire. Kingston grew moderately through the 20th century through a series of annexations of lands in adjacent Kingston Township, including a 1952 annexation of some 5,500 acres.
While Kingston itself avoided being hit during the events of Doomsday, strikes on the cities of Ottawa and Montreal were both observed by area residents. Radiation from strikes in the Golden Horseshoe would arrive in its aftermath, but would largely avoid the city to the south.
Within days after the attacks, local residents were surprised to see a party arrive in the city from the north, containing the Prime Minister, as well as the British Prime Minister, some minor officials, a few surviving MPs, and their armed escort.
The group would spend several days in the city, recuperating from their ordeal and consolidating their position.
As September turned into October, the group made preparations to leave for points eastward, where they believed safe territory would remain. Soldiers from the region, as well as a fair number of cadets from the Maritimes attending the Royal Military College under one of the cadet squadron commanders, Walter Natynczyk - later a Canadian Prime Minister - would accompany them through the chaos expected between the area and Atlantic Canada. The remainder of the soldiers and cadets would remain, as the area was expected to remain fairly safe, under a provisional government for the area, and likely the new provincial government in light of the destruction of Toronto that they had begun to receive word of. This government, the Kingston Provisional Authority, consisted largely of local officials and military men, was to maintain order in the area and to try and secure the region. The Prime Minister promised that support would be sent as soon as possible, but acknowledged it could be several years. One of the surviving MPs who had come with the Prime Minister - the Minister of Agriculture, Eugene Whelan - was left in charge of the provisional authority.
On October 6th, the Prime Minister, Thatcher, most of the MPs and officials, as well as a bigger escort, left Kingston for the northeast, hoping to arrive at the Gulf by the end of the year. The last contact with the party, on October 14th, placed them near Montreal, going around the ruins to the south, and had the Prime Minister not feeling very well.
OTL equivalent: Parts of Eastern Ontario east of Belleville, south of Ottawa, west of Montreal and north of the old international border.
The Provisional Authority quickly set about securing the region, knowing that it would need secure farms to feed the local population and any refugees that remained. Portions of Frontenac, Lanark, Leeds, Grenville, Lennox, and Addington counties were brought under the control of the Authority, though the onset of winter stopped them there.
As the government felt that they could control no more territory, they hunkered down in what they controlled.
In 1988, reports of bandit attacks on remote farms near the edge of the safe zone began to spark exponentially, largely to the east of Kingston. These attacks quickly became more and more of a problem, and soon the armed forces under the control of the authority had to give up some areas to them.
However, before the raiders could press further into territory under the Authority, they began to retreat for some reason, though they did not leave the area completely. This was thought - and later proven to be - because of pressure from areas to the east, believed by the leaders to be a Canadian government of some sort, though completely unproven at the time.
Unfortunately, the damage caused by the raiders would mean that much of the next few years would be spent repairing areas that they had occupied for a while, in a slightly shrunken area. The Authority, however, continued to apply pressure to the raiders, who slowly began to give up territory, though not really due to actions by their forces.
In February of 1989, fishing boats out on the lake encountered other vessels, coming from the south. They identified themselves as being from a government set up at the city of Oswego. In April, representatives from the two governments would meet out on the lake, and after finding out they were both fighting raiders from the same direction, they agreed to cooperate against them. Existing hockey teams in Oswego would join up with the newly-founded KHL, since it was far larger, for better competition.
In 1990, forces guarding the eastern frontier spotted a small uniformed force off in the distance, under fire from the raiders. Realizing that something was up, they opened fire on the raiders, and charged in support of the other force. Upon being relieved by the Authority troops, the nine surviving members of the other force revealed themselves to be the survivors of a force sent against the raiders by the Canadian government, now based in St. Johns. The Authority was updated on the situation towards the east, as best the soldiers could supply it, and what had happened to the Prime Minister and his party after they had left the city. When told of his death, they were truly saddened.
With this knowledge, they knew the cause of their safety from the Raiders. However, they also could not get any news through the raiders - now calling themselves the "Lawrence Raiders" - to Canadian forces in the Maritimes. Their allies in Oswego were informed of this as well. Pressure was also applied to the Oswegians at the same time, to prevent another large dispute over the government there.
The next few years would see continued advancement to the east, as the raiders pulled back slowly. Given all things, they concentrated on moving eastward, both to keep the raiders at bay and to make contact with St. Johns easier. As a result, however, little activity to the north or west occurred, with the biggest move in that direction being an expedition into the ruins of Oshawa in 1997, where they hoped to scavenge useful materials from the abandoned automotive factories - it was ultimately not successful.
Oswegian forces, after a joint offensive in the summer of 1990, were able to send forces to aid the Kingstonians, as the offensive had thrown the Raiders back from the southern shores of the lake. It was very effective, as the Raiders could not move forces from one area to aid another. Forces sent from Oswego have proven very effective in forcing the Raiders back since that time.
In 2000, explorers arrived in the territory of the Authority from the north, having apparently came from the ruins of Ottawa. They were from the American survivor nation of Superior, based on the Upper Peninsula of the former state of Michigan, and they told of other city-states in Ontario, as well as their peaceful annexation of some areas of the former province. After hearing this, they decided to not tell the Superiorans of the survivors of the Canadian force, fearing some sort of action on their part. Of course, when they later encountered explorers from Aroostook, this decision was rendered moot, as they told the Superiorans about the survival of the Canadian government anyway. Naturally, the Oswegians were also informed.
This did, of course, prove beneficial for them - the Canadian government finally learned of their survival, having previously only heard rumors of it. They began to shuttle small amounts of supplies to them by air, though only occasionally.
With contact finally restored, the Authority finally got some vindication to its long-held position. On all sides of Raider-controlled areas, renewed pressure was applied. Yet, while successful at first, this pressure eventually stalled for some reason. However, forces had managed to reclaim the remainder of territory that had been seized from them, and to even advance a little further, reaching areas near the ruined Nepean suburb of Ottawa in 2006.
Kingston would receive information in 2008 that was slightly disturbing, which they passed on to the Canadian government when the next planes landed with arms. While far from conclusive, this showed that foreign elements had delivered a shipment of arms to the raiders in February of 2008 north of the ruins of Ottawa. A manifest was also found, detailing what it contained.
When disputes between Saguenay and the Canadian government erupted into war, with Superior and the ADC joining in on the respective sides. The Authority, cautious of the Superiorans, who were passing through raider-held areas to their north with impunity - showing that they were likely the ones from 2008 - did not openly join, for they knew what the net result would be if they had tried. However, they did increase their presence in areas near raider territory, and began to make small attacks and raids again, taking more territory and penetrating as far as Montreal while raiding.
With the end of the war in 2010, and the effective defeat of Saguenay and Superior, along with their cession