Quasi-War VI - The Age of Revolution

OK, all, I'm starting the next chapter.

Hope you like it.

Quasi-War 6: "The Age of Revolution"
Background up to Quasi-War VI:


A while back, I started a TL to explore the President John Adams Era "Quasi-War" in OTL between France and the United States. In OTL, it was reduced to several years of commerce raiding but eventually petered out in the great French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The United States, desiring neutrality, attempted to keep out of any "entangling alliances" and managed to avoid conflict until 1812 when impressments of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with Great Britain.

My Quasi-War I and II TL delves into what would have happened if the naval conflict with France escalated. As extremely long TL's are difficult to track, especially for new readers, I broke them into separate Threads (in sequence) to keep the length to manageable levels. There were about 30 chapters in each TL.

My Quasi-War III timeline delves into the US expansion westward from 1828 to 1832, the continued rivalry of France and the UK in a world where Bonapartist Rule of Western Europe continued, the breakup of the Mexican and Brazilian OTL countries and assorted odds and ends.

Quasi-War IV followed the development of the United States west and into the Pacific, the end of slavery, the Asian rebellions against European Authority, the Anglo-French War of 1859 and the development of the primarily Islamic North Africa and Middle East.

Quasi-War V followed the years between the major wars, roughly in 1880. Key subplots included the Boer War, the Egyptian War and the rise of China culminating in the conquest of French Honshu.


Here are the previous TL's if you wish to go back and read them. I tried to keep the chapters to about 30 per installment:

Quasi-War 1 - 1794 to 1808 - The Adams Era
https://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...d.php?t=344281

Quasi-War 2 - 1808 to 1812 - The Burr Era
https://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...d.php?t=366914

Quasi-War 3 - 1828 to 1832 - The J. Q. Adams Era
https://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...d.php?t=368565

Quasi-War 4 - 1857 to 1861 - The Jefferson Davis Era
https://www.alternatehistory.com/disc...d.php?t=370199
Quasi-War 5 – 1880 to 1881 – The Interlude between major wars https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=374541

Here are the main bullet point divergences from OTL of the previous five Quasi-War series:

North America


1. Washington and Adams had a slightly earlier military buildup, which allows an early Barbary War which, in turn, is enough for Adams to be reelected in 1800 based on a bump in popularity.

2. Adams refuses to pay back remaining French loans while France is preying on American shipping in the true OTL "Quasi-War". The US gravitates towards alliance with Great Britain.

3. France invades British Quebec in a surprise attack and launches to major raids on the American south to incite a slave rebellion as a reprisal for America trading with Britain. Napoleon decides against sending an army to put down San Dominigue's slave revolt. This brings America into alliance with Britain.

4. The United States takes defacto sovereignty over "Upper Canada" (Ontario) as it is cut off from the sea anyway. The US eventually buys both Upper Canada (OTL Ontario, soon to be renamed the state of Huron) and the Hudson Bay Territory.

5. The US invades Florida and Louisiana, both Spanish at the time, on the premise that Spain was a French ally. The US quickly encourages emigration to these areas and Tejas, which remained in dispute.

6. Britain assumes control over most of the Caribbean, excluding Cuba, Puerto Rico, San Dominigue, Guadeloupe and Martinique. They fail, however, in attempt to conquer or liberate the Rio Plata and New Granada.

7. After the capture of the Portuguese Royal Family, Britain establishes a "Protectorate" over Brazil.

8. Aaron Burr is elected US President in 1808.

9. A short peace is quickly disrupted by another war in Europe. Infante Ferdinand, heir to Spain, tries to overthrown his father, King Charles IV. Instead of seeking assistance from France, he asks from help from Great Britain. The French ally with Charles and force the Infante to flee to Britain.

10. Much of New Spain (Mexico) revolts. Britain and the US help the revolutionaries, whom swiftly break into many factions and, after years, several nations. Infante Ferdinand eventually assumes control over New Granada (Venezuela and Colombia). The US claims much of the land in OTL claimed in the Mexican War. They also conquer Guyana (French and Dutch) and lay claim to Spanish and Portuguese Guyana as well.

11. Due to the slave rebellions, the US Presidents Adams and Burr, forbid the extension of slavery into these conquered lands (most of which were "free" or on their way). The Trans-Atlantic slave trade is banned and the US enters into an agreement with Great Britain to police and eliminate the trade. Delaware, Tennessee and Kentucky, dismayed by the hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the southern slave rebellions, eventually move to being "free states". Only Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia remain "slave" states by 1820. This causes severe friction as they are badly outnumbered in congress, feeling their interests are ignored. Also, they want to move into western lands as cotton and tobacco is depleting their own lands. Fearing more insurrections, many southern states enact codes banning free blacks from residing within their limits and force them to sail for new "freedmen" colonies in west Africa.

12. The Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties merge in 1812 to form the Union Party. The southern states slowly start forming an alliance between Southern Federalists and Democrats to challenge this new dominant party.

13. By 1828, there are 23 states in the union, 18 are "Free" and 5 are "Slave".

14. Burr is reelected in 1816 for a 3rd term. John Quincy Adams is elected in 1820, 1824 and 1828 on the Union ticket. No incumbent President has ever lost a reelection bid.

15. In the 1830's, the United States takes effective possession of the American and Canadian west, though, at this point, the population is still very low and it will take years to establish full control.

16. The nations south of the United States (OTL Mexico) fight a number of wars among themselves, with America attempting to maintain a balance of power.

17. In 1830, Quebec launches a war of Independence from France, with results in "Home Rule" under French auspices.

18. The United States, under its claim to Guyana, also begin encroaching into territory of OTL Brazil, which is broken up into several feuding nations. Controlling the mouth of the Amazon, the US gets effective control of the vast Amazon Basin. Rubber is determined to be a potential lucrative crop of the former backwater. The Unites States is also claiming Tierra del Fuego and is eyeing Patagonia for naval and strategic purposes.

19. Under 3 Term President John Quincy Adams, the United States comes to a milder set of agreements with the native tribes, setting up several permanent reservations across the country, especially with the large eastern tribes. The Great Plains Indians would prove more problematic.

20. William Henry Harrison is elected President in 1832. He dies weeks into his administration, leaving his put-upon Vice-President, Zebulon Pike, as the first President to assume office upon the death/resignation of the previous President, sparking a potential constitutional crisis.

21. Slavery has been restricted to five states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Due to exhausted soil, the institution isn't prospering and the United States offers to buy and free slaves from any individual willing to sell them. Though this brings cries of a conspiracy against the "southern culture", many willingly do so. However, due to the "Black Codes" of many southern states, they are required to be shipped away from American soil in an effort to prevent them from returning and inciting rebellions among the remaining slaves. This is agreed as a compromise, though a challenge is made to the Supreme Court.

22. The "Blight" which affected potatoes in Ireland, Scotland, Flanders, Prussia and Scandanavian countries occurs a decade earlier than OTL, prompting an immigration wave.

23. Jefferson Davis is elected in 1856 to the Presidency. He is moderate in most policies, leading to the formation of a "Radical" Party, which is the Unionist Party's first major opposition in 2 generations for control of American politics.

24. The early years of Jefferson Davis' sole term are spent acquiring islands in the Pacific to use as bases (Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Hokkaido, Sakhalin, the Ryuku Islands, Tsushima) and building up the Navy to challenge the British and French, whom are in their own naval arms race.

25. The issue of slavery is the sole uniting factor behind the Radical Party. Davis, his former Chief of Staff, Senator Abraham Lincoln, and Unionist Party Strategist, Congressman John A. MacDonald, attempt to undermine this unity by passing legislation to formally ban slavery in the remaining five "slave states" of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia (and DC) within twelve years. Unlike the Radicals, the Unionists accede to southern demands to remove slaves to the expansive "Sierra Leone" colony which now takes up most of the western coast of Africa.

26. In 1860, the United States wages the "Iberian-American War" over a three month period after the USS Savannah blows up in Havana Harbor. At this point, Cuba was under a rebellion against Iberian rule led by former Mexican General Santa Anna. The United States secures Cuban Independence as well as acquiring the Cape Verde Islands, Sao Tome, Principe, Bioko and all Spanish territories in the Pacific west of the Iberian East Indies (Guam, the Marshall Islands and the Caroline Islands).

27. Having undercut the Radical Party's platform, John A. MacDonald masterminds the 1860 election for the Unionists and Abraham Lincoln is elected President. Jefferson Davis had declined to run again after suffering a stroke.

28. The United States has expanded by several states, including two massive states in South America (Guyana and Amazonia) and now reaches over 30,000,000 citizens, larger than all European countries except for France and Russia.
29. Radical James Blaine wins the 1880 Election, the first non-Unionist President in over a generation.



POD in Europe:

I kept OTL in Europe for most of the way until 1807.

1. Emperor Napoleon decides to side with Charles IV of Spain and evict his son, rather than invading Spain. This allows the joint Franco-Spanish Army to concentrate on Portugal.

2. Instead of invading Russia, Napoleon allies with Czar Alexander to overrun Ottoman Europe, retake Istanbul (Constantinople) and allow Russia naval access to the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus. This causes Great Britain to opposes this move and forms a break between the potential allies. The Czar's brother, Konstantine, is made King of Greece. The rest of the Balkans is made independent and neutral.

3. Emperor Napoleon dies of stomach cancer in late 1811, leaving his infant son Napoleon II under the care of his elder brother, Joseph, King of Portugal.

4. Joseph arranges the marriage between his eldest daughter and Charles IV's second son (and new heir as Ferdinand has been removed from the succession).

5. Joseph ends the war large post-bellum. A few colonies seized in the war by Britain are given back to France, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. Most are kept by Britain and America keeps their conquests in Florida, Louisiana, the American west and Guyana.

6. In the end, French hegemony is preserved in Western Europe after the "Napoleonic Wars".

7. In 1830, a rebellion against King Carlos' autocratic rule in Spain convinces his brother, Ferdinand the Usurper, to attempt to regain his throne. He fails and dies, leaving his widow and infant daughter to his brother's care. It is determined that she shall marry her cousin and unite the feuding House of Bourbon. A similar rebellion occurs in Portugal in the name of the ousted House of Braganza (exiles with Ferdinand in England). This fails under the weight of French troops under King Joseph]
Bonaparte, whom is regent for his nephew in Paris. Soon the Kingdoms of Portugal and Spain would be united, as King Joseph's daughter and heiress is married to King Carlos.

8. France invades Algeria in 1832 under Emperor Napoleon II, whom reassumes control of his Empire upon reaching his majority and tells his uncle, Regent Joseph, to see to his own Kingdom of Portugal. Irritated by constant British supremacy at sea, the "sailor Emperor", known due to Napoleon II's love of the sea, begins plotting against his nation's most consistent enemy, Great Britain. He also determines to attempt to recreate a great empire to challenge Russia and Britain. Left with only a handful of overseas lands, France looks to what remains to be claimed.

9. Czar Nicholas of Russia is overthrown and assassinated by an army coup, leaving his teenage son Alexander II as the new Czar.

10. Napoleon II effectively annexes Morocco from the Iberian Joint Monarchy due to Iberia's incapacity to manage. He then begins a violent suppression of all dissent that borders on genocide.

11. Seeing France slaughter their fellow Muslims, French-ally Egypt quietly negotiates with Britain for an alliance. The Suez Canal opens in 1867. Egypt also conquers western Arabia, which is still the nominal fief of the Ottoman Porte, granting him control of Mecca and Medina, as well as the Red Sea.

12. Franco-Russian jointly controlled Aramea-Palastina has been resettled by Jews and Christians for fifty years following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire (which is now a truncated state). This immigration explodes in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The once-dominant Sunni Arabs are already a minority by 1880. By 1900, they represent less than 20% of the population.

13. In 1859, France gains a momentary advantage in modern warships and invades Britain. The invasion is stopped at the Thames but leaves enormous economic and psychological scars on the British Empire. After six months, the Franco-Irish-Westphalian-Polish troops withdraw. Among the casualties included the death of Prince Albert, husband of Princess Victoria, and Lord Albert (Bertie), their oldest son whom lost an arm in combat.
14. In the late 19th Century, Russia is beset by a large series of strikes, intending to force economic and political change.
15. Demographically, Europe has expanded greatly due to a population boom, especially in Russia and Germany. These causes great political pressure. Britain and Ireland’s population stabilize by the end of the 19th Century, partially due to mass emigration to the United States (Irish) and to the British colonies (Canada, Cape Colony, Australia, New Zealand).
16. In 1880, the long age of the Habsburg Dynasty is over. Austria-Hungary, beset by revolution, tears itself apart. Rudolf II becomes Emperor of the Germans as Austria joins the German Confederation. The Crowns of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia are given to relatives.
17. Bulgaria and Serbia begin a series of low level border conflicts.

Africa
1. France conquers most of North Africa by 1860 (Morocco, Algeria, Tunis north of the Atlas mountains. Most of the population is killed, driven out, forced into “indentured servitude” in the French Caribbean or converted
2. The Boers, more demographically powerful due to higher immigration from French-Occupied Netherlands, are able to defeat the British in 1880 and form their own independent nations in southeast Africa.
3. Egypt, overwhelmed by debt, is forced into Joint Occupation and Government by France and Great Britain in 1881.
4. In 1900, the vast Sierra Leone Colony, an Anglo-American joint colony from Senagal to Angola, is renamed the United Nations of Africa. It is politically dominated by freed American and European colonial slaves relocated to Africa in the 19th Century.
5. Ethiopia, with the defeat of the Mahdists and Egyptians, has formed a significant Eastern Africa Empire, controlling Eritrea and Somalia.

Asia

1. In 185791861, the Sepoy Rebellion succeeds and most of the Indian Subcontinent and Burma is freed from British dominion. Only a small portion of the southeast remains, the Presidency of Madras.

2. In 1854, the Taiping Rebellion succeeds and a Ming Emperor is put on the throne by Shi Dakai, the Taiping General. As many as 20% of China's population follows this new faith, though the Ming Emperor (himself a disciple) ensures freedom of religion.

3. By 1861, China expels the Europeans dominating their country, (except Hong Kong) ending the draining Opium trade, then retake Manchuria, the homeland and sanctuary of the ousted Qing Emperor.

4. In 1860, Russia temporarily loses the new settlement of Vladivostok to Manchuria but regains it a year later. Russian client state Mongolia reconquers former lands in western China and regains control over Tibet.

5. The Nipponese Civil war ends with the French-allied Shogun controlling Honshu, the British-allied Emperor controls Kyushu and Shokuku. The United States controls thinly populated Hokkaido, which within five years is a multi-cultural mix.

6. In the Peace of 1861, Britain claims the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and formerly French New Caledonia.

7. Russia, already dominating the Transcaucacous, invades northern Persia, Britain controls southern Persia. Two new religions, Bab'i and Baha'i, begin converting large numbers of Shi'a Muslims in Persia and Basra
8. A resurgent China wars with France over an Indochinese border dispute. China fails to reconquer Indochina but manages to take the French “protectorate” of Honshu. The last Shogun commits suicide.

Chapter 1: A New Generation
1885
Nizhny Novgorod
Ilya Ulyanov raced through the streets of Nizhny Novgorod, incapable of believing the news. Ever since his idiot son had been arrested at his University, the Academic had feared for his family’s future. Born the son of serfs, Ulyanov had attended prestigious schools and the nation quickly put his organizational skills to work in creating national universities for the Mordvins and Tatars, not to mention countless elementary schools.

The father of six surviving children, his life could not have been more promising, until he read some rather disruptive pamphlets to his eldest son Alexander, that is. After that things went to hell. The words of Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov were radical, to say the least. The academic, whom had to deal with the limitation of bureaucracy every day, could understand the need for organic growth of reform. The seventeen-year-old son, in his intemperate youth, did not. Alexander, his beloved Sasha, fell into the wrong sort of society, that which endorsed violence. Three months prior, Sasha and his gang attempted to assassinate the local foreman of the railroad company, god knows why. One of his twit friends had weakly thrown a home-made bomb at the man’s carriage. It bounced off the side into a crowd of people, killing three and wounding a dozen more. Within hours, the entire gang was captured. Within days, the entire gang was sentenced to death.

Though outraged with his son’s stupidity, no father could stand to see his eldest boy die. Refused leave for one final visit, Ilya had prepared his family for the worst. Indeed, he even accepted an invitation to America to review how the foreigners administrated their own schools. Indeed, the academic had even planned the visit the previous year, intending to take his entire family before Sasha went to University. However, the occasion was cancelled pending rescheduling, all Ilya’s work to approve the family’s passports gone to naught.

But, this morning, news arrived of a shocking event. The local prison’s walls were blown open by fellow “revolutionaries”. Dozens of prisoners had escaped. He could only hope Sasha was among them. Alerted to his fact at work, Ilya raced through the streets home, fearing and hoping his son would be there, though he had no great idea of what to do about the matter. Reaching his apartment, the father was both relieved and horrified to see his son, his features pale and waxen.

“Father…” Sasha trembled as he held on to his mother, Maria.

Ilya embraced him at once. Young Vladimir, the second son had obviously been crying, anticipating never seeing his brother again.

Maria commanded, “Do what must be done to save our son, Ilya.”

Desperate, Ilya replied, “Maria, don’t you understand? I have no power in his matter. The entire army, not to mention the secret police, will be in the streets within hours!”


Turning towards his son, Ilya muttered, “The entire family will be under suspicion now! I suspect I should be relieved of my post shortly, probably arrested.”

Sasha paled and started crying, “Father! I….I…didn’t think! I shall leave at once. Perhaps some of my friends may shield me, help me to escape…”

“No, son,” Ilya shook his head. “It is too late. Even if you turned yourself in, the family would be eternally suspected. I shall lose my position, Vladimir will not be allowed to attend school. Perhaps we shall all be arrested.”

At this Sasha started again to weep, knowing he was his family’s downfall. An idea sprung to mind. The Passports! The Czar continued to make emigration and travel difficult for the people, but Ilya had received permission to depart Russia for a visit to the United States already! All was approved for a three month trip. If the family could escape the city, it was more than possible that they might make it to a port without significant opposition…

Ilya Ulyanov commanded his wife, whom nodded in pale agreement, “You have thirty minutes to pack for America. Bring everything of value you can find – money, jewels, anything!”

“I must write a letter to my siblings and tell them…tell them we shall not be returning. Perhaps they may help us with money.”

Ilya gazed about his beautiful apartment, where he had raised a family. His sister had a key. With luck, she would be able to retrieve the furnishings his family had acquired throughout the years. The father could not wait long. He knew the Police would be coming quickly. Maria, the sensible woman she was, didn’t hesitate. Within thirty minutes, the family bags were packed. With two bags per person, the eight members of the Ulyanov clan departed their home forever.

Two weeks later, after a harrowing voyage by train northwards where the family constantly feared discovery, the Ulyanovs boarded a British trader in St. Petersburg. Though wanted in his home province, the Ulyanov name was not sufficiently infamous that bored officials at a northern port would recognize as fugitives. With the magical documents, properly and legally valid, no barriers were raised. After a brief stay in London, Ulyanov grudgingly handed over most of his remaining savings to an American Captain for passage on a rundown old transport filled with Scandinavian, Flemish, German, English and Irish migrants to America. Russia had been largely immune from the financial panic of 1885 but Britain and France had not. Still, there were enormous lands in America and great opportunity. The Academic (unaware that America was only now being hit by this financial disaster) prayed he may soon ground his family in a new homeland.

Half-way to America, Ilya Ulyanov died of an aneurysm, never to see the new world.



1900

New York

President-Elect Theodore Roosevelt of the Radical Party shook his hat vigorously in the air, acknowledging the accolades of his supporters. Elected on the platform of his relentless drive to eliminate corruption as governor of New York, aimed at cleaning up the most corrupt city in the nation without a doubt, the eight year domination of the Unionists was over. No doubt the three attempts on his life had put the man over the top.

Set upon a stage, Roosevelt leaned over the podium and shouted, “Today is a new day!”

The ensuing roar of applause flowed over him.



1901
Tblisi – Georgia – Transcaucasus
Lieutenant Alexandre Chkheidze of the Transcaucasian Army shook his head, shocked at the stupidity of his generation. Yes, the Russian Empire had its share of problems but what nation had come so far so fast in world history? Only two generations past, the Rodina was nothing less than the most backward nation in Europe, an anachronism in a modern age. Controlled by an all-powerful Czar maintaining his position over less than 10,000 land owners that dominated what was now 150,000,000 million subjects, Russia clearly had far to go to catch up to the advancing western nations.

From any objective measure, the nation had come far. Serfdom was abolished, minority and religious persecution reduced, more than three quarters of the farmland was now in the hands of those whom had farmed it for generations (with more every year) to such an extent the old landed nobility was effectively a political non-entity, industry in the growing cities expanded exponentially every decade, railroad track and other internal improvements continued at a blistering pace…

Yet…it wasn’t enough.

In an era of relative peace, the population of the countryside exploded. Originally intended to create a mass quantity of landed rural workers whom would be vested in the status quo, the redistribution of land over the past half-century had only created large numbers of poor farmers whom could barely keep their own families fed on their small plots. Efforts to grant free land in Siberia and Central Asia had stymied some of the problem but doubling the population in 50 years had simply led to more poverty. Farmers departed the fields for the expanding cities only to work horrific hours under harsh conditions for the lowest pay in Europe. Granted, the cost of living was cheap but no one could call Russia a paradise. Even the creation of the Russian and Transcaucasian Dumas did little to stifle discontent, the Czar finally allowing some level of republican representation.
Chkheidze shook his head. Did they think this was going to be quick and easy?

It was the Russian Army that had, until recently, been the foremost supporter of reform. It was they whom forced the young Alexander II to emancipate the serfs. It was they whom encouraged the development of Siberia under more liberal conditions than in Russia, with the intent that the margins of the Empire may be used as a template for more reform west of the Urals. Indeed, when the young Georgian sought to serve his nation, Chkheidze chose the army as it was a reforming organization, not repressive.

That and the fact that the Transcaucasian Army was the only bulwark between the assorted peoples of the Transcaucasus – the Georgians, the Pontic Greeks, the Armenians and the Turkish Alevis – from their former masters, the Ottoman Empire. Unfortunately, the damned Marxists had infiltrated south from Russia into the Transcaucasus. While Chkheidze generally supported the nation-wide strikes by manufacturing workers (if they were peaceful) given the dismal working conditions, the situation was getting out of hand. “Strikes” soon led to criminal gangs organizing robberies and kidnappings in order to “Fund their Revolution”. Chkheidze had met many of these “Revolutionaries”. Most had never worked a day in their lives.
Having hoped to lead an infantry platoon, Chkheidze was ordered to Tblisi to deal with “Demonstrating” Radicals. By sheer happenstance, he and his patrol blundered on an attempted robbery and kidnapping in process. Apparently, these idiots deemed it proper to kidnap a banker and force him to open his vault on a Sunday, when no one else was around. Chkheidze happened upon the men and, seeing the gun in the banker’s back, ordered his men to surround the criminals. Two of the five were killed, the other three captured. It turned out the idiots had been doing this for over a year and had already been tried in absentia. As a reward, Chkheidze was promoted to senior Lieutenant and given command of the firing squad, though the soldier did not understand why they were not hanged. In the end, he didn’t care.

One by one, the criminals were led out of the dismal army compound outside of town. One by one, they were shot and thrown upon a cart for burial in some pauper’s grave. Filling out the ubiquitous paperwork required for such matters, Chkheidze spent the afternoon at his typewriter, then delivered them to his superior along with another request for transfer to an infantry Regiment. The Turks were reportedly growing restless, though the Georgian could not comprehend what they thought they would accomplish. The Ottoman Empire, whatever the hell was left of it, was hardly a threat to anything. He suspected they would lose a war to Aramea-Palestina, much less Russia.

“Hmmmm,” grumbled Captain Filitov, his fat superior. “Very well, Lieutenant, I suppose you are the hero of the hour. If you want a platoon at the Ottoman border, who the hell am I to say no?”

He then looked at the execution paperwork. “Ah, the death certificates are filled out properly. Be sure to thank the damned doctor for doing his job for once.”

Elated at being relieved of the task of suppressing starving farmers and factory workers, Chkheidze barely overheard Filitov’s last comment regarding the executed criminals masquerading as patriots.

“Paul Arveladze, Nicolai Asatiani and Iosif Jughashvili. Good, three more dead Marxists, not a bad day’s work.”

1902

Poland

Lev Bronstein couldn’t believe his luck as he set foot upon Polish soil. Escaping Siberia had been harrowing. Tiring of his four-year exile for militant unionist activity in Odessa and Nikolayev, Bronstein had snuck aboard a westbound train, carrying badly faked papers provided by revolutionary friends in exile whom, rather stupidly, were put to work in eastern Siberia in clerk positions. This allowed him to make for the Polish border. Granted, there were guards everywhere along the train track’s border crossing but Bronstein bypassed that simply enough by getting off at the nearest stop, about five miles from the border, and walking throughout the night through local farmland. Indeed, he didn’t see a soul. Perched upon a hill, he looked back and noticed what could only be the border post, still lit in the night. Bronstein smirked, turned his back on Russia, where his name was no doubt among the most wanted throughout the nation, and walked west. Within a few months, the Russian had made his way to London, where his spiritual comrades Georgi Plekhanov and Julius Martov were publishing a newpaper, the Iskra, advocating revolution in Russia.

1903

Chicago

“The Turk” slipped through the fog-obscured alleyways of Chicago’s 1st Ward, the night broken only by the sound of far-off laughter and the clacking of the soles of his boys’ shoes as they skittered through the mud and garbage endemic to large cities. They were in enemy territory and everyone knew it. King Michael Cassius McDonald owned this ward and everyone in it.
The Turk had tried to make peace with the damned Irishman. Years before, the Turk and his kid brother had arrived from Detroit, where they had swiftly built an Empire. Detroit was nice, but with the possible exception of New York, no place in America was as accustomed to graft as Chicago. Even New York was being cleaned up, for god’s sake. Half of Tammany Hall was in prison. Detroit and Chicago held the highest number of Slavs in America, nearly half the 1.5 million people from Poland, Russia and the Transcaucasus lived in these two metropolitan areas. Chicago gave the Turk a ready population on which to grow the Empire that stagnated in Detroit.

As the unofficial leader of the diverse “Slavic” gangs, he offered to stay out of the 1st Ward. He simply wanted King Mike’s assurance that the Slavic neighborhoods would be left to their own, well away from the Irishman’s supposed monopoly on gambling, booze and broads. And he owned a piece of everyone: precinct workers, county bosses, justices of the piece, the police, contractors… the list went on and on. He controlled the local Radical Party in Chicago was easily as he did his muscle. Surely, King Mike, for a reasonable fee, could be prevailed upon to assist any Slavic legal issues. However, the dumb Irishman refused, intent on controlling the whole damn city, including the 25% or so of the population of Slavic origin, most having been born overseas.

Tonight it would end.

Evidently, King Mike had taken to a new girlfriend, reputedly intent on taking her as his wife. The girl had a flat not too far away from his gambling den and he visited every night. Even now, his boys were approaching the 4-Story illegal casino. It would be burned to the ground by morning. If the Turk had anything to say about the matter, King Mike wouldn’t live to hear of it.
The Turk turned the corner near the girl’s flat. It was a shitty neighborhood but King Mike reportedly bought out an entire floor and turned it into a palace on the inside. How nice of him. Well past midnight, there wasn’t much of anyone on these streets. Evidently, the girl liked quiet at night, as much as possible in Chicago. That made things easy. Nicolai the Blade slit the throat of the gunman supposedly guarding the front door. The idiot had fallen asleep. Two more guards inside were dead before they knew what hit them. The Turk and his boys quietly climbed the stairs, listening for any signs of discovery. For all they knew, there were twenty more gunmen in the building. But all was quiet.

Reaching the appropriate door, the Turk listed for a full minute, hearing only the muted voices within of a man or woman. If they were acting, they were good. Not a man to needlessly hesitate, the Turk kicked in the door. All four men rushed forward. After a short female squeal, it was all over.

Three days later, the Turk was calmly sitting in a police interview room, his attorney by his side. His men surrounded the building just in case some of the police decided to follow through on a contract offered by King Mike’s successors. The Turk smiled inwardly. The Irish pigs were already fighting among themselves. Without a clear succession, Chicago would be in chaos. He doubted anyone in this building was planning on revenge but the murder of the biggest man in Chicago necessitated some sort of official inquiry.

An obviously nervous Police Lieutenant, whom everyone in the city knew to be corrupt, timidly inquired, “So, you are the Turk?”

The Turk shrugged, “That is what people call me as my father was half-Chuvash.”

The Policeman looked on blankly, obviously having no idea that Chuvash were a Turkic people near the Black Sea. “Ah, what do
you call yourself, then?”

“The same as most people,” the Turk growled in his thick Slavic accent. “My own damn name.”

“I am Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov.”

Chapter 2: Collapse of the old order.
1903
Europe

Rebellions, alternately called “revolutions” or “criminal riots” depending on one’s point of view, spread throughout the continent. Virtually the entirety of Russia was on strike, including most of the manufacturing and rail workers. An attempt to impose the French language as the sole language of schools and government, threatened for decades after the introduction of mandatory schooling but never before enforced, caused insurrection in the Flemish, Walloon, Piedmontese, Catalan, Occitan and Breton areas of the multi-ethic French Empire. The German Confederation, ruled by the Habsburg “Emperor of the Germans”, was also in turmoil as the nation-states demanded closer integration whilst their local Kings vowed to retain what was left of their sovereignty. Oddly, Rudolf II stayed aloof, as if uninterested in the matter. The Prussian King Wilhelm II, whom some referred to as slightly mad given the illnesses that plagued both sides of his family, appeared intent on antagonizing everyone from France to the German Confederation to Poland to Denmark to Bohemia, constantly claiming to be the “rightful leader of Germany”. The Slovaks and Transylvanians in the Kingdom of Hungary were in a constant state of unrest.

In was in the Balkans, though, where the first shots were fired. Nearly a century before, a coalition of French, Austrian and Russian armies swept through the Balkans and ended a half-millennium of Turkish Ottoman influence. Naturally, the three powers determined borders and mediated any conflicts between the diverse ethnicities of the Balkans. However, the mass strikes in Russia, the voluntary dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire and the riots in France precluded any strong outside force to resolve the situation.

The Serbian and Bulgarian Kingdoms, long at odds over border areas, erupted into open conflict.

1904

Cape Town

Governor Leander Starr Jameson wrote furiously of the alleged wrong incurred upon the British colonists whom toiled in the gold fields of the Boer Republics. Though…technically…they weren’t supposed to be there as the Boers had banned any British immigration following the last war without special permit, the fact that many Englishmen were getting their pockets picked of gold by the damned Boers was infuriating.

Why the hell do we have a damned army if we aren’t willing to use it?

Jameson repeated his reports of massive…MASSIVE…quantities of gold in the Witwaterrand that may be the second coming of the Peruvian mines. Surely, London would not allow such a bounty to fall into the hands of the odious Boers, whom had slaughtered, expelled or defacto enslaved the pitiful remnants of the tribes of southern Africa (and driving many into the British lands, resulting in innumerable headaches for Jameson).

If the government is not willing to accept the blatant robbery of British subject of their hard-earned gold prior to expulsion from the Republic…I suppose it wouldn’t be difficult to ensure an incident occurs which WOULD!

How Jameson missed his old friend Cecil Rhodes, may he rest in peace. Cecil would have loved this.


1903

Detroit

Vladimir “The Turk” Ulyanov was pleased to return home. Only recently had he considered Detroit to be such. Perhaps it was hearing his nieces and nephews (and his own bastard children) speaking English as readily as Russian. Perhaps it was the fact that he’d spent half his life in this country. It was where his father’s, sister’s and brother’s bones were buried.

His thoughts drew back to the terrifying flight from Russia, the fear of discovery. Then tragedy after tragedy struck the family. His father died suddenly on board the ship. His brother Sasha, within months of reaching America, had clearly contracted consumption in the hellish Russian prison and died within two years of landing in this strange new land. Then his younger sister Olga, named after the sister whom died in infancy, fell to a mystery malady as the family struggled in the impoverished Detroit neighborhood they now called home.

Soon it was up to Vladimir to support the family, his three remaining siblings. While mother and Anna washed clothing for others, Vladimir sought whatever work he could. The last years of the 19th Century were brutal, especially in Detroit. A general depression left the country foundering, but not nearly as much as the northern city. Nearly 46% of the population was unemployed. His family hungry, Vladimir took to what he could: robbery.

The Russian formed a gang, encouraged “contributions” from various sources, and the family survived. He was busted by the police on more than one occasion, only convicted once, on a minor charge. All was well. Soon, his gang formed loose attachments with others, starting larger businesses. By 1900, Ulyanov was the Detroit boss, his holdings including gambling dens, illegal saloons, brothels and opium warrens distribution. Still, Chicago, with its larger population, was the prize. Eliminating King Mike…well, that threw things up in the air. Leaving his brother Dmitri in charge of Detroit, Vladimir spent the past year consolidating his hold on Chicago. Unlike Detroit, he would never be able to dominate. However, killing the previous King was enough to ensure no one messed with his businesses in the Slavic neighborhoods. After a few token battles, most accepted the new way of things and the Irish gangsters returned to settling old scores with one another and jockeying for position among themselves.

Vladimir, satisfied that his lieutenants could manage for a while, returned to his mother in Detroit where gunfights did not regularly occur in the streets. The Turk would not allow it. As he rode through the streets in his handsome cab, he noted more than a few of those odd horse-less carriages. Evidently, they were the thing of the future. Already, there were half a dozen shops producing them in Detroit. He supposed he better get one soon enough, if only for appearance’s sake. One must keep up with the times.

As he passed through the various neighborhoods of Detroit, he noted Hamtramck, the German area, had grown again, as had Corktown. The city was divided largely into four sections: Hamtramck, Corktown, Little Odessa and the “American” neighborhoods. Little Odessa was dominated by the various Slavic nationalities, mainly refugees from Russia. Ruthenes, Russians, Belarusians, Jews that for some reason didn’t go to Aramea-Palestina, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Estonians…they all congregated in Detroit. Unlike the German and English immigrants to America, the Slavs tended to congregate in cities, like the Irish. However, here the Irish were not demographically dominant. The ferocity and savagery of the Slavic gangs were notorious.

The Germans, Irish and Americans all knew their place.

The Turk had come home.

1903

London

Joseph Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, glared at his Foreign Secretary. “How the hell do we not know who the hell the Germans want in charge? It is the Emperor or the King of Prussia?

Unintimidated, the Foreign Secretary shrugged, “Both. Neither. Who can say? The King has been spouting Pan-Germanic unity for years, only recently has Rudolf II begun doing the same thing. His Brother-in-Law, the French Emperor, is reportedly quite peeved with the situation.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

The Prime Minister sighed. He’d hoped to find some sort of alternative to resigning the Détente Cordiale. Despite the fact that Britain had benefited from the French pseudo-alliance for years, the nation still abhorred the idea of a French alliance, or really anything to do with the nation that nearly destroyed the British Empire in 1860. However, as a politician, Chamberlain had to concede that the alliance had benefits. Without French antipathy, indeed often with French cooperation, the declining British Empire stabilized. An insurrection in Malaya was put down, unrest in Tamil Nadu (the former Madras Presidency) was allowed to be placated without the tradition French interference in British colonial affairs, the Cape Colony recovered from the Boer War and the two nations, with shocking ease, jointly controlled the Egyptian state.

Though America and Russia were apparently again on the rise (both tended to inflate or deflate their military according to the times), France remained the primary opposing colonial power. That is, assuming, control over much of South-East Asia, Madagascar and North Africa was considered an Empire. If Britain could maintain even peaceful relations with France, not even a true alliance, Britain’s place in the world would continue unhindered.

But the riots throughout the continent, especially metropolitan France and the German Confederation, threw all this into doubt. Ethnic minorities in France – the Catalans, Occitans, Bretons, Dutch, Flemings, Walloons, Germans, the list went on – were rioting in the streets. The Germans of France desired unification with the German Confederation. For that matter, so did the Germans of Denmark, Poland and Bohemia. The erratic German Emperor Rudolf II, put on that throne to placate German nationalism, had recently started to fan it. Indeed, his emissaries were even reaching out to Britain seeking an alliance. The Prussian King continued to proclaim himself the rightful leader of the Germans, apparently irritating Rudolf II to no end.
That didn’t even begin to describe what was happening on the continent. The Bulgarians and Serbs had initiated a low-level war, the Russian Empire was apparently on strike and even the Italians were rioting for “independence”, whatever the hell that meant. Chamberlain couldn’t blame himself for his Foreign Minister’s vagueness as to what was happening. In the end, the Prime Minister could not come up with a sufficient reason to reject the Détente Cordiale, though he longed to.

Until a viable alternative to a French alliance, or at least non-aggression pact, was found, Great Britain would stand by the peace as it was made twenty years ago.

He really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

This is gonna be great!

Thanks, I am looking forward to writing it.

A really nice timeline.

Do you think we could see a world map?

SuperFrog said:

Do you think we could see a world map?

Click to expand...

I'll add one this week. You can also see the latest maps on the last couple pages of Quasi-War V.

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=374541&page=6

Funny thing. I just went back and saved my Quasi-War 1-5 in word and it amounted to over 1300 pages between them. Even if I take out comments and replies, etc, I probably wrote a full novel on this series.

Hmmm.... It seems things are coming to a head, and quickly. I give it another 10-15 years or so before everything explodes.

btw, what is American Amazonia and Patagonia like these days, and will they stay territories, become states, or be released to form their own countries in the vein of the Philippines.

Wertmon505 said:

Hmmm.... It seems things are coming to a head, and quickly. I give it another 10-15 years or so before everything explodes.

btw, what is American Amazonia and Patagonia like these days, and will they stay territories, become states, or be released to form their own countries in the vein of the Philippines.

Click to expand...

Amazonia and Guyana are already states (1880ish I think) and Patagonia is still too undeveloped and unpopulated for statehood.

Alt History Buff said:

Amazonia and Guyana are already states (1880ish I think) and Patagonia is still too undeveloped and unpopulated for statehood.

Click to expand...

I went back and found the post where it was mentioned (post 90 of part IV).

What kind of development have those states seen? I know there is ample mining, logging, and sugar production in that area today, but those territories are also just far enough that they could serve as a dumping ground for undesirables of all stripes. What I am wondering is whether those two states are backwaters either economically, intellectually, or politically, and what the ethnic makeup of those two states are.

Wertmon505 said:

I went back and found the post where it was mentioned (post 90 of part IV).

What kind of development have those states seen? I know there is ample mining, logging, and sugar production in that area today, but those territories are also just far enough that they could serve as a dumping ground for undesirables of all stripes. What I am wondering is whether those two states are backwaters either economically, intellectually, or politically, and what the ethnic makeup of those two states are.

Click to expand...

Initially, there had been some relocation of freedmen there as these were two of the states that had allowed black voting. Later, around 1880 to 1900, they would experience the Rubber Boom as it OTL, which would, for several decades, dominate the economy. Brazil also received an influx of Europeans to this area in this timeframe to deal with the boom. I would suspect that they would take whatever labor they could get, including Asian immigration, which would likely be more welcome than most places in the US as this time.

Also, I can't imagine that the US would be any worse relating to the natives, whom were forced into slavery and died in vast numbers working the plantations. By this point, the US had procedures to deal with natives and this would not have been as widely tolerated. Recall that black slavery was abolished in these territories when the US took over.

I'm not overly familiar of the economy in these OTL Brazilian states but i suspect agriculture will always be there. I believe most of the mining takes place further south in Brazil.

Oh! The irony of Lenin ruling an organization based on worker exploitation! That's good! Although math would put him at around 28 years old, give or take five. That's impressive for someone so young.
Why did France decide to force French on their territories all of a sudden? Did they decide to try and assimilate them before the Confederation tried to raise unrest?

IT'S BAAAACK!

Hey this hasn't been updated since last year

Damn it! I thought it was an update

Arnold d.c said:

Damn it! I thought it was an update

Click to expand...

I will get one out shortly. Too busy over the holidays.

Chapter 3: Collapse of the Old Order, Rise of Chaos

November 1904

Washington DC

President Theodore Roosevelt released the bottle and watched as it flew along the edge of the string to impact the steel hull of America's new behemoth. The bottle declined to burst. The President's face reddened as the assembled crowd laughed uproariously.

The Mississippi-Class USS Arizona, the latest of the huge American battleships to sail from the New York shipyards, was imposing in her grandeur. Once armed with her guns, she would be a match for any vessel on earth. Having championed the rebirth of the American fleet from its pathetic state (no better than 6th or 7th on earth only five years ago), Roosevelt had made improving America's fleet a priority. Granted the previous presidents had initiated the first increases but it was Roosevelt whom was considered the true backer of the American navy. Now only Britain and France could claim superior fleets (with perhaps Russia and China roughly even). Gone were the days when Rio Plata or the Mughal Empire could seriously considering challenging her at sea.

John Hay, Secretary of State, managed to hide his guffaws and come up with a solution. Just a few moments ago, the dockyard workers had presented Roosevelt with a memento, an ancient elephant guns complete with shells, as a gesture of "good luck" in the coming election. As Roosevelt was expected to win in a massive majority when voting began, he was not particularly worried. Hay grabbed the weapon, loaded the shells, and fired towards the bottle now hanging off the sides of the Arizona. The bottle shattered to rapturous applause. Roosevelt tipped his hat to his Secretary of State and went on, now laughing at his subordinate's cleverness, to offer yet another speech. Soon, another dozen warships, mostly destroyers but also another Mississippi Class ship (probably to be dubbed the USS Huron), would emerge from these busy shipyards.

Hours later, Roosevelt had recovered from his humiliation and laughed over the matter with Hay at his private club. The campaign had been long and arduous. With only a few days left (and a massive lead in the polls), he wasn't worried that Professor Wilson would seriously challenge him.

"Well, John," Roosevelt muttered, lounging in his favorite chair, "What is the latest from abroad? I haven't been paying too much attention."

"I can't imagine why," the Secretary of State retorted playfully. A longtime fixture in Washington dating back to the Lincoln Administration, Hay was due for retirement soon. "Well, Russia appears to be falling apart under the force of these strikes."

Such had been an ongoing problem for years in many nations, including America, but none more so than Russia. Twelve hour weekdays for slave labor wages would make any worker angry.

"And the street protests in France continue apace," he continued. "Emperor Louis has backed down on the language laws but that hasn't slowed the riots throughout France. Germans, Flemings, even the southern French, are protesting a hundred years of grievances, real or imagined. Even the North Africans are demanding more autonomy."

Roosevelt had travelled to North Africa years before and found it a hauntingly beautiful place. Having long since forced out the Berber population (or assimilated it), it was as European as Marseille. French, Italian, Neapolitan, Spanish and Portuguese immigrants had made it a part of the French metropolis, though French North Africa retained many of her traditional regional and municipal names: Casablanca, Fez, Tangiers, Oran, Algiers. Only the people had changed since Napoleon II had conquered North Africa west of Egypt.

"What of Germany, John?"

Hay shook his head. "No one really knows. Both Emperor Rudolf and the King of Prussia claim to be the leaders. France, Poland and the other states with German minorities, Bohemia and Denmark, are more than a little concerned by this wave of ethnic nationalism."

"New York has a massive German community," the President grinned, "any chance the Bronx will try to secede?"

"At this time, Mr. President, I wouldn't count anything out."

The pair laughed. Europe's troubles were only beginning. That continent's problems had never truly been solved, not even by the French "Revolution". Once promised to bring representative democracy (later under a Bonapartist Ruler), many of these principalities of the Germanies and the Italies had languished, never truly representative or free. With steep differences in development between nations, ethnic tensions and economic problems abounded. War had already erupted in the Balkans and the traditional police nations were too busy to be troubled with resolving foreign problems in a backwater corner of Europe. The Serbian-Bulgarian war was already spilling over the borders of Albania, Greece and Wallachia.

France, much of the fragmented German Empire and Russia were facing internal rebellions, protests and riots. Even the loosely held together Iberian Monarchy was facing internal problems.

For the moment, Europe was a powder keg and Roosevelt didn't know how the hell to dampen the rising flames.

Perhaps worse than Europe was Asia. China and Russia were at one another's throats once again, this time over the Manchurian border. Nipponese insurgents on Chinese-occupied Honshu were causing trouble, reportedly armed by Russia (or possibly British-Nipponese Imperial) agents. The Chinese Emperor was getting impatient with the situation. With a sprawling population vastly outnumbering the Russian, French, British, American and other local nations combined, the Chinese Empire's increasingly aggressive stance of revanchism was causing ripples throughout the western world (and the "Free" Asian monarchies as well).

Roosevelt sighed, wondering why he signed up for another term. With such contentious issues as renewing the Charter of the Bank of the United States, crushing several monopolies, working out a compromise with these new and powerful labor unions...the list went on.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Roosevelt vowed to do his best.

Thank god I won't have to insert America into these foreign affairs! With so many internal issues, I shiver at having to clean up these messes overseas!

Had he known that, within a short period of time, America would find itself fighting a foreign war, he would have drunk his sherry more deeply.

London

Julius Martov wondered what the hell he was to do with this Lev Bronshtein character. Somehow his fellow Russian Jew (though Bronshtein was famously irreligious) had lead his faction of the Iskra party journal into the majority , dubbed the Bolsheviks (or majority), deeming Martov the Mensheviks (or minority). It was a pointless semantics relating to how many members should be allowed into the party. The newfound "Bolshevik" faction preferred a lower number of hardcore members while the Mensheviks preferred widening the party base.

There was no reason for this level of ire, though. Weren't the Russian exiles of Europe all in favor of the same goal of improving the lives of their countrymen?

Though he abhorred the violence wreaked throughout Russia by Bronshtein's thugs, Martov knew that SOMETHING had to be done for the much-put upon men laboring under such awful conditions. Not for the first time did Martov wonder why he didn't simply emigrate to Aramea-Palastina as so many other Russian Jews had. Though hardly devout, it was a better place to live than his homeland.

However, his homeland Russia remained. The newly founded labor unions were forming attachments, either Bolshevik or Menshevik. Half the violence in Russia was attributed to inter-Communist violence rather than violence against the State.

The 1904 Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (in other words, the Communists) must stand as one if they were to extort greater concessions from the Czar.

Having met that evening for several hours with allies, Martov left the office at 9:15 for his London flat. He usually stayed later but was feeling ill. He'd gone fifteen steps down the street when the bomb blew his headquarters to pieces. Shaken but unharmed, Martov stared at the devastation, a thousand scenarios flying through his mind ranging from an accidental gas leak to the Czar's secret police.

In the end, he knew it had to be Bronshtein.

Interesting. So we know that there will be Russia vs. China showdown in the upcoming Great War, but I am having trouble seeing the what sides the other nations will take. Obviously it is only the third post so much will be revealed, but by the looks of it war is coming fast, most likely within a couple years of OTL's WWI.

One thing I am wondering is what's technology (both civilian and military) looking like ITTL? a little ahead or behind OTL? Did the airplane still get invented around the same time and how is the airship industry doing?