1912-1924
Here's the next update. Sorry it took so long, but I've been a little busy. Enjoy!
1912-1925
By 1912, the National Socialist Russian Worker’s Party has come onto the radar of the Okhranka, the Russian Secret Police. The rise of Vladimir Konstantinovich Markov within the Party has given a few in the Imperial Family cause for alarm, especially after Markov’s thirteen-city tour, giving speeches to all who would listen. Spies for the Okhranka have compiled transcripts of Markov’s many speeches, most on the inability of the monarchy to protect Russia and the treason of the Muslims who revolted in Russian Persia during the attempted Russian invasion of India. The Jews are also a target of Markov’s hate-filled speeches, claiming that Jewish bankers concocted a conspiracy to doom Russia in the Great War and that Russia should hold pogroms in all cities to cleanse her of the Jewish threat. Nicholas II chooses to play the NSRWP against the communist threat, led by Joseph Stalin, who lives in exile with his followers, conducts a guerilla war against the monarchy. Many of Nicholas II's advisors press the looming threat of the NSRWP’s increasing membership, but he refuses to listen, convinced of his own intellectual superiority.
In his second term, Whig President Theodore Roosevelt continues his policy of helping the common man with his subsidies to farmers and those in financial straits. The popularity and charisma of the President is the major reason the Whigs remain in power, as the Democrats capitalize on the disillusionment of the American people after the Great War and repeatedly paint Roosevelt as a warmonger who will inevitably lead America into another war. Things come to a head when Great War veteran Thomas Mulcahey attempts to assassinate the President in order to prevent another Great War. President Roosevelt is unharmed, although he would carry the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life.
The growing violence of the NSRWP approaches the boiling point when a large riot occurs in Odessa. Numerous Natsi (taken from an abbreviation of the NSRWP newspaper, Natsiya, meaning Nation) leaders are taken into custody, including Chairman Vladimir Markov, Head of Propaganda Josef Golubov, Head of Security Ivan Khmelnov, and Head of Operations Vasily Golovin. They are released in days, continuing their venomous speeches and meetings. Within a year, Markov creates a paramilitary wing of the Party, the Гром батальоны (Thunder Battalions), to better handle the riots that had landed the party leaders in prison. Markov also creates a youth organization for the children of party members, designed to teach (indoctrinate) and take care of (train) the young fascists.
In the U.S. presidential election of 1916, the fear tactics of the Democratic Party have succeeded. Fearful of being dragged into another European war, the American people elect Democrat Woodrow Wilson into the White House. President Wilson had run on a platform of free silver and isolationism, and these two facets create a small division within the Democratic Party. The Whigs launch a campaign of damage control, attempting to convince the American public that a vote for the Whig Party is not a vote for war. Former President Roosevelt goes so far as to cancel his African safari in order to contain the Democratic rise in power.
In 1917, the Franco-Algerian War has come to an end with a French victory. The Algerians primarily waged a guerilla campaign against the French army. The Treaty of Tripoli gives more rights to the Algerians, including representation in the French government, in an effort to heal the wounds inflicted by the war. King Philippe VIII faces opposition from the far-right elements of French politics, who claim that having Algerian Muslims in government would lead to the ruin of the nation, going so far as to invoke Charles Martel’s victory over the Caliphate in 732 as a reason for keeping Muslims out of the government. The Action Française, a right wing newspaper and organization, is the chief antagonist of the monarchy. One of the heroes of the Franco-Algerian War is Major Charles De Gaulle, winner of the Légion d'honneur for gallantry. After the war, De Gaulle chooses to teach at the École Militaire alongside another hero, Colonel Philippe Pétain.
The violence of the NSRWP has calmed somewhat by 1917, and has become a legitimate political party of the Russian Empire. Several provinces have elected Party members to the State Duma, while Vladimir Markov retains power as Party Chairman, the power behind the scenes. The Party’s limited success comes to a screeching halt after the attempted assassination of Nicholas II by Dmitri Barov, a mentally unstable NSRWP member with a history of paranoid delusions. Doctored evidence is found by the Okhranka tying Vladimir Markov and other party leaders to the assassination attempt. Markov is found guilty of conspiracy charges and sentenced to ten years in prison. It is during this time that Markov would write his manifesto, Моя борьба, loosely translated as “My Struggle”.
In the United Kingdom, the 1918 Parliamentary elections result in the Liberal government of David Lloyd George. One of Prime Minister George’s first acts is to launch what would be known as the “People’s Budget”. In the new budget, large landowners would have their land taxed much more heavily. The mostly Conservative House of Lords defeats the bill after it passes in the House of Commons. This would lead to the attempted Parliamentary act of 1920, a measure designed to reduce the power of the House of Lords. The Liberal government attempts to entice the Irish and Corsican MPs to support the passage of the new bill, but to no avail. Instead of the landowner’s tax, the Liberals enact a system of protective tariffs.
In the United States, the first armored divisions are being built using a volunteer-only corps of soldiers. Colonel George Patton, a proponent of mobile warfare, changes the very structure of tanks, from a large, slow “battleship” type of vehicle, to a smaller, fast armored cavalry type of vehicle. Using plans drawn up by himself and Henry Ford, the first Stuart tank (named in honor of the famed cavalry general, J.E.B. Stuart) begin to be rolled off the Ford factory at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These new tanks are capable of fair speed, and are armed with two shortened versions of the British QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss naval guns. Colonel Patton envisions a massed division of armor breaking through infantry centers. A young Lieutenant named Eisenhower soon joins Patton’s staff in 1918.
By the election of 1920, the health of President Woodrow Wilson has become a serious campaign issue. A stroke suffered by Wilson in 1919, and numerous weeks spent in recovery, forces the Democrats to find another presidential candidate. Vice President Oscar Underwood is briefly considered as a potential nominee, but his pro-racial equality stance threatens to alienate the Southern base. The Democratic Convention turns their attention to Indiana Governor Thomas Marshall. Marshall proves to be a wise choice, along with New York Governor Al Smith as his running mate, as the Democrats sweep the solid South and other key states. The Whigs, unable to distance themselves from their “warmonger” status, are forced to look ahead to 1924.
Even from prison, Vladimir Markov’s influence is beginning to spread to other nations. His correspondence with Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek would plant the seed for the eventual overthrow of the Guangxu Emperor in 1925. Kai-shek’s Nationalist Party would copy much of the NSRWP’s platform, and would come to see themselves as Russia’s partner in Asia.
Europe is shocked when, in 1921, Philippe VIII is assassinated by a long range rifle in Paris. Louis, Dauphin of France, was in the United Kingdom visiting his sister, Marie, wife of Edward, Prince of Wales at the time of the assassination. Upon his return to France, Louis, now Louis XIX, finds that the Action Française, a hard-line fascist group, was behind the assassination and has taken power in his absence. Charles Maurras, head of the Action Française, has named himself President of the Second French Republic and pursues a campaign of terror unseen since the time of Robespierre. Louis XIX is barely able to make it out of the country with his life. Several of his countrymen are not as lucky, as President Maurras jails, and then executes, members of the nobility for crimes against France. The small minority of Muslims in France are also the first targets of the new Republic’s rage. Louis XIX is offered asylum in the United Kingdom and he accepts, staying with his sisters and his mother, along with the few other nobles able to escape. Much of the military has remained in France, serving the interests of the Second French Republic. One notable exception is Lt. Colonel Charles De Gaulle, professor of engineering and armored warfare at the École Militaire, who immigrates to the United Kingdom alongside his King.
In January 1922, President Thomas Marshall falls dead of a heart attack in the early hours of the morning while working in the Oval Office. In accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment, Vice President Al Smith is sworn in as President, making him the first Catholic to become President of the United States of America. It would soon to be a bittersweet moment for President Smith once he realized the long-term effects of the Democrats’ economic policy.
In April 1922, the Democrats’ laissez-faire approach to the economy and massive margin spending in relation to the stock market become the two biggest causes of the Stock Market Crash of 1922. Wall Street lost an estimated $30 billion within a month. But it was the Democratic response to the crisis the sealed the fate of the American people. The Harris-Broussard Protection Act was a bill signed into law designed to protect the American economy from international trade by enforcing a large tariff on all imported goods. This only exacerbated the growing depression , and caused the economy to fall even further. The Whig Party seizes the opportunity and launches a massive campaign of blaming the Democrats for the rampant unemployment and faltering economy. Former President Theodore Roosevelt again postpones his planned African safari to go on a nationwide speaking tour, even bigger than his 1916 tour. His fifty-nine state tour, including Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, would last eight months, and is cited by modern historians as the main reason for the Whig rout of the Democrats in the 1922 congressional elections in November.
In 1922, just seven months after the start of the Great Depression, the Whig Party gained control of Congress after a six-year absence, most running a campaign of blaming the Democrats for the rampant unemployment and the failing economy. Their first act is to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment, allowing Presidents to serve as many terms as the American public will elect them to. Most in Congress can see through the obvious maneuvering and know who the Whigs will select for the 1924 presidential election.
Theodore Roosevelt takes the oath of office (again) as the twenty-third President of the United States in March of 1925.
Here's the next update. Sorry it took so long, but I've been a little busy. Enjoy!
1912-1925
By 1912, the National Socialist Russian Worker’s Party has come onto the radar of the Okhranka, the Russian Secret Police. The rise of Vladimir Konstantinovich Markov within the Party has given a few in the Imperial Family cause for alarm, especially after Markov’s thirteen-city tour, giving speeches to all who would listen. Spies for the Okhranka have compiled transcripts of Markov’s many speeches, most on the inability of the monarchy to protect Russia and the treason of the Muslims who revolted in Russian Persia during the attempted Russian invasion of India. The Jews are also a target of Markov’s hate-filled speeches, claiming that Jewish bankers concocted a conspiracy to doom Russia in the Great War and that Russia should hold pogroms in all cities to cleanse her of the Jewish threat. Nicholas II chooses to play the NSRWP against the communist threat, led by Joseph Stalin, who lives in exile with his followers, conducts a guerilla war against the monarchy. Many of Nicholas II's advisors press the looming threat of the NSRWP’s increasing membership, but he refuses to listen, convinced of his own intellectual superiority.
In his second term, Whig President Theodore Roosevelt continues his policy of helping the common man with his subsidies to farmers and those in financial straits. The popularity and charisma of the President is the major reason the Whigs remain in power, as the Democrats capitalize on the disillusionment of the American people after the Great War and repeatedly paint Roosevelt as a warmonger who will inevitably lead America into another war. Things come to a head when Great War veteran Thomas Mulcahey attempts to assassinate the President in order to prevent another Great War. President Roosevelt is unharmed, although he would carry the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life.
The growing violence of the NSRWP approaches the boiling point when a large riot occurs in Odessa. Numerous Natsi (taken from an abbreviation of the NSRWP newspaper, Natsiya, meaning Nation) leaders are taken into custody, including Chairman Vladimir Markov, Head of Propaganda Josef Golubov, Head of Security Ivan Khmelnov, and Head of Operations Vasily Golovin. They are released in days, continuing their venomous speeches and meetings. Within a year, Markov creates a paramilitary wing of the Party, the Гром батальоны (Thunder Battalions), to better handle the riots that had landed the party leaders in prison. Markov also creates a youth organization for the children of party members, designed to teach (indoctrinate) and take care of (train) the young fascists.
In the U.S. presidential election of 1916, the fear tactics of the Democratic Party have succeeded. Fearful of being dragged into another European war, the American people elect Democrat Woodrow Wilson into the White House. President Wilson had run on a platform of free silver and isolationism, and these two facets create a small division within the Democratic Party. The Whigs launch a campaign of damage control, attempting to convince the American public that a vote for the Whig Party is not a vote for war. Former President Roosevelt goes so far as to cancel his African safari in order to contain the Democratic rise in power.
In 1917, the Franco-Algerian War has come to an end with a French victory. The Algerians primarily waged a guerilla campaign against the French army. The Treaty of Tripoli gives more rights to the Algerians, including representation in the French government, in an effort to heal the wounds inflicted by the war. King Philippe VIII faces opposition from the far-right elements of French politics, who claim that having Algerian Muslims in government would lead to the ruin of the nation, going so far as to invoke Charles Martel’s victory over the Caliphate in 732 as a reason for keeping Muslims out of the government. The Action Française, a right wing newspaper and organization, is the chief antagonist of the monarchy. One of the heroes of the Franco-Algerian War is Major Charles De Gaulle, winner of the Légion d'honneur for gallantry. After the war, De Gaulle chooses to teach at the École Militaire alongside another hero, Colonel Philippe Pétain.
The violence of the NSRWP has calmed somewhat by 1917, and has become a legitimate political party of the Russian Empire. Several provinces have elected Party members to the State Duma, while Vladimir Markov retains power as Party Chairman, the power behind the scenes. The Party’s limited success comes to a screeching halt after the attempted assassination of Nicholas II by Dmitri Barov, a mentally unstable NSRWP member with a history of paranoid delusions. Doctored evidence is found by the Okhranka tying Vladimir Markov and other party leaders to the assassination attempt. Markov is found guilty of conspiracy charges and sentenced to ten years in prison. It is during this time that Markov would write his manifesto, Моя борьба, loosely translated as “My Struggle”.
In the United Kingdom, the 1918 Parliamentary elections result in the Liberal government of David Lloyd George. One of Prime Minister George’s first acts is to launch what would be known as the “People’s Budget”. In the new budget, large landowners would have their land taxed much more heavily. The mostly Conservative House of Lords defeats the bill after it passes in the House of Commons. This would lead to the attempted Parliamentary act of 1920, a measure designed to reduce the power of the House of Lords. The Liberal government attempts to entice the Irish and Corsican MPs to support the passage of the new bill, but to no avail. Instead of the landowner’s tax, the Liberals enact a system of protective tariffs.
In the United States, the first armored divisions are being built using a volunteer-only corps of soldiers. Colonel George Patton, a proponent of mobile warfare, changes the very structure of tanks, from a large, slow “battleship” type of vehicle, to a smaller, fast armored cavalry type of vehicle. Using plans drawn up by himself and Henry Ford, the first Stuart tank (named in honor of the famed cavalry general, J.E.B. Stuart) begin to be rolled off the Ford factory at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These new tanks are capable of fair speed, and are armed with two shortened versions of the British QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss naval guns. Colonel Patton envisions a massed division of armor breaking through infantry centers. A young Lieutenant named Eisenhower soon joins Patton’s staff in 1918.
By the election of 1920, the health of President Woodrow Wilson has become a serious campaign issue. A stroke suffered by Wilson in 1919, and numerous weeks spent in recovery, forces the Democrats to find another presidential candidate. Vice President Oscar Underwood is briefly considered as a potential nominee, but his pro-racial equality stance threatens to alienate the Southern base. The Democratic Convention turns their attention to Indiana Governor Thomas Marshall. Marshall proves to be a wise choice, along with New York Governor Al Smith as his running mate, as the Democrats sweep the solid South and other key states. The Whigs, unable to distance themselves from their “warmonger” status, are forced to look ahead to 1924.
Even from prison, Vladimir Markov’s influence is beginning to spread to other nations. His correspondence with Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek would plant the seed for the eventual overthrow of the Guangxu Emperor in 1925. Kai-shek’s Nationalist Party would copy much of the NSRWP’s platform, and would come to see themselves as Russia’s partner in Asia.
Europe is shocked when, in 1921, Philippe VIII is assassinated by a long range rifle in Paris. Louis, Dauphin of France, was in the United Kingdom visiting his sister, Marie, wife of Edward, Prince of Wales at the time of the assassination. Upon his return to France, Louis, now Louis XIX, finds that the Action Française, a hard-line fascist group, was behind the assassination and has taken power in his absence. Charles Maurras, head of the Action Française, has named himself President of the Second French Republic and pursues a campaign of terror unseen since the time of Robespierre. Louis XIX is barely able to make it out of the country with his life. Several of his countrymen are not as lucky, as President Maurras jails, and then executes, members of the nobility for crimes against France. The small minority of Muslims in France are also the first targets of the new Republic’s rage. Louis XIX is offered asylum in the United Kingdom and he accepts, staying with his sisters and his mother, along with the few other nobles able to escape. Much of the military has remained in France, serving the interests of the Second French Republic. One notable exception is Lt. Colonel Charles De Gaulle, professor of engineering and armored warfare at the École Militaire, who immigrates to the United Kingdom alongside his King.
In January 1922, President Thomas Marshall falls dead of a heart attack in the early hours of the morning while working in the Oval Office. In accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment, Vice President Al Smith is sworn in as President, making him the first Catholic to become President of the United States of America. It would soon to be a bittersweet moment for President Smith once he realized the long-term effects of the Democrats’ economic policy.
In April 1922, the Democrats’ laissez-faire approach to the economy and massive margin spending in relation to the stock market become the two biggest causes of the Stock Market Crash of 1922. Wall Street lost an estimated $30 billion within a month. But it was the Democratic response to the crisis the sealed the fate of the American people. The Harris-Broussard Protection Act was a bill signed into law designed to protect the American economy from international trade by enforcing a large tariff on all imported goods. This only exacerbated the growing depression , and caused the economy to fall even further. The Whig Party seizes the opportunity and launches a massive campaign of blaming the Democrats for the rampant unemployment and faltering economy. Former President Theodore Roosevelt again postpones his planned African safari to go on a nationwide speaking tour, even bigger than his 1916 tour. His fifty-nine state tour, including Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, would last eight months, and is cited by modern historians as the main reason for the Whig rout of the Democrats in the 1922 congressional elections in November.
In 1922, just seven months after the start of the Great Depression, the Whig Party gained control of Congress after a six-year absence, most running a campaign of blaming the Democrats for the rampant unemployment and the failing economy. Their first act is to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment, allowing Presidents to serve as many terms as the American public will elect them to. Most in Congress can see through the obvious maneuvering and know who the Whigs will select for the 1924 presidential election.
Theodore Roosevelt takes the oath of office (again) as the twenty-third President of the United States in March of 1925.
Last edited:
) and I want to get it up to a point that I'm comfortable taking a break at. So, until then, this TL will be temporarily stopped. I'm sorry to all who have read and given input, I just can't handle two TL's at once.