I have a friend who goes to Cracker Barrel just to buy Cheerwine.Yeah, there's Big Pineapple, Big Blue, Big Peach and (my personal favorite) Big Red Zero. Now Cheerwine, that's a b***h and a half to get ahold of here without buying single bottles at Cracker Barrel (ditto for Double Cola, which is just wrong ).
I think the US would get a ton of European influence on food, especially from Central and Eastern Europe as well as Italy (Manhattan Pizza, like Big Red, is a universal constant) along with some Asian and Middle Eastern influences, while I see soul food becoming even bigger in the south.Nice, I do the same thing. Although, I did find out that Spec's often carries twelve packs of Cheerwine in cans, but the problem is that stocks often run out faster than C.B. does (even though they deal in smaller, bottle-sized quantities ). Would cuisine be affected by the POD of this TL in the US and CSA, by the way?
Very good question! Claiming to be the Empire of Germany and having Wilhelm crowned Emperor of Germany are conscious decisions made to kind of spit in the face of Austria and enhance German prestige after getting two black eyes fighting with Austria and France to form the empire. This will come into play later, as well.A quick question, is there any significance in the term "Empire of Germany" over the term "German Empire"? And for that matter is Wilhelm "German Emperor" like he was OTL or is he "Emperor of Germany" like he wanted but was prevented from doing so since it would have "signalled a claim to lands outside his realm" (Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg etc.)
Very good question! Claiming to be the Empire of Germany and having Wilhelm crowned Emperor of Germany are conscious decisions made to kind of spit in the face of Austria and enhance German prestige after getting two black eyes fighting with Austria and France to form the empire. This will come into play later, as well.
Glad you like the timeline! Yes, I read up on the importance of labeling and figured it would be appropriate to Prussia's current position after the two wars. Of course, Austria won't take the insult lying down, but that's for another update.Ahh I'm glad to see it was conscious decision on your part, few authors seem to take into account such small points, oddly so considering the importance of hierarchical labeling in the former HRE. It seemed strange to me at first that Prussia was deliberately slighting the Austrians but now I do see the plausibility of such a move as a face saving measure, looking forward to see where that goes, and great timeline you've got here!
-As I've mentioned before, the CSA Constitution is much different ITTL, due to butterflies and a different situation. As it stands, there is not a whole lot of building between 1860 and 1872, but the Labor Party removes restrictions on taxes and government funds to build industry, so all bets are off. I'll cover this more thoroughly in the next update.Here's a brace of random questions for you regarding the TL;
-What is the status of railroad construction in the CSA, as well as public infrastructure in general? The OTL Confederate constitution forbid the use of taxes and central govt. funds to build industry, but IDK if that would be included in this Confederacy. Thoughts?
-What's Russia up to these days in the TL? We got a bunch of information on events going on Between Prussia/Germany, France and Austria-Hungary but what of the Big Bear to the east? Are they liberalizing, or are they still pretty much going along OTL's path?
-Is automobile innovation still ongoing? We know (for those of us that read your mini-TL version of this in the Maps section) that Maxim works on engineering projects leading up to manned flight, but are combustion engines for ground use still along the same rate of development, or do they get a shot in the arm/push down the stairs as a result of this TL's butterflies?
-As I've mentioned before, the CSA Constitution is much different ITTL, due to butterflies and a different situation. As it stands, there is not a whole lot of building between 1860 and 1872, but the Labor Party removes restrictions on taxes and government funds to build industry, so all bets are off. I'll cover this more thoroughly in the next update.
-Russia is going to need its own update. As you saw in the map thread, Russia is far from being like it was OTL, and I'll need to cover this thoroughly. There is definitely some liberalizing in there.
-It really was basically a TL posted in the map section, wasn't it? Combustion engines are used on the ground, yes. Having a friend who is obsessed over cars, he confirmed when I asked that the automobile is one of those inventions that goes back so far that a POD of 1856 is not back far enough to butterfly away cars. They'll probably be made by different people, but they will be made. Now, how they will compete with streetcars is another issue.
-Yeah, the Labor Party is more or less the turning point for the CSA ITTL. It alters the political and cultural landscape a lot more than, say, TL-191. Maybe this should be TL-919? Anyway, there will be plenty of counter-culture movements in both Americas, as teenagers and young adults rebel like always. How they will look is something different.-I hear what you're saying (the POD seems to have unravelled that particular ball o' yarn). And I gotta tell ya, I'm liking the Labor Party more and more; I have a feeling that my ATL analogue would be a raving liberal by Confederate standards as it is, and now that side of the spectrum has its own political party. Tell me, would there happen to be a counter-culture/quasi-hippie movement in either Americas' future?
-Fair enough, I can't wait to see it .
-As long as muscle cars and pickup trucks still make their mark on Southron transportation, I have no issue with mass rail transit/air transportation take up the lion's share of movement infrastructure. It's just good to know that technology is on track .
-I didn't get to have a picture of it, but the Colt 1900 is, yes, equivalent ot the Springfield '03. And you have to remember, why would an Army that believes in American Supremacy buy weapons from a foreign power?...wow! I can't really respond in much depth at the moment, but I am blown away indeed by the tech. update. The killing arts do indeed advance...however, there is airplane tech for the more optimistic crowd to read about . Keep up the good work!
EDIT: A few comments, while I'm thinking about it, for clarification;
-Is the Colt 1900 a Springfield '03 analogue, or something else? And I'm surprised that they didn't buy from somewhere else (e.g. Britain) for political reasons, but that's just a quibble. (BTW, you made a typo in the second-to-last paragraph on small arms, you wrote "Mason-Dixie" line )
-I'm assuming that at this point torpedo and/or submarine technology is along the same progress path as OTL? I figure of course that Germany's focus on building a solid blue-water navy means they aren't looking for a "wonder weapon" at sea like OTL.
-Regarding the nascent air forces, am I to understand that the British air force is derived directly from the Royal Navy, and that the German and Southron AFs start out as independent branches not subordinated to another branch? Maybe I'm just missing something, if so my apologies .
-I didn't get to have a picture of it, but the Colt 1900 is, yes, equivalent ot the Springfield '03. And you have to remember, why would an Army that believes in American Supremacy buy weapons from a foreign power?
-I'd say generally torpedoes are coming along, but I think submarines are a little behind. After all, the Germans turned to subs only because they couldn't match the tonnage of the Royal Navy. If they're just going against the French, they're not going to feel the need.
-Yes, the British air force is in the same department as the Royal Navy, and used as a support force for the Navy, with the idea of land-based planes and seaplanes to sink enemy ships rather than overland concerns. While, yes, the German, American (both), and French air forces develop as branches attached to the Army, but pretty much their own deal.
-Oh, I gotcha. And I just figured that Confederate money is still money to the Yankees, and the shipping costs would be much lower, and they'd be able to get a lot more closer to home. And I don't want to resemble Turtledove in any way.-My apologies, by "they" I meant the Confederacy, not the United States. I probably should've worded that better . What machine guns, then, do either Americas use BTW?
-I understand about the submarine thing, just asking for clarity's sake. And I think that having the Brit air force come from the Royal Navy is both refreshing (using wholly Army terminology for an air force just rubs me the wrong way) and understandable given the role Britain's "Wooden Walls" have played in their national consciousness.
Fokker-Leimberger wasn't that good. The splitting breech is innovative but normal cases often ruptured.And before anyone calls ASB, Germany actually did invent, more or less, a modern Gatling gun in 1916 OTL. That's a real thing. And it is awesome.