TL-191: Filling the Gaps
- Thread starter Craigo
- Start date
I know that this is something of nuisance, but I wanted to throw it into the mix; this is by Craigo, from the very first page of the Thread, and while his choice of Robert Taylor has been quite sensibly reconsidered one thought that his ideas for which States jumped into which camp ought to be taken under Consideration, along with Zoidberg's remarks below.
I would actually suggest giving President Hogg more support from the Western States (as a way of pointing out how crucial the nomination of a Texas was to Whig success in this Election); it might also be sensible to suggest that Sonora and Chihuahua (Patrons and all) first whole-heartedly threw their weight behind the Radicals and/or Liberals mostly because the Whigs were running a Texan for President (no love lost there!) rather than because of any more serious Ideological commitment to either Party.
I would suggest that only came in later, when the Radical-Liberals actually had the guts to nominate Governor Arango as their Presidential Candidate (doubtless Cubans would not have been blind to this little display of relative Cosmopolitanism either); it might even be interesting to show one or more of the Spanish Confederate States vote for the Whigs during one or more of the late 19th/early 20th Century Elections as a way of showing that the Radical-Liberals actually had to work to attract the interest of Hispanics (and unsurprisingly lost ground when they failed to put as much effort into the Far West as the Freedom Party was prepared to).
This raises the interesting question of Sequoyah - which way would the Five Civilised Tribes jump? I'm inclined to say that they would favour the Whigs, simply because the Gallant Old Party are the Ruling Power (and it therefore makes more sense to curry favour than to court an Opposition that regards the United States with a little too much warmth).
It also occurs to me that there would be a serious wrestling match between the Radicals and the Liberals for Louisiana; New Orleans tending towards the Radicals, the countryside more Liberal (or even Whig).
Very good thoughts they are too - one elaboration on them that occurs to me is that it would those Radicals and Liberals seeking to merge the Parties wonderfully well if they some outspoken journalist were to claim that the Whig Victory in '87 was either bought or stolen; this story doesn't even need to be True, since the very thought of such a swindle would likely inspire a shared indignation that might make this probably-controversial merger more palatable to both Parties ...
I would suggest sometime in the late 19th Century or the Early 20th, probably before AMERICAN FRONT (although one could depict the wartime election of President Semmes as the point where all Parties decided once & for all that the Process was more trouble than it was worth), but must admit to be being fairly ignorant when it comes to the History of Nomination Conventions.
That makes most excellent sense Mister B.
I think that the issue is less the Enforcement of the Black Codes than the question of whether or not they should be expanded upon (I can imagine moderates favouring a relatively laissez faire Status Quo while extremists advocate Heightened Vigilance) and enforced at significant expense to the Government; I'd guess Politicians from States with fewer Confederate Coloureds would be reluctant to foot any Bill for a Bigger Whip so the Black Belt boys and Planters can lash their Negroes GOOD.
I'd bet that the first Mid-Terms of the Hogg Administration would be a strong incentive for the Radical Liberals to pool their efforts; given the lists of State Governors that have been posted recently I would like to ask "Just how many Radical Liberals are there?" (What percentage of Congress do their members comprise? what States might elect Rad-Libs to the office of Governor or Senator? Are there any states that might be prone to flip between Radical-Liberal and Whig as circumstances dictate?).
Keep Well one and all; please accept my compliments upon your continuing and excellent efforts.
Awesome! I'll write this into my forthcoming article on the 1903 election.
I edited my list of Governors of Mississippi and make it so that Vardaman served from 1901 to 1905 and that George Earle Chamberlain served his second term from 1905 to 1907 (IOTL Chamberlain, a native of Natchez, MS, was the governor of Oregon from 1903 to 1909. With the CSA winning the War of Succession, he stays in the Magnolia State and later becomes politically active in Jackson).
I'll take this into account.
Once again, I'll think about this and take it into account.
Interesting. What journalist could this be? I have no problem making up a fictional character but I think it would be more interesting to have a real OTL Southern journalist or OTL Southern writer in this role. Any ideas? Some ideas I have are Thomas Dixon, Jr. and Thomas Nelson Page, two prominent Southern writers from OTL. I'm leaning towards the former, only because I think it would be more interesting for a younger journalist to blow the lid on this story. Since the Rads and Libs merged in 1900, I'll have this story break in either 1899 or 1900.
Interesting. I'll have national conventions start up before the 1903 election.
Heres a map for the 1897 CS presidential election. Base map courtesy of Turquoise Blue.
Last edited:
Ahem, for 1887 one should read 1897 - I was in fact suggesting that the Radicals and Liberals were reacting to the unexpected Triumph of President Hogg, rather than the Victor in some earlier Election.
bguy
Donor
Historically the Populists were the strongest in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas, so those would be the states where I would expect Tillman to run the strongest. Hogg presumably will carry Texas, but Tillman would have an excellent shot of winning the other 4 states. (Though if you want to play up the theme of the Radicals and Liberals blowing this election by not working together then you could also easily have Russell cost Tillman enough urban votes in Birmingham and Atlanta to throw Georgia and Alabama to the Whigs.)
I would probably give Kentucky to Russell rather than Tillman, since it is one of the more industrial and progressive states and thus should favor the Radicals over the Liberals.
OTL around this time the Florida Democrats were able to push through registration laws that enabled their election officials to throw out opposition votes on the slightest pretext. Given how dominant you described the Whig Party being around this time, I imagine the Florida Whigs would push through similar laws, so I would expect the Whigs to utterly dominate Florida.
And as always I think Louisiana would have been a safe Whig state in the 19th century. New Orleans and the Catholic vote just isn't large enough to carry the state. (And especially if the opposition is split between two different candidates.) I would expect Tennessee to vote Radical before Louisiana does.
With respect to Louisiana being a safe Whig State during the early 20th Century, at least during the Election of 1897 one would have to factor in the Protest Vote (or put another way given how badly the Gist Administration screwed the pooch I'm not sure ANY Whig State is entirely safe barring some serious gerrymandering); one would also like to note that I really do think that including a reference to Florida Whigs amending the Sunshine State's registration laws to thwart the Opposition would fit the Election of '97 PERFECTLY.
It makes an excellent kernel for a Radical-Liberal foundation myth describing how President Hogg "stole" the Election (rather than had it handed to him by those of his Rivals who failed to sink their differences in time to torpedo his campaign) and also a fine indication of just how DESPERATE the Whigs are to avoid being thrown out of Office - remember this is almost certainly the first Election where the Whigs have faced a Fully-Fledged Opposition Party at work and, especially after such a run of failures, Panic in certain quarters is only to be expected.
In fact one would expect a considerable degree of pandemonium as various rivals of the Whig Party scent an opportunity, then seek to seize on this temporary advantage; my guess is the more than a few Independent candidates cropped up at State level to further complicate the picture (although this is likely a post-mortem kick from the CS Independent candidate rather than an actual comeback).
So Mister B, if you were assigning bonuses to the Party Loyalty of each CS State for a Dice-Rolling mini game intended to determine the loyalties of each CS State (in the style of the rules depicted below) which States would get a +1 or a -1?
The starting phase of the game will be various states declaring their allegiances.
Roll a 12 to determine the allegiance of various provinces: results 1-5 and under result in that state breaking away to join the Redemptionists and results 8 -12 and over result in that state staying loyal to the government. If a state rolls 6-7 it represents continued instability in the state so re-roll at the start of the next turn. The degree of closeness to 6-7 determine the level of state control a government has over a state with the difference between the roll and neutrality being added to the default state control of 50%
To represent the strength of various factions within a particular state, apply a modified to each state you're rolling for based on this table
Redemptionist Core Territory:
North Carolina (-3)
South Carolina (-3)
Florida (-6)
Mississippi (-5)
Texas (-6)
Legitimist Territory:
Cuba (+6)
Louisiana (+6)
Virginia (+6)
Swing States:
Chihuahua (+1)
Sonora (+1)
Georgia (0)
Tennessee (0)
Alabama (-1)
Arkansas (+2)
Example:
We roll a 3 for Arkansas and apply the modifier of +2 for an overall result of 5. This places it within 1 places of 6 which gives the Redemptionists only a +10% modifier for state control which brings it up to a total of 60%
^Quoted from another thread.^
It makes an excellent kernel for a Radical-Liberal foundation myth describing how President Hogg "stole" the Election (rather than had it handed to him by those of his Rivals who failed to sink their differences in time to torpedo his campaign) and also a fine indication of just how DESPERATE the Whigs are to avoid being thrown out of Office - remember this is almost certainly the first Election where the Whigs have faced a Fully-Fledged Opposition Party at work and, especially after such a run of failures, Panic in certain quarters is only to be expected.
In fact one would expect a considerable degree of pandemonium as various rivals of the Whig Party scent an opportunity, then seek to seize on this temporary advantage; my guess is the more than a few Independent candidates cropped up at State level to further complicate the picture (although this is likely a post-mortem kick from the CS Independent candidate rather than an actual comeback).
So Mister B, if you were assigning bonuses to the Party Loyalty of each CS State for a Dice-Rolling mini game intended to determine the loyalties of each CS State (in the style of the rules depicted below) which States would get a +1 or a -1?
The starting phase of the game will be various states declaring their allegiances.
Roll a 12 to determine the allegiance of various provinces: results 1-5 and under result in that state breaking away to join the Redemptionists and results 8 -12 and over result in that state staying loyal to the government. If a state rolls 6-7 it represents continued instability in the state so re-roll at the start of the next turn. The degree of closeness to 6-7 determine the level of state control a government has over a state with the difference between the roll and neutrality being added to the default state control of 50%
To represent the strength of various factions within a particular state, apply a modified to each state you're rolling for based on this table
Redemptionist Core Territory:
North Carolina (-3)
South Carolina (-3)
Florida (-6)
Mississippi (-5)
Texas (-6)
Legitimist Territory:
Cuba (+6)
Louisiana (+6)
Virginia (+6)
Swing States:
Chihuahua (+1)
Sonora (+1)
Georgia (0)
Tennessee (0)
Alabama (-1)
Arkansas (+2)
Example:
We roll a 3 for Arkansas and apply the modifier of +2 for an overall result of 5. This places it within 1 places of 6 which gives the Redemptionists only a +10% modifier for state control which brings it up to a total of 60%
^Quoted from another thread.^
Hey Tiro and bguy!
I uploaded a new map for the 1897 election based on some of your ideas. I myself really like the idea that the Rads and Libs could have won the 1897 election if only they had united. I also like the idea that the Rads won Kentucky and the Whigs won Florida.
The 1897 election article is almost done and should be up in a few minutes.
I uploaded a new map for the 1897 election based on some of your ideas. I myself really like the idea that the Rads and Libs could have won the 1897 election if only they had united. I also like the idea that the Rads won Kentucky and the Whigs won Florida.
The 1897 election article is almost done and should be up in a few minutes.
Credit for a lot of these ideas goes to both Tiro and bguy. Thank you both very much! Without these ideas, this article would not have turned out as good as it would have otherwise.
So without further ado, here it is!
Confederate States presidential election, 1897
At the dawn of 1897, it was all too clear to the majority of the Confederate people that the Gist Presidency had been a complete and utter disaster. Not only was Gist seen as an utterly arrogant, bombastic and tactless man, but more importantly, President Gist had nearly triggered a war with the larger and increasingly more powerful United States of America not once, but twice, once in 1895 over Haiti and again in 1897 over Nicaragua. To add insult to injury, the Financial Crash of 1893 destroyed much of the Confederate economy and the Cuban insurrection of 1895, although brief and ultimately unsuccessful, proved to be a serious obstacle to Confederate imperialism in the Caribbean. Not only that, but President Gist’s promises to purchase Porto Rico, the Danish Virgin Islands, the Dutch Caribbean islands and Surinam never came to anything. The fallout from both the Haitian and Nicaraguan affairs made sure than any such offer on the part of the Confederacy could never seriously be made. Overall, States Rights Gist was and still is considered by most historians to be one of the worst Presidents in Confederate history.
In January of 1897, a number of prominent political figures throughout the Confederacy announced that they were seeking the nomination for the Whig Party candidate for President of the Confederate States. These included Congressman and former general Joseph Wheeler of Alabama, former general Edward Porter Alexander of Georgia, Governor Joseph F. Johnston of Alabama, Governor Allen D. Candler of Georgia, Governor James Hoge Tyler of Virginia, Governor James Stephen Hogg of Texas, Governor Peter Turney of Tennessee, former Vice President and Senator Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn of Kentucky and Senator Charles James Fualkner Jr. of Virginia. It should be noted that none of these individuals were closely associated with President Gist and/or his administration, as anyone who was as such was thoroughly discredited. All in all, no one who closely associated with Gist, such as Wade Hampton IV, Thomas Preston Hampton, George McDuffie Hampton and the rest of the Hampton family, made any serious attempt to try and run for President.
The Whig Party establishment decided that it had to metaphorically pick up the pieces and get over the disastrous Gist administration, lest they those any serious amount of political power, let alone the Grey House in the upcoming election. As a result, the Whig Party establishment made it clear from the beginning of 1897 that the party wanted to move away from nominating ex-generals and/or military figures and wanted to nominate a professional politician instead. Thus, both Wheeler and Alexander had no other choice but to drop out of the race. To political observers throughout the Confederacy, it was becoming all too clear that the Whig Party establishment was moving more and more towards the progressive faction of the Whig Party.
Out of all of the Whig Party presidential hopefuls, one man was gradually making himself more and more known as a viable potential candidate for President. This man was none other than Governor of Texas James Stephen Hogg. Governor Hogg, who was a member of the progressive faction of the Whig Party, was a prominent supporter of populism within his home state, though he was not too overtly opposed to the planter elite. Governor Hogg was also an immensely popular governor within his home state. Governor Hogg had also repeatedly denounced the jingoism of President Gist, saying on numerous occasions that "the young boys of Texas will not be sent to eternity fighting in some useless and unwinnable war." From the start, the Whig Party establishment knew that finding a candidate for president would be difficult. They had moved away from the more conservative wing of the party and from nominating a former general or military figure. Nevertheless, a compromise candidate would have to be decided upon by both the eastern planter elite and the progressive wing of the Whig Party (not that these two groups were mutually exclusive). If not, then western voters could very well be alienated from the Whig Party and could instead vote for either the Radical or Liberal candidates, potentially preventing the Whig candidate from reaching the Grey House. After months of deliberation, it seemed as if the immensely popular Governor Hogg, a westerner of the progressive faction, could in fact be the middle ground needed to bridge this divide within the Whig Party.
On June 6, 1897, the Whig Party announced that Governor James Stephen Hogg of Texas had been nominated to be the Whig Party’s candidate for the Presidency. Six days later, on June 12, 1897, Hogg announced that had chosen Senator Charles James Faulkner Jr. of Virginia to be his running mate. This was done in an attempt to balance the ticket between a westerner and an easterner and to appease at the same time both the eastern planter elite and eastern Confederates in general. All in all, Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner were more than happy to throw President Gist and his immediate circle of supporters to the wolves so long as they could hold on to enough of the Whig Party grandees for some semblance of party unity to be maintained.
All the while, the Radical Party once again nominated former Governor Daniel Lindsay Russell of North Carolina and Senator William E. Cameron of Virginia for the presidential race. As it turns out, they were the only Radical hopefuls from the 1891 election that were still alive. Barzillai J. Chambers and William Mahone both died within less than a month of each other in 1895. Absolom M. West, who had since served one term as Governor of Mississippi, died in 1896. Meanwhile, the Liberal party nominated former governor and Senator Benjamin “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman of South Carolina for the presidency. Senator Tillman chose Charles Macune, a prominent Liberal Party activist from Texas, as his running mate to balance the ticket between an easterner and a westerner.
On the campaign trail, Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner ran on a platform calling for pro-business policies, the establishment of a comprehensive national pension for Confederate veterans, an end to Confederate expansionism in the Caribbean, maintaining the alliance with Great Britain and France and a serious improving of relations with the United States of America. Hogg, Faulkner and the Whig Party coupled this with a line of rhetoric emphasizing Hogg's Western roots and the general sense of a new broom sweeping clean. All in all, this was a shrewd bit of re-branding by Governor Hogg, Senator Faulkner and thier backers in the Whig Party. In addition, during the campaign, Hogg and Faulkner dismissed Gist as a strange aberration in the history of the Whig Party and stated that under them the real Whig Party would be back in charge of the Confederacy. Throughout the campaign, "Let's all live high on the Hogg!" became an immensely popular slogan, appearing on posters, banners, buttons and other such media.
All the while, Governor Russell of the Radical Party once again ran on a platform of worker's rights, labor rights, currency reform and keeping in check the power of the Confederate planter class. On the other hand, Senator Tillman of the Liberal Party ran on a platform of agrarianism, bimetallism, isolationism and keeping in check the power of Confederacy of the planter class. It should be noted that ever since the Haitian Crisis of 1895 there had been a number of attempts to merge the Radical and Liberal parties into one political party, with many in both parties attempting to bridge the ideological divide between the "hillbilly progressives" of the Radicals and the isolationist Agrarians of the Liberals. However, all of these attempts had so far ended in failure. All in all, most of the members of these parties preferred to try and win the Confederate presidency alone without being obliged to go to the effort of compromising ideologically, much to their eventual determent.
The Confederate people went in droves to vote in the state conventions on election day on November 2, 1897. By the end of the day, it was announced that Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner had won the election with a relatively handsome victory in the electoral college, said victory being 67 electoral votes. However, unlike in previous elections, a Whig victory was in no way a given in the election of 1897. The Gist administration had failed so spectacularly and on so many levels that the Whig Party was significantly discredited in a number of states. As a result, both the Radicals and Liberals did very well in the election. The Radicals won Louisiana, Cuba, Sonora, Chihuahua and Kentucky, winning 46 electoral votes. Many in Louisiana were becoming annoyed with the supposed eastern Confederate domination of the Whig Party. Many in Cuba shared this same sentiment, many in that state also being annoyed with the "Anglo" domination of the Whig Party. In Sonora and Chihuahua, not only were voters still annoyed with the "Anglo" dominated Whig Party, but the thought of a Texan in the Grey House was a thought that horrified many in the two ethnically Mexican states. Kentucky, as one of the more industrial and progressive states of the Confederacy, also went to the Radicals. The Radical Party was projected to win Florida, but in 1896 Governor Henry L. Mitchell and the rest of the Florida Whigs were able to push through registration laws that enabled their election officials to throw out opposition votes on the slightest pretext, showing just how desperate the Whigs were to avoid being thrown out of office. Meanwhile, the Liberals won North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, states where agrarian populism was becoming more and more popular, especially in the rural regions of these states. The Liberals also won 36 electoral votes. In light of the fact that neither the Whigs, the Radicals or the Liberals won a majority of electoral votes, the election was sent to the Confederate House of Representatives. After being sent to the house, a vote was taken and it was decided that the Whig Party ticket of Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner had indeed won the election.
In spite of how good both the Radicals and Liberals did in the election, neither party was able to take the Grey House. Had the Radical Party and the Liberal Party unified into one party, they could have taken the Grey House and the Confederate presidency with an 82 electoral vote victory. The inability of the Radicals and Liberals to unify into one party allowed the Whigs to recover themselves somewhat (sufficient to consolidate their core voters at least), and this aforementioned inability cost both parties the Grey House and the Confederate presidency. As a result, in the 1897 election the Radicals and Liberals basically savaged themselves competing for the floating voters seeking to signal their disenchantment with the Whigs, as well as all those rats who had deserted the seemingly sinking Whig ship and were therefore looking for other options, thus splitting the opposition vote and leaving a stretch of clear water just sufficient for Jim Hogg to plot a safe course through to the Grey House. All in all, the election of 1897 was the biggest upset in the polls in Confederate history, at least until the election of Wade Hampton V twenty-four years later in 1921. The Whig triumph was so unexpected as to be near-stupefying and it was all too clear to all that "Big Jim" Hogg played a key role in the success of his party in the election. At the same time, both the Radicals and Liberals shot each other in the foot by not unifying into one political party.
After leaving the Grey House in 1898, the disgraced and humiliated States Rigths Gist retired a broken man to his home in Charleston, South Carolina. He died there of a heart attack on the morning of November 30, 1899, aged 68 years old. Gist was so hated by the vast majority of the Confederate people that he was not even given the dignity of a state funeral by President Hogg. His funeral was held in Charleston on December 7, 1899, with only a small amount of family and friends in attendance.
James Stephen Hogg (W-TX)/Charles James Faulkner Jr. (W-VA): 67 EV
Daniel Lindsay Russell (R-NC)/William E. Cameron (R-VA): 46 EV
Benjamin Tillman (L-SC)/Charles Macune (L-TX): 36 EV
So without further ado, here it is!
Confederate States presidential election, 1897
At the dawn of 1897, it was all too clear to the majority of the Confederate people that the Gist Presidency had been a complete and utter disaster. Not only was Gist seen as an utterly arrogant, bombastic and tactless man, but more importantly, President Gist had nearly triggered a war with the larger and increasingly more powerful United States of America not once, but twice, once in 1895 over Haiti and again in 1897 over Nicaragua. To add insult to injury, the Financial Crash of 1893 destroyed much of the Confederate economy and the Cuban insurrection of 1895, although brief and ultimately unsuccessful, proved to be a serious obstacle to Confederate imperialism in the Caribbean. Not only that, but President Gist’s promises to purchase Porto Rico, the Danish Virgin Islands, the Dutch Caribbean islands and Surinam never came to anything. The fallout from both the Haitian and Nicaraguan affairs made sure than any such offer on the part of the Confederacy could never seriously be made. Overall, States Rights Gist was and still is considered by most historians to be one of the worst Presidents in Confederate history.
In January of 1897, a number of prominent political figures throughout the Confederacy announced that they were seeking the nomination for the Whig Party candidate for President of the Confederate States. These included Congressman and former general Joseph Wheeler of Alabama, former general Edward Porter Alexander of Georgia, Governor Joseph F. Johnston of Alabama, Governor Allen D. Candler of Georgia, Governor James Hoge Tyler of Virginia, Governor James Stephen Hogg of Texas, Governor Peter Turney of Tennessee, former Vice President and Senator Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn of Kentucky and Senator Charles James Fualkner Jr. of Virginia. It should be noted that none of these individuals were closely associated with President Gist and/or his administration, as anyone who was as such was thoroughly discredited. All in all, no one who closely associated with Gist, such as Wade Hampton IV, Thomas Preston Hampton, George McDuffie Hampton and the rest of the Hampton family, made any serious attempt to try and run for President.
The Whig Party establishment decided that it had to metaphorically pick up the pieces and get over the disastrous Gist administration, lest they those any serious amount of political power, let alone the Grey House in the upcoming election. As a result, the Whig Party establishment made it clear from the beginning of 1897 that the party wanted to move away from nominating ex-generals and/or military figures and wanted to nominate a professional politician instead. Thus, both Wheeler and Alexander had no other choice but to drop out of the race. To political observers throughout the Confederacy, it was becoming all too clear that the Whig Party establishment was moving more and more towards the progressive faction of the Whig Party.
Out of all of the Whig Party presidential hopefuls, one man was gradually making himself more and more known as a viable potential candidate for President. This man was none other than Governor of Texas James Stephen Hogg. Governor Hogg, who was a member of the progressive faction of the Whig Party, was a prominent supporter of populism within his home state, though he was not too overtly opposed to the planter elite. Governor Hogg was also an immensely popular governor within his home state. Governor Hogg had also repeatedly denounced the jingoism of President Gist, saying on numerous occasions that "the young boys of Texas will not be sent to eternity fighting in some useless and unwinnable war." From the start, the Whig Party establishment knew that finding a candidate for president would be difficult. They had moved away from the more conservative wing of the party and from nominating a former general or military figure. Nevertheless, a compromise candidate would have to be decided upon by both the eastern planter elite and the progressive wing of the Whig Party (not that these two groups were mutually exclusive). If not, then western voters could very well be alienated from the Whig Party and could instead vote for either the Radical or Liberal candidates, potentially preventing the Whig candidate from reaching the Grey House. After months of deliberation, it seemed as if the immensely popular Governor Hogg, a westerner of the progressive faction, could in fact be the middle ground needed to bridge this divide within the Whig Party.
On June 6, 1897, the Whig Party announced that Governor James Stephen Hogg of Texas had been nominated to be the Whig Party’s candidate for the Presidency. Six days later, on June 12, 1897, Hogg announced that had chosen Senator Charles James Faulkner Jr. of Virginia to be his running mate. This was done in an attempt to balance the ticket between a westerner and an easterner and to appease at the same time both the eastern planter elite and eastern Confederates in general. All in all, Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner were more than happy to throw President Gist and his immediate circle of supporters to the wolves so long as they could hold on to enough of the Whig Party grandees for some semblance of party unity to be maintained.
All the while, the Radical Party once again nominated former Governor Daniel Lindsay Russell of North Carolina and Senator William E. Cameron of Virginia for the presidential race. As it turns out, they were the only Radical hopefuls from the 1891 election that were still alive. Barzillai J. Chambers and William Mahone both died within less than a month of each other in 1895. Absolom M. West, who had since served one term as Governor of Mississippi, died in 1896. Meanwhile, the Liberal party nominated former governor and Senator Benjamin “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman of South Carolina for the presidency. Senator Tillman chose Charles Macune, a prominent Liberal Party activist from Texas, as his running mate to balance the ticket between an easterner and a westerner.
On the campaign trail, Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner ran on a platform calling for pro-business policies, the establishment of a comprehensive national pension for Confederate veterans, an end to Confederate expansionism in the Caribbean, maintaining the alliance with Great Britain and France and a serious improving of relations with the United States of America. Hogg, Faulkner and the Whig Party coupled this with a line of rhetoric emphasizing Hogg's Western roots and the general sense of a new broom sweeping clean. All in all, this was a shrewd bit of re-branding by Governor Hogg, Senator Faulkner and thier backers in the Whig Party. In addition, during the campaign, Hogg and Faulkner dismissed Gist as a strange aberration in the history of the Whig Party and stated that under them the real Whig Party would be back in charge of the Confederacy. Throughout the campaign, "Let's all live high on the Hogg!" became an immensely popular slogan, appearing on posters, banners, buttons and other such media.
All the while, Governor Russell of the Radical Party once again ran on a platform of worker's rights, labor rights, currency reform and keeping in check the power of the Confederate planter class. On the other hand, Senator Tillman of the Liberal Party ran on a platform of agrarianism, bimetallism, isolationism and keeping in check the power of Confederacy of the planter class. It should be noted that ever since the Haitian Crisis of 1895 there had been a number of attempts to merge the Radical and Liberal parties into one political party, with many in both parties attempting to bridge the ideological divide between the "hillbilly progressives" of the Radicals and the isolationist Agrarians of the Liberals. However, all of these attempts had so far ended in failure. All in all, most of the members of these parties preferred to try and win the Confederate presidency alone without being obliged to go to the effort of compromising ideologically, much to their eventual determent.
The Confederate people went in droves to vote in the state conventions on election day on November 2, 1897. By the end of the day, it was announced that Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner had won the election with a relatively handsome victory in the electoral college, said victory being 67 electoral votes. However, unlike in previous elections, a Whig victory was in no way a given in the election of 1897. The Gist administration had failed so spectacularly and on so many levels that the Whig Party was significantly discredited in a number of states. As a result, both the Radicals and Liberals did very well in the election. The Radicals won Louisiana, Cuba, Sonora, Chihuahua and Kentucky, winning 46 electoral votes. Many in Louisiana were becoming annoyed with the supposed eastern Confederate domination of the Whig Party. Many in Cuba shared this same sentiment, many in that state also being annoyed with the "Anglo" domination of the Whig Party. In Sonora and Chihuahua, not only were voters still annoyed with the "Anglo" dominated Whig Party, but the thought of a Texan in the Grey House was a thought that horrified many in the two ethnically Mexican states. Kentucky, as one of the more industrial and progressive states of the Confederacy, also went to the Radicals. The Radical Party was projected to win Florida, but in 1896 Governor Henry L. Mitchell and the rest of the Florida Whigs were able to push through registration laws that enabled their election officials to throw out opposition votes on the slightest pretext, showing just how desperate the Whigs were to avoid being thrown out of office. Meanwhile, the Liberals won North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, states where agrarian populism was becoming more and more popular, especially in the rural regions of these states. The Liberals also won 36 electoral votes. In light of the fact that neither the Whigs, the Radicals or the Liberals won a majority of electoral votes, the election was sent to the Confederate House of Representatives. After being sent to the house, a vote was taken and it was decided that the Whig Party ticket of Governor Hogg and Senator Faulkner had indeed won the election.
In spite of how good both the Radicals and Liberals did in the election, neither party was able to take the Grey House. Had the Radical Party and the Liberal Party unified into one party, they could have taken the Grey House and the Confederate presidency with an 82 electoral vote victory. The inability of the Radicals and Liberals to unify into one party allowed the Whigs to recover themselves somewhat (sufficient to consolidate their core voters at least), and this aforementioned inability cost both parties the Grey House and the Confederate presidency. As a result, in the 1897 election the Radicals and Liberals basically savaged themselves competing for the floating voters seeking to signal their disenchantment with the Whigs, as well as all those rats who had deserted the seemingly sinking Whig ship and were therefore looking for other options, thus splitting the opposition vote and leaving a stretch of clear water just sufficient for Jim Hogg to plot a safe course through to the Grey House. All in all, the election of 1897 was the biggest upset in the polls in Confederate history, at least until the election of Wade Hampton V twenty-four years later in 1921. The Whig triumph was so unexpected as to be near-stupefying and it was all too clear to all that "Big Jim" Hogg played a key role in the success of his party in the election. At the same time, both the Radicals and Liberals shot each other in the foot by not unifying into one political party.
After leaving the Grey House in 1898, the disgraced and humiliated States Rigths Gist retired a broken man to his home in Charleston, South Carolina. He died there of a heart attack on the morning of November 30, 1899, aged 68 years old. Gist was so hated by the vast majority of the Confederate people that he was not even given the dignity of a state funeral by President Hogg. His funeral was held in Charleston on December 7, 1899, with only a small amount of family and friends in attendance.
James Stephen Hogg (W-TX)/Charles James Faulkner Jr. (W-VA): 67 EV
Daniel Lindsay Russell (R-NC)/William E. Cameron (R-VA): 46 EV
Benjamin Tillman (L-SC)/Charles Macune (L-TX): 36 EV
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An interesting thread. Regarding the potential changes that would have occurred in Australia/New Zealand, Turtledove is again guilty of some very lazy writing. Even a relatively minor decrease of immigration for North America could lead to some pretty major changes down under. For example, a redirection of a mere 10 000 immigrants per year from NA to Australia between 1860-1880 would represent an increase of total net growth of between 15-20%, while between 1880 and 1890 it would represent about 10% on average. So for example, Australia's population grew by about 3.5% a year between 1860 and 1880, from about 1.1 million to 2.2 million. If that growth rate was increased by only 10% a year (which is actually a lot less than 10 thousand per annum), it would by 1880 be 150 000 stronger. Continuing through the 1880's the population would be about 350 000 people larger than OTL in 1890. This is just with a fairly minor amount of redirection, ten thousand per annum is a drop in the bucket for 19th century North America which received hundreds of thousands even in an average year OTL. Estimating just how many people would be put off a more militarised NA is very difficult, I would assume it would be fairly minor in the 19th century, but as can be seen minor changes in NA lead to huge changes in Australia. At a fairly high number, say 30 000 per year, the population would be about 4 million in 1890 as opposed to the historical 3 million.
The bigger changes come with the early 20th century. OTL Canada received enormous immigration then from Eastern Europe though also a decent amount from Britain, but in TL191 I suspect this would not occur. Moving to the US would still be reasonably attractive, as there would be no real risk of actually being occupied. Canada on the other hand would pretty clearly be at risk. Depending on whether or not the level of racism in Australia is reduced (big if) there is no guarantee that many Eastern Europeans would come down under, but it's fair to say that at least a decent number of Brits would who otherwise would have moved to Canada.
There are other considerations as well. OTL Australia experienced a massive depression in the 1890's and early 1900's. This was caused by a variety of factors that would still be present in TL191, but even a moderately larger population would lend itself towards a somewhat speedier recovery. A larger internal market means greater demand for manufactured goods, as well as more genuine demand for land and construction which were at the core of the crisis. It is possible that this would just lead to a bigger bubble, but simple economies of scale should mitigate this somewhat. The 1890's are likely to be a wash ITTL as in OTL, but it is reasonable to think that the recovery would occur earlier in the 1900's, enough that Australia may also catch some of the massive migration of the early 20th century. OTL Australia did put effort in during the early 1910's to increase migration with some moderate success prior to WW1; even two extra years of this with moderate success could net an extra 50-100 thousand extra people on their own.
The biggest change of all of course is what happens with Canada post WW1. I haven't read TL191 for quite a few years now so I forget if this was depicted in-series, but I would have no doubt that post war a very significant number of Canadians would emigrate. There are several locations for this, including Britain and SA, but I suspect that Australia with its enormous space and hunger for white anglo migrants would be the most tempting. Several hundred thousand at least should leave Canada, and if the majority of these were to go to Australia that would be a major net increase in people.
By the Second Great War I would think it entirely plausible that Australia would have at least 10 million people, if not considerably more*. OTL Australia industrialised rapidly after WW2 when its population began to reach that level, and while population growth was far from the only reason for this it was still necessary to build a sufficiently large market. In TL191 I suspect that the isolation of Australia from its allies combined with a larger population should lead to a considerably more industrialised economy, probably greater than OTL Canada was during WW2, and hence a far more capable nation. It's entirely plausible of course that Japan would defeat it, but if that Pacific War were depicted realistically in series it certainly should have featured a much tougher fight for Japan in Indonesia and the South Pacific. Post War I could see Australia cooperating with the US in undermining Japan's Empire, and being a far more equal partner than OTL.
*Assuming even just historic growth rates from 1918, but with althistoric rates of 3.85% per annum for 1860-1890, 2.5% for 1890-1905, and 3% for 1905-1914, you get 10 million by 1940. This is ignoring any post-WW1 Canadian emigration. If more generous rates of 4%, 2.75%, and 3.5% are used along with a blanket .05% increase for the period 1919-1930 and a 0.2% for 1931-40 the population is over 11 million by 1940. All of this is ignoring changes in New Zealand.
The bigger changes come with the early 20th century. OTL Canada received enormous immigration then from Eastern Europe though also a decent amount from Britain, but in TL191 I suspect this would not occur. Moving to the US would still be reasonably attractive, as there would be no real risk of actually being occupied. Canada on the other hand would pretty clearly be at risk. Depending on whether or not the level of racism in Australia is reduced (big if) there is no guarantee that many Eastern Europeans would come down under, but it's fair to say that at least a decent number of Brits would who otherwise would have moved to Canada.
There are other considerations as well. OTL Australia experienced a massive depression in the 1890's and early 1900's. This was caused by a variety of factors that would still be present in TL191, but even a moderately larger population would lend itself towards a somewhat speedier recovery. A larger internal market means greater demand for manufactured goods, as well as more genuine demand for land and construction which were at the core of the crisis. It is possible that this would just lead to a bigger bubble, but simple economies of scale should mitigate this somewhat. The 1890's are likely to be a wash ITTL as in OTL, but it is reasonable to think that the recovery would occur earlier in the 1900's, enough that Australia may also catch some of the massive migration of the early 20th century. OTL Australia did put effort in during the early 1910's to increase migration with some moderate success prior to WW1; even two extra years of this with moderate success could net an extra 50-100 thousand extra people on their own.
The biggest change of all of course is what happens with Canada post WW1. I haven't read TL191 for quite a few years now so I forget if this was depicted in-series, but I would have no doubt that post war a very significant number of Canadians would emigrate. There are several locations for this, including Britain and SA, but I suspect that Australia with its enormous space and hunger for white anglo migrants would be the most tempting. Several hundred thousand at least should leave Canada, and if the majority of these were to go to Australia that would be a major net increase in people.
By the Second Great War I would think it entirely plausible that Australia would have at least 10 million people, if not considerably more*. OTL Australia industrialised rapidly after WW2 when its population began to reach that level, and while population growth was far from the only reason for this it was still necessary to build a sufficiently large market. In TL191 I suspect that the isolation of Australia from its allies combined with a larger population should lead to a considerably more industrialised economy, probably greater than OTL Canada was during WW2, and hence a far more capable nation. It's entirely plausible of course that Japan would defeat it, but if that Pacific War were depicted realistically in series it certainly should have featured a much tougher fight for Japan in Indonesia and the South Pacific. Post War I could see Australia cooperating with the US in undermining Japan's Empire, and being a far more equal partner than OTL.
*Assuming even just historic growth rates from 1918, but with althistoric rates of 3.85% per annum for 1860-1890, 2.5% for 1890-1905, and 3% for 1905-1914, you get 10 million by 1940. This is ignoring any post-WW1 Canadian emigration. If more generous rates of 4%, 2.75%, and 3.5% are used along with a blanket .05% increase for the period 1919-1930 and a 0.2% for 1931-40 the population is over 11 million by 1940. All of this is ignoring changes in New Zealand.
bguy
Donor
Election article looks good. The only issue I see is that with the above EV numbers, no party has a majority. I believe the Confederate Constitution is the same as the U.S. Constitution in regards to what happens if no candidate wins a majority of the electoral votes, so the election would have to be decided in the Confederate House with each state having a single vote.
As such you could either just add in that Hogg won the election in the House (since the Whigs presumably still control a majority of the state delegations there), or if you prefer to have Hogg win a majority of the EVs outright than flipping any one of Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Cuba, or Kentucky over to Hogg would be enough to give him an electoral college majority.
I actually like the idea that Hogg and the Whigs needed the Electoral College to win this particular Election - it adds something to the drama and points out that Whig dominance at the start of the novels was not quite a foregone conclusion; that being said it occurs to me that the Presidential Election of 1903 must have been a very interesting one, as the Whig Party faced its first contest against a mostly-united Opposition.
It is also interesting to note that Champ Clark of Kentucky would seem to have been a self-made man, which implies that the Party doubled down on its progressive tendencies to help cut the ground out from under Radical-Liberal feet, at least when it came to accusations of excessive favour show to the Plantation Patricians ... which might well have sown discontent amongst the Planters, probably redoubled when Woodrow Wilson won the nomination in 1909 (it might be fun to suggest that a leadership struggle was brewing between the progressive Whigs and the "Famous Family" Whigs before the Great War, only for this brewing crisis in relations to be short-circuited by the Great War).
Keep Well, one and all!
It is also interesting to note that Champ Clark of Kentucky would seem to have been a self-made man, which implies that the Party doubled down on its progressive tendencies to help cut the ground out from under Radical-Liberal feet, at least when it came to accusations of excessive favour show to the Plantation Patricians ... which might well have sown discontent amongst the Planters, probably redoubled when Woodrow Wilson won the nomination in 1909 (it might be fun to suggest that a leadership struggle was brewing between the progressive Whigs and the "Famous Family" Whigs before the Great War, only for this brewing crisis in relations to be short-circuited by the Great War).
Keep Well, one and all!
I'm happy to help and suspect that Mister B wouldn't keep posting if he were not of the same mind; I'm just glad to see someone more industrious than I tackling the Confederate Presidential Elections as yet undeveloped upon (I keep brainstorming but frequently fail to catch that lightning in a bottle).
I decided to edit the post and added a sentence or two explaining that the election was sent to the house. All in all, its a nice little plot twist (for lack of a better term) and I think that, during the 1903 election, the Rads and Libs may use it as more "evidence" that the election was stolen from them.
Right now, I'm working on a three part article on the Commonwealth of Australia.
I'm also working on an article for the 1903 election. Aside from the fact that the Rads and Libs merged in 1900 and that national conventions were held for the first time, does anyone have any more ideas on the 1903 Confederate presidential election?
I'm also working on an article for the 1903 election. Aside from the fact that the Rads and Libs merged in 1900 and that national conventions were held for the first time, does anyone have any more ideas on the 1903 Confederate presidential election?
I don't really have any detailed thoughts, but I think that the 1903 Election saw the Whig Party stabilised after six years of solid achievement by President Hogg (not so much a run of successes as the avoidance of further humiliations and the public rejection of President Gist's example); doubtless at least one or two states followed Florida's example in making life as difficult as possible for supporters of the Opposition Party or at least attempted to do so* (which probably spurred on those conducting the Radical-Liberal merger).
*Showing such efforts successfully challenged in the Supreme Court might actually be a nice way to show that the Radical Liberals were not wholly helpless in the face of Whig Superiority.
Now given that the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale and the Anglo-Russian Entente occurred in 1904 & 1907 respectively it might not be unreasonable to think that the Hogg Administration signed into being some broadly similar Treaty during the same period (as a way of consolidating the security of Dixie's Gulf Coast and British possessions in the Caribbean, in the face of an ascendant United States); I suspect that the President Hogg would be the man who put an end to the Indian Raids between CS & US (partly out of Policy, but also because he probably resented the Damage done to his Home State in the course of those Raids).
I would suggest showing the Anglo-Russian Entente as immensely controversial in the Confederate States (where the Establishment would probably be at pains to point out that the heart of Tyranny is Russian, not Southern, as a way of undermining complaints from Poor Whites by describing just how much worse their Slavic counterparts had it - a line of rhetoric the Bourgeoisie would probably swallow cheerfully enough as a way of making themselves feel more confident in their conviction that the Confederate States of America was the "Freest Nation on Earth" despite ample Evidence to the contrary), so the Radical-Liberals would doubtless pounce on it as a wedge which they might hammer into the Whig Campaign ("Not only are the Whigs stealing into your pockets as they prepare for their next Losing Battle, they are entangling us in an Alliance with the greatest Tyranny in the Known World!"), which the Whigs might counter with rhetoric to the effect that the Civilised World can now start lifting Russia out of Darkness & that now the Confederate States has such a concentration of Military might aligned with it that the United States will now NEVER be so reckless as to threaten War ever again.
One phenomenon that I would suggest showing is that in 1903 the Radical Liberal Party is not quite the sum of its parts; quite bluntly the ideological compromises required to make this merger work and the cooling of Outrage directed towards the Whig Party is likely to cost them some degree of support (probably splintering off into the sort of Independents that might well have been the ideological precursors of The Stalwarts). In percentage of the Popular Vote it probably comes a reasonably close second to The Whigs, but takes rather fewer States than the Gallant Old Party (it is possible that the Radical-Liberal effort in 1903 was on a State-by-State basis rather than a more co-ordinated National level).
That being said, after the Election of 1903 the Radical Liberal Party is now established as second only to the Whig Party in the Confederacy, with some room left for Growth.
Finally, I would like to suggest that there was quite a fight for the Whig Nomination; it is not impossible that Champ Clark was chosen only after a lengthy struggle against Conservative "Famous Family" discomfort with the idea that a man of such modest origins should stand at the head of the Confederate States (The Planters are definitely on the back foot after the downfall of President Gist, so it might be interesting to show President Clark's Vice President as another man of relatively modest origins - though also as a man with some History of military service to balance out the more Pacific Clark).
One imagines that Champ Clark actually resided in the United States for a time, was sent home during the Second Mexican War but retained friends across that Frontier even so - the epitome of a Border State man, with friends and family on both sides of a Dividing Line.
*Showing such efforts successfully challenged in the Supreme Court might actually be a nice way to show that the Radical Liberals were not wholly helpless in the face of Whig Superiority.
Now given that the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale and the Anglo-Russian Entente occurred in 1904 & 1907 respectively it might not be unreasonable to think that the Hogg Administration signed into being some broadly similar Treaty during the same period (as a way of consolidating the security of Dixie's Gulf Coast and British possessions in the Caribbean, in the face of an ascendant United States); I suspect that the President Hogg would be the man who put an end to the Indian Raids between CS & US (partly out of Policy, but also because he probably resented the Damage done to his Home State in the course of those Raids).
I would suggest showing the Anglo-Russian Entente as immensely controversial in the Confederate States (where the Establishment would probably be at pains to point out that the heart of Tyranny is Russian, not Southern, as a way of undermining complaints from Poor Whites by describing just how much worse their Slavic counterparts had it - a line of rhetoric the Bourgeoisie would probably swallow cheerfully enough as a way of making themselves feel more confident in their conviction that the Confederate States of America was the "Freest Nation on Earth" despite ample Evidence to the contrary), so the Radical-Liberals would doubtless pounce on it as a wedge which they might hammer into the Whig Campaign ("Not only are the Whigs stealing into your pockets as they prepare for their next Losing Battle, they are entangling us in an Alliance with the greatest Tyranny in the Known World!"), which the Whigs might counter with rhetoric to the effect that the Civilised World can now start lifting Russia out of Darkness & that now the Confederate States has such a concentration of Military might aligned with it that the United States will now NEVER be so reckless as to threaten War ever again.
One phenomenon that I would suggest showing is that in 1903 the Radical Liberal Party is not quite the sum of its parts; quite bluntly the ideological compromises required to make this merger work and the cooling of Outrage directed towards the Whig Party is likely to cost them some degree of support (probably splintering off into the sort of Independents that might well have been the ideological precursors of The Stalwarts). In percentage of the Popular Vote it probably comes a reasonably close second to The Whigs, but takes rather fewer States than the Gallant Old Party (it is possible that the Radical-Liberal effort in 1903 was on a State-by-State basis rather than a more co-ordinated National level).
That being said, after the Election of 1903 the Radical Liberal Party is now established as second only to the Whig Party in the Confederacy, with some room left for Growth.
Finally, I would like to suggest that there was quite a fight for the Whig Nomination; it is not impossible that Champ Clark was chosen only after a lengthy struggle against Conservative "Famous Family" discomfort with the idea that a man of such modest origins should stand at the head of the Confederate States (The Planters are definitely on the back foot after the downfall of President Gist, so it might be interesting to show President Clark's Vice President as another man of relatively modest origins - though also as a man with some History of military service to balance out the more Pacific Clark).
One imagines that Champ Clark actually resided in the United States for a time, was sent home during the Second Mexican War but retained friends across that Frontier even so - the epitome of a Border State man, with friends and family on both sides of a Dividing Line.
So, almost three years ago, I wrote an unfinished (and looking back kind of half-baked) article on Subhas Chandra Bose.
Now, after so long, I've finally decided to finish this article. ZGradt, an erstwhile contributor to this thread, decided to continue my article last year, and I'm very glad that he did, as his continuation gave me a lot of great ideas in finishing this article. As a result, credit goes to him for much of the middle part of this article, much of which he wrote but that I edited, added some stuff and got rid of some stuff. I know he is no longer on these boards, but I would like to say I'm very thankful for both his help and his ideas.
So, without further ado, here it is!
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1960)
Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in the town of Cuttack in the Bengal Presidency of British India. Bose grew up with his family in that same town of Cuttack and in his youth he was educated at a number of British-run schools in India. In 1913 he was admitted to Presidency College in Calcutta and studied there for a short time. He was expelled from the college for assaulting a professor by the name of Oaten over some anti-Indian comments. Bose then attended the Scottish Church College at the University of Calcutta and graduated in 1918 with a B.A. in philosophy. In 1919, Bose left India for Great Britain and studied at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University in an effort to pass the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination. However, Bose eventually decided that he did not want to have a job in which he would serve the British. He resigned from the Indian Civil Service and returned home to British India in April, 1921.
Soon after returning home, in August of 1921, the twenty-four year-old Bose joined the pro-independence Indian National Congress Party. Some years later, in 1924, Bose was elected mayor of Calcutta. However, only a few months into his term, he was arrested by the government of the British Raj in a large-scale crack-down of Indian nationalists. In 1928, Bose was freed after spending four years in prison, and a year later he became general secretary for the Indian National Congress Party, working with other prominent party members like Jawaharlal Nehru for Indian independence.
Throughout the coming years, Bose continued to rise in popularity within the Congress Party and within Indian nationalist circles in general, and as a result was again elected mayor of Calcutta in 1932. It was also around this same time, during the 1930s, that Bose made a number of visits to Europe, visiting Indian students and European politicians such as King Charles XI, Philippe Henriot, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Otto Wels, Kaiser Karl I of Austria-Hungary, King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Sultan Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Empire, as well as a number of lesser known left-wing and right-wing politicians. Throughout these numerous visits Bose himself saw conservative monarchism, far-right politics and far-left politics all first-hand. As a result, he reached a number of general conclusions as to how these parties related to the cause of Indian nationalism and independence. He considered far-right politics to he an enemy to the Indian nationalist cause, considering it supported ethnic nationalism and aggressive imperialism amongst the European powers. On the other hand, Bose was very much attracted to the many far-left, communist, socialist, social democratic and radical socialist parties of Europe, and he would later use radical socialism as the basis for his vision of an independent India. Bose was not much attracted to the conservative monarchies of Europe, seeing some of them like Spain and Russia, the latter which he never bothered to visit, as completely irrelevant to India, but Bose was more than happy to cooperate with one semi-conservative monarchy in particular, this being none other than the German Empire. The German Empire had previously been supportive of the Indian's cause for nationhood during the First Great War with the large scale Hindu-German conspiracy, and Bose wanted to re-kindle this relationship between India and Germany. In the subsequent years leading up to the Second Great War, a few other Indian nationalists came to Germany to raise awareness of the Indian nationalist cause. It was also in Europe, Austria-Hungary to be exact, that Bose met with wife Emilie Schenkl (1910-1996). They married in 1937 and gave birth to their only child and daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, on November 29, 1942.
Soon after Bose returned home to British India in 1937, he himself was made leader of the Indian National Congress Party. As party leader, Bose advocated a plan of complete self-governance and independence for India, to the point of using force against the British, as well advocating a an authoritarian and radical socialist government for a new Indian republic. This line of thought put him in direct conflict with the less radical members of the party like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
As a result of this conflict, the Indian National Congress split, and Bose and his followers formed the Indian People's Foward Block, a far-left political party that was based on his views, the party's main base of power being in the Bengal region. Meanwhile, back in Great Britain, in 1934 to be exact, a coalition government had come about between the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a staunch opponent of the Indian independence movement, and the far-right and Actionist British National Party under Chancellor of the Exchequer Oswald Mosley. The coalition, particularly those in the British Nationalist Party, which had some influence over a number of Conservative MPs, where staunch and aggressive imperialists, and refused to negotiate at all with any pro-independence Indian nationalists, the INC and IDFB included. While both the Labour Party and Liberal Party supported some level of negotiation with the Indian nationalists, they were constantly silenced by the Conservative-British Nationalist coalition.
Throughout the late 1930s, Bose's star continued to rise and the Indian People's Foward Block began to grow in a number of other Indian regions outside of Bengal. Bose also organized at least a few large-scale protests against British rule in India. Back in London, Churchill saw Bose as a grave threat to British imperialism, and those in the Nationalist Party very much agreed. The danger of Indian nationalism to British interests made itself even more pronounced when, on March 13th, 1940, Indian nationalist Udham Singh assassinated the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab Sir Michael O'Dwyer a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society in Caxton Hall, London in relation for his role in the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. Though not his original targets, Singh also managed to kill former Secretary of State for India Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland and former Governor of Queensland and former Governor of Bombay Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington [1]. Singh was immediately arrested by the Metropolitan Police. He was eventually executed by firing squad in Pentonville Prison on May 20, 1940 [2].
As a result of all of these factors, Bose's home in New Delhi was raided by British Raj authorities on May 28, 1940. Later that same day, after returning to his home, Bose was arrested by those same British Raj authorities. He was immediately refused a trail. All of these actions came from orders directly from the British government. After all of that, Bose was held in a prison outside of Madras for six months, until he escaped from said prison in November, 1940 with the help a number of some rouge INC and IPFB members. Bose then proceeded to escape the country, being helped along the way by a number of sympathetic local rulers (Sultans, Princes etc.) to escape into the Japanese East Indies. While in the city of Banda Aceh, Bose was introduced to the ideology of Pan-Asainism, in particular the version being supported and espoused by the Japanese government, as well as that of certain local Indonesian intellectuals such as Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Agus Salim. Bose sympathized with the movement due to its anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist stance, and this was a sympathy which would have important ramifications as time went on. For the next year and a half, Bose lived throughout the Japanese East Indies trying to decide on what course of action to take next for the cause of Indian independence. On June 24, 1942, just over a year after the outbreak of the Second Great War, Bose finally made up his mind. On this day, he flew from Djakarta [3] to Berlin, knowing full well that going to the German Empire was his very best chance to further the cause of Indian independence.
Upon his arrival in Berlin on June 25, 1942, Bose took up temporary residence in an apartment not far from the Charlottenburg Palace. Throughout his first few days in Berlin, Bose meet with a number of other Indian nationalists living in the city. After over a week in Berlin, on July 6, 1942, Bose had a private meeting with some representatives of Chancellor Richtofen regarding the matter of India. Bose proposed that when Germany eventually defeated the British that the Germans force the issue of an independent India as part of the final peace treaty. In return, India would be open to limited German investment, as he still believed that India needed to be a self-sufficient socialist state. With the meeting concluded and his proposal noted, Richtofen's staff returned to the Reichstag while Bose awaited the German government's answer. Three days later, he got a less than welcome response:
The Deutches Reich appreciates your hardship for coming to our great capital. Indeed we do have a common enemy in the form of the British Empire and it is necessary to cooperate with matters regarding their downfall.
However, I cannot accept the terms laid out in your proposal. If you wish German investment of India, you cannot ask us to simply not own the land and materials required to build and maintain the factories and facilities you ask request of us to build for you. Furthermore, your ideology is incompatible with the interests of the Reich. We cannot and will not support a state that openly supports an ideology that threatens the interest of the German Empire.
With regards,
Chancellor Manfred von Richtofen
Bose was disheartened by the Germans' rebuff of an independent socialist India. What made it much more disconcerting was that Bose's fears were right: the Germans would not see an independent India as anything more than a potential threat towards its interests towards the Middle East and South Asia through the Ottoman Empire. He was allowed safe passage back via flights from Berlin to Istanbul then back to India, but Bose declined, opting instead to travel to Philadelphia to speak with President La Follette. He figured that if he could not gain German support of his cause, support from the United States of America, a country he had never visited before, would be the next best thing. Thus, in August, 1942, he was taken to the US under armed destroyer escort. During his voyage however, Bose realized that help from anyone might not be forthcoming after all. The United States was too preoccupied destroying the Featherston-led Confederate States, and while the current Socialist presidency may have sympathized with Bose, they would not be able to reach him due to the Pacific Ocean being a Japanese lake for the moment. In addition, while the American government did not know that Japan had allowed him to escape to Japanese-held Java in the Japanese East Indies, they would be even less inclined to help him if they ever found out. Still, he had to try to gain American support for his cause.
When he arrived in Philadelphia that September, Bose and President La Follette met secretly in the Powell House. Bose explained that the Germans would not support his cause due to ideological differences. President La Follette definitely saw the wisdom of an independent India as a counterweight towards Imperial Japan. However, La Follette told Bose that he could not promise any support from the US, especially with Confederate forces still on American soil. On the other hand, La Follette did promise to have pro-Socialist banks secure loans for the provisional Indian National Army, an armed force founded by General Mohan Singh in an effort to liberate India from the British [4]. Bose kept the Americans unaware that the Japanese were already aiding the INA with 'rescued' Indian POWs from British prisons and 'volunteers' from the Philippines, Korea, and the East Indies. With funds secured, he was sent through Germany back to Calcutta, India.
When Bose returned in disguise to Calcutta, India that October, rebel informants had told him of General Singh's plans to disband the Indian National Army and surrender it to the British after suspecting that the Japanese intended to puppetize India. After this, Bose demanded an audience with General Singh. One week later, Bose traveled to Nagpur and then met with General Singh in a safe-house just outside of the city. While meeting with Singh, Bose had told him that he had secured promises of American financial aid to help fund the INA. While Singh was skeptical of Bose's optimism that the Americans would keep their promise, eventually he was convinced. The problem now was how to break away from the Japanese.
The Empire of Japan was a part of the Entente Powers alongside Great Britain, France, Russia, and the CSA. However, the European powers always feared and distrusted their eastern ally. For the moment however, the Entente had to rely on Japan attacking China in order to secure Russia's vulnerable underbelly from Kuomintang raids. The Japanese however had always planned to backstab the British and Russians, they just needed to keep the Americans distracted by making them think that the Japanese were prepared to hold the Sandwich Islands from any US Navy incursion. To this end, the Japanese had secretly helped fund, arm, and train the INA using exiled Indians living in the Japanese East Indies along with 'volunteers' from the Philippines, Korea, and China. While that definitely kept the 'volunteers' from otherwise meeting the business end of a Japanese bayonet or tanto, the INA was for all intents and purposes a Japanese proxy army.
Bose promised Singh that by December the Americans would have the loans stashed in an 'unverified' account for them to withdraw. So Singh continued to 'cooperate' with the Japanese until the American loans arrived. On December 12, 1942, $20,000,000 in US currency was deposited into an untraceable account. As a result, Singh had the funds to keep his troops paid, clothed, and armed, and Bose was now seen as a hero for securing these funds, however little they may have been, to keep up armed resistance.
On March 3, 1943 another $20,000,000 in US loans appeared in the INA's coffers. President La Follette kept his promise despite the hard and costly fighting against Confederate forces, and now they had secured enough money for about a year. In a pirated broadcast, broadcast from just outside of Hyderabad, Bose declared:
Fellow brothers and sisters, for too long the British had denied us our rightful due. They had desecrated our lands, our homes, our families. They had kept the local elites who sold us out in order to become richer still. How much more will the elites betray us to our 'masters' before we rise up?
Now is the time to rise up and take arms! The British intend to use our men, women, and children against us in their armies, but now we have the power to strike back! Those who still care for your homeland, break away from the British autocracy and imperialism and rejoin us in our fight to liberate our home once again!
On April 25, 1943, while Bose continued to make pirated propaganda broadcasts all across India, General Singh had finally told the Japanese that enough is enough: from now on, India will free India. The IJA were outraged that, in their eyes, these savages would no longer accept aid from their wise and merciful Emperor, but there was little they could do as Prime Minister Tojo had to keep Japan's cover as an Entente ally. As far as the British knew, the Indian National Army was a terrorist group being supported by German and American funds (only the latter was true).
Throughout the following months, the INA, still led by General Singh, continued to fight their guerrilla war against the British in India. Then, as if out of nowhere, two unexpected events occurred. On July 26, 1943, General Singh was killed during a British raid on his headquarters outside of Nagpur. General Bose, who was outside of Hyderabad at the time, upon hearing of Singh's death, immediately assumed leadership of the Indian National Army in an impromptu ceremony held amongst several other INA members at his safe-house outside of the city. One of Bose's first acts as leader of the INA was to recruit members of his still-active, albeit illegal and underground, political party, the Indian People's Foward Block (IPFB), into the INA. This action proved to be a massive success, with the majority of IPFB members joining the fighting ranks of the INA by the end of December, 1943.
Then, just a few weeks later in August, 1943, the Empire of Japan, with no further American pressure on their forces, betrayed their Entente allies and launched a surprise invasion of British Honk Hong, British Malaya, British Singapore, British Sarawak, British Brunei, British North Borneo and British Burma. In spite of the fact the INA no longer received backing from the Empire of Japan, this proved to be a huge blessing for the INA, as it forced numerous units of the British Army in India to move out of India and to the numerous fronts to fight the Japanese invasion forces. As a direct result, this made the continued insurgency against the British Army in India all the more easier and all the more effective. Throughout the last five months of 1943, attacks by the INA against the British armies in India proved to be much more damaging to the British and also occurred with more frequency and intensity, this also being the result of a large surge in INA recruits, many coming from Bose's underground IPFB party. The INA was also given a good amount of help by another $20,000,000 in US loans, which arrived in the INA's coffers on November 6, 1943.
On December 1, 1943, with the INA insurgency going so well and with the British retreating from the Japanese on every front, General Bose even went so far as to personally thank Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo for the invasion of Britain's possessions in the Far East via a private telegram. One month later, on January 1 (New Year's Day), 1944, Tojo responded to Bose's telegram, asking if the INA would like to have renewed support from the Empire of Japan. General Bose was reluctant to have renewed Japanese support for the INA, fearing that an independent India would eventually become a puppet state of the Empire of Japan and a member of the proposed Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. After weeks of long discussions with other members of the INA, Bose replied to Tojo via telegram on January 24, 1944, stating that he would gladly accept renewed Japanese support for the INA, but only on the condition that an independent India would not be a Japanese puppet state or a member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Two days later, on January 26, 1944, Tojo responded to Bose via telegram, saying that he would agree to Bose's terms and renew Japanese support for the INA in the form on money, weapons (with many being weapons stolen from the British and the Kuomintang, as well as old French and Dutch weapons), equipment and provisions. As Tojo stated in his telegram to Bose, India was much too large for the Empire of Japan to bother turning into a puppet state, so he was more than happy to agree to his terms.
Within just a week, the first shipments of money, weapons, equipment and provisions from the Imperial Japanese Army had arrived at Bose's headquarter's outside of Hyderabad. These shipments from the IJA were then distributed throughout the INA and throughout British India. These shipments would continue until the official end of the war six months later, and would prove invaluable to the continuation of the INA insurgency. On March 15, 1944, in a pirated broadcast, broadcast from just outside of Hyderabad, General Bose officially declared the establishment of the Provisional Government of Free India, also known more simply as Free India or Azad Hind in Hindi, with Bose himself, in his words, as "interim President and Prime Minister of all of India, an India based on the principals of Socialism [5]." Almost immediately, on March 17, 1944, the Provisional Government of Free India received diplomatic recognition from the Empire of Japan. Ten days later, on March 27, 1944, Free India received diplomatic recognition from the United States of America. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were still, for numerous reasons, reluctant to support the Indian independence movement, and as a result they did not recognize the new Provisional Government of Free India.
The INA insurgency continued throughout the subsequent months of 1944, continuing in its impunity and ferocity against the British army, thus proving to be a constant thorn in the side of both the British army and the British Raj. Then finally, the Second Great War came to an end. In July, 1944, Great Britain, with three of her cities largely destroyed with super-bombs and with Churchill and Mosley booted out of the Palace of Westminster, was finally defeated and surrendered to the Central Powers. When this happened, celebrations broke out all over British India, as many in India finally saw their chance to became an independent nation.
In July and August, 1944, during the negotiations over the Treaty of Aachen, both Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) and Subhas Chandra Bose of Indian People's Foward Block (IPFB) and Free India were invited to attend the negotiations in Aachen, which they did. In the end, the Treaty of Aachen was signed on August 11th, 1944, and one of the terms of the treaty was that Great Britain was forced to peacefully and gradually abandon the Indian subcontinent by January 1, 1950. It was now up to Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India, to see through this peaceful and gradual transition of power. On August 19, 1944, the Marquess of Linlithgow announced from New Delhi that he would be willing to negotiate with a variety of different political parties throughout India, including the INC, IPFB, Free India, the Muslim League, among others, in an effort to see the aforementioned transition of power through. As a result, General Bose ordered Free India to end their insurgency, at least for the time being, and come to the negotiating table.
After months of negotiations, on December 8, 1944, the New Delhi Agreement was signed and agreed upon by all parties involved. According to this agreement, the British would leave India in twenty months, on August 8, 1946, and the British Raj would be partitioned into the following nations; the Republic of India, the Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Bengal, the Kingdom of Sikkim, the State of Sri Lanka, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Kingdom of Travancore. This period of twenty months before the official partition of India allowed for the mass migrations of numerous different peoples to and from different parts of the British Raj, so that these different peoples could move to and settle in the future nation that would best suit them in terms of their ethnicity and/or religion [6]. General Bose and Free India also agreed to end their insurgency against the British and, come August 8, 1946, to cooperate with and absorb themselves into the government of India.
On August 8, 1946, all of the aforementioned nations, including the Republic of India, became independent from Great Britain. After eighty-eight years, the British Raj had ceased to exist. In New Delhi, General Bose, who by this point was a household and a widely feted name in India, was paraded through the town like a hero and towards the end of the day he gave a rousing speech in the center of town celebrating Indian independence and all the work that he had done for India and the cause of Indian independence up to that point. He then called on India and her people to look to the future and their new role in the new, post-war world.
Throughout the first few years of the Republic of India's independence, Bose continued to remain the leader of the Indian People's Foward Block, which he renamed the Indian People's Socialist Party (IPSP) in 1948. The IPFB/IPSP quickly became the main opposition party to the Indian National Congress (INC). Bose and the IPSP ran in India's first general election in 1951, although he and his party were defeated by Nehru and the INC. Bose and the IPSP ran again in the 1956 general election, although he and his party once again lost the election to Nehru and the INC. Bose continued to serve as leader of the IPSP until his death. Bose, seen as a living legend to so many of the people of India, died of a heart attack in his apartment in New Delhi on October 24th, 1960. He was sixty-three years old. His funeral in New Delhi on October 29, 1960 went down as one of the largest state funerals in Indian history.
To this very day, Subhas Chandra Bose is seen a national hero and a founding father to the people of India, and he continues to be an immensely popular popular figure in India, his popularity second only to that of bis life-long rivals Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
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[1] IOTL Lord Zetland and Lord Lamington were both injured by Singh but in the end survived.
[2] IOTL, Singh was given a trail and hung, instead of shot, at Pentonville Prison on July 31, 1940.
[3] IOTL, General Mohan Singh was the leader of the First Indian National Army, which was also a Japanese proxy army. In ZGradt's words; "The way I understand and reconcile this Japanese subversion on British colonies despite being allied to them is that the Japanese were always going to backstab them at the right moment. I see the Pacific War between Japan and the US in 1934 as a distraction, to keep the Entente thinking that they are still against the US, and everything they do in China and the Pacific Ocean are all distractions to keep the Entente from seeing their inevitable betrayal."
[4] At this point, I want to say that I disagree with ZGradt that Gandhi and Nehru would have supported Bose and his insurgency, as Bose split with Gandhi, Nehru and the INC back in the 1930s.
[5] IOTL, the Provisional Government of Free India was supported by the Empire of Japan. IITL, Bose founds this provisional government on his own, not wanting to be seen as a Japanese stooge.
[6] IITL, the partition of India is somewhat less violent than IOTL, as the partition process and the movement of people is more gradual and somewhat more orderly than IOTL.
Now, after so long, I've finally decided to finish this article. ZGradt, an erstwhile contributor to this thread, decided to continue my article last year, and I'm very glad that he did, as his continuation gave me a lot of great ideas in finishing this article. As a result, credit goes to him for much of the middle part of this article, much of which he wrote but that I edited, added some stuff and got rid of some stuff. I know he is no longer on these boards, but I would like to say I'm very thankful for both his help and his ideas.
So, without further ado, here it is!
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1960)
Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in the town of Cuttack in the Bengal Presidency of British India. Bose grew up with his family in that same town of Cuttack and in his youth he was educated at a number of British-run schools in India. In 1913 he was admitted to Presidency College in Calcutta and studied there for a short time. He was expelled from the college for assaulting a professor by the name of Oaten over some anti-Indian comments. Bose then attended the Scottish Church College at the University of Calcutta and graduated in 1918 with a B.A. in philosophy. In 1919, Bose left India for Great Britain and studied at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University in an effort to pass the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination. However, Bose eventually decided that he did not want to have a job in which he would serve the British. He resigned from the Indian Civil Service and returned home to British India in April, 1921.
Soon after returning home, in August of 1921, the twenty-four year-old Bose joined the pro-independence Indian National Congress Party. Some years later, in 1924, Bose was elected mayor of Calcutta. However, only a few months into his term, he was arrested by the government of the British Raj in a large-scale crack-down of Indian nationalists. In 1928, Bose was freed after spending four years in prison, and a year later he became general secretary for the Indian National Congress Party, working with other prominent party members like Jawaharlal Nehru for Indian independence.
Throughout the coming years, Bose continued to rise in popularity within the Congress Party and within Indian nationalist circles in general, and as a result was again elected mayor of Calcutta in 1932. It was also around this same time, during the 1930s, that Bose made a number of visits to Europe, visiting Indian students and European politicians such as King Charles XI, Philippe Henriot, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Otto Wels, Kaiser Karl I of Austria-Hungary, King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Sultan Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Empire, as well as a number of lesser known left-wing and right-wing politicians. Throughout these numerous visits Bose himself saw conservative monarchism, far-right politics and far-left politics all first-hand. As a result, he reached a number of general conclusions as to how these parties related to the cause of Indian nationalism and independence. He considered far-right politics to he an enemy to the Indian nationalist cause, considering it supported ethnic nationalism and aggressive imperialism amongst the European powers. On the other hand, Bose was very much attracted to the many far-left, communist, socialist, social democratic and radical socialist parties of Europe, and he would later use radical socialism as the basis for his vision of an independent India. Bose was not much attracted to the conservative monarchies of Europe, seeing some of them like Spain and Russia, the latter which he never bothered to visit, as completely irrelevant to India, but Bose was more than happy to cooperate with one semi-conservative monarchy in particular, this being none other than the German Empire. The German Empire had previously been supportive of the Indian's cause for nationhood during the First Great War with the large scale Hindu-German conspiracy, and Bose wanted to re-kindle this relationship between India and Germany. In the subsequent years leading up to the Second Great War, a few other Indian nationalists came to Germany to raise awareness of the Indian nationalist cause. It was also in Europe, Austria-Hungary to be exact, that Bose met with wife Emilie Schenkl (1910-1996). They married in 1937 and gave birth to their only child and daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, on November 29, 1942.
Soon after Bose returned home to British India in 1937, he himself was made leader of the Indian National Congress Party. As party leader, Bose advocated a plan of complete self-governance and independence for India, to the point of using force against the British, as well advocating a an authoritarian and radical socialist government for a new Indian republic. This line of thought put him in direct conflict with the less radical members of the party like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
As a result of this conflict, the Indian National Congress split, and Bose and his followers formed the Indian People's Foward Block, a far-left political party that was based on his views, the party's main base of power being in the Bengal region. Meanwhile, back in Great Britain, in 1934 to be exact, a coalition government had come about between the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a staunch opponent of the Indian independence movement, and the far-right and Actionist British National Party under Chancellor of the Exchequer Oswald Mosley. The coalition, particularly those in the British Nationalist Party, which had some influence over a number of Conservative MPs, where staunch and aggressive imperialists, and refused to negotiate at all with any pro-independence Indian nationalists, the INC and IDFB included. While both the Labour Party and Liberal Party supported some level of negotiation with the Indian nationalists, they were constantly silenced by the Conservative-British Nationalist coalition.
Throughout the late 1930s, Bose's star continued to rise and the Indian People's Foward Block began to grow in a number of other Indian regions outside of Bengal. Bose also organized at least a few large-scale protests against British rule in India. Back in London, Churchill saw Bose as a grave threat to British imperialism, and those in the Nationalist Party very much agreed. The danger of Indian nationalism to British interests made itself even more pronounced when, on March 13th, 1940, Indian nationalist Udham Singh assassinated the former Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab Sir Michael O'Dwyer a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society in Caxton Hall, London in relation for his role in the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. Though not his original targets, Singh also managed to kill former Secretary of State for India Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland and former Governor of Queensland and former Governor of Bombay Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington [1]. Singh was immediately arrested by the Metropolitan Police. He was eventually executed by firing squad in Pentonville Prison on May 20, 1940 [2].
As a result of all of these factors, Bose's home in New Delhi was raided by British Raj authorities on May 28, 1940. Later that same day, after returning to his home, Bose was arrested by those same British Raj authorities. He was immediately refused a trail. All of these actions came from orders directly from the British government. After all of that, Bose was held in a prison outside of Madras for six months, until he escaped from said prison in November, 1940 with the help a number of some rouge INC and IPFB members. Bose then proceeded to escape the country, being helped along the way by a number of sympathetic local rulers (Sultans, Princes etc.) to escape into the Japanese East Indies. While in the city of Banda Aceh, Bose was introduced to the ideology of Pan-Asainism, in particular the version being supported and espoused by the Japanese government, as well as that of certain local Indonesian intellectuals such as Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Agus Salim. Bose sympathized with the movement due to its anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist stance, and this was a sympathy which would have important ramifications as time went on. For the next year and a half, Bose lived throughout the Japanese East Indies trying to decide on what course of action to take next for the cause of Indian independence. On June 24, 1942, just over a year after the outbreak of the Second Great War, Bose finally made up his mind. On this day, he flew from Djakarta [3] to Berlin, knowing full well that going to the German Empire was his very best chance to further the cause of Indian independence.
Upon his arrival in Berlin on June 25, 1942, Bose took up temporary residence in an apartment not far from the Charlottenburg Palace. Throughout his first few days in Berlin, Bose meet with a number of other Indian nationalists living in the city. After over a week in Berlin, on July 6, 1942, Bose had a private meeting with some representatives of Chancellor Richtofen regarding the matter of India. Bose proposed that when Germany eventually defeated the British that the Germans force the issue of an independent India as part of the final peace treaty. In return, India would be open to limited German investment, as he still believed that India needed to be a self-sufficient socialist state. With the meeting concluded and his proposal noted, Richtofen's staff returned to the Reichstag while Bose awaited the German government's answer. Three days later, he got a less than welcome response:
The Deutches Reich appreciates your hardship for coming to our great capital. Indeed we do have a common enemy in the form of the British Empire and it is necessary to cooperate with matters regarding their downfall.
However, I cannot accept the terms laid out in your proposal. If you wish German investment of India, you cannot ask us to simply not own the land and materials required to build and maintain the factories and facilities you ask request of us to build for you. Furthermore, your ideology is incompatible with the interests of the Reich. We cannot and will not support a state that openly supports an ideology that threatens the interest of the German Empire.
With regards,
Chancellor Manfred von Richtofen
Bose was disheartened by the Germans' rebuff of an independent socialist India. What made it much more disconcerting was that Bose's fears were right: the Germans would not see an independent India as anything more than a potential threat towards its interests towards the Middle East and South Asia through the Ottoman Empire. He was allowed safe passage back via flights from Berlin to Istanbul then back to India, but Bose declined, opting instead to travel to Philadelphia to speak with President La Follette. He figured that if he could not gain German support of his cause, support from the United States of America, a country he had never visited before, would be the next best thing. Thus, in August, 1942, he was taken to the US under armed destroyer escort. During his voyage however, Bose realized that help from anyone might not be forthcoming after all. The United States was too preoccupied destroying the Featherston-led Confederate States, and while the current Socialist presidency may have sympathized with Bose, they would not be able to reach him due to the Pacific Ocean being a Japanese lake for the moment. In addition, while the American government did not know that Japan had allowed him to escape to Japanese-held Java in the Japanese East Indies, they would be even less inclined to help him if they ever found out. Still, he had to try to gain American support for his cause.
When he arrived in Philadelphia that September, Bose and President La Follette met secretly in the Powell House. Bose explained that the Germans would not support his cause due to ideological differences. President La Follette definitely saw the wisdom of an independent India as a counterweight towards Imperial Japan. However, La Follette told Bose that he could not promise any support from the US, especially with Confederate forces still on American soil. On the other hand, La Follette did promise to have pro-Socialist banks secure loans for the provisional Indian National Army, an armed force founded by General Mohan Singh in an effort to liberate India from the British [4]. Bose kept the Americans unaware that the Japanese were already aiding the INA with 'rescued' Indian POWs from British prisons and 'volunteers' from the Philippines, Korea, and the East Indies. With funds secured, he was sent through Germany back to Calcutta, India.
When Bose returned in disguise to Calcutta, India that October, rebel informants had told him of General Singh's plans to disband the Indian National Army and surrender it to the British after suspecting that the Japanese intended to puppetize India. After this, Bose demanded an audience with General Singh. One week later, Bose traveled to Nagpur and then met with General Singh in a safe-house just outside of the city. While meeting with Singh, Bose had told him that he had secured promises of American financial aid to help fund the INA. While Singh was skeptical of Bose's optimism that the Americans would keep their promise, eventually he was convinced. The problem now was how to break away from the Japanese.
The Empire of Japan was a part of the Entente Powers alongside Great Britain, France, Russia, and the CSA. However, the European powers always feared and distrusted their eastern ally. For the moment however, the Entente had to rely on Japan attacking China in order to secure Russia's vulnerable underbelly from Kuomintang raids. The Japanese however had always planned to backstab the British and Russians, they just needed to keep the Americans distracted by making them think that the Japanese were prepared to hold the Sandwich Islands from any US Navy incursion. To this end, the Japanese had secretly helped fund, arm, and train the INA using exiled Indians living in the Japanese East Indies along with 'volunteers' from the Philippines, Korea, and China. While that definitely kept the 'volunteers' from otherwise meeting the business end of a Japanese bayonet or tanto, the INA was for all intents and purposes a Japanese proxy army.
Bose promised Singh that by December the Americans would have the loans stashed in an 'unverified' account for them to withdraw. So Singh continued to 'cooperate' with the Japanese until the American loans arrived. On December 12, 1942, $20,000,000 in US currency was deposited into an untraceable account. As a result, Singh had the funds to keep his troops paid, clothed, and armed, and Bose was now seen as a hero for securing these funds, however little they may have been, to keep up armed resistance.
On March 3, 1943 another $20,000,000 in US loans appeared in the INA's coffers. President La Follette kept his promise despite the hard and costly fighting against Confederate forces, and now they had secured enough money for about a year. In a pirated broadcast, broadcast from just outside of Hyderabad, Bose declared:
Fellow brothers and sisters, for too long the British had denied us our rightful due. They had desecrated our lands, our homes, our families. They had kept the local elites who sold us out in order to become richer still. How much more will the elites betray us to our 'masters' before we rise up?
Now is the time to rise up and take arms! The British intend to use our men, women, and children against us in their armies, but now we have the power to strike back! Those who still care for your homeland, break away from the British autocracy and imperialism and rejoin us in our fight to liberate our home once again!
On April 25, 1943, while Bose continued to make pirated propaganda broadcasts all across India, General Singh had finally told the Japanese that enough is enough: from now on, India will free India. The IJA were outraged that, in their eyes, these savages would no longer accept aid from their wise and merciful Emperor, but there was little they could do as Prime Minister Tojo had to keep Japan's cover as an Entente ally. As far as the British knew, the Indian National Army was a terrorist group being supported by German and American funds (only the latter was true).
Throughout the following months, the INA, still led by General Singh, continued to fight their guerrilla war against the British in India. Then, as if out of nowhere, two unexpected events occurred. On July 26, 1943, General Singh was killed during a British raid on his headquarters outside of Nagpur. General Bose, who was outside of Hyderabad at the time, upon hearing of Singh's death, immediately assumed leadership of the Indian National Army in an impromptu ceremony held amongst several other INA members at his safe-house outside of the city. One of Bose's first acts as leader of the INA was to recruit members of his still-active, albeit illegal and underground, political party, the Indian People's Foward Block (IPFB), into the INA. This action proved to be a massive success, with the majority of IPFB members joining the fighting ranks of the INA by the end of December, 1943.
Then, just a few weeks later in August, 1943, the Empire of Japan, with no further American pressure on their forces, betrayed their Entente allies and launched a surprise invasion of British Honk Hong, British Malaya, British Singapore, British Sarawak, British Brunei, British North Borneo and British Burma. In spite of the fact the INA no longer received backing from the Empire of Japan, this proved to be a huge blessing for the INA, as it forced numerous units of the British Army in India to move out of India and to the numerous fronts to fight the Japanese invasion forces. As a direct result, this made the continued insurgency against the British Army in India all the more easier and all the more effective. Throughout the last five months of 1943, attacks by the INA against the British armies in India proved to be much more damaging to the British and also occurred with more frequency and intensity, this also being the result of a large surge in INA recruits, many coming from Bose's underground IPFB party. The INA was also given a good amount of help by another $20,000,000 in US loans, which arrived in the INA's coffers on November 6, 1943.
On December 1, 1943, with the INA insurgency going so well and with the British retreating from the Japanese on every front, General Bose even went so far as to personally thank Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo for the invasion of Britain's possessions in the Far East via a private telegram. One month later, on January 1 (New Year's Day), 1944, Tojo responded to Bose's telegram, asking if the INA would like to have renewed support from the Empire of Japan. General Bose was reluctant to have renewed Japanese support for the INA, fearing that an independent India would eventually become a puppet state of the Empire of Japan and a member of the proposed Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. After weeks of long discussions with other members of the INA, Bose replied to Tojo via telegram on January 24, 1944, stating that he would gladly accept renewed Japanese support for the INA, but only on the condition that an independent India would not be a Japanese puppet state or a member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Two days later, on January 26, 1944, Tojo responded to Bose via telegram, saying that he would agree to Bose's terms and renew Japanese support for the INA in the form on money, weapons (with many being weapons stolen from the British and the Kuomintang, as well as old French and Dutch weapons), equipment and provisions. As Tojo stated in his telegram to Bose, India was much too large for the Empire of Japan to bother turning into a puppet state, so he was more than happy to agree to his terms.
Within just a week, the first shipments of money, weapons, equipment and provisions from the Imperial Japanese Army had arrived at Bose's headquarter's outside of Hyderabad. These shipments from the IJA were then distributed throughout the INA and throughout British India. These shipments would continue until the official end of the war six months later, and would prove invaluable to the continuation of the INA insurgency. On March 15, 1944, in a pirated broadcast, broadcast from just outside of Hyderabad, General Bose officially declared the establishment of the Provisional Government of Free India, also known more simply as Free India or Azad Hind in Hindi, with Bose himself, in his words, as "interim President and Prime Minister of all of India, an India based on the principals of Socialism [5]." Almost immediately, on March 17, 1944, the Provisional Government of Free India received diplomatic recognition from the Empire of Japan. Ten days later, on March 27, 1944, Free India received diplomatic recognition from the United States of America. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were still, for numerous reasons, reluctant to support the Indian independence movement, and as a result they did not recognize the new Provisional Government of Free India.
The INA insurgency continued throughout the subsequent months of 1944, continuing in its impunity and ferocity against the British army, thus proving to be a constant thorn in the side of both the British army and the British Raj. Then finally, the Second Great War came to an end. In July, 1944, Great Britain, with three of her cities largely destroyed with super-bombs and with Churchill and Mosley booted out of the Palace of Westminster, was finally defeated and surrendered to the Central Powers. When this happened, celebrations broke out all over British India, as many in India finally saw their chance to became an independent nation.
In July and August, 1944, during the negotiations over the Treaty of Aachen, both Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress Party (INC) and Subhas Chandra Bose of Indian People's Foward Block (IPFB) and Free India were invited to attend the negotiations in Aachen, which they did. In the end, the Treaty of Aachen was signed on August 11th, 1944, and one of the terms of the treaty was that Great Britain was forced to peacefully and gradually abandon the Indian subcontinent by January 1, 1950. It was now up to Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India, to see through this peaceful and gradual transition of power. On August 19, 1944, the Marquess of Linlithgow announced from New Delhi that he would be willing to negotiate with a variety of different political parties throughout India, including the INC, IPFB, Free India, the Muslim League, among others, in an effort to see the aforementioned transition of power through. As a result, General Bose ordered Free India to end their insurgency, at least for the time being, and come to the negotiating table.
After months of negotiations, on December 8, 1944, the New Delhi Agreement was signed and agreed upon by all parties involved. According to this agreement, the British would leave India in twenty months, on August 8, 1946, and the British Raj would be partitioned into the following nations; the Republic of India, the Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Bengal, the Kingdom of Sikkim, the State of Sri Lanka, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Kingdom of Travancore. This period of twenty months before the official partition of India allowed for the mass migrations of numerous different peoples to and from different parts of the British Raj, so that these different peoples could move to and settle in the future nation that would best suit them in terms of their ethnicity and/or religion [6]. General Bose and Free India also agreed to end their insurgency against the British and, come August 8, 1946, to cooperate with and absorb themselves into the government of India.
On August 8, 1946, all of the aforementioned nations, including the Republic of India, became independent from Great Britain. After eighty-eight years, the British Raj had ceased to exist. In New Delhi, General Bose, who by this point was a household and a widely feted name in India, was paraded through the town like a hero and towards the end of the day he gave a rousing speech in the center of town celebrating Indian independence and all the work that he had done for India and the cause of Indian independence up to that point. He then called on India and her people to look to the future and their new role in the new, post-war world.
Throughout the first few years of the Republic of India's independence, Bose continued to remain the leader of the Indian People's Foward Block, which he renamed the Indian People's Socialist Party (IPSP) in 1948. The IPFB/IPSP quickly became the main opposition party to the Indian National Congress (INC). Bose and the IPSP ran in India's first general election in 1951, although he and his party were defeated by Nehru and the INC. Bose and the IPSP ran again in the 1956 general election, although he and his party once again lost the election to Nehru and the INC. Bose continued to serve as leader of the IPSP until his death. Bose, seen as a living legend to so many of the people of India, died of a heart attack in his apartment in New Delhi on October 24th, 1960. He was sixty-three years old. His funeral in New Delhi on October 29, 1960 went down as one of the largest state funerals in Indian history.
To this very day, Subhas Chandra Bose is seen a national hero and a founding father to the people of India, and he continues to be an immensely popular popular figure in India, his popularity second only to that of bis life-long rivals Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
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[1] IOTL Lord Zetland and Lord Lamington were both injured by Singh but in the end survived.
[2] IOTL, Singh was given a trail and hung, instead of shot, at Pentonville Prison on July 31, 1940.
[3] IOTL, General Mohan Singh was the leader of the First Indian National Army, which was also a Japanese proxy army. In ZGradt's words; "The way I understand and reconcile this Japanese subversion on British colonies despite being allied to them is that the Japanese were always going to backstab them at the right moment. I see the Pacific War between Japan and the US in 1934 as a distraction, to keep the Entente thinking that they are still against the US, and everything they do in China and the Pacific Ocean are all distractions to keep the Entente from seeing their inevitable betrayal."
[4] At this point, I want to say that I disagree with ZGradt that Gandhi and Nehru would have supported Bose and his insurgency, as Bose split with Gandhi, Nehru and the INC back in the 1930s.
[5] IOTL, the Provisional Government of Free India was supported by the Empire of Japan. IITL, Bose founds this provisional government on his own, not wanting to be seen as a Japanese stooge.
[6] IITL, the partition of India is somewhat less violent than IOTL, as the partition process and the movement of people is more gradual and somewhat more orderly than IOTL.
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bguy
Donor
Excellent article. The only thing I wanted to ask about was Oswald Mosley being Minister of War at the start of the coalition. I know Mosley holds that position by the time of SGW but would he have wanted it in 1934? I was under the impression that the Foreign Office, Home Office, and the Treasury were considered the three great offices of state, so I would think that Mosley would have expected one of those three jobs in exchange for bringing the British Nationalists into the coalition. (Probably Chancellor of the Exchequer since that would best position Mosley to push for the high tariffs and Keynesian spending program that he would want to see enacted.) And if Mosley started in one of those three positions he could then always take over the Ministry of War position later on when it becomes more important. (Maybe around 1939 which per the novels is when Churchill introduces his bill to bring conscription to the British Isles. That's probably about the point where the British start to get really serious about building up their ground forces instead of just their navy and air force, so it would make sense that it would be about the point where the War Ministry becomes prestigious enough that Mosley could be willing to take it and not feel he was being slighted by Churchill.)
Interesting ideas. I may very well use them in my article.
I always assumed that the CSA officially allied with the UK, France and Russia with the signing of the Quadruple Entente in 1907. I think that was stated at some point in this thread.
Interesting. In that case, I'll make it so that national conventions begin during the run-up to the 1909 presidential election.
Once again, interesting ideas.
All in all, I like, and I have to agree, with this analysis. I'll edit the article so that Mosely is Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1934.