Atomic League Timeline
(Last revised 6/6/98)As submitted to the POD amateur publishing association (APA), this is the Atomic League, my attempt at a timeline which does from a more militaristic American revolution all the way to the modern day. There are several areas of history involved that I am weak in, particularly the personalities of the American revolution, so I am sure there are various errors and implausibilities. I would be happy to have them pointed out.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1775 - Beginning of the American Revolution with the "shot heard around the world" on April 18. The Declaration of Independence is endorsed on July 4, 1776, and Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation as the government of the new United States of America on November 15, 1777.
1780 - After a severe winter, several Continental army regiments lead a mutiny against General George Washington, sparked by a protest against low rations and failure to pay the troops. Washington is killed on May 26, but troops soon arrive from Pennsylvania and defeat the mutineers.
Benedict Arnold is appointed commander of West Point on August 3. He has been secretly collaborating with the British since May of 1779 by supplying information on Gen. Washington's tactics. On November 6, Arnold surrenders West Point to Britain. He is later named a general in the British Army and fights the Americans.
1781 - Repeated mutinies among American troops are put down. Thomas Jefferson is captured by the British in Virginia, and is later hanged. Five months later, Yorktown is captured by American and French forces after a bloody battle.
1782 - American and French forces seize New York after evading the reinforced British forces in the field. Support for an end to the war rises in London. Loyalists begin leaving America, heading for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
1783 - Hostilities between Britain and America officially cease on August 9, 1783. On August 22, senior American military officers in New York begin an armed rebellion against the authority of congress, angered at its failure to honor its promises to the Continental Army. The rebellion soon spreads to other units, and Congress is forced to flee and assemble loyal troops. For the next three months, Congress proves completely unable to rally sufficient support to combat the mutineers. Widespread desertion occurs on both sides, and anarchy across the colonies becomes a serious threat. On November 15, General Hamilton convenes a session of like-minded members of Congress under arms, and is granted substantial "emergency powers" as military governor to bring the situation under control. He assembles a substantial army, and eventually tracks down and defeats the mutineers, retaking New York.
1784 - Following the end of the mutiny, members of the Continental Congress are assembled to create a new government under the influence of governor Hamilton and his supporters. After a short but intense period of debate, and some strong-arming, the faction in favor of a strong, centralized government prevails. The new constitution declares the creation of the American Republic, complete with a declaration of rights, a strengthened new federal Congress, and a powerful President elected by the Congress for life (or until impeachment). John Adams becomes first President. The new administration moves decisively to quell objections from some of the states to the new system, in some cases requiring limited military action. Popular support for the new system is soon rallied as it becomes clear that the new government has decisively ended the chaos. Slowly but surely, life begins to return to normal. The "Anti-Republican" forces, led by Sam Adams and John Hancock, are soon discredited. Hancock resigns following the use of force to compel Rhode Island to accept the new government after its rejection in a popular referendum.
1785 - Under Richard Henry Lee, Anti-Republican forces emerge back into the political scene after things have calmed down. This time, a compromise is attained, preserving the centralized government but expanding the bill of rights and changing Congress into two houses, the lower house of which is chosen much more democratically. The compromise is a public relations success, and serious opposition to the new government soon ends.
At this point, population of the United States is nearly 4 million, one fifth of whom are black. Over 100,000 Loyalists and refugees have fled to Canada. The American army at peacetime levels consists primarily of a force of 10,000 infantry.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
1789 - The French Revolution begins as a Parisian crowd storms the Bastille. Within a short period, the National Assembly declares itself the government of France.
1791 - Creation of the Constitution in France, which attempts to institute a constitutional monarchy. Tensions with the monarchies of Europe lead to war with Austria and Prussia. Factional difficulties arise as the French military performs miserably, but the Jacobins soon rise to power in an atmosphere of zeal to preserve the government's control of the military (fears of a coup are engendered by the American experience).
1792 - Victory of the Girondist faction, highly expansionist but moderate in their views on internal affairs, following failure of the vote to execute Louis XVI and accusations that Robespierre, leader of the opposition "Mountain" faction, was planning a coup. The King is imprisoned, as well as Robespierre and several of his followers.
1793 - French belligerence leads to England and Spain joining the war against it. Disastrous military defeats soon result, and followers of Robespierre attempt to liberate him from prison. Robespierre is executed, and many of his followers are purged. As the situation worsens, the Girondin government becomes more and more paranoid about internal security, and begins to enact controversial "loyalty measures".
1794 - Following enemy advances into France, the government creates the Security Council, a special body with extraordinary powers to organize the defense of France. It meets with numerous communication problems with the local governments, but succeeds in its efforts to mobilize France for war, and begins pushing the invading forces back.
1796 - Disastrous defeat of the main body of the French army near Belgium by Prussian and British forces, which subsequently advance within fifty miles of Paris. The government realizes that its efforts are failing, and the radicals give voice to the desire to preserve the revolution at all costs. Doubtlessly influenced by the success of the American government in dealing with civil and military chaos, control of the Security Council is put in a single position, and the powers of the council are greatly increased. Despite fears that this will lead to a military dictatorship, Carnot, choice of the radicals, does not dispose of the civilian government. Acting unrestrained, he institutes general conscription amongst the French populace, raising an army of tremendous size that successfully defends Paris.
1797 - The French armies sweep aside all opposition and begin substantial advance outside the French borders, now on the march to "spread the Revolution". Portugal enters the war, and Britain greatly increases its military commitment.
1798 - France invades Lombardy, defeating the Austrian army and effectively removing Austria from the war. Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the Republic's leading generals, leads the subsequent campaign to annex the rest of Italy to France. French armies annex Belgium and the Netherlands, but suffer numerous defeats after overextending themselves.
1799 - The war in Europe reaches a stalemate, with military successes restrained by over extension and administrative problems at the local level. Dissent within the government begins over the success of the campaigns, reducing the civilian government to near ineffectiveness from a standpoint of policy, but Carnot is outmaneuvered in his attempts to impose order.
1801 - Russia enters the war against France, finally responding to the spreading chaos in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte deposes Carnot, and launches a coup against the civilian government. He establishes a military dictatorship after a bloody purge of opposition elements, declaring himself President. Within a short period of time he brings about sweeping administrative changes, and greatly increases the effectiveness of the French military. To mobilize essential support from radical factions, he orders the execution of Louis XVI, which is condemned across Europe. Austria rejoins the war against France.
1802 - Napoleon deals the armies of Prussia and Austria a crushing blow, and his advances into Prussia itself are stopped only by massed Russian reinforcement. In Britain, a law is passed restricting all commerce to Europe for the second time, resulting in the seizure of, among others, American vessels trading with the French Republic. Public sentiment in the US against Britain grows daily, and President Adams begins a military buildup. The war in Europe dies down somewhat as Napoleon continues to attempt to revitalize the French economy under the strain of the constant warfare, but he must continually maintain defensive effort and counterattack against the repeatedly resurgent Prussian forces.
1804 - American forces launch an attack into central Canada following British seizure of an American vessel en route to France. After less than a month of advance, they are unceremoniously routed. Royal Navy forces are transferred to Canada, and forces composed of British soldiers and Canadian militia begin deep raids against targets in America. In Europe, Napoleon defeats and annexes Prussia and begins a campaign into Spain, but his navy is decisively defeated by Britain in several battles in the Mediterranean and off the French coast.
1805 - As British forces invade Maine and seize the American capital city of Hamilton, the Republic's congress gains sufficient support to impeach President Adams, and negotiates for peace while a new President is chosen. The agreed upon peace settlement cedes a disupted area of northern Maine to Britain, among other small concessions, and the war is soon ended.
1806 - Napoleon, now having proclaimed himself President of France, begins a full-scale invasion of the Austrian Empire, which meets with great success. He turns his armies north to the Duchy of Warsaw, also seized rapidly, and Russia. Only a short distance across the Vistula river, he is outmaneuvered as two Russian armies and a large British expeditionary force cut off his supply lines. Napoleon's forces are heavily outnumbered, and he makes attempts to cut around the Russian forces. He fails, and is engaged on both sides. While attempting to withdraw his army from battle by penetrating the Russian force, Napoleon is killed by Russian cannon fire. Within a year, the armies allied against France have rolled back all of its conquests as it reels under internal chaos, and the Bourbons are restored to the throne of France.
The powers of Europe meet to discuss the restoration of the old order. In many ways this is difficult, because Napoleon's invasions of Prussia, Austria, and much of the rest of Europe succeeded in creating a great deal of leadership chaos as Napoleon attempted to re-align the states to France as rapidly as possible. In the end, restoration of the status quo ante bellum is completely impossible, with much of the European royalty captured and executed by the French, and old state boundaries destroyed in the chaos of war and Revolutionary restructuring.Napoleon's German Confederation is preserved, and joined with the formerly Austrian state of Bohemia, as well as Prussia which will soon dominate the new assembly of states.
Russia is granted the Kingdom of Poland, Switzerland is established as an independent state, Belgium and the Netherlands are unified, and the Austrian Empire (hardest hit by the chaos) is recreated in somewhat smaller form. Napoleon's Italian Confederation is split into the Papal States, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Venetia, and Piedmont-Sardinia. The royal houses are restored to control of all of these states, but it is rare for the rulers to be the same as before the war.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1810 - 1820 - Europe suffers under the influence of numerous revolutions in virtually every major state, most of which result in either a minor liberalization of government, or a wave of reactionary sentiment. They are the result of the attempts of the new rulers of Europe to establish their order, and a great many missteps occur before the continent is largely peaceful once more. The revolutions suffer from a notable lack of peasant participation, since the masses by and large prefer the new order, no matter how regressive, to the chaos of constant warfare.
1828 - Heightening tensions between America and Mexico over massive encroachment of American settlers into Spanish Louisiana and Texas leads to war with Mexico. After a short war of less than a year, Mexico's army is defeated and Louisiana is ceded to the American Republic. The government encourages westward migration to support its constant wars against the Indians, and to improve its strategic position against Mexico.
1839 - Mexico begins to reassert its influence over American settlers. Texas revolts against Mexico, and American troops are sent in to annex the territory, beginning the Mexican-American War of 1839-1843. By the end of the war, the entirety of Mexico has been annexed and occupied by the Republic, setting off a short-lived storm of international condemnation.
1842 - After a long period of relative peace in Europe, widespread unrest and nationalist sentiment erupts in the German Confederation over Prussian attempts to gain complete domination of it. Revolution soon spreads to Belgium, which succeeds in separating from the Netherlands, and most of the rest of Europe, accelerated by unrest over a recent period of economic depression. Nationalist revolutions and attempted revolutions happen in every major state except Russia and Britain (where popular sentiment catalyzes major political reform and expansion of the electorate). In France, more moderate forces eventually prevail and the result is a reorganization of the constitutional monarchy already in existence, leading to a radical decrease in the effective power of the monarch, and a substantial strengthening of the parliament amid fears that more radical reformers would pave the road for another Napoleon.
Austria nearly collapses in revolution while France is in crisis, but attempts of the other states to intervene mostly collapse due to their own internal difficulties. Russia props up the Austrian state, while in Italy the forces of nationalism flow unchecked, leading to the formation of an Italian Republic under Guiseppe Garibaldi (which soon experiences its own share of tensions over its annexation of the papal states). In the German Confederation, Prussian troops move into the other states to "restore order" - unwittingly unleashing the full flow of pro-unification sentiment, ending with a surprised King William of Prussia accepting the crown of Germany.
1844 - War between Britain and China over trade, primarily in Opium. China is defeated, and Britain forces the Chinese to open trade.
1850 - Disagreement arises between America and Britain over the borders of the Oregon Territory, part of continuing boundary disputes. American forces seize most of the disputed territory by force after the failure of negotiations, leading to war with Britain. American victories in Central Canada in the first year of the war are swift and impressive, but massive reinforcements are sent from the rest of the British Empire through the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The Indian Army conquers much of the American Pacific coast, and the majority of the American navy is destroyed. Following American problems maintaining forces in Mexico while fighting a war on both sides of the continent, British forces retake central Canada and invade the northern US in 1853. The American government soon agrees to peace, ceding the majority of the Oregon territory to Britain and also settling the disputes over the northern US border in favor of Britain.
1853 - The American government quietly collapses after the fiasco of the Second British- American War, its promises of easy continental rule shattered. The new President is former opposition leader Frederick Scott, former opposition leader. He is elected on a platform of isolationism and nationalism, though he favors a strong military and a strategy of bringing the US into the world as a great power. The Republic begins a substantial program of naval construction and undertakes the full pacification and assimilation of Mexico, while European immigration is restricted in an effort to stave off the "flood of Irishmen". Over the years the administration becomes increasingly authoritarian. A massive shift of British immigration occurs to Canada, Australia, and South Africa, the populations of which are later increased by immigrants from many other European countries as well.
1855 - British colonies in North America are confederated into the Dominion of Canada, in an effort to strengthen the region against the threat of the rapidly-growing American military.
1859 - A fleet of American warships arrives at Japan, demanding the opening of the country to trade and preferential treatment of American concerns. Misunderstanding and understandable Japanese reluctance to accede to the extreme demands leads them to refuse - and the Americans open fire. Within a year, the American navy lands substantial ground forces in Japan and the Shogunate is deposed. By the time international reaction is mobilized, Japan is effectively a colony of the Republic, forced to provide bases for American forces and give humiliating exclusive trade concessions. The Americans proceed in attempts to instill a Republican government in Japan, which fail and lead to a sort of puppet Shogunate. Negotiations between France and Britain for cooperation overseas are greatly accelerated, resulting in a Franco-British naval alliance in the Pacific, partly aimed against American expansion. British presence in China is strengthened, and the Chinese Emperor is assisted in dealing with several problematic rebel forces.
1862 - Franco-British Alliance signed in an effort to contain the increasing power of Germany, which has made the transition to dominant power in Europe with remarkable swiftness. France begins a series of attempts to sway Italy to its camp, and to prop up Austria, which Germany is eyeing greedily. This begins the great Golden Age of Europe, which will last over four decades. Though tensions were significant, throughout this period the European powers maintained a strategy of containment of Germany, which treads carefully, faced with enemies on both sides and failing to break the Franco-British and Russo-Austrian alliances. Industrial growth skyrockets everywhere, and the powers vie with one another for overseas colonies. Britain and France experience unparalleled prosperity under constitutional monarchs whose powers are respectively subverted by the parliament and legislative assembly, respectively. In Germany, nationalism is something of a substitute for reform, but the real problem areas are Russia and Austria - both under reactionary regimes which create breeding grounds for socialist and anarchist sentiment.
1870 - America begins a construction of a canal in Panama between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, using the threat of military force to sway the local government. The project will take over a decade, but is instrumental to the American policy of maintaining naval mobility in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a counter to the British Royal Navy.
1872 - A series of minor conflicts in the Ottoman Empire leads to a declaration of war against it by Austria and Russia. The Ottomans are defeated, and between them the two nations annex most of the European possessions of the Ottomans. The campaign is widely seen to have revitalized the Austrian Empire, but in reality the important result is Russia's guarantee of Austria in the case of German aggression.
1875 - Rising importance of industry and cotton farming in America leads to a labor shortage in the eastern US, resulting in a massive influx of cheap "internal immigrant" labor from the Mexican territories. Many businesses also set up in Mexico where cheap labor is locally available, and the state governments are irrelevant puppets of the Republic, leading to much looser labor laws. The resulting decline in the economic importance of slavery results in its abolition in 1879, as part of a controversial set of labor reforms also mandating better treatment of Mexican workers. These laws help reduce the constant series of revolts in many areas of Mexico.
1878 - Reform and modernization programs in China, in progress slowly over the past decade, are expanded to include a significantly enhanced education system based on western ideas, and a program of light industry and railway construction.
1880 - Various internal tensions caused by the authoritarian Scott government, and only exacerbated by the meager labor reform combined with the abolitionist attack on the social order of the southeastern Republic, lead to the Second American Revolution. It is short-lived and mostly confined to the east, and fails in most of its goals - but it does result in the establishment of a new regime, with the return to Congress of many powers subverted by President Scott. An unanticipated side-effect of this is that the representation of the Mexican states in government is now much stronger, ending the constant rebellion there and resulting in greatly accelerated economic growth and social reform in those areas. The new government changes its international stance from isolationist militarism to nationalist diplomacy, establishing an alliance with Germany to facilitate the expansion of both nations in the Pacific and in Africa (where the Republic has acquired a few small colonies).
1882 - Rise of the Neo-Anarchist movement in Russia as social conditions continue to worsen under the Tsar's plan of state industrialization, controlled by the aristocracy. Despite its name, the Neo-Anarchist movement is quite different from anarchism, advocating tremendous decentralization of the state, abolition of most laws, and government via local communes and voluntary organizations.
1883 - Formation of the Dominions of Australia and New Zealand. South Africa, last British territory to be granted independence, will become a dominion in 1887.
1889 - Tensions between Russia and Britain over borders in Asia, and the continuing collapse of the Ottoman Empire, finally erupt in open war. The alliance with France is not activated since there are no provisions for an attack on Russia, and the other major powers decide to wait it out. Russian forces invade Afghanistan, a British possession, and seize most of it. While encountering reverses in that theater of war, the Royal Navy is triumphant on the high seas, annihilating Russian naval expeditions to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and even entering the Black Sea to bombard Russian bases there. Troops from Canada annex Alaska and seize the Aleutian Islands.
1891 - The ground campaign in Afghanistan finally turns to the favor of Britain. Russian forces surrender, and in the postwar settlement gain some Afghan territory in return for Alaska and a policy of noninterference in the Ottoman Empire. Alaska is annexed to Canada, and soon the Ottoman Empire becomes an ally of Britain. The war becomes a diplomatic victory for the enemies of Britain - Germany and Russia enter into a nonaggression pact even as Austria is swayed into the Franco-British camp, and America enters into a defensive alliance with Russia against Britain. Though the peace will not be threatened in the near future, these developments set the pattern for future conflict in Europe.
1900 - Due to restricted American immigration policies, and the increasingly disagreeable nature of American society and politics in comparison to other destinations, immigration to America has fallen proportionally short over the past 50 years, while that to the most attractive destinations for immigrants, in the British Commonwealth, has increased dramatically. The formation of Canada and the dramatic increases in its size also had the effect of offsetting the danger of the nearby American presence in terms of attractiveness to immigrants, especially on the Pacific coast of the Dominion. The American Republic has a population of 60 million in the northern areas, mostly ethnic Europeans with a substantial black minority, and 14 million of various Mexican ethnicities.
There are 16 million Canadians, 9 million Australians and New Zealanders, and 6 million South Africans. The European countries have been growing as well - there are over 100 million Russians, and approximately 60 million Germans, 55 million French and 40 million British. By this time, the world has four leading industrial powers - Germany, Britain, France, and America (in that order), all of which are fairly close in terms of their overall economies. The fourth-place Americans have almost 70% the output of the first-place Germans. Overall output does not, however, tell the whole story. Despite its lower population, the position of the British economy is assured by a per-worker output a full third higher than in any other country, and the increasingly industrialized economies of the Dominions make the British Commonwealth the leading economic power.
1902 - Amid continued turmoil due to internal revolt and the defeat of China in several minor wars against western powers, the new intellectual class of China, including many western- influenced military leaders, launches a revolution and deposes the Qing Dynasty. A military coup places authoritarian leader General Sun in power, but he is ineffective at politics, and is soon deposed relatively peacefully by the Guomindang, a nationalist revolutionary organization evolved into a political party, in 1904. The Guomindang promises to institute a democratic system of government, and restores the Qing emperor as a figurehead.
THE GREAT WAR
1905 - By this time, the collapse of the old Golden Age alliance system has resulted in a maze of international commitments between the various powers, but beyond the now-unbreakable Franco- British alliance, most of the treaties have escape clauses and specific goals that make the obligations of the powers in many possible situations unclear. It is not the treaties that truly prevail in this era, but the nationalistic aims of Germany and Russia. Both powers have for some time desired to territory under the control of the Sick Men of Europe, the Austrian and Ottoman Empires, and are now at an unprecedented level of cooperation toward this goal with the end of the program of containing Germany. France and Britain, as usual, seek to counteract any German expansion in Europe, and to preserve their colonial empires, while the American Republic has a defensive alliance with Germany which is widely viewed as a threat by the Americans that if any power becomes entangled in a war against Germany, their colonies are up for grabs by the Republic.
In 1905 unrest in Austria, always endemic, flares up and is used as an excuse by Russia to intervene militarily. The Russian government makes known that its intentions are only for a limited campaign to "restore order", but the tension soon leads to the mobilization of all the major powers, which itself serves to dramatically increase tensions. Austria calls upon Britain to protect it from Russia, and Britain announces that it will respond to any "extreme provocation" by the Russians. Mutual declarations of war soon occur between the two sides. On the side of the Alliance are Germany, Russia, and America, while the opposing Franco-British alliance is joined by the entire British Commonwealth, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and Italy.
The opening year of the war is one of stunning success for the Alliance. German and Russian forces advance deep into Austria, seizing more than half of it as the Austrian military effort flounders before being reinforced by Franco-British troops. Russian troops advance through the Caucasus into Ottoman territory, and America is also prepared. American armies invade across central Canada, penetrating as far as Quebec, and make sweeping thrusts across the prairies. American forces in the Pacific also attack British colonies, although swift response by the Royal Navy forces them to break off many of these attacks. Franco-British attempts to launch an offensive into Germany meet German attempts to launch a counteroffensive into France, and fighting soon deteriorates into positional warfare along the border, and in the middle of Belgium (which the Germans soon invade in an attempt to bypass the main French positions).
Reinforcements are soon sent to the Ottoman Empire as well, and the main points of contact in Europe soon deteriorate into bloody trench warfare. A similar effect soon happens on the Canadian front, where American attempts to advance along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, already hampered by geography, soon meet intense dug-in defenses, as does the attempt to cross into southern Quebec. With British forces earmarked for the war in Europe, the hastily-mobilized Canadian defense is outnumbered more than four to one by the American forces, and relies on a strategy of slowly falling back through prepared defensive positions, bleeding the attackers white.
While the Allies advance on land, at sea they are opposed by the world's two leading naval powers, who soon manage to destroy nearly any enemy force that will actually set sail. The German navy, after losing several small engagements, retreats back to port, but the American forces are not so lucky. The American Pacific Fleet is overwhelmed and destroyed while attempting to retreat to Hawaii, in the largest naval engagement in modern history. Hawaii is isolated, the American presence in Japan is soon defeated, and America's other island possessions are quickly snapped up. The fleets quickly move to establish control of the convoy routes to the Canadian coasts, and achieves uncontested domination of the world's oceans within six months.
1906 - The war continues. Stalemate on the western front, in the Caucasus, and in North America, but Germany and Russia push nearly to the Greek border, and into Italy. The government collapses in the Ottoman Empire, and the region comes under the temporary control of British military government. The main body of the German fleet is engaged and destroyed leaving the Baltic, leaving no opposition to British and French forces annexing the isolated German colonies in the Pacific and Africa. By this point, the war has become one of pure attrition, and in this France and Britain see their advantage. The industrial might of the Commonwealth and France, disregarding their minor partners, exceeds that of the Allies, their control of naval transportation allows them to keep the American military contained and to cut the Allies off from external supply, and the constant offensives of the Allies have resulted in disproportionate losses.
Leadership on both sides is incompetent, but the Canadian campaign drives home to the Commonwealth military commanders how much modern technology favors the defense - Commonwealth forces, without sufficient numbers to contemplate anything but a cautious defensive, accomplish a kill ratio of nearly three to one. Its leaders adopt a defensive stance in Canada and the western front, while the primary offensive thrust is directed into the "soft underbelly of Europe" through the south of Russia. This underbelly turns out to be not nearly so soft as believed, but the offensive does penetrate into European Russia before being slowed by resistance.
1907 - War casualties on all sides now range into the millions, but the Allies have advanced substantially into Russia, with British landings in Vladivostok as well. The Russian regime, autocratic to the last and having enacted little significant reform in close to half a century, begins to collapse under the tide of popular uprisings and organized Neo-Anarchist resistance. The St. Petersburg Commune seizes control of the capital, and unilaterally surrenders to the British ambassador - a gesture which has little direct effect, but symbolizes the start of the Russian Revolution.
Within months, Tsarist and revolutionary forces are engaged in battle across Russia, with the revolutionaries openly aiding the French and British invaders in hopes of their victory leading to the abolition of the old system (a hope which the invaders take pains to encourage). By the end of the year, despite continued resistance against Franco-British offensive, Russia is effectively removed from the war due to internal strife. Rather than moving for complete conquest, much needed forces are transferred to Austria and Canada, and offensive efforts begin against Germany itself (which initially result in a disastrous loss of several hundred thousand soldiers in an attempt to push through the German lines).
1908 - The tide of the war turns irrevocably, as Commonwealth expeditionary forces make substantial advances in Austria, the French army pushes into Germany itself, and the Royal Navy lands British forces in Russia to support the Commune and establish a presence on the other flank of Germany. This time it is France and Britain taking disproportionate losses in their advances, but they can afford it - their fully-functional economies are radically outproducing blockaded Germany, and they can maintain more men under arms. Emperor Frederick of Germany is intent on fighting to the last, but it is clear that things are bad and getting worse - Germany's only ally is America, and the British seem willing to concede ground in North America to bring Germany to its knees.
Parliament and the German military, often opposed, come to an unprecedented understanding - the war must end, while Germany still survives as a Great Power. Frederick is overruled and forced to abdicate, and the new leadership offers an armistice - Germany will agree to withdraw to its prewar boundary as an opening offer. Somewhat to the surprise of Germany, the British are receptive - they regard the continent as their most important concern, but are eager to move to the offensive against the American Republic to protect the crown jewel of the Commonwealth in North America. The main difficulties lie in bringing the other powers on board, but following that a peace is negotiated. In the end Germany withdraws from all conquests, agrees to pay an indemnity, and abandon all claims to its lost overseas colonies.
With the surrender of Germany, the Americans are left out in the cold, facing the leading world powers on a large land front against excellent defensive positions. The war becomes even worse as the French Expeditionary force arrives in the Caribbean, seizing the Panama Canal and moving north from landing sites in Central America into the Mexican states.
1909 - Defeat for the American armies on all fronts. American forces are pushed back from Victoria and Pacifica into California in the west, and the Commonwealth armies reappear on the plains of Central Canada while laying siege to occupied Toronto. The primary axis of the French campaign moves into the main Mexican states, though the FEF numbers much less than the Commonwealth forces fighting to the north. Attempted landings in Florida fail, and New York holds against the onslaught, but on the whole the American armies are under supplied and in disarray, saved only by the need of their enemies to build up forces through shipment across the oceans.
In Russia, the forces of the military are finally victorious over the anarchist movement and the Tsarists, ending the Russian Revolution with the installation of a military junta into power. What follows is a three-year campaign to bring back several breakaway states into the Russian fold, which succeeds with the sole exception of the Ukraine, destination of the fleeing Neo- Anarchist armies and too tough a nut for the beleaguered Russian army to crack.
1910 - After dragging on for longer, and costing far more lives, than anyone had anticipated, the war in North America comes to an end as the American President is mysteriously found dead, and Congress unconditionally surrenders. This event is precipitated by a massive Commonwealth breakthrough onto the Great Plains and the seizure of most of California, cutting off most of the American food supplies. Parts of America are occupied for several years, but due to the cultural differences and strong nationalism which have arisen, it is deemed wise to keep the Republic in one piece and establish a moderate government to create order. The new system, formed by an enhancement of the power of the Congress on the model of the standard Commonwealth parliamentary system, is soon suitably inoffensive to the British.
1912 - Corruption and ineffective leadership on the part of the Guomindang government in China leaves it susceptible to an internal coup, resulting in the execution of the Qing emperor and the installation of a regime which, in its zeal to modernize China and promote "right thinking" and advancement, soon becomes the world's first modern totalitarian regime.
France, wary of the possibility of threat from a rebuilding Germany, spearheads efforts to create a new international diplomatic organization known as the International League. A forum for nations, an arbitrator, and a guarantor of international law, the League is seen as the solution to the horrors of the recent war. Most of the major nations sign, with the exception of the Russian and Chinese regimes. Some of the first projects of the League are the "decolonization" of Japan, assisting that country in reconstructing an independent government after the end of American occupation, and in overseeing the transition of power to the Ottoman and Austrian successor states.
1920 - 1930 - A few decades of relative peace persist, but an new order begins to emerge in the world. Russia under the Junta enters a forced modernization period, and by the middle of the twentieth century is still inefficient but industrializing rapidly, and becoming bolder (especially toward the Ukraine). China has modernized somewhat, creating a modest but independent industrial sector, and is in effect a reasonably modern nation of 50 million on the coast grafted onto a huge nation of 450 million peasants. A land of inequality, but increasingly aggressive toward the also-militarizing Japan, and the colonial forces in the region, under its totalitarian rule. America, shocked by the its defeat and plagued by radical forces who oppose the new government, enters a stage of relative isolationism. After the end of the postwar global recession, a depression in America, it undergoes a period of slow economic growth, but the feeling of politics in America is one of hidden instabilities and barely restrained conflict. Their economies strained by the war, Britain and France demobilize and grant more independence to their colonies, confident that there are no real threats to their world power. Germany soon becomes a great power once again, but a more isolationist one, its nationalist ambitions quelled. Its major diplomatic action is the cultivation of friendship with the Ukraine against the new, distrusted regime in Russia.
1937 - In perhaps one of the most eventful elections of the Twentieth Century, the American Empire Party gains a majority government in the American Republic. To a people barely recovered from an economic depression, they offer prosperity in a new strong, protectionist trade stance and a restoration of the old system of government-supported big business. To a white majority resentful of the newly-increased status of the Mexicano and Black minorities, it offers a return to racial segregation and purity. To the Protestant establishment, wary of the removal of restrictions against "Papacy", it offers a return to orthodoxy. And last, but certainly not least, it offers a people thrust from the height of imperial power to the depths of defeat and occupation, resentful of the "British Conspiracy" to deny them their right to domination of the continent, the promise of a revitalized position on the world stage that the existing government does not offer.
Shortly following victory at the ballot box, the American Empire Party reestablishes the Presidency with even stronger powers, reduces Congress to an ineffectual body by transferring power to the appointed Cabinet, and attempts to "re-establish the old order" as fully as possible. Within a few years they go further than the old order ever did in terms of racial segregation of blacks, suppression of all religions not members of the "Protestant Churches of America", and in the establishment of a secret police organization to hunt down dissidents and purge the opposing parties. America withdraws from the International League.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER
1948 - Following a series of escalating border conflicts, Russia invades the Ukraine in an attempt to retake the collapsing Neo-Anarchist state. The League wrings its hands and makes offers of mediation, and Germany is momentarily restrained from joining in directly - especially when the outnumbered Ukraine manages to hold out quite well on its own. Fighting drones on for nearly a year, with Germany supplying Ukraine, before the Russians finally conquer it. The Russian junta uses harsh measures to crush dissent, and upon this pretext, Germany finally enters the war. Initially all goes well, but after retaking much of Ukraine and then advancing far into Russia itself, the offensive grinds to a halt - the Russian military has learned its lessons in the Ukrainian campaign, and executed an effective withdrawal. Armed with unexpectedly effective technology, the Russians begin to counterattack, and bring the war to a grinding halt.
The Great Powers are a somewhat different group than they were 40 years ago at the end of the Great War. Russia is now no backward peasant land, but a heavily industrialized and highly populous state with the largest army and air force in the world, though its navy is second-rate, and in sheer weight of production leads the world. The second largest standing army is that of the American Republic, increased through a command-economy production miracle which turns the American arms industry into one of the most dynamic in the world. Its special pride is its advanced and revolutionary navy, with an unprecedented number of aircraft carriers and a large fleet of the new submarines, both aimed at destroying conventional naval forces and supply lines to North America. Japan has emerged as a regional power, with a second rate, small economy but a modern navy, and the real power in Asia is now China, with its sheer population contributing to its rise as a backward but still powerful, and rapidly growing, state. And so it is that the richest economies of the world - the Commonwealth, France, and Germany - fall behind in terms of military preparedness and watch their edge crumbling in favor of the growing regional powers of Russia, America, and China every year.
1950 - The Russians have retaken much lost territory, and using combined-arms tactics, overrun the vaunted East Line into Prussia itself, though the Germans still control many parts of Russia. The pressure mounts, and far greater Russian population and heavy industry begins to take its toll on Germany, which moves to a total war footing and begins to suffer severe hardships. At this point, war breaks out between modernized China and the nascent power of Japan over the Chinese invasion of their reluctant satellite, Korea. This reveals a system of world obligations and alliances that serves to constrain intervention on behalf of Germany. Upon entry of Britain or France into war with Russia, China and the US will take that opportunity to seize as many Pacific possessions of that power as possible.
The dilemma is significant - by aiding Russia, France leaves its Southeast Asian colonies open to Chinese invasion, its Pacific colonies open to US attack. Britain leaves Canada open to invasion, and its Pacific possessions open to retaking by the US, whose navy actually exceeds the size of the Royal Navy, especially in strength of aircraft carriers and modern submarines. In the new world of rapid warfare, the Franco-British navies and their vaunted ability to fight holding actions on most fronts while concentrating on one, is not enough. The US military is expected to overrun most of Canada within six months, and China to be able to be able to seize a large number of strategic assets in the Pacific in about the same period. In this climate, with intervention against Russia likely to provoke another Great War which they will be less likely to win, the European powers adopt a policy best described as "hope Germany bleeds Russia white".
1951 - Russian forces retake all of their territory and move into Germany itself, having countered German naval presence with air power. Their strategic situation continues to improve, as problems with widespread starvation among the civilian populace promise to be solved as the agriculture of the Ukraine is brought back up. Russia's industry, though suffering from shortages of several crucial minerals, continues to produce effective combat units in tremendous number (especially the Z-4 assault rifle, a minor revolution in itself). Far from being bled white, the Russians seem to be holding up remarkably well, and it is widely estimated that they will conquer all of Germany within a year or two, leaving them the dominant power in the entire world.
In the Pacific, the world watches as the future of naval battle unfolds, in the form of a battle between aircraft carrier forces leading to the sinking of some of the last major elements of the Japanese fleet. The Chinese make an amphibious landing on the island of Hokkaido, which is successfully reinforced despite its demonstration of the inefficiency of Chinese amphibious warfare techniques.
The situation looks grim for the main members of the International League, as the three "Non-signatory Powers", now officially forming the Triple Alliance, are well on their way to becoming the dominant force in the world. The nations of the League, under the prodding of Britain and Germany, reluctantly prepare for war.
Everything changes on November 2, 1951, in the middle of the Australian desert. For a few seconds there is a new sun, as the Commonwealth-French atomic energy project, after ten long years of work and one failed effort, successfully detonates a nuclear fission bomb. After weeks of hurried meetings between scientists and politicians, an emergency summit of the League is called for early in the next year. The ambassadors of the Triple Alliance are invited to attend.
1952 - The International League Emergency Summit convenes in Paris, long expected as a prelude to League entry into the war. What they actually hear is an announcement of the development of a bomb with the power to destroy an entire city by itself - a bomb now in the possession of Britain and France. The leaders of these nations, who were never eager for war, have been given the biggest stick in the world to ensure "peace in our time", and they intend to use it. They announce the formation of a new organization within the International League, the Global Defense League. This organization, a combination of close military alliance, political forum, economic and legal cooperation treaty, is to be the sole possessor of the atomic bomb for the defense of its members and the "maintenance of world peace". The new "Atomic League", as it is popularly called, is formed with a surprisingly small amount of debate, with the initial members being the nations of the British Commonwealth (separately), France, Germany, Japan, Austria, Italy, and Spain.
The Triple Alliance ambassadors attending are suitably cowed - but their governments are not. The Chinese continue their offensive into Japan's northern island, and the Russians continue their advance into Germany. On May 4, the city of St. Petersburg is hit with a 29 kiloton bomb, causing over 200,000 casualties and turning the Russian capital district into a charred ruin. A week later the Russian junta signs an armistice with Germany, agreeing to withdraw from Germany, pay an indemnity, and establish an independent government in the Ukraine (though the "independent" government eventually turns out to be a Russian puppet). China also agrees to an armistice with Japan, withdrawing from Hokkaido, although no further concessions can be wrung from them and the League decides not to press, confident in its new world order. Almost overnight, the infant American nuclear weapons project is given top priority, and support from Russia and China is received.
1955 - Revision of the GDL, by now universally referred to in popular usage as the "Atomic League". Economic and legal cooperation is increased, new military equipment standards are negotiated, and a joint nuclear force is formed. In this and later summits, the focus of the League as an integration of the international policies of the member nations and an increase of ties and cooperation in all areas is established. Many new countries are soon admitted into the League, including most of Europe, and several South American nations. As decolonization progresses over the decades, several newly-independent nations become League members almost overnight.
1956 - Pierre Lamont's French rocketry project produces the first intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead from France to targets in China, Russia, or America. The Alliance forms the Joint Cosmonautics Organization in an attempt to catch up - which is soon quite successful, building on the experience of large-scale command scientific enterprise from the nuclear weapons projects already underway.
1957 - America successfully detonates a nuclear bomb. Russia follows in 1959 with American assistance, China in 1962.
1959 - American cosmonaut Peter McConaughy is the first man in space. Following soon on the heels of the first Russian nuclear detonation, this is a potent demonstration that the Atomic League no longer has exclusive domain on long-range nuclear destruction. Despite the imminent success of the League fusion weapons project, public reaction around the League to the Alliance launch is fearful and the League governments are rocked. The German, French, and British rocketry and space programs are combined into a single agency, which solicits funding from other nations as the League Space Agency. Within a year, the League has orbited a man in space as well.
1960 - 1980 - An intense cold war emerges between the Triple Alliance and the nations of the Atomic League. Several proxy wars are fought in Asia, the Middle East, and Central America, most of which end up as failed attempts of the Alliance to expand. The League nations become increasingly integrated, while the substantial growth of the Alliance nations is offset by their lack of inherent ideological cooperation. China is a totalitarian state renowned for committing massacres against its citizens, and for unusual flings with Neo-Anarchist ideas. Russia moves from control of the Junta to a series of dictatorships and failed attempts at authoritarian democracy, preoccupied with internal stability at many points, but generally the most moderate of the Alliance nations. In America, despite the return of democratic elections in 1973, society has been tremendously warped by the more extremist days of the Empire Party (which almost ritually gains a majority government in every election). Segregation of blacks relaxes and Mexicanos are not discriminated against as much as they assimilate more, but religious persecution is still the norm, there are routine purges against "foreign elements", immigration is nonexistent, and the State remains firmly in control.
1967 - The League Space Agency puts a four-man lander crew on the moon. Two years later, a joint Russian-American expedition reaches the lunar surface. The Space Race enters its hottest phase, as over the next ten years, both sides launch repeated lunar expeditions, interplanetary probes, and establish numerous space stations.
1978 - Height of the cold war between the League and the Alliance. Chinese belligerence against India and American invasions of several small South American states bring the world to the brink of nuclear war. The League council of 1977-1979 announces a significant expansion of the force- projection capability of the military, and greatly strengthens the joint military command. The League-wide Global Communications Infrastructure is announced as part of a package of measures to reduce the threat of nuclear war (it uses a network of underground optic cables to protect communications from nuclear attack and electromagnetic pulse. By 1990 the resulting high-speed communication will be instrumental in the rise of a League-wide computer network. The increase in tensions and military budgets brings an end to the Booming 70s which resulted from the maturing of League internal trade and economic policies.
1984 - At the culmination of the greatest space endeavor to date, a League exploratory expedition makes a landing on Mars. The Alliance fails to mount an expedition to the Red Planet, economic troubles with the expense of the space program proving prohibitive. Research of both sides into space-based military applications accelerate with the League announcement of a 20 billion dollar missile detection and tracking system to coordinate ground-based and theatre ballistic missile defense. Focus of the League space program moves increasingly into decreasing the cost of access to space, military and civilian applications rather than large-effort exploratory projects. Plans to establish a permanent lunar base are abandoned.
1993 - After many delays, and estimates that the cost of the completed system would run into the hundreds of billions, the League's Orbital Defense Net project is scaled back radically to be more in tune with original plans as a sensor network. The primary lasting benefit of the project is in propulsion technology developed for it, especially orbital nuclear and nuclear-electric propulsion and SSTO (single stage to orbit) rocketry. The Scramjet Aerospace Transport project is a technical success, but due to cost overruns only a handful of vehicles are actually built.
1995 - Nearly a century worth of pent-up tension in Russia erupts with the death of the First Marshal and the choice of a moderate to replace him, who proves unable to deal with the sheer magnitude of dissent. Russia erupts in another Revolution, this one more peaceful than the last, as the apparatus of the army, and then the government, begins to collapse. As the League and the Alliance watch with their forces on maximum alert, a unit of the Russian Missile Force is ordered to fire on the city of Petrograd, a stronghold of revolutionary sentiment. He refuses, deactivates the main silos of the Missile Force, and joins the Revolution. Soon after that the organization of the army collapses, with most units joining the revolutionary cause, and within months the provisional governments of the Russian Commonwealth and the Ukrainian Republic are promising democratic elections and opening talks with the League for assistance and protection against China. With their strategic Eurasian partner gone, soon to a position of benevolent neutrality toward the League, the Triple Alliance collapses as a viable superpower. The Chinese government soon withdraws within itself, while the liberal and reformist movements in American politics gain new ground and civil strife increases to record levels.
CONCLUSION
Here I will highlight some general trends in this alternate world which aren't made clear by the timeline itself. The POD in the American revolution doesn't have much direct effect in the short term. America is still a attractive destination for immigrants, with a prosperous economy and is quite free compared to most of the world. The system of a President for life, and the more militaristic foreign policy, are important more in terms of their long term results, as they produce a radically more imperialistic regime once America has the opportunity for serious imperialism, and are vulnerable to a repressive response to the military disasters risked by that different foreign policy. That America becomes a fairly nasty place in the only way such an isolated state really can, by going out of its own way to create hostilities with the few nations more powerful than it.
Also, the United States is a nation of immigrants, even after the middle of the 19th century when it was already a world power. I this timeline, most don't go to America, because of its less open society and tendency to frequent wars. Canada does benefit from this in terms of population, but Australia and South Africa benefit even more. By 1998, the American Republic has a population lower than that of our US, about 237 million, with a standard of living that is lower by almost half. Canada's population is about 60 million, with a standard of living somewhat behind the major European nations, due to absence of extensive trade with the US market. Australia is larger and wealthier in this timeline and is generally acknowledged as the best place in the world to live. South Africa is also heavily populated, with a large, predominantly English white minority. The Boers are insignificant, and there was never any Apartheid.
The other main early difference, ironically enough, is France. Even though the largest divergence of this timeline occurs when the Napoleonic Wars are more destructive, with Napoleon accomplishing much more chaos and much less reform, they end with the old order in much more disarray than in our timeline. Germany and Italy are unified much earlier, and France has a far more stable government. The country that was plagued by various Republics and Empires in our timeline evolves a stable government, leading to a much more prosperous nation whose population doesn't fall by a third relative to the other nations of Europe. The France of the Great War and the following periods is more powerful than in our own history, only slightly behind Germany.
The last factor is technological development. By 1945, the alternate world is 5-10 years behind our own in most areas, due to the absence of much of what was developed in the US. With no WW2 and the absence of Communism, however, it is about 5 years ahead by the present day. The space race in particular is much more intense, with several times more spent on it.
For some statistics on populations and economies of the League world circa 1997, click here.