Should the President be able to be re-elected in consecutive terms?

  • Yes

    Votes: 24 96.0%
  • No

    Votes: 1 4.0%

  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
On the site there's this divide between writers where people will either have everyone born after the POD be killed off and new individuals to take their place, or keep on using historical people to fill new roles despite the swarm of butterflies and the amount of time between the POD and their appearance. Personally I'm all in favor of the latter as I'm more invested in the fate of people I already know about and seeing as how they change in ideology, personality, and history due to the effect's of the POD. However as I'm writing forward I realize that I may not be able to keep them in power or find a reasonable excuse as for why they would still exist. This is mainly because of how immensely some nations will change in the future with the top 3 being Great Britain, China, India, Germany, and Russia; all of which will barely have histories that are the same as OTL and will have either bloody conflicts which kill millions or great political revolutions which kill of ideologies which would've succeeded in OTL and put new people in charge. So in the future I'm going to start adding OC's and stray away from the placement of prominent historical politicians in their OTL positions of power. There will still be many people who do follow similar paths, but these will mostly be in the United States and in Texas; especially Texas as I want to show how prominent Texans will shine in an independent Texas. Of all the characters I've mentioned up til this point that will appear in the future, they are all still canon with the exception of Texan Chiang Kai-Shek, who I will replace with a Texanized Wang Jingwei.

With that being the case, will any of these OC's be shout outs to characters from series you follow and like. As I remember you did something similar in the "Sardinian Heresy" ending at the end of Anderson's knives... as said heretic was a daft c#@$
 
Chapter 103 The Paraguayan War
Chapter 103 The Paraguayan War

"I die with my homeland!"- Last words of President Francisco Solano Lopez 1868
"What a pointless war. Who did they fight for? What did they die for?"- President Juan Seguin 1868
"It is not the Emperor who won the war, it was the Army!"- Colonel Deodoro da Fonseca 1873


If you ask any Texan today to talk about their knowledge of the Paraguayan War, most won't be able to answer with some not even knowing that such a conflict existed in the first place. This is the same type of response that most people outside of South America will typically give due to an overall lack of awareness of the geopolitical situation on the continent. Leading to the infamous "Nothing ever happens in South America" trope in Alternatehistory. However if you are to ask a citizen of South America what they know about the conflict, you are likely to get a detailed response, or at the very least a general summary of the conflict. While the Paraguayan War is not as dynamic as other contemporary conflicts like the Mexican War, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, War of Carlist Ascension, or the Second War of German Unification; it is important for its aftermath laying the direct foundations for the South American War over a decade later. With the South American War came the radical transformation of almost all of its nations and the creation of early modern South America.

Propaganda in the first few months of the war on the side of the Triple Alliance painted it as a swift and righteous conflict which would see the nation of Paraguay topple over in months with the glorious armies of the Alliance decimating their foes with minimal casualties. While this could be true in an extremely hypothetical situation with the perfect scenario, reality is often more difficult than planned. In 1864 the infrastructure of all three members of the Triple Alliance had barely developed since independence, most advancements taking place on the coast while the interior remained the same as it had during the arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish, barring the occasional mine and plantation. There was also the state of military preparedness of both Argentina and Brazil. While both nations had entered into partial mobilization in the months leading up to the war, the forces of the Confederation and Empire were situated on the Uruguay border with a fraction of their entire composition prepared. With the lack of a proper railways system inland it would take months for Argentina and Brazil to achieve any kind of advancement. This would be used as a key opportune time by Solano Lopez to advance his armies and consolidate any gains as the Paraguayan dictator had structured his state into one that would easily be prepared for total war, every single facet of Paraguayan society giving itself to the cause. With thousands of fanatic soldiers loyal to the cause and mastery of the terrain, Paraguay had a tactical advantage, though unfortunately it was doomed to failure in every manner of a strategic sense. Paraguay firstly was a landlocked nation, therefore being bordered with 3/4th's of its neighbors being enemies Paraguay had no external supply lines nor any feasible route for international trade (the need to gain an oceanside port was actually a key reason for Solano Lopez to declare war on Uruguay). Additionally while Brazil and Argentina had small amounts of industry, Paraguay had none as the state was one that was built off of agrarian exploitation of cash crops. More often than not domestic weapons had to be made using techniques from the 18th century, far inferior than the modern bolt-action rifles. It's logistical system was nonexistent and Paraguay's officers had no method of training with generals being self-taught in the art of war. In order for Paraguay to win it had to achieve incredible tactical successes in the first months and somehow psychologically scare Argentina and Brazil into submission, a task far easier said than done.

In the first year Paraguay managed to claim numerous successes on the battlefield against their opponents in the Triple Alliance. The reason for this was due to the small state of the regular forces of Argentina and Brazil, whose 10,000 and 18,000 soldiers respectively could not match Paraguay's 60,000 in numerical superiority. By June Paraguay's disputed lands fell under its nominal control with the provinces of Misiones, the future province of Formosa, and Corrientes and half of both Rio Grande do Sol and Mato Grosso do Sol were taken by the Paraguayan forces. All initial battles in the first four months mainly consist of local Argentine and Brazilian forces engaging in skirmishes with the advancing Paraguayans, only to retreat when confronted with overwhelming numbers. On the outside it seemed that Paraguay would somehow pull off a miracle and win the entire war by the end of the year. However, much to Lopez's dismay, the offensives only rallied the populace of the Triple Alliance firmly behind their leaders as Argentina and Brazil geared for total war, Uruguay during this time having formed a cease fire between the Blancos and Colorados. Without an immediate surrender the strategic situation would go against Solano Lopez as the Paraguayan Army was stretched incredibly thin with its vast conquests over thousands of square kilometers, the primitive supply system being abused to the fullest extent. The Triple Alliance would win their first victory on July 22nd with the Battle of Parana where Argentine President Santiago Derqui protected the capitol with 4,500 troops against the ill-supplied and rushed 4,000 Paraguayan troops under the personal command of Solano Lopez, the Paraguayans expecting an easy victory with the conquest of the capitol. With the Confederate troops having been organized efficiently in the past four months and the city having a detailed network of defenses left over from the Civil War, the Paraguayans could make little headway as the high-spirited Argentines fought and bled for their capitol. The battle inflicted heavy casualties on Solano Lopez with 2,876 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured; while Argentina suffered 1623 casualties. The Battle of Parana marked a shift in the war in Argentina as Paraguayan forces fell back to their claim territories while the Armies of the Confederation marched on the counterattack with the governors of all various provinces having finally mobilized their soldiers for war.

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Battle of Parana

Similarly to the Argentine Confederation, the Brazilian Empire was powerless to mount an effective resistance against the Paraguayan Army in the first half of 1864 due to the absense of most of the Brazilian Regular Army in the borderlands and the high corruption within the garrison forces stationed there. While the Imperial Army scrambled to organize the tide of volunteers answering the call, the Imperial Navy pitched a strategy to Dom Pedro that could potentially switch the entire war around. At the time Brazil had the highest quality Navy in South America with only the Republic of Texas and the United States being far superior to the state of the Imperial Armada in the Americas. In order to invade Argentina and Southern Brazil, Paraguay had to cross the Parana and Uruguay Rivers and use the two rivers as supply chains for the army. In preparation Solano Lopez had built a river navy to support his conquests, but this was a crudely made one with shoddy craftsmanship and most of the fleet being nothing but converted fishing boats with low ammunition. The Navy requested of Pedro that he pull the Army back and prevent them from engaging in any fullscale attacks, meanwhile the Navy would swoop in and take control of the Parana-Uruguay river system, cutting off the Paraguayan Army and ending any hope of supply. Seeing it as a plan that would include the least loss of life and would cover the Army during its period of mobilizatoin, Pedro agreed. In July the entirety of the Brazilian Navy, 51 ships, set sail for the Parana River, Argentina having already agreed for safe passage as part of its alliance obligations. On August 5th the Brazilian 1st Fleet under the command of Admiral Francisco Barroso received intel from the local Argentines that the Parguayan Navy had been docked at the city of Esquina, using Esquina as a midpoint along the Corrientes province. Barroso resolved to do battle there in order to wipe out Paraguay's Navy and claim total supremacy over the rivers. On the night of August 6th the Battle of Esquina began when the Brazilian Fleet encountered one of the 9 Paraguayan river boats that was acting as a scout for forces downstream. In quick order the Brazilians annihilated the Paraguayan ship before it was able to retreat and warn its comrades. At dawn of the 7th, the Paraguayan Navy woke up to fine itself being bombarded by 11 ships, a collection of 3 frigates, 5 corvettes, and 3 gunboats. With little warning the Paraguayans could only mount a paltry defense with ships scrambling with no direction against their organized Brazilian opposition. At the end of the day all 9 Paraguayan ships were sunk with only a handful of survivors while 1 Brazilian gunboat was lost with two corvettes receiving minor damage. The Battle of Esquina changed the entirety of the war in the Triple Alliance's favor as they now had naval supremacy and had cut off the supply lines of the Paraguayan Army. Faced with the possibility of being trapped in enemy territory, Solano Lopez ordered a general retreat into Paraguay, his troops being followed by regiments of the Alliance who desired revenge. Over the rest of 1864 all Paraguayan gains were reversed as the Brazilian Navy blew up all bridges leading into Paraguay and any ships coming from the landlocked nation, shooting any Paraguayans who attempted to flee back to their country. Alliance soldiers were able to reconquer their territory in quick succession, the Paraguayan forces with little to no supplies and coming under heavy attack from the local population who rose in resistance upon seeing their armies come to liberate them. On Christmas day the Alliance was on the Paraguayan Border, eager to conquer the nation by the end of the next year.
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Battle of Esquina

In the first months of 1865 the Alliance gathered the totality of its forces on the eastern border of Paraguay, a grand total of 75,000 men. At the same time the Brazilian Navy was further consolidating its gains with it now taking majority control of the Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers, squeezing the Paraguayan state dry in what was know known as the "Siege of Paraguay" by international observers. At the time newly constructed Argentine ships were joining Brazil at the blockade, raiding parties from the Alliance burning any crops in sight to starve Paraguay. With the conditions seemingly right, the Alliance ordered a full invasion into Eastern Paraguay on April 7th. The total Alliance forces were divided into three separate groups, the first being a total Argentine contingent of 15,000 led by General Manuel Rios would head towards Asuncion and lay siege to the capitol. A second of 37,000 would be made up of a coalition of all of the participating members of the Triple Alliance (9,000 Argentinians, 4,000 Uruguayans, 24,000 Brazilians) which would make up the main portion of the army heading into Eastern Paraguay. The last section made up of of 23,000 Brazilians invading the northern side of Paraguay. For the April to July of 1865 the Alliance slowly invaded into Paraguay and consolidated its gains, winning numerous victories against the Paraguayan Army. Notable victories for the Triple Alliance included the Battle of Estero Bellaco and Curuzu. While Paraguay did win several minor skirmishes, these were only accomplished with the usage of overwhelming force against isolated Allied units, the victorious Paraguayans soon needing to retreat in the face of Allied reinforcements. By August the Alliance had captured up to 80% of Eastern Paraguay. However three major battles would soon shift the entire war and turn it into a brief stalemate, the Battles of Concepcion and Curupayty, and the First Siege of Asuncion.

The Battle of Concepcion was an attack on August 13th on an encampment of the main Brazilian contingent up north led by General Manuel Luis Osorio. The attacking Paraguayans amounted to a rough force of 25,000 men led by Colonel Jose Diaz. While the Paraguayans outnumbered their Imperial counterparts, they were sorely lacking in advanced weaponry and artillery. Additionally the Imperial Army had roughly three days to entrench in the countryside and set up a strong perimeter, a defensive formation strongly reinforced by a rainfall the previous night. The entirety of the battle was one of numerous Paraguayan charges against the well-defended Brazilians with the Paraguayans coming under dozens of volleys of rifle fire and continuous artillery strikes. After the decimation of the initial Paraguayan attack force, the Brazilians would lead a brief counterattack in order to wipe out any survivors of the wave. Concepcion was the bloodiest battle of the Paraguayan War with the Paraguayans taking 16,000 casualties while the Brazilians took 5,674 casualties. While the battle was a clear victory for the Brazilian Army, the heavy extent of the casualties was enough to give General Osorio pause, thus ordering a halt to his march and limiting any advancements for the rest of the year. Down South at Curupayty an attack was planned by the main alliance to take the River Fortress of Humaita in order to give the Brazilian Navy complete dominance of the Paraguay River and allow for a reinforcement of the Argentine contingent in their ongoing siege of Asuncion, an affair that was brutal on the Argentines with every man and women in the capitol taking up arms against the invaders. An strike was called for on September 4th by the combined leadership of former Argentine President Justo Jose de Urquiza, and Brazilian General Joaquim Marques Lisboa. The attack was supposed to take the town of Curupayty laying right before the fortress on the dawn of the 4th, with the Imperial Navy coming in under the cover of night and providing cover for the Army. However, during their trek through the Paraguay River, spotters on the fortress of Humaita were alerted to the presence of the Brazilians and fired on their ships, causing the Navy to retreat for the day. Unfortunately a communications issue prevented the Army from learning of the withdrawal of the Navy, thus causing the advance to continue. Concepcion was the bloodiest battle of the war for the Allies with 8,663 casualties against the Paraguayan trenches. All assaults failed brutally with only a few hundred ever reaching the Paraguayan lines, only to be brutally slaughtered. In return the Paraguayans miraculously took only less than 300 casualties; later causing President Solano Lopez to refer to the battle as "Paraguay's Alamo". The most devastating effect on morale besides the high casualties was the mortal wounding of President Urquiza, who died four days later after extensive surgery. When news of Curupayty reached the capitol on the 22nd, an excited Solano Lopez personally led the cities populace in a charge against the besieging Argentinians. Against the tsunami of human flesh the Argentine Army held considerably, causing over 5,000 casualties in return for 1600. However the strategic situation was at a disadvantage for Rios who was running low on supplies and feared an invasion of Argentina with the loss of Urquiza. Thus the next day on the 23rd Rios made a strategic retreat, abandoning the siege. Following the disastrous battle and the failure of the siege, the Alliance stopped all offensive operations for the rest of the year.

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Battle of Curupayty (Left). Battle of Concepcion (Right).

Tensions were high between the members of the Triple Alliance in the first months of 1866. Each side blamed each other for the disasters of the previous year with Argentina blaming Brazil for halting its conquest of Northern Paraguay and the failure of the Brazilian Navy to completely secure the rivers. On the opposite side Brazilian command called the Argentinians cowards and poor soldiers in battle. The homefront was also not looking well with high taxes for the war effort raising protests and occasional riots among the populace, most having expected the war to end by now with complete and total victory. The State of Mato Grosso de Sol was also in flames as slave revolts were breaking out with the encouragement and support of Paraguayan guerrillas. Finally the domestic cease fire in Uruguay was beginning to unravel with open street brawls between the Blancos and Colorados, the latter accusing the former of violating the cease fire agreement and denying them equal rule in the government. The presence of both Argentine Confederates and the Imperial Brazilian Army deterred tensions from escalating back into Civil War, but the rage was still there. Inside the gains made in Paraguay the situation was not that much better with Solano Lopez organizing elite battalions to act as guerrillas and encourage total resistance in occupied territory. This forced some of the most brutal fighting in Latin America not seen since the wars of independence, entire villages being set ablaze in the crossfire between the Allies and the resistance. New plans were drawn up by the Alliance with Brazil advocating for a halt of all offensives until the Navy could deploy its new Monitor-class ships that were being constructed in Rio, the American Navy acting as contractors in order to help the Brazilians set up a modern Brown-water Navy. Unfortunately the completion of this would come in June at best with the civilian populations demanding that total victory come soon. Unless they desired a revolution, the Alliance would have to strike hard and fast now. Luckily for the Allies they would not have to do so, for in May Peru-Bolivia entered the war.

For the first two years of the conflict Supreme Protector Santa Cruz watched closely as his ally Brazil made total war with the state of Paraguay. With final stages of the Amazonian Wars wrapping up, Cruz needed to pay attention to his northern borders while Central South American went aflame. Peru-Bolivia's policy was one of neutrality, but favored support of Brazil. Arms shipments and food would make their way to ports in Brazil while Brazilian units would occasionally move freely through Brazilian territory. While Santa Cruz was pleased at the early successes of his ally, he was the exact opposite with the gains of Argentina. Since the end of the War of the Confederation, multiple regiments of regulars and militia had always maintained a silent vigil on the Argentine border in order to prepare for the possibility of another attempt to cut off Bolivia from the sea. Upon the conclusion of the Argentine Civil War, communication started to go back and forth between Santiago and Parana, Bolivian spies telling of the formation of another alliance to prepare for another future war against Peru-Bolivia. With Colombia and Ecuador both being nearly failed states, the only threat to the continuation of the Confederation lay south in Argentina and Chile, both eager to enforce their claims on Bolivia and Southern Peru. The threat of a resurgent Argentina was not the only worry that the Confederation had to face from the war. In the first two years of fighting an estimated 30,000 Paraguayans fled North into Bolivia in order to escape forced servitude into Solano Lopez's army for the war effort. The mass inflight of refugees created problems for the Bolivian government as violence broke out between the native Bolivians and the Paraguayans over the latter squatting and trespassing onto the land of Bolivian citizens. Santa Cruz sent 7,000 regular soldiers to assist the local militias in ending the violence and stopping the refugees from crossing the border, though unfortunately both efforts failed with attacks and migration increasing. The people of Bolivia called upon thei Supreme Leader to solve the crisis and put an end to the Paraguayan menace. Thus, seeing a way to knock two birds with one stone, putting Argentina in their place and ending the refugee situation, Santa Cruz called for war. Using his powers as Supreme Protector which placed him as Supreme Commander and overarching authority over the entirety of the Confederation military, Santa Cruz announced a declaration of war on April 1st of 1866. The next month the Regular Army traveled down South while the Bolivian Militia organized for wartime so that they could join the Regulars in support of the war effort. Santa Cruz's casus belli was to rid Paraguay of a brutal tyrant and bring peace to the region where the Triple Alliance failed. On May 19th the Peru-Bolivian Army crossed the border. At the time the lack of a modern telegram network made it so that Paraguay was completely oblivious to the Peruvian aggression. Most battles with the Paraguayan Army until early Fall resulted in total victory for Peru-Bolivia as they caught the under-supplied and minuscule forces in the North completely unaware. The stage was set for the greater downfall of Paraguay.

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Bolivian troops marching off to war

Among the Triple Alliance news of the entry of Peru-Bolivia in the war was met with highly mixed reactions. Brazil and Uruguay were generally happy and supportive of the decision, Argentina was furious. President Derqui assumed (correctly) that Peru-Bolivia would force itself unto Argentina's claims and deny the nation most of its worthy spoils that it had fought so hard for in the war. Protests were made by the Argentine embassy in Rio, but these fell on deaf ears as Dom Pedro warned that if Argentina were to go against the Treaty then Brazil would split Paraguay solely with Peru-Bolivia. Not able to stand up against Brazil with its far superior military, Parana relented and agreed to an amending of the pre-arranged terms at a later date. In mid-June the new fleet of 17 river monitors were completed and the Brazilian Navy sailed them up the mouth of the Paraguay River in July to finally take total control of the river. The Allied Army moved out once more and on August 15th took the fortress of Humaita with minimal casualties. The Brazilians now had a clear pathway to sent their navy to Asuncion. With this new window of opportunity Rios headed out with 11,000 troops to redeem his earlier failure and take Asuncion once and for all, the Second Siege beginning on September 16th, a week before the yearly anniversary of his retreat. In the next three months the Argentine Army and the Brazilian Navy slowly laid waste to Asuncion in a brutal bombardment of the city. On the way Allied troops followed on the road to the capitol, pillaging any farmlands they came across and killing all who resisted in a merciless campaign against the civilian populace. Solano Lopez did his best to rally the capitol against the enemy, but by then half the population had either died or left with the remaining starving and low on ammunition. On December 23rd with a majority of the Allies reinforcements arriving for a grand total of 46,000 Allied troops, Rios called for an attack to take the city by Christmas Eve. The battle was a brutal street to street fight with the citizens arming themselves with knives, pitchforks, generally any tool they could get their hands on. By the end of the day the three flags of the Alliance flied high over Asuncion, the cities population taking 11,00 casualties while the Allies took 3,210. Unfortunately for the Alliance they could not find Solano Lopez, though his family was found dead due to a fire caused in the Presidential Mansion, the cause of the fire to this day still unknown to historians. Without Solano Lopez to sign an armistice, the war still raged on.

The next year of the war would be an intense guerrilla campaign in the mountains of Paraguay. Solano Lopez, by surviving accounts slowly delving into madness after the loss of the capitol and his family, resolved to continue the war until every one of enemies were dead. Taking what little was left of the Regular Army with thousands of villagers who followed him into the mountains, Solano Loepz would trek across Paraguay and come to battle against any and all Allied forces that he could find. The war at this point became nothing but brutal massacres conducted by both sides. Paragauyan guerrillas would launch surprise raids and kill all enemy soldiers they could lay their hands on, quietly escaping into the night before taking heavy casualties. In return the armies of the Alliance took out their frustrations on the native populace, looting and then setting ablaze to hundreds of farms with some units engaging in the murder of any Paraguayan civilians they came across. Dozens of cases of rape by Allied soldiers were reported to take place against the women of Paraguayan villages, the men of the village visibly absent due to going off to fight and die for Solano Lopez. Thousands of refugees would make a mad dash for the borders and try to get as far away from the reach of Lopez's army before they were forced into fighting the Alliance. Those who refused to leave would instead try and blend into the mountains and forests. Any who stayed near civilization either lived, or died from war and disease. Accounts of the brutality of the war were beginning to make its way to the general outside world, with almost all non South Americans horrified at the barbarity taking place within Paraguay. Journalists from papers such as the New York, London, and San Francisco Times began to make their way to the fighting in order to illuminate just what exactly was going on at the front. Numerous calls were made by foreign governments for restraint on the part of the Alliance and for them to leave Paraguay alone in its state of defeat. The most active of the foreign powers was Italy with Pope Pius IX calling issuing a Papal Bull for the population of Paraguay to lay down their arms and for the Alliance soldiers to end their atrocities or risk spending the afterlife in hell. Pius in cooperation with Garibaldi even sent a contingent of 15,000 Italian soldiers on an expedition to accompany a relief force lead by the Jesuits to attempt to solve the refugee crisis and give aid to the Paraguayan People suffering within their borders, something that the Alliance begrudgingly accepted in fear of becoming a pariah in the International community. With protests within the Alliance (though Peru-Bolivia was mostly stable at this point) calling for a withdrawal, the main mission of the Alliance became an all-out manhunt for the head of Solano Lopez.

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Mass grave of the inhabitants of a Paraguayan village (Left). A Brazilian priest tends to Paraguayan refugees in Mato Grosso do Sol (Right).

After months of searching, in February of 1868, the Alliance managed to pick up a lead thanks to a score of defecting Paraguayan officers that lead them to the main location of Lopez's command. After weeks of preparation a combined Peruvian-Brazilian regiment launched an attack on the camp of Solano Lopez. On April 18th the main camp of the Paraguayan Army came under assault by the Peruvian-Brazilians in the night, the Paraguayan guerrillas weakly fighting against the Allies with little more than their fists at most times, guns becoming near absent at this point. After hours of fierce fighting the battle ended by dawn, with a Brazilian patrol bringing the corpse of Solano Loepz in front of their officers. According to the patrol they found Solano Lopez, weak and starving, running with two of his aides for the hills in the cover of the night. They were soon surrounded by the patrol and upon hearing calls of surrender, Solano Lopez launched himself unto the sword of the commanding officer, killing himself in suicide. With the death of Solano Lopez came the end of the Paraguayan War, and the existence of Paraguay itself.

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Death of Francisco Solano Lopez

The Paraguayan War was one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century. In many respects it was perhaps the single most destructive as it caused the complete collapse of an entire nation. Historical reports and censuses conducted by Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia of the Paraguayan people in occupied lands place it that an estimated 85% of the total population died during the war. Most of the remaining Paraguayans consisted of women and young children, the men having seemingly all but vanished with several towns and villages devoid of human life. The Alliance lost an estimated 170,000 soldiers, most having died not due to combat but rather of mortal wounds due to poor medical practice and the rise of tropical diseases within various camps. With an overwhelming majority of the Paraguayan population lost, there was no one left to run the country in its current state, thus requiring its total dissolution. In June ambassadors from all four participating members of the Alliance met in Galveston, Texas for final talks of the war. Texas was chosen as neutral ground that would not give any one country favor in the talks, all four nations either having close relations or extreme feelings of hate in the remainder of the Latin American countries. In the proceeding Austin Conference, the terms of the "Partition of Paraguay" largely proceeded as planned in the Triple Alliance with Brazil receiving the half East of the Paraguay River. Uruguay would have a coalition government continue under the direction of the Blancos with free elections slated for 1870. In addition Uruguay would receive financial compensation of 1.3 million Pesos by Brazil, Argentina, and Peru-Bolivia for its role. When it came to the rest of the partition, things became heated between Argentina and Peru-Bolivia. Originally it was slated that everything west of the Paraguay River would go to Argentina, with the Argentine Confederation receiving the capitol district of Asuncion. However by the time Argentina reached Asuncion, Peru-Bolivia had secured the Northern portion of the country, which they claimed as their own. The negotiations turned into a shouting match between the Argentine and Peruvian ambassadors with the Argentine contingent shouting cries of being cheated out of their land. Unfortunately for Argentina all threats to enforce their claims were met with those by Peru-Bolivia that they would go to war and with Argentina and force them to give up the entirety of their claims. With tens of thousands of Peruvian-Bolivians still ready to fight and Argentina having taken a significant portion of the casualties, they were in no state to engage the Power of the Pacific. Thus, Argentina was forced to oblige by the new terms. Thus ended the Paraguayan War with the signing of the Galveston Accords on July 1st.

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Partition of Paraguay. Peru-Bolivia (Maroon). Argentina (Blue). Brazil (Green).

With the end of the Paraguayan War came the complete annihilation of a nation and the enlargement of three others. After Galveston the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, Brazilian Empire, and Argentine Confederation were all recognized as the three dominant powers on the continent. However of the three Peru-Bolivia was the only clear winner of the conflict. Peru came in late into the war with minimal casualties and manage to extend its territory further to become one of the largest nations in the world. The Paraguayan War would be the last conflict before Santa Cruz's passing, making him a near godly figure among the people of Peru-Bolivia, establishing him a lasting legacy of love and adoration as the Invincible Conqueror. Geopolitically Peru-Bolivia accomplished its goals with Chile being intimidated into temporarily backing off of its buildup on the border, signing a non-aggression pact with Peru-Bolivia in 1869. For Argentina and Brazil the only total benefits of the war were a boost in prestige, many multiple consequences following the end of the war. Both Brazil and Argentina had to place tens of thousand of troops in the conquered territory to establish a semblance of order while reestablishing an economic hold over the region they devastated. In Argentina the Confederate government was left humiliated after having half its claims being taken by Bolivia. Dissatisfaction at the war lead to a temporary resurgence of Centralist revolts for the next five years. In order to keep the peace, further decentralization was enacted by the Parana government which made the Confederation an alliance of states in all but name. This decentralization made it difficult for the Parana government to pay off the war debt that it had taken up, though they were able to eliminate most debts by 1875 thanks to foreign investment. For Brazil the war was economically disastrous, the Imperial government was forced to take upon a debt of 658,000 Reis, putting the country in a deficit for the next eleven years. Most of the debt came from high taxation and mass printing of paper money, which weakened the once soaring economy. Brazilian domestic politics would also become heated with the Army becoming a power in its own right thanks to the boost of funding into its operation and the rise of an elite officer class which oversaw the Empire to its victory. Many within the Army were starting to see themselves as the true leaders of the Empire, that they should be granted the reigns of power instead of the Emperor and the nobles of the court. Slavery also rose to become a prominent topic within the Empire due to the forced drafting of thousands of slaves to fulfill the manpower needs of the armed forces, an estimated 32,000 slaves having taken arms in service of the Empire. With Brazil remaining the only slave state of the Americas after Texas and America's Emancipation, it was finding itself to become a pariah state thanks to its attachment to an archaic and economically backwards system. Over the course of the 1870's the domestic situation would begin to rise to a climax within the Empire, culminating in a series of events that would lead to the Brazilian Civil War, and the greater South American War.
 
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And so remember kids, Sonic Sez: If you want to be a success show up late for the group job and take an equal share of the prize for only a tenth of the work. That way you can enjoy the prize while only adding to the trauma of your coworkers. Catch ya later!
 
Good to hear from you.

I trust your artistic discretion. Too date the only point I have been wary on is Japan following the same path as OTL with all the butterflies, and that is no deal breaker. Well Canada too but that's just a personal preference I admit.

I look forward to the Paraguay update and wish you luck with your studies. "Long live the Republic!"

With Japan there will be reasons, specifically due to what happens in the Great War and right before, that explain its slide into Ultranationalism like OTL. Although the actions of the Empire of Japan and its policies are somewhat due to deep-seated cultural issues that you would need a POD centuries in the past to initially fix. Whenever I eventually pick up Stars and Stripes again I plan to make Japan a democratic and more stable state in that story.

Made my own attempt on a standard MBAM.

Though I'm not happy with Hungary's borders.

View attachment 380528

Great job on the map! Really high quality work.

I know full well about the first, that's part of what I was unhappy with.


Just me or does this TL wank Germany a little bit?

Oh yeah and I've a new username now.

Don't worry UberDeutschland won't be a permanent thing. Let's just say that Germany is going to go through some of its darkest hours in the Great War, with the rest of the 20th century being a mixture of highs and lows for the Empire. It has the potential to become a Superpower certainly, but it won't be anywhere near the global projection that America and the USSR had in the Cold War, not to mention several other rivals to compete for top dog in Europe (France, Italy, Britain).

Also sorry for the Bukovina border gore. All I can promise is that it won't be part of the modern Hungarian borders, with some major changes coming soon.

Say has the Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico appeared ITTL? Or would he be Emperor of Texas here?

Are you by any chance referring to the Lord of San Francisco, Emperor of Texas, and Protector of North America, Joshua Abraham Norton The Great? Don't worry he'll appear in a special post soon. Let's just say that our dear Emperor has become a far more...colorful character ITTL.

How on G-d’s green earth did you succeed in making the Paraguayan War worse than OTL?!!!

I admit that this was mostly done in authorial fiat in order to explain why Paraguay no longer exists in the aftermath and the Alliance decided to carve everything up. OTL was already a brutal affair though with 90% of the men being killed in the fighting. In my headcanon, and something I should've explained in the last section, modern historians in the timeline have been doing extensive research in the heavy casualties, and have concluded that the figures are more likely around 70% due to the extremely poor and careless census done in Paraguay and counts taken by the Allies after the Partition, not to mention how many refugees left the occupied areas and blended into the native populations of Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia.
 
So then in review of the Dramatis Personae Nations of this tragedy's fates:

Paraguay: RIP. DEAD. DONE. This war of borders turned partition morphed into a genocidal struggle between Lopez's fanatics savagery and the enrage fueled atrocities of the alliance. The Paraguayan population not only economically and politically, but perhaps even demographically cannot sustain itself. At this point being effectively colonized in a partition is perhaps the best option for the people; an agonizing truth for anyone ITTL who reaches it knowing what happened before.

Will we see a regional anti war movement start to form in certain circles in reaction to this war?

Anyway, while the region will recover with new people moving in and investment coming one way or another the three parts will be rebuilt as much part of their new country as the old. Adios, Paraguay.

Argentina: This was a big chance to have a quick war and land grab to secure Parana's regime as legitimate and powerful for Argentina. While land was still gained, they feel cheated of half of it and it cost so much more than expected. The fact it was Santa Cruz makes it worse I expect. And as s result the unity of Argentina is lower than ever.

How are they doing in their southward expansion with all this?

Uruguay: Supposedly in coalition until election cam decide matters, but still positioned to be dominated by Brazil.

Empire of Brazil: Despite gaining its war aim territories the sheer cost in lives and fortune has taken a toll n the giant. Inadequacies have been laid bare. And now the Army rises. The future does not seem nerly as broght for Brazil as it was described before the War, two more wars loom in the next decade and one of Brazilian against Brazilian.
 
So then in review of the Dramatis Personae Nations of this tragedy's fates:

Paraguay: RIP. DEAD. DONE. This war of borders turned partition morphed into a genocidal struggle between Lopez's fanatics savagery and the enrage fueled atrocities of the alliance. The Paraguayan population not only economically and politically, but perhaps even demographically cannot sustain itself. At this point being effectively colonized in a partition is perhaps the best option for the people; an agonizing truth for anyone ITTL who reaches it knowing what happened before.

Will we see a regional anti war movement start to form in certain circles in reaction to this war?

Anyway, while the region will recover with new people moving in and investment coming one way or another the three parts will be rebuilt as much part of their new country as the old. Adios, Paraguay.

Argentina: This was a big chance to have a quick war and land grab to secure Parana's regime as legitimate and powerful for Argentina. While land was still gained, they feel cheated of half of it and it cost so much more than expected. The fact it was Santa Cruz makes it worse I expect. And as s result the unity of Argentina is lower than ever.

How are they doing in their southward expansion with all this?

Uruguay: Supposedly in coalition until election cam decide matters, but still positioned to be dominated by Brazil.

Empire of Brazil: Despite gaining its war aim territories the sheer cost in lives and fortune has taken a toll n the giant. Inadequacies have been laid bare. And now the Army rises. The future does not seem nerly as broght for Brazil as it was described before the War, two more wars loom in the next decade and one of Brazilian against Brazilian.

Sadly anti-war movements are not going to be a thing in South America for now besides some brief popularity in intellectual and liberal circles. It has to take something truly horrific like the Great War to really get pacifism and anti-militarism going. Most people generally see the horrors of the war as being mostly caused by Solano Lopez, with the Allied states responding in kind to the brutality presented on their troops. After all none of the atrocities were as a result of any command decision, rather individuals.

Argentina is going to bounce back from this in surprising ways. For now they'll be politically disunited, but certain political events and the rise of a few individuals will fix things. Their southward expansion will be explained in full later, but right now they're going to be heavily competing with Chile more ITTL thanks to Chile being denied their Bolivian and Peruvian conquests.

What took place before the war is actually going to help Brazil survive through the Civil War and South American War and emerge as a greater state in the long run. The 1880's will be seen as a sort of purging of the worst aspects of the nation.

I'm going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks, so how things there currently?

More or less OTL with sweeping changes to be taken place before the end of the century.
 
Chapter 104 Texas Freedmen
Chapter 104 Texas Freedmen

"In the Declaration of Independence it says that All Men are created equal. How can we possibly claim to be a Democracy if we keep Texans in bondage on the basis of their skin.? If we shall rule as tyrants over decent human beings, then what was the point of the Revolution?"- President Juan Seguin 1866
"If nations can learn to respect their fellow man without entering a Civil War, then perhaps there is hope for the future after all."- Frederick Douglass- 1864
"In my time I've met some Americans who like to paint Texas as a Utopia for the Black Race, a nation that shows how the average American (as in the Americas) nation should've treated its black population after independence. While I am proud to be a Texan, to serve in Congress, I for one have to dispute that notion as being entirely false. We may not have had it as worse as the Blacks of Dixie, or the brutality in some of the European colonies of Africa, but we've had our own trials and tribulations that we had to go through. The three decades of legal slavery, years of Persecution by the sons and daughters of the Confederacy, economic inequality, and more. Remember that it was only the fact that the Confederacy lost and Texas stood alone as North America as a slave state that forced it to enter abolition, not out of a moral righteousness or the goodness of their hearts. The real reason why Black Texans had it slightly better, and one of the reasons our nation stands so strong today, is the vast multiculturalism of our Republic. Because there was no dominant race or ethnicity, no one could create institutional racism like the horrors that are ongoing in South Africa. Texas was a harsh frontier in its early years so we had to look past each others skin in order to survive, learning to accept one another as people, that in the end we aren't so different after all."- Congresswoman Barbara Jordan 1983

For twenty-eight years the vile institution of slavery had been in place within the Republic of Texas. For much of Eastern Texas, slavery had become ingrained as an unfortunately key economic institution into the Commonwealth, and by extension the Republic's, highly productive cotton and sugar trade. While the Union Army was burning Confederate Plantations, Texan planters made large amounts of profit in hundreds and even thousands of Redbacks with the absence of America in the global market, a profit that was able to be created entirely thanks to the immoral labor of slaved men and women. While the Republic of Texas is not the worst offender in the history of slave-practicing nations such as the United States and the Empire of Brazil, the fact that the nation was born with one of its main components being the institution of slavery is a great shame that weighs over the Republic's history. Even its noble revolution is not entirely free from this as many modern historians argue that a key reason for the revolution of Texas outside of Santa Anna's tyranny and the cultural division between Anglo and Mexican, was the desire of Texas to create a state where they would be free to practice slavery without interference. This was something that was shown many times in the 1820's with the Texan colonies absolutely refusing all demands from Mexico to end slavery, forcing Mexico City to turn the other way as slaves were brought into Texas. After the end of the Mexican War, Texans need no longer be ashamed about the topic. They had peacefully ended the practice and could now truly be considered a free nation. Unfortunately, as was the case in America and Brazil, emancipation is the easiest task, integrating them into society is far harder.

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A depiction of Texas slavery in the 1850's.

With the Texan Congress forced to compromise and accept gradual emancipation over a period of three years, most slaves were not able to experience immediate freedom as their masters desired to exploit their labor for profit as long as possible, at the same time forming contingencies plans for when they would have to work with hired labor. The only slaves who were immediately emancipated in 1864 were those with masters who had abolitionist sympathies (in most of these cases the slaves were considered a close part of the family and were integrated afterwords as loyal friends to work for decent wages), slave-owners who continued to not make a profit, or simply from masters who simply wanted cash and wanted to do away with taking care of their slaves. According to the 1860 census the Republic of Texas had a number of 223,656 slaves recorded. It is estimated that at the passing of the 17th amendment that Texas had around 230,000 slaves. According to official records from Austin, in 1864 there were 18,783 slaves that were voluntarily emancipated by their masters. In 1865 this number increased to 31,762, in 1866 it was 56,904, with the rest being emancipated either voluntarily or upon the end of the three year term on June 15th, 1867. While an unfortunate few would not live to see their freedom, almost all of the slaves at the passing of the 17th would experience freedom in one manor or another in the three years to come. A few slaves were not as patient and between 1864 and 1867 there would be a number of 27 slave revolts throughout Texas with an estimated number of 1300 slaves taking part, demanding that they receive freedom now than be at the mercy of their master for a second longer. While President Seguin was sympathetic to their plight, any attempt to rewrite the 17th amendment would result in a near state of civil war across Texas and undo everything that Congress had went through to prevent the lone star republic from mirroring their eastern neighbors. With heavy heart Seguin ordered the Texas Rangers and local militia units to put an end to the revolts, almost all slaves dying while Texan forces suffered 209 casualties. With these revolts some feared that a race war would take place in Texas, thankfully it wasn't the case. Most slaves who were not immediately emancipated continued to work on their plantations. Minor conflicts between master and slave arose, though these did not escalate thanks to community intervention to keep the plantations in line and treat their slaves humanely in order not to set off a revolt and ruin the local economy. According to contemporary accounts, a joyous optimism was present among the slaves in the field. They knew that no matter what their masters would be forced to give them freedom one day, soon they would no longer be held in shackles and become their own free men and women. A survivalist attitude arose among the slave populations that persisted until the Third Juneteenth. The situation may not have been completely desirable, but they would hold their heads high and count the days towards freedom, and the hope of a promised age.

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A Texan Army unit at rest from their mission of enforcing the post-Mexican War order.

When the slaves were eventually freed, either voluntarily or by law upon hitting the due date, a multitude of different situations occurred across Texas. Much as the saying goes in warfare that the best-made plains rarely survive contact with the battlefield, so too did the plans for emancipation rarely play out as smoothly upon the eventual complete abolition of slavery. Each situation differed greatly, all of them depending on the personality and emotions with the master along with the reactions of the enslaved. A prominent minority refused to see reality and proclaimed that they would continue to uphold "the rights of maintain their property" until the end of days. After June 15th of 1867 there were reportedly hundreds of cases where slave owners refused to emancipate their slaves and often used brute force and terror to keep their slaves in line. This forced President Seguin's hand who ordered Lieutenant General Travis to use the 1st and 2nd Brigades to cooperate with the Texas Rangers in enforcing the 17th. The so called "Emancipation campaigns" lasted for a period of eight months until Johnston's proclaimed end of the campaign in February. Most rebellious slavers who were met with the barrel of a gun relented and were promptly imprisoned. The few who violently resisted were put down and their property confiscated as traitors to the Republic.


For the rest of the slave population generally one of two broad situations would occur; the slave would either leave their former owner's property in search of a new life, or they would make a contract with their former master to continue to work as hired hands. Contemporary accounts indicate that large majority of emancipated slaves would immediately leave their masters in search of a new life, eager to use their new freedom to the fullest. Unfortunately after a short period of time, a good number of these slaves would come back to their former masters and ask for new employment, many staying for paid work in their previous jobs for the short-term. While many modern readers would be aghast at the idea of a a freedman willingly returning to their former master, the harsh reality of freedom forced them into these scenarios. Unlike the Freedmen's Bureau in the United States, the Republic of Texas did not create a government organization to oversee the integration of slaves into society. The total slave population was barely near four percent of the total population and focusing so much legislation on one minority would anger the others into taking action. The young republic also did not have the funds to take care of the freedmen thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Redbacks spent on voluntary emancipation, alongside other heavy costs such as post-war reconstruction, expansion of the armed forces, the continental railroad, etc. Republicans and Unionists would be more than happy to pass legislation to protect the civil rights of freedmen, but there were few from either party who could be convinced to providing fiscal aid. The luckiest freedmen in the aftermath of emancipation were those who received extensive support from their former masters and charity organizations, and the urban freedmen who had previously worked in the cities instead of the usual plantation life. Urban freedmen had the best lot after escaping bondage thanks to them accumulating practical skills in a variety of fields alongside limited education that gave them an inherent advantage over their rural brethren, allowing most to find work soon and a lucky few to accumulate enough wealth to become entrepreneurs and businesses owners later in their lives. With the commonwealths and the national government reluctant to integrate freedmen into the industrial economy, a large majority of Black Texans would stick to the countryside and continue to practice agriculture as their ancestors had been forced to due since landing in North America. Over the decades this lead to the stereotype of the Black Texan as a simple country people with high traditionalist values and practices, a stereotype that Blacks did not begin to escape from until the late 20th century.

Within the Texas Commonwealth a quasi-sharecropping system arose for a good number of the freedmen who were forced to seek employment for their former masters. While conditions for Texan sharecroppers are seen as generally better than those of the American Dixie states by modern historians, the conditions were still far from good a freedmen were forced to grow only a single kind of cash crop along with some amount of subsistence to feed them and their families. A majority of profits would generally go to the landowners and Black tenants were forced to enter into a heavy system of debt were housing, animals, seeds, tools, and anything of value to start a new life would be given to the freedmen in exchange for IOU's of a set monetary amount which would increase in interest the longer the sharecropper was unable to directly pay back the debt. Due to the sharecropper having most of their profit taken away, and what little being left meant to provide for their families, only a minuscule amount could afford to be sent to pay back the debts. The most divergent aspect of Texan sharecropping that differed from its Dixie counterparts is Homestead Expansionary Schemes. These schemes involved freedmen being coerced by their former masters into applying to the commonwealth government to be granted their constitutional right to a third of a league of land. Once they received their land the homestead would then be bought by the former master for a hefty price, sometimes with the possible inclusion of the clearing of debts or lowering of interest rates. After the contract was signed the freedmen would lose their land and the former masters would expand their properties without giving any land to their former slaves. This style of sharecropping was highly illegal and unconstitutional within the Republic, though unfortunately in the first few years in the chaos of abolition it was often overlooked in government records. After the Southern Exodus and during the Time of Turmoils within the Texas Commonwealth, the national government and Texas Rangers would begin various programs to crack down on sharecropping and homestead expansions, the highly aggressive policies of President Davis would bring a virtual end to the sharecropping system by 1880.

While Black Texans faced many hardships after emancipation, the history of Black Texans in the post-Mexican War period is not one completely full of tragedy and misery. Indeed much like the newly-forming Black States within America, Texas would also be a nation where many freedmen would come to thrive in the post-war years and begin to fully integrate themselves as productive Texans. Perhaps the greatest success story of Black Texans is the existence of Freedom Colonies. For the freedmen who refused to return to their former masters and those who would object to the sharecropping system, an alternative path would have to be created in order to create a lasting legacy for their children and future generations of Black Texans. Refusing to submit to the prospect of wage slavery, Black Texans would turn to the one weapon that could give them complete economic and civil freedom, land. In 19th century Texas land was seen as perhaps the greatest individual liberty that a citizen could partake in, as it meant that they did not have to answer to any man (besides the government) and could live their life in the manner they desired. For freedmen if they were able to obtain land, then they could become economically independent and build a strong and stable foundation that could maybe lead to prosperity for later generations. Luckily for these freedmen unlike in the United States, it was a constitutional right within the Republic of Texas to own land. Escaping from the grip of their former masters, tens of thousands of slaves would head off west into the frontier in search of unclaimed land that was not owned by Indian tribes and still under the claims of the state. Petitions were filed to the commonwealth legislature in Austin which would grant land deeds to Black Texans that filed for grants in state lands. These settlements would be located west of the German Hill Counties and would usually be raised within fifty miles of the hill counties in order to still have contact with civilization and the Hill Counties could be counted upon as support for the new communities. Once a land claim was established, Black families would move onto the land and would start their new life after obtaining bank loans and then buying materials and supplies from the nearest towns. Unlike the sharecropping system of the East, the financial agreements of the frontier were generally fair with both parties reaching an accord based on trust and high ethics. Trade links would be formed between the Hill Counties and the Freedom Colonies which interlinked the economies together and see a unique partnership form between the Black and German Texans. Depending on the geographic disposition of a Freedom Colony, such a situation could also occur with Tejanos, Indians, and Czechs.

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Freedmen filing for land grants which would become the basis of the Freedom Colonies

A Freedom Colony in a historical definition is a primarily Black-majority settlement with a population of at least 500 people in rural Texas. After finding suitable lands which were ignored by the first wave of immigrants and settlers, Blacks would often congregate together into forming large communities so that a form of financial and social cooperation would be constructed, the hope that in the presence of a large community Blacks could avoid the challenges of frontier isolation and have a local support network to provide for their families in times of need. After a few years an economic foundation would be erected with the freedom colonies relying on three types of revenue; a mixture of cash crops, small-scale ranching, or subsistence farming. Close bonds would form within the communities and with a strong sense of solidarity most freedom colonies would become self-sustaining and avoid the worst of poverty. Soon these Colonies would form into small towns, with proposals for township charters sent to San Antonio and most cases receiving a positive response. Official towns would be created and in some cases "Freedom Counties" would be erected across the Commonwealth, giving Black Texans a small political presence in the greater Republic. The luckiest residents of Freedom Colonies would use their first profits to expand their land and invest in new businesses or expand their agricultural areas, becoming the first elites of the Freedom Colonies. According to historical research coinciding with the census records, an estimated 57,000 Black Texans lived in freedom colonies in 1870, increased to 124,000 in 1880. For the first time ever, life in Texas for Blacks could possibly get good, and Black Texans would be able to finally partake in the grand Texan dream.
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A second generation freedmen family circa 1885.

A/N: So most of my knowledge and research that I am basing this chapter off of comes from the book, "Freedom Colonies: Independent Black Texans at the time of Jim Crow." It's a remarkable story detailing the plight of Black Texans during the century after the Civil War, more specifically Black Texans who managed to escape the bondage of the sharecropper system and after the end of the Civil War managed to obtain their own lands and form close communities with economic independence and small amounts of prosperity. It also goes over the general history and developments of Black Texans during this period, going over the many hardships and some of the successes that they went through. I highly recommend you read it as it's a very in-depth and detailed book and is a good in-look into the history of Texas and some of its culture.
 
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Sorry for the long hiatus guys, but now I'm back! My next priority is Gihren's Glory and then I'll continue to update this on a hopefully regular basis. Hope you guys like the latest update, my goal was to create a chapter that would show how Blacks in an independent Texas would slowly improve their status and standing, but yet still have to realistically go through the struggles that would arise in a post-slavery world, especially with many people still holding onto their inherent racial prejudices. While I'm all for timelines with earlier Civil Rights, they sort of just handwave the culture and racial divisions of the time and have everything go to much to how it should have been rather than how it would have been.

So you guys got any request for future chapters? With the coverage of the greater world I'm going to focus on North America in the short term and instead of the usual presidential term chapters, we'll go over several long-term events that go well into the 1860's and 1870's, such as the Continental Railroad, Indian Wars, Reconstruction, etc. At this point we are definitely off the rails of OTL and the world will become widely divergent in the 20th century.
 
Excellent chapter! I am not too familiar with post-emancipation history, but the idea of black communities coming together to rise out of poverty is very interesting! I don't really have any specific requests, but I do love more information about economics and infrastructure.
 
Woo hoo, an update!
no one could create institutional racism like the horrors that are ongoing in South Africa.
Well that's not ominous at all. Chalk me up for curious about what you have coming down the pipe here.
I highly recommend you read it
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The price seems a bit steep... oh wait, I can get the paper back for about fifteen bucks. When I have a little extra money I think I may pick up a copy. Thanks for the heads up about it.

Anywho, great update, and nice to see that the African Texan community won't be getting the shaft now that they're free. True they have a ways to go, but things are looking up.

As for future chapters, I'm curious about whats going on up in Deseret. If it hasn't already happened the big Bonanza/the silver boom on the Comstock Load should be getting its legs under it, and that will radically shake things up in the Commonwealth and in not to long after Texas as a whole, so I'd think that is worth delving into.
 
As others have said, good update and welcome back.

Personally, I think it'd be nice to get an update focused on France and how they're doing, and what effects a more sucessful Napoleon III has had on their empire building.
 
Nice look at African Texan Civil Rights here. So the situation is poor overall, but there are bright spots with the Freedom Colonies and the coming 'Freedom Counties'. I worry a bit that the community will end up rather divided between the three groups of Rural(sharecroppers and descendants), the skilled urban workers, and the Freedom colonists.

While the lack of a majority ruling ethnicity helps the fact is also that the small percentage the freedmen make up in the population will make it easier to ignore their plight now that the controversy of slavery as an institution has been resolved.

So the situation is poor but the outlook is good for future improvements.

Surprised General Johnston lead the antislaver forces, thought he was tied down as military governor of the new territory.

As for post ideas:

1. How US Northern Culture is shaping up ITTL post civil war.

2. The state pf the British Empire, including the major colonies and places like Canada.

3. A look at how France is developing internally under this stronger Empire, and the way its colonies and foreign relations are thus coming along.

4. Post for Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and other Balkan nations.

5. State of Polynesia and Pacific.
 
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