When you get to the end and you realize he said these things IRL
"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
Actually I cut a couple of lines against American liberalism 'cause they wouldn't match with the TL, but yeah. The rest is purely original.
It would even better if his ideas ends up influencing ITTL's version of italian fascism and are also used to describe the " moral decay" of the rest of Europe (blaming it for the various defeats and revolts during the Great War).
It would be interesting if Italy starts adopting his ideology while also distancing itself from the rest of the french block.
Well, Evola influenced to some degree Fascism, but in the end his ""mysticism"" wasn't really liked by Benito & friends, so a much more "Evolian" Italy (Perhaps they try to restore the Roman Gentes with state sponsored breeding programs or the Roman Religion as a form of secret cult only for party members that reach a certain degree of "aryanization".*) would definitely be possible and interesting.
About a possible "Italy to Italians. Europa to Europans." I'm only a bit skeptical. While isolationism may rise I think that Alt-Fascist interests would be quite focused on the bunch of 'Terre Irredente' in the hands of Caesar near the Northwestern border.
And this really brings a problem. With both Adolf and Ben we are really putting Europa's unity in doubt.
*I'm trying to imagine the face of the Pope (Perhaps if things get out of control at least in Rome he may decide to flee to Avignon.) learning that some members of the Parliament are worshipping the king of Italy as reincarnation of Augustus and calling him 'Pontifex'.
Also this open a lot of possibilities for those Italian freemansons that IOTL sided with neofascism after WWII (I'm thinking to you Licio Gelli.).
Does the Europan defeat of the Tehran pact mean they can bring their attention to Ireland now?
CHAPTER 69
Again, thanks goes to Time Enough and and The Congressman's excellent EU chapters, upon which some of this is based, and yes, the title is a HOI4 reference. lol
CHAPTER 69
DIRECT RULE FROM PHILADELPHIA
Nipponese ORRA troops, so-called "True Believers," observe a town in central Nippon that had been recently attacked with gas and artillery
In 1914, the British Isles were still a whirling nightmare of anthrax, poison gas, bombings, and death, but across the world another island chain was in a similar situation. The death of the Holy Nippon Protector-General, John Splendidfaith, had sent shockwaves across the American protectorate in September of 1913. For the last thirteen years, Splendidfaith had been the rock, the foundation of modern Holy Nipponese society and culture. Under his rule, he had established the "Empire of the Risen Son," where Spiritual Marxism and Fundamentalism combined with elements of the old ancestor worship, Shinto, and formed a uniquely Americanized culture and people. Thousands of Nipponese teenagers were half-American, their invader fathers long ago returned home to the mainland Union. Most Nipponese had accepted their place in the Fascist Sphere, but among the older generation and among some of the youth as well, a resentment boiled. Nippon had had a long and proud history, stretching back thousands of years, all without much contact with the West. For decades and centuries they had lived without interference, save from the odd Portuguese or French vessel sailing in to be met with arrows and drawn swords. And now, as the ashes of the Great World War still smouldered across the planet and - in some locales - still raged on, the people saw the keystone figure holding up the Protectorate government wither and die. The Last Shogun, the Holy Warrior, was gone.
When news of Splendidfaith's death hit the general public, many were very sad and sorry to see him go, as though he may have been a Christian convert, he still held in his heart a deep love of his people and merely wished for them to follow "the righteous path of the Wise Prophet and the Risen Son." A majority of the country by now professed faith in the Fundamentalist Church of Nippon, but this also included those who continued the old ancestor worship in the name of "Spiritualist Marxism," meaning these official numbers were off a bit, at best. But, at the turn of the century, Charles Marx himself - now aged and hobbled by gout - would crisscross the nation and inspect old temples, conversing and meditating with priests and monks. To Marx's alleged astonishment and Splendidfaith's total delight, the weathered old spiritualist declared, after months of study, that the Nipponese had been the first to truly discover Spiritual Marxism, but they had lost the ancient scripts that the Prophet Burr's riddle-like texts supposedly indicated Jesus Christ's visit to the island during Bible times. Truly, the Nipponese were the Lost Tribe indeed.
Marx's following book - tragically his last before his death in 1905 - was titled The Curious Case of Sheen-to: How The Eastern Jews Summon the Other Side. It immediately became a best-seller in the Union, Australia, and Holy Nippon itself. It caused an explosion in the popularity of Nipponese fads, kimonos replacing dressing gowns in many households. Nipponese restauraunts also became popular in Oregon, where some Nipponese had fled during the Union-Nippon War years earlier. The Council of Jehovah would unanimously vote that the Shinto faith was simply an early, misguided version of the AFC Church's Spiritual Marxism, retaining remnants of the Pinnacle True Faith but needing the glory of the Prophet Burr to restore the blessings of Jehovah to His long lost Eastern Tribe. While the entire visit by Marx had been hatched by Splendidfaith, President Custer, Reverend-Colonel Moody, and the Council of Jehovah for nothing more than propaganda, it very much made an impact and made Americans more accepting of Nipponese and vice versa. Their practice of Shinto was now technically permissible and even somewhat encouraged by the AFC church, and temples became vibrant again (although now sporting crosses and steeples). However, snake-handling and other unqiuely American rituals also entered into play. Shinto priests were replaced with Reverends, clad in black and sporting their signature white collars. Many of the reverends were political agents sent by the Union government to observe the people and to make sure they kept in line and conformed to the new norms of society. Every reverend in Holy Nippon and all evangelists associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Nippon were on direct payroll from the AFC Church
The economy too had boomed since the Americans took over, with Charles Goodyear Iwasaki launching his Three Diamonds (Mitsubishi) Company in 1902 in emulation of the great American factories he had seen in his sojourns to the "Holy Land" of America. Iwasaki was the second-most important loyalist in Nippon and he wanted to succeed Splendidfaith as Protector-General. "To open up the Mongoloid steppes to Nipponese people," he claimed, "The Nipponese must build up their economy and prepare for any eventuality. God's light, the Risen Son and the Prophet, must be spread across Asia and the Inferior driven out and into its rightful place as cogs in the industry of Pinnacle Nippon, hard work freeing their souls from eternal torment and allowing them the peace of the Void in death." The Three Diamonds Company became one of the largest companies in Asia and manufactured everything from guns to canned goods. If you were anybody in Holy Nippon, you worked for Iwasaki. Iwasaki founded his company on his home island of Shikoku, and the bustling locale quickly took on the English name of "Diamond Island."
However, this blatant Westernization and Anglicization was not welcomed by all. Many of the older generation still dreamed of a restoration of the old system and religion, before modernity had destroyed their honorable and ancient way of life. Many began to plot a restoration of the Imperial Family, now living in Peking, who tolerated guests of the Qing and their Russian overlords. The current heir, Yoshihito, was debilitated by mental health issues, however. During a meeting with representatives of the Dutch government he proceeded to go on a two hour long speech about the wonder of trains, much to their confusion, and he spent a meeting with a Qing Chinese delegate playing with his dog and talking to it as if it were a person. During the earlier days of the Great World War, Yoshihito had tried to convince Viktor and the Russian government that he should back a movement to restore the Imperial family. Viktor flatly denied this request, claiming he would never wish to face off against both America and the Allies. Viscount Saitō Makoto and Prince Kan'in Kotohito began to desire skipping Yoshihito in the line of succession in favor of Shige, his sister and the only other surviving sibling. She was also far more charismatic and likeable. In the old days of the Divine Emperors, a woman could never become empress. But now, in the modern age and with the Empire now a very European-style political institution, she seemed the best candidate. Unfortunately, she had moved to Paris in 1910 to further her education, just in time to be caught in the middle of the exploding powderkeg as war broke out.
"The Mad Emperor" Yoshihito, 1900
Kan'in Kotohito, 1908
Emperess Shige, 1900
During the war years, Shige became far more vocal and political, realizing the cult following she was gathering about herself and claiming that she alone could restore the monarchy in Nippon and chase out the Yankee invaders. When the Great World War neared its end she set sail for China, to be reunited with her insane brother in Peking. Following a brief few days of peace, conflict arose when Shige announced she was taking up the mantle of empress-in-exile, ignoring her addled brother's rightful claim to the throne. This sparked a major incident in Peking, with the several thousand-strong neighborhood of Nipponese exiles rioting in the streets in support of either candidate. The incident was enough for the Qing government to demand the Nipponese Imperial Family leave the country. For a short time they found refuge in Dutch Indonesia. But on November 20, 1913, two month's after Splendidfaith's demise, Prince Yoshihito was found dead in his office, a seppuku dagger in his gut. Shige now rallied the remaining loyalists and plotted a secret return to the homeland to take advantage of the chaos Splendidfaith's death had caused. She anticipated an oppressed people eager for her return, sick of American influence and heresy.
She would learn the hard truth in January, 1914. Riots had been a huge problem in the nation for months as the nationalists opposed to Yankee influence marched in the streets. The American government was furious and vowed total annihilation of riot leaders. However, when Shige returned in secret to lead a revolution, she found a broken and disorganized rabble. Over the next several months, she had to win over the anti-American factions and establish her dominance among them. By April, she was leading a full-on insurrection against the government. Bombs detonated in train stations, Holy Nippon police found themselves hanged on streetlamps or gutted in back alleys. All over the country, rumors spread that Shige was preparing to march on Edu. The Empire would be restored and the Christians brutally dealt with.
That was when President Steele cracked his knuckles and said enough was enough. He had long born a total hatred of the Imperial Family and any and all who opposed American rule in Nippon. He personally had fought in the Nippon-Union War, cutting his teeth in battle. That conflict had made him the man he would become. It made him Joe Steele. And he wasn't about to let some renegade empress show up and take over. In his mind, most Nipponese were traitors, too tainted with Mongoloid blood and influence to be redeemed, no matter what the Church said. In his mind, a "yellow is a yellow is a yellow." To deal with this new uprising, Steele got hold of one Arthur MacArthur, commander of ORRA forces in the Pacific, and asked him to deal with the problem at hand.
"I want you to take whatever you need, use whatever force necessary, and by any and all means pacify the Nipponese ingrates. We brought them back into the fold, we taught them right from wrong, we restored their blessing in the eyes of Jehovah, and they repay us by striking, rioting, and armed revolt. I will not tolerate it any longer. Kill every last man, woman, and child who dares to betray the Union. We showed the Inferior communes who resisted the Cleanse no mercy and we will show these yellow traitors no mercy!"
- President Steele to Commander Arthur MacArthur, May, 1914
MacArthur sailed out from the Goodyear Islands and landed in Holy Nippon on July 4, 1914. In the time it had taken him and his forces to arrive, a full-on civil war had erupted, with Three Diamonds factories burning and Iwasaki fighting the rebels with his own personal bodyguards. Government forces were under siege and were becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the insurrection. The New Illuminati and several anarchist movements also once again sprang up in Nippon, sometimes fighting alongside and at other times against Imperialists. Shige had stormed Edo and planted the Imperial banner once more. She announced that a new era had arrived, one which would restore home rule to the island and purge the foreign invaders forever. Alas, it was not to be. In what would become known as the Rape of Edo, the first battle of the 1914 Suppression of Nippon, dozens of Yankee warships opened up a vicious barrage on the city, setting much of it on fire. Aeroships flew overhead, spewing gas and bullets. The Imperial anti-air guns had been disabled by the naval barrage, leaving the city a wide-open target. Cheering and laughing, thousands of ORRA troops came ashore in metal gunboats. Almost all of them were trained and professional killers, ready to do make necklaces from the ears of dead Imperials. They proceeded to butcher anyone who stood against them. Over 30,000 people were slaughtered in the first several days, with even women and children butchered in the streets like animals. Several divisions of Australians, under the command of General Percy McDowell, also arrived to join in on the mayhem, with American troops dubbing them the "Kangaroos," or "Kangas" for short, in what would prove to be a lasting nickname. As ORRA, loyalist, and Australian troops marched on, hundreds of bodies hung like rotten fruit on the cherry trees. One militia group of 200 pro-Shige villagers were made an example of, having their intestines pulled out and wrapped around their heads. All over Nippon, similar landings were occurring under orders from MacArthur. He told the men under command to pillage, burn, loot, and rape, saying, "Beelzebub himself is in control of this country, and it is up to us to put him to flight. Death always to traitors!"
The will of the people to revolt was not broken upon the Rape of Edu. However, the Holy Nipponese Civil War's conclusion was beyond apparent already. The Imperialists had no chance. Too many were living comfortable lives and were happy with the status quo to revolt. Too many feared the barbarism of ORRA, even the units made up of their own countrymen. Some very much resented the attempted return of the monarchy. The Nipponese spirit was finally broken when the Empress was captured on September 23, 1914, attempting to flee once more to Qing China. After being beaten and humiliated, audio recordings of her announcing the permanent dissolution of the Imperial government were broadcast all over Nippon via talkiebox, including in public centers. After this, she was forced to participate in a Roman-style Triumph March through Philadelphia on November 18, appearing in chains with much of her staff and remaining family as Joe Steele looked on triumphantly from an overhead balcony. Thousands of Yankees, from pasty-white Germans to coal-black Negros gathered around to throw popcorn and fruit at the "imperialist whore." Even small children cheered and clapped as ORRA officers bludgeoned the members of the chain-gang. The humiliation was complete. Steele was sending in more and more ORRA troops everyday and the Nipponese Protectorate forces were salvaged into the new "Army of the Risen Son," consisting of only the most loyal and devout pro-American soldiers.
Australian "Kangas," some as young as 14, pose for a unit portrait in Holy Nippon during the 1914 Suppression. Some of these young warriors were part of the "Australian Eagle Scouts," a paramilitary student organization similar to the CYB.
American and Holy Nipponese officers inspect the bodies of executed revolutionaries
One of the most famous images from the Nippon Suppression of 1914, this photo of a weeping baby amid the wreckage of Edo was published in Europe to showcase the barbarity and slaughter of the Suppression
Despite now still being a minority, the "True Believers" purged all remaining elements of the old ways out of society. Where before they had sought a slow "Anglicization" program, now the government cracked the whip. Nipponese, as a language both written and spoken, was to be banned for any civil, legal, or military matters. Nipponese would also no longer be taught, "In order to purge Holy Nippon of any and all Mongoloid corruption and to grace it with the New Hebrew, English, of the Anglo-Saxon Chosen." English would become the only official language accepted in Holy Nippon. Instead of placing Iwasaki in charge of the government as Splendidfaith's replacement, as many had predicted, Steele, in his hatred of the Nipponese, declared MacArthur to be Dictator-General of Holy Nippon. Along with bringing the forced Beckie Flu immunizations, the government also forced every citizen to register a SIN number. Over the next years, MacArthur would establish one of the most successful and competent police states in the world, spying on every single man and woman as often as possible. Children were forced to join the Custer Youth and go to American-run schools which literally erased history. In these new books, the old ways of Imperial Nippon were depicted as barbaric and monstrous, while the Americans were the noble heroes sent by Jehovah to reunite the Tribes of Israel. Despite MacArthur essentially governing the islands himself, he was sure to make clear that he by no means acted without Steele on any important matter. Rather, he said in early 1915, "I am no President or emperor, I am a Dictator-General. I serve at the pleasure of the President. Holy Nippon is under direct rule from Philadelphia, not from myself. I merely humbly carry out the instructions of Party, Atheling, and President to the utmost of my ability." However, in the event of some catastrophic event, like severing of contact with the mainland Union, MacArthur knew he himself would assume total command of Holy Nippon.
Dictator-General Arthur MacArthur
The most drastic measure taken to deal with the rebellious islands, however, was what followed the Rape of Edo. The furious Americans gleefully burnt the entire city down, just as their fathers had burned down Mexico City during the Immolation of Mexico, and they did this with many other rebellion strongholds all across Nippon. In its place, over the next two decades, they created Steeleport, the new national capital and bustling center for the American protectorate. Most placenames in Nippon were anglicized by the Holy Nippon Office of Culture. The nation was broken up into four parts, with the large northern island of Ezo becoming the State of Splendidfaith, with its capital city being Jubilee, formerly known as Obihiro. On mainland Nippon, known as Honshu, the northernmost area became the State of North Nippon, with the old city of Sendai becoming Franklin City, after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, whose death had led to the failure of the American Constitutional Congress so many years before but whose life had helped spark the American Revolution itself. The Kanto region was directly to the south of North Nippon, keeping its Nipponese name but its capital (both state and national) becoming Steeleport, as mentioned earlier. Finally, the rest of the country became South Nippon, with Nagasaki, a hotbed of American loyalists, becoming Butterworth, after Nathaniel Butterworth of the Goodyear Enterprises Pacific Fleet which had brought the first American contacts to Nippon in 1870.
All in all, the bloodbath that was the Suppression of Nippon served as a reminder to the world of the brutality of Joe Steele and the ruthless extent he would go to secure American interests. Though some in Europe voiced outcry over the atrocities, the truth was that the Great World War had made war criminals of the majority of European nations. The world watched in helpless silence as the Nipponese were totally broken.
CHAPTER 69
DIRECT RULE FROM PHILADELPHIA
Nipponese ORRA troops, so-called "True Believers," observe a town in central Nippon that had been recently attacked with gas and artillery
In 1914, the British Isles were still a whirling nightmare of anthrax, poison gas, bombings, and death, but across the world another island chain was in a similar situation. The death of the Holy Nippon Protector-General, John Splendidfaith, had sent shockwaves across the American protectorate in September of 1913. For the last thirteen years, Splendidfaith had been the rock, the foundation of modern Holy Nipponese society and culture. Under his rule, he had established the "Empire of the Risen Son," where Spiritual Marxism and Fundamentalism combined with elements of the old ancestor worship, Shinto, and formed a uniquely Americanized culture and people. Thousands of Nipponese teenagers were half-American, their invader fathers long ago returned home to the mainland Union. Most Nipponese had accepted their place in the Fascist Sphere, but among the older generation and among some of the youth as well, a resentment boiled. Nippon had had a long and proud history, stretching back thousands of years, all without much contact with the West. For decades and centuries they had lived without interference, save from the odd Portuguese or French vessel sailing in to be met with arrows and drawn swords. And now, as the ashes of the Great World War still smouldered across the planet and - in some locales - still raged on, the people saw the keystone figure holding up the Protectorate government wither and die. The Last Shogun, the Holy Warrior, was gone.
When news of Splendidfaith's death hit the general public, many were very sad and sorry to see him go, as though he may have been a Christian convert, he still held in his heart a deep love of his people and merely wished for them to follow "the righteous path of the Wise Prophet and the Risen Son." A majority of the country by now professed faith in the Fundamentalist Church of Nippon, but this also included those who continued the old ancestor worship in the name of "Spiritualist Marxism," meaning these official numbers were off a bit, at best. But, at the turn of the century, Charles Marx himself - now aged and hobbled by gout - would crisscross the nation and inspect old temples, conversing and meditating with priests and monks. To Marx's alleged astonishment and Splendidfaith's total delight, the weathered old spiritualist declared, after months of study, that the Nipponese had been the first to truly discover Spiritual Marxism, but they had lost the ancient scripts that the Prophet Burr's riddle-like texts supposedly indicated Jesus Christ's visit to the island during Bible times. Truly, the Nipponese were the Lost Tribe indeed.
"By Jehovah, this Eastern tribe of Israel is more spiritually aware than our beloved Union was until just a few decades ago! This 'Sheen-to,' as they call it, is very much similar to Spiritual Marxism. They may have lost their connection with Jehovah and the direct Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures, but the angels and spirits of their ancestors watched over them, as they now do the Jewish people across the world, readying them to receive salvation in the End of Days that shall herald the New Jerusalem. By the Prophet, all hail his name, we truly did discover the Eastern Jews!"
- Charles Marx on the ancient practice of Shinto
- Charles Marx on the ancient practice of Shinto
Marx's following book - tragically his last before his death in 1905 - was titled The Curious Case of Sheen-to: How The Eastern Jews Summon the Other Side. It immediately became a best-seller in the Union, Australia, and Holy Nippon itself. It caused an explosion in the popularity of Nipponese fads, kimonos replacing dressing gowns in many households. Nipponese restauraunts also became popular in Oregon, where some Nipponese had fled during the Union-Nippon War years earlier. The Council of Jehovah would unanimously vote that the Shinto faith was simply an early, misguided version of the AFC Church's Spiritual Marxism, retaining remnants of the Pinnacle True Faith but needing the glory of the Prophet Burr to restore the blessings of Jehovah to His long lost Eastern Tribe. While the entire visit by Marx had been hatched by Splendidfaith, President Custer, Reverend-Colonel Moody, and the Council of Jehovah for nothing more than propaganda, it very much made an impact and made Americans more accepting of Nipponese and vice versa. Their practice of Shinto was now technically permissible and even somewhat encouraged by the AFC church, and temples became vibrant again (although now sporting crosses and steeples). However, snake-handling and other unqiuely American rituals also entered into play. Shinto priests were replaced with Reverends, clad in black and sporting their signature white collars. Many of the reverends were political agents sent by the Union government to observe the people and to make sure they kept in line and conformed to the new norms of society. Every reverend in Holy Nippon and all evangelists associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Nippon were on direct payroll from the AFC Church
The economy too had boomed since the Americans took over, with Charles Goodyear Iwasaki launching his Three Diamonds (Mitsubishi) Company in 1902 in emulation of the great American factories he had seen in his sojourns to the "Holy Land" of America. Iwasaki was the second-most important loyalist in Nippon and he wanted to succeed Splendidfaith as Protector-General. "To open up the Mongoloid steppes to Nipponese people," he claimed, "The Nipponese must build up their economy and prepare for any eventuality. God's light, the Risen Son and the Prophet, must be spread across Asia and the Inferior driven out and into its rightful place as cogs in the industry of Pinnacle Nippon, hard work freeing their souls from eternal torment and allowing them the peace of the Void in death." The Three Diamonds Company became one of the largest companies in Asia and manufactured everything from guns to canned goods. If you were anybody in Holy Nippon, you worked for Iwasaki. Iwasaki founded his company on his home island of Shikoku, and the bustling locale quickly took on the English name of "Diamond Island."
However, this blatant Westernization and Anglicization was not welcomed by all. Many of the older generation still dreamed of a restoration of the old system and religion, before modernity had destroyed their honorable and ancient way of life. Many began to plot a restoration of the Imperial Family, now living in Peking, who tolerated guests of the Qing and their Russian overlords. The current heir, Yoshihito, was debilitated by mental health issues, however. During a meeting with representatives of the Dutch government he proceeded to go on a two hour long speech about the wonder of trains, much to their confusion, and he spent a meeting with a Qing Chinese delegate playing with his dog and talking to it as if it were a person. During the earlier days of the Great World War, Yoshihito had tried to convince Viktor and the Russian government that he should back a movement to restore the Imperial family. Viktor flatly denied this request, claiming he would never wish to face off against both America and the Allies. Viscount Saitō Makoto and Prince Kan'in Kotohito began to desire skipping Yoshihito in the line of succession in favor of Shige, his sister and the only other surviving sibling. She was also far more charismatic and likeable. In the old days of the Divine Emperors, a woman could never become empress. But now, in the modern age and with the Empire now a very European-style political institution, she seemed the best candidate. Unfortunately, she had moved to Paris in 1910 to further her education, just in time to be caught in the middle of the exploding powderkeg as war broke out.
"The Mad Emperor" Yoshihito, 1900
Kan'in Kotohito, 1908
Emperess Shige, 1900
During the war years, Shige became far more vocal and political, realizing the cult following she was gathering about herself and claiming that she alone could restore the monarchy in Nippon and chase out the Yankee invaders. When the Great World War neared its end she set sail for China, to be reunited with her insane brother in Peking. Following a brief few days of peace, conflict arose when Shige announced she was taking up the mantle of empress-in-exile, ignoring her addled brother's rightful claim to the throne. This sparked a major incident in Peking, with the several thousand-strong neighborhood of Nipponese exiles rioting in the streets in support of either candidate. The incident was enough for the Qing government to demand the Nipponese Imperial Family leave the country. For a short time they found refuge in Dutch Indonesia. But on November 20, 1913, two month's after Splendidfaith's demise, Prince Yoshihito was found dead in his office, a seppuku dagger in his gut. Shige now rallied the remaining loyalists and plotted a secret return to the homeland to take advantage of the chaos Splendidfaith's death had caused. She anticipated an oppressed people eager for her return, sick of American influence and heresy.
She would learn the hard truth in January, 1914. Riots had been a huge problem in the nation for months as the nationalists opposed to Yankee influence marched in the streets. The American government was furious and vowed total annihilation of riot leaders. However, when Shige returned in secret to lead a revolution, she found a broken and disorganized rabble. Over the next several months, she had to win over the anti-American factions and establish her dominance among them. By April, she was leading a full-on insurrection against the government. Bombs detonated in train stations, Holy Nippon police found themselves hanged on streetlamps or gutted in back alleys. All over the country, rumors spread that Shige was preparing to march on Edu. The Empire would be restored and the Christians brutally dealt with.
That was when President Steele cracked his knuckles and said enough was enough. He had long born a total hatred of the Imperial Family and any and all who opposed American rule in Nippon. He personally had fought in the Nippon-Union War, cutting his teeth in battle. That conflict had made him the man he would become. It made him Joe Steele. And he wasn't about to let some renegade empress show up and take over. In his mind, most Nipponese were traitors, too tainted with Mongoloid blood and influence to be redeemed, no matter what the Church said. In his mind, a "yellow is a yellow is a yellow." To deal with this new uprising, Steele got hold of one Arthur MacArthur, commander of ORRA forces in the Pacific, and asked him to deal with the problem at hand.
"I want you to take whatever you need, use whatever force necessary, and by any and all means pacify the Nipponese ingrates. We brought them back into the fold, we taught them right from wrong, we restored their blessing in the eyes of Jehovah, and they repay us by striking, rioting, and armed revolt. I will not tolerate it any longer. Kill every last man, woman, and child who dares to betray the Union. We showed the Inferior communes who resisted the Cleanse no mercy and we will show these yellow traitors no mercy!"
- President Steele to Commander Arthur MacArthur, May, 1914
MacArthur sailed out from the Goodyear Islands and landed in Holy Nippon on July 4, 1914. In the time it had taken him and his forces to arrive, a full-on civil war had erupted, with Three Diamonds factories burning and Iwasaki fighting the rebels with his own personal bodyguards. Government forces were under siege and were becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the insurrection. The New Illuminati and several anarchist movements also once again sprang up in Nippon, sometimes fighting alongside and at other times against Imperialists. Shige had stormed Edo and planted the Imperial banner once more. She announced that a new era had arrived, one which would restore home rule to the island and purge the foreign invaders forever. Alas, it was not to be. In what would become known as the Rape of Edo, the first battle of the 1914 Suppression of Nippon, dozens of Yankee warships opened up a vicious barrage on the city, setting much of it on fire. Aeroships flew overhead, spewing gas and bullets. The Imperial anti-air guns had been disabled by the naval barrage, leaving the city a wide-open target. Cheering and laughing, thousands of ORRA troops came ashore in metal gunboats. Almost all of them were trained and professional killers, ready to do make necklaces from the ears of dead Imperials. They proceeded to butcher anyone who stood against them. Over 30,000 people were slaughtered in the first several days, with even women and children butchered in the streets like animals. Several divisions of Australians, under the command of General Percy McDowell, also arrived to join in on the mayhem, with American troops dubbing them the "Kangaroos," or "Kangas" for short, in what would prove to be a lasting nickname. As ORRA, loyalist, and Australian troops marched on, hundreds of bodies hung like rotten fruit on the cherry trees. One militia group of 200 pro-Shige villagers were made an example of, having their intestines pulled out and wrapped around their heads. All over Nippon, similar landings were occurring under orders from MacArthur. He told the men under command to pillage, burn, loot, and rape, saying, "Beelzebub himself is in control of this country, and it is up to us to put him to flight. Death always to traitors!"
The will of the people to revolt was not broken upon the Rape of Edu. However, the Holy Nipponese Civil War's conclusion was beyond apparent already. The Imperialists had no chance. Too many were living comfortable lives and were happy with the status quo to revolt. Too many feared the barbarism of ORRA, even the units made up of their own countrymen. Some very much resented the attempted return of the monarchy. The Nipponese spirit was finally broken when the Empress was captured on September 23, 1914, attempting to flee once more to Qing China. After being beaten and humiliated, audio recordings of her announcing the permanent dissolution of the Imperial government were broadcast all over Nippon via talkiebox, including in public centers. After this, she was forced to participate in a Roman-style Triumph March through Philadelphia on November 18, appearing in chains with much of her staff and remaining family as Joe Steele looked on triumphantly from an overhead balcony. Thousands of Yankees, from pasty-white Germans to coal-black Negros gathered around to throw popcorn and fruit at the "imperialist whore." Even small children cheered and clapped as ORRA officers bludgeoned the members of the chain-gang. The humiliation was complete. Steele was sending in more and more ORRA troops everyday and the Nipponese Protectorate forces were salvaged into the new "Army of the Risen Son," consisting of only the most loyal and devout pro-American soldiers.
Australian "Kangas," some as young as 14, pose for a unit portrait in Holy Nippon during the 1914 Suppression. Some of these young warriors were part of the "Australian Eagle Scouts," a paramilitary student organization similar to the CYB.
American and Holy Nipponese officers inspect the bodies of executed revolutionaries
One of the most famous images from the Nippon Suppression of 1914, this photo of a weeping baby amid the wreckage of Edo was published in Europe to showcase the barbarity and slaughter of the Suppression
Despite now still being a minority, the "True Believers" purged all remaining elements of the old ways out of society. Where before they had sought a slow "Anglicization" program, now the government cracked the whip. Nipponese, as a language both written and spoken, was to be banned for any civil, legal, or military matters. Nipponese would also no longer be taught, "In order to purge Holy Nippon of any and all Mongoloid corruption and to grace it with the New Hebrew, English, of the Anglo-Saxon Chosen." English would become the only official language accepted in Holy Nippon. Instead of placing Iwasaki in charge of the government as Splendidfaith's replacement, as many had predicted, Steele, in his hatred of the Nipponese, declared MacArthur to be Dictator-General of Holy Nippon. Along with bringing the forced Beckie Flu immunizations, the government also forced every citizen to register a SIN number. Over the next years, MacArthur would establish one of the most successful and competent police states in the world, spying on every single man and woman as often as possible. Children were forced to join the Custer Youth and go to American-run schools which literally erased history. In these new books, the old ways of Imperial Nippon were depicted as barbaric and monstrous, while the Americans were the noble heroes sent by Jehovah to reunite the Tribes of Israel. Despite MacArthur essentially governing the islands himself, he was sure to make clear that he by no means acted without Steele on any important matter. Rather, he said in early 1915, "I am no President or emperor, I am a Dictator-General. I serve at the pleasure of the President. Holy Nippon is under direct rule from Philadelphia, not from myself. I merely humbly carry out the instructions of Party, Atheling, and President to the utmost of my ability." However, in the event of some catastrophic event, like severing of contact with the mainland Union, MacArthur knew he himself would assume total command of Holy Nippon.
Dictator-General Arthur MacArthur
The most drastic measure taken to deal with the rebellious islands, however, was what followed the Rape of Edo. The furious Americans gleefully burnt the entire city down, just as their fathers had burned down Mexico City during the Immolation of Mexico, and they did this with many other rebellion strongholds all across Nippon. In its place, over the next two decades, they created Steeleport, the new national capital and bustling center for the American protectorate. Most placenames in Nippon were anglicized by the Holy Nippon Office of Culture. The nation was broken up into four parts, with the large northern island of Ezo becoming the State of Splendidfaith, with its capital city being Jubilee, formerly known as Obihiro. On mainland Nippon, known as Honshu, the northernmost area became the State of North Nippon, with the old city of Sendai becoming Franklin City, after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, whose death had led to the failure of the American Constitutional Congress so many years before but whose life had helped spark the American Revolution itself. The Kanto region was directly to the south of North Nippon, keeping its Nipponese name but its capital (both state and national) becoming Steeleport, as mentioned earlier. Finally, the rest of the country became South Nippon, with Nagasaki, a hotbed of American loyalists, becoming Butterworth, after Nathaniel Butterworth of the Goodyear Enterprises Pacific Fleet which had brought the first American contacts to Nippon in 1870.
All in all, the bloodbath that was the Suppression of Nippon served as a reminder to the world of the brutality of Joe Steele and the ruthless extent he would go to secure American interests. Though some in Europe voiced outcry over the atrocities, the truth was that the Great World War had made war criminals of the majority of European nations. The world watched in helpless silence as the Nipponese were totally broken.
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Let's be clear. We all know what is going to happen to Holy Nippon.
Walt Henry in his role as Holy Nipponese Dictator-General Douglas MacArthur in the 1963 masterpiece The Rising Son.
*American Caesar intensifies*
Walt Henry in his role as Holy Nipponese Dictator-General Douglas MacArthur in the 1963 masterpiece The Rising Son.
*American Caesar intensifies*
Man, sometimes I hate being right. What happened to Japan is, in a way, even worse than what happened to Mexico. Japanese culture and history will be completely destroyed, all in such a subtle way that, 50 years from now, the Japanese will be grateful to the Americans for saving them! Talk about horror!
Yeah, bringing MacArthur and his planet-sized ego into this is definitely an improvement over 1.0. He fits in perfectly.
It'd be funny if the MacArthurs end up becoming an unofficial dynastic family in Nippon, with the various states carved out divvied up with the MacArthurs all gaining governorships of each state, this line right here has me thinking:
If the RU ends up collapsing, then the MacArthur family ends up running Nippon as a closed off North Korea-state with the 'Gaijin Shoguns' of the MacArthurs running the place ala the Kim Family and intermarrying with the Nipponese or keeping pure and have a sort of "white-rajah" but instead "white emperor" running Nippon.
If the RU ends up collapsing, then the MacArthur family ends up running Nippon as a closed off North Korea-state with the 'Gaijin Shoguns' of the MacArthurs running the place ala the Kim Family and intermarrying with the Nipponese or keeping pure and have a sort of "white-rajah" but instead "white emperor" running Nippon.
True, but they will be so changed as to become basically indistinguishable from true Americans save for their skin color.
Teaser for post-war Europe again:
VS.
Welcome to the politics of the 1920s. It's gonna be a wild ride. If you can figure out who the 1700s guy is, you might have an inkling of an idea of what I'm planning.
I definitely agree. I knew for a long time he HAD to be in this. When I realized I could make him hereditary dictator of Japan, I knew I couldn't pass it up. lol
VS.
Welcome to the politics of the 1920s. It's gonna be a wild ride. If you can figure out who the 1700s guy is, you might have an inkling of an idea of what I'm planning.
I definitely agree. I knew for a long time he HAD to be in this. When I realized I could make him hereditary dictator of Japan, I knew I couldn't pass it up. lol
Literally the Illuminati? Aren't they basically anti-establishment al Qaeda at this point?
Dang, I'm actually rooting for the bomb-throwing terrorists because the establishment are literally genocidal fascists. This is so fucked up.
AH has until fairly recently been sadly lacking when it comes to seizing the opportunity to let MacArthur's ego get even more out of control than usual. It's nuts enough in Kaiserreich where he can destroy the USA and replace it with a shallowly patriotic military junta that claims its name and symbolism, but this is dark comedy gold.
Would that be Adolph Knigge , one of the leading members of the Illuminati?
Evolism vs Kniggism/Illuminati Enlightenmentism.
Evolism vs Kniggism/Illuminati Enlightenmentism.
Teaser for post-war Europe again:
VS.
Welcome to the politics of the 1920s. It's gonna be a wild ride. If you can figure out who the 1700s guy is, you might have an inkling of an idea of what I'm planning.
I definitely agree. I knew for a long time he HAD to be in this. When I realized I could make him hereditary dictator of Japan, I knew I couldn't pass it up. lol
Post-war Europe is going to become a living nightmare.
Well, maybe some followers of the old traditions managed to escape to China or Indonesia.
On the other hand we could see in the future the creation of some strange cult who workships some twisted version of the traditional japanese culture ( thanks to years of american censure and propaganda) similar to the german comunists from " The new order: last days of Europe'