The Star-Spangled Expanded Universe of "What Madness Is This?"
- Thread starter Napoleon53
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Hi. It's been a while since I've posted in this thread, but now I'm back with something I've been working on for a while. So without further ado, let's revisit the Middle East!
A History of the Islamic Republic of Turkey
The flag of the Islamic Republic of Turkey, also the flag of the Ottoman Empire from 1844 to 1856
Map of the Islamic Republic of Turkey in 1900
The flag of the Islamic Republic of Turkey, also the flag of the Ottoman Empire from 1844 to 1856
Map of the Islamic Republic of Turkey in 1900
The history of the Islamic Republic of Turkey began immediately with the end of the Ottoman Empire. To be more specific, the Islamic Republic of Turkey was born out of the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the Imperial-Ottoman War, known by some historians as the “10th Crusade.” As most all European schoolchildren were taught by the time they were teenagers, during the mid-1850s, the Ottoman Empire collapsed under the might of a massive invasion from the Franco-Spanish Empire and its allies, as well as from the League of Tsars, led by the Russian Empire and including Romania and Bulgaria. The rest, as they say, is history.
With the Franco-Spanish establishment of the Grand Realm of the Levant, the League of Tsars, in an effort to counteract and contain the power of the Franco-Spanish Empire, signed the Treaty of Constantinople on January 1, New Year’s Day, 1857. This treaty established Constantinople as an independent but Orthodox state under control of three viceroys, one Russian, one Romanian and One Bulgarian, each representing the interests of each nation in the League. The sense of rage and anger felt by the Turkish people towards the empires of Catholic and Orthodox Europe for their conquest, defeat and division of the once-great Ottoman Empire would fuel a never-ending fire of hatred against the Catholic and Orthodox nations of Europe that would come to have further effects later on in the future.
After the immediate collapse of the Sublime Port, the remnants of Turkey had no official government, with numerous warlord cliques led by former Ottoman Army generals claiming to be the legitimate government of Turkey and the legal successor to the Ottoman Empire scattered throughout Asia Minor. However, the largest and most powerful of these warlord states was the Ankara government of General and last grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire Mustafa Reşid Pasha, headquartered in the eponymous Turkish city and established immediately after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, styling itself as the Republic of Turkey. With Mustafa Reşid Pasha having the most powerful armies in Asia Minor, all of the other desperate warlords were persuaded to swear allegiance to his government by the end of June, 1857. On July 14, 1857, the Republic of Turkey was officially declared in Ankara under an interim government led by interim President Mustafa Reşid Pasha.
With the Franco-Spanish establishment of the Grand Realm of the Levant, the League of Tsars, in an effort to counteract and contain the power of the Franco-Spanish Empire, signed the Treaty of Constantinople on January 1, New Year’s Day, 1857. This treaty established Constantinople as an independent but Orthodox state under control of three viceroys, one Russian, one Romanian and One Bulgarian, each representing the interests of each nation in the League. The sense of rage and anger felt by the Turkish people towards the empires of Catholic and Orthodox Europe for their conquest, defeat and division of the once-great Ottoman Empire would fuel a never-ending fire of hatred against the Catholic and Orthodox nations of Europe that would come to have further effects later on in the future.
After the immediate collapse of the Sublime Port, the remnants of Turkey had no official government, with numerous warlord cliques led by former Ottoman Army generals claiming to be the legitimate government of Turkey and the legal successor to the Ottoman Empire scattered throughout Asia Minor. However, the largest and most powerful of these warlord states was the Ankara government of General and last grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire Mustafa Reşid Pasha, headquartered in the eponymous Turkish city and established immediately after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, styling itself as the Republic of Turkey. With Mustafa Reşid Pasha having the most powerful armies in Asia Minor, all of the other desperate warlords were persuaded to swear allegiance to his government by the end of June, 1857. On July 14, 1857, the Republic of Turkey was officially declared in Ankara under an interim government led by interim President Mustafa Reşid Pasha.
Mustafa Reşid Pasha, first President of the Islamic Republic of Turkey
The most immediate problem for the new Turkish Republic was none other than the Kurdistan Rebellion. The Kurdistan Rebellion had begun in 1855 as a direct result of the outbreak of the Imperial-Ottoman War. However, the rebellion had always been very desperate and disorganized, and the Kurdish militias were also in a state of complete disarray. As a result, in an effort to save face, bring legitimacy to his new government and to regain some old Ottoman land, the Turkish Republic, without an official declaration of war, invaded the nascent Free State of Kurdistan. During the Turkish-Kurdish War, the Kurdistan Rebellion was brutally suppressed by the invading Turkish armies, with a number of massacres and other war crimes occurring throughout the campaign, although President Mustafa Reşid Pasha personally commended these actions and reprimanded any perpetrators of such acts. Throughout much of the history of the new Turkish nation, Kurdish nationalism within Turkish Kurdistan would continue to remain a continuous problem.
Flag used by the Kurdish Rebels during the Kurdish Rebellion
The situation with Kurdistan was similar to the situation between Turkey and the new Republic of Armenia. As the Ottoman Empire was collapsing, the Armenian people rose up in revolt against their Ottoman Turkish masters throughout the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and supported by the Russian Empire with weapons and money. At first, the Armenian rebels were represented by numerous different groups, but soon they all came under the leadership of the young rebel leader, partisan, writer, poet and intellectual Mikayel Nalbandian (November 14, 1829-September 16, 1902), an ethnic Armenian from the Armenian town of Nakhichevan-on-Don near Rostov-on-Don in the Russian Empire who moved into Ottoman Armenia soon after the outbreak of the Ottoman-Imperial War in an effort to fighting alongside Armenian partisans and to foment a larger Armenian rebellion against Ottoman rule. As a result, unlike the Kurdish Rebellion, the Armenian Rebellion was much more strong and unified against the Ottoman Turks. Thus, with the signing of the Treaty of Constantinople, the Republic of Armenia was diplomatically recognized by the great powers of Europe. In the aftermath of the Armenian War of Independence, numerous Armenians living in the Islamic Republic of Turkey moved into the Republic of Armenia. However, a number of Armenians continued to live within the borders of Turkey, and tensions continued to remain between Turkey and Armenia over the subsequent decades, not just for this reason, but also because many in the Turkish government saw Armenian lands in Asia Minor as rightfully Turkish lands.
Flag of the Republic of Armenia
Mikayel Nalbandian, first President of the Republic of Armenia
By the beginning of 1858, the nation of Turkey had finally come under a stable and functional government, with the city of Ankara as the official capital of the new Republic of Turkey. With the continuing pacification of the Kurdish lands and with some stability finally returning to the Turkish lands of Asia Minor, President Mustafa Reşid Pasha knew that a constitution needed to be drafted for the new nation, and he spent months upon months working with politicians, generals, clerics and other important figures in Turkish society to write and formulate said constitution. The result was the Turkish Constitution of 1859, which officially established and renamed the nation as the Islamic Republic of Turkey, which was done in an effort to placate both traditionalists and political Islamists in the new Turkish government, all of whom who resented the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and with it the fall of the Islamic Caliphate, and did not want to see the centuries-old Islamic traditions within Turkey be destroyed. Under the Turkish Constitution of 1859, the Islamic Republic of Turkey was officially established as a nominally-democratic republic under Islamic and Sharia Law, largely as a holdover from the era of the Ottoman Empire. The Islamic Republic of Turkey, while not an Islamic fundamentalist state, was still a religious state. As a result, the Sunni variant of the Islamic religion was the only religion favored by the state, with other sects of Islam remaining marginalized. Furthermore, other religions like Christianity and Judaism, while still having certain protections as Abrahamic Religions, gradually became more and more targeted by the government of Turkey as the decades went on, even more so than during the latter part of the Ottoman Empire. As the Danish writer and historian Jorgen Blume stated in his book A History of the Turkic People; “The new Turkish republic was no revolutionary state like the French Republic formed after the regicide of the Bourbons. On the contrary, it was simply the Ottoman Empire without a Sultan and without an Empire. The Islamic Republic of Turkey was a semi-democratic yet still an oligarchic and religious nation.”
The first years of the Islamic Republic of Turkey were a time of consolidation and reorganization. President Reşid Pasha also managed to pass certain moderate reforms, such suffrage for all men over the age of twenty-one years of age, limited land reform and the establishment of state-run Islamic schools and educational institutions. On October 19, 1865, after less than a decade in power, President Mustafa Reşid Pasha died of natural causes in his bedroom in the Presidential Palace in Ankara at the age of 65. A week later, he was given a massive funeral in Ankara, with the people of Turkey praising and eulogizing him as the father of the nation and the savoir of the Turkish people. Immediately after his death, Mustafa Reşid Pasha was succeeded as President of Turkey by his right-hand man and former protégé Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, with him having also been a former general in both the Ottoman and Turkish armies.
The first years of the Islamic Republic of Turkey were a time of consolidation and reorganization. President Reşid Pasha also managed to pass certain moderate reforms, such suffrage for all men over the age of twenty-one years of age, limited land reform and the establishment of state-run Islamic schools and educational institutions. On October 19, 1865, after less than a decade in power, President Mustafa Reşid Pasha died of natural causes in his bedroom in the Presidential Palace in Ankara at the age of 65. A week later, he was given a massive funeral in Ankara, with the people of Turkey praising and eulogizing him as the father of the nation and the savoir of the Turkish people. Immediately after his death, Mustafa Reşid Pasha was succeeded as President of Turkey by his right-hand man and former protégé Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, with him having also been a former general in both the Ottoman and Turkish armies.
Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha
Mehmed Cemil Bey
It was during the 1870s and 1880s that Islamic fundamentalism began to increase in popularity within the Islamic Republic of Turkey. While Islamic Fundamentalism was always a force to be reckoned with within the new Turkish nation, it was at first a more minor current within Turkish politics. However, beginning in the 1870s and continuing into the 1880s, Islamic Fundamentalism began to increase in popularity due to numerous factors, such as increasing unemployment, increasing diplomatic and trade relations with Turkey and the Franco-Spanish Empire, the Russian Empire and other European nations, growing tensions between Turks and non-Islamic and oftentimes non-Turkic ethnicities, among other reasons. Throughout the nation, numerous Islamic clerics begin to call for a return to a more authentic form of the Islamic faith for said faith to have an all-encompassing power over the Turkish government. Nevertheless, during the 1870s and 1880s, the Islamic Fundamentalist movement in Turkey was wide and desperate, having been represented by numerous loose political movements, political clubs and individual Islamic clerics. Still, all of this would begin to change in the 1890s.
In December, 1890 and in January, 1891, many of the aforementioned Islamic Fundamentalist and Radical Islamist political movements, political clubs and clerics meet for a hap-hazard conference in the city of Sivas. At the end of the aforementioned Sivas onference on January 30, 1891, it was agreed upon that the many groups present would merge into a new political party known as the Sons of Turkey (Türkiye'nin oğulları), a far-rightist, reactionary, Islamic Fundamentalist and Turkish nationalist political party. Thus, the first true political party representing Islamic Fundamentalism and Radical Islamism within Turkey was established. The Sons of Turkey called for the establishment of an Islamic Fundamentalist government to take over Turkey and to have total control over the entirety of the Turkish government and all Turkish public institutions. The party also called for segregation between Turks and non-Turks within Turkey, a limited amount of Turkification of non-Turks and population exchanges with Greece, Armenia and other nations. The party also called for new government social programs under the guise of “Islamic Charity” for the benefit of all Sunni Muslims within Turkey. Lastly, the new government was against any forms of social progressivism and sought to go back to a more “traditional” variant of Islamic society. The first leader of the party was Mehmed Ferid Pasha, an influential intellectual and formerly independent Islamist politician in the Turkish Parliament. Thus, a new and powerful force within Turkish politics had been born in earnest.
Mehmed Ferid Pasha
President Mehmed Ferid Pasha was inaugurated as President of Turkey on September 20, 1892. Almost as soon as he came to power, Ferid Pasha began to put his plans for Turkey into motion. Non-Sunni Muslims were officially made second class citizens by a number of government decrees issued throughout 1893 and 1894, decrees which barred non-Muslims from certain professions and educational institutions and prohibited inter-faith marriages. In an effort to subdue Kurdish nationalism, Ferid Pasha passed the Settlements Act of 1894, which legally opened up Kurdish lands within Turkey for ethnic Turkish settlement. As a part of this law, several new villages were established and then run by the Turkish government solely for the habitation of Turkish civilians. Over the next decade, this law increased the Turkish population of the Kurdish lands of Turkey and thus greatly increased tensions between the Turkish and Kurdish populations of the Islamic Republic of Turkey. As a result, numerous riots between Turks and Kurds in Turkish Kurdistan took place throughout the late-1890s, with the Turkish Army being sent in to quell the riots and hitting hard against the Kurdish rioters in favor of the Turkish settlers. These events would greatest emboldened the burgeoning Kurdish nationalist movement.
Turkish Islamic Army battalions on the march through Kurdistan, circa 1895
Turkish Islamic Army soldiers camped outside of a Kurdish village, 1899
Soon after the Turkish parliamentary elections in 1895, which gave the Sons of Turkey a majority within the Turkish parliament, President Ferid Pasha ratified a new constitution for the Islamic Republic of Turkey, known as the 1895 Constitution. This new constitution officially reestablished the Islamic Republic of Turkey as an Islamic Fundamentalist and Theoretic republic, under a strict form of Sharia Law. This new constitution also re-established the Islamic Caliphate with the President of the Islamic Republic of Turkey as the Caliph of Islam. Last but not least, the nominally democratic elections within Turkey would be preserved, but only Sunni Muslims would be allowed to vote in said elections. It should be noted that in the subsequent elections within the Islamic Republic of Turkey, the elections were only ceremonial and were all won by Ferid Pasha. With Ferid Pasha being elected over and over again in sham elections, oftentimes with no challengers, Ferid Pasha became a dictator in all but name, and thus democracy in Turkey existed only on paper. With the passing of the Government Safety Acts in 1896, all opposition parties in Turkey were banned, and over the coming years, all opposition figures are purged from Turkish society, with opposition figures being jailed, exiled or even assassinated.
In the late 1890s and early 1900s, the Sons of Turkey government of Ferid Pasha made an effort to deal with the issue of the Turkish minorities, this time once and for all. Towns with a large or medium sized numbers of non-Turks were segregated between Turks and non-Turks, and large numbers of Turkish Army units were sent to these towns to prevent minorities from acting out against the Turkish and Muslim majority. The Turkization Acts were passed in 1897, which would officially begin the process of culturally assimilating a number of majority Armenian, Greek, Kurdish and Arab villages in Turkey. As a result of these programs, all languages other than Turkish were outlawed in public spaces and in education and all villagers had to adopt Turkish given names. However, this new law bought up the issue that in Turkey there were no official surnames and family names. As a result, the Turkish Surname Law was passed in 1898, legally required all ethnic Turkish citizens to adopt a Turkish surname by December 31, 1900, the last day of the 20th Century. President Mehmed Ferid Pasha adopted the surname of Millî-Şef, with said surname meaning “National Chief”, thus his full name became Mehmed Ferid Millî-Şef. Finally, in 1900, the Segregation Acts were passed, thus officially enforcing segregation between Turks and non-Turks within all Turkish cities and towns, with the only non-ethnic Turks not segregated being those that were already culturally Turkized or those that agreed to become a part of the Turkization Program. It should also be noted that during the 1900s, a number of pogroms took place against the Greek, Armenian, Kurdish and Jewish populations of the Islamic Republic of Turkey. While the Turkish government officially condemned these actions, they never anything to stop or discourage said actions.
Turkish Infantrymen garrisoned outside of a Greek village in the Pontus region, 1905
As a direct result of all of these many different laws and policies, numerous immigrants left Turkey to escape the repressive government of the Islamic Republic. Many of these immigrants initially moved to neighboring nations and regions such as the Persian Empire, the Levant, Iraq and the former Ottoman regions of Europan Egypt and Europan Libya. By 1910, the Islamic Republic of Turkey saw a lot of immigration to other nations and regions such as Europa, Nordreich, the Swiss Confederation, the Netherlands, Sweden and colonies such as the United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, French Australia and Dutch South Africa. It should be noted that most of the Jews of Turkey emigrated to the Grand Realm of the Levant, particularly the region of Palestine, the historical homeland of the Jewish people.
During the Great World War, the Islamic Republic of Turkey under the aging President Millî-Şef remained in a state of neutrality. The Islamic Republic of Turkey remained neutral for a number of reasons. For one thing, the Islamic Republic of Turkey distrusted the alliance between Egypt, Iraq and Persia, with President Millî-Şef claiming that the aforementioned alliance had desired to dominate Turkey and to liberate Kurdistan. In addition, the Turkish military was still in a state of neglect and disorganization, with the Turkish Army still using largely outdated weaponry and technology. Thus, the Islamic Republic of Turkey did not have the strength to take back Constantinople from the League of Tsars.
Generals and officers of the Turkish Islamic Army, 1912
Turkish Infantry Regiments on Review, circa 1910
General İsmail Cevat Çobanlı succeeded Millî-Şef as the President of the Islamic Republic of Turkey. Çobanlı was the first military president of the Islamist Republic of Turkey during the Islamist Era. He would serve as President of Turkey until his death in 1940.
İsmail Cevat Çobanlı
After the end of the Great World War in 1914, the Islamic Republic of Turkey still had one long-running and serious problem to contend with, and this problem was the issue of Kurdistan. The Turkish government refused to give up its lands of Turkish Kurdistan, as the Turkish Islamist government viewed the Turkish domination over the Kurdish lands as a springboard to regain other formerly Ottoman lands, such as Armenia, the Levant and Iraq. As a result of the Turkish unwillingness to give any self-rule to the lands of Turkish Kurdistan, things were about to change in the Middle East forever.
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Slow Food Done Quick: The Rise of Smithfield's Stop n' Serve
A gaggle of Yankee tourists seen outside a Smithfield's in Charleston, 1938
However, it was not to last. While the annexation of East Carolina and Yonderland provided the material for quick growth, once those territories were settled to maximum capacity problems began to emerge. The Cokie economy was still largely dependent on the sale of raw materials to America and Britain, and the final stabilization of Mittleafrika drastically decreased the prices of many of these goods. Furthermore, with no more land to settle or natives to exploit, this model of economic expansion reached a temporary limit. A bad situation became worse when it was revealed that several corrupt officials had siphoned off sums of money intended to pay down the debt. While it hadn't effected the size of the debt too much, it sparked a panic among investors who held Carolinian bonds, and saw a credit downgrade for the nation as well as falling bond prices and higher interest rates on existing bonds, making the national debt harder to service. This translated into a wider run on the market and banks in 1927, which decimated Carolinian and Yankee investors. To cap it all off, abnormally hot and dry weather in the mainland caused severe droughts in 1928 and 1929, crippling the all-important tobacco, grain, and cotton industries. In short, by 1930 the Carolinian economy was in a free-fall that even affected their American neighbors, although the Yankee economy was still able to chug along quite well.
Even in the best of economic times, the Confederation was quite subservient to American whims. In 1930, the House of Citizens authorized the construction of the Destiny Road unanimously. It was actually very smart for the Cokies to accept. The Yankees agreed to hire local laborers to keep costs down, giving employment to Carolina's recently unemployed as well as to many badly impoverished mountain hillbilly folk. Furthermore, they would be building valuable infrastructure the nation had needed to build anyway, but had failed to do so. Finally, the creation of "The Donut" would give Carolina the opportunity to capitalize on valuable tourist dollars, further boosting the economy. In short, the construction of the Destiny Road saved the Carolinian economy from a potentially catastrophic meltdown. When construction began, newspapermen and business tycoons from Nashville to Charleston toasted the Yankees and the Gamble Administration for this "economically sound and most profitable partnership."
Investors and account holders make a run on the First National Bank of West Carolina in Nashville (1927)
This already strong sentiment was fanned by the media into an inferno. By 1933, protests were being organized at every single Vanvleet opening, and protests would spontaneously erupt outside established locations. During rowdier incidents, rocks were thrown through windows and customers had obscenities yelled at them. Cokies who worked at these establishments could expect to have their cars keyed or have rotten fruit thrown at them. When Vanvleet sent down some representatives from up North on a goodwill tour in April of 1934, they were attacked by some rowdy conservatives who threw buckets of boiling hot sweet tea at them. Vanvleet's infamously did not serve that most Carolinian of beverages at any of their locations, thus adding a symbolic angle to the attack. The attackers were arrested and hanged, but the protesters responded by getting more organized. Wealthy aristocratic wife Daisy Harrison founded the Association to Preserve Carolinian Culture (APCC) on June 15th, 1934 and with several other wealthy aristocratic families began funding not only more organized protests, but also lobbying in the House of Citizens. There was definitely an impact on Vanvleet's business, although they never admitted it. By 1935, the number of Vanvleet's had shrunk from an all-time high of over 150 locations across the country (mainly achieved by buying out small restaurants) to less than 120.
1935 is also when a young Cokie man by the name of Thomas Montgomery Smithfield saw an opportunity. Having recently won a great deal of money on a successful horse racing bet, the Nashville native decided to use some of what he learned as a line cook in the Army and founded his first restaurant, called Smithfield's BBQ and Chicken. Shortly after he opened his doors, Nashville was convulsing under another series of anti-Vanvleet protests. Seeing a marketing opportunity, he put up a giant billboard saying simply "Smithfield's: We make our tea sweet!" Leaving aside the fact that every diner in Nashville did the same thing, his dig at Vanvleet's saw business skyrocket. After several months of brisk business, Mr. Smithfield had another brainstorm; he would establish his business as a competitor to Vanvleet's. The final piece of the picture came when he added the master stroke of adding gas pumps out in front of his diner. After acquiring several loans and renaming his store Smithfield's Stop n' Serve, he built a second location right off of the Destiny Road, just before they came into Nashville proper. Advertising cheap gas and real down home Cokie cooking, the location attracted Cokie and Yankee alike. Serving pulled pork, fried chicken, hushpuppies, collard greens, Cokie-Cola, and of course, sweet tea, the simple fare of his restaurant was adored by the public. The fact that he promised his meals would be out in the same time as Vanvleet's certainly helped. By 1936 Smithfield had made so much money that he opened 5 new locations, two in Memphis, one in Nashville, one in Charlotte, and one in Columbia. He specifically targeted his locations to compete with Vanvleet's in major hubs along the Destiny Road.
Needless to say, Vanvleet's wasn't happy about this. They couldn't do much to the protesters, that's how lynch mobs started in Ol' Caroline. However, the company did take it upon itself to harass Smithfield's as the company grew rapidly. This irritated Smithfield to no end, and to beat back the waves of Yankee thugs, he instituted a system of so-called "Stop n' Serve Safety Officers." These were uniformed officers that were openly armed and officially there "to ensure our customers feel safe from ruffians and hooligans while at our stores." Initially only a dozen men with guns and shabby uniforms, by 1940 they would number in the hundreds and be as intimidatingly outfitted as any Yankee mercenary outfit. A final alteration to the company's overall business model was made in 1938 by Mrs. Janice Earnhardt Smithfield, who suggested to her husband that each location be decorated in "Cokie kitsch" to further attract tourists and bolster the restaurants' down home Cokie credentials. Each location was outfitted with a variety of Carolinian memorabilia, including portraits of Jackson, Cokie-Cola signs, flags, and copies of "old-timey" documents. Minor as this might seem, it really did help put Smithfield's over the edge. A visit to at least one location was now considered mandatory for any Yankee tourists visiting Carolina. For most Cokies, it further cemented Smithfield's in their heart as their answer to Yankee fast food. The company grew exponentially into the 1940's, with the company's 1940 internal report showing 67 operational locations across the Carolinas. So next time you're in Carolina, make sure to stop at Smithfield's for "Slow Food Done Quick!"
The Stop n' Serve Safety Officers for Smithfield's North Carolina locations, circa 1940
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A Smithfield's Stop n' Serve in downtown Charlotte, with a garage attached for further customer convenience (1939)
Armed restaurant officers is bizzare but also completely inline for Madness. Please tell me Smithfield looks like Colonel Sanders
(Some of the stuff Sanders and KFC have done otl would fit into WMIT without batting an eye)
(Some of the stuff Sanders and KFC have done otl would fit into WMIT without batting an eye)
He's a younger fella now, but maybe if I write a follow up on them in the Oswald era he could be Colonel
Unrelated, but the next chapter is gonna be a hopefully detailed overview of Carolina in Africa!
I see the next Chancellor trying to diversify the economy away from the export model. Also, the Smithfield's will probably also have free coffee for the local OPV and police to discourage 'troublemakers'.
The following is my first bio and character study for the expanded Madness-verse. I hope you enjoy.
The following is verbatim from a multi-part pamphlet entitled Yank Levy (1897-1940): The Pinnacle Mercenary, by American writer and historian Julius Robert Hendrickson Jr., published by Lewis City Historical Press in 1960, part of series of pamphlets and booklets entitled Pinnacle Heroes: Past and Present.
Jonathan Franklin Moses Levy was born on Tuesday, October 5, 1897, in Hamilton, Ontario, Republican Union of America to Samuel Levy, a tailor and “horse doctor” and his wife Sarah Pollock, both of whom were part a Jewish family that had been in the Republican Union for a number of years. The young Levy, known to his friends and family as “Jack”, grew up in Hamilton for the very first years of his life, along with his nine other siblings. As a young child, Jack was a sickly child. As a result, Jack Levy became a Boy Scout at age ten and a boxer at age eleven. The Levy family was lower class and relatively poor, and as a result, during his pre-teen and teenaged years, the young Jack Levy spent much of his time on the streets of Hamilton hawking random items, delivering items for local business and doing odd jobs for money, getting in fights with neighborhood bullies and other young boys working for rival businesses, as well as gangsters of numerous ethnicities that lived in the Inferior Ghetto of Hamilton. It was in these fights that the young Jonathan Levy learned the arts of pugilism and self-defense, skills which would serve him well in later life. In 1910, when Jack was thirteen years old, Samuel Levy, once a devout and practicing Jew, officially converted to American Fundamentalist Christianity, and he converted the rest of the family as well, including the young Jack.
A photograph of Hamilton, Ontario, 1900
In November, 1911, things for the Levy family were about to change forever. On November 22, 1911, the Republican Union of America declared war on the Empire of Europa and thus entered the Great World War. With the Republican Union sharing a border with the Kingdom of Quebec and Europan Canada, the Republican Union was ready to invade the Imperial lands of North America, and with Hamilton, Ontario only located a few hundred or so miles from the front-lines, the war was about to effect the Levy family in a very important way. Soon after the war began, the armies of the Union began pouring into Ontario in an effort to prepare for their invasion of Quebec and to defend against any preemptive attacks by the Europans, Kebeckers and Canadians. It was against this backdrop that Hamilton became immensely crowded with the innumerable brave soldiers of Uncle Sam, many from camps located outside of the city, but also many temporarily keeping quarters within the city. With all of these soldiers in Hamilton and with the excitement over the war against Europa, the fourteen year-old Jack Levy became enamored with the American military might and prowess, and it became his dream to one day became a soldier in the American army itself. As he recounted it himself in his autobiography, Life of a Pinnacle Fighter;
“I became acquainted with the soldiers of the American army in November and December of nineteen-hundred and eleven, when I was just a young teenager. I even spoke with a few soldiers and talked to them about their fight against the northern heathens of Keybeck and Canada. [….] I was enamored. It all simply amazed me. [….] I spoke to my father about it all, about how I wanted to grow up and became a soldier as soon as I became old enough to enlist [at age seventeen]. Alas, my father Samuel was firmly against such a proposition. “Son, no way on Jehovah’s Great Green Earth are you going to fight in the army. As much as I respect and admire our boys in the army, I won’t let you sacrifice your life.” Such an answer disappointed me immensely, and I vowed that one day I would join the army in spite of my father’s misguided wishes.”
American soldiers on parade in Hamilton, Ontario, November, 1911
Before long, the war would come to affect the Levy family even more. In March, 1912, by air raids by the Quebecois Air Force took place over numerous cities throughout Ontario, including Hamilton. During one such air raid over Hamilton, on March 30, 1912, much off the city was set ablaze by fires coming from incendiary bombs dropped by the aero planes of the Quebecois fighter planes. Numerous buildings were destroyed during the air raid, including the home of the Levy family. In fact, according to the army’s historical records, one of the Quebecois bombs landed just in front of the Levy family home, causing the home to collapse and immolate immediately. As this was happening, the young John Levy was in town selling random objects for a local general store named “Smith’s General Store”. As he heard the enemy bombs in the distance, he ran and hid in the basement of the store with the rest of the employees and the boss Robert Smith. Some hours after the raid ended, Levy was notified by his boss and members of the Hamilton Police Department that his parents and younger siblings had died the air raid. According to Levy from the same hitherto-quoted book; “Upon hearing the news, I, wearing a plaid overall with one strap across from my right shoulder, a blue sweater and a worn-out grey plaid cap, sat on the crate, put my head in my hands with my shoulders on my knees and then balled out and cried like I had had before or since. As I did so, the policemen, one named Smithson and the other Kruger, each came around me, Kruger patting me on the back and Smithson saying everything was going to be okay. In that moment, I could not believe him.”
Jack was then sent to live with his unmarried paternal uncle Herschel in New Berlin, Ontario. However, as much as Jack loved his uncle, the arrangement only lasted for a few months and before long, young Jack had made a fateful decision. In October, 1912, just after his fifteenth birthday, Jack ran away from his family with, in his own words from his memoir, “nothing but a bindle of some essential possessions and the clothes on my back. I walked for a long time on numerous roads until I made my way to Toronto. [….] I went to go find an army recruiting station, and after some hours I found one across the street from the Governor’s Mansion. I went over to the recruiting station and signed up to fight in the infantry of our grand republican army. The only obstacle was that I was too young to enlist in the armed forces. Luckily for me I was a smart kid and I had my Rounders Bases covered. The recruiter, a young clean-shaven man in spectacles, speaking in a Nordic accent, said “Your name?” I replied, “John Abraham Oppenheimer” after which I wrote said name down on the recruitment form. The man then asked “Your date of birth?” I then stayed silent and wrote down the following date; October 5, 1895. [….] I confess. I lied about my age to get into the army. I know, under most circumstances, it’s a sin to lie, but I did it for a noble purpose, to fight for the Republican Union, the New Jerusalem, and to do my duty to my nation and to my Israelite ancestors to help bring about the rise of God’s kingdom on this Earth.”
Almost immediately after signing up for the army, young Jack was sent to the front-lines of battle as a member of the 10th Ontario Infantry against the Europan, Canadian and Quebecois armies in Quebec. After only a few months, Jack had already seen a lot of action against the enemy. While most spent doing menial tasks such as peeling potatoes, cooking food, organizing rations and cleaning encampments, Jack also did see a lot of front-line action. “During my first battle, in March of 1913, just after the start of spring, I and my patriot-comrades were marching through a small town in Keybeck, when some blue-coated Beckie soldiers came out of some ruined building and lunged at us with daggers. Some of my patriot-comrades were stabbed to death, others fought for dear life, but I ran off and then picked off each of the Beckie soldiers with a coffee-grinder hidden behind some rubble. [….] When it was all said and done, me, just a teenager, killed all seven of the Beckie soldiers. Two of our own were killed, while three others had to be sent to the medic.” In other battles, Levy also showed himself to be a brave if often overenthusiastic soldier. Jack was also known to “shoot like crazy at the Beckie enemy with two pistols on each side of his holster”, according to an officer by the name of Bradley were served in the 10th Ontario.
Men of the 10th Ontario, 1912
After only over half a year fighting in Quebec, in May, 1913, Jack Levy’s unit, the 10th Ontario Infantry, was sent west to the Californian Front as part of a sees reinforcements for General Joe Steele’s Army of the West. Soon after arriving by train in Salvation Springs, Lewisland, and after some training, Jack Levy and the rest of the 10th Ontario made their way to the frontlines of battle to meet up the armies of Joe Steele deep in the heart of California. From May to September, 1913, Jack Levy participated in some of the most climactic and intense battles of the Californian front. In these battles, like the battles in Ontario, the teenaged Jack Levy proved himself to a brave, enthusiastic, though and capable soldier and fighter. In his own words; “In Old California, I fought even harder against the Callies then even against the Beckies. [….] The men of California were tough and hardened by the harsh climate and terrain of their nation, to mention the threat of our invasion. [….] This was so sweat for me. In every battle against them I made sure to fire as many rounds as I could, and in doing so may feel before my eyes like the metal ducks on a carnival game.” One officer named Mitchell Hummel even stated that “Young Levy was like a human coffee-grinder.” In August, 1913, shortly before the Battle of Sacrament, during which Levy also fought bravely under fire, Levy even got to meet Joe Steele himself as Steele was inspected the troops before battle. “I remember meeting Joe Steele, and it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. [….] [As he was inspecting the troops] Steele came up to and me and said “You like a bit young for the service lad, but you’re a brave pinnacle lad nonetheless.” We then shook hands. “Thanks sir. It’s an honor to meet you.” I said. “Your Welcome. I can tell you are destined for greatness.” He responded.”
American soldiers on the march in eastern California
American Infantrymen some days before the Battle of Sacrament, August, 1913
After the fall of California on September 20, 1913, the teenaged Jack Levy spent a few months on occupation duty, after which he was honorably discharged in November, 1913. Not long afterwards, Jack, wanting to see more battle and “craving more adventure” joined a unit of “Irregular Volunteers”, a ragtag group of miscreants, ex-cons and other impoverished Betters who were offering their services to the Army and Marines in their invasion and conquest of the European Pacific colonies. Thus, the sixteen year-old Levy had become a mercenary for the first time in his military career, and it would not be his last. In just a few weeks, Jack Levy arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, after which he and the Irregular Volunteers headed with the RU Marines to invade the Bonaparte Islands throughout December 1913 and until May, 1914. During these battles, Levy saw intense jungle combat, and often hand to hand combat, with not only French, Spanish, Italian and Flemish Europan colonial troops using obsolete rifles and pistols, but also Micronesian tribal soldiers in the service of the European colonial armies wielding clubs and axes. In May, 1914, Levy was sent back to Oregon by the RU Marines, as the volunteers were no longer of use to them.
American soldiers in Oregon ready to shipped to Micronesia, 1913
European Colonial Soldiers and Native Soldiers in European Micronesia, 1913
Soon after his return from Micronesia, in June, 1914, Jack was honorably discharged from the army. After being discharged from the army, Jack Levy might his way to Oregon with a small caravan of other recently discharged veterans. After arriving in Linkville, Oregon, Levy bought an apartment in a small apartment building and began to work as a delivery man for Sweet Victory Soda, a job in which he would drive around an autocarriage full of crates of the drink and then deliver them to local stores and homes all around town. However, Jack was quickly becoming bored with his life as a delivery boy. As Levy wrote; “Truth be told, I needed to find another war to fight in.”
Linkville, Oregon, 1909
Yank Levy: The Pinnacle Mercenary
Part One
Jack "Yank" Levy, photographed in the Dutch East Indies, circa 1930
Part One
Jack "Yank" Levy, photographed in the Dutch East Indies, circa 1930
The following is verbatim from a multi-part pamphlet entitled Yank Levy (1897-1940): The Pinnacle Mercenary, by American writer and historian Julius Robert Hendrickson Jr., published by Lewis City Historical Press in 1960, part of series of pamphlets and booklets entitled Pinnacle Heroes: Past and Present.
Jonathan Franklin Moses Levy was born on Tuesday, October 5, 1897, in Hamilton, Ontario, Republican Union of America to Samuel Levy, a tailor and “horse doctor” and his wife Sarah Pollock, both of whom were part a Jewish family that had been in the Republican Union for a number of years. The young Levy, known to his friends and family as “Jack”, grew up in Hamilton for the very first years of his life, along with his nine other siblings. As a young child, Jack was a sickly child. As a result, Jack Levy became a Boy Scout at age ten and a boxer at age eleven. The Levy family was lower class and relatively poor, and as a result, during his pre-teen and teenaged years, the young Jack Levy spent much of his time on the streets of Hamilton hawking random items, delivering items for local business and doing odd jobs for money, getting in fights with neighborhood bullies and other young boys working for rival businesses, as well as gangsters of numerous ethnicities that lived in the Inferior Ghetto of Hamilton. It was in these fights that the young Jonathan Levy learned the arts of pugilism and self-defense, skills which would serve him well in later life. In 1910, when Jack was thirteen years old, Samuel Levy, once a devout and practicing Jew, officially converted to American Fundamentalist Christianity, and he converted the rest of the family as well, including the young Jack.
A photograph of Hamilton, Ontario, 1900
In November, 1911, things for the Levy family were about to change forever. On November 22, 1911, the Republican Union of America declared war on the Empire of Europa and thus entered the Great World War. With the Republican Union sharing a border with the Kingdom of Quebec and Europan Canada, the Republican Union was ready to invade the Imperial lands of North America, and with Hamilton, Ontario only located a few hundred or so miles from the front-lines, the war was about to effect the Levy family in a very important way. Soon after the war began, the armies of the Union began pouring into Ontario in an effort to prepare for their invasion of Quebec and to defend against any preemptive attacks by the Europans, Kebeckers and Canadians. It was against this backdrop that Hamilton became immensely crowded with the innumerable brave soldiers of Uncle Sam, many from camps located outside of the city, but also many temporarily keeping quarters within the city. With all of these soldiers in Hamilton and with the excitement over the war against Europa, the fourteen year-old Jack Levy became enamored with the American military might and prowess, and it became his dream to one day became a soldier in the American army itself. As he recounted it himself in his autobiography, Life of a Pinnacle Fighter;
“I became acquainted with the soldiers of the American army in November and December of nineteen-hundred and eleven, when I was just a young teenager. I even spoke with a few soldiers and talked to them about their fight against the northern heathens of Keybeck and Canada. [….] I was enamored. It all simply amazed me. [….] I spoke to my father about it all, about how I wanted to grow up and became a soldier as soon as I became old enough to enlist [at age seventeen]. Alas, my father Samuel was firmly against such a proposition. “Son, no way on Jehovah’s Great Green Earth are you going to fight in the army. As much as I respect and admire our boys in the army, I won’t let you sacrifice your life.” Such an answer disappointed me immensely, and I vowed that one day I would join the army in spite of my father’s misguided wishes.”
American soldiers on parade in Hamilton, Ontario, November, 1911
Before long, the war would come to affect the Levy family even more. In March, 1912, by air raids by the Quebecois Air Force took place over numerous cities throughout Ontario, including Hamilton. During one such air raid over Hamilton, on March 30, 1912, much off the city was set ablaze by fires coming from incendiary bombs dropped by the aero planes of the Quebecois fighter planes. Numerous buildings were destroyed during the air raid, including the home of the Levy family. In fact, according to the army’s historical records, one of the Quebecois bombs landed just in front of the Levy family home, causing the home to collapse and immolate immediately. As this was happening, the young John Levy was in town selling random objects for a local general store named “Smith’s General Store”. As he heard the enemy bombs in the distance, he ran and hid in the basement of the store with the rest of the employees and the boss Robert Smith. Some hours after the raid ended, Levy was notified by his boss and members of the Hamilton Police Department that his parents and younger siblings had died the air raid. According to Levy from the same hitherto-quoted book; “Upon hearing the news, I, wearing a plaid overall with one strap across from my right shoulder, a blue sweater and a worn-out grey plaid cap, sat on the crate, put my head in my hands with my shoulders on my knees and then balled out and cried like I had had before or since. As I did so, the policemen, one named Smithson and the other Kruger, each came around me, Kruger patting me on the back and Smithson saying everything was going to be okay. In that moment, I could not believe him.”
Jack was then sent to live with his unmarried paternal uncle Herschel in New Berlin, Ontario. However, as much as Jack loved his uncle, the arrangement only lasted for a few months and before long, young Jack had made a fateful decision. In October, 1912, just after his fifteenth birthday, Jack ran away from his family with, in his own words from his memoir, “nothing but a bindle of some essential possessions and the clothes on my back. I walked for a long time on numerous roads until I made my way to Toronto. [….] I went to go find an army recruiting station, and after some hours I found one across the street from the Governor’s Mansion. I went over to the recruiting station and signed up to fight in the infantry of our grand republican army. The only obstacle was that I was too young to enlist in the armed forces. Luckily for me I was a smart kid and I had my Rounders Bases covered. The recruiter, a young clean-shaven man in spectacles, speaking in a Nordic accent, said “Your name?” I replied, “John Abraham Oppenheimer” after which I wrote said name down on the recruitment form. The man then asked “Your date of birth?” I then stayed silent and wrote down the following date; October 5, 1895. [….] I confess. I lied about my age to get into the army. I know, under most circumstances, it’s a sin to lie, but I did it for a noble purpose, to fight for the Republican Union, the New Jerusalem, and to do my duty to my nation and to my Israelite ancestors to help bring about the rise of God’s kingdom on this Earth.”
Almost immediately after signing up for the army, young Jack was sent to the front-lines of battle as a member of the 10th Ontario Infantry against the Europan, Canadian and Quebecois armies in Quebec. After only a few months, Jack had already seen a lot of action against the enemy. While most spent doing menial tasks such as peeling potatoes, cooking food, organizing rations and cleaning encampments, Jack also did see a lot of front-line action. “During my first battle, in March of 1913, just after the start of spring, I and my patriot-comrades were marching through a small town in Keybeck, when some blue-coated Beckie soldiers came out of some ruined building and lunged at us with daggers. Some of my patriot-comrades were stabbed to death, others fought for dear life, but I ran off and then picked off each of the Beckie soldiers with a coffee-grinder hidden behind some rubble. [….] When it was all said and done, me, just a teenager, killed all seven of the Beckie soldiers. Two of our own were killed, while three others had to be sent to the medic.” In other battles, Levy also showed himself to be a brave if often overenthusiastic soldier. Jack was also known to “shoot like crazy at the Beckie enemy with two pistols on each side of his holster”, according to an officer by the name of Bradley were served in the 10th Ontario.
Men of the 10th Ontario, 1912
After only over half a year fighting in Quebec, in May, 1913, Jack Levy’s unit, the 10th Ontario Infantry, was sent west to the Californian Front as part of a sees reinforcements for General Joe Steele’s Army of the West. Soon after arriving by train in Salvation Springs, Lewisland, and after some training, Jack Levy and the rest of the 10th Ontario made their way to the frontlines of battle to meet up the armies of Joe Steele deep in the heart of California. From May to September, 1913, Jack Levy participated in some of the most climactic and intense battles of the Californian front. In these battles, like the battles in Ontario, the teenaged Jack Levy proved himself to a brave, enthusiastic, though and capable soldier and fighter. In his own words; “In Old California, I fought even harder against the Callies then even against the Beckies. [….] The men of California were tough and hardened by the harsh climate and terrain of their nation, to mention the threat of our invasion. [….] This was so sweat for me. In every battle against them I made sure to fire as many rounds as I could, and in doing so may feel before my eyes like the metal ducks on a carnival game.” One officer named Mitchell Hummel even stated that “Young Levy was like a human coffee-grinder.” In August, 1913, shortly before the Battle of Sacrament, during which Levy also fought bravely under fire, Levy even got to meet Joe Steele himself as Steele was inspected the troops before battle. “I remember meeting Joe Steele, and it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. [….] [As he was inspecting the troops] Steele came up to and me and said “You like a bit young for the service lad, but you’re a brave pinnacle lad nonetheless.” We then shook hands. “Thanks sir. It’s an honor to meet you.” I said. “Your Welcome. I can tell you are destined for greatness.” He responded.”
American soldiers on the march in eastern California
American Infantrymen some days before the Battle of Sacrament, August, 1913
After the fall of California on September 20, 1913, the teenaged Jack Levy spent a few months on occupation duty, after which he was honorably discharged in November, 1913. Not long afterwards, Jack, wanting to see more battle and “craving more adventure” joined a unit of “Irregular Volunteers”, a ragtag group of miscreants, ex-cons and other impoverished Betters who were offering their services to the Army and Marines in their invasion and conquest of the European Pacific colonies. Thus, the sixteen year-old Levy had become a mercenary for the first time in his military career, and it would not be his last. In just a few weeks, Jack Levy arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, after which he and the Irregular Volunteers headed with the RU Marines to invade the Bonaparte Islands throughout December 1913 and until May, 1914. During these battles, Levy saw intense jungle combat, and often hand to hand combat, with not only French, Spanish, Italian and Flemish Europan colonial troops using obsolete rifles and pistols, but also Micronesian tribal soldiers in the service of the European colonial armies wielding clubs and axes. In May, 1914, Levy was sent back to Oregon by the RU Marines, as the volunteers were no longer of use to them.
American soldiers in Oregon ready to shipped to Micronesia, 1913
European Colonial Soldiers and Native Soldiers in European Micronesia, 1913
Soon after his return from Micronesia, in June, 1914, Jack was honorably discharged from the army. After being discharged from the army, Jack Levy might his way to Oregon with a small caravan of other recently discharged veterans. After arriving in Linkville, Oregon, Levy bought an apartment in a small apartment building and began to work as a delivery man for Sweet Victory Soda, a job in which he would drive around an autocarriage full of crates of the drink and then deliver them to local stores and homes all around town. However, Jack was quickly becoming bored with his life as a delivery boy. As Levy wrote; “Truth be told, I needed to find another war to fight in.”
Linkville, Oregon, 1909
Although I will be writing on Africa soon, the main thread's CoCorea meme has actually inspired me to write some Carolina-Korea stuff here. Here's my first installment
The first mission trip to Korea sent by the Presbyterian Church of the Confederation of the Carolinas landed in Busan on April 17th, 1874. Comprised of 150 men, women, and children, it was the single largest group of missionaries ever sent into Asia by the Carolinians. They were led by Reverend Samuel Robert Howe of Charlotte, North Carolina. Reverend Howe was a wise man, who in preparation for the trip taught himself fluent Mandarin Chinese. When questioned on his use of "that yellow devil tongue," the Reverend would smile and pull out his map of the world. He would direct his questioners to Korea's proximity to China, and then exclaim the same speech "We are sailing for an uncharted land my dear fellow. Not a single member of the English-speaking races has yet set foot in this mysterious kingdom. Therefore, it is foolish to assume they will understand our beloved mother tongue. However, given the territory's proximity to the lands of the heathenish Chinese race, it seems likely that at least the educated among them speak Chinese. I have no love for China or Chinese, but I do believe that if we can't communicate with these fellers, our ability to spread the Gospel will be quite severely limited." This explanation was rational enough to sway just about everyone who heard it, and eventually the questioning ended. The expedition left for Busan a year before their arrival, to much jubilation from the Carolinian public. The nation was feeling an upsurge in national confidence thanks to the recent colonization of Jacksonland and the still fresh memory of West Carolina's reclamation, and the Great Disturbance had yet to come. The overwhelming majority of Cokies were unceasingly confident that the march of their civilization would continue without fail.
The journey of this first expedition was long and arduous. The Panama Canal did not yet exist, so the missionaries had to travel from Carolina to German Africa, then Jacksonland, then a tense stop off in the French Raj, followed by a couple final stops in Dutch Asia. When the missionaries arrived, they were greeted by a hostile "platoon" of armored Korean soldiers. The men in the party had their guns drawn, and it appeared a disastrous bloodbath would ensue. However, Reverend Howe quickly put his Chinese training to work, and managed to talk down the soldiers. He was apprehended by the troops and brought before Jeon Yuk, a senior official for the Joeson Dynasty. The two conversed for several hours and Reverend Howe managed to convince Jeon to allow his missionaries to station themselves in Busan. From there, the missionaries began learning Korean and Chinese under Howe's direction, preparing to print the Presbyterian Bible in both languages. After roughly another year, the missionaries produced the first Korean and Chinese language Presbyterian Bibles. By 1878, the missionaries had printed over 20,000 bibles, and had also set up an English language school to "civilize the locals." There were clashes with the Joeson authorities, but the dynasty had been in a state of stagnation and decline for years, and the increasing Christianization of the local Joeson authorities meant that the missionaries could continue their work relatively unimpeded. However, the relatively small number of isolated missionaries could only do so much. Nonetheless, this first wave of missionaries laid down the foundation for later work.
The Reverend Samuel Robert Howe and his family, shortly before their 1873 departure for Korea.
The late 1890's would see the start of a new wave of Carolinian missionary activity. The rise of Custer, the annexation of the Goodyear Islands, and the rise of Fascist Australia and Holy Nippon made travel to and from Korea much easier. Now, Cokie missionaries could hop on a train in Carolina, speed to Oregon or annexed Mexico in a couple of weeks, and then pop onto a steamer and spend a couple months traveling to Nippon before finally heading to Korea. The creation of the Great Canal in former Panama in 1892 made travel even easier, allowing a Cokie missionary to hop on a ship in Charleston and be in Korea in a short couple of months. When combined with the economic boom after the Great Disturbance and a continued desire to prove Carolinian strength, the result was thousands upon thousands of Carolinian missionaries flooding into Korea. Armed with handy dandy pocket Korean-English dictionaries printed by the original batch of missionaries, Korean language bibles, and of course sidearms, the new wave of missionaries would land in Busan and then move rapidly towards Inchon, Seoul, Daegu, and even as far North as Pyongyang, a place surprisingly receptive to the missionaries. With a flood of resources and manpower coming in, the Cokies set to work erecting churches and schools in rapid fashion. Although the churches weren't quite as popular (for reasons about to be explored) the schools most definitely were. Thousands of Korean peasants sent their children to be educated by missionaries, who taught them Carolinian English, modern agricultural techniques, and other useful things. Of course, not everyone appreciated the foreign intruders.
The Korean people were and are famously xenophobic. Korea is known as the Hermit Kingdom for a reason, and it was certainly not the friendly kind of hermit, but rather the angry type who yells "get off my lawn" before opening fire on small children and animals. By 1900, the Joeson Dynasty and traditional Korean shamans and Confucian leaders, as well as a good portion of the peasantry, were extremely angry at the swaggering foreigners. In the almost 12 years between 1900 and Carolina's entry into the Great Patriotic War in November of 1911, there were 20 Carolinian military interventions in Korea. These interventions are mostly beyond the scope of this chapter, but they were almost always incited by attacks on Carolinian missionaries, and ranged from small gunboat actions to proper invasions. These interventions, and the growth of the missionary movement, were put on hold by the Great War, and scarcely resumed before the Germanian Civil War drew in an enraged Carolinian populace. Thus, 1911 is considered the end of the second wave of Cokie missionary endeavor. Missionary presence in Korea by 1911 numbered well into the thousands, but without access to Cokie military resources their influence was more limited than it had been previously.
The semi-triumphant end of the Germanian Civil War opened the door for the third wave of Carolinian missionary activity. With newly acquired Yonderland and East Carolina in tow, it was cheaper than ever for Carolinian missionaries to launch themselves at Korea. Korea remained by far the largest destination for Cokie missionaries, even exceeding the African territories. The 1920's and 1930's saw more Cokie missionary activity than ever, and this was accompanied by another two dozen military interventions until the fateful year of 1932, where with the help of local collaborators, Korea would be changed forever. Before and after that fateful date, the Cokies continued to influence the Korean population, and the result speak for themselves. By the outbreak of the war between the Union and the Neutrality Pact in 1936, a sizable minority of Korea was fluent in Carolinian English. Furthermore, roughly 40% of the Korean population were professing Presbyterians. As the famous Cokie war anthem goes, the missionaries vowed to work and fight "Till the Heathens are defeated, Till the Lord's Work is completed."
The CNS Libertas, a gunboat used in several Cokie interventions in Korea
Korean Presbyterians in Pyongyang "The Jerusalem of the East" circa 1905
First Presbyterian Church in Pyongyang, 1909
Hark the Sound of Missionary Voices: Carolinian Missionaries in Korea
Missionaries from the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville (1898)
When most people think of Free World influence in Asia, they think about Australia, the RUA, and the Dutch. Australia is actually within the realm of Asia and Oceania, making it a fairly obvious choice. The Dutch have built a massive empire in the region, containing the Philippines, Indochina, and other territories. Of course, the Yankee behemoth's history of opening and then conquering Nippon is infamous. However, the Carolinians exerted a surprising amount of influence in Asia. Cokie mercenaries helped exterminate Australian aboriginals and police the Dutch Empire, while Cokie traders, soldiers, and diplomats established a substantial presence in Holy Nippon and its successor Yankee states. However, there is no place where Carolinian influence was more obvious than the Hermit Kingdom of Korea. Although the Cokies did not colonize the Peninsula, they were by far the most active foreign power there. Given the fact that the alternatives were colonization by Europa, colonization by the Dutch, annexation by China, annexation by Russia, or potential genocide and annexation by the Union, Korea got off very easily. In this segment, we will explore the impact of Carolinian missionaries on Korea.
Missionaries from the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville (1898)
The first mission trip to Korea sent by the Presbyterian Church of the Confederation of the Carolinas landed in Busan on April 17th, 1874. Comprised of 150 men, women, and children, it was the single largest group of missionaries ever sent into Asia by the Carolinians. They were led by Reverend Samuel Robert Howe of Charlotte, North Carolina. Reverend Howe was a wise man, who in preparation for the trip taught himself fluent Mandarin Chinese. When questioned on his use of "that yellow devil tongue," the Reverend would smile and pull out his map of the world. He would direct his questioners to Korea's proximity to China, and then exclaim the same speech "We are sailing for an uncharted land my dear fellow. Not a single member of the English-speaking races has yet set foot in this mysterious kingdom. Therefore, it is foolish to assume they will understand our beloved mother tongue. However, given the territory's proximity to the lands of the heathenish Chinese race, it seems likely that at least the educated among them speak Chinese. I have no love for China or Chinese, but I do believe that if we can't communicate with these fellers, our ability to spread the Gospel will be quite severely limited." This explanation was rational enough to sway just about everyone who heard it, and eventually the questioning ended. The expedition left for Busan a year before their arrival, to much jubilation from the Carolinian public. The nation was feeling an upsurge in national confidence thanks to the recent colonization of Jacksonland and the still fresh memory of West Carolina's reclamation, and the Great Disturbance had yet to come. The overwhelming majority of Cokies were unceasingly confident that the march of their civilization would continue without fail.
The journey of this first expedition was long and arduous. The Panama Canal did not yet exist, so the missionaries had to travel from Carolina to German Africa, then Jacksonland, then a tense stop off in the French Raj, followed by a couple final stops in Dutch Asia. When the missionaries arrived, they were greeted by a hostile "platoon" of armored Korean soldiers. The men in the party had their guns drawn, and it appeared a disastrous bloodbath would ensue. However, Reverend Howe quickly put his Chinese training to work, and managed to talk down the soldiers. He was apprehended by the troops and brought before Jeon Yuk, a senior official for the Joeson Dynasty. The two conversed for several hours and Reverend Howe managed to convince Jeon to allow his missionaries to station themselves in Busan. From there, the missionaries began learning Korean and Chinese under Howe's direction, preparing to print the Presbyterian Bible in both languages. After roughly another year, the missionaries produced the first Korean and Chinese language Presbyterian Bibles. By 1878, the missionaries had printed over 20,000 bibles, and had also set up an English language school to "civilize the locals." There were clashes with the Joeson authorities, but the dynasty had been in a state of stagnation and decline for years, and the increasing Christianization of the local Joeson authorities meant that the missionaries could continue their work relatively unimpeded. However, the relatively small number of isolated missionaries could only do so much. Nonetheless, this first wave of missionaries laid down the foundation for later work.
The Reverend Samuel Robert Howe and his family, shortly before their 1873 departure for Korea.
The late 1890's would see the start of a new wave of Carolinian missionary activity. The rise of Custer, the annexation of the Goodyear Islands, and the rise of Fascist Australia and Holy Nippon made travel to and from Korea much easier. Now, Cokie missionaries could hop on a train in Carolina, speed to Oregon or annexed Mexico in a couple of weeks, and then pop onto a steamer and spend a couple months traveling to Nippon before finally heading to Korea. The creation of the Great Canal in former Panama in 1892 made travel even easier, allowing a Cokie missionary to hop on a ship in Charleston and be in Korea in a short couple of months. When combined with the economic boom after the Great Disturbance and a continued desire to prove Carolinian strength, the result was thousands upon thousands of Carolinian missionaries flooding into Korea. Armed with handy dandy pocket Korean-English dictionaries printed by the original batch of missionaries, Korean language bibles, and of course sidearms, the new wave of missionaries would land in Busan and then move rapidly towards Inchon, Seoul, Daegu, and even as far North as Pyongyang, a place surprisingly receptive to the missionaries. With a flood of resources and manpower coming in, the Cokies set to work erecting churches and schools in rapid fashion. Although the churches weren't quite as popular (for reasons about to be explored) the schools most definitely were. Thousands of Korean peasants sent their children to be educated by missionaries, who taught them Carolinian English, modern agricultural techniques, and other useful things. Of course, not everyone appreciated the foreign intruders.
The Korean people were and are famously xenophobic. Korea is known as the Hermit Kingdom for a reason, and it was certainly not the friendly kind of hermit, but rather the angry type who yells "get off my lawn" before opening fire on small children and animals. By 1900, the Joeson Dynasty and traditional Korean shamans and Confucian leaders, as well as a good portion of the peasantry, were extremely angry at the swaggering foreigners. In the almost 12 years between 1900 and Carolina's entry into the Great Patriotic War in November of 1911, there were 20 Carolinian military interventions in Korea. These interventions are mostly beyond the scope of this chapter, but they were almost always incited by attacks on Carolinian missionaries, and ranged from small gunboat actions to proper invasions. These interventions, and the growth of the missionary movement, were put on hold by the Great War, and scarcely resumed before the Germanian Civil War drew in an enraged Carolinian populace. Thus, 1911 is considered the end of the second wave of Cokie missionary endeavor. Missionary presence in Korea by 1911 numbered well into the thousands, but without access to Cokie military resources their influence was more limited than it had been previously.
The semi-triumphant end of the Germanian Civil War opened the door for the third wave of Carolinian missionary activity. With newly acquired Yonderland and East Carolina in tow, it was cheaper than ever for Carolinian missionaries to launch themselves at Korea. Korea remained by far the largest destination for Cokie missionaries, even exceeding the African territories. The 1920's and 1930's saw more Cokie missionary activity than ever, and this was accompanied by another two dozen military interventions until the fateful year of 1932, where with the help of local collaborators, Korea would be changed forever. Before and after that fateful date, the Cokies continued to influence the Korean population, and the result speak for themselves. By the outbreak of the war between the Union and the Neutrality Pact in 1936, a sizable minority of Korea was fluent in Carolinian English. Furthermore, roughly 40% of the Korean population were professing Presbyterians. As the famous Cokie war anthem goes, the missionaries vowed to work and fight "Till the Heathens are defeated, Till the Lord's Work is completed."
The CNS Libertas, a gunboat used in several Cokie interventions in Korea
Korean Presbyterians in Pyongyang "The Jerusalem of the East" circa 1905
First Presbyterian Church in Pyongyang, 1909
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I wonder that their friends in the AFC, and thus, the President’s office would have to say in suddenly elevating the Korean people into Jehovah knows what status, considering they’re no Nippon in terms of religionists and social and economic sophistication, and the American’s mostly dismissing them as Infees. Maybe, they’ll argue that it was the Korean ships which tried to invade Japan in the name of the Mongol Horde, but still Korean nevertheless?
That's my big concern and something I'm going to try and address. Ideally, if this were all to work, they'd go down the same path as OTL Japan, which declared the Koreans part of their race and gave Korea preferential treatment in comparison to the rest of their empire (which isn't saying much).
Here's part two of the Cokie-Korea saga! I really think I'm building this to an awesome conclusion. I doubt it will be canon, but I really would like for it to be. Even if it isn't it's gonna be so damn hilarious and crazy that I won't care.
The first recorded use of Carolinian military force in Korea occurred on March 19th, 1900. A mob of Korean xenophobes lynched a missionary family in a small village along the Yalu. The CNS Freedom, CNS Cape Hatteras, and CNS Nathan Bedford Forrest were dispatched along with a contingent of 200 Carolinian Marines. The result was as predictable as it was bloody; the entire village was utterly exterminated. The international reaction was also predictable, as the entire Fascist sphere, alongside the Dutch, the Germans, the Scandinavians, and even the Catholics praised the Carolinians for "defending Christian civilization." Incidents similar to this would occur 7 more times between 1900 and 1904. The story was always the same; an angry village, dead missionaries, and an overwhelming Cokie response. May 1905 saw the first major problem in Korea. A drunk missionary accidentally told a prominent leader in Daegu "I would like to help fuck your sister," rather than "I would like to help find your sister," having flipped to the wrong page of his Korean-English dictionary after forgetting the word for find. The result was a series of massive anti-Carolinian riots that local authorities gave unofficial permission to, and resulted in the deaths of over 90 missionaries and traders. It took 3 months, but by August 14th, 1905, 10 ships and over 4,700 Marines had steamed up the Nakdong River and arrived in Daegu. The city was shelled for 48 consecutive hours, destroying over half of the city. Then, on August 18th, the Marines landed and slaughtered the local garrison, as well as anyone who resisted. Seoul was infuriated, but the prospect of a wider intervention stayed their hand for the time being.
Cokie Marines pose atop a destroyed fort outside of Daegu (1905)
The results of the Subjugation of Daegu were widespread. On the Carolinian side, it convinced Chancellor Gamble and the House of Citizens to fund the construction of the Pacific and Asiatic Squadrons of the Carolinian Navy, complete with a constant retainer of Marines. The funding wasn't the issue, but finding somewhere to dock the new ships and troops would be. To this end, Chancellor Gamble both negotiated with Philadelphia and Nippon, and decided to kick the Australians around a bit. When it came to Custer and Splendidfaith, Gamble worked out a deal where, for an annual multi-million dollar retainer fee, the Cokies could station their ships and soldiers freely in Nipponese and Yankee bases and ports all around the Pacific. However, Gamble also took the opportunity to engage in a little bullying. Secretly resenting his position as a Yankee puppet, Gamble would take any opportunity he could to harass and demean weaker powers in the Fascist sphere to make himself and Carolina feel stronger. To this end, he demanded that the Australians allow the Carolinian Navy free use of all Australian ports, and allow the stationing of Cokie troops in any port they chose. After using some heavy handed coercion, including a memorable incident where the Vulture-class battleship CNS Old Hickory steamed into Melbourne without permission, the Australians were forced to concede. This thrilled the Carolinian public to no end, who were happy to be pushing around a fascist state rather than being pushed around by one. By 1907, both squadrons were deployed or in the process of being deployed, crewed by an expanded number of sailors and marines. It wasn't a moment too soon either.
1906 had seen 2 more minor incidents in Korea that left the Cokies relatively unconcerned. 1907 saw only 1 more of the same, but there were unhappy rumblings emerging out of Seoul. By 1908, King Gojong was fed up with the constant interventions by the Carolinian military and with the rising power of Carolinian missionaries and their disciples. On June 3rd, he issued a decree proclaiming "The great and honorable people of Korea have been subjected to the plague of foreign influence for far too long. I hereby order all foreigners depart my fair kingdom or face dire consequences." Some heeded the warning, but the majority did not. A week after the decree was issued, royal soldiers began dragging missionaries into the streets and beheading them. When news of this reached the outside world, the Carolinian response was apocalyptic. The entirety of both the Asiatic and Pacific Squadrons were mustered, alongside a large invasion force that was sent out from the Carolinas literally hours after news broke. In the meantime, Cokie traders were compelled by the government to deliver weapons and ammo to the stranded missionaries whenever possible. By late July, facing increasing violence and thousands of beleaguered citizens, the Cokie military arrived in force. 40 ships and over 25,000 troops and sailors steamed into Korea. They immediately targeted Inchon and Seoul, two hotbeds of violence, and the fighting was brutal. For 3 months, the Carolinian Navy and Marines waged a brutal and industrialized war against the Koreans. On November 1st, King Gojong and the Crown Prince were captured fleeing Seoul. They were kept captive until the city fell, then unceremoniously executed in front of the citizenry. The King's second son, Sunjong, was enthroned on November 15th. Thinking he was doing what was best for Korea, Sunjong signed a treaty of friendship with Carolina, and then rescinded the royal decree his father had passed. The missionaries could stay, and 500 Cokie soldiers were to be permanently stationed in Busan. For the time being, Korea was mostly pacified. 1909 did see an unusually high number of interventions as the Asiatic Squadron mopped up straggling resisters. 7 small invasions and gunboat trips later, Korea was seemingly under the Cokie heel. 1910-1920 remained peaceful, as Sunjong didn't want to anger his benefactors while the Carolinians were too distracted by the Great War and the Germanian Civil War to be very aggressive in Korea.
The Pacification of Korea and the preceding fighting did a great deal to shape Cokie perceptions of the Korean people. Although many expected the reaction to be one of disgust and outright hatred, instead there was a surprising respect on the part of many Carolinians. In the Cokie mind, anyone who showed up to a fight to protect his nation and race, and fought in a way they considered honorable, was worthy of at least some respect. When one looks deeper, this is less surprising than one might think. Korea and Carolina have a surprising amount in common. Both were a small tributary state to a large, bullying, culturally similar hegemon. Both nations had an intense brand of xenophobia. They both believed in the strong importance of a patriarchal family, and carried those beliefs over into the public sphere. Plus, the willingness of the Korean people to embrace Christianity gave the Cokies great joy. What this resulted in were some interesting ideas regarding Korea's racial status and what the nation's future should be. Embracing the Lost Jew theory expounded by the Yankees regarding the Nipponese, many Carolinian missionaries and "racial scientists" began saying that the Koreans were a pure kind of either Lost Jew, or perhaps a lost band of "fair skinned and dark haired" Anglo-Saxons. This was not overly popular with the Yankees, but the Lost Jew idea gained some credence with the Nipponese, some of whom started to view the Koreans as a separate branch of their Judaic tribe, whose "degenerate culture" could be explained away by being forced to adapt to the "hordes of Chinese Mongoloids threatening their border." The consistent preservation of Korean ideals of bloodline purity, ancestor worship, and patriarchal respect for fathers and leaders led one Cokie racial scientist to declare "The Korean people, like their Nipponese siblings, have many of the kernels of proper modern Protestant civilization. They need only be nurtured."
This idea of Korea's racial status and nurturing civilization there (or not) was something that military and government planners mulled over in the period from 1910-1920. There were ultimately three factions, whose base of support and basic ideas will be examined here before moving on to the next era. The faction most in-line with Yankee interests found its support in the OPV, and called for what was, in essence, the Immolation of Korea. Not all Cokies were fond of the Koreans, and plenty bore grudges over their constant rebelliousness and the violence of the Subjugation of Daegu and the Pacification of Korea. They argued for a joint Carolinian-Union-Nipponese venture to eliminate "the Korean Problem" that would allow for limited Cokie settlement in the Peninsula, as well as investment. However, much of Carolinian High Command disliked this idea because it gave so much leeway to the Yankees. If they had spent so much blood and treasure in Korea, they deserved to take it in one way or another. The more jingoistic faction called for the total annexation of Korea, perhaps renaming it "Oriental Carolina." This school was divided on whether the Koreans were Lost Jews to be integrated into Cokie society, or racial inferiors to be worked like dogs. The final school, which would gradually become more popular, was the so-called "puppet state" school. Korea was a pretty well populated place for the time, and it was right between the Yankees, the Russians, and the Chinese. Directly controlling the territory would be costly and dangerous. However, this school was also divided. Those who didn't particularly care for the Koreans were content to just keep installing puppet kingdoms as needed. However, another final group of idealists had a different vision; to recreate Carolina in Korea. Understanding these factions is important in light of the outcome of the Corean War. With this in mind, we now evaluate the final era of military intervention.
The paradox of this final era was an unavoidable product of Carolinian success in Korea. More Koreans than ever were praying to the Presbyterian god, and speaking Carolinian English with an admittedly peculiar kind of accent. However, for those hardline xenophobes that remained, matters seemed more urgent than ever. It didn't help that King Sunjong was declining into old age, and the court was divided. Between 1920 and 1932, the Carolinians had to intervene 24 times in Korea. Most of it was still small-scale violence, and worked in their favor. With every clan or village of hardliners they massacred, the Cokies engineered Korean society just a little more in their favor. However, a cornered man is the world's most dangerous man, and the Koreans were no different. On the American Thanksgiving in 1931, a large peasant army of over 200,000 Koreans gathered outside of Pyongyang. Some had traveled weeks on foot to get there. The city was hated by Korean xenophobes, as the populace there had proven very receptive to Carolinian missionary work. In a major triumph for the Carolinian people, the city was now 90% Presbyterian. Those non-Presbyterians who remained were increasingly disgruntled. That evening, the mob of peasants attacked, while inside collaborators riled up the non-Presbyterian Koreans inside. The result was horrific. Before a proper defense could be mounted, thousands of Korean Presbyterians were slaughtered. Eventually, the Presbyterians within Pyongyang were able to beat back those inside the city walls, and man their modern, Carolinian made defenses against the poorly armed peasant army. They also managed to get news out to a local missionary group. Within a week, the Asiatic Squadron, complete with 6,000 marines in tow, was sailing toward Pyongyang.
When they arrived on November 16th, the commanders of the force realized that the numbers of Korean peasants had been understated. Reinforcements were called for, and the Pacific Squadron was soon steaming towards Pyongyang, as well as the Royal Bodyguard of King Songjun. The Relief of Pyongyang was a gruesome 4 month long slog of waiting for reinforcements through inclement weather and murdering hordes of xenophobic peasants. The snow that fell over the city turned red as soon as it hit the ground. When ammunition ran low, Carolinian troops and their more primitively armed allies resorted to using shrapnel and fireworks. Eventually, on Feburary 23rd, the peasants broke. The Carolinian media commended "our heroic Protestant warriors aiding in the defense of the noble Christians of Pyongyang. Truly, our boys in uniform are modern day knights." However, the jubilation was extremely short lived. Three days later the entire royal family died in a fire at their palace in Seoul. Some say that it was caused by xenophobic courtiers. Others say it was lit by Carolinian agents, angry at his failure to keep Korea under control. Another group believes it to be a case of bad timing. Whatever the case, the effect was immediate. Korea began sliding into civil war, and the fighting was already becoming bloody. Into the breach, the Carolinians would lift up rifle, pike, and saber to defend their countrymen and co-religionists....
Cokie troops in pith helmets bearing the Carolinian Vulture march through Korea after destroying a village (1904)
The CNS Young Hickory, one of the ships engaged in the Relief of Pyongyang
Starving Korean Presbyterians during the Relief of Pyongyang
King Sunjong in Western uniform, 1918
The Hermit Kingdom vs. The Gentleman's Republic: A History of Cokie Military Intervention in Korea
The Carolinian Navy's Asiatic Squadron off the coast of Inchon during the 1908 Pacification
The Carolinian project in Korea was mainly supported by the frequent and effective use of military force. Carolinian missionaries, businessmen, and others wouldn't have been able to pursue their goals in Korea without Charlotte's guns backing them up. Most interventions were relatively small, no more than a couple gunboats and 100 Marines blasting a village that dared to kill a missionary. However, as the Joseon government became increasingly hostile towards the Carolinians, there were several large scale interventions against the government that took place. Two things are important to note before we dive into the history of this affair. Firstly, this chapter does not include any mention of the Corean War that begins in 1932. It involves other details beyond the scope of this chapter. Secondly, it's very important to understand that the American Fascist sphere was a silent partner in this endeavor. Not a single Yankee soldier stepped foot onto the shores of Korea, but without Yankee help, the whole endeavor would have been nigh-impossible. Carolina's Pacific and Asian Squadrons were entirely stationed in Union or allied territory, and Charlotte paid a fee to house these relatively small fleets in Union ports. Yankee companies helped supply the Cokie soldiers who invaded Korea, and America freely allowed them to use American bases in Japan. This fact both reinforces the truth of how utterly dependent Carolina was on Yankee power, but also demonstrates how the Cokies used that power to their own ends rather than being mere slaves to it like other American satellite states. That being said, lets dive in to this fascinating history.
The Carolinian Navy's Asiatic Squadron off the coast of Inchon during the 1908 Pacification
The first recorded use of Carolinian military force in Korea occurred on March 19th, 1900. A mob of Korean xenophobes lynched a missionary family in a small village along the Yalu. The CNS Freedom, CNS Cape Hatteras, and CNS Nathan Bedford Forrest were dispatched along with a contingent of 200 Carolinian Marines. The result was as predictable as it was bloody; the entire village was utterly exterminated. The international reaction was also predictable, as the entire Fascist sphere, alongside the Dutch, the Germans, the Scandinavians, and even the Catholics praised the Carolinians for "defending Christian civilization." Incidents similar to this would occur 7 more times between 1900 and 1904. The story was always the same; an angry village, dead missionaries, and an overwhelming Cokie response. May 1905 saw the first major problem in Korea. A drunk missionary accidentally told a prominent leader in Daegu "I would like to help fuck your sister," rather than "I would like to help find your sister," having flipped to the wrong page of his Korean-English dictionary after forgetting the word for find. The result was a series of massive anti-Carolinian riots that local authorities gave unofficial permission to, and resulted in the deaths of over 90 missionaries and traders. It took 3 months, but by August 14th, 1905, 10 ships and over 4,700 Marines had steamed up the Nakdong River and arrived in Daegu. The city was shelled for 48 consecutive hours, destroying over half of the city. Then, on August 18th, the Marines landed and slaughtered the local garrison, as well as anyone who resisted. Seoul was infuriated, but the prospect of a wider intervention stayed their hand for the time being.
Cokie Marines pose atop a destroyed fort outside of Daegu (1905)
The results of the Subjugation of Daegu were widespread. On the Carolinian side, it convinced Chancellor Gamble and the House of Citizens to fund the construction of the Pacific and Asiatic Squadrons of the Carolinian Navy, complete with a constant retainer of Marines. The funding wasn't the issue, but finding somewhere to dock the new ships and troops would be. To this end, Chancellor Gamble both negotiated with Philadelphia and Nippon, and decided to kick the Australians around a bit. When it came to Custer and Splendidfaith, Gamble worked out a deal where, for an annual multi-million dollar retainer fee, the Cokies could station their ships and soldiers freely in Nipponese and Yankee bases and ports all around the Pacific. However, Gamble also took the opportunity to engage in a little bullying. Secretly resenting his position as a Yankee puppet, Gamble would take any opportunity he could to harass and demean weaker powers in the Fascist sphere to make himself and Carolina feel stronger. To this end, he demanded that the Australians allow the Carolinian Navy free use of all Australian ports, and allow the stationing of Cokie troops in any port they chose. After using some heavy handed coercion, including a memorable incident where the Vulture-class battleship CNS Old Hickory steamed into Melbourne without permission, the Australians were forced to concede. This thrilled the Carolinian public to no end, who were happy to be pushing around a fascist state rather than being pushed around by one. By 1907, both squadrons were deployed or in the process of being deployed, crewed by an expanded number of sailors and marines. It wasn't a moment too soon either.
1906 had seen 2 more minor incidents in Korea that left the Cokies relatively unconcerned. 1907 saw only 1 more of the same, but there were unhappy rumblings emerging out of Seoul. By 1908, King Gojong was fed up with the constant interventions by the Carolinian military and with the rising power of Carolinian missionaries and their disciples. On June 3rd, he issued a decree proclaiming "The great and honorable people of Korea have been subjected to the plague of foreign influence for far too long. I hereby order all foreigners depart my fair kingdom or face dire consequences." Some heeded the warning, but the majority did not. A week after the decree was issued, royal soldiers began dragging missionaries into the streets and beheading them. When news of this reached the outside world, the Carolinian response was apocalyptic. The entirety of both the Asiatic and Pacific Squadrons were mustered, alongside a large invasion force that was sent out from the Carolinas literally hours after news broke. In the meantime, Cokie traders were compelled by the government to deliver weapons and ammo to the stranded missionaries whenever possible. By late July, facing increasing violence and thousands of beleaguered citizens, the Cokie military arrived in force. 40 ships and over 25,000 troops and sailors steamed into Korea. They immediately targeted Inchon and Seoul, two hotbeds of violence, and the fighting was brutal. For 3 months, the Carolinian Navy and Marines waged a brutal and industrialized war against the Koreans. On November 1st, King Gojong and the Crown Prince were captured fleeing Seoul. They were kept captive until the city fell, then unceremoniously executed in front of the citizenry. The King's second son, Sunjong, was enthroned on November 15th. Thinking he was doing what was best for Korea, Sunjong signed a treaty of friendship with Carolina, and then rescinded the royal decree his father had passed. The missionaries could stay, and 500 Cokie soldiers were to be permanently stationed in Busan. For the time being, Korea was mostly pacified. 1909 did see an unusually high number of interventions as the Asiatic Squadron mopped up straggling resisters. 7 small invasions and gunboat trips later, Korea was seemingly under the Cokie heel. 1910-1920 remained peaceful, as Sunjong didn't want to anger his benefactors while the Carolinians were too distracted by the Great War and the Germanian Civil War to be very aggressive in Korea.
The Pacification of Korea and the preceding fighting did a great deal to shape Cokie perceptions of the Korean people. Although many expected the reaction to be one of disgust and outright hatred, instead there was a surprising respect on the part of many Carolinians. In the Cokie mind, anyone who showed up to a fight to protect his nation and race, and fought in a way they considered honorable, was worthy of at least some respect. When one looks deeper, this is less surprising than one might think. Korea and Carolina have a surprising amount in common. Both were a small tributary state to a large, bullying, culturally similar hegemon. Both nations had an intense brand of xenophobia. They both believed in the strong importance of a patriarchal family, and carried those beliefs over into the public sphere. Plus, the willingness of the Korean people to embrace Christianity gave the Cokies great joy. What this resulted in were some interesting ideas regarding Korea's racial status and what the nation's future should be. Embracing the Lost Jew theory expounded by the Yankees regarding the Nipponese, many Carolinian missionaries and "racial scientists" began saying that the Koreans were a pure kind of either Lost Jew, or perhaps a lost band of "fair skinned and dark haired" Anglo-Saxons. This was not overly popular with the Yankees, but the Lost Jew idea gained some credence with the Nipponese, some of whom started to view the Koreans as a separate branch of their Judaic tribe, whose "degenerate culture" could be explained away by being forced to adapt to the "hordes of Chinese Mongoloids threatening their border." The consistent preservation of Korean ideals of bloodline purity, ancestor worship, and patriarchal respect for fathers and leaders led one Cokie racial scientist to declare "The Korean people, like their Nipponese siblings, have many of the kernels of proper modern Protestant civilization. They need only be nurtured."
This idea of Korea's racial status and nurturing civilization there (or not) was something that military and government planners mulled over in the period from 1910-1920. There were ultimately three factions, whose base of support and basic ideas will be examined here before moving on to the next era. The faction most in-line with Yankee interests found its support in the OPV, and called for what was, in essence, the Immolation of Korea. Not all Cokies were fond of the Koreans, and plenty bore grudges over their constant rebelliousness and the violence of the Subjugation of Daegu and the Pacification of Korea. They argued for a joint Carolinian-Union-Nipponese venture to eliminate "the Korean Problem" that would allow for limited Cokie settlement in the Peninsula, as well as investment. However, much of Carolinian High Command disliked this idea because it gave so much leeway to the Yankees. If they had spent so much blood and treasure in Korea, they deserved to take it in one way or another. The more jingoistic faction called for the total annexation of Korea, perhaps renaming it "Oriental Carolina." This school was divided on whether the Koreans were Lost Jews to be integrated into Cokie society, or racial inferiors to be worked like dogs. The final school, which would gradually become more popular, was the so-called "puppet state" school. Korea was a pretty well populated place for the time, and it was right between the Yankees, the Russians, and the Chinese. Directly controlling the territory would be costly and dangerous. However, this school was also divided. Those who didn't particularly care for the Koreans were content to just keep installing puppet kingdoms as needed. However, another final group of idealists had a different vision; to recreate Carolina in Korea. Understanding these factions is important in light of the outcome of the Corean War. With this in mind, we now evaluate the final era of military intervention.
The paradox of this final era was an unavoidable product of Carolinian success in Korea. More Koreans than ever were praying to the Presbyterian god, and speaking Carolinian English with an admittedly peculiar kind of accent. However, for those hardline xenophobes that remained, matters seemed more urgent than ever. It didn't help that King Sunjong was declining into old age, and the court was divided. Between 1920 and 1932, the Carolinians had to intervene 24 times in Korea. Most of it was still small-scale violence, and worked in their favor. With every clan or village of hardliners they massacred, the Cokies engineered Korean society just a little more in their favor. However, a cornered man is the world's most dangerous man, and the Koreans were no different. On the American Thanksgiving in 1931, a large peasant army of over 200,000 Koreans gathered outside of Pyongyang. Some had traveled weeks on foot to get there. The city was hated by Korean xenophobes, as the populace there had proven very receptive to Carolinian missionary work. In a major triumph for the Carolinian people, the city was now 90% Presbyterian. Those non-Presbyterians who remained were increasingly disgruntled. That evening, the mob of peasants attacked, while inside collaborators riled up the non-Presbyterian Koreans inside. The result was horrific. Before a proper defense could be mounted, thousands of Korean Presbyterians were slaughtered. Eventually, the Presbyterians within Pyongyang were able to beat back those inside the city walls, and man their modern, Carolinian made defenses against the poorly armed peasant army. They also managed to get news out to a local missionary group. Within a week, the Asiatic Squadron, complete with 6,000 marines in tow, was sailing toward Pyongyang.
When they arrived on November 16th, the commanders of the force realized that the numbers of Korean peasants had been understated. Reinforcements were called for, and the Pacific Squadron was soon steaming towards Pyongyang, as well as the Royal Bodyguard of King Songjun. The Relief of Pyongyang was a gruesome 4 month long slog of waiting for reinforcements through inclement weather and murdering hordes of xenophobic peasants. The snow that fell over the city turned red as soon as it hit the ground. When ammunition ran low, Carolinian troops and their more primitively armed allies resorted to using shrapnel and fireworks. Eventually, on Feburary 23rd, the peasants broke. The Carolinian media commended "our heroic Protestant warriors aiding in the defense of the noble Christians of Pyongyang. Truly, our boys in uniform are modern day knights." However, the jubilation was extremely short lived. Three days later the entire royal family died in a fire at their palace in Seoul. Some say that it was caused by xenophobic courtiers. Others say it was lit by Carolinian agents, angry at his failure to keep Korea under control. Another group believes it to be a case of bad timing. Whatever the case, the effect was immediate. Korea began sliding into civil war, and the fighting was already becoming bloody. Into the breach, the Carolinians would lift up rifle, pike, and saber to defend their countrymen and co-religionists....
Cokie troops in pith helmets bearing the Carolinian Vulture march through Korea after destroying a village (1904)
The CNS Young Hickory, one of the ships engaged in the Relief of Pyongyang
Starving Korean Presbyterians during the Relief of Pyongyang
King Sunjong in Western uniform, 1918
Here's the ultimate madcap piece of this saga. I might go more into detail on the internal politics of the new Corea or on some weird Cokie racial theories. However, this is the penultimate piece.
In late March, a collection of Xenophobe warlords launched a siege of the Cokie stronghold of Busan, having forced most of the missionaries in the South back to the city. The marauders soon learned that they could not take the city, while the Cokies and their allies realized that they couldn't destroy their would-be invaders. Thus the siege settled in, although Busan's access to the sea meant that starvation wasn't a worry. Instead, the invaders tried to use psychological tactics and manpower to wear down their enemies, to no avail. The Siege would remain a largely static thing for several grueling months, until the Relief of Busan in July, where a fresh wave of 7,500 Cokie Volunteers pushed through the hordes of fanatical but ill-equipped and ill-trained peasants.
In the North, another contingent of 5,000 men landed in the city of Haeju, reclaiming it from warring Royalists and Xenophobes. With the shattering of the peasant army, Haeju was the last real piece of resistance to Cokie power. The rest of the North had proven surprisingly open to Presbyterianism and Pyongyang was the biggest stronghold for Cokie forces on the Peninsula with Busan under stress. Carolinian officers spent two months training and equipping their enthusiastic co-religionists into the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corean Volunteer Divisions. This force of 60,000 Koreans was ready to do or die for God and Corea. The leader of the 3rd Corean Volunteers, Kim Hyong-jik, distinguished himself as a great leader of men and an excellent Cokie ally. By August, the Carolinians had granted him the title of General of all Corean Volunteers, and had begun treating him like an equal in High Command. His pull over the troops was too powerful to ignore, and his willingness to slaughter Koreans from other factions cemented his loyalty.
Men affiliated with the 1st Korean Volunteers somewhere near Pyongyang (1932). This banner used the traditional spelling of Korea.
In fact, the whole experience of the war, which saw guerrilla fighting grind on into 1934, permanently altered the view of Koreans in Cokie minds. Whereas before most viewed them as childish, if not inferior, tales of their bravery in defending the Presbyterian faith made a view of them as a branch of the Lost Jewish Japanese grew more popular in the Confederation. By the end of the war, it was the dominant view by far and away. Newspapers reported on Korean soldiers "teaching our boys to put Kim-Chee on their BBQ sandwiches, creating a delectable and spicy sandwich. They also helped make the soldiers canned beef into a delicious Bull-Gogi. Truly, these Lost Jews know how to cook!" In turn, the Cokies introduced their Korean comrades to chewing tobacco, moonshine, and movies. When combined with the natural bonds built during the course of war, the result was an enduring comradeship between the Koreans and the Carolinians. An unlikely partnership, made possible by the twists and turns of history.
After Busan was relieved in July and the troops were trained, an additional 20,000 Cokie troops were mustered by the end of the year. Starting on New Year's of 1933, the roughly 40,000 Cokies on the Peninsula, joined by 70,000 Koreans (10,000 more having joined up in the meantime) and over 70 ships ranging from gunboats to battleships launched a two pronged offensive on the increasingly exhausted alliance of Xenophobe warlords and the dwindling Royalists. The main targets were the cities of Inchon and Seoul, the biggest strongholds of the warlords and Royalists respectively. The following months saw a war of grinding attrition and brutal guerrilla combat. Hundreds of farmers would come out of their fields with sharpened stakes to try and attack the soldiers, women would throw rocks, and the peasant radicals who remained generally did all they could to make life hell for the Presbyterian forces. This had the effect of causing the Presbyterian troops to wage a scorched earth war that would be memorialized in the pounding war hymn "Marching Toward Inchon"
On July 4th, 1934, the Confederation of Corea was declared a free and independent nation. On November 18th, Kim Hyong-jik was nigh-unanimously elected Chancellor. His Corean Christian Patriot Party overwhelmingly won a supermajority in the House of Citizens in Seoul. On January 13th, 1935, in the presence of Chancellor Gamble and assorted Corean and Cokie officials, on the steps of an old noble's palace, in front of thousands of citizens, Chancellor Kim was sworn in. He gave a speech which is transcribed below, as well as the lyrics of the new Corean national anthem played at the speech's conclusion:
A Republic With Korean Characteristics: The Corean War and the Rise of the Confederation of Corea
The official flag of the Confederation of Corea
On February 26th, 1932, Hell broke loose on the Korean Peninsula. King Sunjong, a great friend of the Confederation of the Carolinas, had died in a fire along with his family. The fighting started almost as soon as the flames were put out. Factions formed across the country as soon as word got out of the King's death. Meanwhile, Cokie troops who were preparing to leave after the Relief of Pyongyang were instead told to stay put and wait for reinforcements and supply lines. The factions that formed had solidified by March 2nd, when the first true fighting began. There were the Royalists, led by Tak Chung-hee, a powerful Joseon noble who wished to enthrone himself as the new king of Korea. The second faction was a rough alliance of warlords the Cokie Yellow Press dubbed "the heathens" but could perhaps best be described as the Xenophobes. They didn't care who the new king was, their first priority was destroying all foreigners (Cokies) and their "lackeys" (Christians). Finally, you had the Presbyterians, who quickly rallied around the Cross or the Moon and Stars and pledged cooperation with the Carolinians. With the pieces in play, the final showdown for control of the Peninsula had begun...The official flag of the Confederation of Corea
In late March, a collection of Xenophobe warlords launched a siege of the Cokie stronghold of Busan, having forced most of the missionaries in the South back to the city. The marauders soon learned that they could not take the city, while the Cokies and their allies realized that they couldn't destroy their would-be invaders. Thus the siege settled in, although Busan's access to the sea meant that starvation wasn't a worry. Instead, the invaders tried to use psychological tactics and manpower to wear down their enemies, to no avail. The Siege would remain a largely static thing for several grueling months, until the Relief of Busan in July, where a fresh wave of 7,500 Cokie Volunteers pushed through the hordes of fanatical but ill-equipped and ill-trained peasants.
In the North, another contingent of 5,000 men landed in the city of Haeju, reclaiming it from warring Royalists and Xenophobes. With the shattering of the peasant army, Haeju was the last real piece of resistance to Cokie power. The rest of the North had proven surprisingly open to Presbyterianism and Pyongyang was the biggest stronghold for Cokie forces on the Peninsula with Busan under stress. Carolinian officers spent two months training and equipping their enthusiastic co-religionists into the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corean Volunteer Divisions. This force of 60,000 Koreans was ready to do or die for God and Corea. The leader of the 3rd Corean Volunteers, Kim Hyong-jik, distinguished himself as a great leader of men and an excellent Cokie ally. By August, the Carolinians had granted him the title of General of all Corean Volunteers, and had begun treating him like an equal in High Command. His pull over the troops was too powerful to ignore, and his willingness to slaughter Koreans from other factions cemented his loyalty.
Men affiliated with the 1st Korean Volunteers somewhere near Pyongyang (1932). This banner used the traditional spelling of Korea.
In fact, the whole experience of the war, which saw guerrilla fighting grind on into 1934, permanently altered the view of Koreans in Cokie minds. Whereas before most viewed them as childish, if not inferior, tales of their bravery in defending the Presbyterian faith made a view of them as a branch of the Lost Jewish Japanese grew more popular in the Confederation. By the end of the war, it was the dominant view by far and away. Newspapers reported on Korean soldiers "teaching our boys to put Kim-Chee on their BBQ sandwiches, creating a delectable and spicy sandwich. They also helped make the soldiers canned beef into a delicious Bull-Gogi. Truly, these Lost Jews know how to cook!" In turn, the Cokies introduced their Korean comrades to chewing tobacco, moonshine, and movies. When combined with the natural bonds built during the course of war, the result was an enduring comradeship between the Koreans and the Carolinians. An unlikely partnership, made possible by the twists and turns of history.
After Busan was relieved in July and the troops were trained, an additional 20,000 Cokie troops were mustered by the end of the year. Starting on New Year's of 1933, the roughly 40,000 Cokies on the Peninsula, joined by 70,000 Koreans (10,000 more having joined up in the meantime) and over 70 ships ranging from gunboats to battleships launched a two pronged offensive on the increasingly exhausted alliance of Xenophobe warlords and the dwindling Royalists. The main targets were the cities of Inchon and Seoul, the biggest strongholds of the warlords and Royalists respectively. The following months saw a war of grinding attrition and brutal guerrilla combat. Hundreds of farmers would come out of their fields with sharpened stakes to try and attack the soldiers, women would throw rocks, and the peasant radicals who remained generally did all they could to make life hell for the Presbyterian forces. This had the effect of causing the Presbyterian troops to wage a scorched earth war that would be memorialized in the pounding war hymn "Marching Toward Inchon"
Bring the good old bugle boys, we'll sing another song
Sing it with a spirit that'll start the world along
Sing it as we used to sing o'er one hundred thousand strong
While we marching toward Inchon!
Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll fight and win you'll see!
Hurrah! Hurrah! For the flag that makes you free!
So we sang the chorus from P-town to the sea!
While we were marching toward Inchon!
Yes and there were Cokie men who cried with joyful tears
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen in years
They shouted many toasts and they emptied all their beers
While we were marching toward Inchon!
The year was long and brutal, but by December of 1933, both Inchon and Seoul had broken. With them, the factions they were headquarters for collapsed into squabbling cells, easily destroyed by concentrated force. Now of course, the question of what to do with Corea was at hand. Were they to annex the territory? This proved a popular idea in jingoist circles, but the Chancellor shot it down. The expense of keeping such a heavily populated, far-flung territory within the Cokie empire was far too high. Furthermore, if a substantial number of Carolinians settled the territory and then the Yankees decided to punish Carolina for something, they could cut off the colony from all outside help. Finally, Gamble did not want his boys on the frontlines for some potential Union-Loomie-China conflagration. Clearly, installing a new puppet king wasn't feasible either. This is where Kim Hyong-jik struck again. Granted a rare audience with the Chancellor and the House of Citizens, Kim called for the Carolinas to set up a new nation in Corea, based on Cokie principles. A House of Citizens, a Chancellor, courts, railroads, and even an OPV. The 38 year old was oddly persuasive, using oratory techniques he had learned from a Cokie missionary, and making sure to use flattery, bible references, and an odd, lilting, yet surprisingly adequate imitation of a Cokie accent in his speech.Sing it with a spirit that'll start the world along
Sing it as we used to sing o'er one hundred thousand strong
While we marching toward Inchon!
Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll fight and win you'll see!
Hurrah! Hurrah! For the flag that makes you free!
So we sang the chorus from P-town to the sea!
While we were marching toward Inchon!
Yes and there were Cokie men who cried with joyful tears
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen in years
They shouted many toasts and they emptied all their beers
While we were marching toward Inchon!
On July 4th, 1934, the Confederation of Corea was declared a free and independent nation. On November 18th, Kim Hyong-jik was nigh-unanimously elected Chancellor. His Corean Christian Patriot Party overwhelmingly won a supermajority in the House of Citizens in Seoul. On January 13th, 1935, in the presence of Chancellor Gamble and assorted Corean and Cokie officials, on the steps of an old noble's palace, in front of thousands of citizens, Chancellor Kim was sworn in. He gave a speech which is transcribed below, as well as the lyrics of the new Corean national anthem played at the speech's conclusion:
My fellow Christian Corean Patriots, this is a glorious hour! We have thrown off the chains of Chinese devilry, decadent nobility, and heathenish unbelievers! With a wave of blood and iron, lead and flesh, we have forged a new Corea! We have not engaged in this project alone. Standing by me, is Chancellor Jonathan Gamble, the Great Liberator of the Corean People. The Great Liberator, and the Confederation of Carolinas, deserves our heartfelt thanks. Without their invincible, all-conquering armies, we would still be languishing in the darkness! Furthermore, their Republicanism offers many useful ideas for our own national project. We shall not copy their national ideas, for we are not Carolinians, we are Coreans! What I pledge to you, is that I will build a strong, powerful, and pure Republic with Corean Characteristics! I will ensure that our noble Corea is an independent nation who can feed herself! I will secure our border from the hordes of Chinese Satan-Worshipers and the Russian Illuminist Pig-Dogs! With your help, I will build a Corea that stands for a thousand years as a monument to our race. Join me my fellow Coreans, in this great and patriotic quest, and the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost shall bless you! God bless Corea, and Hark the Sound of Corean Men's Voices!
-Full transcription of the inaugural speech of Kim Hyong-jik
As long as the Chancellor stands tall
Corea shall never fall!
He leads our great and noble race
On the quest to secure our nation's place
With Patriotic Brotherhood, we face the future
And protect the heritage of the Great Martin Luther
Corea shall always be a Protestant Nation
She will not fall prey to Mongolid Miscegenation
If our land should be invaded by foreign knaves
We shall send them to early graves!
There is no cost too high to bear
To protect our Corea fair!
-The Patriot's Song, the national anthem of the Confederation of Corea (CoCorea)
A portrait of a young Kim Hyong-jik in traditional garb. Upon assuming the Chancellorship, he would adopt Western style suits.
Corean Christian Patriots advance during a winter offensive in 1933
-Full transcription of the inaugural speech of Kim Hyong-jik
As long as the Chancellor stands tall
Corea shall never fall!
He leads our great and noble race
On the quest to secure our nation's place
With Patriotic Brotherhood, we face the future
And protect the heritage of the Great Martin Luther
Corea shall always be a Protestant Nation
She will not fall prey to Mongolid Miscegenation
If our land should be invaded by foreign knaves
We shall send them to early graves!
There is no cost too high to bear
To protect our Corea fair!
-The Patriot's Song, the national anthem of the Confederation of Corea (CoCorea)
A portrait of a young Kim Hyong-jik in traditional garb. Upon assuming the Chancellorship, he would adopt Western style suits.
Corean Christian Patriots advance during a winter offensive in 1933
Wonder if his son/grandson/great-grandson will follow him into politics. Would be kind of hilarious if this Korea ended up being a little saner and more democratic the the RU or otl DPRK
Given how Carolina has essentially had a North Korea-esque transition from Chancellor Gamble I to Chancellor Gamble II, I designed that explicitly so there could be a democratically elected Kim Dynasty. IDK how crazy it could be, but it could be anywhere from roughly CoCaro to the DPRK
Damn right it is! Hell, CoCorea is the only Corea that should ever exist!
Honestly though, I'm extremely happy with how this turned out. I think it might be among my best EU stuff. Now, onward Africa, which will be a complete clusterfuck, and will probably result in a mixed Cokie-Afrikaner family giving birth to the world's single most white supremacist human.
I'm so glad a little joke turned into something so greatDamn right it is! Hell, CoCorea is the only Corea that should ever exist!
Honestly though, I'm extremely happy with how this turned out. I think it might be among my best EU stuff. Now, onward Africa, which will be a complete clusterfuck, and will probably result in a mixed Cokie-Afrikaner family giving birth to the world's single most white supremacist human.
Yank Levy: The Pinnacle Mercenary
Part Two
Part Two
The following is verbatim from a multi-part pamphlet entitled Yank Levy (1897-1940): The Pinnacle Mercenary, by American writer and historian Julius Robert Hendrickson Jr., published by Lewis City Historical Press in 1960, part of series of pamphlets and booklets entitled Pinnacle Heroes: Past and Present.
All of this changed towards the end of 1914, with the beginning of the Germanian Civil War. With the rise of Illuminism in Central and Eastern Europe, and after reading about it in the local papers, Levy wanted to play his part in fighting “this evil ungodly ideology.” Thus, Levy took his savings and belongings, took a train from Linkville to Humboldt City, Oregon, where he then spent one night in a local tavern and then bought a steamer ticket from Humboldt City to Georgetown, Grand Panama. He then boarded to the steamer ship, known as the Queen Elizabeth, and then “got comfortable in my cabin room, which I admit was one of the most comfortable dwellings I had been in at that time.” After the ship stopped in Georgetown, Levy bought another ticket, on a steamer ship named the Albion, straight for Groningen in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After arriving in Groningen, Levy bought a room in a flophouse and spent a few days in the city. “I needed to find a way to get in to the war zone of Germany. At the time, Dutch soldiers were patrolling the border with what was once the Rheinbund to prevent civilians from pouring over either side of the border. What to do? Well a Dutch soldier named Anton Meijer, about two years older than me, was staying in the same hostel as I was. [….] After nightfall, I took a bobby pin, broke into his room and stole his uniform, and ran into my room, changed into the uniform and gathered my things. [….] As I got to the border, a border guard asked for me papers and name. I said my name was Arnold Meijer and gave him the papers that belonged to the real Mr. Meijer. [….] I relieved him of duty, after which I ran into the German war zone. [….] I walked all night with nothing but a bag of my things and a lantern to show me the way to the nearest big city, and I walked for hours and hours throughout the entire night before I got to Oldenburg.”
After arriving in Oldenburg, Jack Levy joined a local militia of anti-Illuminist Prussian Volunteers, led by Great World War veteran and Prussian Army Officer Lothar Gottlob von Reichenau. After some weeks of intense training, the militia was sent to the front-lines outside of Berlin to fight the Illuminists of eastern Germany. During his time in the militia, Levy saw action in numerous battles against the Illuminists and once again, Levy proved to be a brave and enthusiastic soldier, and he racked a number of kills against the Illuminists. Since he was the only American member of the militia, his German comrades were quick to give him the nickname “Yank”, and the nickname stuck throughout his time in Germany, Africa and the Dutch East Indies. Throughout his time in what came to be called the Reichenau Militia, Yank was much beloved by his German comrades. However, one issue was that Yank Levy was Jewish, and anti-Semitism was somewhat widespread in much of Germany during the time of the German Civil War, especially with many blaming the rise of Illuminism on a “Judeo-Masonic-Illuminist conspiracy.” While some German militiamen in other volunteer units insulted Levy for being Jewish, in each time he would “either punch them in the face [after which they would shut up] or call them half-Slavic whoresons.”
Lothar Gottlob von Reichenau
A Kappist Militia camped in Hanover, 1915
Members of a mostly ethnically-German Mittelafrikan Militia Unit, circa 1920
African tribesman under the arrest and guard of a Militia Unit in the region of Angola, 1918
In 1928, after six years of respite, Levy quit his job as a clerk and made his way to the Dutch East Indies after reading about a number of tribal rebellions in the Dutch East Indies in the newspapers. After some weeks, Yank arrived in Batavia, colonial capital of the Dutch East Indies, and almost immediately began recruiting amongst the taverns, inns and slums of the city for men to join his new band of mercenaries and fighters. After weeks of recruiting, Levy applied to the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger) or KNIL for his services. At first, the KNIL, headed by Field Marshall Henri Nicolas Alfred Swart, declined the offer of Yank Levy, with General Swart stating that “The American Jew Levy and his men were nothing but a rabble of low-born men and hooligans. The lowest Native conscripts seemed fitter to fight the rebels than these low-born white men.” However, after the numerous rebellions across the Dutch East Indies continued to worsen, Field Marshall Swart eventually agreed and allowed Yank Levy to form his own militia unit to work with the KNIL in suppressing native rebellions.
Henri Nicolas Alfred Swart
Soldiers of the KNIL on drill, circa 1934
Julia Zimmerman Levy
Jack "Yank" Levy, photographed in 1940
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This is also going to be a series. Parts of it will likely be quite depressing, but what did you expect?
1870 was the beginning of the long Carolinian project in Africa. Charlotte was able to acquire a small chunk of land just south of Portuguese Angola. However, they were practically surrounded by Prussian/Nordreich Africa, something which caused no shortage of annoyance among the Carolinian people. As the West Carolina Tribune put it "Those damnable Krauts have absconded with a majority of the continent. While we here at the Tribune respect the German people as Protestant Teutonics, the simple fact of the matter is that they are unfairly occupying portions of the continent which belong to us. A great injustice has been committed against the people of Fair Caroline, and it will be redressed one way or another." This is of course to say nothing of Cokie feelings towards Portuguese Africa, which reached a level of bellicosity even Philadelphia found alarming. Unsatisfied as they might have been with the size of their holdings, the Carolinians were still extremely proud to have claimed a piece of the Dark Continent for themselves. The Charlotte Observer captured public sentiment perfectly when it boasted "The recent acquisition of Jacksonland is proof of our national manhood and virility. No more can the effete snobs of Paris or the Fascist supermen of Philadelphia sneer at us and say we are a second-rate nation. We have claimed our rightful spoils as a true civilized power."
Now the issue was actually settling and pacifying the territory. Chancellor Pettigrew launched a massive propaganda campaign to encourage landless poor Cokies to settle the region, particularly young families. Promising a free 100 acres to every able-bodied white man, and an additional 75 acres for every white dependent they brought with them, as well as free travel to Jacksonland, the result was whole clans of impoverished hillbillies from Appalachia and elsewhere moving to Jacksonland. They were of course accompanied by the Carolinian military, who established forward bases in the colony to begin establishing a presence in the region. The big problem was, of course, the people who already lived there. Specifically, the Kavango and Damara ethnic groups proved extremely troublesome, more so than the dominant Ovambo, who were often too scattered and disunited to offer effective resistance. Thus, from 1870-1875 the Cokies committed their first colonial atrocity. Men on wagons, armed with coffee grinders and marksman's rifles, trundled across Jacksonland's deserts and plains and systemically murdered every member of these ethnic groups that they could find. When the Kavango and Damara finally gave up, it was estimated that the Carolinian military had slaughtered 60% and 75% of their populations respectively. The rest of the native peoples quickly submitted to Carolinian rule after less vicious demonstrations of violence, and by July 4th, 1876 Chancellor Wade Hampton III was proud to announce "The complete, total, and final submission of the Negroes of Jacksonland to our armed forces. I congratulate our fearless soldiers on their hard won victory. Hark the Sound!"
The next 4 years were spent developing infrastructure in the colony, and founding the capital of New Raleigh. The overwhelming majority of this was done with the use of enslaved native labor, a system that was incredibly harsh but also built ports in Jacksonville and Calvinburg, and developed the Jacksonland Internal Railroad (JIR). However, 1880 caused a temporary snag in construction. This is because, as is well known, the House of Citizens officially ended chattel slavery within the Confederation. Now, the legal status of the workers was in question. However, an answer presented itself as soon as the first former slaves from the Homeland arrived in Jacksonland. Under the direction of Colonial Governor Nathan Bedford Forrest, two new systems of control were implemented to retain formal white supremacy. The first was the practice of "trusteeship." Under this system, wages meant for African laborers would be put into "trusts" by their employers, to be given to them upon an undetermined date where they were deemed "responsible enough" to get what was owed to them. In practice, none of the "trustees" were ever paid, the money instead going to the consumption of luxury items or investment in the colony's burgeoning economy. Even more perversely, groups or individual "responsible" for more than 100 trustees could receive tax incentives from the government. The second system Colonial Governor Forrest installed was the three-tiered racial hierarchy known as segregation. On top were, of course, white Carolinians. They had all the privileges and rights of citizenship, and were often fabulously wealthy thanks to Jacksonland's economic structure. In fact, New Raleigh was the wealthiest city per capita in the entire Confederation by 1900. The second tier was comprised of former Afro-Carolinian slaves. They were still subject to trusteeship and brutal racism, but were treated a great deal better than the native Africans. Some trusted ex-slaves and their descendants even became overseers of native laborers, and were apparently quite brutal. This group got relatively decent clothing, safer work, better food, and the right to own a small patch of land. The bottom caste were the native Africans. They were brutalized by white and African Cokies alike, and forced into the most dangerous jobs such as mining diamonds or working in the fields on the few plantations extant in Jacksonland. Their cultures were outlawed by the Colonial Government, with bible school attendance becoming a mandatory fixture of their life. All citizens, regardless of status, were required to keep an internal passport with their name, address, and racial category on them at all times. Whites had their own spaces, ex-slaves and their descendants had theirs, and the natives had their ramshackle barracks.
Carolina's scheme of control, brutal and repressive in the extreme, was admired throughout the region. Dutch, Nordreich/Germanian, and Scandinavian officials all came to Jacksonland on official tours. They would examine the colonial security apparatus in person, visit bible schools, and watch the surprisingly docile trustee laborers do their work. Soon, Charlotte found a new way to profit off of Jacksonland; consulting with other colonial governments to control their native populations. Carolinian officials worked with Reich and Afrikaner officials to devise ever more efficient ways of keeping their subjects under the colonial boot. In particular, the Afrkaners of South Africa found kindred souls in their Carolinian counterparts, and this would be only the beginning of a bizarre exchange of ideas, wealth, and culture. What matters for the time being is that by 1900 the Carolinians had thoroughly crushed Jacksonland's black population, and had profited immensely by selling their expertise to neighboring governments.
The decade leading up to the Great Patriotic War saw further white immigration to the territory, as well as the construction of forts along the border with Portuguese Africa. When war inevitably came, and the Cokies got dragged in by Philly, it's hard to say how much galvanizing they needed as far as the African front was concerned. Carolinian leaders had practically been salivating over the prospect of expanding into Portuguese territory since the beginning, and the War finally gave them the opportunity they craved. The declaration of war had barely left Chancellor Gamble's lips when Carolinian Colonial Volunteers began storming across the border. With a piercing "YEE YEE!" the Cokies joined their Germanian allies in smashing through Portugal's African empire. The Portuguese were entirely surrounded, and although they held out valiantly, the last vestiges of Portugal's colonial empire fell into Carolina and Germania's arms by war's end. If anything, they probably could have won a year earlier, but Jacksonland saw some major revolts in 1912. Natives and former slaves alike attempted to use the distraction to revolt and throw off their chains. The largest revolt occurred less than 50 miles from New Raleigh, and saw some 16,000 natives and former slaves being led by the son of a former slave, Robert Jonathan Michaelson. Being one of the few Africans in the territory who could read more than some basic bible verses, he had been inspired by the slave revolts that rocked the Old South at the end of the Cuba War. He led his massive work crew in a revolt against their white overseers, and then began marching towards New Raleigh. The revolt was put down before the rebels could get there, but the message was clear to many Jacksonlanders; their system needed altering.
In the era between the Great War and the Germanian Civil War, several important developments occurred in Jacksonland. First and foremost, Colonial Governor Tommy Jones redefined the segregation system to feature only two castes; white and black. The fact that ex-slaves had been leading rebellions against their white overseers was unacceptable. Their extra privileges were stripped from them and when resistance inevitably emerged, the government massacred them without hesitation. By 1916, the new system was in place, and colonial rule doubled down into something even more brutal than before. The second major development was the manner in which the Cokies dealt with the Portuguese settlers. In a move kept secret from Philadelphia, the settlers were broken down into two categories. The first, dubbed "swarthy Europeans," who were Portuguese with darker complexions and features, were stripped of their land and deported to French or Italian Africa. Their belongings were sold to a fresh wave of Carolinian settlers. The second category, dubbed "true Europeans" were the ones with paler skin, and light eyes. Dubbed "white enough" the Carolinian government gave them a choice: learn English and convert to Presbyterianism, or be deported. The overwhelming majority converted, and helped bolster the colony's perilous demographic situation. However, some Portuguese cultural inheritance remained, mainly in the form of cuisine and in the "bizarre" accents of some Jacksonlanders.
By the time of the Germanian Civil War, Jacksonland was consolidated, and had become even larger and more profitable than ever before. Yet, the Cokies still desired more land, more wealth, and ultimately to bolster their feeling of national primacy. With the Embassy Massacre and the subsequent intervention, a new opportunity for just such an expansion presented itself....
Cokie officers unwind at camp after putting down a rebellion in 1912.
Carolinian troops and their African porters prepare to launch an offensive (1913)
Colonial Governor Tommy Jones and his wife Fanny, shortly after he redesigned Segregation in 1915.
Hark the Sound of Imperialist Voices: The History of Carolinian Africa Part I
A Carolinian colonist in front of a defeated tribe in rural Jacksonland, 1873
The Carolinian people have always been an imperial people. Even in colonial days, their desire for land and freedom caused them to push back the frontier, brutally crushing those who dared to oppose them. In the aftermath of the Cuba War, the nation's imperial dreams were fixated on reclaiming West Carolina. Since then, the Cokies have waged war on three different continents, and spread their nation's influence as they went. However, the area that ultimately became the central fixation of Carolina's imperial fantasies was the African continent. It was here that the Cokies enacted their most thorough project of colonization since colonial times, and where their rule was most brutal. Filled with a sense of racial superiority, backed up by modern weaponry, and compensating for relative weakness in the face of Yankee expansion, the Carolinians would explode across the continent with a nigh maniacal fixation on building an empire for themselves.
A Carolinian colonist in front of a defeated tribe in rural Jacksonland, 1873
1870 was the beginning of the long Carolinian project in Africa. Charlotte was able to acquire a small chunk of land just south of Portuguese Angola. However, they were practically surrounded by Prussian/Nordreich Africa, something which caused no shortage of annoyance among the Carolinian people. As the West Carolina Tribune put it "Those damnable Krauts have absconded with a majority of the continent. While we here at the Tribune respect the German people as Protestant Teutonics, the simple fact of the matter is that they are unfairly occupying portions of the continent which belong to us. A great injustice has been committed against the people of Fair Caroline, and it will be redressed one way or another." This is of course to say nothing of Cokie feelings towards Portuguese Africa, which reached a level of bellicosity even Philadelphia found alarming. Unsatisfied as they might have been with the size of their holdings, the Carolinians were still extremely proud to have claimed a piece of the Dark Continent for themselves. The Charlotte Observer captured public sentiment perfectly when it boasted "The recent acquisition of Jacksonland is proof of our national manhood and virility. No more can the effete snobs of Paris or the Fascist supermen of Philadelphia sneer at us and say we are a second-rate nation. We have claimed our rightful spoils as a true civilized power."
Now the issue was actually settling and pacifying the territory. Chancellor Pettigrew launched a massive propaganda campaign to encourage landless poor Cokies to settle the region, particularly young families. Promising a free 100 acres to every able-bodied white man, and an additional 75 acres for every white dependent they brought with them, as well as free travel to Jacksonland, the result was whole clans of impoverished hillbillies from Appalachia and elsewhere moving to Jacksonland. They were of course accompanied by the Carolinian military, who established forward bases in the colony to begin establishing a presence in the region. The big problem was, of course, the people who already lived there. Specifically, the Kavango and Damara ethnic groups proved extremely troublesome, more so than the dominant Ovambo, who were often too scattered and disunited to offer effective resistance. Thus, from 1870-1875 the Cokies committed their first colonial atrocity. Men on wagons, armed with coffee grinders and marksman's rifles, trundled across Jacksonland's deserts and plains and systemically murdered every member of these ethnic groups that they could find. When the Kavango and Damara finally gave up, it was estimated that the Carolinian military had slaughtered 60% and 75% of their populations respectively. The rest of the native peoples quickly submitted to Carolinian rule after less vicious demonstrations of violence, and by July 4th, 1876 Chancellor Wade Hampton III was proud to announce "The complete, total, and final submission of the Negroes of Jacksonland to our armed forces. I congratulate our fearless soldiers on their hard won victory. Hark the Sound!"
The next 4 years were spent developing infrastructure in the colony, and founding the capital of New Raleigh. The overwhelming majority of this was done with the use of enslaved native labor, a system that was incredibly harsh but also built ports in Jacksonville and Calvinburg, and developed the Jacksonland Internal Railroad (JIR). However, 1880 caused a temporary snag in construction. This is because, as is well known, the House of Citizens officially ended chattel slavery within the Confederation. Now, the legal status of the workers was in question. However, an answer presented itself as soon as the first former slaves from the Homeland arrived in Jacksonland. Under the direction of Colonial Governor Nathan Bedford Forrest, two new systems of control were implemented to retain formal white supremacy. The first was the practice of "trusteeship." Under this system, wages meant for African laborers would be put into "trusts" by their employers, to be given to them upon an undetermined date where they were deemed "responsible enough" to get what was owed to them. In practice, none of the "trustees" were ever paid, the money instead going to the consumption of luxury items or investment in the colony's burgeoning economy. Even more perversely, groups or individual "responsible" for more than 100 trustees could receive tax incentives from the government. The second system Colonial Governor Forrest installed was the three-tiered racial hierarchy known as segregation. On top were, of course, white Carolinians. They had all the privileges and rights of citizenship, and were often fabulously wealthy thanks to Jacksonland's economic structure. In fact, New Raleigh was the wealthiest city per capita in the entire Confederation by 1900. The second tier was comprised of former Afro-Carolinian slaves. They were still subject to trusteeship and brutal racism, but were treated a great deal better than the native Africans. Some trusted ex-slaves and their descendants even became overseers of native laborers, and were apparently quite brutal. This group got relatively decent clothing, safer work, better food, and the right to own a small patch of land. The bottom caste were the native Africans. They were brutalized by white and African Cokies alike, and forced into the most dangerous jobs such as mining diamonds or working in the fields on the few plantations extant in Jacksonland. Their cultures were outlawed by the Colonial Government, with bible school attendance becoming a mandatory fixture of their life. All citizens, regardless of status, were required to keep an internal passport with their name, address, and racial category on them at all times. Whites had their own spaces, ex-slaves and their descendants had theirs, and the natives had their ramshackle barracks.
Carolina's scheme of control, brutal and repressive in the extreme, was admired throughout the region. Dutch, Nordreich/Germanian, and Scandinavian officials all came to Jacksonland on official tours. They would examine the colonial security apparatus in person, visit bible schools, and watch the surprisingly docile trustee laborers do their work. Soon, Charlotte found a new way to profit off of Jacksonland; consulting with other colonial governments to control their native populations. Carolinian officials worked with Reich and Afrikaner officials to devise ever more efficient ways of keeping their subjects under the colonial boot. In particular, the Afrkaners of South Africa found kindred souls in their Carolinian counterparts, and this would be only the beginning of a bizarre exchange of ideas, wealth, and culture. What matters for the time being is that by 1900 the Carolinians had thoroughly crushed Jacksonland's black population, and had profited immensely by selling their expertise to neighboring governments.
The decade leading up to the Great Patriotic War saw further white immigration to the territory, as well as the construction of forts along the border with Portuguese Africa. When war inevitably came, and the Cokies got dragged in by Philly, it's hard to say how much galvanizing they needed as far as the African front was concerned. Carolinian leaders had practically been salivating over the prospect of expanding into Portuguese territory since the beginning, and the War finally gave them the opportunity they craved. The declaration of war had barely left Chancellor Gamble's lips when Carolinian Colonial Volunteers began storming across the border. With a piercing "YEE YEE!" the Cokies joined their Germanian allies in smashing through Portugal's African empire. The Portuguese were entirely surrounded, and although they held out valiantly, the last vestiges of Portugal's colonial empire fell into Carolina and Germania's arms by war's end. If anything, they probably could have won a year earlier, but Jacksonland saw some major revolts in 1912. Natives and former slaves alike attempted to use the distraction to revolt and throw off their chains. The largest revolt occurred less than 50 miles from New Raleigh, and saw some 16,000 natives and former slaves being led by the son of a former slave, Robert Jonathan Michaelson. Being one of the few Africans in the territory who could read more than some basic bible verses, he had been inspired by the slave revolts that rocked the Old South at the end of the Cuba War. He led his massive work crew in a revolt against their white overseers, and then began marching towards New Raleigh. The revolt was put down before the rebels could get there, but the message was clear to many Jacksonlanders; their system needed altering.
In the era between the Great War and the Germanian Civil War, several important developments occurred in Jacksonland. First and foremost, Colonial Governor Tommy Jones redefined the segregation system to feature only two castes; white and black. The fact that ex-slaves had been leading rebellions against their white overseers was unacceptable. Their extra privileges were stripped from them and when resistance inevitably emerged, the government massacred them without hesitation. By 1916, the new system was in place, and colonial rule doubled down into something even more brutal than before. The second major development was the manner in which the Cokies dealt with the Portuguese settlers. In a move kept secret from Philadelphia, the settlers were broken down into two categories. The first, dubbed "swarthy Europeans," who were Portuguese with darker complexions and features, were stripped of their land and deported to French or Italian Africa. Their belongings were sold to a fresh wave of Carolinian settlers. The second category, dubbed "true Europeans" were the ones with paler skin, and light eyes. Dubbed "white enough" the Carolinian government gave them a choice: learn English and convert to Presbyterianism, or be deported. The overwhelming majority converted, and helped bolster the colony's perilous demographic situation. However, some Portuguese cultural inheritance remained, mainly in the form of cuisine and in the "bizarre" accents of some Jacksonlanders.
By the time of the Germanian Civil War, Jacksonland was consolidated, and had become even larger and more profitable than ever before. Yet, the Cokies still desired more land, more wealth, and ultimately to bolster their feeling of national primacy. With the Embassy Massacre and the subsequent intervention, a new opportunity for just such an expansion presented itself....
Cokie officers unwind at camp after putting down a rebellion in 1912.
Carolinian troops and their African porters prepare to launch an offensive (1913)
Colonial Governor Tommy Jones and his wife Fanny, shortly after he redesigned Segregation in 1915.
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