Odyssey of Fritz, the Turncoat Prince

Chapter 609
Chapter 609

January, 1910

Anatolia


Over the course of the more than century-long Russian occupation and colonization of the Anatolian Peninsula, the Levant, Mesopotamia and Arabia, the Russian forces would keep control by putting down rebellions. By 1910, the Russian forces had largely been replaced by local forces loyal to the regime. With no real external threat to their hegemony in the region (Persia was an ally and Egypt was hardly going to invade), the quantity of soldiers necessary to maintain control would dwindle over the past 100 years.

Among the long-held traditions, though, were the use of Cossack Hosts. Among these were a division of Cossacks of the Orenburg Host (northern Caucasus) posted in Anatolia. The Cossack Hosts were somewhat being assimilated into Russian culture by the early 20th century but some vestiges of the old ways remain, including military service.

Among these Cossacks was a young lieutenant from the Caucasus named Pavel Pappengut. Pappengut did not see any real expectation of advancement in the peacetime Russian Army, nor did he desire to remain in Anatolia where his unit was stationed.

He would opt to sail west with a group of Lebanese and Jews and see what could await him in the new world.



1024px-Orenburg_cossacks_with_camels.jpg




Manhattan

George Frederick Hohenzollern expected to retire to his large estates up the Hudson Valley but found himself remaining closer to Manhattan in his huge Georgetown Mansion.

Still a popular figure, the old General would receive petitions from party supporters demanding that he do something about this damnable Teddy Roosevelt whom appeared intent on tearing up the Party platform.

In fact, Hohenzollern had little problems with Roosevelt's legislative agenda and more with his apparent aggressive tendencies. It seemed only a matter of time until Roosevelt declared war on someone.

With a half-hearted eye, Hohenzollern would watch as both the Centralist and Provincial parties splintered.
 
Chapter 608

October, 1909

Edo


Though some called the appointment "nepotism", Franklin Roosevelt would accept his distant cousin's nomination for "Deputy Consul" among the key American ally's domains in Nippon. In truth, the two men had only so much in common and the elder would seek his "blue-blooded" cousin to experience the world a bit more. Franklin seemed a bit too stiff.

The Deputy's superior was already famous. For the past several years, William Howard Taft had been effectively the most powerful man in Nippon as he had the ear of the suddenly eager-to-modernize Emperor and his court. Even American cultural icons like shawarma, tacos, Vienna sausages and the game of rounders would become popular in the island archipelago.

Taft, as famous for his girth as his many other good qualities, was perhaps the happiest American alive as he managed to avoid the Presidency. No doubt Teddy Roosevelt "allowed" him to remain in the Far East partially to eliminate a challenger to the throne. The new President could not imagine anyone NOT desiring the top office. In fact, Taft was right were he desired to be. Taft initially wondered if his new Deputy was a spy for his cousin (in truth, he was not).

The younger Roosevelt would similarly be happy with his assignment. Rather than running for a State Senate seat from New York, this post would prove invigorating as the twenty-eight year old left his very unhappy wife behind. Something of a skirt-chaser, Franklin Roosevelt was already tired of his dowdy and shy wife and was in the process of casting his eyes about for a mistress when his cousin offered him a respite from the strained family life. Their three children would remain with their mother in New York. Eleanor made no bones about loathing sex and considered it an "ordeal to be tolerated". Why the hell he ever married that woman was beyond him.

Thus freed from his wife, Roosevelt would love the orient and would accompany Taft throughout his travels to Siberia, the East Indies and, of course, the Maratha Empire. Eventually, the American Consul and his Deputy would even be granted an audience with the Emperor of China...though only through a veiled room lest the Emperor cast his eyes upon barbarians.

The younger man would enjoy all the pleasures of a region which was perhaps less insecure about the joys of the flesh. On one remarkable night in Nippon, Roosevelt would even enjoy the attentions of three geishas whom introduced him to the opium pipe. Unknown to him, they had been paid to get the Deputy Consul so stricken with opium that he didn't even notice several gangsters arriving in his room to take somewhat compromising pictures of him in the nude with three Nipponese girls with the opium pipe in his grasp.

The gangsters didn't have any immediate use for the pictures and their boss back in the Bronx would decide to sit on the photographs until a later date when they would be most valuable. Roosevelt was considered an up and comer in New York and many expected that he would someday ascend to higher office like Governor or Congressman, perhaps even further.

No doubt the pictures would be worth quite a bit more should the young man's future continue its upward trajectory.

Georgetown, New Jersey

Edouard and Charles Nieuport were the French equivalent of the American Wright brothers. Though they were not the "first to fly", they were perhaps the first to design and build viable commercial aircraft. However, there seemed to be a lack of demand in Europe to keep up any such company for long.

Eventually, the brothers left France for America, thinking that the vast land would desire a commercial service for mail delivery or (in their imaginations) using airplanes to hunt down Indians in the open plains of the west. In the end, the demand for planes would ebb and flow and the rapid advancement of aviation technology over the coming years would prevent effectively ANY airplane manufacturers from steady business.

Charles Nieuport would remain in America for the next several years attempting to build a company. Swiftly, he would realize he lacked the skills to run a manufacturing concern and, in 1910, would seek out a partner with greater experience.

He would find Henry Ford, whom was interested in the aviation industry himself and had long been considering experimenting with planes manufacturing. As the Nieuports were second only to the Wright brothers in Aviation Royalty, this seemed like a good marriage. Ford, Firestone, the Dodge Brothers and the Nieuports would form a company with 25% equity each (the industrialists bringing the capital and the Frenchmen the design and experience).

They were uncertain where to commence construction and eventually opted for a northern plant well away from Ford's base of Cadillac, Mackinac. They eventually settled upon the developing city of Potawatomi along the Chicago River to build the first large-scale aircraft design and construction facility.

In 1911, the first Nieuport I's rolled off the assembly line.

So if potawatomi and Calumet are essentially twin cities each equivilant to a Detroit (before Detroit's otl urban decay), how long will it take them to merge into a greater metropolitan region?

Would they build separate metro systems?
 
So if potawatomi and Calumet are essentially twin cities each equivilant to a Detroit (before Detroit's otl urban decay), how long will it take them to merge into a greater metropolitan region?

Would they build separate metro systems?
I would think they would both have separate systems for now. They represent the equally great cities of OTL Chicago and Gary.
 
List of Presidents to 1910
List of Presidents:

Benjamin Franklin - 1776

George Washington - 1782

John Jay – 1788

John Laurens – 1794

James Madison – 1800

James Monroe – 1806

Aaron Burr – 1812

John Langton – 1816 (ascended after assassination of Burr, died in office one month before Rufus King sworn in)

Rufus King – 1818

Jose Fernandez – 1822 (ascended after death of Rufus King)

Philip Hamilton – 1824 (ascended after death of Jose Fernandez)

Henry Clay – 1824

Alexander Macomb – 1830

John Sergeant – 1836

Joseph Davis – 1842 (ascended after death of John Sergeant for final four months of term)

James Polk – 1842

James Buchanan – 1848

Stephan Douglas – 1854

William Seward – 1860

Abraham Lincoln – 1863 (ascended after death of William Seward)

Abraham Lincoln – 1866

Hannibal Hamlin – 1872 (ascended after death of Abraham Lincoln, completed final six weeks of term)

John Bingham – 1872

Samuel Tilden - 1878

Samuel Randall - 1884

John Thompson - 1890

Richard Bland - 1896

George Frederick Hohenzollern - 1902

Teddy Roosevelt - 1908
 
Chapter 610
Chapter 610

April, 1911

Manhattan


Over 40 new Congressmen were sworn in by the First Legislator in 1911. Among these was a young Wyandottan representing Taranto named William Lyon MacKenzie King. King was among many of the younger generation whom were not wedded to the concept of a dual political system dominated by the Provincial and Centralist Party. President Roosevelt would attempt to recruit him for a new "Progressive Party" which was expected to form in the coming months but King declined. While not a Socialist by any means, King was perhaps more Radical than many of his fellows and swiftly joined the "Radical" wing of the Provincial Party.

Other young men like Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts would be elected on the Centralist ticket but was equally aware of the split within his own Party and gravitated towards the more Conservative faction which was causing so many problems for Roosevelt in Congress.

Kingdom of Germany

A series of mass strikes crippled the Hohenzollern dynasty over the past years as the unions were influenced by the most Radical of Socialists. The combination of war expenses stemming from the failed invasion of Saxony a few years prior had crippled the economy. Unemployment was at least 20% and the urban poor and union leaders would grow restive. In the past, the government had managed to suppress this dissent by violence. But the army was no longer of sufficient scale...or loyalty...to provide adequate protection for the ruling Hohenzollern Dynasty.

Calls for a real Parliament, not just the weak "advisory" council which the Royal Family widely ignored for decades, came from all sections of society. The assorted movements - Socialist, Republican, Radical, Pan-German, etc - would fall over one another promising reform for the nation.

It seemed that, at any moment, the monarchy would fall. Certainly the inconsistently paid army and police force were unlikely to halt a coup...even if they wanted to. Both army and police had fallen out with the dreaded Secret Police and often actively purged them from entire sections of the country, to the rapturous approval of the people.

By 1911, it was obvious to the Royal Family that the nation could not continue as it was. The King would publicly speak of "certain reforms" in various speeches.

He could not imagine the result. Like sharks sensing blood in the water, the Army, Police, Navy and every political faction effectively ceases listening to the government and sought to form their own elections without any semblance of unity or legality. The Socialists held a poll in which only 10,000 of their own party voted...and pronounce the winter the new "president". The army staff would actually use offices in the Royal Palace to determine whom they were to put in control of the government...utterly ignoring the King only a few hundred feet away.

The outcome of this was predictable. The government shut down. Banks collapsed. Vital social services fell. And the economy ground to a halt as unemployment rocketed to 40% in less than 12 months.

The people, desperate, would demand that SOMEONE reassume control over the nation.

Picture City, South Georgia

Adolf Heitler had spent much of his early and mid-twenties in Dublin selling portraits to the middle class and attempting to find a market for his Irish landscapes. After a decade and a half in Ireland after his immigration from Austria, Heitler had accomplished next to nothing. Despite his alliance with the pro-Catholic radical party in Ireland, he never really felt truly Irish or accepted. Frustrated with his stagnant art career, he'd even briefly entered seminary school in Ireland before giving up on the idea.

By happenstance, while painting a portrait of the Dublin skyline, an Englishman looked upon his work and noted that there was a series of projects for his company which required artists for several months and inquired if Heitler would be interested. Having nothing better to do, he would agree to spent three months in the English midlands painting background art for the nascent film industry. Praised for his work (Heitler always had a sense of perspective), the young man was brought to the attention of a visiting American.

A few years ago, the Province of South Georgia had solicited several film companies to set up shop in the sunny region. Picture City was born and was growing quickly. Actors and Actresses aplenty had moved to the area but, in truth, the "nuts and bolts" workers of the industry was the true constraint. Skilled cameramen, millwrights and artists were in short supply and always had work.

Heitler was given money to sail to South Georgia and immediately put to work on a movie set where he again impressed with his skill. Within a year, Heitler would realize that there was money to be made and went into business for himself. He would hire four other artists for good wages and contract with various movie houses.

Though he had associated with anti-Protestants in Ireland, Heitler swiftly realized that this was a poor business decision in America as the land was littered with Protestants, Jews and Orthodox peoples, often of a dizzying collection of races. Heitler would hire largely on skill as it was a poor idea to alienate potential workers. In time, he would expand his business beyond mere background art into construction and other services related to the film industry that Film Companies didn't particularly want to deal with themselves and were happy out source elsewhere.

By 1915, Heitler would even expand into providing agent work for dozens of actors and actresses, utilizing his connections to get them work. He realized that the studios tended to lock up the star actors and actresses but did not like putting dozens of backup singers, dancers and background staff on the payroll and would pay a premium to an outside provider to procure the necessary people.

If a studio happened to like a particular young actor or actress, Heitler would be willing to relinquish their contract...for a reasonable fee.

San Bartholomew, Spanish West Indies

Unlike the Kingdom of Germany, the government of Spain had NOT collapsed and continued to crush any dissent. Viewing the radical socialists as being the problem in the Kingdom of Germany, the King of Spain would root out any radical republicans or Socialists wherever they were found.

Among these was a loudmouthed young Catalan Artist named Pablo Picasso. He was both a Radical Socialists (as most artists seemed to be) and a Catalan Nationalist. This was enough for the government to trump up charges of inciting riots and sentenced him to 10 years in the prison colony of San Bartholomew.



Aerial photo of the hellish island of San Bartholomew:

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Sample of Picasso's work in 1910 prior to his imprisonment in the West Indies:

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Chapter 611
Chapter 611

December, 1911

Berlin


The King of Hohenzollern and his family were escorted across the border into Poland. He could feel the contempt and amusement by the Polish officers greeting him. The House of Hohenzollern had lost their throne almost without a fight. When the streets of Berlin flowed with blood as the assorted factions bitterly contested power, the King had appealed to his nation to rally to his banner....only to be utterly ignored by virtually everyone.

Had he been led into a cellar and shot in the back of the head, it would have been worth something. But no one even bothered to view the King as a threat worthy of elimination.

With what handful of loyal servants he had left, the King bowed to the inevitable and opted to depart his ancestral lands. Perhaps after a few years of chaos, the German people would beg for his return.

Maybe.

In the meantime, the rest of Europe looked on in concern as the most radical of factions assumed control of parts of the Kingdom of Germany. Several claimed to rule the nation, often presenting their own "Parliaments" comprised of their own supporters.

The monarchies of Europe, even those opposed to the Germans in the past, were horrified by the growth of radicalism and feared for chaos in their own nations. This was no longer a matter of Protestant and Catholic, French and Polish, etc. It was about the spread of this anarchic disease afflicting the center of the continent. The collapse of continental rail system alone was devastating.

By 1912, the whole of Europe from the democracies of the west (France, England, Ireland, the Dutch Republic, Burgundy, the Rhineland, Scandinavia, etc) and the near-absolutist monarchies (Spain-Italy, Poland, Russia, the Empire of Germany, Ruthenia) would see the potential for chaos unfolding. However, the disagreements over what to do with the issue would cripple the entire continent for years. Some recommended an invasion by neighboring powers to put an end to the chaos. Other sought to put the Hohenzollerns back on the throne, though this was for stability reasons and no overwhelming love for the family itself.

In the meantime, the economic collapse would prove to terrible in the Kingdom of Germany and hundreds of thousands of Germans would flee for neighboring nations from whence many would carry on to America.

Eventually, the Royal Family, being widely loathed throughout the entirety of the continent, would take the hint and sail for America itself with their precious art collections (and whatever of the treasury they could lay their hands upon, which wasn't much). The Hohenzollerns would arrive in New York Harbor and be greeted by a less than enthusiastic delegation of American dignitaries (Roosevelt NOT being among them). When the King announced that he would like to settle in Manhattan, the President pointed out the large number of disaffected Prussians whom had recently emigrated to Brooklyn and Queen and quietly recommended that the King lodge elsewhere....where there were no large numbers of German immigrants.

Maybe Siberia.

The King opted for North Georgia but, after a full year in the heat, decided to ride the rail across the nation to Oregon where he found the climate less taxing.
 
Chapter 612
Chapter 612

June, 1912

Manhattan


Though 1912 was not a presidential election year, as always every seat in Congress was up for grabs as was a disproportionate number of the most important Provincial governor's offices (including New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Massachusetts).

President Roosevelt was getting fatigued that his efforts to form a new Party by pulling support from both Centralist and Provincial Party was proving so difficult. Yet, after four years, he managed to gather supporters whom were tired of Provincial Radicalism (i.e. Socialism) and Centralists attempting to distance themselves from the old stodgy image.

The new party was officially launched with key supporters including Champ Clark, the Provincial leader in Congress and the First Legislator Fred Gillette. Lead by the President and Deputy President, this new Progressive Party, would solicit support from both of the established parties in the November election. As it has been over 70 years since the formation of the "Party" System, no one in America was certain of how the nation's electorate would respond.

Having already made his move, Roosevelt was delighted when both the Centralist and Provincial Parties struck back in a manner he foresaw as being counter-productive.

Seeing their own standard bearer form his own party, the Centralists would formally expel Roosevelt and his ilk from their ranks. That would, in its own way, give credence to the new party and set the nation talking about the matter with five months to go until the election, giving the President a gift of endless coverage for his new establishment.

The Provincials, for their part, would self-destruct as seeing the moderate portions of their party migrate to the new Progressive ranks would prompt the Radical element to pronounce themselves the new leaders of the provincial party. Of course, the bulk of the party was not so radical and either fought back or deserted the Provincials in droves for the new Progressives. The final straw was when Eugene Debs would officially walk out of the party convention in June to walk across the street in a dramatic gesture and led his followers to form the new Socialist Party.

By the November elections, the Provincial Party had effectively ceased to exist.

Kingdom of Germany

By 1912, the Kingdom of Germany was embroiled in defacto civil war. With no true leader, the assorted factions would gain control over various cities. Union Kingpins, Generals and Political leaders would vie for control to the detriment of the people. The economy utterly collapsed and the Germans of the former Hohenzollern dynasty would flee the nation en masse. In only a few years, over 30% of the population had departed, mostly for America as many neighboring states refused to accept the German migrants.

Though officially the reason given was protection from "radicals", the truth was that the Polish and Imperial German rulers didn't want Protestants. Even Protestant states refused to take many refugees for various other reasons. Saxony's monarch never forgot the Hohenzollern's invasions and steadfastly refused to take in any migrants. Even the other, smaller, states of western Germany would close their borders. Unlike the Catholic nations, this was more political in tactics as Hesse, Lippe, etc would gaze upon the political strife in horror. Besides, this portion of Germany was already the most densely populated and was experiencing an economic recession due to the loss of such a major trade partner. The last thing they needed was their own people losing employment to cheap immigrant labor. The Scandinavian Kingdoms would similarly reject large-scale immigration for racial reasons. The last thing the King needed was large numbers of Germans whom might someday demographically challenge his own peoples.

Most emigrants therefore ended up in America, with Brooklyn and Queens in particular becoming a popular destination for the urban Germans. Indeed, by 1915, the Germans had eclipsed the Irish and Russians as the largest demographic in Eastern Long Island. Other regions like Texas, Mackinac, Eric, Wabash and Pennsylvania would consume much of the overflow, particularly from the Germans of rural origin.
 
So how much bigger is immigration to this America compared to OTL?

Probably a bit bigger to account for the higher number of Catholics (I have France having a higher emigration rate and the Spanish/Portuguese/Italians being partially cut off from South America due to political reasons) and an early and larger influx of Orthodox peoples including a high amount of Copts, Ethiopians and Lebanese. There would also be a larger number of Brazilian migrants to America (due to economic and political troubles and greater ease of reaching "American South America) and Mexican/Central Americans too.

This was partially offset by the lower numbers of Black Americans due to the earlier end of the slave trade (by half a century) and slavery as a whole. Even an influx of black West Indians would not make up these numbers.

There would be no Chinese immigration to America but probably larger Japanese immigration and potentially Filipino/Indian/Indonesian as well.
 
Chapter 613
Chapter 613

November, 1912

Manhattan


With the aid of his sponsor, President Roosevelt, Deputy President Guilford Pinchot would oversee the first election in which the Progressive Party contested seats under their own name. The results were mixed. Many Americans, though perhaps sympathetic to the Progressive cause, were accustomed to voting Provincial or Centralist and many opted to continue that tradition until they saw the new lay of the land.

Still, the Progressive Party was able to gather some impressive momentum over the election and, by April of 1913, would control 33% of the seats in Congress. The Provincials would gather 35% and the Centralists 32%. For the first time, there was no certain way how to select a First Legislator as there was no majority party in Congress.

April of 1913 would be quite interesting indeed as Congress determined how to proceed and America would be faced with the first coalition government in its history.

Berlin

The riots over the past years would grow only worse. By 1913, the former Kingdom of Germany (now called by many names including the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Socialist State, the Germanic Worker's Union, the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg (by a member of the Hohenzollern family whom sought to reestablish a separate state for the first time in centuries), the Grand Empire of German (mainly to annoy the Habsburgs to the south), etc, etc) was a divided mess and even those neighbors whom enjoyed seeing their ancient rival immolate itself began to realize that this chaos and hardship was bad for the continent as a whole.

The Poles, the Imperial Germans, the German Confederation and even Gaul would begin to press for some sort of action. But no one could agree as to what.

It would not be until summer of 1913 that the situation had deteriorated so badly that a regional conclave was called to settle the matter.

Italy

While there had been several decades of progress in Italy since the unification of the peninsula under the Bourbon Dynasty, there remained a large amount of discontent among the Italians. The death of the late King a few years prior had forced the Crown Prince, whom had been Regent of Italy, back to Madrid. His replacements were less than capable and only served to antagonize the population.

Knowing the Italian mindset as well as any, the King would realize that his realms could not continue as they were. Too many Italians looked towards the democracies of the west - Gaul, Britain, America, etc - and wondered why they did not have any true political representation. Milder legal enforcement, freer trade, economic progress and other improvements did not alter this fact.

The King knew that he must either reply with total repression...or accept political reform to match neighboring nations. As Italy had eclipsed Iberia years before in economic as well as military power, the idea of a civil war among his realms was hardly out of the question.

In truth, the King knew that Iberia was no less a powder keg than Italy. The Spanish and Portuguese Cortes had been weakened to the point to non-existence over the years and the locals seemed just as likely to rebel as the Italians.

Hoping to defuse the tension, the King would propose a radical solution: a unified Parliament of all his peoples which left local issues to the locals but national issues like taxation, the military, the legal system, etc to the central Parliament to "advise" the King. In truth, the proposal that would reach his various peoples did not bind the King to any such "advice" but the monarch knew that sooner rather than later, declining to heed the call of any Parliament would lead to conflict between Crown and Legislature...and the way the world was going left little doubt how that would end in the long term.

Southern Africa

Though there had been some fears of conflict between the Ghanan Confederation and the Ethiopian Empire, this proved overblown as both found expanding into Africa's hinterlands increasingly difficult. The Confederation was a latter-day Hanseatic League which rarely expended resources to unprofitable regions...which most of inner Africa could be called. The Ethiopians were reaching the end of their organizational limits and already many regions of the Emperor's sprawling domains were proving restive despite the rapid expansion of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church along with the Ethiopian language (now the "linqua-franca" of East Africa).

The Confederation's members battled among themselves (the local Kings and potentates) while the Ethiopian Empire fought to control her bloated borders.

The latter would have some luck due to the formation of the trans-African Railroad from Addis Ababa to the Cape. Spokes would radiate outward from the great railroad, providing avenues for communication and trade. Schools would be centrally funded...with Ethiopian as the language of scholarship, of course...thus tying the disparate peoples of Eastern and Southern Africa to the Empire.

Despite the economic and social devastation of the tsetse fly and the ensuing sleeping sickness, the Ethiopian Empire prospered. This was probably related to the disinterest in the region by the Maratha Empire, the Russian Empire and other European traders. Had one of these sought to conquer Ethiopia, the entire Empire may have fallen years ago. Fortunately, no one thought it worth the effort, leaving the Ethiopians to repair their fortunes in peace.

The Confederation had a different unifying factor: her Navy.

Over the decades since its foundation in the ashes of the old European trading posts, the Confederation would use foreign support of her "neutral" navy to maintain a safe coastline of Western Africa to her advantage. Occasionally, some King or Prince would refuse to pay the taxes or withhold various fees. The Confederation Board of Governors would promptly dispatch the Navy to blockade any ports or troops ("donated" by other local Kingdoms but reimbursed from central coffers) for the inland matters.

By the turn of the 20th century, the Board of Governors (really appointees from various Kings) had taken the trappings of a central government rather than the trading alliance from which it originally stemmed. Many Africans would grow to resent this while others sought the Board to supplant the local Kings entirely.

Neither entity seemed likely to last terribly long but both continued to grind along.
 
What is the state of international sport?
Is there an Olympic movement or something like that?
An unified East Africa would dominate every long distance race.
 
This Timeline is the best!!!!!!!!
I do have a few questions though.
What's happening with west Africa? What's the state of chemistry, physics and biology? Is space travel going to happen?
 
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