1911 and the outbreak of the Third World War

Extracts from the Scrapbook of Mary Martha O'Hara

12th July 1933

Emily Alethea is two! And a bonny baby she is too. I think Mark is sad that we haven't had any more. He loves Emily and has always been her father but he wants a child to be a natural father to. After all he is twenty years older than me so he must have less time left.

We will soon be moving into a new apartment in one of the new city blocks that President Roosevelt is opening here, but everyone knows that they were planned and begun under President Durant. We see a lot of Durants on the streets again, and other makes that Willy owns. That's how all the papers call him now - Willy! I even saw a huge Locomobile limousine yesterday. Mark said it was probably carrying the Secretary of State.

I bought the
International Herald Tribune as a birthday present for Emily. She can't read it of course but she can read the news from when she had her birthday. Its funny being in America, we forget about the rest of the world sometimes. I read news from Europe and it was like another world. There is revolution in Germany! But it is not really Germany, not like it was when I was young. Its just Brandenburg-Saxony now, I think. Apparently Italy has a new king and they are going to crown him an Emperor because he rules Abyssinia. Won't that make him Emperor of Abyssinia instead of Italy? I suppose they can call it what they want, though. Its their country!


24th July 1933

I just realised what the date is! Its ten years since I last saw my father. I don't know if he is dead or alive. Its ten years since the Revolutionaries burst into the Herald singing Humpty Dumpty! I don't know what to think about those days now. Its easier not to and to pretend that it was another life that doesn't belong to me anymore. I am an American and though I can't marry Mark we are as if we were married. He has a good job and his salary went up this Spring. We move to the new apartment next week, and I think he is even going to take advantage of Willy's Liberty Purchase Plan and put down some money for a Durant! To think we might soon own a motorcar ourselves!


8th August 1933

New apartment, new car....and I think soon a new baby! I think I'm pregnant again. I daren't say yet until I'm sure but it would be the perfect new start for us all.

Our neighbours in the new apartment are Canadian. He's a diplomat at the embassy and his wife works as a clerk in a Canadian shipping firm here in Washington City. They speak a bit different from us but its not that strange. And they drive a funny make of car that they say is made in Montreal. I can't pronounce its name, its French![/i]


1st September 1933

I told Mark that I am pregnant and he said he thought so and took me to bed to celebrate. He already wants us to be choosing names for it, for a boy or a girl. He doesn't care which because its his baby. Emily is still too young to understand what he means and won't be jealous. She's always going to have a high place in his heart.

President Roosevelt made a good speech for Labour Day and I think he is beginning to find his feet. It must be hard being president after so many years of Willy. Everybody calls him Willy now! Nobody called him anything but President Durant for years and years. But now he insists he is not president, he is just Willy. He's going to open a new factory in Washington itself to make Stars. I think thats just another make of car but I don't think I've ever seen one. Thats probably why he's building a factory down here so he can get them to market easier. Mark said he will probably also ship some across the border into the Confederacy.



11th November 1933

Apparently President Roosevelt wants to name a new battleship after Willy but he won't let them. It wouldn't be called the Willy but the USS William Durant[/i] which sounds strange. Why isn't it the [/i]President Durant[/i]? Anyway Willy says he can't do it until he's dead. He's old but I don't think he will be dead soon. He's the kind of man who goes on and on. Next week they will break the ground at the new Star factory. I doubt they will do much building over Winter but it will all be ready for Spring.

Mark has been appointed to the office of the Secretary of State. He says its not much more money but that he will meet a lot of interesting people and if all goes well so will I. I don't know if pregnant women get invited to balls though? He isn't sure either. [/i]


25th December 1933

We had a lovely Christmas with Emily, the first that she might remember when she is older. Then Mark took us out in the Durant Six for a drive into Virginia! He has all the right passes now in his new job and the guards on the border didn't make any kind of fuss. We drove right into the hills as far as we could go before the road was blocked, and had dinner at a small inn where the woman who served us was amazed at our car and even more amazed to find we were from the USA!

We drove out wthout any problem as well. Mark seems to have magic papers now. We even parked the car in the Reserved car park when we went to the theatre and saw something I didn't really understand by one of the many British exiles who settled here after the Revolution. It was very clever but too clever for me.



1st January 1934

Another New Year. President Roosevelt made another speech on the radio - I think he likes making those. He promised us better times ahead but it is Willy and his kind who are giving us the better times. They build the factories and make the jobs that make money to buy things from the factories. Willy even owns one of the banks that loans money to himself to build the factories in the first place, but I suppose the money comes back to him when people buy what he's built. I understood how things worked until Mark tried to explain it to me. Thank God for the Willies of this world, anyway!


9th March 1934

Mark came home today looking very serious. I thought something was wrong in his job but he said no it is the world. Apparently there is revolution in Hannover and the Rhineland, against the French! London and Berlin are to blame and Paris is preparing to go to war. I don't know why that worries him so much but there is always a lot he cannot tell me.


4th April 1934

Poland has invaded Germany! I don't really know why it has done this but it must be because Germany is now at war with France. Mark says that Poland is after Posen and Silesia but I had to ask him to draw me a map. I think maybe I remember those names from my studies back when I was young but you don't think about such things do you? Not for years and years.

Mark says that the Secretary of State is worried that if these wars break out into a general European war then there really will be a World War 4 and if there is then no doubt we will all get dragged in. I can't see why we would! Who would we fight? Only the WU are enemies and they are in no condition to fight anyone! I heard they even shot their own president in Albuquerque and put in a general from Texas to rule them!



28th April 1934

I had a baby boy and we have named him Alan Declan after Mark's father and mine. I wonder if my father still lives. Maybe Mark can use his new position to ask in the State Department? But do I want to find out he is dead? He would only have one arm if he was alive!


30th April 1934

I think Alan Declan is going to be a quiet baby, Thank God! Emily is fascinated by him and spends long minutes staring at him. I think she thinks we went out and got a baby brother just for her! She even called him "my baby" which made us laugh and she scowled that little scowl of hers at us. I think maybe I see myself in her! We will have to be careful when she grows up!


1st May 1934

Mark says that there is revolution in Wurttemburg and civil war in Bavaria. Thank God the News printed a map of Europe last week so I can see where on Earth these places are. It looks like most of the old German Empire to me, though nobody has mentioned Austria. I said that to Mark over dinner and he nodded and said thats what the Secretary of State thinks! Which is amazing - I am as clever as the Secretary of State!

France sank a British battleship off Heligoland last week. I think I read about it but it didn't seem important. Mark says it was the one which was going to have been named
King Edward VIII but after the Revolution they called it the Fraternity which seems a very silly name for a battleship. Its now lying on the seabed now with lots of dead British sailors in it.


9th May 1934

France has invaded Belgium in a move to cut across the German flank but it has made everyone condemn France! Do they want the Germans to win? Apparently they are all Revolutionaries - the British and the Germans and they are uniting into a huge army that will sweep French hegemony out of Europe. Or that is what the News said that they are saying.

I asked Mark later and he said that is the Revolutionaries aim as far as it goes, but what they really want is for their Revolution to spread into France and for the workers there to rise up and overthrow the Empire and join the Revolution! But why should they when they are being attacked by the Revolutionaries?

Emily has heard us talking about the Revolutionaries and asked where were these "vooshunries"? It was very cute. I told her they were a long way away and never going to hurt her. I hope that last bit is true but who can tell in this world?



12th July 1934

Emily enjoyed her third birthday very much! She kept showing off Alan Declan to all the guests that Mark invited calling him her baby! I think they were charmed. Mr and Mrs Laroux, our Canadian neighbours, bought her a lovely present, a doll with eyes that close and Emily examined it to see why it didn't do all the things that her baby did! I hope they weren't too disappointed by her attitude. It really is a lovely doll.

The news from Europe is of fierce battles all along the Ardennes but no idea who has won. Mark says that the Secretary of State thinks maybe it will settle down into trench warfare again but Mark told me he doesn't think so as the terrain isn't right.



Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The end of 1933

Extracts from the Scrapbook of Mary Martha O'Hara

20th August 1933

Poland has taken Berlin! The News has a reporter with the Polish army and he is saying that there is a counter revolution in Northern Germany to bring back the Kaiser from Sweden! The Revolutionaries are saying that Berlin is just one city, the Revolution is a people, and the Kaiser is irrelevant, but President Roosevelt has sent a telegram of congratulations to the King of Poland. I think it might all soon be over.


1st September 1933

Its not World War 4 again! Maybe we are going to be lucky and never have a Fourth world war. Or maybe history will be written differently and will say that the two wars in North America, and the Revolutionary War in Europe make up a sort of disjointed fourth war? I read in the News that some professor at Princeton in the CSA was saying that we number our wars wrongly anyway. He said that there was a seven years war in the 18th century that should be the 1st world war, and the Napoleonic wars should be the second. That means we have had five and keep avoiding the sixth! People would think I was mad if I talked about World War 6!

Mark says we have been invited to the Russian ambassador's ball at the end of the month. Apparently it used to be big long ago but is now a small affair after Russia's defeat by Japan. He says that one of the princes may be there though!



25th September 1933

Polish troops entered Dresden and Saxony's emergency government surrendered. They are going to put their king back on the throne! Not long ago everyone was saying that the age of kings was dead and gone, but they're all coming back! Mark says that the Secretary of State has told him that the USA will speak up in the World Congress for the Kaiser. I'd forgotten the World Congress even existed!


30th September 1933

The Russian Ambassador's Ball! It was amazing! All that glitter and gold and all those important people! I danced and danced and danced, and late on danced with Prince Grigori. He was born a very minor Romanov but after all the troubles Russia has had he is one of the three princes that Tsar Roman has in mind to succeed him. He kissed me! I was in Heaven! But when can I see him again?!


19th October 1933

The World Congress at The Hague voted not to oppose the restoration of the Kaiser! Even France voted in his favour! There is a British government in exile, the News said, led by the Earl of Derby and based in Madrid. Even they voted for the Kaiser. The Revolutionary government in London has condemned it, but the French and Polish armies will soon join up in Hesse. That's what Mark says. When that happens the British and German revolutionary armies will know that they are beaten. He said that they are beaten already but don't know it. I think he was repeating something the Secretary of State said to him, but is pretending he made it up. I bet he does that a lot!


11th November 1933

Peace in Europe! All the newspapers are celebrating it, I think because now they can go back to pretending it doesn't exist. Or maybe as Mark says they know for sure there is no chance of World War 4 dragging us in. I bet the Secretary of State really said that! Again!


30th November 1933

Mark and I attended the Icelandic Embassy Ball. It would have been a dull affair except for Grigori! How my heart leapt when I saw him again. I could tell from his smile across the dancefloor that he wants me. I kept trying to dance with him but all these boring princes from Sweden and Norway and Denmark and Finland kept asking me to dance first. I got ten seconds with Grigori in a partner-swapping dance. He said we will be together soon. My heart leapt and melted and OH!


5th December 1933

A man came to see me when I was alone with the children. He said he was from Grigori and we are to meet next week in secret! Mrs Laroux can have the children - she is always asking if she can. I'll tell her a friend is sick. I bet she won't even tell Mark I dumped them on her.

Britain has finally surrendered. They don't call it a surrender though, and have withdrawn their army to England. The News was full of photographs of French and Polish troops posing in amongst captured British trucks and tanks. Apparently they weren't allowed to take any of them home!



12th December 1933

Grigori met me in a really posh restaurant! It was a good job I had my slinky black number on. We ate a fabulous meal and drank amazing wine. He said some of it is a hundred years old! But he can pay because he is fabulously rich! We went back to his hotel room and made love for hours and hours in every way until I had to get back to pick up the children from Mrs Laroux before Mark got home. She said she hoped my friend was feeling better. Silly mare!


21st December 1933

My heart aches for Grigori. My loins ache for Grigori. I can hardly bear to look at Mark when we make love but it is alright when he is behind me. I think he thinks I might be pregnant again! If I were I would wish it was Grigori's!

The Kaiser entered Berlin in triumph with the Crown Prince and the younger Wilhelm. He looks HOT! I'd like to see what kind of dancer he is...



24th December 1933

Grigori ambushed me Christmas shopping! I was with the children and Emily kept asking me who is that man? He was walking with us, joking and the baby loved the sound of his husky voice. But Emily is not so sure. I told him he was an uncle and she nodded. She knows people who have uncles, like she knows people who have grandparents. She's going to be a hard one to win over!

Grigori said he was staying in Washington until March when he is due at the World Congress. Apparently he is going to speak for Tsar Roman! I don't know what he is going to say. Griogori says it is such a secret that the Tsar has not even told himself what it is yet! I don't know if that is true but it made Emily laugh. I wonder if she understood it? She can be very clever sometimes.



25th December 1933

Emily forgot all about her Uncle Greg in the excitement of Christmas and I didn't even have to explain to Mark. He never even asked where the expensive cakes came from. I think he thinks I've been saving up all year! It was all that Grigori could buy to be here in spirit - or in marzipan!

President Roosevelt made a nice calm speech on the radio this year. There is no war to worry about. I said to Mark there was no war, and he said that there was - an uprising against the Ottomans in Mesopotamia, and a civil war in Portugal. What do I care about those? Those aren't proper wars. He can be so dull sometimes.



31st December 1933

I don't believe it!!!!!! President Roosevelt has been assassinated!!!!! A car blew up next to his as he got out at the radio studio this morning. It blew his legs off and he died later. Nobody has a clue who did it! Mark has been called in to work. He didn't have a clue, but then he hadn't asked the Secretary of State his opinion. I bet he will have an opinion after he's done that. But it won't really be his!

Mrs Laroux came round crying. Whats she got to cry about? Roosevelt was our president not hers! The radio said that senior government officials were trying to contact the Vice President. Where the Hell is he then? Skiing in the WU?!



Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Mary Martha is quite the wallflower, isn't she? ;)
So what's going on in Austria? Any news from Lawrence?
 
Mary Martha is quite the wallflower, isn't she? ;)
So what's going on in Austria? Any news from Lawrence?

I screwed up on that sub-thread, I'm afraid. I wrote it out long-hand then never typed it up. Was an investigation into pan-European socialist revolutionaries.

Mary Martha has healthy appetites, but a short temper

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
What's going on in the Far East? There have been almost no mentions of it.

Also, a map would be very helpful, since you appear to be Balkanizing North America and Germany with gusto. All these wars appear to be changing the borders around a lot.
 
What's going on in the Far East? There have been almost no mentions of it.

Also, a map would be very helpful, since you appear to be Balkanizing North America and Germany with gusto. All these wars appear to be changing the borders around a lot.

Japan HAS had quite a mention, and as the Far East is mainly divided between areas of influence for Japan, Britain, France and Italy its really only where Japan is concerned that one needs to look at the moment.

I'll try for a rough map of North America by the end of the weekend. Sorry, you know me and maps!

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Winter 1933-1934

Extracts from the Scrapbook of Mary Martha O'Hara

2nd January 1934

President George J Schneider took the oath this morning from the wilds of Wisconsin. He will be flown home later, Mark says, but the government wants to be sure that it is safe here first. All of yesterday and now this morning, there are troops on the street in Washington City, and aeroplanes and airships flying overhead. I heard from Mrs Laroux that trains are bringing more troops into the city. She knows more because of her job, and I've been stuck all day with the children. Emily is being a pain stuck indoors. I hope they relax things soon.


3rd January 1934

Mark says that President Schneider is in the city already now but they aren't going to announce it for another day. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State is running things, and Mark is standing at his right hand! He knows far more than he is allowed to say!

I saw armoured cars on the street corners as I went for bread this morning. Emily was excited and I let her get close. The soldiers were kind enough and let her come. They wouldn't tell me anything, though.

The radio at last began to have some news on it after some days of nothing. The government is saying it thinks that some sort of European terrorist organisation is to blame. I asked Mark if this means war might come, but he said the Secretary of State didn't know. He's being very truthful - for once. He has no idea nor has the man who puts words into his mouth!



4th January 1934

President Schneider addressed the nation today. He spoke a lot about cohesion, and labor rights. He's a very different person from Roosevelt! Mark says that he is being kept at a secure location and that he will address Congress. I don't know if he knows when or how, or even where he is staying.

Emily cut her lip today falling down the steps. I was trying to stop her from running out into the street.The little cow told Mark I had hit her! Where does she get that from?! I don't think he believes me. He told me to go easy on her in these difficult times.



5th January 1934

Mark says that President Schneider will review the armed forces in a few days. The generals are saying it is important that he gets out onto the podium and lets everybody know that the USA cannot be cowed by bombings.

Mark says that the Secretary of State is going to take the airship to Paris and discuss things with the Emperor of France. I suppose this means that there is some idea where the terrorists came from, but the radio is not saying. He won't tell me if there is secret information. What good is that?!



12th January 1934

I took the children along to see the president review the armed forces. It was delayed twice before now. President Schneider was too far away to see how he was looking. He reviewed ranks upon ranks of troops, marines, and others. I don't know! But we watched armored cars and cavalry and strange vehicles.

Emily was wowed by the tanks and armoured cars, and both the chlildren stared open-mouthed at the aeroplanes. It was all very sweet. Then on the way back Emily balled her head off over nothing and I was very close from knocking her down. Mark thinks I did it already so what does it matter? She can be a right cow at times!



15th January 1934

The News reported that the Secretary of State has arrived in Paris. He and the Emperor are going to dine and then make a joint speech - or so Mark says. I think he is bitter that he was not invited to go!

Mrs Laroux took the children off my hands and I went out looking for Grigori. I didn't find him of course. I should have known it. He's too elusive and told me not to look for him. Men!



17th January 1934

The News says that the Secretary and the Emperor of France made a joint speech condemning acts of terrorism across Europe, but did not mention any specific organisation. Mark told me they don't know who did it, but I think he is lying. I don't know what the truth is!

I wish I could see Grigori. I bet he knows what is really going on!



25th January 1934

President Scheider just declared war on Great Britain!!!!!!!!!! He says his secret service is confident that the bombers who killed Roosevelt came from there!!! Mark says that there is no way that they are going to suspect people of British origin, or even those who moved here in recent years. He says there are too many of us. I hope he's right!

I don't know how we are going to fight Britain? Canada is independent and the CSA has a much bigger navy in the Caribbean than we do. Any move we might make against British possessions is going to run into Confederate interests even if the British can't handle their own defence. Mark says that the radical revolutionaries have really run the navy down, but that it is still strong, and the cruisers that exist on Caribbean stations are a mixture of outright radicals, and punishment units. Does that make them stronger or weaker?



27th January 1934

We just invaded Bermuda!!!!!!! The radio is reporting the news straight from the front. I don't know how they do that, but Mark says that it will be happening a lot more, at least in places not that far from the USA.

The News also reports that we sank a British submarine off Maine but Mark says that these reports must be accepted with caution. You can never know if they are there, and if you attack them you can never know if you really sink them.

He asked me if I was pregnant today. I didn't answer



1st February 1934

Thank God! I finally got a message from Grigori! He wants to meet me in the cathedral of all places. I can give the children to Mrs Laroux and Mark has so much work he is hardly going to notice.

Are we going to win this war? I would hope so! But Bermuda is not the real front, and are we supposed to invade Great Britain? Nobody knows. President Schneider is quoted as saying that we will take the war to them. But what does he mean?



2nd February 1934

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Grigori knows so many good places! We renewed our affair and spent hours together in many fine fun ways. He told me that Schneider needed to declare war within the month and didn't really know if Britain was responsible! It was just a convenient target.

When I picked the children up from Mrs Laroux, Emily asked me where I had been. I said with a friend who was sick. She didn't look like she believed me! How can she tell at her young age?!



8th February 1934

I met with Grigori again but we couldn't go to a hotel, he didn't have the time. Apparently the government is seeking allies all across Europe and Russia is being especially courted. We had a great meal and he says he is making some special arrangements but won't tell me what they are!

Mark asked me again if I was pregnant. I finally told him I'd had a miscarriage. He was devastated and all lovey-dovey. I could hardly stand it!



12th February 1934

Grigori picked me up in a Locomobile limousine! It looked just like those that the Secretary of State has! We had a fantastic dinner and then went to a hotel he had arranged. I told him Mark was getting suspicious and he asked me to go away with him!!!!!!!!! To Holland then to Russia!!!!!! I don't know if I dare leave America! Dare I go back to Europe!!! Oh Grigori!!!!


14th February 1934

Mark bought me wonderful chocolates and flowers!!! I told him we should try again to have a child and we spent hours upstairs trying while the children were next door. Mrs Laroux is giving me some funny looks and I want to hit her! I want to wipe that look off her Canuck face!


19th February 1934

Grigori asked me again to go with him!!!!! I think he is being too insistent. Men can be such a pain!!! We did it four times.

President Schneider addressed the nation on the radio to say that Bermuda is now ours. Will that be enough to win the war, or will we have to take the war to Europe? Or to the Caribbean? Mark says that there are already moves to attack the British in the Caribbean.



21st February 1934

I hate men!!!!! I told Grigori I can't go with him to Europe and he hit me!!!!! I tried to fight and he hit me again!!!!

Mark was furious when I got home. Mrs Laroux was mad because I had left the children with her for hours longer than I said. I tried to cover the welts on my face but couldn't. I told Mark I had been mugged but he knew it wasn't that. He didn't hit me but said I had to sleep in the lounge. I could hear contempt.

I hate men!!!!!!!



Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Thankfully there haven't been to much to do at work today. So I have had the pleasure of reading the whole story.
And what a wonderful story it is. So thx and keep the updates comming
 
Japan HAS had quite a mention, and as the Far East is mainly divided between areas of influence for Japan, Britain, France and Italy its really only where Japan is concerned that one needs to look at the moment.

I'll try for a rough map of North America by the end of the weekend. Sorry, you know me and maps!

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Oh, now I see...I guess I should have read a little more carefully...:eek:

I eagerly await the map.

This TL seems to be a lot more violent than OTL. North America especially. The 20s and 30s appear to have been a period of never-ending war in North America. Wouldn't war-weariness set in at some point?

Keep up the story!
 
Oh, now I see...I guess I should have read a little more carefully...:eek:

I eagerly await the map.

This TL seems to be a lot more violent than OTL. North America especially. The 20s and 30s appear to have been a period of never-ending war in North America. Wouldn't war-weariness set in at some point?

Keep up the story!

Its certainly set in in the WU, and the CSA is on a more peaceful and prosperous trajectory.

The USA has more problems, but is also looking for more solutions

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Subscribed, Grey!
The newspaper excerpts and diary excerpts give a good inside view of the TL.
Keep it up!:)

Best Regards
Archangel
 
as an outsider looking at your body of work i have to ask.

do you make a habit of Whumping on Britain? in your stuff they are almost always in trouble.
 
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