POD: 1860-The Knights of the Golden Circle has its leader, George Bickley, become President of the United States, and vows to expand the US to a "golden circle" of territory. For the next 75 years, America expands throughout the world, wins a world war, and is far better than its OTL counterpart.
The 1860 United States presidential election is marked into American history as the election that would change the outcome of world history for the next 150 years. That year, Southern Democrat George W. L. Bickley, who was the leader of the pro-slavery Knights of the Golden Circle, won the election against Republican William Seward with 168 electoral votes. Bickley would be inaugurated into office on March 4, 1861. As president, he promised to expand the territory of the United States by annexing Mexico, Central America, the Carribbean, and parts of South America, to expand the number of slave states from 16 to 41, 59 in total.
In 1861, France and a coalition of five other countries intervened in Mexico as a result of President Juarez’s moratorium on French, British, and Spanish loan payments. The Mexican republicans wanted the US to help, but President Bickley decided to go ahead and invade Mexico themselves. The French, hearing of the invasion by the Americans, declared war on the United States with the European coalition. But, they were no match for the American army, who reached Mexico City on March 2, 1862. In the Treaty of New Orleans, the United States fully annexed Mexico and forced the French-led coalition to leave. They did so out of fear of continuing the war.
Step 1 was complete. 25 new states were created out of the old Mexican states, and were admitted into the Union between July 4, 1863 and July 4, 1864. Maximillian didn’t have a chance to become emperor of Mexico, as he was now back in Vienna, and lived the rest of his life there. The Carribbean islands were next on the list. In 1866, the United States purchased Spanish America from Spain for $1.5 million, and annexed Haiti in 1867. During that time, Britain purchased Alaska from Russia for £2 million, and created the Alaska Territory as a part of Canada. Now, the 1868 elections were coming up, and Bickley decided not to run for a third term. The 1868 election was now between Republican candidate Benjamin Wade and Democrat candidate Andrew Johnson. Johnson won with 211 electoral votes. He vowed to continue Bickley’s expansionist policies, starting with Central America.
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, reformed the United Provinces of Central America in 1866 in order to counter American expansion. But, they were no match for the US army when they invaded in the summer of 1871. The war would last over 1 year, until President Miguel Granados surrendered at the Battle of Golfito on September 11, 1872. The country was annexed and all members were admitted as states between January 1 and July 4, 1873. America was at peace again, but it wouldn’t last for long. Colombia would claim a part of the state of Costa Rica, and would move soldiers there, pissing the Americans off. The last straw was when Colombian soldiers shot at US army men trying to stop them from crossing the border. When President Johnson heard of this, he immediately declared war on Colombia in November 1878.
The Durian Gap between Panama and Colombia, cannot be passed through because of the thick rainforest. The Americans didn’t know this, and were stopped at the Panama provincial border. They had another plan: a good-old naval invasion. The Navy Carribbean Fleet was called in to lead the invasion, called Operation Broken Glass. They landed in Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta on January 1, 1880. Since the Colombian army was distracted, the US captured the northern provinces by mid-February, and forced peace. The Treaty of Havana, signed March 15, stated that Colombia would cede Panama, Magdalena, Bolivar, Santander, Antioquia, and northwestern Cauca provinces to the US, while the rest of Colombia would become a protectorate. Now, one more step needed to be taken. Venezuela was last on the list for American expansion.
On June 30, 1888, President Antonio Blanco was assassinated by anti-government rebels. Without a leader, Venezuela fell into civil war. The United States, under President James A. Garfield, intervened in order to install peace in the country. The rebels ultimately won the war, but immediately tried to expel the American peacekeeping force. War was declared on December 14, and the war lasted until April 1, 1889, when the Venezuelan army under José Gregorio Valera surrendered at the Battle of Guasipati. In the Treaty of Santo Domingo, all of Venezuela north of the Orinoco River would be annexed by the United States, and the rest of Venezuela south of the Orinoco would become a protectorate. The goals of George W. L. Bickley were made a reality, but one more thing needed to be done.
Liberia. A country that was the product of a failed American colony in Africa. The United States wanted to participate in the ongoing “scramble” for Africa, so it sent a delegation to Monrovia. The proposal to annex Liberia into the United States was accepted by President Joseph Cheeseman, and Liberia became the 60th state on July 4, 1895. The Americans then began to colonize the areas surrounding Liberia while respecting other nations’ colonial claims. But, border skirmishes were not a rare sight. Nobody would be killed usually, just a few injuries reported. But this was the beginning of a rivalry that would dictate the 20th century, Britain vs the United States. The Americans claimed British West Africa was their own, saying that they were there first. Now, the 20th century had begun.
On May 5, 1900, slavery would officially be abolished as per the Fourteenth Amendment and replaced with the Jim Crow Acts, a notion of continued segregation in the country. Even though the prospect of not being owned by anyone else made African Americans happy, they were still discriminated against. The majority of the 20th century would be poisoned with racism and race-motivated crimes. A tragic example of this was the Nashville Riot of 1908, where 254 African Americans were systematically lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan, despite the best efforts of the police and National Guard. 150 more people would be shot and killed by the Army after they were attacked by white mobs. It was a day marked into American history as the deadliest riot the nation had ever seen. President George Dewey was appalled by the attack, saying that there needed to be change in the country, but it wouldn’t come for another 70 years.
Meanwhile, on the world stage, Africa had been colonized in some way by the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Russia and the Ottomans. The Europeans annexed the smaller tribal states, and made the larger, more powerful ones protectorates or client states. Many saw this as a way to modernize the continent, in which it worked. Cities grew on the major rivers, such as Victoria Town in British Niger River Colony, Willemstad in the Dutch Kongo, Franz Josephstadt in Austrian Somaliland, and Zambezinha in Portuguese East Africa. But, something else was looming in the clouds. Countries banded together to protect each other from neighboring countries’ interests. Secret treaties were signed by those countries. The most notable ones were the 1914 Treaty of Vladivostok, creating a formal Russo-American alliance, and the 1915 Treaty of London between Britain and Italy.
More and more countries later joined these alliances, and by 1920, these were the two main factions:
The London Pact, containing the following countries:
Great Britain, her colonies and dominions
Italy and her colonies
Portugal and her colonies
the Netherlands and her colonies
Belgium
Scandinavia
Brazil
Peru
Chile
and the Ottomans
The other faction was the Alliance of Nations, formally established in 1918 by:
America and her protectorates
Russia
China
Germany and her colonies
France and her colonies
Spain and her colonies
Serbia
Romania
Persia
Nejd
Morocco
Kongo
and the Senussi Kingdom
And after years of growing tensions, it happened. On June 12, 1929, the Sokoto Crisis would begin between France and Britain over a disputed area in the northwestern part of the Sokoto Protectorate. Britain would fully declare war on France on August 23, 1929, two months and 13 days after the crisis began. The London Pact would declare war the next day, and the Alliance of Nations on the 25th, beginning the Great World War. The first year of the conflict was rocky for both factions, as minor border skirmishes took place in 1929 and 1930.
The African front was one of the worst parts of the entire war, as troops stationed there would fight the enemies in the desert, the savanna, the jungle, anywhere they were. Portugal's colonies were the first to go, after Spain captured Luanda on March 30, 1930 and Lourenço Marquez on April 17. The Dutch Congo went down next, after the Kongolese took the city of Willemstad on June 4. Anti-British rebels in West Africa rose up against their colonial masters, with American, French, and Spanish support. Sokoto would switch sides on November 11, then Biafra on November 13.
1931 would start with the invasion of mainland Portugal by Spain and Italy by France and Germany. Porto would fall on February 27 and Lisbon on March 16, after a 2-week siege and naval blockade. Portugal would surrender the next day. Belgium would surrender on April 2 after the French stormed the palace of Leopold II and forced him to sign a instrument of surrender. The Netherlands would surrender on May 1. The Italian and Balkan fronts went smoothly, as pro-Slavic rebellions started in Ottoman Europe, ending with the capture of Adrianople by the Bulgarians on September 21, and the French would reach Rome on Christmas Eve. During that time, the Atlantic became a naval war zone between the American and British navies. Multiple British warships, such as the HMS Titanic, would be sunken by American torpedoes. The Americans only lost 21 warships during 1930-1931, while the British would lose 76 in that same period.
1932 and 1933 would be the decisive turning points of the war. Britain would finally begin the invasion of mainland America, with the battles of Seattle, Marquette, Duluth, Fargo, Buffalo, and Portland, Maine being decisive British victories. Cleveland, Detroit, and Green Bay would be shelled by British ships between March 7 and 20, 1932. The Americans would counter with the invasion of Canada starting on March 15, 1932. Quebecois rebels declared independence on April 20, and would begin to help the Americans take over Canada. Russia started a naval invasion of Alaska on May 3 to reclaim its former colony. Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver would be captured throughout July and August 1932. Italy would surrender on December 31, 1932 and Canada would officially surrender the next day, January 1, 1933.
Australian and Indian rebellions started in August of that year, with the rebels in the former Dutch West Indies declaring the Islamic Republic of Insulindia on September 1. Australia would declare independence of September 10 and Burma would declare independence on September 20. The Indian Revolution would be the deadliest part of the war, as 3 million Indian people would fight against 300,000 British soldiers and over 1 million pro-British militias. Massacres were a weekly occurrence as British soldiers would kill civilians as an act of revenge for their soldiers being killed. Those horrors would become public, and the people of Britain were pissed. Pro-Indian protests across the British Isles would take place throughout 1933. Police arrested thousands of protesters, which pissed more people off. They wanted an end to the monarchy, and a democracy to be installed.
The war would turn in favor of the AoN, who were already planning what punishments the members of the London Pact would face after the war was won. India would declare independence on November 22, 1933. Britain would be fully kicked from Africa after the Battle of Cape Town on May 8. Chinese republican rebels were rising up all over China, but with the intervention of Russia and America, the rebels would be defeated at Nanjing on July 4, 1934. Austria-Hungary collapsed into civil war in June 1934, and the Alliance took advantage of it. Germany annexed Bohemia and Austria, Poland annexed Galicia-Lodomeria, Hungary declared independence, and Serbia annexed Bosnia and Croatia. South America had already stopped their fighting after the surrenders of Peru, Chile, and Brazil throughout June 1934.
The AoN took advantage of the anti-monarchist protesters and staged the British Revolution on August 25, 1934; 5 years since the start of the war. The British armies in their collapsing colonies returned to the homeland to aid the effort against the Republican Army. The Americans, French, Germans, and Spanish invaded Ireland in November 1934. Ireland declared independence January 1, 1935. Scotland and Wales were invaded next, but the British proposed a 6-month ceasefire to hopefully end the war. The Alliance accepted, and for those six months, life somewhat returned to normal. Scotland and Wales declared independence on February 28, 1935, and the ceasefire expired on July 1, 1935. Fighting immediately resumed and the resistance militias were putting a number on the allied forces. 1 million soldiers were already killed, and 2.6 million Englishmen were already killed.
Britain decided that it was time to end the war. They surrendered on December 25, 1935, but not all of the army followed. Guerilla fighters from the remains of the Royal Army attacked allied military bases, and it lasted until May 29, 1936. The Treaty of New York was signed on July 1, 1936, 7 months after the official end of the Great World War. 47 countries signed the treaties from both factions of the war. The Treaty stated the following:
Article 1: Europe and Middle East
- Portugal will be annexed by Spain.
- Spain will annex Sardinia and Gibraltar.
- France will annex Genoa and Savoy.
- Italy will be split up into the following nations: Venice, Lombardy, Romagna, Modena, Tuscany, Papal States, Naples, and Sicily.
6. France and Germany will partition Belgium.
7. Germany will annex the Netherlands.
8. Great Britain shall release Scotland, Ireland, and Wales as independent nations.
9. England will become a Republic.
10. Scandinavia will be split up between Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.
11. Albania will be given independence.
12. Greece will annex south Macedonia.
13. Armenia will be given independence.
14. Assyria will be given independence.
15. Nejd will annex the rest of Ottoman Arabia.
Article 2: Africa
- Spain will annex all of Portugal’s colonies.
- Britain’s colonies will be partitioned between France, America, and Germany.
- The Senussi will annex Italian Tripolitania.
- The following countries will be given independence:Republic of South Africa, Boer State, Zulu Kingdom, Kingdom of Maravi, Kingdom of Lunda, Kingdom of Buganda, Herero State, Kingdom of Biafra, Sokoto Caliphate, Sultanate of Somalia, Republic of Kikuyuland, Emirate of Agadez, Kingdom of Bophuthatswana, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, State of Barotseland
Article 3: Asia
- Hong Kong and Macau will be annexed by China.
- The following countries will be given independence: Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaya, Nepal, Bhutan, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Kokand, Bukhara, and Khiva.
- India will annex Portuguese possessions.
- Spain will annex Portuguese East Indies.
- Insulindia will annex Brunei.
- France and Australia will partition the British Pacific Islands.
- The Philippines will be annexed by the United States.
Article 4: The Americas
- France will annex Counani.
- Venezuela and imperial America will partition British and Dutch Guiana.
- Venezuela will annex their claimed area in Grao-Para.
- Bolivia will annex southern Peru and the Chaco Region.
- Argentina will annex Chilean Patagonia, southern Paraguay, and a part of Santa Catarina province
- Uruguay will annex the rest of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, forming the Cisplatine Republic.
- Argentina will annex the Malvinas Islands.
- Russia will annex British Alaska.
- America will annex Greenland.
Article 5: War Reparations
- England, the Italian nations, the Nordic nations, the Ottomans, Brazil, Peru, and Chile will pay the equivalent of 50 million of their native currencies to the Alliance of Nations.
Post-War World
The world returned to normal after the war. In 1942, the Treaty of Rome was signed by 40 countries, which founded the League of Nations. The goal of the LoN is to keep the world united and to not repeat the horrors of the GWW. A few years later, in 1947, the era of decolonialism began. European powers granted independence to their colonies, but kept their oldest colonies as a part of the homelands. For example, Spain kept their colonies, and slowly incorporated them into the main country. This practice was already being adopted in French Algeria, Congo, and Madagascar. By 1990, most of Africa was free from colonial rule. Meanwhile in the good ol' U.S., after decades of protests against the Jim Crow laws, they were declared unconstitutional in 1976, and were officially overruled by the Equal Rights Act of 1984. Racism still unfortunately exists in the United States, at the hands of people who still believe the ideas of the old era(they are called "Crowers" by everyone else). The 21st century, or commonly called the Gilded Era, proves that it has changed humanity. There are positives of this world, such as almost every country is industrialized, even the Bornu Emirate. Separatism and nationalism exists in a lot of areas around the world, such as the Mexican Independence Party in the U.S. and the Kurdish National Army in Assyro-Chaldea and Armenia. Here is a map of the world in 2019:
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