Ok this is a general cameo call. Pick your nation you want to serve. However here are the rules, no one over the rank of major if in the military. Nor anyone is high levels of the civilian government. If you want in PM me and we can work out the details.
A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
We Must Built the Canal!
As per the terms of the Treaty of New York the United States gained sole rights to hold negotiations with the governments of Colombia and Nicaragua for the right to negotiation of a canal in Central America. Even through President Roosevelt had many issues facing the nation in the aftermath of New York he started working with the Colombian government to lease land to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Build of a canal would be a massive increase into the economic life blood of the United States along with giving a massive increase in the flexibly in its defense.
During 1920, the US and Colombia when back and fore over the terms of the treaty for this lease. The US had selected Panama over Nicaragua as the site to build a canal as Panama had no issues with volcanos as Nicaragua did. Further Panama allowed them to take over the old French efforts there which would save some time, money, and effort to build a canal. A canal in Panama had its own issues but it was viewed as nothing that good old American know how and will power couldn’t overcome.
Only weeks before the election the Lopez-Root Treaty was signed. Under the terms of the Lopez-Root Treaty the US was granted an in perpetuity lease on a strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama to build a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. This leased land through still own by Colombia would be under American control and laws. The US would also assume the defense of this territory and come to the defense of Colombia should Colombia ever be attack by a third party. For this lease the US agreed to pay a yearly sum of 15 million dollars to the Colombian Government along with granting all Colombian flag and own ships free passages through the canal. There were other bits of the treaty but the US got what it wanted.
The treaty would be ratified shortly after the election Vice President Albert Cummins to the top office to replace Roosevelt who was retiring after his third term. Roosevelt could had ran for a fourth term and run but he was deciding to retire and Cummins had been selected to replace him as president by the American people as many weren’t ready to allow the Democratic make into the White House at the moment. Not after what happened in 1916. No one ejected to the treaty in the US. It took a bit more work for the Colombian government to ratified the treaty but they would on January 15 1921.
Work on the Panama Canal started on April 15th 1921 when the US officially took controlled of the land for the canal. Work on the canal was difficult but finished in 1935. If not for the Depression of 1928[1] it would been finished as possibly as early as 1932. The locks of the canal were 1250x150x50 in size. They made duel locks to allow flow of traffic to be going from the Pacific to the Atlantic one way and the Atlantic to the Pacific the other. Its widely view as one of the modern wonders of the world.
During 1920, the US and Colombia when back and fore over the terms of the treaty for this lease. The US had selected Panama over Nicaragua as the site to build a canal as Panama had no issues with volcanos as Nicaragua did. Further Panama allowed them to take over the old French efforts there which would save some time, money, and effort to build a canal. A canal in Panama had its own issues but it was viewed as nothing that good old American know how and will power couldn’t overcome.
Only weeks before the election the Lopez-Root Treaty was signed. Under the terms of the Lopez-Root Treaty the US was granted an in perpetuity lease on a strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama to build a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. This leased land through still own by Colombia would be under American control and laws. The US would also assume the defense of this territory and come to the defense of Colombia should Colombia ever be attack by a third party. For this lease the US agreed to pay a yearly sum of 15 million dollars to the Colombian Government along with granting all Colombian flag and own ships free passages through the canal. There were other bits of the treaty but the US got what it wanted.
The treaty would be ratified shortly after the election Vice President Albert Cummins to the top office to replace Roosevelt who was retiring after his third term. Roosevelt could had ran for a fourth term and run but he was deciding to retire and Cummins had been selected to replace him as president by the American people as many weren’t ready to allow the Democratic make into the White House at the moment. Not after what happened in 1916. No one ejected to the treaty in the US. It took a bit more work for the Colombian government to ratified the treaty but they would on January 15 1921.
Work on the Panama Canal started on April 15th 1921 when the US officially took controlled of the land for the canal. Work on the canal was difficult but finished in 1935. If not for the Depression of 1928[1] it would been finished as possibly as early as 1932. The locks of the canal were 1250x150x50 in size. They made duel locks to allow flow of traffic to be going from the Pacific to the Atlantic one way and the Atlantic to the Pacific the other. Its widely view as one of the modern wonders of the world.
Jim are you asking us to make OC's to have focus for the Second World War?
You can have some input into your cameo's i.e. background and what he is doing in 1937 but from there on I have the control.
Bern Naval Treaty
Not even a year after the signing of the Treaty of New York which brought an end to the Great War the United States along with the British, German, and Japanese Empire had all started major naval building programs and it seemed another naval arms race was starting after one helped led to a major war. This was followed by the start of a naval program by Austria-Hungary in 1921 and Italy in 1922 that was spur on by the Austria-Hungary program. There were also signs that French who was just exiting out its civil war would also start a major naval program in 1923 or 24 time frame. However, the cost of such a naval race was insanely high and after everything that happened in the war and after it budgets were tight. People across the globe had no wanted to fight another war. The people in the US were very keen on the idea of cutting cost defense spending.
There was only one way to control the cost of the budget, a naval arms control treaty. Even through the US had won the war the British weren’t defeated and many within the high levels in Washington believe they would seek a war of revenge if they saw a chance. They were stilled allied to the Japanese as well. Because of this they still faced threats on both the Atlantic and Pacific Fronts. Further the leaders weren’t about the US to be defenseless against either power to cut the defense budget. Secretary of State Elihu Root a holdover from the Roosevelt White House and by 1922 the longest holder of the job as Secretary of State started laying the groundwork for a naval arms control treaty. To the surprise of Root and others in Foggy Bottom Sound they found many nations were receptive to the idea. This was also because they were all running into budget issues and needed a way to release funds to help get their budgets back under control.
Bern was selected as the city for the meeting to be held. It was something of an irony that a nation with no borders with the sea would hold such a major naval conference that would affect navies worldwide. Many different topics were covered at Bern with many days and weeks of back and fore on the different issues that were covered by such a far reaching treaty as the Bern Naval Treaty was too be. Yet Bern would set the tone of navies worldwide till the treaty system fell part in the lead up to World War II.
The big fight at Bern was over the tonnage of capital ships and what defined a capital ship. After many days of back and fore on the issue before an agreement was reached. Capital ships were defined as pre and post Colossus battleships, battlecruisers, armored cruisers, and sometimes monitors. The final agreement on tonnage came to a ratio of 11:11:8:7:3:3:3. This ratio was set up from top down and at the top was the United States and the British Empire. Following the British it was the German Empire than Japanese Empire with the Third French Empire, the Italian Kingdom, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire bring up the rear. The Imperial Federation of Australia and New Zealand and South Africa was to count against British tonnage limits. Further each nation would be allowed to maintain two reserve capital ships that would not count against the tonnage limits. These ships could only maintain a skeleton crew year around to keep up with simple maintenance. Finally these reserve capital ships could only put to sea for one week a year with all nations of this treaty being told about a month in advance about this training sortie for their reservist crews.
Bern also start the birth of the treaty battleship and battlecruisers. These ships were limited to a standard displacement of 45,000 tons with guns no bigger than 16.5 inches. It further limited the big four at Bern to the number of capital ships they could have in the difference phases of construction. The US, the British, Germans, and Japanese were limited to just have two capital ships being built at any one time with the French, Italians, and Austro-Hungarians being limited to a single capital ship being built. This was to replace 20 year or older battleships or in some cases allowing nations to fill out their tonnage limits per the treaty. When a new capital ship is ordered all singers of this treaty would be informed about it. The ship being replaced by this new construction had to be in the breaker yards by the time this new ship was to be commissioned into the navy of the nation in question. Or the reserve ship was to be in the breaker yards with a former active ship being moved to reserve status.
Each nation may take one ship that was to be scrapped under the terms of this treaty and turn it into a gunnery training ship. These ships would have to have its armor, main guns, and anti-torpedo defenses removed. The British were allowed to keep HMS Colossus as a museum ship. Japan was allowed to keep IJN Mikasa as a museum ship. Germany was allowed to keep SMS Moltke[1] as a museum ship. The United States was allowed to keep USS Delaware as a museum ship. All museum ships were to be demilitarized. Ships that are to be scrapped under the terms of this treaty could not be sold to third party nations. However, the turrets and guns of these ships could be placed into storage, used for coastal defensives, new builds or however the nation saw fit.
This treaty also banned the building of capital ships for foreign powers. This came into effect once the treaty reached a two-thirds ratification point. This set off a rush by the Belgians, Dutch, Greeks, Ottomans, Brazilians, Argentinians, and Chileans to order capital ships for their navies before the two-thirds ratification point was reached. So, long as a contact was signed before that, those ships could be built. This saw 18 capital ships[2] being ordered by seven nations within the span of months before the two-third ratification point was reached.
For the Big Four at Bern they could take two of their battleships or battlecruisers that were being built at the moment and turn them into aircraft carriers that would had otherwise been scrapped under the terms of this treaty. These ships were limited up to 45,000 tons standard displacement with a limited up to four large caliber guns ranging from 5.1 to 8.3 inches in size. Italy, Austria-Hungary, and France can all turn one into an aircraft carrier if they so wish with the same limits of the Big Four. Aircraft Carrier tonnage was to be limited to a ratio of 6:6:4:4:1.5:1.5:1.5 ratio. Following these rebuilt battleships or battlecruisers that were turned into aircraft carriers, future carriers would be limited to 35,000 tons but retain the same limit on large caliber guns as their larger 45,000 ton counterparts have.
There however were loopholes both with the capital ships and aircraft carrier tonnage rules. For capital ships this was monitors. Monitors were to be limited to 10,000 tons standard displacement with a max of two 16.5 inch guns with no more than four secondary guns ranging in size from 5.1 to 8.3 inches. These ships would count against capital ship tonnage limits. However, if a monitor was under 5,000 tons standard displacement with main guns under 12 inches wouldn’t be counted against capital ship tonnage limits. For the aircraft carrier loophole, it was carriers that displaced 13,000 tons or less that wouldn’t be counted against the tonnage limits of the nation that built them. These light aircraft carriers were limited through just two guns between 5.1 and 8.3 inches instead of four like their larger sisters.
Another new ship was born at Bern, the Treaty Cruiser. Treaty cruisers were limited to a standard displacement of 13,000 tons and main guns of 8.3 inch in size. Efforts were made at Bern to have a cruiser tonnage limit for all parties but this was a bridge too far and no tonnage limits set at Bern. Even reaching this agreement was tricky but in the end an agreement was reached.
There were also a few other efforts at Bern that failed. Talks of not building up new Pacific fortications failed as it proved to be too much to agree to a comprise between the parties in the Pacific. The British tried to bring up submarine limits and hinted they would like a tonnage limit for submarines. Everyone else at Bern when no to any talks on submarines. They had proven their worth in the war and cheap when put up against the ships most parties at Bern had come here to talk about. Nothing was even touched on about destroyers. Yet by the time the ink was drying on this treaty a new naval race was already starting because it, the cruiser race.
[1] Germany’s first Battlecruiser ITL.
[2] The Belgian got two, the Dutch four, the Greeks two, the Ottomans two, the Brazilians four, the Argentinians two, and the Chileans two.
There was only one way to control the cost of the budget, a naval arms control treaty. Even through the US had won the war the British weren’t defeated and many within the high levels in Washington believe they would seek a war of revenge if they saw a chance. They were stilled allied to the Japanese as well. Because of this they still faced threats on both the Atlantic and Pacific Fronts. Further the leaders weren’t about the US to be defenseless against either power to cut the defense budget. Secretary of State Elihu Root a holdover from the Roosevelt White House and by 1922 the longest holder of the job as Secretary of State started laying the groundwork for a naval arms control treaty. To the surprise of Root and others in Foggy Bottom Sound they found many nations were receptive to the idea. This was also because they were all running into budget issues and needed a way to release funds to help get their budgets back under control.
Bern was selected as the city for the meeting to be held. It was something of an irony that a nation with no borders with the sea would hold such a major naval conference that would affect navies worldwide. Many different topics were covered at Bern with many days and weeks of back and fore on the different issues that were covered by such a far reaching treaty as the Bern Naval Treaty was too be. Yet Bern would set the tone of navies worldwide till the treaty system fell part in the lead up to World War II.
The big fight at Bern was over the tonnage of capital ships and what defined a capital ship. After many days of back and fore on the issue before an agreement was reached. Capital ships were defined as pre and post Colossus battleships, battlecruisers, armored cruisers, and sometimes monitors. The final agreement on tonnage came to a ratio of 11:11:8:7:3:3:3. This ratio was set up from top down and at the top was the United States and the British Empire. Following the British it was the German Empire than Japanese Empire with the Third French Empire, the Italian Kingdom, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire bring up the rear. The Imperial Federation of Australia and New Zealand and South Africa was to count against British tonnage limits. Further each nation would be allowed to maintain two reserve capital ships that would not count against the tonnage limits. These ships could only maintain a skeleton crew year around to keep up with simple maintenance. Finally these reserve capital ships could only put to sea for one week a year with all nations of this treaty being told about a month in advance about this training sortie for their reservist crews.
Bern also start the birth of the treaty battleship and battlecruisers. These ships were limited to a standard displacement of 45,000 tons with guns no bigger than 16.5 inches. It further limited the big four at Bern to the number of capital ships they could have in the difference phases of construction. The US, the British, Germans, and Japanese were limited to just have two capital ships being built at any one time with the French, Italians, and Austro-Hungarians being limited to a single capital ship being built. This was to replace 20 year or older battleships or in some cases allowing nations to fill out their tonnage limits per the treaty. When a new capital ship is ordered all singers of this treaty would be informed about it. The ship being replaced by this new construction had to be in the breaker yards by the time this new ship was to be commissioned into the navy of the nation in question. Or the reserve ship was to be in the breaker yards with a former active ship being moved to reserve status.
Each nation may take one ship that was to be scrapped under the terms of this treaty and turn it into a gunnery training ship. These ships would have to have its armor, main guns, and anti-torpedo defenses removed. The British were allowed to keep HMS Colossus as a museum ship. Japan was allowed to keep IJN Mikasa as a museum ship. Germany was allowed to keep SMS Moltke[1] as a museum ship. The United States was allowed to keep USS Delaware as a museum ship. All museum ships were to be demilitarized. Ships that are to be scrapped under the terms of this treaty could not be sold to third party nations. However, the turrets and guns of these ships could be placed into storage, used for coastal defensives, new builds or however the nation saw fit.
This treaty also banned the building of capital ships for foreign powers. This came into effect once the treaty reached a two-thirds ratification point. This set off a rush by the Belgians, Dutch, Greeks, Ottomans, Brazilians, Argentinians, and Chileans to order capital ships for their navies before the two-thirds ratification point was reached. So, long as a contact was signed before that, those ships could be built. This saw 18 capital ships[2] being ordered by seven nations within the span of months before the two-third ratification point was reached.
For the Big Four at Bern they could take two of their battleships or battlecruisers that were being built at the moment and turn them into aircraft carriers that would had otherwise been scrapped under the terms of this treaty. These ships were limited up to 45,000 tons standard displacement with a limited up to four large caliber guns ranging from 5.1 to 8.3 inches in size. Italy, Austria-Hungary, and France can all turn one into an aircraft carrier if they so wish with the same limits of the Big Four. Aircraft Carrier tonnage was to be limited to a ratio of 6:6:4:4:1.5:1.5:1.5 ratio. Following these rebuilt battleships or battlecruisers that were turned into aircraft carriers, future carriers would be limited to 35,000 tons but retain the same limit on large caliber guns as their larger 45,000 ton counterparts have.
There however were loopholes both with the capital ships and aircraft carrier tonnage rules. For capital ships this was monitors. Monitors were to be limited to 10,000 tons standard displacement with a max of two 16.5 inch guns with no more than four secondary guns ranging in size from 5.1 to 8.3 inches. These ships would count against capital ship tonnage limits. However, if a monitor was under 5,000 tons standard displacement with main guns under 12 inches wouldn’t be counted against capital ship tonnage limits. For the aircraft carrier loophole, it was carriers that displaced 13,000 tons or less that wouldn’t be counted against the tonnage limits of the nation that built them. These light aircraft carriers were limited through just two guns between 5.1 and 8.3 inches instead of four like their larger sisters.
Another new ship was born at Bern, the Treaty Cruiser. Treaty cruisers were limited to a standard displacement of 13,000 tons and main guns of 8.3 inch in size. Efforts were made at Bern to have a cruiser tonnage limit for all parties but this was a bridge too far and no tonnage limits set at Bern. Even reaching this agreement was tricky but in the end an agreement was reached.
There were also a few other efforts at Bern that failed. Talks of not building up new Pacific fortications failed as it proved to be too much to agree to a comprise between the parties in the Pacific. The British tried to bring up submarine limits and hinted they would like a tonnage limit for submarines. Everyone else at Bern when no to any talks on submarines. They had proven their worth in the war and cheap when put up against the ships most parties at Bern had come here to talk about. Nothing was even touched on about destroyers. Yet by the time the ink was drying on this treaty a new naval race was already starting because it, the cruiser race.
[1] Germany’s first Battlecruiser ITL.
[2] The Belgian got two, the Dutch four, the Greeks two, the Ottomans two, the Brazilians four, the Argentinians two, and the Chileans two.
Interesting going to have to look and see how this naval treaty compares to I TO. Also for the canal good deal for Columbia since they have the US basically protecting them from any neighbors
The issue I have with this compared with the OTL WNT is that the British and Japanese are still allied by treaty, and unlike OTL the British are unlikely to let this expire, and the USA and the Germans don't have a formal alliance. Therefore while the UK+Japan numbers for capital ships and aircraft carriers and USA+German numbers for the same are essential equal, the former are allied by treaty and the latter are not. I also wonder if the Germans will use their allowance for aircraft carriers as they are of no use in the Baltic, and limited use east of the British Isles in the North Sea and even west within range of land based air. The German holdings in the Pacific are pretty scanty and I wonder where they could have a base large enough to be a home port for carriers. What this means is that if the USA finds itself in a two ocean war against the British and the Japanese, and the Germans are not in it from the start, they will find themselves outnumbered almost 2:1 in capital ships and aircraft carriers by the B-J alliance.
OTL the USA was OK with the 5:5:3 capital ship arrangement even needing to cover two oceans because it saw the RN as managing the Atlantic if the US was in a one on one war with Japan in the Pacific so it would not need to maintain a large Atlantic fleet. ITTL this is not the case as the USA could very well expect threats both Atlantic and Pacific from the RN and IJN, and the French throwing in with the UK is not totally unreasonable as they had losses to the USA to avenge as well.
Even if the Germans build to the treaty limits including carriers, and their new ships designed for long range operations (which the pre-WWI dreadnoughts were not), Germany has the problem that in order for its fleet to get out in to the Atlantic they have to run several potential chokepoints. The way around that in the Atlantic is to have an agreement with the USA about using American bases for some ships normally, and of course in war time and having spare parts and ammo there. In the Pacific, this is absolutely necessary as the German holdings are small and far away from their base of supply.
OTL the USA was OK with the 5:5:3 capital ship arrangement even needing to cover two oceans because it saw the RN as managing the Atlantic if the US was in a one on one war with Japan in the Pacific so it would not need to maintain a large Atlantic fleet. ITTL this is not the case as the USA could very well expect threats both Atlantic and Pacific from the RN and IJN, and the French throwing in with the UK is not totally unreasonable as they had losses to the USA to avenge as well.
Even if the Germans build to the treaty limits including carriers, and their new ships designed for long range operations (which the pre-WWI dreadnoughts were not), Germany has the problem that in order for its fleet to get out in to the Atlantic they have to run several potential chokepoints. The way around that in the Atlantic is to have an agreement with the USA about using American bases for some ships normally, and of course in war time and having spare parts and ammo there. In the Pacific, this is absolutely necessary as the German holdings are small and far away from their base of supply.
Money, it Makes the World Go Round
The Third French Empire by the time of the Bern Naval Treaty was in large effect broke. It had been one of the reasons they had been willing to agree to terms that placed the newly formed imperial empire in was in effect last place in just about every naval area of importance. France was still recovering from over two years of warfare with the Germans and their own civil war. They also were suffering from a crushing indemnity that the Treaty of New York left them with. Soon after Bern the French when to the Germans to try and rework their indemnity to make it’s more worker to allow the French force on their defense from the Communist Spanish along with defending itself and its colonies from the British.
Germany in 1923 was viewing things in a difference lens than they were in 1918-19. They now had the communist Soviet Union on their eastern border. To their south, they had an increasing hostile Austro Hungarian Empire which was upset with how the spoils of war was passed around at New York. Within the Austro Hungarian press was a growing blame of Germany for their poor reward for the fight in the Great War. Berlin and Rome were patching things up but Italy herself was having issues recovering from the war as well. If they had the chance they would pull France into their orbit and create an anti-communist alliance in Europe.
This led to the Treaty of Potsdam. This treaty didn’t let the French out the indemnity they agreed to pay at New York like they hoped it would. Yet it did rework the payment schedule of the indemnity. It extended the timeline for payment of the indemnity by 25 years. It also forgave the interest that was racking up since the end of the war and non-payment because of the civil war. It further gave the French a four year grace period to allow her to get their finance house back in order after which the 55 years payment program would start. In the event of war between the French Empire and communist payments would be allowed to stop and the German Empire would come to the aid of the French Empire. Payments would restart five years after any such war. Finally, it reduced the interest rate by four points over what had been set at New York.
Even through the Treaty of Potsdam gave the French breathing room to get their economy going again they were still in deed of a cash infusion. Napoleon V and others briefly floated the idea of selling some African colonies to the Germans but rejected the idea. Relations with the Germans were improving but they doubted they could survive the fallout from selling colonies to Germany. Then they looked at the possibly of selling colonies to the United States. Relations since the end of the civil war in France had been rapidly improving between the two powers. They further had a history of good relations for the most part since the founding of the United States.
With that in mind, Napoleon’s ambassador to the United States when to Secretary of State Elihu Root to see if a deal could be reached. Root informed the French ambassador that the US had no interest in owning land in Africa. The US was still very focused on the Pacific and to a lesser degree the Caribbean and Central America as areas they wanted to expand into. The only territory that the French held at this point that the US would like to buy was New Caledonia. The French knew New Caledonia would bring far less money than some of their African colonies that they were willing to part with, but in the end the need of money was there which the US had.
Both sides soon started on talks about the Americans buying New Caledonia. After a few rounds of talks they finally agreed on a price to New Caledonia. The deal was valued at 150 million dollars. 80 million dollars would paid in cash to the Third French Empire. The remaining 70 million dollars would be in the form of credit that was only good within the borders of the United States. Later it was found out this was 15 million dollars more than was the lowest amount of money the French would had taken. The deal however was signed on June 5th 1924.
Following this the New Caledonia Treaty when before the American and French Senates to be ratified. In both Senates the treaty faced an uphill battle. The French Senate was the first to give the treaty ratification on July 31st after a major fight there. In the US Senate the fight was even harder fought than it was in Paris. The vote in the senate in Washington DC passed with a single vote on August 16th. Control of New Caledonia officially changed hands on December 16th 1924 when the flag of the Third Empire was lowered for the last time and the Stars and Strips when up. This money would prove critical in getting the economy of the Third Empire going again. And for the United States they added a key piece of territory to check the British and their dogs in the Imperial Federation along with a valuable territory on top of it being able to check the British in the Southwest Pacific.
Germany in 1923 was viewing things in a difference lens than they were in 1918-19. They now had the communist Soviet Union on their eastern border. To their south, they had an increasing hostile Austro Hungarian Empire which was upset with how the spoils of war was passed around at New York. Within the Austro Hungarian press was a growing blame of Germany for their poor reward for the fight in the Great War. Berlin and Rome were patching things up but Italy herself was having issues recovering from the war as well. If they had the chance they would pull France into their orbit and create an anti-communist alliance in Europe.
This led to the Treaty of Potsdam. This treaty didn’t let the French out the indemnity they agreed to pay at New York like they hoped it would. Yet it did rework the payment schedule of the indemnity. It extended the timeline for payment of the indemnity by 25 years. It also forgave the interest that was racking up since the end of the war and non-payment because of the civil war. It further gave the French a four year grace period to allow her to get their finance house back in order after which the 55 years payment program would start. In the event of war between the French Empire and communist payments would be allowed to stop and the German Empire would come to the aid of the French Empire. Payments would restart five years after any such war. Finally, it reduced the interest rate by four points over what had been set at New York.
Even through the Treaty of Potsdam gave the French breathing room to get their economy going again they were still in deed of a cash infusion. Napoleon V and others briefly floated the idea of selling some African colonies to the Germans but rejected the idea. Relations with the Germans were improving but they doubted they could survive the fallout from selling colonies to Germany. Then they looked at the possibly of selling colonies to the United States. Relations since the end of the civil war in France had been rapidly improving between the two powers. They further had a history of good relations for the most part since the founding of the United States.
With that in mind, Napoleon’s ambassador to the United States when to Secretary of State Elihu Root to see if a deal could be reached. Root informed the French ambassador that the US had no interest in owning land in Africa. The US was still very focused on the Pacific and to a lesser degree the Caribbean and Central America as areas they wanted to expand into. The only territory that the French held at this point that the US would like to buy was New Caledonia. The French knew New Caledonia would bring far less money than some of their African colonies that they were willing to part with, but in the end the need of money was there which the US had.
Both sides soon started on talks about the Americans buying New Caledonia. After a few rounds of talks they finally agreed on a price to New Caledonia. The deal was valued at 150 million dollars. 80 million dollars would paid in cash to the Third French Empire. The remaining 70 million dollars would be in the form of credit that was only good within the borders of the United States. Later it was found out this was 15 million dollars more than was the lowest amount of money the French would had taken. The deal however was signed on June 5th 1924.
Following this the New Caledonia Treaty when before the American and French Senates to be ratified. In both Senates the treaty faced an uphill battle. The French Senate was the first to give the treaty ratification on July 31st after a major fight there. In the US Senate the fight was even harder fought than it was in Paris. The vote in the senate in Washington DC passed with a single vote on August 16th. Control of New Caledonia officially changed hands on December 16th 1924 when the flag of the Third Empire was lowered for the last time and the Stars and Strips when up. This money would prove critical in getting the economy of the Third Empire going again. And for the United States they added a key piece of territory to check the British and their dogs in the Imperial Federation along with a valuable territory on top of it being able to check the British in the Southwest Pacific.
150 millions seems like a pretty steep price to pay for an island. Would have enjoyed seeing how the US Senate could justify spending that much money for it, but I have the feeling that this was partially done for the sake of propping France up in case the communists decided to take a swing at France.
Yeah the reason the US was send that much was to help pop up the French along with other reasons.
Boston Naval Conference
In 1927 the seven great powers of the world met again at The Hauge for another naval conference. The goal at The Hauge was two fold. The first was to close the loop holes within the Bern Naval Treaty. The second was to limited the number of cruisers between the great powers which would end the then on going cruiser race as many nations were ordering large numbers of cruisers. The conference at The Hauge was a failure and no treaty was signed as no one could reach an agreement on these two main and countless minor issues at had been brought up here. The only agreement was they would meet again in 1932 to talk again.
Then the Depression of 1928 hit[1]. The 1928 Depression effected every nation on the planet. This caused budgets for military to shirk across the globe as money was tight and many nations were focused on getting their economy going again. Yet the Depression of 28 also caused two more nations to fall to the communist, Portugal was the first in 1928 after years of holding on to what once was. The second was Peru which marked the first communist nation in the new world when it fell to a communist uprising in 1929.
For the great powers they knew they needed to cut their naval expenditures in order to free up money to get their economies going again. The only way they could get that to happen was another naval arms control treaty. In 1929 the ground work was laid for another meeting between the Great Powers to speak about arms control as this meeting wasn’t set to happen till 1932. It was agreed by the Great Powers to meet in Boston in 1930 to find a way to better control naval budgets and arms for the great powers.
Unknown to many and only suspected by a few intelligence agencies was what the Italian Kingdom was doing. In 1929 they penned a secret treaty with the Soviet Union. Under the terms of this treaty the Italians would help the Soviet Union to build up its naval forces. During the Russian Revolution and following civil war many of the Imperial Russian naval engineers and architects had fled Russia and the Bolsheviks. The Soviet naval infrastructure which was taken over from the Russian Empire was badly damaged from the civil war and following years of decay before the Soviets started to focus on trying to rebuild its navy as part of its efforts to expand the revolution.
To put it simply the Soviet Union needed help in rebuilding its naval infrastructure and helping build a train pool of naval engineers and architects to help them build up their navy and they knew it. The Big Four in terms of naval know how, the US, and the British, German, and Japanese Empires wouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole and they knew it. France had memories from its civil war and it was to ruled out. This left Austria-Hungary and Italy. Italy was selected over Austria-Hungary primary as they didn’t share a land border with her like they did with Austria-Hungary.
Under the terms of this treaty Italy agreed to help repair what they could of the Soviet Naval Infrastructure. They would further help the Soviets refit the 2 Colossus and 7 pre-Colossus battleships they had within the Baltic and Baltic Sea fleet along with a host of other ships to bring them up to date with the changes in naval technology as much as possible since the end of the Great War. Then there was the fact the Italians would help design destroyers and cruisers for the Red Navy. In return for this the Soviets agreed to pay the Italians in gold and resources to help feed her economy.
As the Boston Naval Conference started many of the same subject that were covered at The Hauge came up again. Only this time everyone at Boston were much more willing to find comprises than they had been three years prior at The Hauge. Both the light aircraft carrier and monitor loop holes were closed under the terms of the Boston Naval Treaty. Both will now count against capital ship and aircraft carrier tonnage if built after the signing of this treaty. However, ships that were commissioned prior to the signing of this treaty still aren’t counted to the total tonnage of either. This was because no one could agree to how to raise the tonnage limits to take in those loophole ships into account.
This treaty also defined the difference between light and heavy cruisers. The terms laid out at Bern would now be known as heavy cruisers. Light cruisers as laid out at Boston would be ships limited to 10,500 tons and main guns in size of 6.1 inch/155 mm. Instead of tonnage like at Bern each nation was limited to a set number of heavy cruisers. This was set up in order of 25, 21, 17, 15, 11, 11, 9. This was in order the United States, the British Empire, the German Empire, the Japanese Empire, the Italian Kingdom, the Third French Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Efforts to limit light cruiser numbers failed. Again like in both capital ship and aircraft carrier tonnage the numbers of the Imperial Federation and South Africa counted against the British numbers.
For the first time submarines were set with limits as well. These limits were outlined as no submarine could have a standard surface displacement over 2,500 tons nor guns over 6.1 inch/155mm. Everyone however was allowed to keep those submarines that were over those limits. This was a class of three for the US and the British. Four for the Germans of two different classes. Two for the French and Italians. One each for the Japanese and Austro Hungarians. The British pressed for more limits on submarine and again floated the idea of submarine tonnage limits, but again everyone else when on.
Efforts were made to limit destroyer tonnage but this failed as no one could agree on the difference in tonnage between the great powers. Efforts to stop the growing effort of the masses Pacific fortications was in reach but it failed following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria following a minor border crash between the two nations. This invasion of Manchuria almost ended the conference before a treaty could be signed. It took a lot of work to keep the treaty from failing all together after this. But following the Japanese invasion neither the US nor Germany or France were willing to talk about ending the building of fortications in the Pacific after that.
Then the Depression of 1928 hit[1]. The 1928 Depression effected every nation on the planet. This caused budgets for military to shirk across the globe as money was tight and many nations were focused on getting their economy going again. Yet the Depression of 28 also caused two more nations to fall to the communist, Portugal was the first in 1928 after years of holding on to what once was. The second was Peru which marked the first communist nation in the new world when it fell to a communist uprising in 1929.
For the great powers they knew they needed to cut their naval expenditures in order to free up money to get their economies going again. The only way they could get that to happen was another naval arms control treaty. In 1929 the ground work was laid for another meeting between the Great Powers to speak about arms control as this meeting wasn’t set to happen till 1932. It was agreed by the Great Powers to meet in Boston in 1930 to find a way to better control naval budgets and arms for the great powers.
Unknown to many and only suspected by a few intelligence agencies was what the Italian Kingdom was doing. In 1929 they penned a secret treaty with the Soviet Union. Under the terms of this treaty the Italians would help the Soviet Union to build up its naval forces. During the Russian Revolution and following civil war many of the Imperial Russian naval engineers and architects had fled Russia and the Bolsheviks. The Soviet naval infrastructure which was taken over from the Russian Empire was badly damaged from the civil war and following years of decay before the Soviets started to focus on trying to rebuild its navy as part of its efforts to expand the revolution.
To put it simply the Soviet Union needed help in rebuilding its naval infrastructure and helping build a train pool of naval engineers and architects to help them build up their navy and they knew it. The Big Four in terms of naval know how, the US, and the British, German, and Japanese Empires wouldn’t touch this with a 10 foot pole and they knew it. France had memories from its civil war and it was to ruled out. This left Austria-Hungary and Italy. Italy was selected over Austria-Hungary primary as they didn’t share a land border with her like they did with Austria-Hungary.
Under the terms of this treaty Italy agreed to help repair what they could of the Soviet Naval Infrastructure. They would further help the Soviets refit the 2 Colossus and 7 pre-Colossus battleships they had within the Baltic and Baltic Sea fleet along with a host of other ships to bring them up to date with the changes in naval technology as much as possible since the end of the Great War. Then there was the fact the Italians would help design destroyers and cruisers for the Red Navy. In return for this the Soviets agreed to pay the Italians in gold and resources to help feed her economy.
As the Boston Naval Conference started many of the same subject that were covered at The Hauge came up again. Only this time everyone at Boston were much more willing to find comprises than they had been three years prior at The Hauge. Both the light aircraft carrier and monitor loop holes were closed under the terms of the Boston Naval Treaty. Both will now count against capital ship and aircraft carrier tonnage if built after the signing of this treaty. However, ships that were commissioned prior to the signing of this treaty still aren’t counted to the total tonnage of either. This was because no one could agree to how to raise the tonnage limits to take in those loophole ships into account.
This treaty also defined the difference between light and heavy cruisers. The terms laid out at Bern would now be known as heavy cruisers. Light cruisers as laid out at Boston would be ships limited to 10,500 tons and main guns in size of 6.1 inch/155 mm. Instead of tonnage like at Bern each nation was limited to a set number of heavy cruisers. This was set up in order of 25, 21, 17, 15, 11, 11, 9. This was in order the United States, the British Empire, the German Empire, the Japanese Empire, the Italian Kingdom, the Third French Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Efforts to limit light cruiser numbers failed. Again like in both capital ship and aircraft carrier tonnage the numbers of the Imperial Federation and South Africa counted against the British numbers.
For the first time submarines were set with limits as well. These limits were outlined as no submarine could have a standard surface displacement over 2,500 tons nor guns over 6.1 inch/155mm. Everyone however was allowed to keep those submarines that were over those limits. This was a class of three for the US and the British. Four for the Germans of two different classes. Two for the French and Italians. One each for the Japanese and Austro Hungarians. The British pressed for more limits on submarine and again floated the idea of submarine tonnage limits, but again everyone else when on.
Efforts were made to limit destroyer tonnage but this failed as no one could agree on the difference in tonnage between the great powers. Efforts to stop the growing effort of the masses Pacific fortications was in reach but it failed following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria following a minor border crash between the two nations. This invasion of Manchuria almost ended the conference before a treaty could be signed. It took a lot of work to keep the treaty from failing all together after this. But following the Japanese invasion neither the US nor Germany or France were willing to talk about ending the building of fortications in the Pacific after that.
A small note - in your We Must Build the Canal! post you left out footnote [1].
I imagine the USA is doing everything it can to work with the neighbors of Peru to deal with the communist government there. While the Latins certainly are not wanting more big Yankee involvement, the neighbors of Peru will (legitimately) see a communist government there as a threat to them as a center for spreading revolution. The example of Spain with its attempts in France and success in Portugal will scare the shit out of other South American governments. Of course the USA won't be happy about this either.
Given the geographic realities of Russia, while getting a navy is reasonable, having naval ambitions in the face of Germany (and Sweden) in the Baltic, the Ottomans in the Med, and Japan in the Pacific they are pretty boxed in. A coastal defense force yup, force projection nope.
Given the geographic realities of Russia, while getting a navy is reasonable, having naval ambitions in the face of Germany (and Sweden) in the Baltic, the Ottomans in the Med, and Japan in the Pacific they are pretty boxed in. A coastal defense force yup, force projection nope.
How Many Deadly Sins?
Japan in the wake of the Great War felt like it had been cheated by the Americans and Germans at the peace table. Yes they did gain northern Sakhalin which gave them whole ownership of the island along with the former Italian treaty port in China. The latter was in the Zhejiang Province of China but too close to Shanghai to allow Japan to create another Sphere of Influence in China like they had in the Shandong Province. Further they had to return both the American and German territories in China along with a number of American islands in the Central Pacific. That was what hurt the most. The American Chinese Territories kept Japan from taking de facto control of the Fujian Province. German China had been built up by the Germans and was one of the more valuable areas in China when they invaded it. Further those Central Pacific Islands gave Japan projection abilities into the Pacific that they wanted.
They had been forced to return all that for territories that were far less valuable than what they had been able to take. Yet they knew that they couldn’t fight both the Germans and Americans all at once. It was why they had returned those territories but it had left a bad taste in the mouth of many in Japan. This is after they felt they had been cheated in the Sino-Japanese War where they were forced by the Russians to shift to their eyes to the Shandong Peninsula instead of the Liaodong Peninsula which they wanted. They felt they got screwed over in the Boxer War with a smaller share of the Boxer Indemnity even though they had put a major force into play in that war. Then they defeated a western nation soundly and got screwed out of getting everything they through they should had at the peace table during their war with Russia. Then in the Great War they defeated Westerns again only to turn over what they had got for stuff that wasn’t worth as much.
Following the Great War this feeling of being screwed over by European nations started to fester worse than it had been in the years prior. Then they felt like they had once again given the short stick in the naval treaties as they had not been tonnage equal to Germany. This almost broke the Anglo-Japanese Alliance as some in Tokyo didn’t fight hard enough for Japan to equal tonnage of Germany. Yet they were missing the key fact that if the Japanese got equal tonnage of the Germans the US would had pushed for themselves having more tonnage than the British. Yet cooler heads won out and the Anglo-Japanese alliance was renewed in 1925.
Yet Japan had this hunger for empire. This is not withstanding the fact they had in under 100 years had when from being a back water nation that was shut off from the world to being a great power with four port cities in China under their control and colonies in Formosa, Korea, Sakhalin, and the Northern Philippines. Colonies they were working to turn into Japan proper. What they had done is nothing short of amazing but it wasn’t enough and they wanted more.
But the question of where to strike was the problem. The Southern Philippines was weak but after what was needed to end the rebellion there it was viewed as not worth it. French Indochina was tempting and indeed signs of Japan looking to picking a fight with France over was there in 1927 and 28 but between the Depression of 28 and the signing of the Franco-German Alliance in 29 put an end to that. China was still officially a republic, but in truth it was fighting a multi-pole civil war with warlords all fighting it out over who ruled what. China in the 1920s was united in name only. Even with the insane Bushido that was taking hold in Japan Tokyo still didn’t want to get in the middle of that. Then there was the buffer kingdom of Manchuria. It had been created in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War. It was to be what Afghanistan was to Central Asia. A state to check the growth of the Russian Empire, but by doing so it would also stop the growth the Japanese Empire.
Then in May 1930 a series of border fire fights between the Japanese and Manchurians happened. This was both on the Yalu and the Ryojun Border. Its not clear if these were started with the idea of giving Japan a pre-text to invade Manchuria or if they really did just happened. Yet for the Japanese it was enough of a reason for war. This almost destroyed the naval talks that were happening at Boston at the same time, but Japan wanted her empire. Besides this was mostly an army operation anyways.
For Manchuria their army was substandard, even for an Asian army. This was primary because how the people within the Kingdom of Manchuria viewed service for their nation. Many would want to be a thief before they were a soldier. They also lacked the educated middle class to form an effect officer corp. Against the well oiled and professional Imperial Japanese Army they didn’t stand a chance. Within the span of 11 weeks the Japanese had defeated the Manchurian Army and captured the Imperial Family of Manchuria. They were on the Soviet border and now it was time to dictate peace terms. The terms were simple yet harsh. The Kingdom of Manchuria was to be annexed outright by Japan. The king of Manchuria had no choice but to sign the treaty and turn over his crown to the Japanese Empire.
They had been forced to return all that for territories that were far less valuable than what they had been able to take. Yet they knew that they couldn’t fight both the Germans and Americans all at once. It was why they had returned those territories but it had left a bad taste in the mouth of many in Japan. This is after they felt they had been cheated in the Sino-Japanese War where they were forced by the Russians to shift to their eyes to the Shandong Peninsula instead of the Liaodong Peninsula which they wanted. They felt they got screwed over in the Boxer War with a smaller share of the Boxer Indemnity even though they had put a major force into play in that war. Then they defeated a western nation soundly and got screwed out of getting everything they through they should had at the peace table during their war with Russia. Then in the Great War they defeated Westerns again only to turn over what they had got for stuff that wasn’t worth as much.
Following the Great War this feeling of being screwed over by European nations started to fester worse than it had been in the years prior. Then they felt like they had once again given the short stick in the naval treaties as they had not been tonnage equal to Germany. This almost broke the Anglo-Japanese Alliance as some in Tokyo didn’t fight hard enough for Japan to equal tonnage of Germany. Yet they were missing the key fact that if the Japanese got equal tonnage of the Germans the US would had pushed for themselves having more tonnage than the British. Yet cooler heads won out and the Anglo-Japanese alliance was renewed in 1925.
Yet Japan had this hunger for empire. This is not withstanding the fact they had in under 100 years had when from being a back water nation that was shut off from the world to being a great power with four port cities in China under their control and colonies in Formosa, Korea, Sakhalin, and the Northern Philippines. Colonies they were working to turn into Japan proper. What they had done is nothing short of amazing but it wasn’t enough and they wanted more.
But the question of where to strike was the problem. The Southern Philippines was weak but after what was needed to end the rebellion there it was viewed as not worth it. French Indochina was tempting and indeed signs of Japan looking to picking a fight with France over was there in 1927 and 28 but between the Depression of 28 and the signing of the Franco-German Alliance in 29 put an end to that. China was still officially a republic, but in truth it was fighting a multi-pole civil war with warlords all fighting it out over who ruled what. China in the 1920s was united in name only. Even with the insane Bushido that was taking hold in Japan Tokyo still didn’t want to get in the middle of that. Then there was the buffer kingdom of Manchuria. It had been created in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War. It was to be what Afghanistan was to Central Asia. A state to check the growth of the Russian Empire, but by doing so it would also stop the growth the Japanese Empire.
Then in May 1930 a series of border fire fights between the Japanese and Manchurians happened. This was both on the Yalu and the Ryojun Border. Its not clear if these were started with the idea of giving Japan a pre-text to invade Manchuria or if they really did just happened. Yet for the Japanese it was enough of a reason for war. This almost destroyed the naval talks that were happening at Boston at the same time, but Japan wanted her empire. Besides this was mostly an army operation anyways.
For Manchuria their army was substandard, even for an Asian army. This was primary because how the people within the Kingdom of Manchuria viewed service for their nation. Many would want to be a thief before they were a soldier. They also lacked the educated middle class to form an effect officer corp. Against the well oiled and professional Imperial Japanese Army they didn’t stand a chance. Within the span of 11 weeks the Japanese had defeated the Manchurian Army and captured the Imperial Family of Manchuria. They were on the Soviet border and now it was time to dictate peace terms. The terms were simple yet harsh. The Kingdom of Manchuria was to be annexed outright by Japan. The king of Manchuria had no choice but to sign the treaty and turn over his crown to the Japanese Empire.
Territorial Reorganization
In 1932 President Hiram Johnson knew the Republican Party was on the way out of power. They had taken the blame for the 1928 Depression which happened right after the election that saw Johnson elected to office. The Republicans lost control of the House in the 1930 mid-terms, however they kept control of the Senate with how the elections were set up in that chamber. Yet Johnson knew that come 32 he and the Republican control of the senate would be overran by the reformed Democratic Party led by Carl Olsen who most likely would be the next president after Johnson. Even through the Democratic Party had shifted since the whole cluster of Wilson in 1916 and had become supporters of national defense, Johnson and others didn’t know how they stood on further territorial growth of the US, something that was normally champed by Republicans but only a few Democratics since 1865 had supported.
Further Johnson was thinking of his own legacy and didn’t want to be remembered solely for the 1928 Depression. The economy was starting to improve in 1931, but the Republicans had been in power since 1908 and Johnson saw that a political realignment was happening within his nation. He did some things to try and keep the Republicans from be totally swept out of power. This saw Sonora become the 50th State of the Union in 1931 as they would be a generally Republican State with Sonora. But Johnson wanted a better legacy than just bring Sonora into the Union as he knew the 1928 Depression would be a big black stain on his legacy.
During the Summer of 1931 Johnson started floating the idea of annexing Ontario which had been under American occupation since the end of the Great War and the Treaty of New York. A few different ideas over Ontario had been floated over the years. Then there was the Haggard-Jennings Act of 1919 or better known as the Love it or Leave it Act. Under the terms of this act which covered the newly won territories along with Ontario which was still only officially occupied Canada in 1919 gave those civilians a choice. They could in time become American citizens, this part excluding Ontario, or they could be paid for the land they own and any property that they could not take with them along with a ticket to a nation of their choice. Their choices of nation were somewhat limited as the US would only pay for tickets to the Imperial Federation, South Africa, or the Empire of Brazil. The first two the US was treaty bound to allow the third was because the US wanted to build an alliance with Brazil at the time.
The efforts at building Brazil fell through. Yet just over two million took the US up on this offer including a sizable number from Ontario. Later review show that Ontario accounted for just under half of the total number of people to take part in the Love it or Leave it Act. In 1920 the US also passed another homesteading act aimed at moving Americans into territory that was formerly Canada and the British Caribbean. Between the two different acts the number of anti-American citizens in the area when down and more and more pro-annexation or statehood people moved into these areas. When put up against the much crueler methods of the Germans and Austro Hungarians the US method was much more civilized.
Support for the idea annexing of Ontario received cross party support of the Democratic Party. This would lead to the creation of the Territorial Reorganization Act of 1932. It was better known as the Ontario Act. This was primary because it annexed Ontario into the United States. However, it did reorganize a number of territories taken from the war as well annexed Ontario. Beside annexing Ontario if folded the island of Bermuda into Virginia as the two shared a history via the Virginia Company of the 17th century. After much debate the Bahamas would be folded into Cuba and become part of that state. The Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands would be folded into the territory of Puerto Rico. The islands of Wrangel Island, Big Diomede Island, and Commander Island would be folded into the Alaskan Territory. It also reformed the Southwest Pacific Island Territories and put them on the path to statehood.
Further Johnson was thinking of his own legacy and didn’t want to be remembered solely for the 1928 Depression. The economy was starting to improve in 1931, but the Republicans had been in power since 1908 and Johnson saw that a political realignment was happening within his nation. He did some things to try and keep the Republicans from be totally swept out of power. This saw Sonora become the 50th State of the Union in 1931 as they would be a generally Republican State with Sonora. But Johnson wanted a better legacy than just bring Sonora into the Union as he knew the 1928 Depression would be a big black stain on his legacy.
During the Summer of 1931 Johnson started floating the idea of annexing Ontario which had been under American occupation since the end of the Great War and the Treaty of New York. A few different ideas over Ontario had been floated over the years. Then there was the Haggard-Jennings Act of 1919 or better known as the Love it or Leave it Act. Under the terms of this act which covered the newly won territories along with Ontario which was still only officially occupied Canada in 1919 gave those civilians a choice. They could in time become American citizens, this part excluding Ontario, or they could be paid for the land they own and any property that they could not take with them along with a ticket to a nation of their choice. Their choices of nation were somewhat limited as the US would only pay for tickets to the Imperial Federation, South Africa, or the Empire of Brazil. The first two the US was treaty bound to allow the third was because the US wanted to build an alliance with Brazil at the time.
The efforts at building Brazil fell through. Yet just over two million took the US up on this offer including a sizable number from Ontario. Later review show that Ontario accounted for just under half of the total number of people to take part in the Love it or Leave it Act. In 1920 the US also passed another homesteading act aimed at moving Americans into territory that was formerly Canada and the British Caribbean. Between the two different acts the number of anti-American citizens in the area when down and more and more pro-annexation or statehood people moved into these areas. When put up against the much crueler methods of the Germans and Austro Hungarians the US method was much more civilized.
Support for the idea annexing of Ontario received cross party support of the Democratic Party. This would lead to the creation of the Territorial Reorganization Act of 1932. It was better known as the Ontario Act. This was primary because it annexed Ontario into the United States. However, it did reorganize a number of territories taken from the war as well annexed Ontario. Beside annexing Ontario if folded the island of Bermuda into Virginia as the two shared a history via the Virginia Company of the 17th century. After much debate the Bahamas would be folded into Cuba and become part of that state. The Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands would be folded into the territory of Puerto Rico. The islands of Wrangel Island, Big Diomede Island, and Commander Island would be folded into the Alaskan Territory. It also reformed the Southwest Pacific Island Territories and put them on the path to statehood.