Fascist/Communist America
Since I'm bored...<br />
The challenge is to create any of the following four scenarios, in the aftermath of ATL WWI:<br />
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<b>1.</b> Fascist Britain <i>(British Fascist Empire)</i> and Fascist USA <i>(Fascist States of America)</i><br />
<b>2.</b> Fascist Britain <i>(British Fascist Empire)</i> and Communist USA <i>(Communist States of America)</i><br />
<b>3.</b> Communist Britain <i>(Union of British Socialist Republics)</i> and Fascist USA <i>(Fascist States of America)</i><br />
<b>4.</b> Communist Britain <i>(Union of British Socialist Republics)</i> and Communist USA <i>(Communist States of America)</i><br />
<br />
(these aren't impossible, are they?)
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Fascist or Communist USA (fascist is easier IMHO):
POD - Giuseppe Zangara aims better, and kills President-elect Franklin Roosevelt.
Narrative: John Nance Garner becomes President in March 1933. Garner was an elderly conservative, had no experience in executive office, and lacked the charisma and imagination of FDR. OTL, FDR stabilized the economy with his emergency measures in 1933-1934 - the bank holiday, the creation of the FDIC, the CCC, PWA, and CWA to reduce unemployment, the AAA to prop up farm prices. Much of this was enacted by Congress which met in
ATL, Garner did very little. By late 1933, the economic crisis was approaching complete collapse. Food riots broke out in many places; and for the first time, radical Socialist and Communist agitators found substantial support.
Take it from there.
1) Red violence provokes a fascist reaction backed by a cabal of tycoons and reactionaries. Garner becomes the puppet of this cabal. He declares martial law, and deputizes the American Guard to keep order. Bloody street battles between the Guard (backed by the Army) and various Reds follow; thousands of liberals and other dissenters are arrested. By 1936 the country is a de facto dictatorship. Garner, old and exhausted, steps aside for the cabal's leader, Joe Kennedy.
The old party labels have been largely superseded. The Guardist Party has majorities in both houses of Congress, and enacts "emergency legislation" which formalizes a one-party state. Two SCotUS Justices retire; the Guardists add and fill six seats, giving them an 8-7 majority which upholds all Guardist legislation.
In 1938 the Guardists hold a Constitutional Convention per Article V. The new Constitution is ratified by national referendum.
2) Garner's ham-handed repression of Red violence and the desperate actions of starving and homeless people provoke widespread resentment and discredit the government. In early 1934, mass marches organized by Reds seize state capitals in California, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, and establish "people's governments" which confiscate wealth and distribute food. Garner's orders to the Army to restore order are ignored by most of the troops, which desert or join the People's Militia. Soon after the People's Militia occupies Washington.