AHC: KKK-controlled America

With a PoD of any point after the foundation of the Ku Klux Klan, have it come into control of the United States.

Conditions:
  • The PoD may be any point after the foundation of the First Klan (24 December 1865).
  • At some point the Klan must overthrow the US government and form their own government.
  • No ASBs allowed.
 
Does Wilson count because in that case... Wilson support theneveb more than otl and fish’s then bassicily make sure his successor will keep doing the same Ana then when the Great Depression got the kkk come in and pick up the pieces
 
Honestly?

  • At some point the Klan must overthrow the US government and form their own government.
  • No ASBs allowed.

Pick one. While a significantly more racist US where the Klan is more prominent is just about possible - for a time, anyway - the idea of them actually coup'ing the US government is fantastical.
 
Catch 22: If they have enough political power in enough states that any coup attempt wouldn't immediately result in the governors giving them the middle finger and paralyzing any attempt by the new US Federal government to effectively exert control, than an overthrow is not only unessicery but counter-productive as they will easily have the US government on their side via the ballot box. The American political structure is too decenteralized to be viably couped pretty much for it's entire history.
 
Honestly?



Pick one. While a significantly more racist US where the Klan is more prominent is just about possible - for a time, anyway - the idea of them actually coup'ing the US government is fantastical.

Disagree. Polls of Americans circa 1950 show an incredibly racist country: e.g. 4% of people approving of mixed race marriage. You have the Civil Rights fight go differently, a less tolerant set of black rights leaders take power, a few more appalling actions by the Feds, a couple more racist news CEOs, you could easily get a very toxic atmosphere that spiralled the wrong way.
 
Disagree. Polls of Americans circa 1950 show an incredibly racist country: e.g. 4% of people approving of mixed race marriage. You have the Civil Rights fight go differently, a less tolerant set of black rights leaders take power, a few more appalling actions by the Feds, a couple more racist news CEOs, you could easily get a very toxic atmosphere that spiralled the wrong way.

Being racist =/ supporting the Klan and especially a Klan-backed coup. For the most part its not needed since the US government has historically pretty much backed their interests anyway. Even at its height, most normal people don't support the Klan though, so getting the support they would need to coup the US government is basically impossible.
 
1865 is an incredibly early POD, so there's a lot of possibilities. The biggest two prerequisites are for America to devolve into an unconsolidated democracy, such that a coup d’état is possible, and for the KKK to gain enough political support to be capable of a coup. Along with nationwide popular support (as with the Second KKK), it would also need substantial membership in the military and civil service. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances that could lead to this level of instability in the US, but with an 1800s POD, it's definitely possible.
 
With a PoD of any point after the foundation of the Ku Klux Klan, have it come into control of the United States.

Conditions:
  • The PoD may be any point after the foundation of the First Klan (24 December 1865).
  • At some point the Klan must overthrow the US government and form their own government.
  • No ASBs allowed.

The thing is you don't need them to actually overthrow anything. The US government is already and has always been slanted towards those whom hold the reins. All you need is to propagate Jim Crow type laws and restrictions and whatnot, to the point that it might as well be the KKK States of America. Suppress any "liberal" agenda. Prohibition would be a fantastic time to engage in that, because a lot of folks signed on to the 'law and order' mentality, and would use the situation to attack minorities. They suffered disproportionately for misdemeanors during Prohibition, and it went hand in hand with the rise in Fascism. All you need is to bring in the Red Scare or something like it, turn it up to 11, and have a significant crackdown from the White Conservative Right, making it both a race issue and economic issue. There'd be no need for a new government apparatus, just hijack the one you've got.
 
1865 is an incredibly early POD, so there's a lot of possibilities.

True, but even then, in 1865, the USA is a consolidated democracy. After a democratic state has lasted with almost-total consensus for even a couple generations, let alone 1789-1865, it's very rare for it to fall apart in a single coup.

The biggest two prerequisites are for America to devolve into an unconsolidated democracy, such that a coup d’état is possible,

Hmm...

1. During the Grant presidency, Grant goes even further in using martial law and the US army to attempt to crush the Klan. However, his heavyhanded efforts prove counterproductive; increasingly resentful Southerners begin taking up arms again, with the KKK becoming the primary paramilitary group.

for the KKK to gain enough political support to be capable of a coup.

2. Grant also takes strong measures against increasing labour activity/strikes. The KKK begins to support and even smuggle arms to the more nativist elements of the Unions, causing Grant to take stronger and stronger action against them...but, once again, this backfires, with nativist workers ever more inclined to the Klan.

3. With martial law lasting ever more often and spreading ever more widely across the country, the Army and National Guards begin to stand off against one another. It becomes increasingly obvious that something has to break...

4. 4 May, 1886. A bomb is detonated during a labor demonstration at Haymarket Square, Chicago. The Army is called in to conduct en masse arrests, essentially imposing martial law across much of the State.

5. The Governor responds by ordering out the National Guard, and it looks like conflict between the Guard and Army is inevitable, a conflict likely to domino across the country. Various Red groups make visible preparations to take advantage of the chaos...

6. Various KKK members approach sympathetic Army and Guard officers and units, presenting a KKK-led mass Coup d'Etat as the only alternative to a second civil war and Red Anarchy. Many units are persuaded, and somehow, the secret holds.

7. Later that summer, the codeword "Jefferson" is passed to assembled KKK, Army, and Guard units across the country, whilst KKK members carry burning crosses throughout the countryside, simultaneously rallying poor whites sympathetic to the Klan to join them whilst intimidating African-Americans to keep their heads down. In the next forty-eight hours, the Army and Guard seize statehouses and arsenals throughout the country. They are remarkably successful, managing to seize all of the East and Midwest outside of New England and New York, where there are no sympathetic Army or Guards units stationed, and northern Illinois, where a Red counter-coup begins. The Democratic governor of New York, seeing the writing on the wall, accedes to placing the state under allegiance to the Coup government (though Irish rioters in the City, when hearing what has happened, are less than enthused), whilst the President and Congress, surrounded by mutinous units, agree to give a Coup commander (I can't think of anyone in particular likely to play this role) emergency powers. In much of New England, the NG mobilizes, but by the end of 1886 after a few battles and skirmishes, the new government is in control across the Continental US. A constitutional convention is called, creating an oligarchic system in many ways similar to OTL Apartheid, and outside of sporadic irregular resistance the KKK-backed government is now totally in control of the country.
 
Disagree. Polls of Americans circa 1950 show an incredibly racist country: e.g. 4% of people approving of mixed race marriage. You have the Civil Rights fight go differently, a less tolerant set of black rights leaders take power, a few more appalling actions by the Feds, a couple more racist news CEOs, you could easily get a very toxic atmosphere that spiralled the wrong way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States#Public_opinion shows, that, public approval of inter-racial marriage was slow to rise, even after Loving v. Virginia. However, no one carried out a coup during all that period so I'm very skeptical of one happening.
 
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