World War between the States
I could easily make this a thread!
1861:
First 96 hours of the war-
-Fort Sumpter bombarded.
-Tsar Alexander II allies Russia with the USA against CSA.
-France invades Mexico, Mexico allies with USA.
-France allies with CSA, and in a secret agreement, so do Turkey, Spain, and Brazil (the other three slave-holding states at the time).
-Bismarck unites the German states against France, and Prussia allies with the USA.
-Austria remains neutral.
-Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela ally with the USA. Chile allies with the CSA.
-The Emperor of China allies with the USA, the Taiping Rebellion sides with the CSA.
-Influenced by the Taiping Rebellion joining the CSA, the UK allies with the USA.
-Ethiopia allies with the USA, the Zulus ally with the CSA(!), and the various nations of Africa begin taking sides.
-Sweden allies with the USA, Denmark and Norway ally with CSA. Tsar Alexander considers giving Finland to Sweden as a gift.
-Belgium and Portugal ally with USA, Netherlands and Morocco ally with CSA.
First year of the war:
-After debating what to do with Prince Albert ("Do something to get it over fast!" he says), Queen Victoria personally leads an army of 5 Corps to Belgium and meets at Bastogne with the Prussian General Von Moltke. Prince Albert leads another 5 Corps down into Portugal.
-General Guiseppe Garribaldi, in a war independent of the greater war, unites the various italian states and leads them to victory in the battle of Trent, forcing the Austrians out of Lombardy.
-The First battle of Bull Run happens. ITTL, George McLellan has already organized the Army of the Potomac, and after an embarrassing defeat at Bull Run ("There stands Jackson like a stone wall!") McLellan is sent by Lincoln to be the General-in Chief of the coalition of the USA's allies. Joseph Hooker is given command of the Army of the Potomac, while out west Ulysses S. Grant is given command of the Army of the Tennessee. On the confederate side, Joseph Johnston is 'rewarded' by Davis by being promoted to 'Supreme Commander of the Coalition of Confederate Allies', and Robert E Lee is given command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
-Reeling from their defeat by the Italians, Austria declares war on both the USA and the CSA(!), only to be defeated at the battle of Koniggratz by Von Moltke and Queen Victoria. The Koniggratzer March is composed in honor of the event. Both Austria and Italy ally with the USA after the battle, agreeing on an as-is border.
-The Confederates send John Wilkes Booth with 5,000 Confederates down to Chile. Booth and his Chilean allies defeat the combined Bolivian and Argentine armies at the battle of Santiago. Davis promotes Booth to Commander of the Confederate coalition in south America, where he remains until the war's end in 1875.
Theaters of war:
Overall- George McLellan (USA) and Joseph Johnston (CSA).
East US- Joseph Hooker (USA) and Robert E. Lee (CSA).
Mississippi Valley- Ulysses S. Grant (USA) and A.S. Johnston (CSA).
West US- John C. Fremont (USA) vs Braxton Bragg (CSA).
Mexico- George Thomas (USA) and Napoleon III (CSA).
South America- Ambrose Burnside (USA) and John Wilkes Booth (CSA).
Europe- Helmuth Von Moltke/Queen Victoria (USA) and Napoleon III (CSA).
Africa- Prince Albert (USA) and several leaders (CSA).
Asia- Tsar Alexander II (USA) and several leaders (CSA).
So now we got the ACW turning into a 53-years-too-early WWI, heads of state going off to war as generals, commanders where they weren't IOTL (Burnside not bungling his South American war only because Booth is green as of yet!), and a war on 6 continents. Soon enough uniforms will start turning either blue or gray (or in Prussia's case gray with blue piping!).