First Alternate History, so give me a break, yeah? Also, I posted in the Pre-1900 as the Point of Divergence is initially then (1860s), but the real affair begins in 1905-1906, so if this needs to be moved, so be it.
Points of Divergence: Confederacy wins the Civil War, thus causing turmoil and bankruptcy in the USA, including the end of Republican dominance (i.e. McClellan is in the White House in 1865). Thus Russia does not sell Alaska to the USA. (In OTL, Russia likely would have sold it to either the US or Canada/UK, but as the UK was doing all they could to counterbalance the Russians... I thought that Russia might have wanted to use Alaska as a buffer state, so to speak.)
Everything outside the US follows more or less as OTL, until...
Following Tsar Nicholas II's October Manifesto (in response to the Russian Revolution of 1905), the State Duma of the Russian Empire capitalized on the anti-Semitic pogroms sweeping the Empire since the 1880s, and chartered the Autonomous Jewish Duchy in Alaska. Many Jews, fearing for their lives, volunteered to head this new settlement program. Stipulations imposed by the Duma, however, required those involved to first help construct the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Pacific, under military guard for "protection against undue prejudices."
That's as far as I've really thought, but consider this:
--The railway would have been finished sooner, perhaps a couple of years, and possibly the construction of a Bering Strait Bridge (eventually).
--More migration within the Russian Empire, as in OTL with the added sales of cheap Siberian grain, etc.
--Jews, learning of the Alyaska project decide to move there instead (During these Pogroms of the late 1800s and early 1900s, many Jews fled to the UK and US).
--The Population of Alyaska grows much swifter than OTL, bolstering trade with the North American west coast, and the exploitation of natural resources.
--Following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Alyaska may, having their own Jewish Duma (presumably) would have averted the Communist Uprising, devoping instead into a Theocracy.
I realize this whole Timeline needs filling out, but I just thought I'd post it here as over the past few days I've been stunned by the amount of knowledge, tact, and imagination expressed in these forums. So any suggestions, please!
-Troyer IV
Points of Divergence: Confederacy wins the Civil War, thus causing turmoil and bankruptcy in the USA, including the end of Republican dominance (i.e. McClellan is in the White House in 1865). Thus Russia does not sell Alaska to the USA. (In OTL, Russia likely would have sold it to either the US or Canada/UK, but as the UK was doing all they could to counterbalance the Russians... I thought that Russia might have wanted to use Alaska as a buffer state, so to speak.)
Everything outside the US follows more or less as OTL, until...
Following Tsar Nicholas II's October Manifesto (in response to the Russian Revolution of 1905), the State Duma of the Russian Empire capitalized on the anti-Semitic pogroms sweeping the Empire since the 1880s, and chartered the Autonomous Jewish Duchy in Alaska. Many Jews, fearing for their lives, volunteered to head this new settlement program. Stipulations imposed by the Duma, however, required those involved to first help construct the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Pacific, under military guard for "protection against undue prejudices."
That's as far as I've really thought, but consider this:
--The railway would have been finished sooner, perhaps a couple of years, and possibly the construction of a Bering Strait Bridge (eventually).
--More migration within the Russian Empire, as in OTL with the added sales of cheap Siberian grain, etc.
--Jews, learning of the Alyaska project decide to move there instead (During these Pogroms of the late 1800s and early 1900s, many Jews fled to the UK and US).
--The Population of Alyaska grows much swifter than OTL, bolstering trade with the North American west coast, and the exploitation of natural resources.
--Following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Alyaska may, having their own Jewish Duma (presumably) would have averted the Communist Uprising, devoping instead into a Theocracy.
I realize this whole Timeline needs filling out, but I just thought I'd post it here as over the past few days I've been stunned by the amount of knowledge, tact, and imagination expressed in these forums. So any suggestions, please!
-Troyer IV
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