America's Silver Era, The Story of William Jennings Bryan

Japan Sues for Peace
  • By 1969 Japan could no longer go on the offensive. It, like Germany, was clearly on the losing side of the war. In Indonesia, Japan continued to lose ground. In May the Japanese won a victory against Canadian forces led by Pierre Renaud at Pekanbaru. Such victories were increasingly rare. The coalition of America, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand also attacked the Japanese in Taiwan, where it did not have enough soldiers to adequately defend. Russia was pushing back Japan in Siberia. Xinjiang was invaded and the Xinjiang government surrendered to Russia in September. A few days later, Zhao Kai, the heroic Chinese general who led horseback raiders, was shot and killed by Russian soldiers. The Mukden government of China made peace with Russia in October. In a stunning move, Japanese Imperial rejected a declaration of war on their former puppet, showing that the peace faction was growing in power.

    The anti-war movement in Japan was becoming more and more popular. There were anti-war protests, a first for Japan. The government reacted to these protests with brutality. But there was also growing anti-war sentiment within the Japanese government, and even in the military. Many Japanese military and civilian officials saw what happened to Germany and became convinced that Japan should make a peace deal before it was too late. There was still some hope that Japan could get a decent peace deal like Germany had in 1967. Japan reached out to the United States and Russia for peace deals, asking for a status-quo antebellum with some minor adjustments. These overtures were rejected. Japan was hoping to maintain its status as a major power. Russia was especially interested in making sure this didn’t happen.

    In September, Irkutsk fell. This meant that the way to Mongolia, which was a source of prewar tensions between Russia and Japan, was open. China (Beijing government) began to mobilize its troops and allowed American ships into its ports. Japanese spies soon learned that an invasion of Korea was being planned. The peace faction renewed their calls for a ceasefire. Many politicians who had previously been cheering for war now wanted to sue for peace while it was still possible to keep Korea. At this point any peace deal would involve at least some territorial concessions from Japan, and that was unacceptable for a large part of the Japanese population. Meanwhile, Russia continued to advance, and entered into Mongolia.

    By November, a majority in the Japanese government realized that a ceasefire must be signed soon. On the 16th, Russian troops liberated Chita. The Trans-Siberian railway was transporting not only Russian troops, but troops from the US, UK, France, Italy, and other nations as well. Half of Korea was under rebel control. There was no way for Japan to win the war. Thus, Prime Minister Fujimori Yuuto was resigned to the inevitability of the war ending as a Japanese defeat and was willing to give in to the peace faction. Fujimori spoke with Emperor Hirohito [1] to inform him of his plan to make peace with Russia. By this time, China was allowing the US Air Force to launch bombing raids into the Japanese home islands from its territory.

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    (American bombers)

    Messages were exchanged between Japanese, Russian, and American officials. All sides were amenable to a ceasefire. A ceasefire was finally agreed to on December 31, 1969. Japan was required to withdraw all its troops from Russian, Indonesian, and Mongolian territory. The Japanese puppet government in Mongolia was abandoned to its fate, though some Japanese soldiers stayed in Mongolia to fight against the inevitable Russian invasion. The Japanese puppet government in Indonesia, which had retreated to Borneo, was also left to its fate. In addition to these, spillover conflicts were also ongoing in Eastern Europe as Austria-Hungary was desperately trying to hold on to its empire. Nevertheless, for the main participants, the Third Great War had come to a close and there was peace. The people of Japan and its occupied territories awaited the terms of peace.

    1: Different person, same name
     
    The Treaty of Shanghai
  • The Third Great War was over, with the exception of spillover conflicts. Germany and Japan had surrendered. Japan was, however, in a much better position than Germany. None of the home islands had been invaded, though tens of thousands were killed in bombing raids. Japan, seeing Germany’s fall from being a major world power, decided it would sue for peace before it found itself in a similar situation. Any Japanese influence in China or Central Asia was obviously gone. But Japan still hoped to maintain control of Korea and Taiwan. In order to accomplish this, Japanese diplomats would have to exploit anti-Russian sentiment among their victorious enemies. There were growing concerns about Russia becoming unstoppable, so their strategy made sense.

    Not everyone in Japan was happy about the ceasefire, however. Many hardliners in the military argued that Japan’s situation was not at all like Germany’s and that a war of attrition was winnable. In February, a group of disgruntled officers attempted a coup, but they were ratted out and arrested. Prime Minister Fujimori Yuuto had survived an assassination attempt by a nationalist a few days earlier. Fujimori was himself a Nationalist, but he realized what the future had in store for Japan if the war continued. Korea was difficult enough to hold on to, a Russian invasion would be impossible to repel. Japan had already lost a third of Taiwan. On top of all this, though Japanese intelligence knew little about the American or British nuclear programs, Fujimori used common sense to deduce that some Germany scientists would be willing to work for their former enemies. Japan’s enemies might have the bomb in the not-so-distant future.

    Peace negotiations began in March 1970 in Shanghai. Dozens of countries were involved to the peace negotiations, including some that had only fought against Germany, not Japan. Japan had already retreated all its military forces and civilian personnel (except some who obstinately stayed behind) from Russian, Indonesian, and Mongolian territory. All territory that had been controlled by Japan prior to 1895 would remain under Japanese control. Only the fate on Taiwan and Korea were up for discussion. Taiwan was to be granted independence, guaranteed by the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In two years, the people of the island would be given a referendum in which they could choose to remain with Japan, join China (Beijing or Mukden), or become an independent country.

    Korea was a much more controversial issue. Russia wanted an independent Korea so as to weaken Japan. The Western allies were divided, with many beginning to realize that Russia was poised to dominate both Europe and Asia. During the ceasefire between Japan and the allies, Japan was beginning to deploy the troops it had evacuated to Korea. Thus, Korean independence, which seemed inevitable in December 1969, now looked less likely. As negotiations continued, Japan gained ground against the Korean rebels. Japan refused to give up Korea, as continued Japanese control of Korea was the reason that Fujimori was able to justify the ceasefire. The world wanted peace and was willing to throw Korea under the bus. Russia gave up its demands for an independent Korea in exchange for war reparations.

    And thus, the Third Great War officially ended. The entire world was not at peace, however. War raged on in the Balkans and Austria-Hungary. Japan’s puppet states desperately fought on. A supporter of the Mongol puppet state assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Fujimori Yuuto in June. Portugal fought to keep control of its colonies. The Kingdom of Hejaz was embroiled in sectarian conflict. Sectarianism was also tearing India apart. But for the major powers, there was peace. American and British leaders met to discuss the creation of a global league of nations in order to prevent future conflicts of this sort. Previous attempts had failed, but there were enough people who wanted to try it again. In the decades following the war, the United States and Russia became the two superpowers as Britain’s power continued to decline. The world would become a smaller place as globalization set in. Globalization would have its winners and its losers, and political divisions in America, Britain, and other countries would increasingly be based on whether globalization was a positive or negative.
     
    The Fate of OTL Figures
  • For the 5 year anniversary of me starting this thread, I decided to go with something different.

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as a US representative from New York from 1919 to 1924 when he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President David Walsh. He joined the majority when he sided against ex-president William Randolph Hearst in Hearst v. United States [1] in 1926. He died shortly after his retirement in 1949.

    Joseph Stalin was active in the failed Communist revolution in Russia. He betrayed his comrades and worked for the government. Despite his native Georgia becoming independent, Stalin stayed in Russia after his release from prison. His political beliefs drifted towards the right and he advocated for Georgian inclusion in pan-Slavic nationalism. He died in 1961.

    Adolf Hitler was an Austrian writer and journalist. He also dabbled in art. He wrote in favor of German nationalism and Austrian inclusion in a greater German Reich. He died in 1960.

    Albert Einstein was a famous German scientist. His genius was partly responsible for why Germany was the first country to develop nuclear weapons. He died in 1955.

    Winston Churchill was a long-time Conservative MP. He was an advocate for military preparedness against the threat of Adolphe Cartier's French Worker's Republic. He died in 1965.

    Who else do you want to know about?

    1: This case, discussed in the chapter "President Hearst" was a 7-2 decision where Clarence Darrow and John Davis were the only dissenters.
     
    Era of Optimism
  • Ryan Norwood Entered 1970 with over 70% approval ratings. America had just won the Third Great War. He gave a speech in San Francisco to returning veterans, congratulating them for their bravery and courage, while declaring that America, Britain, and Russia would work together to create a new era of peace in the world. Few Americans held negative views of Britain, but the same could not be said about Russia. There was a significant minority of the population who felt like the war was a mistake and that Americans had died to empower Russia by removing its main competitor in Europe. Organized isolationist and even pro-German sentiment existed, primarily among Republicans in the Midwest, even if most who shared their views opted to remain quiet for now.

    But there were many who were growing increasingly concerned about Russia’s rise, as the country had massively expanded its sphere of influence in Europe and Asia. The rise of Russia to dominate Europe and Asia was something that former President George Patton had talked about for decades, though his warnings mostly fell on death ears. Even among Norwood’s advisors, there were those who were wary of Russia and predicted that the Eurasian power would become America’s main competitor. A growing faction within the government argued for the need to contain Russia, and stressed the need to maybe go easy on Germany and Japan. But Norwood envisioned a future of cooperation between Washington and Saint Petersburg.

    America, along with most other countries, sent most of its troops home after the war, and reduced its military budget. However, America would use the German scientists it captured to try to build a nuclear weapon. This was of course kept a top secret, but by the time Norwood left office America (and Russia) had the atomic bomb. Technology was rapidly advancing, and the government played a key role in funding research for both military and civilian technology. The 1970s would also see the establishment of an American space program. America’s economy had returned to normal, and people were on average content. With the disastrous 1960s with its doomsday cults, depression, race riots, and global war in the rear-view mirror, Americans, and people in most countries, were optimistic about the future. Sure, spillover conflict from the Third Great war raged on in the Balkans, and a small number Porcherites continued to fleece their dwindling congregations, but the future looked bright. When Ryan Norwood said at a campaign stop in 1971 that America’s best days were ahead, most people believed him.
     
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