Autumn in America: A TL-191 Continuation
- Thread starter Hexcron
- Start date
I wonder if the fates of the defeated Entente powers outside North America will end up looking like After the End or TT-191.5, given that their fates are completely different and I wonder how this will compare to those two.
The “Union Flag”, consisting of 13 stars and the US seal in the canton, was introduced under President Dewey as an alternative design to be flown in the former Confederacy to represent American re-unification. It gradually gained popularity in the American Core, where it was granted official status by President [redacted]. Under [redacted](not the same name), the flag was made the official flag of the United States, remaining until [redacted]. Though somewhat anachronistic, it is often used as a shorthand flag for the United States between 1944 and [redacted], over the numerous other designs with confusing use dates and numbers of stars.
Translation: I didn’t want to go through the hassle of finding flags with the proper number of stars for every year, so I designed an alternative and came up with a lore explanation for it.
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A friend of mine through TNO made the .svg template for the 1980 election, and I’m using it to make every other election.
It’s been readmitted, but it’s still under Martial Law, meaning it has no representation, as explained by Senator Taft in The Grapple.
After a couple of days of rewriting and re-planning, I've chosen to change the ending to Part 1 somewhat. The changes come only in 1952, where Morrell no longer becomes President, and instead former President Charles La Follette defeats Marshal Daniel MacArthur to return to the Presidency. I've chosen to make this change in direction mostly to facilitate even larger changes in my plans for the '60s, though the story re-converges from the late-60s/early-70s onwards.
The "Party Patronage" System
After the defeat of the Confederate States in the Second Great War, both the Socialists and the Democrats supported a permanent long-term re-integration of the former Confederacy. The La Follette administration first formalised the policy in 1943, with Kentucky and Tennessee admitted to the Union under Martial Law and without voting rights that year, and the Dewey administration pledged to continue on that set course. It soon however became apparent that re-integration would be an arduous political undertaking. Though the idea of restoring the "natural borders" of the United States was popular, voters were far less enthusiastic about welcoming foreigners who had once supported the Freedom Party among their ranks. Additionally, the Socialist Party was extremely hesitant to hand over electoral votes and Senate seats to whatever reactionary political candidates the "south" would put up, be they Democrat, Republican, or worse.
The first proposed plan for re-integration, devised by a committee led by former Secretary of War Henry Stimson, called for what were described as "generous" conditions for the granting of Union citizenship to former Confederates, and the re-integration of states with an over 10% citizen population. Dismissed by both parties as far too lenient and potentially disruptive to Northern politics, a new commission led by Henry Morgenthau Jr. was created by the Dewey administration to formulate a new plan.
Morgenthau's report outlined the key problems with "unconditional" reunion, those being disruptive reactionary voters and the necessity of a solution acceptable to both parties, and instead proposed that the handing out of citizenship be controlled by local collaborationist political committees, built from the remnants of the anti-Featherston parties. States would be readmitted on a set timetable, with exceptions made depending on circumstance, and the committees would only give citizenship to those who would vote "responsibly" and who were loyal to the United States.
The subtext of the plan was clear from the beginning. The question of who would direct the formation of the "committees" was left open, but it was well known who would fill that void. Meeting with members of the opposition, President Dewey and his cabinet reached an agreement with the Socialist Party on who would dictate the formation of each state's political committee. The Democrats wound up with Virginia, Kentucky, Sequoyah, Tennessee, Florida, Houston, and Mississippi, while the Socialists got the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Cuba. Until the abolition of the Patronage System, no state in the South ever failed to vote for the party it was given to, with the sole exception of [redacted].
In terms of composition, the committees were an odd bunch. Some were dominated by pre-war political dynasties, such as the Democratic Byrd Machine in Virginia and the Socialist Long Dynasty in Louisiana. Others were simply repurposed Rad-Lib and Whig party machines, such as in Mississippi and Alabama. Others were stranger still; Cuba was controlled by the revolutionary organisations that spearheaded its rebellion against the CSA, while Sequoyah was dominated by a committee of settlers, and Tennessee was under the thumb of a coalition of once fringe Appalachian Unionists and Cordell Hull's Liberals. While effective at keeping the peace and tentatively rebuilding in the post-war years, the Patron-Committees offered very little popular participation above the local level; No state ever got close to 10% citizenship before [redacted]'s abolition of the system, and voter participation even then was abysmal. In its first US election since before secession, Georgia reported less than 10,000 total votes.
After the defeat of the Confederate States in the Second Great War, both the Socialists and the Democrats supported a permanent long-term re-integration of the former Confederacy. The La Follette administration first formalised the policy in 1943, with Kentucky and Tennessee admitted to the Union under Martial Law and without voting rights that year, and the Dewey administration pledged to continue on that set course. It soon however became apparent that re-integration would be an arduous political undertaking. Though the idea of restoring the "natural borders" of the United States was popular, voters were far less enthusiastic about welcoming foreigners who had once supported the Freedom Party among their ranks. Additionally, the Socialist Party was extremely hesitant to hand over electoral votes and Senate seats to whatever reactionary political candidates the "south" would put up, be they Democrat, Republican, or worse.
The first proposed plan for re-integration, devised by a committee led by former Secretary of War Henry Stimson, called for what were described as "generous" conditions for the granting of Union citizenship to former Confederates, and the re-integration of states with an over 10% citizen population. Dismissed by both parties as far too lenient and potentially disruptive to Northern politics, a new commission led by Henry Morgenthau Jr. was created by the Dewey administration to formulate a new plan.
Morgenthau's report outlined the key problems with "unconditional" reunion, those being disruptive reactionary voters and the necessity of a solution acceptable to both parties, and instead proposed that the handing out of citizenship be controlled by local collaborationist political committees, built from the remnants of the anti-Featherston parties. States would be readmitted on a set timetable, with exceptions made depending on circumstance, and the committees would only give citizenship to those who would vote "responsibly" and who were loyal to the United States.
The subtext of the plan was clear from the beginning. The question of who would direct the formation of the "committees" was left open, but it was well known who would fill that void. Meeting with members of the opposition, President Dewey and his cabinet reached an agreement with the Socialist Party on who would dictate the formation of each state's political committee. The Democrats wound up with Virginia, Kentucky, Sequoyah, Tennessee, Florida, Houston, and Mississippi, while the Socialists got the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Cuba. Until the abolition of the Patronage System, no state in the South ever failed to vote for the party it was given to, with the sole exception of [redacted].
In terms of composition, the committees were an odd bunch. Some were dominated by pre-war political dynasties, such as the Democratic Byrd Machine in Virginia and the Socialist Long Dynasty in Louisiana. Others were simply repurposed Rad-Lib and Whig party machines, such as in Mississippi and Alabama. Others were stranger still; Cuba was controlled by the revolutionary organisations that spearheaded its rebellion against the CSA, while Sequoyah was dominated by a committee of settlers, and Tennessee was under the thumb of a coalition of once fringe Appalachian Unionists and Cordell Hull's Liberals. While effective at keeping the peace and tentatively rebuilding in the post-war years, the Patron-Committees offered very little popular participation above the local level; No state ever got close to 10% citizenship before [redacted]'s abolition of the system, and voter participation even then was abysmal. In its first US election since before secession, Georgia reported less than 10,000 total votes.
Yeah, actual reintegration of the CSA back into the US at this point is impossible imo. The US would be a LOT better off just releasing them as a puppet state sort of like West Germany until they're stable enough to run things themselves and be a potential ally down the road. If they try to do this all they'll end up with is another war where the South rise up to free themselves. Same deal with Canada imo, although they may be able to hold Canada down by force if they're lucky. Though it won't be pretty.
Great work! Thank you for fleshing out one of the massive issues I brought up in Yankee Spring: the United States is in a no-win situation when it comes to reintegrating/annexing the CSA. They won't just hold free and fair elections with universal suffrage given concerns, real or imagined, of neo-Freedomites getting back into office, but any measures that restrict the democratic process reeks of hypocrisy and treatment of Southerners as second class citizens. I know some people have argued that subsequent generations of Southerners would be fully Americanized, but I think the opposite is true: these measures will only build resentment down the line. There are numerous examples of these sort of forced integration/conversion/identity erasing programs failing throughout history, and I don't think even the TL-191 United States has the stomach to conduct outright cultural genocide.
I can honestly see Cuba getting independence but becoming an American puppet a la Texas. Not sure about Chihuahua and Sonora though, maybe given back to Mexico? Kentucky and Tennessee I can buy being re-integrated given that the former likely had a huge minority that wasn’t happy joining the Confederacy either time around and would welcome the Union as liberators. If the Civil War OTL was anything to go by, you can bet Eastern Tennessee at least would be happy to rejoin the Union. Arkansas and Louisiana voted against Featherston the first time around and they payed for it dearly, maybe the Union would be somewhat welcomed there. Virginia and North Carolina are tossups. Maybe reunite Virginia with West Virginia as a way to punish them? If North Carolina was anything like it was OTL it might want to rejoin the Union if it had an option. I agree with puppeting the five remaining Confederate states though into an independent rump CSA.
Keeping AR and LA in the Union gives the US total control of the Mississippi and, thus, have massive influence in the Gulf. Therefore, not only are those states more likely to stay in the Union than others, the Union also has more reasons to keep them.
If the US indeed can't keep control of the Confederacy, they will definitely at least make sure they control the most strategic parts and let the rest be semi-independent puppets.
I highly doubt Schumann being a French politician due he was born in Alsace-Lorain from a German-speaking family.
Thanks for pointing that out, I'll change the stuff to do with him.