I'm sure many of you have heard of the so-called "Business Plot" - a claimed coup attempt against the United States Government in 1934-ish. While there's a lot of discussion as to how much truth there was behind the allegations, let's assume, for the sake of this discussion/scenario, the following claims are true;
- That there was a group of ultra-wealthy businessmen with overtly fascist, or at least anti-US, interests at heart
- That these individuals had, for some years, been funding 'Veterans Associations', buying political/media loyalty, and purchasing military arms
- That there existed a plan to have Smedley Butler, Hugh S. Johnson, or Douglas MacArthur, lead a Mussolini-style "march on the capital", to seize power from the United States Government
- That at least one of the aforementioned men would willingly support such a move.
What would be the effect of this - a very American coup? I can see a fascist/coup government modelling itself on certain Roman doctrines (with veterans being granted many social benefits), and possibly very brutally purging the remnants of the US Government. This is assuming it (at least initially) succeeds.
- That there was a group of ultra-wealthy businessmen with overtly fascist, or at least anti-US, interests at heart
- That these individuals had, for some years, been funding 'Veterans Associations', buying political/media loyalty, and purchasing military arms
- That there existed a plan to have Smedley Butler, Hugh S. Johnson, or Douglas MacArthur, lead a Mussolini-style "march on the capital", to seize power from the United States Government
- That at least one of the aforementioned men would willingly support such a move.
What would be the effect of this - a very American coup? I can see a fascist/coup government modelling itself on certain Roman doctrines (with veterans being granted many social benefits), and possibly very brutally purging the remnants of the US Government. This is assuming it (at least initially) succeeds.