alternatehistory.com

The collapse of the United States started not during the Great Depression, unlike what many believe, but rather began during the year 1919. That year, World War 1 ended, with a victory for no one. The Entente, made up of France, the UK, and Russia, were all far too deep in debt to continue. In addition, Russia had barely suppressed a Communist revolt at home, and was far too worn out to continue the conflict.

The Central Powers, made up of the German Empire, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottomon Empire, were all collapsing from internal dissent. Austria-Hungary split apart when nationalist revolts tore it to shreds, with the Ottomon Empire experiencing the same thing. The German Empire itself too was deep in debt, and was worn out.

In the years following the peace, the states one by one would collapse, and be reborn with completely different political ideologies. The most important consequence of it would be the new states refusing to recognize the debt of its predecessor, resulting in massive economic turmoil for the United States in the 1920s.

The first state to collapse would be France, in 1921, into a radical right wing ideology that emphasized militarism and ultra-nationalism. There are many reasons that it had occurred, however one most historians agree on is that the populace had become extremely disillusioned with Liberalism, and the loss of national pride from the war. Because of a national France in Africa, that was the government in exile of the previous, the new France didn't recognize the previous's debt.

The second state to collapse would be Russian Empire, in the same year. It soon split into many states, including but not limited to the Ukraine, Finland, and Lithuania. The core state of Russia would under a similar radical right wing transformation to France, transitioning to a new ideology, away from monarchy. It didn't recognize its debt from the claim that it needed to be distributed among the countries that broke away from it, which the US refused to do.

The third state to collapse would be the United Kingdom, in 1922. A combination of massive debt it was unable to pay, and successful nationalist revolts in its colonies resulted in the collapsed of the UK. It would experience a Syndicalist Revolt, that came from a combination of massive economic poverty, and mass disillusionment with nationalism. It refused to recognize any of its debt because of the claim it was done by, "an imperialist state." The state now called itself the Union of Britain.

The fourth state to collapse would be Germany, in 1923, from a successful Communist Revolution started by the Spartacus League. While it didn't owe debt to the US, the countries and companies it did owe debt to it refused to pay, based on the same excuse as the Union of Britain.

All of this resulted in the United States entering a massive economic depression, later called the Great Depression. It lasted from 1923, to 1936, becoming not only one of the worst economic crashes to ever hit the United States, but also one of the longest. Additionally, it would be the crash that would kill a country, that had withstood a civil war, and a superpower.

(Hoping this will work out. As for the revolts, I'll go in more depth if you want.)
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