Decades of Darkness
- Thread starter Jared
- Start date
Grey Wolf
Donor
I could learn a lot of lessons from this TL and its associated discussion - I would be very interested in extending the slavery one in a few days time ?
I would make a note on this :-
Whilst true that one-on-one an all-big-gun battleship makes the others effectively obselete against it, they of course remain non-obselete against each other, in theatres where the new ship is not present, and in combination against it.
Grey Wolf
I would make a note on this :-
Whilst true that one-on-one an all-big-gun battleship makes the others effectively obselete against it, they of course remain non-obselete against each other, in theatres where the new ship is not present, and in combination against it.
Grey Wolf
Grey Wolf said:
Sure, I'll keep an eye on things when I get back. Incidentally, if you have access to a good university library, there's a book called 'Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery' which is an excellent resource for information on slavery.
Oh, of course, but even professional historians like von Ovido have been known to make the occasional dramatic exaggeration.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
Decades of Darkness #106: Live To Tell
Decades of Darkness #106: Live To Tell
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Attributed to Edmund Burke, British statesman (1729-1797)
* * *
18 July 1892
Sharkview Plantation
Nicaragua, United States of America
“A letter from someone in West Florida?” Harry Walker asked, as he took the envelope from the house slave.
The handwriting on the envelope was crudely formed, in the character of a man who had only a grudging acquaintance with literacy, if Walker was any judge, but it was clearly addressed to him. The return address listed a James Fisher at an estate in West Florida. The name sounded vaguely familiar – someone from his childhood or long-ago military service, probably – but Walker could not place it.
The letter itself proved much more neatly written, as if it had been dictated to a more literate peon or other servant. It probably had been; the handwriting on the envelope had been that of someone more used to tools or weapons than a pen. Walker scanned the letter quickly, then muttered, “My God.”
“Bad news?” Julia asked, a note of concern in her voice. Their relationship was hardly the conventional one of man and wife, despite their legally registered marriage, but they had been good friends for many years now.
“No, just... strange,” Walker said. “A man who knew me from my time in the Jaguars. He says that he’s trying to find all the old people he knew from his military service.” He shook his head. James Fisher. Now that he had the letter, he was able to place Fisher – a fresh-faced young man who had joined up with the Jaguars at the same time as him, but who had stayed on in Cuba after Walker thought it necessary to leave the Jaguars. “A real voice from the past. I haven’t heard or thought of him in twenty-five years or so – apparently he’s been in the Army until a few months ago.”
“If he stayed there so long, he must have become quite important,” Julia said.
“If so, he didn’t mention it,” Walker said. “He did say he’s been with the Jaguars for all of his army service, though. They – we – never were fond of men who made themselves out to be great, even if they were.” For that matter, since leaving the Army, Walker had tried to avoid much contact with them or any news of them. Fisher could have become a powerful military figure, for all he knew.
“You going to reply to him?” Julia said carefully. She knew about his distaste for renewed contact with the military.
“He invited me to visit him in his estate in West Florida,” Walker said. “Perhaps I will; he seems to be doing it out of old friendship, not searching for glory or reopening old wounds. But I’ll think about it for a few days first.”
That evening, with Geoffrey and Julia and Yolanda and William – Julia and Harry Walker’s only child – gathered around the dinner table, Walker received another surprise. William turned out to know all about James Fisher. “He’s a hero,” William declared, in the starry-eyed kind of way which made Walker reluctantly certain what career his son was likely to adopt. “He caught General Juarez in Mexico, and the Brazilian Emperor made him a knight, and lots of other things.”
William talked incessantly throughout dinner about Fisher’s exploits. If half of what William said was true, Fisher was one of the Jaguar’s greatest ever heroes, and yet he had given no hint of that in his letter. An odd way for a soldier to act, to Walker’s way of thinking.
“Pa, are you going to visit Fisher?” William asked.
“I may,” Walker said.
“Can I come with you?” William asked, translating “may” to “will” with a fifteen year old boy’s endless capacity to hear only what he wanted.
Julia sucked in a quick breath, probably not even aware that she was doing it. Walker gave her a sideways glance; she had always been reluctant to let William out of her sight. She had only one child, after all, and would surely never have another. William always found a way to escape to spend time outdoors, of course, but that didn’t change her caution.
“If I go, yes,” Walker said. This meant he couldn’t visit Fisher at all if Julia decided against letting William go, but that was something he could live with.
* * *
Taken from “A Jaguar’s Life: An Autobiography”
(c) 1894 By Captain James Fisher (ret.)
Conrad Publishing Company: Baton Rogue.
The British talk about having four estates in government: the king, two houses of parliament, and the press, which they think is the most important of them all. They’re wrong, of course. The most important estate is the Fifth Estate, the army which protects the government and carries out its will. Without that estate, the other four are just noises in the wind.
* * *
19 August 1892
The Fifth Estate (James Fisher’s estate)
West Florida, United States of America
Some things were just unfair, William James Walker decided. He had finally convinced his parents to let him accompany his father to Captain Fisher’s estate... and when he got here, his father had allowed him only a few minutes with the great war hero before bundling him out into the fields.
Normally William loved the chance to venture into the outdoors, even the unfamiliar land of West Florida, but not now. The joys of exploring the jungle or ambushes amongst the banana fields paled in comparison to the chance to talk to America’s greatest living soldier. Not even General – now President – Mahan could match Fisher’s achievements, as written in the newspaper articles William had gladly read. Most times, words on a printed page were just boring, but not these kinds of stories. The only thing better would be hearing them from the jaguar’s mouth – something which his father now denied him.
With nothing else to do, William explored the estate grounds. They weren’t very large by his standards; only a few fields of peanuts clustered around a large plantation house. William didn’t know much about peanuts, but his mother had said about them made him think that they didn’t turn much profit as a crop; Fisher either didn’t care or was using them in rotation with another crop. Fisher had only a few peons working for him that William had seen; with not a single black anywhere. That made him feel more like he was back in Nicaragua, although even there slaves were common. On his journey to the Fifth Estate, he had seen many plantations worked by slaves, with peons almost non-existent.
William ambled through the peanut fields toward a small copse of trees on the far side. He found something strange there; a rectangular block of stone standing on the ground, with a bronze cross set above it. The trees gave it nearly complete shelter from the elements, and it felt much cooler in their shade. He bent down to read the inscription:
“Here lies the last true son of Mexico,
Hunter and hunted, his fate legend,
Ashes grow cold, statues fall, mem’ry fades,
Mexico shall be fatherless henceforth.”
Beneath the inscription, the memorial named the inhabitant as José Ramon Juarez. The same Mexican general which Fisher had caught at last, bringing the Third Mexican War to a close. Why did he have a tomb here?
The faint sound of footsteps alerted William, and he looked up to see James Fisher about to push through the trees around the tomb.
“You’ve got good hearing,” Fisher said. “Not many men have ever heard me coming.”
William took a deep breath – a compliment from the greatest hero the United States had seen for many years, perhaps since Andrew Jackson! “I like to be outdoors,” he said.
“Something I understand very well,” Fisher said. He waved a hand vaguely around. “This place doesn’t make much money, but it saves me living in a city.”
“I’ve never lived in a city,” William said. Except for occasional visits when travelling with his parents, he had little experience of them; they seemed too crowded and far too artificial for his liking. “They’re dangerous places.”
“The jungles around your home are dangerous too,” Fisher said. “Maybe even full of jaguars.”
“I’ve never seen a jaguar,” William said.
“Sure you have. Your father was one.”
William looked at his feet. “Pa doesn’t talk much about his life as a soldier.”
“He was a Jaguar, and a good one,” Fisher said. “I’m not sure why he left – the warrior’s life isn’t one for everyone – but while he was in, he was good.”
“What did he do?”
“A lot,” Fisher said. “More than I could tell in an afternoon, that’s for sure.”
“Then why don’t you write down your stories – all of your stories – and tell the world?” William said. He had read only reporters’ accounts of Fisher’s war heroism; undoubtedly the great man himself could do it better.
“I’ve never been one for writing things down,” Fisher said. “The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the gun is mightier than the pen.”
“If you can’t write it yourself, tell it to someone else and get them to write it down for you,” William said. “If it’s you telling the story, that’s more important than if you use big words or fancy pens to tell it.”
Fisher rubbed his chin. “You may be right. More invigorating than watching peanuts grow, certainly. I think I will tell the world, somehow.”
* * *
Selected Important Dates in North American History: 1891-1900
Taken from “The Compleat Textbook Series: Early American History”
By J. Edward Fowler (Principal Author)
Sydney, Kingdom of Australia.
(c) 1948 Eagle Publishing Company: Sydney. Used with permission
1891
Westylvania amends its constitution to permit slavery, leaving Pennsylvania as the only free-soil state in the Union.
John Hunter (Long Island), Radical, inaugurated as the 19th President of New England. J. Baird Weaver (Niagara), Radical, inaugurated as Vice-President.
“Julius”, the first of a new class of New England battleships, commissioned in Halifax. Larger than any battleships built to that date, the Caesar-class battleships would set the standard for all battleships built for the next decade [1].
1892
Washington Islands [OTL’s Marquesas Islands] annexed by the United States.
New England introduces old-age pensions for workers who have reached 65 years of age.
Passage of the Seventh Amendment to the New England Constitution grants voting rights for women.
“Goliath”, the first of a British class of battleships to match the Caesar-class, is commissioned in Portsmouth, UK [2]
“Sinaloa”, the first of a new class of American main battleships, commissioned in Puerto Veracruz. The Sinaloa-class ships have three main guns mounted independently, unlike two pairs of main guns in both British and New England designs. The Sinaloa’s guns are larger than its British rivals, but at the price of a decreased rate of fire.
1893
Edward Mahan (Virginia), Democrat, reinaugurated as the 17th President of the United States. Luis Terrazas (Chihuahua) Democrat, inaugurated as Vice-President.
1894
Dominica [OTL’s Dominican Republic] admitted to New England as the Dominican Territory.
Progressive income taxation adopted in both New England and the United States [3].
Passage of the Eighth Amendment to the New England Constitution begins the era of Prohibition.
1895
Deseret admitted as the 54th state in the Union.
Ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for the direct election of Senators.
Universal conscription introduced into New England.
1896
Pennsylvania amends its constitution to permit slavery within its borders.
New England Congress passes legislation requiring compulsory universal public education to a secondary level (for four years).
Ninth Amendment to the New England Constitution abolishes racial restrictions on the franchise.
B. Scott Harrison, American businessman, begins construction of the first North American commercial cloud-ship [rigid airship/zeppelin] in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1897
Lyndon Hughes (Georgia), Democrat, inaugurated as the 18th President of the United States. James Hilliard (Kansas), Democrat, inaugurated as Vice-President.
J. Baird Weaver (Niagara), Radical, inaugurated as the 20th President of New England. Timothy Vanderbilt (Connecticut), Radical, inaugurated as Vice-President.
1898
El Salvador admitted as the 55th state in the Union.
Formation of the Unionist Party in the United States from an alliance of the old Patriot Party and the Radical Party. The former Populist Party is largely absorbed into the Democrat Party.
Risto Torvalds, Canadian inventor, makes the first successful North American heavier-than-air flight outside Belfast, Wisconsin [OTL Milwaukee, Wisconsin].
1899
Guatemala admitted as the 56th state in the Union.
Passage of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows for the collection of federal income taxes without apportionment.
Guiana district [the former French Guiana] is detached from the Caribbean Territory and added to Suriname Territory, in preparation for statehood.
1900
Sitting President Lyndon Hughes fails renomination by the Democrats, who choose Mark Darrow (Jefferson) as their presidential candidate. Darrow is elected but dies of a heart attack on 18 December, leaving the Vice-President-elect, Lewis Mitchell (Westylvania) to replace Hughes as the 19th President.
* * *
Population Data for the United States: 1900
Taken From “The United States In Expansion, 1850-1950: A Century of Triumph”
(c) 1952 By Harold Wittgenstein
Columbia Press: Columbia [OTL Knoxville, Tennessee]
State Slave Non.[4] White Total
Alabama 611,812 89,845 1,141,482 1,843,139
Arkansas 320,410 28,416 589,058 937,884
Chihuahua 47,807 170,533 276,369 494,708
Coahuila 185,038 67,372 480,363 732,773
Colorado 15,778 51,263 641,463 708,505
Delaware 4,232 40,272 200,960 245,465
Deseret 6,271 12,513 351,779 370,563
East Cuba 289,317 13,489 497,066 799,872
East Florida 118,470 16,113 239,703 374,286
East Texas 289,099 39,821 863,150 1,192,071
El Salvador 2,689 627,432 223,059 853,179
Georgia 946,004 44,481 1,510,681 2,501,166
Guatemala 35,419 1,264,442 355,964 1,655,825
Honduras 75,390 406,619 250,024 732,033
Idaho 4,453 16,027 170,063 190,543
Illinois 104,249 185,578 1,854,780 2,144,606
Indiana 98,967 173,821 1,769,927 2,042,714
Iowa 66,956 31,726 1,471,027 1,569,709
Jackson 139,115 45,523 203,520 388,157
Jefferson 258,960 40,179 990,724 1,289,862
Kansas 326,139 178,096 1,370,900 1,875,136
Kentucky 473,542 176,400 2,075,189 2,725,131
Louisiana 412,227 8,069 800,140 1,220,436
Maryland 202,332 133,924 1,191,505 1,527,760
Mississippi 578,163 15,451 673,709 1,267,323
Missouri 326,889 15,261 1,723,872 2,066,021
Nebraska 43,256 87,981 1,467,351 1,598,588
New Leon 253,974 292,935 485,435 1,032,345
New Mexico 29,957 44,907 432,517 507,381
Nevada 19,626 20,557 112,047 152,231
Nicaragua 264,413 448,081 303,189 1,015,683
North California 249,341 170,047 1,843,062 2,262,449
North Carolina 717,445 52,354 1,588,840 2,358,639
North Durango 198,390 14,359 228,340 441,089
Ohio 92,672 238,726 4,774,549 5,105,948
Oregon 28,051 33,997 573,986 636,033
Pennsylvania 52,880 224,720 3,897,042 4,174,642
Potosi 68,940 566,899 247,846 883,685
Puerto Rico 375,820 449,502 297,866 1,123,189
Sinaloa 90,118 157,845 375,706 623,669
Sonora 34,595 112,178 202,612 349,386
South Carolina 842,594 25,413 771,406 1,639,413
South Durango 178,335 186,379 232,497 597,211
Tamaulipas 393,558 155,930 502,850 1,052,338
Tennessee 567,019 213,449 2,184,179 2,964,648
Veracruz 106,244 604,494 371,701 1,082,439
Virginia 922,060 77,761 2,712,586 3,712,406
Washington 281,186 10,545 983,204 1,274,935
West Cuba 870,223 248,388 772,711 1,891,322
West Florida 672,592 23,259 927,242 1,623,093
West Texas 101,143 25,650 187,406 314,199
Westylvania 74,597 86,497 1,819,099 1,980,193
Wilkinson 41,360 68,588 1,092,849 1,202,796
Wyoming 3,063 3,295 203,583 209,941
Yucatan 236,530 891,374 244,258 1,372,163
Zacatecas 60,485 491,916 200,363 752,764
Total 13,810,196 9,920,692 51,952,794 75,683,682
Territory Slave Non.[4] White Total
Acapulco 5,174 296,747 96,460 398,381
Chiapas 18,972 224,902 63,078 306,952
Guanajuato 2,377 1,027,769 268,211 1,298,357
Jalisco 16,024 1,159,586 338,335 1,513,945
Indian 39,326 110,784 305,428 455,537
Mexico 11,873 1,633,828 491,929 2,137,630
Michoacán 7,998 710,565 255,674 974,237
Oaxaca 24,002 672,033 220,098 916,133
Puebla 16,451 804,659 230,955 1,052,066
South California 33,729 42,761 50,691 127,182
Suriname 101,378 18,920 119,492 239,790
Tobasco 36,393 104,639 81,007 222,038
Total 313,696 6,807,191 2,521,359 9,642,246
Caribbean Territory
District Slave Non.[4] White Total
Aruba 1,496 3,349 6,297 11,142
Bonaire 5,669 116 1,179 6,963
Curacao 29,555 454 6,587 36,596
Guadeloupe 134,031 3,129 186,215 323,374
Martinique 71,402 1,641 44,589 117,631
Saba 2,960 12 795 3,767
Sint Eustatius 2,681 21 948 3,650
Sint Maarten 3,957 16 1,239 5,212
Tobago 39,985 884 6,080 46,949
Trinidad 171,883 12,727 48,348 232,958
Virgin Islands 72,388 1,202 43,301 116,891
Total 536,005 23,551 345,577 905,133
Federal District 73,166 22,618 158,190 253,974
Total USA 14,733,063 16,774,053 54,977,920 86,485,036
* * *
Population Data for New England: 1900
Source: New England Bureau of Statistics
State Population [5]
Connecticut 1,211,123
Hudson 3,714,541
Long Island 3,344,639
Maine 891,399
Massachusetts 3,623,996
Michigan 3,312,838
New Brunswick 412,683
New Hampshire 575,880
New Jersey 2,040,004
Niagara 2,856,433
Nova Scotia 687,181
Rhode Island 422,801
Vermont 599,715
Dominican Terr. 615,928
Total 24,309,159
* * *
Population Data for Canada: 1900
Source: New England Historical Archives, Hartford, Connecticut
Province Population
Alaska 82,919
British Columbia 554,291
Caroline 381,890
Manitoba 489,256
Northwest Terr. 15,309
Ontario 3,048,919
Quebec 1,882,294
Saskatchewan 102,583
Wisconsin 3,638,661
Total 10,196,122
* * *
Population Data for British North America: 1900
Source: New England Historical Archives, Hartford, Connecticut
Province Population
Newfoundland 226,153
Prince Edward Island 98,312
Total 324,465
* * *
[1] “Julius” is roughly equivalent to the OTL Majestic-class battleships built in the UK, with slightly higher top speed and range but with marginally inferior gunnery.
[2] The Goliath-class has better armour and gunnery than the New England equivalent, but inferior range.
[3] Although both New England and the USA introduced progressive income taxation in the same year, they did it for very different reasons. New England adopted it for proclaimed reasons of social justice, while the United States justified it in terms of paying for national defence.
[4] With the standardisation of the category of peon, and the finalisation of the military operations amongst the surviving Indians in the more sparsely-populated regions of the United States (many of whom had not been included in the census anyway), the separate classification of Indians in the census was abandoned for the 1900 census. They were thereafter listed as non-citizens, a category which included mostly peons, but also some serfs, convicts and immigrants denied citizenship. This also included the Indians of the Indian Territory, although many of these were increasingly awarded citizenship during the early twentieth century.
[5] With the passage of the Ninth Amendment and the abolition of racial qualifications for voting, the New England census no longer recorded ‘black’ and ‘white’ as separate classifications.
* * *
Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/
http://decadesofdarkness.blogspot.com/
P.S. That brings things pretty much up to date until 1900. There will be occasional flashbacks and personal anecdotes posts covering the last few years, but the main action is now moving into the twentieth century.
Decades of Darkness #106: Live To Tell
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Attributed to Edmund Burke, British statesman (1729-1797)
* * *
18 July 1892
Sharkview Plantation
Nicaragua, United States of America
“A letter from someone in West Florida?” Harry Walker asked, as he took the envelope from the house slave.
The handwriting on the envelope was crudely formed, in the character of a man who had only a grudging acquaintance with literacy, if Walker was any judge, but it was clearly addressed to him. The return address listed a James Fisher at an estate in West Florida. The name sounded vaguely familiar – someone from his childhood or long-ago military service, probably – but Walker could not place it.
The letter itself proved much more neatly written, as if it had been dictated to a more literate peon or other servant. It probably had been; the handwriting on the envelope had been that of someone more used to tools or weapons than a pen. Walker scanned the letter quickly, then muttered, “My God.”
“Bad news?” Julia asked, a note of concern in her voice. Their relationship was hardly the conventional one of man and wife, despite their legally registered marriage, but they had been good friends for many years now.
“No, just... strange,” Walker said. “A man who knew me from my time in the Jaguars. He says that he’s trying to find all the old people he knew from his military service.” He shook his head. James Fisher. Now that he had the letter, he was able to place Fisher – a fresh-faced young man who had joined up with the Jaguars at the same time as him, but who had stayed on in Cuba after Walker thought it necessary to leave the Jaguars. “A real voice from the past. I haven’t heard or thought of him in twenty-five years or so – apparently he’s been in the Army until a few months ago.”
“If he stayed there so long, he must have become quite important,” Julia said.
“If so, he didn’t mention it,” Walker said. “He did say he’s been with the Jaguars for all of his army service, though. They – we – never were fond of men who made themselves out to be great, even if they were.” For that matter, since leaving the Army, Walker had tried to avoid much contact with them or any news of them. Fisher could have become a powerful military figure, for all he knew.
“You going to reply to him?” Julia said carefully. She knew about his distaste for renewed contact with the military.
“He invited me to visit him in his estate in West Florida,” Walker said. “Perhaps I will; he seems to be doing it out of old friendship, not searching for glory or reopening old wounds. But I’ll think about it for a few days first.”
That evening, with Geoffrey and Julia and Yolanda and William – Julia and Harry Walker’s only child – gathered around the dinner table, Walker received another surprise. William turned out to know all about James Fisher. “He’s a hero,” William declared, in the starry-eyed kind of way which made Walker reluctantly certain what career his son was likely to adopt. “He caught General Juarez in Mexico, and the Brazilian Emperor made him a knight, and lots of other things.”
William talked incessantly throughout dinner about Fisher’s exploits. If half of what William said was true, Fisher was one of the Jaguar’s greatest ever heroes, and yet he had given no hint of that in his letter. An odd way for a soldier to act, to Walker’s way of thinking.
“Pa, are you going to visit Fisher?” William asked.
“I may,” Walker said.
“Can I come with you?” William asked, translating “may” to “will” with a fifteen year old boy’s endless capacity to hear only what he wanted.
Julia sucked in a quick breath, probably not even aware that she was doing it. Walker gave her a sideways glance; she had always been reluctant to let William out of her sight. She had only one child, after all, and would surely never have another. William always found a way to escape to spend time outdoors, of course, but that didn’t change her caution.
“If I go, yes,” Walker said. This meant he couldn’t visit Fisher at all if Julia decided against letting William go, but that was something he could live with.
* * *
Taken from “A Jaguar’s Life: An Autobiography”
(c) 1894 By Captain James Fisher (ret.)
Conrad Publishing Company: Baton Rogue.
The British talk about having four estates in government: the king, two houses of parliament, and the press, which they think is the most important of them all. They’re wrong, of course. The most important estate is the Fifth Estate, the army which protects the government and carries out its will. Without that estate, the other four are just noises in the wind.
* * *
19 August 1892
The Fifth Estate (James Fisher’s estate)
West Florida, United States of America
Some things were just unfair, William James Walker decided. He had finally convinced his parents to let him accompany his father to Captain Fisher’s estate... and when he got here, his father had allowed him only a few minutes with the great war hero before bundling him out into the fields.
Normally William loved the chance to venture into the outdoors, even the unfamiliar land of West Florida, but not now. The joys of exploring the jungle or ambushes amongst the banana fields paled in comparison to the chance to talk to America’s greatest living soldier. Not even General – now President – Mahan could match Fisher’s achievements, as written in the newspaper articles William had gladly read. Most times, words on a printed page were just boring, but not these kinds of stories. The only thing better would be hearing them from the jaguar’s mouth – something which his father now denied him.
With nothing else to do, William explored the estate grounds. They weren’t very large by his standards; only a few fields of peanuts clustered around a large plantation house. William didn’t know much about peanuts, but his mother had said about them made him think that they didn’t turn much profit as a crop; Fisher either didn’t care or was using them in rotation with another crop. Fisher had only a few peons working for him that William had seen; with not a single black anywhere. That made him feel more like he was back in Nicaragua, although even there slaves were common. On his journey to the Fifth Estate, he had seen many plantations worked by slaves, with peons almost non-existent.
William ambled through the peanut fields toward a small copse of trees on the far side. He found something strange there; a rectangular block of stone standing on the ground, with a bronze cross set above it. The trees gave it nearly complete shelter from the elements, and it felt much cooler in their shade. He bent down to read the inscription:
“Here lies the last true son of Mexico,
Hunter and hunted, his fate legend,
Ashes grow cold, statues fall, mem’ry fades,
Mexico shall be fatherless henceforth.”
Beneath the inscription, the memorial named the inhabitant as José Ramon Juarez. The same Mexican general which Fisher had caught at last, bringing the Third Mexican War to a close. Why did he have a tomb here?
The faint sound of footsteps alerted William, and he looked up to see James Fisher about to push through the trees around the tomb.
“You’ve got good hearing,” Fisher said. “Not many men have ever heard me coming.”
William took a deep breath – a compliment from the greatest hero the United States had seen for many years, perhaps since Andrew Jackson! “I like to be outdoors,” he said.
“Something I understand very well,” Fisher said. He waved a hand vaguely around. “This place doesn’t make much money, but it saves me living in a city.”
“I’ve never lived in a city,” William said. Except for occasional visits when travelling with his parents, he had little experience of them; they seemed too crowded and far too artificial for his liking. “They’re dangerous places.”
“The jungles around your home are dangerous too,” Fisher said. “Maybe even full of jaguars.”
“I’ve never seen a jaguar,” William said.
“Sure you have. Your father was one.”
William looked at his feet. “Pa doesn’t talk much about his life as a soldier.”
“He was a Jaguar, and a good one,” Fisher said. “I’m not sure why he left – the warrior’s life isn’t one for everyone – but while he was in, he was good.”
“What did he do?”
“A lot,” Fisher said. “More than I could tell in an afternoon, that’s for sure.”
“Then why don’t you write down your stories – all of your stories – and tell the world?” William said. He had read only reporters’ accounts of Fisher’s war heroism; undoubtedly the great man himself could do it better.
“I’ve never been one for writing things down,” Fisher said. “The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the gun is mightier than the pen.”
“If you can’t write it yourself, tell it to someone else and get them to write it down for you,” William said. “If it’s you telling the story, that’s more important than if you use big words or fancy pens to tell it.”
Fisher rubbed his chin. “You may be right. More invigorating than watching peanuts grow, certainly. I think I will tell the world, somehow.”
* * *
Selected Important Dates in North American History: 1891-1900
Taken from “The Compleat Textbook Series: Early American History”
By J. Edward Fowler (Principal Author)
Sydney, Kingdom of Australia.
(c) 1948 Eagle Publishing Company: Sydney. Used with permission
1891
Westylvania amends its constitution to permit slavery, leaving Pennsylvania as the only free-soil state in the Union.
John Hunter (Long Island), Radical, inaugurated as the 19th President of New England. J. Baird Weaver (Niagara), Radical, inaugurated as Vice-President.
“Julius”, the first of a new class of New England battleships, commissioned in Halifax. Larger than any battleships built to that date, the Caesar-class battleships would set the standard for all battleships built for the next decade [1].
1892
Washington Islands [OTL’s Marquesas Islands] annexed by the United States.
New England introduces old-age pensions for workers who have reached 65 years of age.
Passage of the Seventh Amendment to the New England Constitution grants voting rights for women.
“Goliath”, the first of a British class of battleships to match the Caesar-class, is commissioned in Portsmouth, UK [2]
“Sinaloa”, the first of a new class of American main battleships, commissioned in Puerto Veracruz. The Sinaloa-class ships have three main guns mounted independently, unlike two pairs of main guns in both British and New England designs. The Sinaloa’s guns are larger than its British rivals, but at the price of a decreased rate of fire.
1893
Edward Mahan (Virginia), Democrat, reinaugurated as the 17th President of the United States. Luis Terrazas (Chihuahua) Democrat, inaugurated as Vice-President.
1894
Dominica [OTL’s Dominican Republic] admitted to New England as the Dominican Territory.
Progressive income taxation adopted in both New England and the United States [3].
Passage of the Eighth Amendment to the New England Constitution begins the era of Prohibition.
1895
Deseret admitted as the 54th state in the Union.
Ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for the direct election of Senators.
Universal conscription introduced into New England.
1896
Pennsylvania amends its constitution to permit slavery within its borders.
New England Congress passes legislation requiring compulsory universal public education to a secondary level (for four years).
Ninth Amendment to the New England Constitution abolishes racial restrictions on the franchise.
B. Scott Harrison, American businessman, begins construction of the first North American commercial cloud-ship [rigid airship/zeppelin] in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1897
Lyndon Hughes (Georgia), Democrat, inaugurated as the 18th President of the United States. James Hilliard (Kansas), Democrat, inaugurated as Vice-President.
J. Baird Weaver (Niagara), Radical, inaugurated as the 20th President of New England. Timothy Vanderbilt (Connecticut), Radical, inaugurated as Vice-President.
1898
El Salvador admitted as the 55th state in the Union.
Formation of the Unionist Party in the United States from an alliance of the old Patriot Party and the Radical Party. The former Populist Party is largely absorbed into the Democrat Party.
Risto Torvalds, Canadian inventor, makes the first successful North American heavier-than-air flight outside Belfast, Wisconsin [OTL Milwaukee, Wisconsin].
1899
Guatemala admitted as the 56th state in the Union.
Passage of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows for the collection of federal income taxes without apportionment.
Guiana district [the former French Guiana] is detached from the Caribbean Territory and added to Suriname Territory, in preparation for statehood.
1900
Sitting President Lyndon Hughes fails renomination by the Democrats, who choose Mark Darrow (Jefferson) as their presidential candidate. Darrow is elected but dies of a heart attack on 18 December, leaving the Vice-President-elect, Lewis Mitchell (Westylvania) to replace Hughes as the 19th President.
* * *
Population Data for the United States: 1900
Taken From “The United States In Expansion, 1850-1950: A Century of Triumph”
(c) 1952 By Harold Wittgenstein
Columbia Press: Columbia [OTL Knoxville, Tennessee]
State Slave Non.[4] White Total
Alabama 611,812 89,845 1,141,482 1,843,139
Arkansas 320,410 28,416 589,058 937,884
Chihuahua 47,807 170,533 276,369 494,708
Coahuila 185,038 67,372 480,363 732,773
Colorado 15,778 51,263 641,463 708,505
Delaware 4,232 40,272 200,960 245,465
Deseret 6,271 12,513 351,779 370,563
East Cuba 289,317 13,489 497,066 799,872
East Florida 118,470 16,113 239,703 374,286
East Texas 289,099 39,821 863,150 1,192,071
El Salvador 2,689 627,432 223,059 853,179
Georgia 946,004 44,481 1,510,681 2,501,166
Guatemala 35,419 1,264,442 355,964 1,655,825
Honduras 75,390 406,619 250,024 732,033
Idaho 4,453 16,027 170,063 190,543
Illinois 104,249 185,578 1,854,780 2,144,606
Indiana 98,967 173,821 1,769,927 2,042,714
Iowa 66,956 31,726 1,471,027 1,569,709
Jackson 139,115 45,523 203,520 388,157
Jefferson 258,960 40,179 990,724 1,289,862
Kansas 326,139 178,096 1,370,900 1,875,136
Kentucky 473,542 176,400 2,075,189 2,725,131
Louisiana 412,227 8,069 800,140 1,220,436
Maryland 202,332 133,924 1,191,505 1,527,760
Mississippi 578,163 15,451 673,709 1,267,323
Missouri 326,889 15,261 1,723,872 2,066,021
Nebraska 43,256 87,981 1,467,351 1,598,588
New Leon 253,974 292,935 485,435 1,032,345
New Mexico 29,957 44,907 432,517 507,381
Nevada 19,626 20,557 112,047 152,231
Nicaragua 264,413 448,081 303,189 1,015,683
North California 249,341 170,047 1,843,062 2,262,449
North Carolina 717,445 52,354 1,588,840 2,358,639
North Durango 198,390 14,359 228,340 441,089
Ohio 92,672 238,726 4,774,549 5,105,948
Oregon 28,051 33,997 573,986 636,033
Pennsylvania 52,880 224,720 3,897,042 4,174,642
Potosi 68,940 566,899 247,846 883,685
Puerto Rico 375,820 449,502 297,866 1,123,189
Sinaloa 90,118 157,845 375,706 623,669
Sonora 34,595 112,178 202,612 349,386
South Carolina 842,594 25,413 771,406 1,639,413
South Durango 178,335 186,379 232,497 597,211
Tamaulipas 393,558 155,930 502,850 1,052,338
Tennessee 567,019 213,449 2,184,179 2,964,648
Veracruz 106,244 604,494 371,701 1,082,439
Virginia 922,060 77,761 2,712,586 3,712,406
Washington 281,186 10,545 983,204 1,274,935
West Cuba 870,223 248,388 772,711 1,891,322
West Florida 672,592 23,259 927,242 1,623,093
West Texas 101,143 25,650 187,406 314,199
Westylvania 74,597 86,497 1,819,099 1,980,193
Wilkinson 41,360 68,588 1,092,849 1,202,796
Wyoming 3,063 3,295 203,583 209,941
Yucatan 236,530 891,374 244,258 1,372,163
Zacatecas 60,485 491,916 200,363 752,764
Total 13,810,196 9,920,692 51,952,794 75,683,682
Territory Slave Non.[4] White Total
Acapulco 5,174 296,747 96,460 398,381
Chiapas 18,972 224,902 63,078 306,952
Guanajuato 2,377 1,027,769 268,211 1,298,357
Jalisco 16,024 1,159,586 338,335 1,513,945
Indian 39,326 110,784 305,428 455,537
Mexico 11,873 1,633,828 491,929 2,137,630
Michoacán 7,998 710,565 255,674 974,237
Oaxaca 24,002 672,033 220,098 916,133
Puebla 16,451 804,659 230,955 1,052,066
South California 33,729 42,761 50,691 127,182
Suriname 101,378 18,920 119,492 239,790
Tobasco 36,393 104,639 81,007 222,038
Total 313,696 6,807,191 2,521,359 9,642,246
Caribbean Territory
District Slave Non.[4] White Total
Aruba 1,496 3,349 6,297 11,142
Bonaire 5,669 116 1,179 6,963
Curacao 29,555 454 6,587 36,596
Guadeloupe 134,031 3,129 186,215 323,374
Martinique 71,402 1,641 44,589 117,631
Saba 2,960 12 795 3,767
Sint Eustatius 2,681 21 948 3,650
Sint Maarten 3,957 16 1,239 5,212
Tobago 39,985 884 6,080 46,949
Trinidad 171,883 12,727 48,348 232,958
Virgin Islands 72,388 1,202 43,301 116,891
Total 536,005 23,551 345,577 905,133
Federal District 73,166 22,618 158,190 253,974
Total USA 14,733,063 16,774,053 54,977,920 86,485,036
* * *
Population Data for New England: 1900
Source: New England Bureau of Statistics
State Population [5]
Connecticut 1,211,123
Hudson 3,714,541
Long Island 3,344,639
Maine 891,399
Massachusetts 3,623,996
Michigan 3,312,838
New Brunswick 412,683
New Hampshire 575,880
New Jersey 2,040,004
Niagara 2,856,433
Nova Scotia 687,181
Rhode Island 422,801
Vermont 599,715
Dominican Terr. 615,928
Total 24,309,159
* * *
Population Data for Canada: 1900
Source: New England Historical Archives, Hartford, Connecticut
Province Population
Alaska 82,919
British Columbia 554,291
Caroline 381,890
Manitoba 489,256
Northwest Terr. 15,309
Ontario 3,048,919
Quebec 1,882,294
Saskatchewan 102,583
Wisconsin 3,638,661
Total 10,196,122
* * *
Population Data for British North America: 1900
Source: New England Historical Archives, Hartford, Connecticut
Province Population
Newfoundland 226,153
Prince Edward Island 98,312
Total 324,465
* * *
[1] “Julius” is roughly equivalent to the OTL Majestic-class battleships built in the UK, with slightly higher top speed and range but with marginally inferior gunnery.
[2] The Goliath-class has better armour and gunnery than the New England equivalent, but inferior range.
[3] Although both New England and the USA introduced progressive income taxation in the same year, they did it for very different reasons. New England adopted it for proclaimed reasons of social justice, while the United States justified it in terms of paying for national defence.
[4] With the standardisation of the category of peon, and the finalisation of the military operations amongst the surviving Indians in the more sparsely-populated regions of the United States (many of whom had not been included in the census anyway), the separate classification of Indians in the census was abandoned for the 1900 census. They were thereafter listed as non-citizens, a category which included mostly peons, but also some serfs, convicts and immigrants denied citizenship. This also included the Indians of the Indian Territory, although many of these were increasingly awarded citizenship during the early twentieth century.
[5] With the passage of the Ninth Amendment and the abolition of racial qualifications for voting, the New England census no longer recorded ‘black’ and ‘white’ as separate classifications.
* * *
Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/
http://decadesofdarkness.blogspot.com/
P.S. That brings things pretty much up to date until 1900. There will be occasional flashbacks and personal anecdotes posts covering the last few years, but the main action is now moving into the twentieth century.
Vince
Monthly Donor
Wow. The amount of time you've put into this is amazing. Authors like Turtledove and Stirling should take note.
So the 1890's are over. Hmm...what to look foward too. From what little we've seen of Mitchell he almost seems like a more Jingoistic version of Teddy Roosevelt. It's definitly the same time period, with a *Populist/Progressive movement underway.
I'm guessing the British/German falling out will start within the next 10 years or so. Also, from what you've been hinting at Russia (Beijing and Constantinople are Russian in the 1970s) and the US will be in ascendence soon.
So the 1890's are over. Hmm...what to look foward too. From what little we've seen of Mitchell he almost seems like a more Jingoistic version of Teddy Roosevelt. It's definitly the same time period, with a *Populist/Progressive movement underway.
I'm guessing the British/German falling out will start within the next 10 years or so. Also, from what you've been hinting at Russia (Beijing and Constantinople are Russian in the 1970s) and the US will be in ascendence soon.
das said:About time - I was getting worried.
Oh, I've just been interstate for most of the last two weeks. The time between posts is largely a function of how much work I've got on (far too much, this year) and juggling other social commitments, but on average posts appear about once per week.
Not in the same detail. I don't have access to census breakdowns in Europe, and the borders move a lot more, which makes it harder to estimate figures. But as a first order approximation, the ATL German population figures in 1900 are the same as the same areas in OTL - slightly higher death rates (2nd Napoleonic Wars) being balanced by slightly less migration, since the USA has been a less attractive target for migrants. For a ballpark figure, somewhere in excess of 120 million for Germany + associated kingdoms (Hungary, Poland, Courland, Croatia) would be about right. Certainly bigger than the USA, in other words, although the USA has a much higher birthrate.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
Vince said:
Mitchell is a jingoistic demagogue who thinks that Britain is the arch-enemy who has been 'encircling the USA' for decades, and views Canada, New England, Colombia etc as British puppets. He has some parallels to Teddy Roosevelt, but also a few to Josef Goebbels. Domestically, he's closer to a progressive, but his foreign policy tends to take precedence.
Britain and Germany are already starting to have signs of strain... the Boer War really didn't help there, and there's also been something of a squabble for the 'riches' of China. They aren't enemies, exactly, but they could well end up at odds.
The USA is also growing in power. Russia is not exactly a sleeping giant, but it has the population and natural resources to match it with any other nation in the world, if it can reform itself internally. It's also slowly becoming a democracy, which makes life even more complicated.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
Kaiser Wilhelm III said:
There are a lot of differences in this TL starting in the 1830's that would bolster the German population by several million by 1900.
I've looked over the borders and my guess is for a breakdown like this:
Germany- ~105,000,000
(earlier German industrialization and prosperity, along with less immigration ought to have a compound effect greater than the German loses in recent wars). The combined population for _OTL 1900_ Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Venetia, Lombardy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and German Switzerland is 96,000,000.
Poland- ~18,000,000
(about the same OTL population for the territory of the ATL Poland.)
Hungary- ~16,000,000
(OTL Hungary minus Croatia
Croatia- ~3,000,000
(OTL Croatia plus Hercegovina)
Courland- ~3,000,000
(3/4 of OTL Lithuania, 1/2 of OTL Latvia)
I suspect the German sphere of control will have the largest economy in the world in 1900.
davekohlhoff said:
I'd put it somewhere between 100-105 million. A lot of the migration which didn't go to the USA went to New England and Canada (up to the 1850s) and Australia, South Africa, Argentina etc thereafter, but a few million more than OTL in Germany would be reasonable. There's also the possibility that with greater industrialisation and urbanization that Germany may have hit the demographic transition earlier ITTL, although that's arguable.
Quite; educated and industrious population, common currency and very few if any trade barriers between them would ensure that. I'm not sure whether the per capita income would be higher elsewhere (Australia, New England, Argentina, maybe even the UK) but in terms of the overall economy, not much else even comes close.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
Decades of Darkness #107: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Decades of Darkness #107: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
“Again, the devil taketh him [Jesus] up to an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
- Matthew 4:8-9, King James Version.
* * *
This is a brief tour of the wider world through to 1900. It summarises some of the main developments in the timeline, and expands on some of the other history which has not been previously mentioned. This timeline continues to deal mainly with events in North America and Europe, but this post fills in some of the details of what is happening elsewhere.
* * *
The KINGDOM OF AUSTRALIA [OTL Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea], is one of the most rapidly-developing parts of the British Empire. Formed in 1882 out of the former self-governing British colonies of New South Wales, Macquarie [Victoria], Kingsland [Queensland], New Zealand, Tasmania, South Australia and West Australia, the Kingdom has recently added New Guinea (1896) and Northern Australia (1899) as additional provinces. Australia’s population is booming; what was founded as an outpost for surplus convicts was transformed by the gold rushes of the 1830s and widespread immigration from Europe and parts of Asia into a nation of 11.5 million people in 1900. Internally, Australia’s largest industrial sectors continue to be the same agriculture and mining which was the source of its early prosperity, but there is also a small but growing manufacturing sector. Australia has been a source of troops for a variety of British wars for the last fifty years, including the Maori Wars, the Second Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-Boer War.
* * *
Many islands in the PACIFIC had until recently avoided the colonisation spree which had befallen much of the world. This changed as Britain and its allies partitioned most of the previously free islands between them, except for the U.S. ruled Washington Islands [OTL Marquesas Islands]. Nippon, which had long ruled Okinawa and the Ryukyus, conquered the Ladrones [Marianas] during the Second Napoleonic Wars, and has since claimed the Caroline Islands [including OTL Palau], the Marshall Islands, and the Gilbert Islands. Britain has claimed most of the rest of the Pacific, with the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides [OTL Vanuatu], New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa [including OTL Tokelau] and Tonga administered directly from Australia. The Ellice Islands [Tuvalu], Pleasant Island [Nauru], the Cook Islands, Society Islands, the Tuamotos and Pitcairn Island are administered from Britain. Britain also claims the uninhabited Phoenix Islands [included OTL Howland and Baker Islands] and the Southern Line Islands, which are mined for guano but otherwise have no human presence. Portugal has claimed Christmas Island [OTL Kiritimati] and the neighbouring Northern Line Islands [OTL Tabuaeran, Teraina, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef].
* * *
The SANDWICH ISLANDS [Hawai’i] were for a long time an informal protectorate of Britain, until formal declaration of protectorate status in 1882. There have been two attempts by American filibusters to seize control of the islands (in 1868 and 1891-2), the second of which was defeated by Nipponese intervention. The islands have seen some small-scale migration, initially from Europe and New England but increasingly from Nippon. All American citizens resident in the islands were expelled in 1892, and to the present day it is illegal for American citizens to set foot on the islands.
* * *
In NIPPON [Japan], two centuries of isolation came to an end with Admiral Fokker’s expedition in 1856, forcing the Nipponese to grant more or less open trading access. This was followed by a series of trading treaties forced on the Nipponese by Britain, France, the United States, New England and Russia (after the end of the Turkish War). The Nipponese resentment over this foreign encroachment and national weakness led to the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the “Renewal”, a movement which culminated in the establishment of a new government in 1868, theoretically under the rule of the Emperor. Nippon has since modernised extremely rapidly, using carefully-chosen foreign advisors to reform its military and economy. The success of their modernisation was demonstrated to the world in 1884, when Nipponese forces defeated the (admittedly rather weak) Spanish garrisons in the Ladrones [Marianas] and retained these as the newest Home Islands during the peace settlement, and subsequently gained further Pacific colonies. In 1892, Nippon signed a formal alliance with Britain, and intervened in the Sandwich Islands to defeat American filibusters. Since 1892, Nippon has been increasingly involved in China. But the largest foreign relations question for the Nipponese has been CHOSON [Korea], the “dagger hanging over the Home Islands”. Choson had long sought to keep itself isolated in the same way as Nippon, and had successfully rebuffed emissaries of Germany, New England, Britain, Nippon, Russia and the United States who tried to secure trade treaties. But after several years of diplomatic pressure and nonviolent naval demonstrations of power, Choson agreed to a Nipponese protectorate in 1900, despite protests from Russia.
* * *
CHINA, for so long the most advanced nation on earth, received a harsh awakening with its defeat in the Opium War (also called Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842) and subsequent demands from France and Germany. The humiliations inflicted by the foreign powers led to the development of new ideologies, particularly that of Hong Xiuquan, who inspired the Taiping Revolution and ultimately became Emperor in 1864. The defeat of the previous Qing Dynasty was incomplete, as they fled to Manchuria under Russian protection, and subsequently recaptured much of northern China, including Beijing. China was for a time divided into Taiping White China and Qing Black China, but the Taipings eventually collapsed into internal civil war in 1889, and the central government dissolved into chaos as regional warlords emerged, and Chinese citizens resentful of foreign influence began to kill or drive out foreigners. This led to the ‘Scramble for China’, as Russia, Nippon, Britain, Germany and Portugal sought to expand their influence in China and provide military protection for their citizens. For a time it appeared that war could break out between the would-be colonial powers, but after several diplomatic conferences, the Great Powers struck an agreement to partition coastal China into five sections under direct foreign rule, with precise spheres of influence to be delineated in the interior once they asserted control. The five foreign zones are: Portuguese China, consisting of Macau and a strip of coastal territory on the west bank of the Pearl River; separate British territories of British South China (Hainan and the coastal mainland up to the border with German Indochina) and British East China stretching from Canton to Xiamen; German China from Fuzhou to Huangzhou; Nipponese-ruled China from just north of Shanghai to Qingdao; and Russian China consisting of Manchuria, Beijing and a coastal strip to the Yellow River. Shanghai itself has been designated a free port under the joint administration of Germany, Britain and Nippon, but open to traders from across the world. Inland China is still riven with factionalism and war. The remnant of the Taipings established a new government at Nanking in 1895 and sought to regain control of as much of China from the warlords as possible, but Nanking fell to a British-Nipponese expedition in 1898. Russian-backed Qing forces are slowly consolidating their control over much of the interior of northern China. The interior of central and southern China is still ruled by various warlords and two prominent would-be successors to the Taipings. Considerable numbers of European and American advisers and mercenaries are engaged in the interior of China, with some conflicts between British- and Russian-backed forces, but China is gradually falling under encroaching colonial rule. The invading powers are interested in the size of the potential Chinese market, but it is gradually becoming apparent just how vast and populated and thus how hard to control China will be. In 1898, an Indian expedition under British command occupied TIBET, proclaiming it as a protectorate of Britain and independent of China.
* * *
In SOUTH-EAST ASIA, the Netherlands rules the DUTCH EAST INDIES as a separate colony, outside the direct rule of the German Reich. The entirety of TIMOR remains a Portuguese colony. INDOCHINA, formerly under French rule, was annexed to Germany during the Second Napoleonic Wars. BURMA, which had long fought to preserve its independence and modernise its economy, finally fell to British rule in 1884, and is now ruled as a province of India. The kingdom of SIAM has similarly sought to modernise, and was more successful than Burma because it functioned as a buffer state between British Burma and French and then German Indochina. With the tensions between Germany and Britain during the 1890s, Siam has continued to fill a buffer role, and sought military advisers from Portugal and the United States to reform its army. The PHILLIPPINES, a Spanish possession for more then 300 years, were annexed by Britain in 1886. In 1890, uprisings occurred throughout the islands, with Filipino groups variously demanding either full legal equality or independence. Both claims were rejected by Britain, and a major insurrection followed. The Anglo-Philippine War has continued until 1900; British forces have effective control of urban and coastal areas but rebels remain active throughout much of the countryside. Captured rebels are sometimes found to have weapons of New England or French manufacture. Suspicion for the smuggling of these weapons falls primarily on Russia, with the United States and Germany being seen as possible but less likely candidates. Germany has ruled FORMOSA since 1854, using it as a staging area during the Second Napoleonic Wars and the invasions of China. The island is one of the most prosperous regions in the Pacific, with a developing class of German-speaking magnates (some European immigrants, some native Formosan and ethnic Chinese). Some of these have advocated the incorporation of Formosa into the Reich as a sovereign principality. The British maintained rule over MALAYA after the First Napoleonic Wars, establishing SINGAPORE as a major port and fortress, and have subsequently added BRUNEI, SAWARAK and SABAH to their empire.
* * *
INDIA has become the jewel of the British Empire, built by conquering both the Indians themselves and by driving out the other European powers, except for the Portuguese enclaves of Goa, Diu and Dadra. The Indian Mutiny of 1858-1861 came close to driving Britain out of India altogether, but was eventually suppressed. After 1861, India was officially declared part of the British Empire under the rule of Edward VII, Emperor of India, although governed through Viceroys. India has remained largely loyal to Britain since that time, with Indian troops deployed throughout much of the Empire and Indians emigrating within the Empire, particularly to Australia, southern Africa, and the British Caribbean. What resistance there is within India to British rule is mostly peaceful. The Bharati National Congress has emerged as a pan-Indian political movement (although notably under-represented amongst Indian Muslims) dedicated to legal equality between British and Indians and the granting of Kingdom status equal to that received by Canada, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.
* * *
PERSIA [Iran] saw a decade-long (1883-1893) between the Russian-supported Qajar Dynasty and the British-backed rebel forces under Mirza Reza Shah Jamaluddin. Shah Jamaluddin finally won the civil war, and announced a plan to modernise Persia and earn the same recognition which Nippon has achieved; while friendly to Britain he has also sought to avoid entanglement inside the British Empire.
* * *
In the MIDDLE EAST, the OTTOMAN EMPIRE collapsed during war with Russia (the Turkish War of 1858-1862). The bulk of the Ottoman Empire, including Mesopotamia, has survived as the Sultanate of Turkey. SYRIA [including OTL Lebanon] is a French colony, one of the few which remained in French hands after the Second Napoleonic Wars. The British rule PALESTINE as a separate colony, where there is some talk of establishing it as a Kingdom, and the British have a formal protectorate over EGYPT. The Arabian Peninsula has seen French influence largely replaced by British influence on both the Red Sea coast and around the Persian Gulf; QATAR, BAHRAIN and the TRUCIAL SHIEKDOMS [OTL United Arab Emirates] are British protectorates, while ADEN, YEMEN and OMAN are all under British colonial rule. TRIPOLI is a fast-developing German colony, while ALGERIA and TUNIS are French colonies which have seen considerable European immigration and displacement of the existing inhabitants.
* * *
AFRICA became a major target of European colonial attention during the later half of the nineteenth century, culminating in the Second Napoleonic Wars where the Spanish were driven entirely out of Africa and the French confined to Algeria and West Africa. The Third Congress of Vienna saw the European powers divide the continent according to their own priorities and interests, with Britain claiming the largest share and Portugal and Germany claiming most of the rest. The United States has a small, moribund outpost in Whydah, Aragon was granted much of the Congo, and much of the interior of the Sahara was left unclaimed. The divisions established in Europe often did not correspond to the facts on the ground; Aragon did not develop influence over much of the Congo until the late 1890s, but the European powers have largely turned their claims into fact by 1900, and are extending their influence across the previously unclaimed interior of the Sahara. The only nation which remains recognised as under native rule is ABYSSINIA [Ethiopia]. The last stretch of unclaimed coastal Africa, in Somaliland, has recently been acquired by Greece. Southern Africa was long a source of dispute between Britain and other powers, but it has now been divided into Portuguese, British and Liberian regions. The nation of LIBERIA [OTL southern Angola and northern NAMIBIA] proclaimed itself ‘Greater Liberia’ after the successful pressing of claims to their hinterland. It was built on the large migration of former slaves and free blacks from the United States, including Spanish and French speakers from the Caribbean, and some migrants from New England, and has developed into a democratic republic under New England protection. Britain conquered the former Boer Republics of Orange Free State, Transvaal and Maritzia in the Anglo-Boer War (1890-1893). Union with their other south African colonies (Cape Colony, Natal and Bechuanaland [most of OTL Botswana plus part of Namibia]) has been negotiated, and Jonathan, a cousin of the King of Britain, is scheduled to be crowned as King of South Africa on 1 January 1901, to usher in the new century.
* * *
In northern SOUTH AMERICA, the United States purchased the former colonies of French Guiana and Suriname, selling the interior territories of both to Brazil, and also acquiring an unsettled but dormant claim to parts of BRITISH GUIANA [OTL Guyana], which is a stable British colony but also has a dormant border dispute with Venezuela. In VENEZUELA, the eventual independence from Colombia in 1848 produced a long period of ongoing civil disturbance, military takeovers and two brief civil wars. The domestic political situation stabilised somewhat during the 1870s, although Venezuela had a border war with Brazil during the middle of the decade. The establishment of the Bogotá Pact, a defensive alliance between Britain, Venezuela, Colombia and Costa Rica ended this war, and stabilised Venezuela’s foreign relations, although the border dispute with Brazil remains unsettled.
* * *
COLOMBIA [OTL Colombia, Ecuador and Panama] has seen intermittent military and civilian rule, with several coups when the civilian government becomes unpopular with the military leadership. After the seizure of Nicaragua and President Davis’s ‘manifest destiny’ speech, Colombia opened negotiations with Costa Rica for a defensive pact, which took several years to bear fruit. These were initially treated as of little importance in Costa Rica, but the discussions became more urgent after the United States annexed Cuba and Puerto Rico, and established influence in Honduras. In 1864, Colombia invited military advisers from the German Reich (Prussian army officers and Dutch naval officers) to modernise their army and navy. In 1877, Colombia joined the Bogotá Pact, and has developed the most modern and well-equipped army in South America, and with a navy which is variously considered to be either the second or third (after Brazil and Chile, respectively). This has produced some tension with Venezuela, many of whose citizens fear Colombian desires for reunification. There have been several border incidents, but both nations’ wariness of their massive northern neighbour has so far kept such incidents from degenerating into all-out war.
* * *
In southern SOUTH AMERICA, PERU has seen alternating periods of military and civilian government since it achieved practical independence from Spain in 1825 (not recognised by Spain until 1871). CHARCAS [Bolivia] had a long dispute with CHILE regarding the Pacific coast in the Atacama Desert, which was resolved by force when Chile invaded as part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance (Brazil and Chile versus Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Charcas), which also saw Charcas forced to concede some border territory to Brazil. PARAGUAY and ARGENTINA were also defeated in the same war. Continued fear of Brazil and Chile led to the formation of the Amistad [friendship] in 1889, a mutual defensive pact between Argentina, Paraguay and Charcas, while all three nations also sought advisers to reform their armies (and Argentina’s navy). Peru, concerned over tensions with Chile, joined the Amistad in 1895. Britain is not a formal signatory to the Amistad but maintains close diplomatic and military links with all members.
* * *
The EMPIRE OF BRAZIL is, as of 1900, the only major slave-holding power left in the world besides the United States. Brazil has developed increasingly close links to the USA since the 1820s, and was a major trans-shipment point for slave traders until the USA stopped all imports of slaves from Africa in 1881. American- and British-financed railroad expansion since the 1840s has greatly improved transport links within Brazil and strengthened its economy. Brazil has unresolved territorial disputes with Venezuela which lead to a brief undeclared war during the 1870s, and still maintains claims over parts of Peru and Colombia. Since 1884, Brazil has been ruled by the Americophile Empress Maria. The War of the Quadruple Alliance saw Brazil annex Uruguay and parts of Paraguay and Charcas (which Brazil asserted was merely re-asserting its historical claims to these areas). Since that war, Brazil has seen a remarkable exodus of much of its slave population and a few of its slaveowners to the United States, with the concentration of the remaining slave population with the coffee industry. While the Empress herself remains pro-slavery, there are increasing abolitionist and republican sentiments within Brazil. Brazil has also been gradually increasing its military expenditure since 1889, citing concern over possible Amistad aggression, although the Amistad powers claim that their increasing military spending is in response to concerns over Brazilian aggression.
* * *
In the CARIBBEAN, New England’s long-time protectorate over DOMINICA (still frequently called Santo Domingo by both New Englanders and Americans) culminated in annexation as a Territory in 1894. HAITI is also recognised by the USA as within New England’s sphere of influence, but the Haitians own desire for independence has seen them avoid protectorate status up to 1900. The rest of the Caribbean is divided between Britain and the USA, with Britain ruling Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and a string of islands in the Lesser Antilles, while the United States controls Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Antilles.
* * *
CENTRAL AMERICA has largely fallen under American rule; Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are all American states by 1900. COSTA RICA is a small but stable country and a signatory to the Bogotá Pact. Panama is part of Colombia but has some muted nationalistic sentiment. BRITISH HONDURAS [Belize] is a British colony and a minor but niggling source of irritation to the United States.
* * *
The continent of NORTH AMERICA is currently divided between three nations: the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the REPUBLIC OF NEW ENGLAND, and the KINGDOM OF CANADA. There are also some remaining British enclaves of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland (including the former French outposts of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), and there is ongoing discussion about union of those colonies with either Canada or New England, but thus far the inhabitants have preferred to remain under British rule. The United States is dominated by slaveholding interests but is an undisputed Great Power, controlling territory from Pennsylvania to Nicaragua, with a massive resource and industrial base (although with lower industrialisation per capita than some other nations). New England is an emerging social democracy which is heavily industrialised and quite wealthy, with trading links across the globe. Canada is a stable constitutional monarchy under the venerable King James I, with a rapidly expanding population as its western territories are developed, although there is some discontent amongst the large Nephite [Mormon] population who have settled on Vancouver Island.
* * *
The UNITED KINGDOM emerged from the Second Napoleonic Wars as the centre of the largest empire in the world, and one of the largest the world has ever seen. Internally, the UK has seen a gradual extension of the franchise, Catholic Emancipation, and a long period of accumulating wealth. Its colonial empire is immense: Canada, parts of the Caribbean, much of Africa and the Middle East, India, Tibet, Malaya, parts of China, Australia and much of the Pacific. Many of the settler colonies are developing into Kingdoms within the Empire: Canada, Ireland and Australia have Kingdom status in 1900, South Africa will become one in 1901, and there are discussions of doing the same for Palestine and Newfoundland.
* * *
FRANCE has seen many changes of government since the French Revolution, from republic to empire to monarchy to other monarchy to republic to empire to republic. The Third Republic has maintained a precarious existence since the fall of Napoleon IV, with acrimonious parliamentary debate interrupted by frequent general elections. None of this has stop France prospering economically as part of the general European economic growth of the 1890s. France, especially Paris, has a burgeoning cultural reputation during Le Fleuraison, the Flowering, which has produced modernist thought, radical literature, art and music, and ferocious consumption of absinthe. France’s colonial empire has been much-reduced, consisting only of Algeria, Syria and French West Africa, and it has also lost Nice, Savoy and Corsica to Italy. After the suicide of his father in 1888, Prince Charles Jean Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has become the target of Bonapartist sympathies to proclaim him Napoleon V, although his residence in France has been declared contingent on him avoiding any political action. He does nothing on his own, but lets his supporters call for his restoration to the throne. France also has a Bourbonist faction calling for restoration of the monarchy [the Orleanist line has failed and thus there is no division of monarchical sentiment].
* * *
The Iberian Peninsula saw considerable war during the nineteenth century, particularly in the former nation of Spain. A series of Spanish civil wars eventually led to the creation of the kingdom of ARAGON. This was annexed by Spain again in the prelude to the Second Napoleonic Wars, only to be liberated at the end. Since then, Aragon and CASTILE have begun to recover from the ravages of war and rebuild their infrastructure and economies. The former Spanish colonial empire was dismantled throughout the nineteenth century, although Aragon has gained control of the Congo. PORTUGAL avoided most of the Iberian wars during that century, although it was invaded during the Second Napoleonic Wars. While it has lost Brazil, it has maintained much of the rest of its colonial empire and in some cases (Africa, China, and the Pacific) it has expanded it. Portugal also acquired the Galiza and Olivença regions from the former Spain.
* * *
ITALY emerged as a unified nation during the Swiss and Italian War (1858-1863), and has since acquired Rome, Nice, Savoy and Corsica. Lombardy and Venetia are parts of Austria, and SAN MARINO is an independent republic. Being on the losing side in the Second Napoleonic Wars cost Italy the colonies of Tunis, Tripoli and Albania. Since the acquisition of Nice, Italy now surrounds MONACO, but under the terms of the Second Congress of Vienna, Monaco will revert to France if the monarch dies without male heirs, rather than Italy.
* * *
GREECE won its independence in 1829, aided in part by their supply of frigates from New England. New England was also the first nation to recognise Greek independence, and there has been ongoing commercial and military contact, especially between the Greek Navy and the NEN. Greece has gradually acquired territory since that time: the Ionian Islands from Britain in 1834 in exchange for its neutrality during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1834-6; Grevena from the Ottomans at the end of the war; Epirus and Macedonia during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Second Congress of Vienna; part of Albania from the Third Congress of Vienna; and Greek Somaliland acquired as a colony after two military expeditions in 1892 and 1895-6.
* * *
The Balkan Peninsula, long a contest of interests between Russia and Austria, has been increasingly drawn into the German orbit since the Second Napoleonic Wars. SERBIA is ruled by a monarch from a cadet branch of the Habsburgs, who does maintain the interests of his Serb subjects, but the nation is increasingly linked economically to Germany. Similarly, ALBANIA had Italian colonial rule replaced by a Habsburg monarch. MONTENEGRO has a Wittelsbach [Bavarian royal family] monarch and is similarly close to Germany. BULGARIA, once part of Russia, [smaller than OTL Bulgaria, with the southern regions still Turkish-ruled] is now ruled by a Swedish prince who has established a constitutional monarchy and maintains a careful neutrality between German, Russian and Anglo-Turkish interests.
* * *
By 1900, GERMANY has emerged as the colossus of Central Europe, incorporating nearly every German-speaker in Europe (including the Dutch-speakers of the Netherlands [and OTL Belgium and northern France]), except for the ethnic Volga Germans in Russia, some of whom have chosen to return to Germany. Initially developed after the First Napoleonic Wars as a German Confederation of the three Great Powers of Prussia, Austria and the Netherlands, and lesser German states, the century saw political, cultural and economic integration into a single entity. Fighting together in several wars both greatly increase the sense of national unity, and united further German-speaking territories from Schleswig-Holstein (acquired without war), Switzerland, and from France. Germany also includes some non-German-speaking areas, such as Venetia, Lombardy, Bohemia and Moravia in Austria, the French-speaking parts of the Netherlands, and some Polish-speaking areas in Prussia. HUNGARY, CROATIA, and POLAND are separate states in personal union within the Holy Roman Emperor, effectively economically unified with Germany, and with German-trained but separate military forces. COURLAND [most of OTL Lithuania and parts of Latvia] is a separate nation under a Hohenzollern prince, but similarly economically and militarily linked. German princes are also monarchs of several Balkan states (Serbia, Montenegro and Albania), although these tend to look out for the interests of their own subjects first.
* * *
The power of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE has waxed and waned throughout the nineteenth century. It pushed into much of Central Asia and the Far East, although Alaska was lost to Britain. The centuries-old struggle with the Ottoman Empire saw Russia reach as far as Bulgaria and Kars, but recent military defeats saw Kars restored to Turkey and Bulgaria win independence. Russian Poland and Lithuania were also stripped from it during the recent wars. Russia’s historical influence in Persia has for now been curtailed by the accession of a new Shah who looks more to Britain than Russia. Russia’s greatest territorial gains in recent times have been in China, where it has acquired much of Manchuria and props up Black China (the Qings), who rule much of northern China and are encroaching into the interior of north and central China. An attempted revolution in 1885-6 saw Tsar Peter IV create a Duma and hold elections from across Russia. The Duma is gradually expanding its authority in Russia.
* * *
In SCANDINAVIA, the two kingdoms of SWEDEN and DENMARK have become increasingly close since Germany acquired Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark. Both powers have proclaimed neutrality from most world affairs, and were the only major powers in Europe to remain neutral during the Second Napoleonic Wars. There have been calls in both kingdoms for the formation of a united nation of Scandinavia, but this has not yet come about despite close links including a royal marriage between the Danish Crown Prince and a Swedish princess.
* * *
Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/
http://decadesofdarkness.blogspot.com/
Decades of Darkness #107: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
“Again, the devil taketh him [Jesus] up to an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
- Matthew 4:8-9, King James Version.
* * *
This is a brief tour of the wider world through to 1900. It summarises some of the main developments in the timeline, and expands on some of the other history which has not been previously mentioned. This timeline continues to deal mainly with events in North America and Europe, but this post fills in some of the details of what is happening elsewhere.
* * *
The KINGDOM OF AUSTRALIA [OTL Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea], is one of the most rapidly-developing parts of the British Empire. Formed in 1882 out of the former self-governing British colonies of New South Wales, Macquarie [Victoria], Kingsland [Queensland], New Zealand, Tasmania, South Australia and West Australia, the Kingdom has recently added New Guinea (1896) and Northern Australia (1899) as additional provinces. Australia’s population is booming; what was founded as an outpost for surplus convicts was transformed by the gold rushes of the 1830s and widespread immigration from Europe and parts of Asia into a nation of 11.5 million people in 1900. Internally, Australia’s largest industrial sectors continue to be the same agriculture and mining which was the source of its early prosperity, but there is also a small but growing manufacturing sector. Australia has been a source of troops for a variety of British wars for the last fifty years, including the Maori Wars, the Second Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-Boer War.
* * *
Many islands in the PACIFIC had until recently avoided the colonisation spree which had befallen much of the world. This changed as Britain and its allies partitioned most of the previously free islands between them, except for the U.S. ruled Washington Islands [OTL Marquesas Islands]. Nippon, which had long ruled Okinawa and the Ryukyus, conquered the Ladrones [Marianas] during the Second Napoleonic Wars, and has since claimed the Caroline Islands [including OTL Palau], the Marshall Islands, and the Gilbert Islands. Britain has claimed most of the rest of the Pacific, with the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides [OTL Vanuatu], New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa [including OTL Tokelau] and Tonga administered directly from Australia. The Ellice Islands [Tuvalu], Pleasant Island [Nauru], the Cook Islands, Society Islands, the Tuamotos and Pitcairn Island are administered from Britain. Britain also claims the uninhabited Phoenix Islands [included OTL Howland and Baker Islands] and the Southern Line Islands, which are mined for guano but otherwise have no human presence. Portugal has claimed Christmas Island [OTL Kiritimati] and the neighbouring Northern Line Islands [OTL Tabuaeran, Teraina, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef].
* * *
The SANDWICH ISLANDS [Hawai’i] were for a long time an informal protectorate of Britain, until formal declaration of protectorate status in 1882. There have been two attempts by American filibusters to seize control of the islands (in 1868 and 1891-2), the second of which was defeated by Nipponese intervention. The islands have seen some small-scale migration, initially from Europe and New England but increasingly from Nippon. All American citizens resident in the islands were expelled in 1892, and to the present day it is illegal for American citizens to set foot on the islands.
* * *
In NIPPON [Japan], two centuries of isolation came to an end with Admiral Fokker’s expedition in 1856, forcing the Nipponese to grant more or less open trading access. This was followed by a series of trading treaties forced on the Nipponese by Britain, France, the United States, New England and Russia (after the end of the Turkish War). The Nipponese resentment over this foreign encroachment and national weakness led to the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the “Renewal”, a movement which culminated in the establishment of a new government in 1868, theoretically under the rule of the Emperor. Nippon has since modernised extremely rapidly, using carefully-chosen foreign advisors to reform its military and economy. The success of their modernisation was demonstrated to the world in 1884, when Nipponese forces defeated the (admittedly rather weak) Spanish garrisons in the Ladrones [Marianas] and retained these as the newest Home Islands during the peace settlement, and subsequently gained further Pacific colonies. In 1892, Nippon signed a formal alliance with Britain, and intervened in the Sandwich Islands to defeat American filibusters. Since 1892, Nippon has been increasingly involved in China. But the largest foreign relations question for the Nipponese has been CHOSON [Korea], the “dagger hanging over the Home Islands”. Choson had long sought to keep itself isolated in the same way as Nippon, and had successfully rebuffed emissaries of Germany, New England, Britain, Nippon, Russia and the United States who tried to secure trade treaties. But after several years of diplomatic pressure and nonviolent naval demonstrations of power, Choson agreed to a Nipponese protectorate in 1900, despite protests from Russia.
* * *
CHINA, for so long the most advanced nation on earth, received a harsh awakening with its defeat in the Opium War (also called Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842) and subsequent demands from France and Germany. The humiliations inflicted by the foreign powers led to the development of new ideologies, particularly that of Hong Xiuquan, who inspired the Taiping Revolution and ultimately became Emperor in 1864. The defeat of the previous Qing Dynasty was incomplete, as they fled to Manchuria under Russian protection, and subsequently recaptured much of northern China, including Beijing. China was for a time divided into Taiping White China and Qing Black China, but the Taipings eventually collapsed into internal civil war in 1889, and the central government dissolved into chaos as regional warlords emerged, and Chinese citizens resentful of foreign influence began to kill or drive out foreigners. This led to the ‘Scramble for China’, as Russia, Nippon, Britain, Germany and Portugal sought to expand their influence in China and provide military protection for their citizens. For a time it appeared that war could break out between the would-be colonial powers, but after several diplomatic conferences, the Great Powers struck an agreement to partition coastal China into five sections under direct foreign rule, with precise spheres of influence to be delineated in the interior once they asserted control. The five foreign zones are: Portuguese China, consisting of Macau and a strip of coastal territory on the west bank of the Pearl River; separate British territories of British South China (Hainan and the coastal mainland up to the border with German Indochina) and British East China stretching from Canton to Xiamen; German China from Fuzhou to Huangzhou; Nipponese-ruled China from just north of Shanghai to Qingdao; and Russian China consisting of Manchuria, Beijing and a coastal strip to the Yellow River. Shanghai itself has been designated a free port under the joint administration of Germany, Britain and Nippon, but open to traders from across the world. Inland China is still riven with factionalism and war. The remnant of the Taipings established a new government at Nanking in 1895 and sought to regain control of as much of China from the warlords as possible, but Nanking fell to a British-Nipponese expedition in 1898. Russian-backed Qing forces are slowly consolidating their control over much of the interior of northern China. The interior of central and southern China is still ruled by various warlords and two prominent would-be successors to the Taipings. Considerable numbers of European and American advisers and mercenaries are engaged in the interior of China, with some conflicts between British- and Russian-backed forces, but China is gradually falling under encroaching colonial rule. The invading powers are interested in the size of the potential Chinese market, but it is gradually becoming apparent just how vast and populated and thus how hard to control China will be. In 1898, an Indian expedition under British command occupied TIBET, proclaiming it as a protectorate of Britain and independent of China.
* * *
In SOUTH-EAST ASIA, the Netherlands rules the DUTCH EAST INDIES as a separate colony, outside the direct rule of the German Reich. The entirety of TIMOR remains a Portuguese colony. INDOCHINA, formerly under French rule, was annexed to Germany during the Second Napoleonic Wars. BURMA, which had long fought to preserve its independence and modernise its economy, finally fell to British rule in 1884, and is now ruled as a province of India. The kingdom of SIAM has similarly sought to modernise, and was more successful than Burma because it functioned as a buffer state between British Burma and French and then German Indochina. With the tensions between Germany and Britain during the 1890s, Siam has continued to fill a buffer role, and sought military advisers from Portugal and the United States to reform its army. The PHILLIPPINES, a Spanish possession for more then 300 years, were annexed by Britain in 1886. In 1890, uprisings occurred throughout the islands, with Filipino groups variously demanding either full legal equality or independence. Both claims were rejected by Britain, and a major insurrection followed. The Anglo-Philippine War has continued until 1900; British forces have effective control of urban and coastal areas but rebels remain active throughout much of the countryside. Captured rebels are sometimes found to have weapons of New England or French manufacture. Suspicion for the smuggling of these weapons falls primarily on Russia, with the United States and Germany being seen as possible but less likely candidates. Germany has ruled FORMOSA since 1854, using it as a staging area during the Second Napoleonic Wars and the invasions of China. The island is one of the most prosperous regions in the Pacific, with a developing class of German-speaking magnates (some European immigrants, some native Formosan and ethnic Chinese). Some of these have advocated the incorporation of Formosa into the Reich as a sovereign principality. The British maintained rule over MALAYA after the First Napoleonic Wars, establishing SINGAPORE as a major port and fortress, and have subsequently added BRUNEI, SAWARAK and SABAH to their empire.
* * *
INDIA has become the jewel of the British Empire, built by conquering both the Indians themselves and by driving out the other European powers, except for the Portuguese enclaves of Goa, Diu and Dadra. The Indian Mutiny of 1858-1861 came close to driving Britain out of India altogether, but was eventually suppressed. After 1861, India was officially declared part of the British Empire under the rule of Edward VII, Emperor of India, although governed through Viceroys. India has remained largely loyal to Britain since that time, with Indian troops deployed throughout much of the Empire and Indians emigrating within the Empire, particularly to Australia, southern Africa, and the British Caribbean. What resistance there is within India to British rule is mostly peaceful. The Bharati National Congress has emerged as a pan-Indian political movement (although notably under-represented amongst Indian Muslims) dedicated to legal equality between British and Indians and the granting of Kingdom status equal to that received by Canada, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.
* * *
PERSIA [Iran] saw a decade-long (1883-1893) between the Russian-supported Qajar Dynasty and the British-backed rebel forces under Mirza Reza Shah Jamaluddin. Shah Jamaluddin finally won the civil war, and announced a plan to modernise Persia and earn the same recognition which Nippon has achieved; while friendly to Britain he has also sought to avoid entanglement inside the British Empire.
* * *
In the MIDDLE EAST, the OTTOMAN EMPIRE collapsed during war with Russia (the Turkish War of 1858-1862). The bulk of the Ottoman Empire, including Mesopotamia, has survived as the Sultanate of Turkey. SYRIA [including OTL Lebanon] is a French colony, one of the few which remained in French hands after the Second Napoleonic Wars. The British rule PALESTINE as a separate colony, where there is some talk of establishing it as a Kingdom, and the British have a formal protectorate over EGYPT. The Arabian Peninsula has seen French influence largely replaced by British influence on both the Red Sea coast and around the Persian Gulf; QATAR, BAHRAIN and the TRUCIAL SHIEKDOMS [OTL United Arab Emirates] are British protectorates, while ADEN, YEMEN and OMAN are all under British colonial rule. TRIPOLI is a fast-developing German colony, while ALGERIA and TUNIS are French colonies which have seen considerable European immigration and displacement of the existing inhabitants.
* * *
AFRICA became a major target of European colonial attention during the later half of the nineteenth century, culminating in the Second Napoleonic Wars where the Spanish were driven entirely out of Africa and the French confined to Algeria and West Africa. The Third Congress of Vienna saw the European powers divide the continent according to their own priorities and interests, with Britain claiming the largest share and Portugal and Germany claiming most of the rest. The United States has a small, moribund outpost in Whydah, Aragon was granted much of the Congo, and much of the interior of the Sahara was left unclaimed. The divisions established in Europe often did not correspond to the facts on the ground; Aragon did not develop influence over much of the Congo until the late 1890s, but the European powers have largely turned their claims into fact by 1900, and are extending their influence across the previously unclaimed interior of the Sahara. The only nation which remains recognised as under native rule is ABYSSINIA [Ethiopia]. The last stretch of unclaimed coastal Africa, in Somaliland, has recently been acquired by Greece. Southern Africa was long a source of dispute between Britain and other powers, but it has now been divided into Portuguese, British and Liberian regions. The nation of LIBERIA [OTL southern Angola and northern NAMIBIA] proclaimed itself ‘Greater Liberia’ after the successful pressing of claims to their hinterland. It was built on the large migration of former slaves and free blacks from the United States, including Spanish and French speakers from the Caribbean, and some migrants from New England, and has developed into a democratic republic under New England protection. Britain conquered the former Boer Republics of Orange Free State, Transvaal and Maritzia in the Anglo-Boer War (1890-1893). Union with their other south African colonies (Cape Colony, Natal and Bechuanaland [most of OTL Botswana plus part of Namibia]) has been negotiated, and Jonathan, a cousin of the King of Britain, is scheduled to be crowned as King of South Africa on 1 January 1901, to usher in the new century.
* * *
In northern SOUTH AMERICA, the United States purchased the former colonies of French Guiana and Suriname, selling the interior territories of both to Brazil, and also acquiring an unsettled but dormant claim to parts of BRITISH GUIANA [OTL Guyana], which is a stable British colony but also has a dormant border dispute with Venezuela. In VENEZUELA, the eventual independence from Colombia in 1848 produced a long period of ongoing civil disturbance, military takeovers and two brief civil wars. The domestic political situation stabilised somewhat during the 1870s, although Venezuela had a border war with Brazil during the middle of the decade. The establishment of the Bogotá Pact, a defensive alliance between Britain, Venezuela, Colombia and Costa Rica ended this war, and stabilised Venezuela’s foreign relations, although the border dispute with Brazil remains unsettled.
* * *
COLOMBIA [OTL Colombia, Ecuador and Panama] has seen intermittent military and civilian rule, with several coups when the civilian government becomes unpopular with the military leadership. After the seizure of Nicaragua and President Davis’s ‘manifest destiny’ speech, Colombia opened negotiations with Costa Rica for a defensive pact, which took several years to bear fruit. These were initially treated as of little importance in Costa Rica, but the discussions became more urgent after the United States annexed Cuba and Puerto Rico, and established influence in Honduras. In 1864, Colombia invited military advisers from the German Reich (Prussian army officers and Dutch naval officers) to modernise their army and navy. In 1877, Colombia joined the Bogotá Pact, and has developed the most modern and well-equipped army in South America, and with a navy which is variously considered to be either the second or third (after Brazil and Chile, respectively). This has produced some tension with Venezuela, many of whose citizens fear Colombian desires for reunification. There have been several border incidents, but both nations’ wariness of their massive northern neighbour has so far kept such incidents from degenerating into all-out war.
* * *
In southern SOUTH AMERICA, PERU has seen alternating periods of military and civilian government since it achieved practical independence from Spain in 1825 (not recognised by Spain until 1871). CHARCAS [Bolivia] had a long dispute with CHILE regarding the Pacific coast in the Atacama Desert, which was resolved by force when Chile invaded as part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance (Brazil and Chile versus Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Charcas), which also saw Charcas forced to concede some border territory to Brazil. PARAGUAY and ARGENTINA were also defeated in the same war. Continued fear of Brazil and Chile led to the formation of the Amistad [friendship] in 1889, a mutual defensive pact between Argentina, Paraguay and Charcas, while all three nations also sought advisers to reform their armies (and Argentina’s navy). Peru, concerned over tensions with Chile, joined the Amistad in 1895. Britain is not a formal signatory to the Amistad but maintains close diplomatic and military links with all members.
* * *
The EMPIRE OF BRAZIL is, as of 1900, the only major slave-holding power left in the world besides the United States. Brazil has developed increasingly close links to the USA since the 1820s, and was a major trans-shipment point for slave traders until the USA stopped all imports of slaves from Africa in 1881. American- and British-financed railroad expansion since the 1840s has greatly improved transport links within Brazil and strengthened its economy. Brazil has unresolved territorial disputes with Venezuela which lead to a brief undeclared war during the 1870s, and still maintains claims over parts of Peru and Colombia. Since 1884, Brazil has been ruled by the Americophile Empress Maria. The War of the Quadruple Alliance saw Brazil annex Uruguay and parts of Paraguay and Charcas (which Brazil asserted was merely re-asserting its historical claims to these areas). Since that war, Brazil has seen a remarkable exodus of much of its slave population and a few of its slaveowners to the United States, with the concentration of the remaining slave population with the coffee industry. While the Empress herself remains pro-slavery, there are increasing abolitionist and republican sentiments within Brazil. Brazil has also been gradually increasing its military expenditure since 1889, citing concern over possible Amistad aggression, although the Amistad powers claim that their increasing military spending is in response to concerns over Brazilian aggression.
* * *
In the CARIBBEAN, New England’s long-time protectorate over DOMINICA (still frequently called Santo Domingo by both New Englanders and Americans) culminated in annexation as a Territory in 1894. HAITI is also recognised by the USA as within New England’s sphere of influence, but the Haitians own desire for independence has seen them avoid protectorate status up to 1900. The rest of the Caribbean is divided between Britain and the USA, with Britain ruling Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and a string of islands in the Lesser Antilles, while the United States controls Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Antilles.
* * *
CENTRAL AMERICA has largely fallen under American rule; Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are all American states by 1900. COSTA RICA is a small but stable country and a signatory to the Bogotá Pact. Panama is part of Colombia but has some muted nationalistic sentiment. BRITISH HONDURAS [Belize] is a British colony and a minor but niggling source of irritation to the United States.
* * *
The continent of NORTH AMERICA is currently divided between three nations: the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the REPUBLIC OF NEW ENGLAND, and the KINGDOM OF CANADA. There are also some remaining British enclaves of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland (including the former French outposts of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), and there is ongoing discussion about union of those colonies with either Canada or New England, but thus far the inhabitants have preferred to remain under British rule. The United States is dominated by slaveholding interests but is an undisputed Great Power, controlling territory from Pennsylvania to Nicaragua, with a massive resource and industrial base (although with lower industrialisation per capita than some other nations). New England is an emerging social democracy which is heavily industrialised and quite wealthy, with trading links across the globe. Canada is a stable constitutional monarchy under the venerable King James I, with a rapidly expanding population as its western territories are developed, although there is some discontent amongst the large Nephite [Mormon] population who have settled on Vancouver Island.
* * *
The UNITED KINGDOM emerged from the Second Napoleonic Wars as the centre of the largest empire in the world, and one of the largest the world has ever seen. Internally, the UK has seen a gradual extension of the franchise, Catholic Emancipation, and a long period of accumulating wealth. Its colonial empire is immense: Canada, parts of the Caribbean, much of Africa and the Middle East, India, Tibet, Malaya, parts of China, Australia and much of the Pacific. Many of the settler colonies are developing into Kingdoms within the Empire: Canada, Ireland and Australia have Kingdom status in 1900, South Africa will become one in 1901, and there are discussions of doing the same for Palestine and Newfoundland.
* * *
FRANCE has seen many changes of government since the French Revolution, from republic to empire to monarchy to other monarchy to republic to empire to republic. The Third Republic has maintained a precarious existence since the fall of Napoleon IV, with acrimonious parliamentary debate interrupted by frequent general elections. None of this has stop France prospering economically as part of the general European economic growth of the 1890s. France, especially Paris, has a burgeoning cultural reputation during Le Fleuraison, the Flowering, which has produced modernist thought, radical literature, art and music, and ferocious consumption of absinthe. France’s colonial empire has been much-reduced, consisting only of Algeria, Syria and French West Africa, and it has also lost Nice, Savoy and Corsica to Italy. After the suicide of his father in 1888, Prince Charles Jean Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has become the target of Bonapartist sympathies to proclaim him Napoleon V, although his residence in France has been declared contingent on him avoiding any political action. He does nothing on his own, but lets his supporters call for his restoration to the throne. France also has a Bourbonist faction calling for restoration of the monarchy [the Orleanist line has failed and thus there is no division of monarchical sentiment].
* * *
The Iberian Peninsula saw considerable war during the nineteenth century, particularly in the former nation of Spain. A series of Spanish civil wars eventually led to the creation of the kingdom of ARAGON. This was annexed by Spain again in the prelude to the Second Napoleonic Wars, only to be liberated at the end. Since then, Aragon and CASTILE have begun to recover from the ravages of war and rebuild their infrastructure and economies. The former Spanish colonial empire was dismantled throughout the nineteenth century, although Aragon has gained control of the Congo. PORTUGAL avoided most of the Iberian wars during that century, although it was invaded during the Second Napoleonic Wars. While it has lost Brazil, it has maintained much of the rest of its colonial empire and in some cases (Africa, China, and the Pacific) it has expanded it. Portugal also acquired the Galiza and Olivença regions from the former Spain.
* * *
ITALY emerged as a unified nation during the Swiss and Italian War (1858-1863), and has since acquired Rome, Nice, Savoy and Corsica. Lombardy and Venetia are parts of Austria, and SAN MARINO is an independent republic. Being on the losing side in the Second Napoleonic Wars cost Italy the colonies of Tunis, Tripoli and Albania. Since the acquisition of Nice, Italy now surrounds MONACO, but under the terms of the Second Congress of Vienna, Monaco will revert to France if the monarch dies without male heirs, rather than Italy.
* * *
GREECE won its independence in 1829, aided in part by their supply of frigates from New England. New England was also the first nation to recognise Greek independence, and there has been ongoing commercial and military contact, especially between the Greek Navy and the NEN. Greece has gradually acquired territory since that time: the Ionian Islands from Britain in 1834 in exchange for its neutrality during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1834-6; Grevena from the Ottomans at the end of the war; Epirus and Macedonia during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Second Congress of Vienna; part of Albania from the Third Congress of Vienna; and Greek Somaliland acquired as a colony after two military expeditions in 1892 and 1895-6.
* * *
The Balkan Peninsula, long a contest of interests between Russia and Austria, has been increasingly drawn into the German orbit since the Second Napoleonic Wars. SERBIA is ruled by a monarch from a cadet branch of the Habsburgs, who does maintain the interests of his Serb subjects, but the nation is increasingly linked economically to Germany. Similarly, ALBANIA had Italian colonial rule replaced by a Habsburg monarch. MONTENEGRO has a Wittelsbach [Bavarian royal family] monarch and is similarly close to Germany. BULGARIA, once part of Russia, [smaller than OTL Bulgaria, with the southern regions still Turkish-ruled] is now ruled by a Swedish prince who has established a constitutional monarchy and maintains a careful neutrality between German, Russian and Anglo-Turkish interests.
* * *
By 1900, GERMANY has emerged as the colossus of Central Europe, incorporating nearly every German-speaker in Europe (including the Dutch-speakers of the Netherlands [and OTL Belgium and northern France]), except for the ethnic Volga Germans in Russia, some of whom have chosen to return to Germany. Initially developed after the First Napoleonic Wars as a German Confederation of the three Great Powers of Prussia, Austria and the Netherlands, and lesser German states, the century saw political, cultural and economic integration into a single entity. Fighting together in several wars both greatly increase the sense of national unity, and united further German-speaking territories from Schleswig-Holstein (acquired without war), Switzerland, and from France. Germany also includes some non-German-speaking areas, such as Venetia, Lombardy, Bohemia and Moravia in Austria, the French-speaking parts of the Netherlands, and some Polish-speaking areas in Prussia. HUNGARY, CROATIA, and POLAND are separate states in personal union within the Holy Roman Emperor, effectively economically unified with Germany, and with German-trained but separate military forces. COURLAND [most of OTL Lithuania and parts of Latvia] is a separate nation under a Hohenzollern prince, but similarly economically and militarily linked. German princes are also monarchs of several Balkan states (Serbia, Montenegro and Albania), although these tend to look out for the interests of their own subjects first.
* * *
The power of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE has waxed and waned throughout the nineteenth century. It pushed into much of Central Asia and the Far East, although Alaska was lost to Britain. The centuries-old struggle with the Ottoman Empire saw Russia reach as far as Bulgaria and Kars, but recent military defeats saw Kars restored to Turkey and Bulgaria win independence. Russian Poland and Lithuania were also stripped from it during the recent wars. Russia’s historical influence in Persia has for now been curtailed by the accession of a new Shah who looks more to Britain than Russia. Russia’s greatest territorial gains in recent times have been in China, where it has acquired much of Manchuria and props up Black China (the Qings), who rule much of northern China and are encroaching into the interior of north and central China. An attempted revolution in 1885-6 saw Tsar Peter IV create a Duma and hold elections from across Russia. The Duma is gradually expanding its authority in Russia.
* * *
In SCANDINAVIA, the two kingdoms of SWEDEN and DENMARK have become increasingly close since Germany acquired Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark. Both powers have proclaimed neutrality from most world affairs, and were the only major powers in Europe to remain neutral during the Second Napoleonic Wars. There have been calls in both kingdoms for the formation of a united nation of Scandinavia, but this has not yet come about despite close links including a royal marriage between the Danish Crown Prince and a Swedish princess.
* * *
Thoughts?
Kaiser Wilhelm III
https://www.alternatehistory.com/decadesofdarkness/
http://decadesofdarkness.blogspot.com/
Great Scott. A world divided and with very few sparks of "joy" in it. You sir, are most evil to this TL.
Is there an overall feeling amongst the other countries in the world that the U.S.A. is "evil" and therefore should be shut down with a global alliance?
How is New England coming along by means of culture? Are they their own unique character compared to Canada? Is there a noticable difference in their customs?
How are the blacks doing? Have they found a better life elsewhere in Greater Liberia, Canada, and New England? Is the culture for those enslaved and "free" more restrictive to those of black skin and of a particular tribe?
Is there an overall feeling amongst the other countries in the world that the U.S.A. is "evil" and therefore should be shut down with a global alliance?
How is New England coming along by means of culture? Are they their own unique character compared to Canada? Is there a noticable difference in their customs?
How are the blacks doing? Have they found a better life elsewhere in Greater Liberia, Canada, and New England? Is the culture for those enslaved and "free" more restrictive to those of black skin and of a particular tribe?
G.Bone said:
I wouldn't go so far as few sparks of joy. Colonialism is a nasty thing, of course, but it happened in OTL too. Overall, I'd say that parts of the DoD world are doing better and parts are doing worse, and some parts are just different.
e.g. Russia is a developing democracy, not an aristocratic country ripe for communist revolution and totalitarianism
Germany and most of Central Europe is more prosperous and peaceful than in OTL, by a fair margin. Germany itself doesn't have the same militaristic bent seen under Wilhelmine Germany as well, which I consider a definite plus.
Australia, South Africa and Liberia are in general doing better than in OTL (noting that there was a Boer War in both TLs).
India is further ahead on the road to independence than in OTL.
On the other hand, there's the USA sitting there threatening most of Latin America.
China has disintegrated earlier than in OTL, but by the same token expect it to emerge from the era of warlords earlier than in OTL. I should note that the Nipponese occupation of TTL is nothing like the invasions during the 1930s in OTL - the cultural outlook is vastly dissimilar. A better comparison would be the OTL Japanese behaviour during WW1.
The Philippines has an insurrection, but they had an equally-long one in OTL, and this TL's variant is generally speaking less bloody than in OTL.
And of course, there's no likely prospects of anything like the Nazis or the Bolsheviks or the Maoist Cultural Revolution in China.
Among some people in some countries, yes, but not as a dominant world philosophy. It's there in Britain and most of its Empire, certainly, and very definitely there in much of Latin America. But it's not everywhere. Many people think of the USA as being a long way away and not worth worrying about. This doesn't apply to most national leaders, who are usually at least aware of what's happening in the wider world, but the old adage of "nations don't have friends, only interests" applies here too. e.g. Does Russia consider it in her interest to have Britain busy with the USA and thus 'get back' Russian influence in Persia and Turkey?
There's a lot of common cultural ground - similar sports, for instance - but also some differences, although not always ones which would be obvious to outsiders. One is a republic and one is a monarchy, of course, which makes a difference. One is also majority Protestant by a fair margin (New England), while Canada is probably majority-Catholic or close to it.
In Canada, they are basically citizens like any other. Full voting rights, no real restrictions on what they achieve, and so on. New England has finally come to the same view, although it took them a while to do it. Liberia is more complicated; those who have escaped from the Americas are the dominant social group. The 'natives' aren't enslaved or anything like that, and some of them have achieved political equality, but there's a certain degree of patronising and 'we know best for you' attitude amongst the Americo-Liberians. This attitude is weakening over time, however.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
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G.Bone said:
The armies they have are both well-trained and well-armed, at least in terms of small arms. Artillery isn't so great, although in their terrain artillery is of less use anyway. Their basic problem is that they have a low population - there's fewer people in all the Bogota Pact countries together (except Britain) than there are in Canada. Their plans for defense rest mostly on naval superiority (viz, the Royal Navy, although the Colombian navy is pretty decent), the defensibility of much of their home terrain, and making the U.S. fight a two-front war.
A little, although it can be hard to get away with since the Nicaragua Canal area is pretty heavily patrolled.
Quite nicely; similar to OTL's in some respects but with some greater acceptance of people from differing ethnicities. Labour unions are less prominent than in OTL too. Politically, the 'great divide' is between aristocratic, conservative Liverpool (*Melbourne), more working class and open Sydney, and socially progressive Eden (*Auckland).
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
Cheers,
Scarecrow said:
Thanks!
I do have novels planned for the period after the finish of the TL proper. As to getting this TL itself published... well, I'm open to ideas.
I'm not very artistic myself, so the maps on the website have been designed by David Kohlhoff. Feel free to design a few more if you want.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
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The long-term for this world could be interesting.
What was it someone once said about the Soviet Union? I believe it was a fulsome endorsement of communism, on the grounds that with competent leadership the Russians would probably rule the world?
So even with the gigantic southern acquisitions, the USA outnumbers Canada and New England by less than three to one? In OTL, without any land south of Texas and taking into account the plummeting birthrate in some areas, I would put it at more on the order 3.5 to one today, and it was worse early in the 20th Century.
Wonder what happens when Liberia starts discovering some of the mineral wealth in the interior? <evil laughter>
Kaiser, are you certain of these figures for population? The US in OTL had about 75 million around 1900 or shortly thereafter. Given the loss of New England(including New York, New Jersey, and Michigan), the Canadian additions(roughly Washington State, Wisconsin, Minnesota), and a far less inviting outlook for immigrants, would the other territories gained really close the gap entirely? By my reckoning we would be talking something on the order of 25 million missing(plus immigrants).
What was it someone once said about the Soviet Union? I believe it was a fulsome endorsement of communism, on the grounds that with competent leadership the Russians would probably rule the world?
So even with the gigantic southern acquisitions, the USA outnumbers Canada and New England by less than three to one? In OTL, without any land south of Texas and taking into account the plummeting birthrate in some areas, I would put it at more on the order 3.5 to one today, and it was worse early in the 20th Century.
Wonder what happens when Liberia starts discovering some of the mineral wealth in the interior? <evil laughter>
Kaiser, are you certain of these figures for population? The US in OTL had about 75 million around 1900 or shortly thereafter. Given the loss of New England(including New York, New Jersey, and Michigan), the Canadian additions(roughly Washington State, Wisconsin, Minnesota), and a far less inviting outlook for immigrants, would the other territories gained really close the gap entirely? By my reckoning we would be talking something on the order of 25 million missing(plus immigrants).
Grimm Reaper said:
There are... various things planned.
Russia will become a superpower ITTL; that's a safe assumption. German-dominated Central Europe will be another.
Mostly because some of the immigrants who in OTL went to the USA (including southern areas) went to New England and Canada ITTL. Also, a lot of the Canadian emigration to the USA in the 1860-1920 period has stayed within the Canada-New England area, especially around *Wisconsin.
Should help them develop, with any luck.
Short answer, different patterns of settlement, and the USA still got some immigrants, albeit a reduced number over OTL, and because the U.S. includes the population figures for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
Longer answer:
In the aftermath of the War of 1811, there was a considerable population exodus of loyalist Americans from New England and the Old Northwest, into the rest of the United States. This raised the population from the beginning, and with natural increase amongst those people who were now in the south, it made up a lot of population. Thus, the populations for TTL's Michigan, Wisconsin, and western Canada were filled by people who left New England, and did not affect the USA's population as much. It also means that Canada's population tends to be further south, incidentally - more in OTL's Minnesota, Washington State, North Dakota etc, and less in northern Canada.
Immigration also hasn't avoided the USA entirely. Up to ~1850 or so, immigration to U.S. states was roughly comparable to what it was OTL - a bit lower, but not a lot. After 1850, it dropped to somewhere around about one-half of OTL (with some of the difference going to New England, and some across the world), and dropped further post-1881, although still not to zero. There's also the lack of an American Civil War, which a) didn't kill over half a million people (which would correspond to ~2 million people by 1900) and that immigration didn't drop during the 1861-1865 period. The slave population is also somewhat higher because of longer importation of slaves <shudder>.
Related to immigration is the question of birth rates. Birth rates in general tend to be higher where immigration is lower. This isn't as simple as extra births equalling loss of immigrants, but it makes up a lot of the difference. This is especially important given that TTL's US population tends to be more rural, as it's more concentrated in the OTL South (and northern Mexico) which were more rural than the north for a variety of reasons, particularly the disease environment in cities. This means that some of the people who moved south rather than north had even more children than in OTL, boosting the population further. Birth rates are particularly important during the 1890-1900 period, where in OTL the birth rates in the north dropped considerably, but population growth in the OTL South continued almost unabated, and continues here over a wider area.
And of course, the ATL USA includes Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and most of Central America. This corresponds to an OTL population of ~13.5 million for Mexico and ~6 million for Central America and the American Caribbean. So, almost 20 million in OTL terms. This population is even higher ATL. In OTL, Mexico and Central America were comparatively underpopulated throughout the nineteeth century, and the population started to grow quite rapidly once improvements in public health and tropical medicine arrived. ITTL, the improvements in public health happened earlier (once the Americans conquered, basically) and tropical medicine is more advanced due to earlier development of yellow fever vaccine, earlier use of quinine, and a broader interest in the subject. This dramatically lowers death rates throughout the tropical portions of the USA (it also affects parts of the OTL South, for instance) and produces a correspondingly higher population.
So all up, the population of TTL's USA is higher than OTL's USA.
Cheers,
Kaiser Wilhelm III
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