Hope Is Not Lost: A Failed American Revolution
- Thread starter ETGalaxy
- Start date
CHAPTER I: THE BRITISH CIVIL WAR
By the year 1776 the Kingdom of Great Britain had controlled colonies in the New World for over a century, just as the Kingdom’s fellow European empires had. The colonies had remained loyal to their British overlords for decades and fought loyally on the North American front of the Seven Years War, or the French-Indian War as the British colonists called it. However, after this global war King George III placed taxes on the thirteen major colonies of the time in order to pay off the numerous debts of Great Britain. Immediately, colonists began to protest this tax with one of the most notable of these acts of disobedience being the Boston Tea Party, when colonists in Boston, Massachusetts took over a boat within the city’s harbor and threw tea, one of the items taxed by the British to pay off their debts, into the water below. From then on, tensions between the colonies and the King would only grow. Once the year 1776 came by the concept of independence to the colonies was popular with the colonial citizens and the local governors. Two “Continental Congresses” had been formed starting in 1774 out of delegates representing the thirteen colonies to debate concepts such as independence. Obviously, the idea of independence to the colonies was still controversial, yet by the summer of 1776 all colonial delegates had agreed to independence. On July 4th, 1776 each of the thirteen colonies declared independence as individual nations. Many, including President Benjamin Franklin of the now independent Republic of Pennsylvania wanted all thirteen colonies to become a singular federal republic he called the “United States of America.” However, most of President Franklin’s fellow politicians scoffed at this concept. Practically everything about the thirteen colonies, from the opinion on slavery to the economic focus of the colonies, was completely different. Instead an alliance between the new nations called the American Pact was formed which would assure cooperation between the colonies until independence would hopefully be won. King George III was outraged by the declarations of independence and demanded an invasion of the independent North American states in order to return them to the crown. When the British attacked the city of New York the American Revolutionary War, or what is now known as the British Civil War began on July 12th, 1776. Now that the thirteen colonies were independent states each had an individual military which were obviously weaker than the British Army. The thirteen small and unorganized rebellious armies stood no chance against the might of Britain. Many of the North American states seeked assistance from Great Britain’s numerous colonial rivals such as France. However, by 1778, when the Free State of Rhode Island surrendered to the British, it became obvious that supporting the colonial rebels would only be a waste of resources. Finally, by the start of 1782 only one rogue colony remained, the Republic of North Carolina. On June 2nd, 1782 Governor Richard Caswell of North Carolina surrendered to George III's forces ending the British Civil War. All colonies that had rebelled received new governments ruled by high-ranking members of the motherland government. Numerous revolutionary leaders and followers fled to British Canada and, for the time being, became a footnote in history. With the British Civil War over the Kingdom of Great Britain had remained a strong empire, yet now many had taken inspiration from the thirteen colonies and revolutions were beginning in both the New and Old World.
Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Last edited:
CHAPTER II: CONFLICTS IN THE EAST
In the June of 1788 the Great Eastern War had begun as a small war between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden called the Russo-Swedish War at the time. This war was supposed to remain small, however, all of a sudden, on November 10th, 1788 the Kingdom of France declared war on the Russian Empire. France had done so to expand its colonial empire in order to compete with Great Britain and Siberia seemed like the perfect new colony. Not only was it titanic, but it was sparsely colonized which would prevent rebellions from Orthodox Russians that currently inhabited Siberia. Britain considered declaring war on France, however, the colonies were still rebellious and another conflict right after a civil war was certainly less than ideal. Meanwhile, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth declared war on the Russian Empire on January 2nd, 1789 as an attempt to become a new European power in the East and to get revenge on Russia for a partition of its land with Austria and Prussia that occurred in 1772. After Poland-Lithuania’s involvement in the Great Eastern War, the Kingdom of Prussia joined the war on the side of Russia, fearing that if the Commonwealth won the growing empire would declare war on Prussia next. The Kingdom of Prussia entered the Great Eastern War on January 14th, 1789 on the side of Russia. Prussia was capable of pushing back Commonwealth forces for a while, however, eventually the Commonwealth began to defeat Prussia’s army thanks to the French general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Formerly an artillery officer, Bonaparte rose through the ranks of the French military during the Great Eastern War. His genius tactics used on the Russian front helped with the capture of St. Petersburg. By the March of 1790 Napoleon Bonaparte had become a French general at the young age of 20.
General Napoleon Bonaparte later in life.
Flag of French Siberia.
Map of Earth in 1790.
Is there some otl French plan to take Siberia that I'm unaware of because that seems utterly mental otherwise?
There is no plan, but there's examples of nations colonizing large pieces of land that aren't that ideal for colonization in our timeline such as Louisiana, which was a French colony.
Do you have any ideas on what could happen to allow the Polish to win? My theory was that the Prussians wouldn't be able to win a war against three nations and Napoleon didn't just go to Poland to help lead some soldiers, he came with plenty of French reinforcements as well. Would Prussia joining the war later after Russia is severely weakened work?
Last edited:
My biggest issue at least with the first part is that each colony decided to become its own nations. It's not practical. Britain already has three times the population of all the colonies, and there's no way the actual leaders of the colonies would think the British wouldn't object to their independence and attack. Its simply not practical that they would all become their own nation, for it completely removed any chance for them to actually hold off the British to win their independence. If nothing else they would have established a military defense alliance against Britain aggression.
You'd have to make an earlier POD that increased animosity between the colonies. Maybe some territorial disputes that escalated into fighting between them. However even then I can't see the thirteen colonies dividing anymore than maybe three different nations. They don't have the population, and their mother country is too powerful.
You'd have to make an earlier POD that increased animosity between the colonies. Maybe some territorial disputes that escalated into fighting between them. However even then I can't see the thirteen colonies dividing anymore than maybe three different nations. They don't have the population, and their mother country is too powerful.
@ETGalaxy great job on starting your first TL. to reframe some of the other feedback, I would suggest considering how things fit together in your story. The idea that the 13 colonies would be so completely distinct from each other, that it begs the question of how. The unity of the colonies had been a going concern since before the French and Indian war, more or less. If you feel that it is important that they be distinctly independent, you need a POD that supports such a change.
There's an alternative solution to your problem. The American Revolution was at its nadir following Washington's defeat at New York. IIRC, the Howe brothers commanded the Brit. army and navy assets in theater and they had the authority to offer amnesty to the rebels. The nice thing about this option is that it requires a lot less restructuring of history prior to that. All that's needed to restore the British power is for the American armies to surrender and take amnesty. Its just a thought.
There's an alternative solution to your problem. The American Revolution was at its nadir following Washington's defeat at New York. IIRC, the Howe brothers commanded the Brit. army and navy assets in theater and they had the authority to offer amnesty to the rebels. The nice thing about this option is that it requires a lot less restructuring of history prior to that. All that's needed to restore the British power is for the American armies to surrender and take amnesty. Its just a thought.
Rather than fleeing to British Canada,you mean they are exiled there by the British government?No way they are fleeing British persecution by going to another British colony.If they are fleeing,they would go to one of the Dutch,French or Spanish colonies.
The war wouldn’t have been called a British civil war,it likely would have been called something like the North American Uprising.
The war wouldn’t have been called a British civil war,it likely would have been called something like the North American Uprising.
