In His Own Right, Part III

[LacheyS]

The "Spanish Curse" - that is what some called it. For Queen Auguste Marie of Aragon, now thirty-nine, widowed and without an heir thanks to the Hungarian revolt, giving it a label hardly helped her state of mind. The near extinguishment of the Spanish line, the fall of the Spanish kingdom and now her own losses could not be covered by a journalistic epithet. Across the way in Madrid, King Alfonso XIV of Castile, now a 16-year-old youth, was just becoming aware of the disasters his own father had brought to bear upon his own kingdom and upon Italy.

The instability of their individual dynasties could not be undone through cooperation. The age difference and the lack of marriageable stock made that impossible. There were growing movements towards republicanism and anarchism and growing political instability in both countries. This was particularly obvious when one considered that they were, without comparison, the poorest countries in Europe. Even tiny Portugal and Greece had begun to pull ahead. In Castile, the El Turno Pacifico system was crumbling.

The King dealt with the emerging chaos the only way he knew how. He turned to his advisors and, in particular, his Andalusian-born Chief of Staff, General Miguel Primo de Rivera, nephew and heir of the Marques de Estella. Primo de Rivera had tutored the young monarch in military tactics, but had also led him through political discussions about the worthlessness of constitutional rule, the futility of political parties, the value of building the military and national infrastructure to subjugate the "rebels" in the east.

On 13 August, 1917, the Duke of Parma, Regent of Spain, was removed in a palace coup and replaced by General Primo de Rivera. It is from this date that we can begin to record the massive expenditure on business and public services that raised living standards in Spain, but also produced unsustainable inflation. It is also from this date that we can begin to observe the steady preparations of the Castilian armed forces for a new war against Aragon. For Queen Auguste Marie, the Spanish curse appeared set to continue.

 

[LacheyS]

The Artist and the Poet

At the ripe old age of seventy-three, it had been a significant journey for the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to make. The legitimate excuse for the trip had been to undertake discussions with the Americans as part of a "getting to know you" exercise. However, in truth, he had wanted to come to meet with the French artist, Marcel Duchamp, who had newly established the International Society of Independent Art at Yale University. Mehmet V regarded himself as an artist and poet and was keen to make contact with this philosopher of the avant-garde.

It was during his stay in New York that he went to visit the Statue of Liberty and read the "New Colossus". He stirred when asked the poet's name: Emma Lazarus, a Jew who had fled from persecution in Russia. On further discussion, he learned that she had called for a Jewish homeland in Uhyun in the 1880's. It encouraged him to consult with American Jewry about the future of his refugee experiment on the coasts of Palestine.

On 2 November, upon his return to Beirut, he announced that he had excised Jerusalem from Arab control, making it a city-state comparable to what the Egyptians had done in Alexandria and his own people had done in Constantinople. The management of the city would be placed under a council of clerics, with representation from each of the traditions: the Tawrat, the Injil and the Qu'ran. As to Uhyun, it would become a province in its own right, though the Sultan would remain monarch to balance the growing influence of the Hashemites. To celebrate the change, it would receive a new name: Isra'il.

 

[G.Bone]

Ah the Ottomans....

I can see Isreal of OTL being nipped in the bud.

As an overall opinion, I do note that the "feeling" is there that some things have gone for the better, and the whole swath of OTL's course into blood/bits/gore has been avoided....with some costs.

I'm not exactly too sure on how to react with the Ottomons. In the TL that I wrote, Spain is just as weak as your Spain ITTL. Is Portugal there as well?

The integration of Joseon and Naichi is going quite well. The income of the average citizen of Joseon is about $550 per annum ahead of where it was in OTL. In Taipei, the increase is more like $650 per annum. Due to the British alliance, Australia is provided large amounts of raw materials to Japan and, despite Australian racism, there is an emerging acceptance that a relationship between the two countries is inevitable. It will take time, but I can imagine a Japan-Australia treaty of some description in about 1940.

I'm guessing the former is OTL Korea but Naichi...



Keep up the good work!

 

[LacheyS]

Ah the Ottomans....

I can see Isreal of OTL being nipped in the bud.

As an overall opinion, I do note that the "feeling" is there that some things have gone for the better, and the whole swath of OTL's course into blood/bits/gore has been avoided....with some costs.

I'm not exactly too sure on how to react with the Ottomons. In the TL that I wrote, Spain is just as weak as your Spain ITTL. Is Portugal there as well?



I'm guessing the former is OTL Korea but Naichi...



Keep up the good work!

If you mean the state of seige mentality that has done horrible things to the psyche of the region, both Israeli and Arab, then yes, that is dead as the proverbial door nail.

Yes, I have tried to avoid bloodshed, but it isn't possible for everything to end up bright and cheery, much as I would like it to do so. I am trying to be realistic, but we have still had war in Arabia, India, Serbia, Persia, Poland and probably soon in Spain and elsewhere. I don't like any of these, but World War I was a great purging experience for the human race. If we had made a decent peace, World War II probably need not have occurred. Nonetheless, without either, we are still facing a world where there are those who believe that violence and bloodshed are the way to go and there is nothing to prove otherwise.

The Kingdom of Naichi is the homeland islands of the Japanese Empire.

 

[M.Passit]

The situation in the peninsular didn't look bright at all. If Castile go after Aragon, doesn't this mean that it will go against the Habsburg too?

Look like the Time of Trouble is near indeed.

Waiting for another good work.

 

[LacheyS]

The Grip Tightens

The nationalisation of the railways under anti-trust legislation had not been expected. Nor had the decision of Congress to pass legislation that made all sexual interaction outside marriage illegal. The Supreme Court had been doing their best to hold off the tide by stating that this could only apply to relationships of a commercial nature, but that didn't stop the National Security Agency from enforcing it somewhat differently. And until elections were held in 1918, it was supposed that nothing could be done to stop the President.

It didn't stop resistance, however. There had been more protests in Pennsylvania again, and then Nebraska had joined the case, with large numbers of immigrant families claiming that they had been harrassed. It was enough for some states to make a definitive stand. There was legislation on the books in most of the southern states that had been used to ban the operations of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Dubois' experiment in agitation. However, it did not specifically mention that organisation or any other. It simply stated that the states had the power to deregister or prevent the operations of organisations that threatened the safety and security of others.

For Governor Hugh Dorsey of Georgia, the answer could not have been more obvious. On 13 November, 1917, he issued an Executive Order stating that the Republican Party met the criteria of his state and that it would be deregistered as an organisation. Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina followed suit the following day. And the Governors of Arkansas, Florida, Texas and Virginia indicated that they may follow the lead. Alabama merely endorsed their decision, but stated that, at this stage, they would not ban the Republican Party.

Socialist minority governments in Washington, Oklahoma and Sth Dakota stated they would stand by the decisions of the southern states. However, their tactics were different. On 7 December, the day the railways became national property, they passed a bill requesting a constitutional convention. Their proposal was that the states, by a majority of two-thirds, could recall the Congress to an election. Initiated in South Dakota, the movement quickly swept the country. It passed through the state congresses in every state except for:

Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia.

This provided 39 out of 52 states, requesting a constitutional convention. However, a gubernatorial veto in a number of states reduced this considerably. Those states where a veto was exercised were:

California, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin.

In Idaho, North Dakota and Kansas, Republican Governors voted in favour of a convention, allowing legislation to pass and earning themselves expulsions from the Republican Party. However, it was insufficient as gubernatorial vetos reduced the number of states requesting a constitutional convention to thirty-two out of fifty-two. This was clearly insufficient to make the necessary two-thirds to provide for a convention.

To get an increase in those numbers, the Democrats and the Socialists struck an interim alliance, insisting that Minnesota Governor Joseph Burnquist had, through his operation of the "Public Safety Commission", violated his constitutional responsibility. They immediately moved for his impeachment. There was more direct attempt to influence the situation in California, when Governor Williams Stephens was killed during a bombing of the Governor's mansion. The new Governor, Clement Young, signalled his intention to not veto any more attempts by the state congress to call a convention.

Either way, the tensions were clear as the United States marched warily into 1918, unsure of its future and at its weakest moment since the Civil War.

 

[LacheyS]

And, with that, I think it is time to take another pause and think about where this timeline is going. I feel like I have lost control of its direction and want to ensure that I can provide you with some good quality. I hope you're still enjoying it, but I am dissatisfied. So give me a week or so to catch up on my work and other stuff and I will be back.

 

[G.Bone]

Hope you find your muse...

 

[David bar Elias]

Oy vey....an extreme nation-wide version of the Comstock Laws....this doesn't look very good for the Union.......

 

[LacheyS]

Hope you find your muse...

I'm sure that I will. Just I have five lots of assignments to mark over the next three weeks for my students, plus I have to turn in a 10,000 worder myself within the next fortnight (it isn't anywhere near as fun as AH), plus it looks as though the university is going to pull funding on a project I was planning as my source of income for next year. So I am pretty distracted and (where's the AAARGH! smilie).

Anyway, I am sure I will get it together. I always do. But because I can't concentrate on this, I am unhappy with where it is going. I have struck this before, but have always had time for a rewrite/revamp. At the moment, time is very short and I need to step back for a while.

 

[LacheyS]

Oy vey....an extreme nation-wide version of the Comstock Laws....this doesn't look very good for the Union.......

Well, we can't have people copulating with each other whenever they feel like it. You might get some black and white cross-breeding. As well, we all know that those Reds have loose morals.

 

[M.Passit]

Hope you sort it out.

The trend in North America is very interesting. How the socialist doing there at the moment?

 

[LacheyS]

Hope you sort it out.

The trend in North America is very interesting. How the socialist doing there at the moment?

At the last election, they won 15.7% of the vote nationally. They have one Governor and one Senator. They are still largely concentrated in their appeal, but I am predicting that is soon to change. They have 70 House seats.

If you essentially want a feel on the Socialist Labor Party philosophy, it is comprised of three main elements:

1) a Jeffersonian-type appeal to the value of the common man, the dignity of labour and the importance of the land;
2) a scathing assault on the values of capitalism (primarily greed); and
3) an evangelical Protestantism.

They promote themselves as a group of decent, fair citizens, concerned with bringing justice to all, and are trying to convince Americans that their program is neither militant or radical. Rather, they are claiming that socialism is a way of bringing the operation of American society into line with the democratic and moral values of American society.

Their strength lies in their ability to tie the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the moral authority of the Christ with the political criticisms of Karl Marx.

With the 1918 election, they will be in the place to finally launch themselves into the "big time". After ten years building their base, they are hoping to ride through on the back of Republican losses they are trying desperately to inspire. However, they also realise that too large a swing will put the Democrats in charge of Congress and they want to ensure that they retain the balance of power in the House, if not in the Senate.

 

[LacheyS]

OK

I think I can fit in one more year on the notes that I have (I spent a five hour drive today thinking about a number of things), and then I will take another of my "breaks" and start Part IV when I feel so inclined.

Thanks for your patience.

 

[LacheyS]

The Soviet Council of Premiers

Prime Minister Trotsky convened the first meeting of the Soviet Council of Premiers on 10 February, 1918. He served as Chairman; the other members were Premier Nikolay Chkheidze of Caucasus, Premier Christian Rakovsky of the Ukraine, Premier Adolph Joffe of Crimea, Premier Alexander Bogdonaov of Belarussia and, finally, his own brother-in-law, Premier Lev Kamenev of the Russian Federation. They had a number of important issues to discuss.

First item on the agenda was the Protocol of Bonn, which was due for ratification in March. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the USSR had agreed to give the Polish Authority new powers to step up the process of the demilitarisation of Poland. In addition, it would establish that further investigations against treasonous offenders would be handed over to specially convened civilian courts; the military tribunals could no longer handle the issue. However, what was important was that there were one million names under investigation and, at current trends, it looked as though about 120,000 of those would be charged. Also on current trends, it looked as though about 40,000 Poles would be convicted for their violent and irresponsible behaviour. Berlin and Vienna were particularly keen for the prisoners to be sent to Russia and kept in new prison camps in the east. The question that had to be addressed was how much compensation the Russian Federation expected for its efforts, particularly considering some of them would be interned until 1950. Kamenev agreed to consider his costings and report back at the next meeting.

The second point was the request of Prince Nicholas of Hesse, the Duke of Tampere (formerly Tsar Nicholas II), to visit the USSR. The current Tsar, Michael II, had already convinced the Duma in 1915 to allow for the return of the Grand Duchess Tatiana. After all, how much harm could be caused by an Orthodox nun? However, now there was to be a whole bunch of them. Obviously, the former Tsarina would not be welcome and it was doubtful that the Grand Duchess Anastasia would be making an appearance - the stillborn illegitimate pregnancy with her cousin Waldemar had made that awkward. Grand Duke Alexei remained unwell and was in no state to travel. However, the Prince wished to come and bring with him Olga, now 23 and betrothed to the Prince of Wales, and Maria, who was keen to find a Russian husband. It had been thirteen years since the Revolution; could they be forgiven? The overwhelming concensus was that, if the Tsar could handle it, so could the country, but no public speeches would be permitted.

Finally, there was the question as to what response, if any, the government should have to the growing Abrasax cult. The followers, who believed that salvation came not through faith but through a transcendental conciousness, spoke a belief system that was widely condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church and by the increasingly influential Vatican, which was seeking Christian reconciliation. Patriarch Tikhon was demanding action. Should they do anything? The Prime Minister reminded everyone present that, although the Church remained a part of society, the Government believed religion to be the opiate of the masses and, as such, shouldn't interfere. Persecution, he pointed out, has only ever encouraged crazy belief systems. It was agreed that the USSR should not interfere in the development or practices of religions unless they directed threatened social order.

With agreement reached on these points, the Council of Premiers deferred until the next summit.

 

[LacheyS]

The Year of Calamity

When President Albert Beveridge of the United States introduced his new greenback currency on 23 April, 1918, it commenced an economic boom in America the likes of which had been unprecedented. Abandoning the principles of fiat currency, President Beveridge stated that the dollar would be issued based on the credit of the United States Government, ending the influence of unemployment and inflation. For many voters, it almost excused his tyrannical approach to national security the previous year. In fact, many Socialists in Congress lined up to support the enabling legislation. They also endorsed his decision to allow General Motors to buy Chevrolet, rather than applying the anti-trust provisions.

What they did not support was the Executive Order of 16 May. Under this directive to the National Security Council and the National Investigations Bureau, it became a criminal offence to speak, print, write or publish anything that was critical of the US Executive, any government department, any national symbol or any act or person within the military. The Postmaster General was ordered to begin searches on all correspondence, to remove any such comments from correspondence and to notify the police of the criminal behaviour of the author. It was under this legislation that author Sherwood Anderson was arrested on 4 May when he described the President as a "grotesque, stunted and inarticulate being". Actor Charlie Chaplin, who wrote to the President demanding freedom of expression for his new United Artists, likewise found himself detained. Even the Chief Justice, who commented in June that child labour was "inherently evil", found himself being warned about "inappropriate language".

There has often been discussion about the direction in which the United States was headed under Beveridge and what might have happened had it not been for the events of August that year. It is fairly certain that the Great Plague, the pandemic of influenza, began in the Great Plains. Why and how, nobody has yet been able to ascertain. What is definitely certain is that the world would never be the same. The Great Plague swept through American society and, subsequently, the entire human population of the planet. A virulent disease, it is believed that one in four people (475 million total) contracted the virus, including over twenty-two million people in the United States alone.

Within the first months, modern scientists estimate that it had spread to every continent and every people. Fear of contagion brought much of modern society to a standstill. Theatres, churches, schools, the court system, public tranpsort, even hospitals all ceased to function. The symptoms became clear to the American population earlier than any other and a number of clerics declared it to be the judgment of God on the Administration. With the police unable and, in some cases, unwilling to enforce order for fear of infection, the growing national security apparatus began to fall apart. In the end, close to 4.5 million Americans, and 90 million people worldwide, would die. It is uncertain who spread the disease into the Capitol, but twenty-two members of the House and five Senators died in the Great Plague as well. Globally, the disease would have similar effects, with Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire being the most "high profile" of its victims. In later years, he would be remembered as the leader who revived the Ottoman fortunes and as a great humanitarian by Jewish people of all nations.

On 30 August, the lack of response by the White House to the growing list of casualties, the growing list of military dead and the growing chaos in the streets led to an unprecedented crisis in American political history. On that date, it was confirmed that President Albert Beveridge had fallen ill. With a 20% chance he would succumb to the disease, people looked to the line of succession. Vice President Harding was generally regarded as incompetent, with little formal education. It was also general knowledge that he was in violation of legislation prohibiting sex outside marriage, although the President had seemed disinclined to act. Furthermore, he was a drinker at a time when there was widespread support for restrictions on alcohol and there had been discussions about his potential replacement. The Secretary of State, Knute Nelson, had been born in Norway and was thus constitutionally incapable of holding the office. The role of President would then fall to former Constitution Party lackey, John Wingate Weeks, who had little Republican support in the Congress, despite his perceived competence and honesty.

Secretary Weeks discussed the situation at length with his closest advisors. They agreed that the key to the situation was to remove Harding and replace him with a more popular choice, then to convince Beveridge to resign. The President was finally convinced of the soundness of the arguments in favour of such an action and Harding was asked to step down. His nominee as Vice President was approved unanimously by Congress. On 18 October, Beveridge announced his retirement due to ill health. His successor, and the 29th President of the United States, was General John J. Pershing.

 

[David bar Elias]

Hmm.....President Blackjack.......I wonder if this is when the USA begins to tear itself apart at the seams......

 

[G.Bone]

And is Mexico going free at this point from American dominance?

 

[M.Passit]

Things don't seem so bright in the United States.

How the epidemic effect the whole world in general compared to the Spanish Flu?

 

[LacheyS]

Hmm.....President Blackjack.......I wonder if this is when the USA begins to tear itself apart at the seams......

You all seem really keen for me to hurry up and tear the US apart. LOL.

There can be no doubt that the Beveridge Administration was dark days for all involved. (I am kinda regretting that I didn't allow Roosevelt to take over, which is why I am shuffling off Beveridge now; I just don't like where he is going.) I am uncertain how activist Pershing will be. While technically a Republican, he wasn't an ideologue in the way that Beveridge was. The only thing that I am certain he will do relates to infrastructure, and I only know that because he will do it this year. When 1918 ends, so does this installment and I have really researched nothing beyond it. And the US will not break apart this year. Maybe with a new direction, I won't have to rip the US apart.