Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg

[Baron Steakpuncher]

A Kaiserreich PDX-CON 2018 promo with teaser for the next World of Kaiserreich video for CSA

*Share the wealth intensifies*

 

[Lord Insane]

THANK YOU! I've always thought "no then MacArthur restored democracy after setting a precedent for military involvement in politics and everything was fine" made no sense. I've actually been thinking of doing a short series set in a Cincinnatus US that is falling in the present day due to MacArthur's mistake, after my prequel rewrite is done.

Part of me suspects that how damaged democracy would be in a Cincinnatus US would depend on the circumstances of the Cincinnatus-ing - I could see it as leaving a more dangerous precedent if it began with a coup against elected-and-surprisingly-moderate President Reed than if it began with MacArthur assuming emergency powers after Curtis dies of a heart attack after Washington falls during the Second Civil War.

 

[President Earl Warren]

Part of me suspects that how damaged democracy would be in a Cincinnatus US would depend on the circumstances of the Cincinnatus-ing - I could see it as leaving a more dangerous precedent if it began with a coup against elected-and-surprisingly-moderate President Reed than if it began with MacArthur assuming emergency powers after Curtis dies of a heart attack after Washington falls during the Second Civil War.

Im wondering what would be the damage if they are going up aganst an demagugic radical President like say Huey Long, That would probably not be as bad as couping moderate Jack Reed but it would be pretty bad.

 

[Godwin]

Same hypothetical for the two currently-known factions within the AUS:
American Union State (Hail Huey, I suppose):
Unitary authoritarian populist/vaguely right-wing dictatorship. Socially conservative, economically weird mix of capitalism and wackier straw-communist ideas. Likely to face strong opposition from leftist diehards and moderates who prefer the old regime, but stands a decent chance of suckering the lower classes with immediate economic relief. Considerably less stable long-term than most of the Syndicalist options or the old US. Corruption is endemic but ultimately dependent on Huey's willingness to allow it; the AUS is fundamentally a charismatic dictatorship and so a cunning Huey will be able to run his private kingdom effectively as he wishes.

United Christian States of America (Pelley and the Klan):
Federal (de jure)/unitary (de facto) fascist/corporatist totalitarian regime. Socially hyperconservative, brutal or even potentially genocidal to ethnic minorities. Economically corporatist with some promises of populism. Relies on diehard right-wing anti-Syndicalist loyalists, ties to religious conservatives, and megacorps to retain any function at all. Extremely susceptible to corruption. Voting takes place but only on a party-approved "racially acceptable" slate of candidates who profess belief in the correct branch of Christianity, and the franchise is restricted to white Christian males of appropriately Anglo-Saxon ethnic origin. Military will likely stagnate and decay within a decade, while receiving considerably more funding, proportionally, than even the greatest excesses of the OTL US military. Almost certain to fall messily a couple of decades down the line and splinter in a potentially-nuclear ideological and race war into a chaotic or even apocalyptic hellscape. These are the obvious bad guys.

And the USA...
United States of America (Democratic, American Cincinattus):
Presidential federal republic with a shaky and imperfect but functional democracy. Some restrictions on Syndicalist and right-populist parties remain, as well as an active Klan insurgency in the South, but the USA is broadly functional. Syndicalist loyalties in the Midwest likely remain strong despite federal propaganda, but the USA is likely slightly more left-wing economically and on some social issues than OTL (due to reflexive dislike of powerful political blocs in the new regime towards political violence, and the violent Klan insurgency), though it remains illiberal compared to the OTL USA. Black people have the vote, but parties to the left of Barack Obama are banned or heavily restricted, and parties to the right of 2012 general election Mitt Romney remain under close scrutiny due to the legacy of Long and Pelley. Politics is very concerned with proper decorum, and scruffy dress, lower-class manners and mannerisms, or bombastic attitudes like Huey's are likely to kill a political career.

Provisional Military Government of the United States of America (military junta, American Caesar):
De Facto authoritarian, borderline totalitarian unitary military dictatorship under permanent "state of emergency". All left-wing activism is banned, as is the right-wing equivalent. Mac Daddy ends up somewhere around George W. Bush on the dated left-right spectrum, and America's economy is wholly owned by the military-industrial complex. A constant military presence, funded by a massive chunk of GDP, continuously monitors the streets for "potential traitors" to Mac Daddy. MacArthur's portrait is on almost every wall and his corncob pipe is a fad with upper-middle-class youth. Lower-class resentment remains high, but so far the CIA and FBI are effective at rooting out potential Syndicalist sympathizers. Co-option of many Southern elites has left Mac Daddy's only problem down there a few lynchings and some ethnic cleansing of black people, but they aren't Army men so Mac Daddy's willing to let it slide to keep the KKK from stirring up more trouble than they're already causing or starting another civil war.

EDIT: Crap, wrong thread. My bad, will fix tomorrow, gotta stop posting at 4 AM.

Actually, a minor thing on the Federals. In-game Macarthur is willing to tolerate negotiations with the CSA but advises Curtis to simply assassinate Long. I think your prediction might be the other way round, with left leaning parties just barely tolerated while the far right ends up persecuted.

Actually Huey Long was rather far left. OTL he ran on the platform that FDR's New Deal wasn't doing enough. The main reason the AFP in KR is a Paternal Autocrat party is that Huey was also very much a benevolent dictator type of governor. He believed that it was the government's job to help people. Share the Wealth and all that. Socially he was very progressive (for the time), especially in the Deep South. He was anti-segregation and believed that Blacks and Whites were equal. The right wing elements in the AFP don't come from Long. The AFP seems more like a big coalition of people who want America to be the government's 1st priority, regardless of political ideology.

 

[Baron Steakpuncher]

Im wondering what would be the damage if they are going up aganst an demagugic radical President like say Huey Long, That would probably not be as bad as couping moderate Jack Reed but it would be pretty bad.

My view of the coup against Long is that it usually occurs when he does the whole thing with the minutemen. Essentially establishing a paramilitary force/secret police to do his bidding, which causes the political scene to panic. Fearing for their positions and in the case of many their lives, they cannot agree on a compromise candidate from either party (Both having failed utterly in the election) so they turn to one of the few institutions with any remaining respect amongst the American populace, the military. Specifically, General MacArthur.

From there its all Yada yada civil war etc. There are so many interesting ways you can put for why events in Kaiserreich happen.

 

[herkles]

Im wondering what would be the damage if they are going up aganst an demagugic radical President like say Huey Long, That would probably not be as bad as couping moderate Jack Reed but it would be pretty bad.

Reed is not a moderate, and that shall hopefully be clear in the US rework. Also in regards to Huey Long, he is being moved to Auth-Dem which fits him far better then Pat-Aut. Though speaking of the US rework, real work is now actually beginning to progress. Feel free to ask questions you may have.

 

[President Earl Warren]

Reed is not a moderate, and that shall hopefully be clear in the US rework. Also in regards to Huey Long, he is being moved to Auth-Dem which fits him far better then Pat-Aut. Though speaking of the US rework, real work is now actually beginning to progress. Feel free to ask questions you may have.

Okay one of my earlier questions for you: is their any new way to pervent civil war other than going wit curtis and even with him can you reverse it, as instead of negotiating with Reed going with long and killing off Reed?

 

[Lord Insane]

Reed is not a moderate, and that shall hopefully be clear in the US rework. Also in regards to Huey Long, he is being moved to Auth-Dem which fits him far better then Pat-Aut. Though speaking of the US rework, real work is now actually beginning to progress. Feel free to ask questions you may have.

For clarity I meant moderate in a relative sense, eg. "Reed for a player that picks the most moderate option in every event-choice except for his election", rather than in the sense of American politics (hence the surprisingly moderate bit, it speaks of perception given that he is of course not a SocDem).

 

[HIM Dogson]

Comping Reed or Long once they are lawfully elected is by far the worst. At least the other two options have some veneer of legality, though MacArthur taking over after Curtis has a heart attack is the only one where his takeover is justified.

 

[freivolk]

Part of me suspects that how damaged democracy would be in a Cincinnatus US would depend on the circumstances of the Cincinnatus-ing - I could see it as leaving a more dangerous precedent if it began with a coup against elected-and-surprisingly-moderate President Reed than if it began with MacArthur assuming emergency powers after Curtis dies of a heart attack after Washington falls during the Second Civil War.

In the end, McA would be more American Sulla.

 

[HIM Dogson]

In the end, McA would be more American Sulla.

Funny thing is, that's exactly what I'd call my story.

 

[freivolk]

Funny thing is, that's exactly what I'd call my story.

Can we have a link?

 

[President Earl Warren]

Can we have a link?

he hasnt made it yet.

 

[StephenColbert27]

I always thought the American Cincinnatus path would lead to the U.S. becoming like OTL Turkey, where the military basically views itself as empowered to intervene in the political process whenever in its view secular democracy was in danger, before handing back power once the crisis had passed.

 

[freivolk]

I always thought the American Cincinnatus path would lead to the U.S. becoming like OTL Turkey, where the military basically views itself as empowered to intervene in the political process whenever in its view secular democracy was in danger, before handing back power once the crisis had passed.

And in the 21. century a neo-longist populist would become president, who would break the power of the military and turn the USA slowly in an dictatorship. Lets call him Erdotrump.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

From The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long By William Ivy Hair:

A few senators wished Huey well and usually voted with him, but none entirely approved of his methods. Essentially a loner, the Kingfish nevertheless became identified with the Senate's so-called Progressive Bloc, made up of George W. Norris of Nebraska, Robert La Follette, Jr., of Wisconsin, William E. Borah of Idaho, Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, Bronson Cutting of New Mexico, and Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota. Norris, La Follette, Borah, and Nye were nominal Republicans, Wheeler and Cutting liberal Democrats, and Shipstead the sole Farmer-Laborite in the Senate. The Progressive Bloc's unity derived from a belief that President Hoover, along with most Republicans and Democrats in Congress, were wrongly trying to fight the Great Depression by shoring up big business instead of helping ordinary Americans. Huey stood out among the Senate progressives in several ways: he was the most flamboyant, he was the only southerner, and he alone habitually ascribed base motives to conservative opponents.

It goes on to say that he was BFFs with Burton K. Wheeler and George W. Norris. Let the record show that Long's Senate career, however short it was, showed that he was on the side of progressivism.

 

[LHB]

From The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long By William Ivy Hair:



It goes on to say that he was BFFs with Burton K. Wheeler and George W. Norris. Let the record show that Long's Senate career, however short it was, showed that he was on the side of progressivism.

Yet he was still a corrupt, authoritarian prick who had no problem with working with the Jim Crow system rather than even trying to challenge it. Getulio Vargas made progressive noises too, that didn't stop his Estado Novo's practices from being pretty awful in their own right and laying the foundation for Brazil's 1964 military coup.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

No one, not even FDR, really challenged Jim Crow until LBJ. Also Vargas prevented capitalists, communists, and fascists (or the Integralistas at least) from taking power, and his martyrdom through suicide allowed his successor to stay popular, delaying the coup by another decade.

Napoleon was a pretty awful despot as well, didn't prevent him from undertaking progressive programs like the Napoleonic Code and protecting the Jews of France and Europe. Evaluating corrupt authoritarian strongmen with fluid ideologies is a highly subjective game.

 

[BootOnFace]

Long: American Napoleon? Make Long an AUS Field Marshal!


But for real it would be neat to see a SocDem path for the AUS.

 

[Magnimik]

A new progress report. This time the Dutch East Indies, also known as I̶n̶d̶o̶n̶e̶s̶i̶a̶ Insulindia, is covered.