KKK min-TL

mowque

Banned
This is the KKK part of my great TL. The POD is an Anglo/German war with America in 1902. This butterflies out to a Bryan Presidency in 1908. This part focusing on the Ku Klux Klan in the USA.

(Note- Thomas Watson is an agrarian Populist who is angry at Bryan for bringing Debs into the Democrat party.
The 'SAW' is the Second Atlantic War, a WW1 analogue.)


  1. Points of reference.


    Order of the White Rose- The 'medical' arm of the KKK. It arose as a alternative form of medicine from the 'Jewish and Catholic' dominated hospitals of the city. Focused on homeopathy and other such forms of medicine, it was a long time staple in rural areas. Based off a solid backbone of 'doctors' that came from the rapidly closing 'alternative' schools and degree mills across America. The Order often posed as a front for such activities as orphanages and hospitals run by the Klan. Developed in Tennessee in 1925 but soon spread to the Klan as a whole.


Flaming Sword- A Klan run radio station in Memphis. It became famous in 1925 for airing Klan propaganda. Known for hate speech and delivering thinly veiled threats, it was wholly owned and run by local Klan members. Despite various run ins with Tennessee law officials it soon became the standard among “Klan stations' through the 20's and 30s.


Bruce Warsh- The brutal leader of the Klan from 1925 to 1931. A former friend of Watson, Warsh was a high school drop-out who excelled at the political (and physical) infighting of Klan politics. He rose to power quickly after Watson died, and soon pushed for a 'state within a state'. Known for his vile speeches, he was extremely secretive and paranoid. His power base was Georgia but he traveled throughout the South and his power extended to everywhere the Klan touched.



  1. Three 'Types' Of Klan in the 10's and 20'



    First type- The decentralized brutal mobs. While formal chapters are in place, and meetings are held, usually only forms in times of crisis or specific actions. While affiliated with the central Klan often acts on ti sown, with meager resources. Examples- the Oklahoma 'Night riders” and the West Virgina 'Axe Handles' Known for the most brutal and flagrant civil rights violations.



    Second kind- The more formal 'official' Klan who operates through political means. These Klans were facades for the more brutal 'terrorism' happening behind the scenes. These Klans focused on getting Klansman (or sympathetic men) into high office, such as Governors, judges or lawmen. Also, these Klans often used lobbying and political pressure to force their issues. (and to allow their brutal way of life to continue). This system only arrived when the Klan had strong numbers and a tight organization. Examples would be Arkansas and Indiana, called by Bruce Warsh as “most serene and capable realms of the Klan.”



    The third and final (and most intriguing) would be the model of Klan that was pioneered by leader Bruce Warsh and became the standard model in all of Georgia (spreading into Florida, Alabama and South Carolina). This type consisted more of a 'state within a state; then a mere secret society. This entailed a Klan set of newspapers and radio stations (owned outright, such as the famed Flaming Sword or heavily influenced ones), a crude Klan mail system, and the Order of the White Rose (often a front for the more 'charitable' aspects of the Klan. This version caused the most trouble as it was highly organized and pervasive. It also had the ability to pool massive resources. As 'White Summer' in 1928 shows.
 

mowque

Banned
(sorry for the formatting above...weird)

1908- Election of Bryan to the White House. Thomas Watson, in bitter anger over Bryan “Socialist' leanings, begins to devote time to reviving the Ku Klux Klan.


1909- the Niagara Association for the Assistance of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.


1910-


1911- Bryan enters the SAW, asking for full support. A recent change in the Florida constitution (effectively barring blacks to vote) is ignored and encourages Watson.


1912- An outbreak of anti-black violence leads Watson to found the Knights of the KKK. Georgia state officials grant him a charter. Bryan is re-elected.


1913- Bryan ignores the rise of anti-black violence. Indeed, Bryan delicately pushes for re-segregation of many federal departments, including the postal service.


1914- Curtis Holloway begins filming The Clansman in Movie City, Florida.


1915- The Clansman opens, becoming a very popular film. Bryan supports the movie as an example of 'sober, balanced history”. The NAACP attacks the movie to little avail. Watson announces that Jews and Roman Catholics are' just as hurtful to America' as blacks.


1916- Bryan is re-elected. A race riot in East Saint Louis breaks out as dozens of blacks are killed by whites. Various cities ban The Clansmen from playing, while the NAACP begins to investigate the Klan.


1917- Al Smith openly calls the KKK a 'criminal organization”. Watson fires back a number of angry letters. His membership grows as Bryan ignores the whole affair.


1918- A Roman Catholic priest is shot and killed in South Carolina by the Knights of the KKK. Darrow gets death threats in the mail from a Tennessee branch of the KKK.


1919- The KKK reaches 100,000 members and is expanding rapidly. Watson sign 'treaties' with many other groups, joining them together. Labor leader Franklin Green is tarred and whipped in Alabama. A tense meeting with Debs and Bryan ends with nothing solved.


1920- The FBI warns the NAACP to 'know their place' in regards to the Klan. A series of murders of bootleggers in Alabama is attributed to the Klan. Byran lauds them for upholding the law in a corrupt place. Upton Sinclair (Candidate Senator from CA) openly attacks the KKK in his state. Wood is elected.


1921- Wood ignores the KKK. Internal records reveal that the KKK spread to such diverse states as Utah and Oregon. KKK members in Virgina drive out NAACP membership. The Oklahoma “Night Riders' get famous for midnight killings and arsons.


1922- Watson starts the “White Times”, a Klan paper. The NAACP threatens to sue, but it goes nowhere. A black man is beat to death in Colorado.


1923-Watson's KKK reaches 2,000,00 members nationwide. A massive rally in IL gathers 45,000 members. A battle between bootleggers and Klan ends in a bloody massacre in Kansas.


1924- Democrat convention is torn apart by Klan leanings. (400 Democrat delegates were paying Klan members). Republican party ignores the issue, although Wood personally has issue with parts of the nation not under his control. The brutal whipping and beating of a black miner in West Virgina makes Klan activity a household issue. Anti-mask laws are pass ed in Michigan, California and Ohio.
 
Could you perhaps give some clues on how the "Second Atlantic War" results in a stronger KKK? I have read "Unbroken Chains" but it does not give any hints about a possible connection.

And, much as I hate to admit this, I do not know who "Bryan" is, and probably a few other non-US Americans in this forum do not know either. Could you please give the full name or possibly provide a link? Thanks a lot for your troubles in advance :):):).
 

mowque

Banned
Could you perhaps give some clues on how the "Second Atlantic War" results in a stronger KKK? I have read "Unbroken Chains" but it does not give any hints about a possible connection.

And, much as I hate to admit this, I do not know who "Bryan" is, and probably a few other non-US Americans in this forum do not know either. Could you please give the full name or possibly provide a link? Thanks a lot for your troubles in advance :):):).

Bryan is = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan This fellow.
Very conservative. The KKK arises eailer and stronger in this TL because of a more conservative president (and the individual of Watson). In OTL, Watson wasn;t much but here he becomes an important person in the Agrarian wing of the Democratic party.
 
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