Legacy of the Magnanimous

[Merovingian]

From “Independência ou Morte: A History of the Empire of Brazil” by Paulo Branco

The birth of Pedro’s son and heir apparent, Dom Alfonso, in 1845, was celebrated throughout the Empire. Alfonso was even nicknamed “o príncipe perfeito”(the perfect prince), just like his father “o magnânimo”(the magnanimous). However, the future Alfonso I’s childhood was not all sunshine and rainbows. On June 11th, 1847, the then two-year-old prince experienced an epileptic attack while playing in the palace library. Luckily, Alfonso’s mother Empress Teresa Cristina was in the vicinity, and managed to bring the prince to the court physician. Dom Alfonso miraculously survived. After the incident, the Emperor became increasingly protective of his son, which some historians believe may have affected Alfonso’s later reign. Had the Prince Imperial not been so lucky, who knows how history may have changed.

**********
The Empire of Brazil has always interested me. It was a monarchy in a continent of republics, and was a relatively stable emerging great power in a region known for its caudillos and civil wars. However, the Empire was overthrown in a coup, and Brazil would spend the rest of its history as a republic with a tendency towards corruption and instability, no different than the hispanic countries that surrounds it. While the reasons for the Empire’s decline are numerous, its fall was accelerated by Emperor Pedro II’s lack of interest in ruling his country. It is believed that Pedro’s disillusionment with being Emperor was caused by the death of his son and heir apparent Alfonso from epilepsy. In this timeline, Alfonso survives and Pedro never looses interest in ruling, forever changing the history of Brazil and the world.

 

[Merovingian]

From “An Economic History of Brazil” by João Cardoso

Brazil at the beginning of Pedro II’s reign was a largely agrarian nation. In particular, coffee became Brazil’s primary export. The coffee industry came to be controlled by slaveholding “coffee barons”, who became extremely influential in Brazilian society[1]. The Paraíba Valley in southern Brazil became the center of the coffee industry. The coffee barons grew their coffee on vast plantations with the use of slave labor. Many in Brazil’s aristocratic class believed that the Empire should base its economy off of agriculture and plantation slavery.

However, the Emperor had a different idea on Brazil’s future. In 1850, the importation of slaves was prohibited(with the strong “encouragement” of the British Empire) and Emperor Pedro began the process in which Brazil was to industrialize. The vast nation became increasingly interconnected with the introduction of the railroad, the electric telegram, and the steamship[2].

During the 1850s, Pedro began to move further towards the abolition of slavery. In 1854, Pedro would introduce the Law of the Free Womb, declaring that all children born to slaves on Brazilian territory would be considered free and would have all the rights of Brazilian citizens[3]. Pedro would continue to industrialize Brazil, with factories opening in major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Recife. The coffee industry took another major blow when slavery was abolished throughout much of southwestern Brazil, including the Paraíba Valley, as a result of the Emperor’s industrialization efforts. The feeling among the coffee barons became increasingly hostile towards the monarchy, and many began calling for a republic. However, despite the feelings of anger among the coffee barons, at this point few were willing to commit an act of treason against the Empire. All this changed on December 5th, 1861, when Emperor Pedro issued the Manumission Act, abolishing slavery throughout Brazil[4]. Just three days later, a council of coffee barons met in Recife, where they declared the Republic of Brazil[5], and the parts of Brazil who had held on to slavery recognized the new republic as the nation’s legitimate government. Pedro II now found himself the Emperor of a nation at war with itself.





[1]The coffee barons played a prominent role in deciding some of Brazil’s government policies, particularly those related to the coffee industry such as railroad development and credit financing

[2]All OTL events, for now

[3]The first major derivation from OTL. A similar law called the Law of Free Birth was passed IOTL in 1871

[4]IOTL, Brazil abolished slavery in 1888, making it one of the last countries in the world to do so. Pedro wanted to abolish it earlier, but because of the Paraguayan War, the issue was pushed back. ITTL, with greater amounts of industrialization and a more active Emperor, abolition happens much earlier.

[5]Slaveowners tend to resort to drastic measures when their “peculiar institution” is threatened. See for example the American Civil War, or the overthrow of the Brazilian monarchy IOTL. The main reason for this is that slavery plays an almost omnipresent role in the economies and institutions of slaveholding societies.

 

[Merovingian]

From “Independência ou Morte: A History of the Empire of Brazil“ by Paulo Branco

Following the declaration of a Brazilian republic in Recife in 1861, Emperor Pedro II sent a small army led by the Duke of Caxias[1]. Caxias and his forces soon found that the locals generally surrendered without much of a fight, and, more often than not, actually sided with the Imperial troops against the Republic. While the slaveholding aristocratic class wanted a republic, the common people almost universally respected the Emperor and hated the coffee barons. The Republic’s small farmers took up arms for the Emperor as soon as the republic was declared, and the slaves followed suit as soon as the Duke of Caxias and his forces arrived. Thanks to the support of the local population, Caxias managed to take the Republic’s capital of Recife in little less than a week. The Five Days’ War, as it came to be known, brought forth the official end of slavery in Brazil. But the Empire’s troubles were far from over. A new threat was emerging too the south, and that threat’s name was Francisco Solano López.

From “Maximilian I: Mexico’s Austrian Emperor” by Hernando Alvarez

Battle of Puebla would be the turning point of the war. The French General Charles de Laurancez ordered a full assault of the fortified Cerro de Guadalupe, which was defended by Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza. The battle ended when Zaragoza was killed by a stray bullet, and the French forces took the city. Brigadier General Porfirio Díaz would try to defend Puebla, but would eventually retreat to the French’s next target; Mexico City.

Laurancez would lead his troops towards Mexico City, where Díaz’s forces were already waiting. The Battle of Mexico City was one of the bloodiest battles in Mexican history, with the Mexican republicans fighting to the bitter end to defend the capital. Despite fierce resistance, Laurancez was eventually able to take the city. Benito Juárez would unsuccessfu try to flee the country, while Díaz would retreat northward and continue to fight against the Empire for five years after the war ended, before being shot by a irate rancher who tired of Díaz’s habit of stealing his cattle[2]. Maximilian von Habsburg would be crowned Maximiliano I de Habsburgo, Emperor of Mexico. And with Mexico secured, Napoleon III turned his attentions northwards.

From “History of the Confederate States” by John Walker

On January 15th, 1863, French Emperor Napoleon III recognized the Confederacy as an independent country and sent troops to fight alongside the Confederates. Napoleon’s reason for joining the war are generally accepted to have been that he wished to use the Confederacy as bulwark against the United States, who he feared would try to overthrow Emperor Maximilian I, whom Napoleon had established as the puppet ruler of Mexico.

The French troops arrived just in time for the Battle of Vicksburg, which raged from May 18th to July 3rd of 1863. The combined French and Confederate forces managed to repel the Union siege, and resulted in the failure of the Union’s Anaconda Plan strategy. Roughly a month after the battle’s end, the British joined the war on the side of France and the Confederacy, and the powerful British navy successfully dismantled the Union blockade. The United States was having an election at the time, and with the Confederates having defeated the Union at Vicksburg and two of the most powerful countries in the world on their side, President Lincoln’s support plummeted.

The Democrats nominated pro-war George McClellan for President and anti-war George Pendleton for Vice President. McClellan and Pendleton would eventually win the election, and with the Democrats’ victory, the issue of continuing the war became the most divisive issue between them. McClellan attempted to continue the war effort, but his decisions cost the Union greatly. He fired Ulysses S. Grant, whom he saw as an incompetent alcoholic who lost at Vicksburg, as Commander of the Union Army, and replaced him with Daniel Sickles[3]. Sickles campaigned deep in to Confederate territory before he reached the capital of Richmond, where he was repelled and sent running northward. McClellan found himself forced to negotiate with the Confederacy, and on June 5th, 1865, the United States officially recognized the Confederacy as an independent country. To the American people, McClellan came to be viewed as a traitor who let the south get away, and public opinion soon turned staunchly against him.

From “The War of the Triple Alliance[4]” by Paulo Branco

The events leading up to the war were numerous, but the main one was the result of the Uruguayan War. Uruguay fell into civil war between the Paraguayan-supported Blanco Party and the Brazilian-supported Colorado Party. In a combined offensive against the Blancos, Brazilian and Colorado troops advanced through Uruguayan territory. On February 20th, 1865, the Blancos capitulated. Paraguay’s dictator, Francisco Solano López, was furious. On October 12th, 1864, López began his simultaneous invasion of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina[5], and the bloodiest war in South America’s history had begun.

[1]Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias led Brazil to victory against Paraguay IOTL and is generally regarded as one of Brazil’s best historical military officers

[2]A fitting end to Porfirio Díaz

[3]Controversy seemed to follow Sickles wherever he went

[4]The War of the Triple Alliance is another name for the Paraguayan War

[5]Yes, López was that crazy. He declared war against three countries much larger and more powerful than his own in OTL, too, and it went just about a well as you might expect.

 

[Merovingian]

“I want to shoot that Paraguayan bastard myself!”
—Dom Alfonso, Prince Imperial

From “Independência ou Morte: A History of the Empire of Brazil“ by Paulo Branco

Few historical figured can be said to be as peculiar as Francisco Solano López, the 19th century Paraguayan dictator of dubious sanity who almost wiped his own country off the map in his failed war of conquest against three much larger and much more powerful enemies. Even before Paraguay’s near complete depopulation[1], the war already caused controversy in Brazil, as the respected Duke of Caxias was rejected to command the Brazilian forces in favor of the then 19-year-old Dom Alfonso, Prince Imperial. In practice, however, Caxias(who had been made a high-ranking General in the Brazilian army) was the de facto commander of the Brazilian troops, at least in the beginning of the war.

As the war began, López’s forces invaded Brazil. As the war dragged on, Argentine and Brazilian forces began to beat back the Paraguayans. In the February of 1868, Allied forces reached the Paraguayan capital of Asunsión. López, however, fled northward and continued a guerilla campaign. Dom Alfonso, now 23 years old and having gained full control over Brazil’s army, refered to the Paraguayans in his letters as “the most deplorable, wicked race that the Devil could ever have shitted into this world.” Dom Alfonso showed little mercy to the Paraguayan guerrillas, infamously burning down numerous villages in his hunt for López. Alfonso held a chauvinistic opinion of the Paraguayans, referring to them as “the miscegnated sons of lazy Spaniards and savage Indians” in reference to Paraguay’s mestizo heritage[2].

López would continue to avoid capture until the war’s end in 1877[3]. Towards the war’s end, López’s forces began raiding villages and forcibly conscripting their inhabitants, and even began forcibly conscripting enemy POWs. As the war raged on, it became clear to everyone except López that Paraguay was loosing. The Paraguayan guerrilla forces experienced mass defections, and López became extremely unpopular. On Christmas Eve of 1877, López began to realize how dire the situation was, and decided to lay siege to Asunción. The Battle of Asunción, which raged for three days, resulted in the Paraguayans being defeated and López captured. Dom Alfonso would order the entire city burned to the ground. López was taken to Rio de Janeiro, where he was put on trial and executed. According to many primary sources, López started laughing as he was being hanged. The treaty of Buenos Aires was signed with the intention that Paraguay would never become a threat again. Paraguay was forbidden from having a military, or even a functioning government, and was placed under the management of the Allied governments for “the duration of its existence.” Paraguay would be run by a conglomerate of international interests without a government of its own until the Great War, when the country would descend even further into chaos.





[1]In OTL, around 90% Paraguay’s male population had died in the war, to the point that López would go around the capital of Asunción pointing a gun at any man he could find and telling him to go to war. By the end of the war, only 12% of Paraguay’s population is male, and polygamy was briefly legalized because their were so few men. Even today, over a hundred years later, Paraguay’s gender demographics are still skewed towards women.

[2]Even by Latin American standards, Paraguay has a strong indigenous influence, with the native Guarani language being co-official with Spanish

[3]In OTL, López was killed in action in 1870, but Argentine and Brazilian troops would occupy the country until 1876

 

[Merovingian]

From “Independência ou Morte: A History of the Empire of Brazil“ by Paulo Branco

After the end of the Paraguayan War, the Brazilian Army became increasingly dissatisfied with Emperor Pedro II’s rule. The Emperor sought to replicate the liberal[1] systems of government that had been adopted in Western Europe and the United States. Many of the Army’s officers disapproved of the Emperor’s liberal ideas. In contrast, Pedro’s son and heir apparent, Dom Alfonso, was an avowed reactionary nationalist and militarist. In addition, Alfonso had led the Brazilian forces during the Paraguayan War, and in the process earned the firm respect of the Army. Pedro, meanwhile, became increasingly disinterested in ruling.

On January 8th, 1880, Emperor Pedro II abdicated the Brazilian throne. Dom Alfonso would be crowned Emperor Alfonso I. Alfonso’s coronation is considered one of the turning points of Brazilian history. The new Emperor would radically alter the path that Brazil would take. Alfonso alienated Brazil from its neighbors, and adopted a policy of rivalry with the United States, another emerging power in the New World. Alfonso believed that Brazil needed to cement its position as the hegemonic power in the Americas. In order to do this, Alfonso believed that Brazil must first become the sole power in South America after a war with Argentina. Brazil would then defeat the United States in another war, and exert its hegemony over the Americas. However, Alfonso did not yet believe that Brazil was powerful enough to achieve this goal. The new Emperor’s belligerence caused Brazil to become increasingly disliked by the Empire’s neighbors, and so he began to seek allies elsewhere.

From “Maximilian I: Mexico’s Austrian Emperor” by Hernando Alvarez

Towards the end of Maximilian’s reign, Mexico became increasingly close to Brazil and the Confederacy, all of whom shared the common goal of preventing the United States from expanding its sphere of influence. On July 10th, 1885, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and the Confederacy joined to form the Quadruple Pact with the intention of limiting the United States’ power. However, the United States sook allies of its own.

From “American Policy in the 19th Century” by Edward Smith

By the time of the 1868 election, President McClellan was deeply unpopular. The Republicans nominated former Secretary of State William H. Seward to run against McClellan. Seward would defeat McClellan in a landslide victory, and would again defeat Democratic nominee Benjamin Gratz Brown in 1872. Seward’s presidency saw the United States adopting a hardline anti-Confederate stance, but was otherwise largely uneventful. In 1867, the Republicans would nominate James G. Blaine, who won against Democratic candidate Thomas A. Hendricks. Blaine would win re-election against Democrat Allen C. Beach in 1880. Blaine’s presidency was defined by the growing geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the increasingly belligerent Empire of Brazil, led by the ever-ambitious and reckless Emperor Alfonso I. The rivalry between the United States and Brazil would become intertwined with European geopolitics, as a complicated system of alliances formed. This system of conflicting alliances would explode during the Great War.

[1]”liberal” in this context referring to the political ideas of the Enlightenment, the British constitutional monarchy, and the American and French Revolutions, not its 21st Century meaning

 

[Merovingian]

“It seems that the peace established at Vienna is being unravelled right before our eyes!”
—Sergei Mironov

From “The Franco-Prussian War” by Jean-Pierre Boulanger

The aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War would have radical affects in both France and in Germany. In Germany, the war’s aftermath would see the creation of the Prussian-led German Empire with Wilhelm I as Emperor and Otto von Bismarck as chancellor. In France, the Bonapartist regime was overthrown by the republican Government of National Defense. In Paris, workers and national guards revolted and formed their own government, the Commune. The Commune, under the leadership of Auguste Blanqui[1], set out to unite France under its government, as did the growing Orléanist royalist faction, led by Henri, Count of Chambourd. The Orléanist faction emerged victorious, and the Count of Chambourd was declared King Henri V.

From “Recollections on the Past Century” by Sergei Mironov

I was, to be truthful, most disappointed by the events that have transpired in France. While the Commune had the potential to establish a true government of the people, it failed the moment that they appointed that authoritarian blowhard Blaqui as their leader. Indeed, I believe the Communards shall be remembered by history as successors to the Jacobins; a reminder how not to have a revolution.

From “Alexander II: The Liberator Emperor” by Nikolai Petrov

The Russian constitution of 1885[2] was perhaps the greatest of Alexander II’s reforms. The constitution transformed Russia from an outdated autocracy to a constitutional monarchy. The constitution would create a legislature, the Duma, divided into an upper house(the Sobor) and a lower house(the Veche). Boris Chicherin, a respected jurist and political philosopher, and the Mayor of Moscow, was elected the first Prime Minister of Russia. 1886. It was with the 1885 constitution that Russia transformed into a modern superpower.

From “The Age of Bismarck: Europe Before the Great War”

The League of Three Emperors, or Dreikaiserbund, was an alliance between the German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian Empires pioneered by Otto von Bismarck. The Dreikaiserbund was intended to keep the balance of power in Europe, and to prevent a war between Germany and either Austria or Russia. To combat the influence of the Dreikaiserbund, Britain and France’s internationally isolated Communard government turned to each other. Britain and France would join to form the Entente Cordiale, later joined by the Ottoman Empire, rivals to both Russia and Austria-Hungary[3]. The geopolitical struggle between the Entente and Dreikaiserbund in Europe would spread to the Americas, in which the Empire of Brazil and the United States had competing spheres of influence. The United States, which had a large German population and hated the British for supporting the Confederacy during their War of Independence, was naturally drawn towards the Dreikaiserbund, while the Brazilian-led Quadruple Pact alligned with the Entente in response. The Entente and Quadruple Pact would join to form the London Accords, while the Dreikaiserbund would be joined by the United States and Argentina to form the Continental Alliance. The stage for the Great War had been set, and now all it needed was a spark to light the fire.

[1]IOTL, Blanqui was arrested before he could join the Communards’ Revolution. ITTL, he happened to be in Paris rather than Bretenoux during the Communard Revolt, and successfully organized the Commune’s leadership

[2]Alexander II’s assassination was butteflied away

[3]ITTL, the Ottomans and Austro-Hungarians remain rivals over the Balkans

 

[Merovingian]

From “A History of Imperialism” by Heinrich Straußmann

One of the most common misconceptions about European imperialism in Africa is that it accomplished anything. Africa was conquered for national pride, and was maintained through brutal repression. African colonies were incredibly difficult to control, serving as little more than a waste of money that offered native rebellions and not much else.

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 decided which European countries got which parts of Africa. In the end it was decided that Africa would be divided between the following empires;

Britain: The British were given control over the southern part of Africa, where they would commit numerous atrocities against the locals. They were also given Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria, the Gold Coast, northern Azania[1], Gambia and East Africa.

Belgium: Belgium was given control over the Congo. They would commit atrocities against the native Congolese.

France: The French were given control over a vast swath of west Africa knowns as France Africaine(African France).

Germany: The Germans were given Namibia, Kamerun, the southern part of Azania, and Madagascar.

Italy: The Italians were given Libya and Eritrea.

Russia: The Russians were given Djibouti[2]

Portugal: The Portuguese were given Angola and Mozambique

By the end of the conference, Ethiopia and Liberia were the only independent countries in Africa.

From “The Bloody Union Jack: The British Empire’s Legacy of Murder” by Nikolai Vasiliyev

The Boer Genocide is often seen as a precursor to the atrocities that would happen in Sorbia, the Confederacy, and India during the Twentieth Century. Triggered by the discovery of diamond and gold deposits in the Boer republics; the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. The British invaded and occupied the Boer republics, only to be met with resistance from the Boers, who engaged in guerilla warfare.

The British forces, led by Cecil Rhodes[3], came to the conclusion that the only way to defeat the Boers was to reduce their population to the point where they could not put up any resistance. The British would begin the process of rounding up Boer civilians and killing them. The Boers were interned in military camps, which British propaganda referred to as “refugee camps” but came to be known as “death camps”, where they would then be assigned a number and shot one by one.


Before the war, the Boer population was around 967,941. By the end, it was down to less than a thousand. The revelation of the genocide shocked and appalled the British population. In the 1900 election, Conservative Prime Minister Marquess of Salisbury was defeated by Liberal Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Cecil Rhodes was forced to retire as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony in 1901, and would die of heart failure a year later. The genocide officially ended with Campbell-Bannerman’s election. Despite this, the United Kingdom still refuses to recognize the genocide, and in the Cape it is actually celebrated and Rhodes is considered a national hero. Boerstad has continually pushed for Britain and the Cape to recognize the genocide.

From “Asia in the Nineteenth Century” by James Franklin

The Hispano-Japanese War would signify the first time that a non-European power would decisively defeat a European one. In 1898, the Philippines declared independence from Spain. The Empire of Japan, a rising power in the region, took interest in the conflict. Japan invaded the Philippines, ostensibly to help the Filipinos. However, the Japanese soon revealed their true intentions, annexing the Philippines and replacing one foreign imperialist with another. The Filipinos would wage a guerilla campaign against Japan until they were defeated in 1902. Japan would soundly defeat the Spanish, who ceded the Philippines and Guam. Spain’s hopes vested in an intervention by the Russians, who feared the rise of Japan, however, the Russian Emperor Alexander II died just before the war started and Russia’s attentions turned inward. The war’s results would shocked Europe, as the predominant attitudes of the time suggested that Europeans were inherently genetically superior, and the defeat of a European nation by an Asian one forced many to question these preconceived ideas.

From “Tanzimat: The Ottoman Empire‘s Transition to Modernity” by Ismail Pasha

The Ottoman Empire’s reconciliation with Russia was made easier by Sultan Abdul Hamid’s own Russophilia[4] and the new Emperor Alexander III’s desire to avoid any more pointless wars. Russia would officially renounce its claim to “Tsargrad” and would begin to pursue a pro-Ottoman policy. Abdul Hamid would adopt a series of reforms inspired by those of Russian Emperor Alexander II, who turned Russia from a backwards autocracy stuck in the Middle Ages to the superpower that it is today. During this process, Russia would become an active trade partner of the Ottomans.

Abdul Hamid would model the Ottoman Empire’s industrialization off of Russia’s. Over the course of the 1890s, numerous factories would open in the Empire’s major cities. The Ottoman Empire’s industrialization would signal numerous societal changes, as would the Empire’s gradual democratization. Two factions would emerge, liberal, a pro-Russian, secular faction, and a conservative, anti-Russian, traditional Islamic faction. These factions would respectively form the Nationalist Party and the Traditionalist Party.

[1]”Azania“ is TTL’s name for the Swahili-speaking part of Africa, based on a medieval name for Eastern Africa

[2]Russia established a short-lived settlement in Djibouti called “Sagallo” in OTL, but they were kicked out by the French. ITTL, France’s Communard government is less interested in colonial affairs, and so the Russians are more successful.

[3]ITTL, Rhodes managed to avoid the fallout of the Jameson Raid and remain Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, to disastrous results

[4]Despite political tensions between Constantinople and Saint-Petersburg, Abdul Hamid was in fact very much a Russophile. He praised the Russian “civilization and authority”, and numerous Russian artists found work at his court. He even suggested for one of his sisters or daughters to marry Nicholas II, although for obvious reasons this never happened.

 

[Merovingian]

From “Sergei Mironov: The Great Visionary” by Giuseppe Sellitto

In order to understand the great genius of Sergei Mironov, we must first understand the environment that created him. Russia in the 19th century was a nation at a crossroads. In 1834, Russia was backwards, autocratic state who’s economy depended on serfdom. In 1885, Russia was a modern, industrialized nation and an emerging superpower. As a result, Mironov saw firsthand the transformation from feudalism to liberalism. In 1858, Mironov moved from his sleepy Siberian hometown of Magadan to Moscow, Russia’s largest city, where he attended university. Mironov was isolated from his peers because of his peasant background and Siberian accent, and as a result spent most of his time reading books. It was through these books that he learned of the great philosophers of the Enlightenment. In particular, Mironov developed a keen interest in Hegel’s philosophy, of which his own would develope as a critique of.

Mironov would support the Communards during the French Civil War, but would become disappointed in their defeat. In response, Mironov would publish his first book, “On the Events in France” in 1871 in which he criticized Blanqui and the ruling Council of Administrators for betraying the ideals of the Commune’s revolution, thereby letting the Royalists win. A year later, Mironov would publish his second book, “Recollections on the Past Century”, in which he reflected on the events of the 19th century up until the point of the book’s publication. In 1875, Mironov would publish his most famous work, “Industriya[1]”, in which he detailed his theory of stages of civilization. Mironov suggested that human society had transitioned from the feudal stage of civilization to the liberal stage of civilization during the Enlightenment. The transition from feudalism to liberalism had resulted in the Industrial Revolution, which Mironov theorized would accelerate the progress of the liberal stage of civilization to the point where it would destroy itself and humanity would enter a third stage of civilization, socialism[2].

In 1882, Mironov would publish a sequel to “Industriya”, “The Consortist Manifesto”, in which he outlined his ideology of Consortism. In “The Consortist Manifesto”, Mironov outlined the distinction between Nation and State. According to Mironov, the “Nation” referred to the people of a country, while the “State” refered to its government. Mironov explained that under feudalism, the Nation was inferior to the State, which was the property of its ruler. Under liberalism, the Nation and State are merged, with the State using the Nation to justify itself. Mironov hypothesized that during the Socialist stage of civilization, the State would be abolished in favor of the Nation. According to Mironov, “a man carries his nation wherever he goes. Even if he changes his citizenship, he has only changed his state, not his nation. A man’s nation is unchangeable.”

From “The Consortist Manifesto“ by Sergei Mironov

There are many ideas already existing as to what a post-state society would look like. The abolition of the state would not mean the abolition of leaders, nor the abolition of hierarchies. Nations would still have leaders and governments. However, they would no longer have borders. In a post-state society, a man’s identity would not be defined by where he was born, but rather who his parents and grandparents were. That is the true distinc between State and Nation. A State is a set of arbitrary lines drawn on a map, while a Nation is an integral part of who you are. Even if a man travels across the world and disavows all connections to his former state, his nation does not change. As the National volksgeist[3] turns increasingly against the State, the Magistarchy[4] will fight back. This will only encourage the Nations of the world to revolt against the State. From this revolution, the liberal stage of civilization will come to an end and the State shall give way to the Nation.

[1]Russian for “the Industry”

[2]Mironov’s definition of “socialism” is a bit different from the contemporary definition. Essentially, Mironov’s definition of socialism is more in line with the utopian socialists.

[3]Consortists take the term “Volksgeist” from Hegel, and use it to refer to the collective will of the Nation to rebel against the State

[4]”Magistarchy” is a term coined by Mironov from Latin “magister”(master) and Greek “arkhos”(rule, government). According to Mironov, the Magistarchy are those who benefit from the institution of the State.

 

[Merovingian]

From “From Autocracy to Modernity: Russia in the Age of Reform” by Nikolai Petrov

By the time of the turn of the century, Russia became increasingly concerned over the rising power of Japan in Asia. The Japanese would shock the world in 1898 by defeating a European colonial power, albeit one whose age of glory had already passed, in the Hispano-Japanese War. Japan would proceed to annex the Philippines, starting their own colonial empire. The Japanese were emboldened by their victory against Spain, seeking to gain more colonies. Japan then turned its eyes towards Korea.

For Russia, the idea of a Japanese conquest of Korea was unthinkable. Russia sought to establish their own sphere of influence in Manchuria, and favored an independent Korea to counterbalance Japan’s ambitions. Japan proposed to recognize Manchuria as part of Russia’s sphere of influence if Russia recognized Korea as part of Japan’s, however, the Russians refused, demanding a neutral buffer zone in Korea between Japan and Russia north of the 39th parallel. During the Korean Crisis, war between Russia and Japan was a distinct possibility. However, neither Emperor Alexander III[1] nor Prime Minister Sergei Witte desired a war with Japan, with both considering the growing tensions in Europe to be a more important issue. Witte issued a proposal to Emperor Meiji for a neutral country to help negotiate an agreement between the two great powers. Eventually, the Japanese agreed. It was decided that the Empire of Brazil would serve as the negotiator, seeing as it was a purely American power with little to no interests in Asia[2]. Brazilian Prime Minister Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves proposed the division of Korea into Russian and Japanese spheres of influence. While Alves’ proposal stopped any potential war between Russia and Japan, it really just pushed the Korean issue down a few years. The Korean Question, as it came to be known would finally be solved during the Great War.


[1]Alexander III lived longer ITTL

[2]Brazil’s geopolitical rival, the United States, was also considered, but was rejected due to the Americans having concessions in China and therefore having geopolitical interests in Asia

 

[Merovingian]

From “American Policy in the 19th Century” by Edward Smith

Following the end of James G. Blaine’s presidency in 1884, a Republican victory was almost assured in the upcoming election. The Democratic Party was moribund. The majority of the Democrats’ supporters had recently seceded, and the Party increasingly came to be seen by Americans as Confederate sympathizers. In the 1884 election, the Republicans nominated Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of former president Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through much of the Confederate War of Secession. Lincoln won a landslide election against Democrat Grover Cleveland, who only managed to win his home state of New York. Lincoln would win again in 1888, and in 1892, the Republicans nominated Senator Benjamin Harrison. By this point, the Democratic Party was officially extinct, and had been absorbed into the new Populist Party. James B. Weaver, a member of the House of Representatives from Iowa, would run under the Populist Party ticket. The Populist Party was formed by Weaver in 1892 to promote his ideology of agrarianism and bimetallism[1]. Weaver would win a deeply contested election against Harrison, and would win again against Republican William McKinley in 1896. In 1900, the Populists would nominate William Jennings Bryan, who would win against Republican Thomas C. Platt.

From “History of the Confederate States” by John Walker

After four Democratic presidents had led the Confederacy through its early years, War of Secession veteran James Longstreet would run in 1887 under the Reform Party ticket. The Reform Party was founded by Longstreet as a tool for his own political career, and presented itself as the party of the common people[2] as opposed to the planter aristocracy. Longstreet would be incredibly popular with the Confederate populace, at least at first. As Lonstreet’s presidency continued, he became increasingly sympathetic to abolitionism[3], or at least was perceived as being sympathetic. In 1890, a year before the end of his presidency, Longstreet signed the Manumission Act into law, declaring that all people born on Confederate territory after that date would be free[4]. The Act’s signing into law would trigger riots throughout the Confederacy. Groups like the White Man’s League lynched free blacks and anti-slavery whites, more often than not getting away with it. Despite this, many have suggested that the gradual end of chattel slavery was inevitable, as the boll weevil[5] had completely destroyed the Confederacy’s cotton industry, with Europeans and Americans no w buying cotton from Egypt, India, or other places. In addition, the Confederacy’s reliance on slavery had turned it into an international pariah considered an embarrassment by its few allies[6].

The Democrats would reassert control with the election of Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee, in 1891. Lee and his successor, Benjamin Tillman, would establish a system of institutionalized segregation that made it seem as if the era of chattel slavery had never ended. The system of bonded labor, in which those in sever debt would be required to work off their debts, would develop under these two presidents[7]. It was plainly obvious that the Confederates had simply changed from calling their forced black labor “slaves” to calling them “bondsmen.” The main difference between the old system of slavery to the new system of bondage was what the slaves/bondsmen were being put to work on. Confederate slaves were almost entirely used for agriculture, particularly the growing of cotton. Bondsmen, on the other hand, were used for industrial labor, as the old planter aristocracy were forced to industrialize as it became clear to everyone that the old days when cotton was king were never coming back. Bondsmen worked in the factories from sun-up to sun-down, with the leading cause of death amongst them being the horrible working conditions and life-threatening machines that they were forced to accept as just another part of life. Blacks and whites were forbidden from even the most basic of social interactions, and any blacks, free or bonded, who violated the strict segregation would be immediately lynched by the White Man’s League.

In the 1903 election, Reform Party candidate James K. Vardaman would be elected President. Just as Longstreet opposed slavery, Vardarman opposed bondage, just for different reasons. Vardarman believed that free white labor couldn’t compete with bonded labor. However, Vardarman was no friend of blacks, advocating for the use of eugenics to gradually eradicate them from Confederate society. Not even a year into his presidency, Vardarman passed a law requiring that bondsmen could only have one child. He would then pass a series of laws, among other things, requiring all free blacks too be sterilized and encouraging bondsmen to get abortions[8]. Vardarman even proclaimed at a rally in Atlanta in 1905 that “soon, the n***ers will be forever eliminated from our borders!” News of Vardarman’s ethnic cleansing eventually spread beyond the Confederacy’s borders, and caused international outrage. Many Confederate blacks found themselves fleeing northwards to the United States on the Underground Railroad, a network that had existed since before the War of Secession that helped blacks escape northward to freedom. These refugees often found themselves forced into working-class jobs and poor conditions, but many managed to better their lives. While the United States was just as racist as any other country at the time, the recent stream of refugees managed to earn Confederate blacks the sympathy of a decent portion of Americans. In 1907, American President William Jennings Bryan declared that “the Confederate States cannot be allowed to continue to exist as an independent country!“ Confederate-American relations were the worst they had been since the War of Secession. The Great War was inevitable, all it needed was for the powder keg to be lit.

[1]The position in favor of monetary units being based around two metals, typically gold and silver

[2]”The common people” of course referring to the common white people, and not the millions of people who continue to be enslaved

[3]Longstreet would become a Republican IOTL and supported reconstruction and slightly(emphasis on slightly) better treatment of southern blacks. While having him abolish slavery might seem like a stretch of the imagination, he’s the only Confederate figure who would even consider it, and even though the Confederates literally seceded to protect slavery, not doing so would leave their economy in ruins and alienate them from their most powerful ally, the staunchly anti-slavery British, and I want to keep the Confederates around at least until the Great War.

[4]It should be noted that everyone born before 1890 are still slaves, and just because the newly freed blacks aren’t slaves anymore, they still don’t have citizenship and are segregated.

[5]The boll weevil is a beetle that eats cotton buds and flowers that singlehandedly destroyed the southern cotton industry IOTL. In a timeline such as this one where the Confederacy won, the boll weevil would remove what was essentially the sole source of their economy, as well as the only reason that anyone else puts up with them.

[6]Those allies being Brazil, Mexico, and Britain(and its enemies being basically everyone else)

[7]Essentially, former slaves were required to pay their former masters way more money than they had, putting them in severe debt. They would then be required to work away their debt without pay, essentially making it as if they were still slaves. In addition, their debts could be inherited, making it so that their children would be bonded as well.

[8]I felt uncomfortable writing about this. I hope it’s because the Confederate leadership make good villains, as well as generally pathetic excuses for human beings

 

[Merovingian]

From “From Autocracy to Modernity: Russia in the Age of Reform” by Nikolai Petrov

Nicholas II is considered to have been Russia’s first modern Emperor. He ascended to the throne after his father’s death in 1906, and found himself the rulers of a nation at a crossroads. While his grandfather had democratized Russia and his father had introduced greater industrialization, Russia’s political system was still developing. Russia’s first two Prime Ministers, Boris Chicherin and Sergei Witte, had not belonged to any political party. However, towards the end of Alexander III’s reign, two new political parties had manag to divide the Duma between themselves; the Social Democratic Party and the National Party. The Social Democrats‘ base of support was amongst industrial workers, while the Nationals were popular with the nobility[1], business owners, and in rural communities.

In the 1905 election, National candidate Pavel Milyukov defeated Social Democrat Mikhail Kalinin. Milyukov won the overwhelming majority of the vote, as he was seen as a moderate, while Kalinin was known to have radical socialist sympathies[2]. Despite preferring Milyukov over Kalinin(especially due to Kalinin’s alleged republican sympathies), Emperor Nicholas chose to stay neutral in the election, choosing instead to serve as an apolitical symbol of the nation. Part of the reason for this was that his father, a committed arch-conservative, had conflicted with the Duma on numerous issues, and by the end of his reign, the Duma passed a series of laws limiting the Emperor’s power. However, Nicholas generally enjoyed a good public image, one which would only increase after his marriage to Empress Maria Fyodorovna[3], daughter of Emperor Alfonso I of Brazil. It seemed Russia had a bright future ahead of it.

[1]By this point, the Russian nobility are purely ceremonial, but still have a certain degree of social influence

[2]IOTL, Kalinin would join the Bolsheviks. While he’s considerably more moderate ITTL, he still supports numerous radical positions that alienate a decent portion of the voters.

[3]All foreign-born Empress-consorts of Russia who’s fathers name had no equivalent in Russian took the patronymic “Fyodorovna”, after the Fyodorovskaya icon, considered the patron icon of the Romanov family

 

[Merovingian]

From “The Righteous Cause of America“ by Jeremiah McClain

As of today, the Confederate States of America is an impoverished backwater, in no small part thanks to the sort of politicians who tend to thrive in such a nation as the Confederacy. In order to understand Confederate politics, we must first understand that our southern neighbor has a strict class system, in stark contrast to the land of opportunity that is America. At the top of the Confederate class system are the planter aristocracy, wealthy landowners who historically made their fortunes in vast plantations. The planters’ interests are represented by the Democratic Party, which despite its name is in fact in favor of aristocracy, slavery, and allowing the planter class to lord over those they perceive to be beneath them. The Confederacy’s current President, Woodrow Wilson, is a member of the Democratic Party. Members of the planter class are trained from birth in the arts of cruelty and tyranny, and are instilled with the false belief that it is their natural birthright to rule over everything and everyone.

Beneath the white underclass. They are not as wealthy or as vain as the planters, nor do they share the same cruel intelligence, but they are just as inclined to tyranny as all Confederates. However, unlike the planters, they have neither the wealth nor the power to act on their tyrannical urges, and thus must resort to mob violence(which is considered a common pastime among them), typically against those of the African race, to sate their cruelty. These people, if they can even be called that, possess a debilitating stupidity resulting from generations of inbreeding. Like all Confederates, they are obsessed with the supposed “purity” of their ancestry, and thusly prohibit themselves from mating with anyone outside their immediate family. This tradition of incest has turned them into an unruly horde of ape-like creatures who only be considered “human“ by the most generous definition of the word and, as has been mentioned, almost universally have severe cognitive defects[1]. However, they make up for their stupidity with their strength in numbers. Politically, these ape-men are represented by the Reform Party, who favors the replacement of the old system of plantation slavery with a strict system of racial segregation that would simultaneously depose the planters, while still keeping the black Confederate population down. Former Confederate President James K. Vardaman was a member of the Reform Party, who further refined his Democratic predecessor Benjamin Tillman’s strategy of manipulating poor whites’ fear of colored individuals to get elected, a strategy currently used by incumbent President Wilson.

Beneath them are the Confederate blacks. Although the Confederacy freed its slaves under President Longstreet, slavery is still technically legal, and blacks who are found to have violated the country’s tyrannical laws are swiftly re-enslaved. It is unknown how many people are enslaved today. Centuries of slavery have left the Confederacy’s black population with a strong desire for freedom, and many risk their lives trying to flee to America. They are not considered citizens, and thus are not allowed to vote, and therefore are not represented in the Confederacy’s legal system.

The current President of the Confederacy is one Woodrow Wilson. Wilson is a miserable creature who seems to sustain himself solely on his hatred of others. Under Wilson’s leadership, the Confederacy has become increasingly aggressive towards the United States. Wilson has allied with the equally wretched despots who rule Mexico and Brazil in his struggle to undermine America and the ideals of democracy. Wilson is a loathsome creature, a tyrant of the worst kind. As long of the Confederacy continues to exist, men like Wilson will continue to threaten the American ideals of freedom and democracy, because deep down, that is what scares him. Wilson, and his friends in Brazil and Mexico, are afraid of democracy because it means tyrants like them can’t come to power. And so the United States of America will continue to act as a beacon of freedom, until the last bastions of tyranny are gone from the world.

From “In Defense of my Actions” by Woodrow Wilson

I continue to stand by the position, as do many, that my actions during the Great War were completely justified. However, as I am writing this from exile, it is clear that the victors of this war do not. In particular, my critics have been keen to point to the mass reduction of the Confederacy’s negro popular during the course of the war. I say that such action were completely necessary, as had the extermination campaign not happened, than the n*****s would certainly have collaborated with the Americans[2]. Others have criticized how I have treated American prisoners of war, but it still pales in comparison with the Americans’ crimes during the war[3]. The new Confederate government has, in addition to forcing the American concept of interracial cooperation on the white people of the Confederacy, adopted the position that it was somehow my fault that the war was lost, saying I was incompetent and delusional. In fact, the Confederacy was just about to win when we were betrayed. By our allies, by the revolutionaries who would go on to form the new government, by the colored savages who are now allowed into public society, by my backstabbing military. Now, the Confederate people are forced to live with the consequ of their betrayal, as the Americans turn us into a miscegenated nation along the lines of the Mexicans and Brazilians who claimed to be our allies but betrayed us at the last minute. History will remember me as a martyr for the noble cause of the formerly white Confederacy[4].

**********
If you think that I am projecting my irrational hatred of Wilson onto the timeline, you are mistaken; it’s far from an irrational hatred. I’ve decided that TTL’s version of Wilson will be even more easy to hate than his OTL equivalent. For those of you who don’t realize, “Invisible Empire of the South” is taken from a Wilson speech where he praises the KKK.





[1]Obviously, no single culture or ethnicity is inherently stupid and violent, but propaganda at the time was heavily racialized, even if it’s against racists

[2]Wilson fails to realize that he could have easily prevented them from collaborating by giving them even basic human rights

[3]Here’s a tip; if you’re going to resort to whataboutism, at least have something to compare your actions to that supposedly justifies them instead of just saying “what they did was worse” without specifying what it was that they did

[4]Obligatory disclaimer that the views expressed by certain characters do not reflect the views of the author

 

[Merovingian]

From “Guangxu: The Great Reformer” by Quang Xongzheng

For as long as anyone could remember, China had been the center of wealth, power, culture, and civilization in the world. However, eventually China fell into stagnation while the powers of Europe continued to advance. Eventually, the British Empire emerged as the premier power in both Europe and the world. The British would conquer India, giving them a foothold in Asia just to the south of China. The British wished to have access to Chinese tea, but the Chinese restricted trade with foreign nations. This angered the British, who resorted to illegally selling opium in China in exchange for tea. China’s attempts to stop the influx of illegal British opium resulted in the two Opium Wars, all of which were won by Britain.

China was deeply humiliated in the aftermath of the Opium Wars, and the Chinese state fell into disarray. The state of affairs only worsened with the introduction of the foreign religion of Christianity, brought by European and American missionaries. A Hakka[1] man from Guangdong named Hong Xuiquan converted to Christianity[2] and began alongside his fellow Christians a rebellion against the Qing dynasty, declaring the “Taiping Heavenly Kingdom” with himself as its leader. The Taiping managed to take the city of Nanjing, which they renamed Tianjing, and killed the Empress-Dowager Cixi[3]. However, the Taipings were eventually defeated.

After the devastation wrought by both the European powers and the Taiping, the Japanese, who had recently modernized, fought with China over influence in Korea. The War of Jiawu[4], as it came to be known, resulted in a Japanese victory and highlighted the failure of the Chinese to modernize their military. After China’s repeated humiliation, the young Guangxu Emperor introduced the Hundred Days’ Reform(also known as the Wuxu Reform) to modernize China. The reforms included:

• The abolition of the traditional examination system
• Eliminating positions that provided little or no work but still provided salary
• The gradual transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy
• Building a modern educational system, studying science and mathematics instead of focusing primarily on Confucian texts
• Modernizing China’s military, as well as adopting modern drill and training methods
• Applying the principles of capitalism to strengthen the economy
• Establishing Peking University as a place where the sciences, liberal arts, and the Chinese classics could be studied
• Establishing a naval academy
• Rapid industrialization of China through manufacturing, capitalism, and commerce
• Utilization of unused military land for agriculture

The reforms were broadly successful. Kang Youwei, a leading advocate of the reforms, was given the title of Imperial Prime Minister. However, Kang’s increasingly radical ideas resulted in the Guangxu Emperor ordering his deposition and replacement with Li Hongzhang in 1898. Following Li’s death in 1905[5], he was replaced with Yikuang, Prince Qing. Under Guangxu’s leadership, China entered the new century newly modernized, and began pursuing ambitions of becoming a great power equal to those of Europe. Only time would tell whether or not it would achieve its new ambition,



[1]An ethnic group in China

[2]Hong’s form of ”Christianity“ was extremely heretical. He claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus.

[3]Ding-dong, the witch is dead!

[4]Known in OTL as the First Sino-Japanese War

[5]Li Hongzhang lives slightly longer ITTL

 

[Merovingian]

From “The Great Commoner: William Jennings Bryan”

Bryan would loose his re-election campaign against Republican Charles Evans Hughes in 1908. Hughes’ term was largely uneventful, however, Hughes’ conservative views alienated the progressive wing of the party. In the upcoming 1912 election, the Republican vote was split between Hughes and California Senator Hiram Johnson, who represented the progressive wing of the party. When Johnson lost the nomination to Hughes, he ran under the Progressive Party ticket. Bryan would successfully win the Populist ticket. Due to the Republican vote being split, Bryan managed to win a non-consecutive second term, just on the eve of the Great War.

From “Los Años Gloriosos: Mexico in the Habsburg Era” by Francisco Zapata

Following the death of Emperor Maximilian I on the first of June, 1891, he was succeeded by his son, Maximilian II. The young Maximilian’s reign was dominated both by the Growing conflict in the New World between Mexico, Brazil, and the Confederacy on one side, and the United States on the other, and by the growth of Mexico’s international prestige. In contrast to his Brazilian and Confederate allies, Maximilian would retain somewhat cordial relations with the United States, at least before the advent of the Great War. Unlike Brazil and its quest for continental hegemony, and the Confederacy‘s desire to remain independent in the face of its revanchistic and much more powerful northern neighbor, Mexico seemingly had little to gain from war with the United States. Maximilian also found Brazilian Emperor Alfonso I and especially Confederate President Woodrow Wilson to be contemptible individuals. Nevertheless, he would stand by his allies when the Great War did come.

Maximilian would sponsor a cultural and artistic revival in Mexico. ”La cultura nueva[1]“, as it came to be known, portrayed Mexico as a successor to both the Aztec and Spanish Empires, and used both Mesoamerican and European imagery. Mesoamerican-influenced artistic styles flourished, and Mexico increasingly came to be portrayed as simply the current link in a chain that also included Imperial Spain, the Aztecs, the Toltecs, and the Mayans. Despite the abundance of Mesoamerican themes, European imagery was also used, particularly in relation to the ruling House of Habsburg. Mexico was also distinguished from its Mesoamerican forebearers by its adherence to the Christian faith, particularly Catholicism, which was distinguished from the Protestantism of the United States. Although Mexico did not receive as many immigrants as some other countries in the Americas, many from Europe did come to Maximilian’s Empire. All this would soon came to a halt. On December 10th, 1912, the Great War had begun.


[1]Spanish for “the new culture”

 

[Merovingian]

From “History of the Great War from a Consortist Perspective” by Alpaslan Karatay

Most histories of the Great War within the liberated nations tend to focus on how it ultimately led to the Consortist Revolution and the birth of the Compact of Revolutionary Nations. However, few Consortist histories of the Great War focus on the war itself, not just its place in the inevitable expansion of the revolution. Aside from the obvious importance of the Revolution, from a Mironovist-Insanlarogluist perspective, the war’s only purpose according to the principle of Historical Inevitabilism[1] was to pave the way for the Nations’ Revolution and the rise of a Consortist entity. Now, at the risk of sounding revisionist, we should focus on the war itself and not just its place in accelerating the Liberal Stage of Civilization, therefore turning the nations’ volksgeist towards Consortism. I justify myself by saying, we must remember history as it happened, so that we may have definitive proof of Sergei Mironov‘s great, revolutionary theory of Consortism.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, which formerly belonged to the French state, was incorporated into the German state. While in our Compact, different nations coexist in harmony, under the Liberal Stage of Civilization, Nation and State are merged, inevitably leading to conflict. In Alsace-Lorraine, members of the French and German nations coexisted, however, do to the land’s ownership by the German state and the French state’s desire to reacquire the territory, the two nations and states fell into conflict. The French state’s revanchistic Royalist government continued to claim Alsace-Lorraine as theirs, and French citizens were encouraged to settle in Alsace-Lorraine. One such Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Regnard, settled in Alsace-Lorraine, right next to a farm run by German Wilhelm Stumpf. Regnard caught one of Stumpf’s pigs eating from his garden, and responded by shooting it. Stumpf reported Regnard’s actions to the German police, who arrested him. French newspapers turned the event into a scandal, and the French state demanded that the German state release Regnard, which the German state rejected. When diplomacy failed, the French state declared war on the German state.

From “Winter of Nations: The Great War” by Sir Alfred Baker

Following France’s declaration of war against Germany, allies of the two countries, bound by treaty, would join to help in the war. France was a member of the London Accords, an alliance that also included Britain, the Ottoman Empire, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and the Confederacy. Germany, meanwhile, was a member of the Continental Alliance, which also included Russia, Austria-Hungary, the United States, and Argentina. German and Anglo-French armies gathered along the Franco-German border, and the fighting quickly devolved into a stalemate dominated by trench warfare.

A combined Austro-Hungarian and Russian force engaged in conflict with the Ottomans in the Balkans. Within the region, Greece, Romania, and Serbia allied with the Russians and Austro-Hungarians, while Bulgaria allied with the Ottomans. The Balkan front would not degenerate into pointless trench warfare quite as fast as the Western front, but would develop its own unique brutality, in which civilians often found themselves involved. While the Western front quickly became a stalemate, the Balkan front saw the Ottomans’ outdated military failing in the face of modernity, with cavalry charges on one side and machine guns on the other.

Brazilian Emperor Alfonso I used the beginning of the war as an excuse to invade Paraguay, which had been largely lawless ever since its defeat in the Paraguayan War, and Uruguay, which had been previously neutral, as his armies moved to invade Argentina. Argentine propaganda made frequent mention of Brazil’s invasion, of a neutral country, and would frequently display exaggerated or even made up stories of Brazilian atrocities in Uruguay[2]. As Brazil invaded Argentina through Uruguay, Argentina would invade Chile, only for a stalemate similar to the one in Western Europe to develop.

While Alfonso was well-known for his belligerent personality and nationalistic views, as well as his infamous inability to keep his mouth shut when he really should, he showed a surprising aptitude for military matters. Alfonso quickly realized that if Buenos Aires fell, then Argentina would fell. Unlike most other leaders during the Great War, Alfonso’s tactics relied on the military theories he developed based on his own experience in the Paraguayan War rather than outdated tactics from the Napoleonic Wars. In addition to strategy and tactics, Alfonso identified a third component of organized warfare; operation. During the Great War, the Brazilian armed forces would adopt a military theory that emphasized suppressing, destroying, and/or disorganizing enemy forces not just at the line of contact, but also throughout the extent of the battlefield[3].

Alfonso’s goal was to knock Argentina out of the war, then turn his attention towards the United States. Along the Mason-Dixon Line, yet another stalemate developed between the Americans and an alliance of Confederates and Mexicans. Although the Confederacy itself did not have the capacity to take on the United States on its own, the influx of Mexican troops from the south gave the Confederates just what they needed to fend off an American invasion. As the war dragged on, the Confederacy’s oppressed black population began to revolt in support of the Americans. President Woodrow Wilson responded to the rebellion by beginning to use measures to, in his words, “reduce the population of the n*****s until there are so few of them that they cease to be a serious threat to our war effort.”

In Asia, the rising power and British ally that was the Japanese Empire invaded several German colonies, as well as Korea, which was contested with Russia. China’s Guangxu Emperor responded to Japan’s invasion of Korea by declaring war, bringing the Great War to Asia. Japan would invade China through Manchuria, but would fail to get any further than that as yet another stalemate developed. Although no one knew it at the beginning, the Great War would redefine the concept of war, and would force the world into a new, different era than the one that preceded it.


[1]The belief in an inevitable march of history through different Stages of Civilization towards a stateless society as outlined by Sergei Mironov

[2]Uruguay being the Belgium of South America is even more of an accurate statement ITTL

[3]Think of Soviet deep operation, but adapted to early twentieth century South America.

 

[Merovingian]

From “Winter of Nations: The Great War” by Sir Alfred Baker

The first front of the Great War where the stalemate was broken was in Canada. The British quickly abandoned Canada to the Americans[1]. Canada was put under American military occupation, and most of the troops on the Canadian front were moved south to the Confederate front. However, even with Canada, the Americans’ problems were far from over. The British continued to blockade the United States, and a growing resistance developed in Canada against the American occupiers. The Canadian resistance plays a prominent role in contemporary Canadian identity, with revolutionary slogans like “free Canada” and “occupiers go home” still featuring in Canadian society.

Along the South American front, Brazilian troops managed to reach Buenos Aires. Despite the Argentines’ valiant defense of the city, the Brazilians emerged victorious[2]. With the fall of Buenos Aires, the Argentines surrendered. Following the Argentine surrender, Emperor Alfonso moved all of his troops from the Argentine front northward to assist the Mexicans and Confederates against the United States. In the November of 1913, a combined Confederate-Mexican force laid siege to the American capital of Washington, D.C. The Americans eventually abandoned the city, after evacuating their government to New York. President William Jennings Bryan gave a speech shortly after the fall of Washington stating that “America will continue to fight, until all the fighting’s done.” Meanwhile, in Europe, another break in the stalemate would happen, one far more influential in the history after the war.



[1]IOTL, the British planned to abandon Canada in the event of a war with the United States

[2]The Brazilians’ victory was due to a mixture of being more industrialized and Argentina being centralized around Buenos Aires

 

[Merovingian]

Constantinople[1], Ottoman Empire, 1913

A year had passed, and the war had made little progress. Luckily for Aytolun, he was not fighting on the frontlines, however, the war still affected him. The opinion in Constantinople became increasingly anti-war. The people increasingly came to view the Empire’s ruling classes in a negative light. The illegal Consortist Party, led by the exiled Ismail Insanlaroglu[2], became the leading voice against the war. Suddenly, Aytolun heard an outburst of cheers as a crowd gathered around the train station. A vaguely familiar figure stepped off the train. A man in the crowd shouted “Insanlaroglu has returned!”

From “History of the Turkish Revolution” by James Westfield

On May 5th, 1913, the Russians sent exiled Consortist leader Ismail Insanlaroglu back to the Ottoman Empire. It was hoped that Insanlaroglu would start a rebellion against the Ottomans, thus allowing the Russians to defeat both the Ottomans and the Consortists. Insanlaroglu’s arrival was followed by citywide riots and unrest, which eventually toppled the Ottoman government. The new Interim Government that was established, with Insanlaroglu at its head, held a series of trials for numerous higher ups in the Ottoman government, including Sultan Abdul Hamid II[3], all of whom were executed. Insanlaroglu then held a referendum, in which a controversial 90% of the population voted to reorganize the Interim Government into the Compact of Revolutionary Nations. The flag of the Ottoman Empire would be lowered, and in its place, the black flag of revolution was raised.

Within the first few days of the Compact’s existence, numerous radical changes were made to society. The Consortist Party became the sole legal political party, and membership was mandatory for all Compact residents aged 18 or older. Titles such as “pasha”, “effendi”, “bey”, and “hanim” were abolished, and Turks were required to adopt surnames. Mosques, churches, and synagogues were required to place Sergei Mironov’s books “Industriya” and “The Consortist Manifesto” alongside the Quran, Bible, or Torah[4]. Although Insanlaroglu held the title “Chairman of the Consortist Party”, the Compact had no de jure head of state. In fact, aside from the Consortist Party, the Compact had no functioning government, as the ultimate goal of Consortism is the abolition of the state.

Opposition against the Compact grew throughout the former Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman military regrouped to Ankara, Turkey’s second largest city. The anti-consortist Army of the Caliphate(also known as the Red Army, due to using the Ottoman red flag), led by Şehzade Mehmed[5], Enver Pasha, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, and the Kurdish-born Mîrxan Zêbar. Aside from opposing the Consortists, they had no real unifying ideology and deeply mistrusted each other. Şehzade Mehmed, the theoretical leader of the Red Army, favored an absolutist Caliphate with himself as its Sultan. Enver Pasha was a Turkish nationalist who was in favor of a constitutional monarchy under a military dictatorship, with him as its leader. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was also a Turkish nationalist, but he wanted a secular republic with himself as its President. Mîrxan Zêbar was an opportunist who cared more about staying alive then anything else, and was willing to work with any of the aforementioned possibilities, as long as their was something in it for him. Mîrxan Zêbar was particularly disliked by the others for his background as a Kurdish commoner and his lack of respect for the rules. The dislike was returned, as Mîrxan despised the others’ tendency to take credit for his accomplishments and denigrate his achievements.

To combat the Red Army, Insanlaroglu formed the Consortist People’s Insurrectionary Militia of the Compact of Revolutionary Nations, or the Black Army, as it came to be known for the sake of simplicity. Insanlaroglu also made peace with Russia, Austria-Hungary, and their allies, so he could focus solely on the Red Army. As Black and Red clashed over the future of Turkey, the Great War would continue to rage throughout the world as the bloody stalemate continued.




[1]Contrary to popular opinion, Istanbul was still called “Constatinople”(“Konstantiniyye”in Turkish) under the Ottomans. The name “Istanbul” wouldn’t become officially until Atatürk.

[2]A pseudonym derived from Turkish “Insanlar”, meaning “people”, and “-oglu“, meaning ”son of”

[3]Neither the Young Turk Revolution nor the 31 March Incident happened ITTL, so Abdul Hamid is still the Sultan during the Great War

[4]Unlike communism IOTL, consortism is compatible with religion and doesn’t involve state atheism

[5]OTL’s Mehmed V

 

[Merovingian]

From “History of the Confederate States” by John Walker

As the Great War dragged on, Wilson became increasingly paranoid about an insurrection of the Confederacy’s black population. On July 3rd, 1913, Woodrow Wilson ordered the “reduction of the negro population of the Confederate States to less than 100 individuals” so as to prevent the likelihood of revolt. Wilson sent the military to towns with black majorities, were they were ordered to kill every male in town as soon as they arrived. The Mexican journalist Francisco Díaz managed to find out about the occupied towns. He wrote “children are ripped from their mothers’ arms, men are slaughtered in the streets, innocents are massacred without mercy.“ Díaz recorded one particularly infamous instance where Confederate soldiers held a competition for who could kill the most blacks in the most creative ways. Among the most infamous instances of Wilson’s genocide was one man who massacred a black orphanage with nothing but a claymore[1].

Richmond, Virginia, Confederate States

Woodrow Wilson was very pleased with himself. Just three months after ordering the extermination of some of the lesser elements of the Confederacy’s population[2], he had successfully eliminated the threat of revolt. Suddenly, he was disturbed by one of his generals. “Mister President” the general said “there is an unruly mob gathering just outside.” “What are they so angry about” Wilson asked. “They are angry about the economic troubles caused by the war” the general responded “what should I do?” “Get rid of them” Wilson commanded “you know what to do.” Wilson retreated deeper into the executive mansion as the sounds of gunshots and the screams of the rioters could be heated outside.

From a flier distributed by the Confederate People‘s Front

Down with Wilson! Peace, freedom, justice![3]



[1]feel sick writing this

[2]Obligatory reminder that these are Wilson’s opinions, not mine

[3]Motto of the revolutionary Confederate People’s Front, referring to “peace”(an end to the war), “freedom”(an end to Wilson’s increasing authoritarianism), and “justice”(punishment for those involved in Wilson’s government)

 

[Merovingian]

“Mîrxan is about as trustworthy as he is pleasant to be around[1]”
—Şehzade Mehmed

From the Consortist Song “Arise, Nations of the World!”

Arise, nations of the world!
Arise, fore we no longer
Shall be slaves to the
Magistarchy!
Arise, cast off your shackles,
The people’s time has come!
Arise! Arise! Arise!

From “History of the Turkish Revolution” by James Westfield

To say that Mîrxan Zêbar was disliked by his contemporaries would be an understatement. This dislike was mutual, as Mîrxan thought very highly of himself and was known to hold grudges for decades. Mîrxan’s dislike of his fellow Red generals was amplified after January 3rd, 1914, when he played a pivotal role in defending the Red capital of Ankara from the enroaching Black Army, only for a minor corporal, Oğuz Pasha, to claim credit. Further infuriating for Mîrxan, Oğuz Pasha was promoted to his position, while Mîrxan was demoted.

For Mîrxan, this was the final straw. On January 20th, 1914, Mîrxan Zêbar defected to the Black Army, claiming to have “read the works of Sergei Mironov and been enlightened by his revolutionary idea of Consortism” but in actuality had been pushed around one too many times by his comrades. In accordance with Insanlaroglu‘s surname law, Mîrxan would take the surname “Ghazi”[2], making his full name Mîrxan Zêbar Ghazi. He would henceforth refer to himself as Comrade General Mîrxan Zêbar Ghazi, and would come to be known by the western press as “Mirkhan Ghazi”, which is what we shall call him from now on.

Mirkhan Ghazi would build himself a carefully-crafted reputation as a convert to the Consortist cause who had since dedicated his life to the revolution, as well as a great military leader. On March 5th, 1914, Insanlaroglu would promote Ghazi to Commander-in-Chief of the Black Army. Ghazi’s reputation would only strengthen with the Second Battle of Ankara on December 28th, 1914, when Ghazi successfully captured the Red Army’s capital of Ankara for the Compact. Ghazi’s former allies were brought to Constantinople, where they awaited trial and execution. However, not everyone was happy about the fall of Ankara. On January, 2nd, 1915, a former Red soldier by the name of Mehmet Effendi assassinated Insanlaroglu while he was giving a speech. Mehmet Effendi was arrested and executed, and Insanlaroglu was turned into a martyr for the Consortists, but with Insanlaroglu gone, Ghazi was now the most powerful man in the Compact. The Consortist Party elected Ghazi as their new Chairman, and Ghazi would expand his list of titles to include “Grand Marshal Comerade Mirkhan Zebar Ghazi, Commander-in-Chief of the Consortist People’s Insurrectionary Militia, Chairman of the Consortist Party, and Guide of the Revolution.”

Meanwhile, as Mirkhan Ghazi consolidated his power, new opposition against the Compact began to develop. The former Ottoman Empire’s Arab population, formerly loyal to the Red Army, now rallied around the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, who declared himself “King of the Arabs” and “Hashemite Caliph.” The Armenians, never happy under Turkish rule[3] declared independence under the Republic of Armenia. The Armenians gained the recognition and support of Russia, while volunteers from all over the Islamic world came to the Hussein bin Ali’s side, not wanting the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina to fall into the hands of Consortist radicals. More importantly, however, Ghazi would set the course for what Consortism would become in the future. An ideology founded on the ideals of equality would soon find its greatest champion; a brutal dictator who had his opposition killed, or worse, sent to labor camps in the Rub’ al Khali, and who ruled through fear and domination. The ideas of Mironov and Insanlaroglu that once brought hope to the oppressed peoples of the world would now simply be the justification for a regime far worse than the one that preceded it.



[1]In other words, not at all

[2]An Islamic title referring to a great military leader

[3]The Hamidian repressions happened ITTL, but not the Armenian Genocide

 

[Merovingian]

From “A Brief History of History of Texas” by Bill Johnson

Goin into the Twentieth Century, the discovery of oil in Texas had led to a massive increase to the Texan economy. It was around this time that Texas became increasingly divided from the rest of the Confederacy. Texas’ Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt opposed the Confederacy’s entry into the Great War, and personally opposing President Woodrow Wilson. As the war raged on and Wilson’s grip on the Confederacy became increasingly strong, the general opinion of the Confederate President in Texas worsened. On November 7th, 1913, Colquitt announced that Texas was officially seceding from the Confederacy. Wilson was furious, sending the Confederate military to occupy Texas[1]. Any Texans who had previously opposed independence soon found themselves rallying against Wilson, as Confederate troops commit numerous atrocities against the locals, most infamously a gas attack against innocent civilians in San Antonio on February 3rd, 1914.

National Anthem of the Republic of Texas, written by an unknown author during Wilson’s occupation

Arise, mother country, arise!
Arise, mother country, arise!
The homeland calls for sacrifice!
The homeland calls for sacrifice!
The sacrifice of of our lives,
So our freedom never dies!

O, I would give my life to defend
The pure soil of the motherland!
Our future shall be fulfilled!
For the homeland, blood must spill!
Our ancestors smile upon us,
For we shall emerge victorious!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!

The enemy is marching towards us,
But we shall emerge victorious!
The enemy is marching towards us,
But we shall emerge victorious!
They believed that they had won,
And yet we sent them on the run!
They believed that they had won,
And yet we sent them on the run!

O, I would give my life to defend
The pure soul of the motherland!
Our future shall be fulfilled!
For the homeland, blood must spill!
Our ancestors smile upon us,
For we shall emerge victorious!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!

With my rifle, I shall defend
Every inch of our land!
With my rifle, I shall defend
Every inch of our land!
O, countrymen, arise!
Listen to the people’s cries!
O, countrymen, arise!
Listen to the people’s cries!

O, I would give my life to defend
The pure soil of the motherland!
Our future shall be fulfilled!
For the homeland, blood must spill!
Our ancestors smile upon us,
For we shall emerge victorious!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!
The people are standing hand in hand,
There is no threat we cannot withstand!

Richmond, Virginia, Confederate States, 1914

Woodrow Wilson was far from a happy man. It seemed that everything had been going right for him, until everything started going wrong. He was contemplating exactly what had gone wrong, when he was interrupted by a loud noise. Eventually, he was informed that the Americans were closing in on Richmond. He was smuggled out of Richmond, and was to be taken somewhere still loyal to him, from which he would retake the Confederacy.

[1]Ironically, the Confederacy’s constitution forbid secession