Let The Eagle Scream Version 2: Star-Spangled-Boogaloo
- Thread starter Murica1776
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Maybe we could even see Breton and Corsican nationalism arise in such a situation?
Hey y'all! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Sorry for the lack of updates, exams, Thanksgiving, and starting the process for accepting a government internship all happened simultaneously. Coming up, we're going to see the fall of France and Britain to their respective brands of crazy, and properly check in on the Republic of China, soon to be a civil war ridden area, as well as the development of several strands of Chinese nationalism.
Republic of the Dragon: China Before Civil War
Republic of the Dragon: China Before Civil War
Flag of the the Republic of China
In June of 1912, the Qing Dynasty of China was overthrown by a republican revolution lead by Yuan Shikai, a powerful official in the Dynasty who had been radicalized against the regime by the slow, agonizing decline of China. With the help of leading members of the military, he stormed the Forbidden City and slaughtered the Qing Dynasty. After consolidating power around himself (not difficult given his powerful personality and the unpopularity of the Qing by this point) he announced a reorganization of the Chinese government on August 6th. Most were expecting Yuan to declare himself Emperor of a new dynasty. That is, after all, the way the system is supposed to work. However, that is not what happened.
Flag of the the Republic of China
Yuan had spent a lot of free time over the years reading political theory, and had become enamored with aspects of American style governance. He discarded most checks and balances and the idea of a weak executive, but did take away an admiration for republicanism, a strong judiciary, America's progressive bureaucracy, and protections on minority rights. All of these ideas could help bring China into the future. It is with this in mind that he declared a November 9th election. In practice, the election was a formality, as he was the only person with any kind of political machinery across the country, and the literacy required to produce and read ballots limited votes to the intelligentsia and bureaucracy. Nonetheless, it set a precedent for the future: elections matter. Some were skeptical of the electoral process, viewing it as un-Chinese. To silence these concerns, Yuan began to paint elections as "the Mandate of Heaven by Other Means." If the people chose good leaders, Heaven smiled on them and China. If they didn't, they deserved what came to them. While this didn't totally alleviate concerns, it did help convince many to at least accept the process in this case.
After winning the election, Yuan assembled an American styled Constitution of China. However, the President (him) was far more powerful as opposed to the American system, with the legislature being fairly weak. The judicial system was preserved as is, as Yuan actually saw a great deal of both Confucianism and Legalism in an independent judiciary and the rule of law. Is it not just to hold rulers accountable to the standards they set, and is it not practical to establish a judicial system that will efficiently mete out punishment regardless of who rules? Aside from government structure, Yuan embraced several rights from the Bill of Rights, albeit watered down. Certain religions (mainly Christianity and Buddhism) would be tolerated by the majority so long as they didn't get too loud. Provisions were made for freedom of speech and press, albeit limited by concerns over national unity and Confucian obedience. Forced quartering of troops was banned. Surprisingly, Yuan also wholeheartedly embraced the Second Amendment, copying it almost word for word. His reasoning was much the same as others in America: if you're armed enough, no one will invade you. On minority issues, Yuan issued some Reconstruction style protections for "the Other Four Races of China," defined as the Manchu, Mongols, Hui, and Tibetans.
This became a strong point of contention within Yuan's Chinese National Party, the de facto ruling party of the country for his whole Presidency. There were three broad schools of thought regarding minority issues among Chinese nationalists. The smallest group, dubbed the "Chinese Rainbow School," embraced all minority races and cultures in China, arguing they could thrive under a powerful state that unified their ambitions and talents while protecting what made them unique. This group wasn't that important, but did gain some traction, especially among minority groups. The largest group, known as the "Unity of All Under Heaven School" which Yuan himself favored, was premised on the idea that while some unique cultural flavorings could be preserved, minorities should generally assimilate to the Han majority culture. To this end, the ROC began funding schools across the nation to teach Mandarin Chinese from the Beijing Dialect, in order to standardize communication. However, local religions were mostly let alone, and other customs survived. The final school, led by Sun Yat-Sen, was the so-called "The East Must Be Han School." This school of thought was explicitly Han supremacist, and said that minorities must be "gradually washed away" through assimilation, intermarriage with Han men, and even sterilization, deportation, or worse. The Han Chinese were held to be the rightful rulers of "The Yellow Race" and they must assert themselves at home before taking on the foreigners in Asia. Each of these schools took inspiration from different foreign sources. The Chinese Rainbow School embraced the Tripartite Empire as a model, noting that although relations could be "tense and rambunctious" the Tripartite Empire was actually fairly functional and was beginning to build a pan-Imperial identity that embraced its various groups without sublimating them to a hegemonic group. Why couldn't China do it, and do it better? The Unity of All Under Heaven School explicitly looked to the United States as their model, stating that "The success of the imperial races of America, those being the White and African races, in creating a unified imperial culture without resort to constant brutality is reminiscent of Our China during her most glorious years." Finally, those who subscribed to The East Must Be Han School embraced Japanese, German, and Croixist models of homogeneous and powerful states.
Much as they disagreed on domestic issues, the Three Schools of Chinese Nationalism (as they were increasingly known) disagreed on China's place in the world. The Rainbowmen (proponents of Chinese Rainbow) believed that rather than attempting to return to the world stage with brute force, China should strive to become the picture of a prosperous, harmonious, and sophisticated culture. This would prove Chinese supremacy, and provide an example to all the world. The Unitists (those who believed in the Unity of All Under Heaven School) believed that China should project power in its "near abroad" (defined as Korea, Mongolia, and Indochina) but should generally find a powerful ally and build a massive military for defensive purposes. The Han Chauvinists believed in a much more grandiose vision of Chinese power. They championed an aggressive foreign policy that actively sought to make China the Eastern counterweight to the West, maybe even a global hegemon. Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Central Asia, India, Indonesia, and more were to either be part of a sphere of influence or annexed directly, and China was to once again receive tribute from all corners of the world as befitting it's rank as The Middle Kingdom. These divisions would stay under control while Yuan was alive, but would later erupt.
Throughout the Yuan Administration, three trends became apparent. First of all, he very successfully courted American support and investment for the regime. The American people were remarkably proud that one of humanity's oldest and greatest civilizations was embracing their method of rule, and lavished investment on the country. They also informally took on the job of protecting the country from further dismemberment, to the annoyance of the Japanese and Soviets. Missionaries and teachers established schools and hospitals in droves, which also correlated to increased literacy and even a small but notable upsurge in the number of Christians in the country. This tied into the second trend of the Yuan Administration, which was a massive movement towards industrialization and modernization. Factories sprung up in major cities, and China began truly mass producing industrial and consumer goods for the first time. Railroads started to connect the country in a way it had never experienced before. In short, things looked up for China. However, beneath the surface, dark clouds were emerging.
The third notable trend of the Yuan Administration was increasing polarization. While the Unitists and Rainbowmen had found a home in his Chinese National Party, the Han supremacists felt increasingly isolated, resulting in the splintering of the party as Sun Yat-Sen founded the Party for Great Han Rejuvenation in 1920. Despite this splintering, President Yuan was such a force of personality that the country continued to function. Although he respected democracy, in many ways President Yuan was seen as a latter day Emperor by his people and fealty to him was nigh universal. The Party for Great Han Rejuvenation was stuck in permanent minority status in The Congress of All Under Heaven, an American style legislature established by Yuan. However, no man, no matter how great and powerful, can live forever. While campaigning for his 1932 re-election in Shandong Province, the Great President had a heart attack and died at the age of 72. His running mate, Xu Shichang, was popular enough but was himself old and did not have the same kind of force of personality as President Yuan. Capitalizing on this, Sun Yat-Sen ran a fearsome campaign against Xu, calling him weak and unfit to take on the Great President's legacy. When the votes were tallied after the raucous and increasingly violent election cycle, Xu Shichang was declared the winner of an election he won by less than 13,000 votes. Sun Yat-Sen cried fraud and refused to accept the results. After Xu was inaugurated in January, 1933, China exploded into open warfare. Sun Yat-Sen declared he wouldn't stop until he "reclaimed" the Presidency that he "won." President Xu declared he would defend the rule of law at all costs. In other areas of the country, local governors took the opportunity to declare themselves regional strongmen, answering to neither power. In the North, a small but violent Communist insurgency began with full Soviet backing. And around the flailing China, Japan and Russia began circling the warzone, ready to carve up new empires. The Chinese Civil War, also known as the Second Warring States Period, or simply The Calamity, had begun.
President Yuan Shikai (1920)
An American officer trains the forces of President Xu Shichang (1934)
Japanese forces overwhelm Manchuria (1934)
I see US volunteers and aid sent by Chinese and pro republican communities in the US. We also will see favorable presa coverages.
Where is Chen Jiongming in all of this considering he IOTL advocated an American-style federal republic?
Did Japan lose anything in the Great War, or did they just suffer the humiliation of being on the losing side?
Liberty in Retreat
Liberty in Retreat
The Sons of Britannia Women's Corps salutes Prime Minister Mosely (1930)
The Sons of Britannia Women's Corps salutes Prime Minister Mosely (1930)
The 1929 Crash sent shockwaves across the globe. America had become the center of global finance in the aftermath of World War I, and if America caught the financial equivalent of the flu, the rest of the world came down with pneumonia. This was especially true in the defeated Entente powers in Europe, whose economies were fragile to begin with. The reaction to this catastrophe was nothing short of a turn to autocracy. In America, an ailing President Roosevelt wrote to his daughter Alice "The light of Liberty is being snuffed out across Europe. I doubt I shall see it come roaring back before I die." He would be remarkably accurate.
The stock market crash came mere months ahead of the UK's 1929 General Election. The Sons of Britannia, who had already been ascendant as Britain struggled to get over the malaise wrought by their defeat, got a massive boost from the collapse of the economy. Railing against Yankee financiers and boosting wild conspiracy theories that the Crash was a prelude to an Irish-German-American invasion of Britain, Mosley pulled off the unthinkable. When the votes were tallied in October, the Sons of Britannia had won a clear mandate to govern. While not getting a majority of the popular vote, the electorate had been split between the Tories, Labour, the Socialists, the Liberals, and a rival nationalist party. Mosley won a majority of Parliament with a plurality of the vote. Shortly after he was officially named Prime Minister, riots broke out in the East End. Using this as an opportunity to flex muscle, the Sons of Britannia's paramilitary Knights of Arthur marched in and massacred over 3,000 rioters. Using the rioting as a pretext, the Sons passed the Emergency Powers Act of 1930. The Knights of Arthur were transformed into His Majesty's Extraordinary National Police, and answered directly to Mosley. The independence of the BBC was ended, and the organization became a mouthpiece for the Mosley government. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the freedom to petition were essentially done away with. The Socialist Party was outlawed, it's leaders rounded up and shot. Given the tensions that had been building in British society for years, this act inspired a short outburst of violence by radicals, which led to violent repressions by the Mosley government, and widespread acceptance of said repressions by the people at large. Revolts in the African colonies also spring up as educated native elites lashed out at the viciously racist Mosley, and were promptly bombed, shot, or hit with gas. By the end of 1930, Mosley had completely consolidated power. Opposition politicians who dared question Mosley in PMQ's were disappeared. Although opposition would never be technically outlawed, Mosley's Britain was a de facto one party state, and would remain so until the end of WWII. The Commonwealth states of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa soon followed.
Across the Channel in France, the consistently unpopular liberal government was overthrown on Bastille Day, 1931. The Crash hurt France more than most, with the country suffering from a collapsed currency and a decimated banking system in the aftermath. Thanks to a run on gold by those holding Francs, the country left the gold standard and the currency became worthless overnight. Orphans and the homeless actually used barrels of money as fuel for their fires, as it was cheaper than coal or wood. In response, the Croixists and a sympathetic French military brass organized the Bastille Day Coup. The President and his most ardent supporters were executed, and the legislature disbanded. Francois de la Rocque was declared Dictator of the French National State on July 21st. He took decisive action to stabilize the economy, creating a New Franc and coordinating with the Catholic Church to feed the hungry. He also shuttered newspapers that were against his regime and began instituting military control over areas of Communist agitation. Thousands of Communists and other dissenters would be shot in the opening phase of what some would later call the Second Reign of Terror.
Spain and Portugal fell to Croixism in their own ways. Portugal endured a coup in March of 1933 by a junta of Croixist generals. There was a large scale rebellion in response, which saw Brazilian intervention in their colonial motherland until fighting stopped in 1935. The two authoritarian regimes signed the Pact for Lusophone Unity on June 13th, 1936, which was an extensive mutual defense treaty and trade agreement. Although they technically signed on as equals, the rather doddering Portuguese Empire would, overtime, become a de facto client state of their continent straddling Brazilian offspring. Another notable fact about the Portuguese treaty was that it declared neutrality in world affairs. Brazil and Portugal were sufficiently different from other Croixists to not feel much overt sympathy for them, and had no interest in fighting a war against Germany. The Pact would become a non-factor in the coming war. Nextdoor to Portugal, Spain saw a peaceful transition of power from the ancient strongman Valeriano Weyler to General Francisco Franco, a Croixist who had served nobly in the Holy Land. General Franco broke Spain's treaty with the Germans, feeling that they had stiffed Spain in Africa, but did not align with the French. He instead focused on what would become known as the Spanish Crusade, a comprehensive process of colonization in the Holy Land a la Latin America.
In Greece and Serbia, resentment over their brutal defeats at the hands of Bulgaria and the Tripartite Empire fueled the rise of Croixist parties and military cliques. In Greece, Croixist inspired demagogue Ioannis Metaxas seized control of Parliament in a heated election in 1935. The year afterwards, a Serbian military junta overthrew the government and established a Croixist state. The two powers entered negotiation with each other and France to form a new alliance in late 1936.
Beyond Europe, Japan soon fell to its own brand of right-wing totalitarianism. The Japanese were an ambitious and cramped people, who resented their loss of face in WWI, the overweening presence of America and Germany, and the beginnings of modernization in China. In 1931, a clique of hyper-nationalist military officers de facto seized control of the Japanese state under the leadership of Hideki Tojo. The Emperor Hirohito never commented on the issue, but it seems likely that the officers had his support. The Japanese government was soon cranking out massive amounts of propaganda about Japan's imperial destiny and the evils of American and German hegemony. Behind the scenes, plans were drawn up to bring most of Asia under Japanese dominance. To that end, a surprising marriage of convenience would emerge, and set in motion the events that would lead to the outbreak of humanity's deadliest war.
Hideki Tojo, de facto dictator of Japan (1932)
Portuguese strongman Antonio Salazar (1936)
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco offers a Roman Salute to his followers (1935)
I get the distinct impression it will be a final solution to the American question given the venomous hatred the Sons of Britannia have towards the USA
And I'm sure he'll be telling Beelzebub that sob story when he gets to Hell.
I know they're ATL Fascists, but trying to invade America is absurdly ambitious, even with Canada. Going after Ireland would be much easier, at least logistically.
Well, I love the way this TL changes American history - I don't love all the outcomes as in things I wish had happened (sterlizing is bad, mkay?) but as a story, I absolutely love it.
And of course, as a fan of Kaisarine Germany, I can;t not love the European side of this story,
I await more.
And of course, as a fan of Kaisarine Germany, I can;t not love the European side of this story,
I await more.
@Murica1776, IOTL, Joseph Stalin was a big opponent of the creation of the USSR, instead believing in one big RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) instead of the USSR (with the OTL SSRs being ASSRs within such a "Greater RSFSR"), so maybe, with the stronger Russian nationalist emphasis (compared to OTL) of said regime, maybe he pushes through with his "one big RSFSR" proposal with the SSRs being demoted to ASSRs within the RSFSR? Here is a link summing up a young Joseph Stalin's view on the RSFSR vs USSR debate:
www.history.com
Lenin vs Stalin: Their Showdown Over the Birth of the USSR | HISTORY
Even after suffering a stroke, Lenin fought Stalin from the isolation of his bed. Especially after Stalin insulted his wife.
www.history.com
@Murica1776, IOTL, Joseph Stalin was a big opponent of the creation of the USSR, instead believing in one big RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) instead of the USSR (with the OTL SSRs being ASSRs within such a "Greater RSFSR"), so maybe, with the stronger Russian nationalist emphasis (compared to OTL) of said regime, maybe he pushes through with his "one big RSFSR" proposal with the SSRs being demoted to ASSRs within the RSFSR? Here is a link summing up a young Joseph Stalin's view on the RSFSR vs USSR debate:
Lenin vs Stalin: Their Showdown Over the Birth of the USSR | HISTORY
Even after suffering a stroke, Lenin fought Stalin from the isolation of his bed. Especially after Stalin insulted his wife.
I think this is a good idea! Speaking of, the next chapter involved Russia and I think y'all will like it
Interesting. Any figures prominent in Russia's future who could make their first appearance here?
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New post tomorrow!
EDIT: Life hit me in the balls today, lol. Should be up by tomorrow
EDIT: Life hit me in the balls today, lol. Should be up by tomorrow
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Sorry for the delay guys! I helped my aunt on her farm this weekend. Update is still coming, I promise!
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