Let The Eagle Scream Version 2: Star-Spangled-Boogaloo

[Murica1776]

Although I don't think it'll be a problem, just to get ahead of it: this is not meant as any kind of commentary on Covid-19 and the masking debate. This is all based on the actual Spanish Flu. Any parallels are a result of the parallels between the two pandemics. Also, shoutout to @Napoleon53 for the jingle idea.

The Fourth Horseman Stalks the Earth: The Canadian Flu

San Francisco policemen prepare to break up an anti-mask event (October, 1918)​

To talk about the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century, we have to talk about names. This flu strain had different names in different countries. In Germany, it became the French Flu. The British took to calling it the Teutonic Plague. In France, the War Fever. For Americans, where some of the first outbreaks were tied to Canadians who crossed the border to buy tariff free cigarettes and rum, the disease became the Canadian Flu. Regardless of the name, one thing is certain: this disease infected 1/3rd of the world's population, and killed anywhere from 17-50 million people. For populations just getting out of wartime, it was especially brutal.

The first recorded outbreaks occurred in Berlin, where it's believed that particularly raucous victory celebrations (there was an atypical spike in Berliner births roughly 9-10 months later) contributed to the first incidence of the disease in late 1917, which began to truly spread in February 1918. London, Paris, Vienna, New York and Toronto began seeing their first cases shortly afterwards. It was at first written off as a typical influenza. As happens with most flus, it faded away by spring, and life went on as usual. The following fall is when everything changed. In October, Toronto, Montreal, London, Paris, Rome, New York, Moscow, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Dublin, Madrid and 14 towns along the American-Canadian border reported outbreaks, and countless other towns and cities across the globe followed in November. When the flu began to exhibit an unusually high death rate, people panicked. President Roosevelt (he had been elected to an unprecedented 4th term during the Mexican War) was the first world leader to begin formulating a plan as hospitals filled up (the Roosevelts themselves contracted the flu, but all recovered). Other world leaders would soon follow. On January 5th, 1919, President Roosevelt signed an executive order mandating the wearing of facial coverings, as scientists believed it might stop the spread of the flu. Germany, France, Britain, and Austria-Hungary soon followed.

In America, a stark divide emerged over masks (this actually happened OTL during the Spanish Flu). While many approved of the Administration's decision, others claimed it reeked of government overreach. Americans are a very libertarian people by global standards, and they don't appreciate being bossed around by the government. Anti-mask activists, dubbed "mask slackers" by the media and government, held defiant protests and marched bare faced in the streets. President Roosevelt responded by pushing for states and municipalities to start making mass arrests, and would publicly proclaim "These soft-headed nincompoops are perhaps the most girlish, obstinate, and emasculated collection of alleged men in the history of civilization." The slackers dubbed him "Tyrannosaurus Roosevelt" and began calling government officials Redcoats. The response from municipalities was to seize empty stockyards and essentially create prisons for the slackers. Slackers would also have hoses connected to tanks of hot soapy water turned on them during February protests in San Francisco, leaving many with burns. On an individual basis, slackers would have water and soap thrown at them by terrified or angry citizens. Some slackers would retaliate by harassing people wearing masks. That being said, we can't pretend slackers were a majority. At most, 10-15% of the population were slackers. There was even a patriotic jingle composed by George M. Cohan:

Johnny wear your mask,
Wear your mask, wear your mask!
Put that flu on the run,
on the run, on the run!
Health and safety for you and me,
And every Son of Liberty!
Hurry, right away!
Go today, no delay!
Make your daddy glad
to have had such a lad!
Tell your sweetheart not to whine,
and make her fall in line!
And we won't stop masking till the Flu is on the run!​

In fact, most Americans mobilized on a scale somewhat comparable to the war efforts of Europe. Red Cross volunteering rates shot through the roof as thousands of women answered the call for nurses. Women also helped the Red Cross and local governments make and distribute masks to the public, law enforcement, doctors, nurses, and public health officials. In most major cities, men were deputized by local governments to enforce guidelines regarding mask wearing, and later restrictions on businesses and gatherings. The Roosevelt Administration would begin to encourage "At Home Amusements" advising things like "outdoor family constitutionals, chess, checkers, and the reading of literature which improves the mind." As new info came out, some local governments cancelled parades, banned parties, and even restricted religious gatherings. Theaters, bars, pool halls, and dance halls were all shuttered. President Roosevelt declared that "until the present crisis is over, there will be no state gatherings in the White House of any kind."

Aside from this, another thing to note is the Flu's contribution to anti-Canadian sentiment in the US. While relations hadn't been terribly good beforehand, Canadians were viewed far more fondly than their British masters. Many in America hoped the Canadians might liberate themselves from the Crown and join America as a brother nation. The Canadians never really held this view, but it made America an easier neighbor to have so they didn't complain. However, with many New England outbreaks tied to Canada or Canadians (especially soldiers returning from war) this changed. Towns across New England, Minnesota, Washington, and generally any state that bordered Canada began posting signs that said "No rats, no varmints, and no Canadians." Eventually, this was shortened to "No Plague Rats" as the term Plague Rat became an anti-Canadian slur. The Canadians in turn began blaming the Americans for the Flu, and signs saying "Yankee Doodle: Hop Upon Your Pony and Go Home!" were increasingly prevalent, especially in hard hit Ottawa. There was very little brotherly sentiment left by the time the Flu's fourth wave dissipated in 1920.

Women volunteers sew influenza masks for the Red Cross (October 1919)

A parade in honor of Mexican War veterans in Boston (January, 1919)

A report on a violent struggle over masks in Dallas, Texas. These would be a semi-frequent occurrence. (January 1920)​

 

[Whiteshore]

Was there anything like the revolutionary unrest in Germany in 1918 IOTL in Britain or France?

 

[Murica1776]

Was there anything like the revolutionary unrest in Germany in 1918 IOTL in Britain or France?

Definitely in France. I wanted to cover the pandemic, but we're going to have post-war checkups on France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. The Third Republic is not long for this world.

 

[NauvooLegion86]

Definitely in France. I wanted to cover the pandemic, but we're going to have post-war checkups on France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. The Third Republic is not long for this world.

I'm getting Kaiserreich vibes... minus the whole America-Falls-Apart shtick, of course.

 

[farmerted555]

The Fourth Horseman Stalks the Earth: The Canadian Flu

Damn Beckies, i mean Canucks!

 

[Born in the USSA]

That newspaper clip is really amusing

 

[Jedi Dragon]

That newspaper clip is really amusing

"You Redcoats will never make me wear a mask! FREEDOM!!"

 

[Murica1776]

Many Peoples, One Fatherland, One Kaiser: Post-WWI Austria-Hungary and the Rise of the Tripartite Empire

The Flag of Austria-Hungary-Croatia
​

In the aftermath of the First World War, and with the ascension of Kaiser Franz Ferdinand, the once ailing Austro-Hungarian Empire was reinvigorated. Wartime propaganda, the bonds of shared sacrifice, and promises of reform had quieted most ethnic disputes within the Empire. The victories over Serbia and Montenegro had the Empire and the military looking and feeling more confident than ever. War reparations being paid to the Empire by the defeated Entente were helping the economy recover and actually improve. However, that doesn't mean everything was perfect.

In his 1917 Christmas Address to the nation, the Kaiser announced he was forging ahead with plans to create a trialist system in the Empire. As a reward for their service in the War and in the interest of continued stability, the Slavs would be getting a Croatian kingdom. He had a difficult time convincing the Hungarians to go along with the reforms. The creation of a Croatian Kingdom would strip them of a good deal of land and much of their power over the Empire's Slavic minorities. For months, the Hungarians did everything they could to stall. This was about as well received by the Croatians as one might imagine, and riots started to pop up in March of 1918. Some began to wonder if all the wartime promises were lies. As the situation continued to deteriorate, Kaiser Franz decided enough was enough. Trialism had been his favored plan, something he viewed as a necessity to protect his family's ancestral lands, and now it was about to be all for naught. He made one last ditch effort to ram reform through. On June 17th, 1918, he gave an unprecedented speech before the Imperial Council, and it was an angry one:

"Honorable Gentleman, Your Excellencies, and other Esteemed Personages, I thank you for lending me your time and your ears. It is rare indeed that a Kaiser makes a speech such as this. I only wish it were under better circumstances. For I come before you to admonish certain elements among you for their obstinacy, which threatens the foundations of our shared Fatherland. The greatness of our Empire is soon to be undone by the pettiest variety of Magyar chauvinism. The Magyar race is indeed a great one, and its greatness has been expressed much more powerfully in our shared Empire than anywhere else. Yet, you would limit your greatness and ours out of the most stubborn variety of selfishness! Do you suppose that if you hold out, the Croats will fall back in line? Of course they will not! Many noble sons of that race lay dead, alongside our most storied heroes. They have proven themselves among the most martial races in Europe. Do you suppose that they will now meekly allow themselves to be trampled? No! They will rebel, and in so doing, fall into the hands of the Serbs! Then, the entire war will have been a pointless endeavor. Gentlemen, I say to you this: if you intend to kill the reform, do it now and inform me. I will need to gather all the ancestral fineries of my house that I might sell them to a pawnbroker. For without the Empire, they are worthless pieces of metal and silk. Whilst I do that, I recommend you visit the graves of your fallen sons and spit upon them. You will have already done so in practice, so you might as well finish the deed in fact."

It's difficult to describe the effect this had on most Hungarians. For the vast majority of citizens, the Kaiser was the Empire. His likeness, his family's likeness, and the crest of Hapsburg were patriotic symbols of the highest order, put on everything from posters to porcelain. The closest example one might think of would be George Washington rising from the grave and blistering a vast segment of the American population before Congress. The invocation of the war dead drove it home even more. While the Hungarians still didn't like the idea, if the Kaiser said it was what's required to save the Empire, then it must be done. The trialist solution was passed on June 31st, the Hungarians having been shamed into submission. Zagreb became the capital of the new Kingdom, and the Croatian people rejoiced. The Empire had lived up to its promises. Ethnic violence came to a rapid end. However, this was by no means the beginning of ethnic equality. Rather, the balance of power changed.

The ethnic hierarchy of the Empire of Austria-Hungary-Croatia, often called the Tripartite Empire (Austria-Hungary-Croatia is a mouthful) is a strange, informal, and fluid thing. There is no kind of official caste system, as in ancient India or the Antebellum South. Intermarriage is common, and assimilation/sometimes conversion is usually good enough to boost one's family's standing within a generation, if not less. However, there is most definitely a hierarchy. Perhaps the best study of it was done in 1924 by Harvard educated Boston Brahmin Cornelius Woodruff and his wife Elisa, a member of the old White Catholic Cuban elite turned English-speaking Episcopalian. Their work, On the Relations and Relative Positions of the Races of Austria-Hungary-Croatia, is still cited today and remains somewhat accurate for the modern Empire, if perhaps a bit generalized. At the top of this ethnocultural hierarchy lie the Germans, even if they're "quite bashful about it these days." They're the people who created the empire, Hungary and Croatia have their modern kingdoms thanks to them, the cultural products of Germans like Strauss and Mozart are unofficial symbols of the Empire, the Hapsburgs and much of the aristocracy is of German stock, and if a non-German is going to learn another language, there's a good chance it'll be German. Beneath them are the Hungarians and Croatians, the "crowned peoples." They're not as influential or famed as the Germans, but their kingdoms allow them a distinctive sphere of influence upon which to stamp their influence. Beneath them lie the Czechs, Slovenians, and Italians. All are respected as independent, cultured, and loyal Catholic groups, and have been given a fairly wide berth and good political representation for the most part. However, the Slovenians are a unique case, for while they're respected and elevated into power by the Croatians (whose kingdom to which they fall) they're also regarded as "Little Croatians" and there have been some strident efforts to "Turn the Little Croatians into just Croatians." Again, nothing is cut and dried in the Empire. Less respected, but still decently treated, are the Poles and Slovakians. They can be looked down upon more frequently, but their Catholic religion, loyalty, and the fact they're part of the Austrian lands (where the government is more worried about unity than German supremacism) means that they're treated more decently. The Romanians and Ukrainians are beneath them, for different reasons. Ukrainians (also called Ruthenians) are distrusted for their Orthodox religion and some elements who wish for reunification with the Kingdom of Ukraine, and are also derided as a "peasant people." The Romanians have more respect in Vienna (indeed, imperial authorities would intervene on their behalf quite a bit in ensuing decades) but are the biggest targets of Magyarization and Hungarian bigotry, which is even more problematic when one considers that Romania is next door. The Romanians would later secure some degree of cultural autonomy. Finally, the Orthodox Serbs and Montenegrins, as well as the Muslim Bosnians, were at the bottom of the heap. The Serbs and Montenegrins were despised for their previous agitation against the Empire, while the Bosnians were the only non-Christian ethnic group present in the Empire. Further complicating ethnic politics were the fact that various groups would align with some against others. Minorities in the Kingdoms of Croatia and Hungary became especially notorious for allying with the Austrian Germans against Croatian and Hungarian overreach, and the Germans essentially became the "referees" of the Empire's ethnic issues.

Needless to say, this still wasn't the most unified of structures. The Kaiser and his advisors also formulated a plan for that was based on wartime propaganda. In around 1921, the Imperial government began distributing propaganda and readers in all the various languages spoken around the Empire to push a new identity on the Empire. The Empire was held to be a "European Fatherland, not a national one." By managing to combine people of "Slavic, Germanic, and Latin races" into one Empire, the Empire was said to have transcended those boundaries and blended their aspects into a new European civilization. Furthermore, the Empire was held to be the stalwart defender of all European civilization. To quote one popular pamphlet "When the damnable Turks sought to obliterate our civilization, our Fatherland stopped them and held them off for years. When Napoleon sought to hold all of Europe under the reign of his atheistic tyranny, we resisted as best we could. Even in recent years, we have been the defenders of Europe from the attempts of the Russian hordes to savagely dominate our continent." There were also many comparisons drawn between the Empire and Rome. While this program would never fully paper over the ethnic divisions within the Empire, it would also be wrong to say it was ineffective. Many of the Empire's citizens bought into this ideal, which put them at the center of the defense and growth of Western Civilization (regardless of how accurate some claims were). As schoolchildren learned this version of history, most antagonisms would ease off when they came of age.

Abroad, the Empire's star had risen. The Germans gained a great deal of respect for their allies. The Italians were actually afraid enough of Imperial intervention to reign in their most radical irredentists. The Americans began truly regarding the Empire as one of the Powers again. Imperial diplomats were successful in making Ukraine a joint puppet of themselves and the Germans, and in Poland they arguably had more influence than Berlin by dint of being more agreeable. The Empire secured trading rights and basing rights in German Indochina. The Empire was great again.

Economically, the Empire continued to modernize. The lessening of ethnic tensions meant that more focus could be given to industrial development. Factories popped up everywhere, especially in Hungary and Croatia. Infrastructure and literacy began to rapidly improve as well. Gaining better access to Asian markets, as well as markets in Eastern Europe, spurred massive gains. While the Empire would never be an economic superpower, it was increasingly becoming a first-rate economic force. This flowering of prosperity would become especially prevalent in the Golden Twenties, where culture flourished in the great cities of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. The future of Austria-Hungary-Croatia at the end of WWI was brighter than it had been in many years.

Kaiser Franz Ferdinand I of the Empire of Austria-Hungary-Croatia

Vienna circa 1924

Imperial forces drill in the forest (1921)​

 

[CastIron]

I was wondering how A-H (or I guess A-H-C now) was doing. I'm interested in how long the unofficial caste system and the balance of power within the Empire will last. Doesn't seem a system that will last very long to me.

 

[Murica1776]

I was wondering how A-H (or I guess A-H-C now) was doing. I'm interested in how long the unofficial caste system and the balance of power within the Empire will last. Doesn't seem a system that will last very long to me.

One thing that gives the Empire more stability is the fact that people can assimilate to more respected ethnic groups. If you're born a Bosnian, but learn Croatian, convert, and call yourself a Croatian, you can become Croatian (this actually happened a lot IOTL). In the long run, I suspect the Empire will become less rigid and more multicultural.

 

[p0lish_runn3r]

HABSBURGS!!

 

[Whiteshore]

Definitely in France. I wanted to cover the pandemic, but we're going to have post-war checkups on France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. The Third Republic is not long for this world.

The question is whether the Third Republic is immediately replaced by an extremist regime or a short-lived Fourth Republic dominated by the moderate wing of the SFIO ala Weimar is what said extremist overthrow.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

I'm pulling for a Third Empire

 

[Murica1776]

The Decline of the Republic: France after WWI

Communist revolutionaries riot in the streets of Paris (Bastille Day, 1919)
​

Saying France was in a bad way after the First World War is a bit like saying it hurts to get hit in the testicles with a hammer. Truthful, but such a huge understatement as to be comical. Within the span of 40 years, the Germans had twice beaten and humiliated them in a war. Some 7% of France's population was dead or wounded by the war. The country was on the verge of total bankruptcy, and the Germans had threatened to occupy parts of the country if they couldn't make good on their war reparations. Huge swathes of the colonial empire had been ripped out from under them. The French had fought in the bloodiest war in human history, and all they had gotten for their sacrifices was humiliation, bankruptcy, death, and the threat of foreign occupation. People were enraged.

Prime Minister Clemenceau fled the country shortly after the peace deal was signed in April. He was constantly receiving death threats, and he really didn't want to risk it. He would spend the rest of his life in Lisbon. This led to the collapse of the French Third Republic, and months of confused fighting between Communists, Republicans, and nationalist veteran groups known as Armees pour Liberte or Armies for Liberty. Most Frenchmen sided with the Republicans, and by June, a date had been set for new elections, October 27th, 1918. In the ensuing election, the Radicals and SFIO won out, forming the Cartel des Gauches, or Cartel of the Left, under Edouard Herriot. The alliance was functional, but awkward. The Radicals, despite the name, were a dyed in the wool center-left party. They championed secularism and justice for the working class, but were also staunch defenders of private property. While it would be inaccurate to say that the SFIO was completely against private property, they had wings that were. The SFIO was almost three parties by this point; Democratic Socialists (a large plurality), Communists (a violent minority) and the Neosocialists (later part of the Croixist movement). The Communists consistently agitated against the coalition's more moderate policies. However, they never had enough votes to shatter the coalition. What they did have was a pissed off population and a decent propaganda wing.

Bastille Day, 1919 is when the Communists enacted their plans. Joined by syndicalist union members, Communist SFIO members stirred up an already angry and emotional public (this was the first Bastille Day thousands would spend without their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers). Police on hand to monitor the revelry tensed. Along the Champs-Élysées, a rock was thrown. A policeman fell with a sickening thud. Then the guns opened up. 9 Parisians lie dead. Word quickly spread throughout the city, but as often happens, the order of events got scrambled. Most Parisians believed the police opened up on the protestors and were then hit with rocks. The result was utter bedlam. Riots broke out spontaneously across the city. The next 14 days would see Paris again besieged by revolutionaries for the second time in two years. Herriot was a desperate man, who genuinely believed the Republic he loved to be on the verge of collapse, his country about to again be invaded. He wasn't wrong: the Communists had begun gaining momentum, and the Germans were worried enough that the military was mobilized to seize Paris from the Communists. Like with so many desperate good men, he did something he would regret.

So it was on July 20th, 1919 that Herriot sat down with 34 year old François de la Rocque. Rocque, son of a General and himself a distinguished officer, was the unofficial leader of the Armies for Liberty. A rather undemocratic deal was struck: the Armies would crush the rebellion, and round up the SFIO Communists and their syndicalist allies. In return, a newly formed Croix-de-Feu (Cross of Fire) Party would be essentially given their vacant seats in single candidate elections. This was deemed agreeable, and the Armies set out. What followed was an 8 day bloodbath. Communists were shot in the back as they fled. While they might have had numbers on their side, the Communists were no match for hardened soldiers given government support. The soldiers were hailed by conservatives and moderate leftists alike. They had saved the Republic, or so it seemed.

In reality, the government would slowly decay over the next few years. The use of political violence to preserve the Republic would encourage its proliferation. Communists, bitter about being removed from power, would frequently cause disturbances in the streets of Paris. In 1922, they would seize control of Marseilles for 12 days in May. The moderate government would then call in the Armies for Liberty, by this point the de facto militia of the Croix-de-Feu party, to bust them up in Paris and elsewhere (Marseilles was retaken by the Army proper). Rocque used this fact to paint himself as the only man capable of maintaining law and order. His movement also had sympathizers. The conservatives in the opposition courted the Croixists (as they were being called) but they were biding their time. A segment of the SFIO known as the neosocialists, revisionist Marxists who embraced class collaboration, social corporatism, and French patriotism, were also sympathetic to the Croixist movement. While they had yet to take power, 1924 saw strong gains for the Croixists, although not enough to destroy the Cartel of the Left. However, when France continued to struggle under the burden of war debt and began to experience persistent issues with inflation, the stage was set in 1928 for something dramatic to happen. Something that would change the world forever.

Edouard Herriot, Prime Minister of France, 1919-1928

Francois de la Rocque, Head of the Croixist Movement

Croixists at an anti-Communist rally in Paris (June 1925)​

 

[Ficboy]

The Decline of the Republic: France after WWI

Communist revolutionaries riot in the streets of Paris (Bastille Day, 1919)
​

Saying France was in a bad way after the First World War is a bit like saying it hurts to get hit in the testicles with a hammer. Truthful, but such a huge understatement as to be comical. Within the span of 40 years, the Germans had twice beaten and humiliated them in a war. Some 7% of France's population was dead or wounded by the war. The country was on the verge of total bankruptcy, and the Germans had threatened to occupy parts of the country if they couldn't make good on their war reparations. Huge swathes of the colonial empire had been ripped out from under them. The French had fought in the bloodiest war in human history, and all they had gotten for their sacrifices was humiliation, bankruptcy, death, and the threat of foreign occupation. People were enraged.

Prime Minister Clemenceau fled the country shortly after the peace deal was signed in April. He was constantly receiving death threats, and he really didn't want to risk it. He would spend the rest of his life in Lisbon. This led to the collapse of the French Third Republic, and months of confused fighting between Communists, Republicans, and nationalist veteran groups known as Armees pour Liberte or Armies for Liberty. Most Frenchmen sided with the Republicans, and by June, a date had been set for new elections, October 27th, 1918. In the ensuing election, the Radicals and SFIO won out, forming the Cartel des Gauches, or Cartel of the Left, under Edouard Herriot. The alliance was functional, but awkward. The Radicals, despite the name, were a dyed in the wool center-left party. They championed secularism and justice for the working class, but were also staunch defenders of private property. While it would be inaccurate to say that the SFIO was completely against private property, they had wings that were. The SFIO was almost three parties by this point; Democratic Socialists (a large plurality), Communists (a violent minority) and the Neosocialists (later part of the Croixist movement). The Communists consistently agitated against the coalition's more moderate policies. However, they never had enough votes to shatter the coalition. What they did have was a pissed off population and a decent propaganda wing.

Bastille Day, 1919 is when the Communists enacted their plans. Joined by syndicalist union members, Communist SFIO members stirred up an already angry and emotional public (this was the first Bastille Day thousands would spend without their sons, husbands, brothers, and fathers). Police on hand to monitor the revelry tensed. Along the Champs-Élysées, a rock was thrown. A policeman fell with a sickening thud. Then the guns opened up. 9 Parisians lie dead. Word quickly spread throughout the city, but as often happens, the order of events got scrambled. Most Parisians believed the police opened up on the protestors and were then hit with rocks. The result was utter bedlam. Riots broke out spontaneously across the city. The next 14 days would see Paris again besieged by revolutionaries for the second time in two years. Herriot was a desperate man, who genuinely believed the Republic he loved to be on the verge of collapse, his country about to again be invaded. He wasn't wrong: the Communists had begun gaining momentum, and the Germans were worried enough that the military was mobilized to seize Paris from the Communists. Like with so many desperate good men, he did something he would regret.

So it was on July 20th, 1919 that Herriot sat down with 34 year old François de la Rocque. Rocque, son of a General and himself a distinguished officer, was the unofficial leader of the Armies for Liberty. A rather undemocratic deal was struck: the Armies would crush the rebellion, and round up the SFIO Communists and their syndicalist allies. In return, a newly formed Croix-de-Feu (Cross of Fire) Party would be essentially given their vacant seats in single candidate elections. This was deemed agreeable, and the Armies set out. What followed was an 8 day bloodbath. Communists were shot in the back as they fled. While they might have had numbers on their side, the Communists were no match for hardened soldiers given government support. The soldiers were hailed by conservatives and moderate leftists alike. They had saved the Republic, or so it seemed.

In reality, the government would slowly decay over the next few years. The use of political violence to preserve the Republic would encourage its proliferation. Communists, bitter about being removed from power, would frequently cause disturbances in the streets of Paris. In 1922, they would seize control of Marseilles for 12 days in May. The moderate government would then call in the Armies for Liberty, by this point the de facto militia of the Croix-de-Feu party, to bust them up in Paris and elsewhere (Marseilles was retaken by the Army proper). Rocque used this fact to paint himself as the only man capable of maintaining law and order. His movement also had sympathizers. The conservatives in the opposition courted the Croixists (as they were being called) but they were biding their time. A segment of the SFIO known as the neosocialists, revisionist Marxists who embraced class collaboration, social corporatism, and French patriotism, were also sympathetic to the Croixist movement. While they had yet to take power, 1924 saw strong gains for the Croixists, although not enough to destroy the Cartel of the Left. However, when France continued to struggle under the burden of war debt and began to experience persistent issues with inflation, the stage was set in 1928 for something dramatic to happen. Something that would change the world forever.

Edouard Herriot, Prime Minister of France, 1919-1928

Francois de la Rocque, Head of the Croixist Movement

Croixists at an anti-Communist rally in Paris (June 1925)​

Anyway, what was the inspiration for the timeline. A book, a documentary or somewhere inbetween.

 

[Murica1776]

Anyway, what was the inspiration for the timeline. A book, a documentary or somewhere inbetween.

I was inspired by the setup to rvbomally's Ad Astra Per Aspera. It takes place in the far future, but the Earthly backstory showed that America, Germany, and Russia were the three superpowers. America also handled Reconstruction similarly. This is way, way, way less grimdark though.

 

[Murica1776]

Gott Mit Uns: Germany after WWI

Returning veterans are given flowers by women and girls in Berlin (January, 1918)
​

Germany, more than any other nation, was riding high after the First World War. Yes, many young men had died or been wounded, and their memories burned bright in the nation's conscience. But, as Kaiser Wilhelm II put it in his victory speech "May we not wail and weep and gnash our teeth that these men are gone. They now sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Rather, may we thank God that such men were born, and that they had the good sense to be born German. They have saved the Empire, and secured our rightful place in the world." Troops who returned home were showered with parades, honor, garlands, flowers, and even the "women of the night" were known to give lonely soldiers steep discounts for their service. They were the conquering heroes, the new Teutonic Knights. Kaiser Wilhelm and his government were held in almost sacred esteem by the public for leading them to glory and victory. In the West, their worst enemies were humiliated. In the East and Africa, Germany had won vast informal and formal empires. God was real, and he was a German.

In the East, German policymakers, businessmen, and adventurers began setting up the informal empire in former Russian lands. Aside from the previously mentioned monarchs, thousands of Germans became involved in the project in the East. Poland and the Ukraine were practically bought by large German industrial interests who wanted their raw materials and to increase production. In fact, large majorities in both countries were either directly employed by German corporations, or worked in businesses who were dependent upon German customers. However, most facilities owned by German companies weren't run by locals. Instead, thousands of promising workers and young professionals were given the chance to prove themselves as managers. This small but prominent managerial class lived in de facto colonies, which caused no small resentment in Poland and Ukraine. Their neighborhoods were built by the various companies, and they didn't allow Poles or Ukrainians into them except as help. They had their own homes, built in a German style. The German tricolor flew from many homes. Their children went to German schools, and were German citizens even if they were born abroad. They enjoyed a very high standard of living, higher than most of the local population. The wives formed and joined chapters of the Women's Empire League, a pro-empire patriotic league that engaged in charity work for veterans and disseminated pro-imperial propaganda.


The Women's Empire League was actually a very important post-war institution. Founded by Empress Augusta Victoria, it became an excellent mechanism for propaganda. Children wouldn't just hear about how wonderful the Empire was at school: now mother would say the same things during off time. The organization was strictly voluntary but a combination of boredom and patriotism drove many German mothers, especially middle class and wealthy ones, into the organization. One concept that became particularly important as a result of these women, whether their WEL chapters were in Germany, the Eastern client states, Africa, or Indochina was the dual conception of Lebensraum or living room. On the one hand, it meant lands for Germans to rule or live in. On the other hand it could mean the living room of your home. The WEL encouraged Germans in the East and elsewhere to associate imperial expansion both with territorial aggrandizement, and their desire for "Better furniture, more nutritious foods, finer household amenities, and to be able to say that the Germans live as well as the Americans." That last note would become fuel for later competition (friendly and unfriendly) as even the wealthiest European nations looked upon the budding consumer culture of America with envy. More importantly, generations of Germans would learn to conflate household comfort with imperial expansion: the bigger the Empire became, the more comfortable their own lives would be.

The German client states in Finland, the Baltic Duchy, and the Tatar Republic weren't subjected to quite the same level of treatment. Finland was actually fairly autonomous, although their economic policy was molded a good bit by German needs. The United Baltic Duchy, being run by the native Baltic German minority, was viewed as a brother nation. The Duchy was obedient to Berlin in matters of war and peace, but the German minority was allowed to exploit and Germanize the natives according to their own wishes. Some Germans would in fact move there in later years. The Tatar Republic was essentially let alone aside from being bound to alliance with Germany. If anything, the Germans helped them modernize the economy and military, as well as deport thousands of Russians and Ukrainians. The Republic's Black Sea resorts would also become a vacation favorite of Germans and Scandinavians. Speaking of the Scandinavians....

In 1922, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and a few Finnish ambassadors created the Nordeuropa System. It was fairly similar to the Mitteleuropan one, a series of political, military, and economic arrangements which were dominated by Germany. In return, Germany pledged to protect these nations and invest in them. The Nordeuropan allies were treated a bit more like allies as opposed to clients on varying levels of leash. Part of this was because it made it easier for the system to emerge. The Germans had no trump card over them comparable to "you wouldn't have a country without us, so give us perks" like they did in the East. Part of it was a product of the racial and eugenic philosophies popular in Germany, which held Germans and Scandinavians to be the core of the "Teutonic Race," held to be equal to the Anglo-Saxons, and superior to others. Nonetheless, the Germans did push the Scandinavian countries to a more militaristic stance, convinced that a strong Scandinavia was key to protecting their northern flank. They also did everything in their power to smooth over any disputes between the Scandinavian powers. Part of this effort would entail boosting the idea of "Scandinavian Brotherhood." This already fed into pre-existing pan-Scandinavian ideology, an admittedly niche belief, but not without a following.

In Africa and Indochina, the Germans were establishing a new set of colonial governments. However, these often built upon the old. French and British administrators who swore loyalty to the Kaiser and agreed to learn German could stay in the colonies, and even get additional land grants. While quite a few patriots refused, preferring to return to Britain and France, some did take the deal. There was also a flood of German settlers into these colonies, especially from Old Prussia. They recreated the aristocracy of the homeland, with themselves as the Junkers and the natives inevitably being the peasants. However, a shift in German colonial policy was occurring in Africa, or at least the pre-war colonies. Certain ethnic groups that had proven themselves exceptional in the field of battle were dubbed "Martial Races" in 1923. In German Southwest Africa, these were the Damara and Kavango peoples. Cameroon witnessed the elevation of the Bamum and Tikar peoples. Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana, the Yoruba people. Their brethren from former French Benin would get the same status in 1925. Martial Races were "Various African Races who, through their manly courage in battle and heartfelt devotion to the Emperor, are worthy of elevated status." While they didn't get any kind of say in the government, they were given privileges and respect most colonized peoples would have found incredible, including the right to challenge the government in court. In return, all military aged men would spend anywhere from 12-30 months in the Askari and would agree to answer any call to some kind of military service "so long as they were able-bodied and below 40 years of age" if Germany demanded it of them. This gave the Germans large collaborator classes in these colonies, who helped keep the rest in check. Some veterans would even go on to be educated in Germany's top universities.


Economically, Germany was thriving. The reparations from the British and French helped them pay off their own substantial war debts to the Americans. The creation of Mitteleuropa and Nordeuropa gave Germany economic pre-eminence over vast swathes of Europe. The expansion of the colonial empire created even more markets for goods, and sources of cheap raw materials. The war had left the German homeland completely untouched, meaning there was no costly rebuilding to undertake, and could get right into making money. In fact, the post-war era saw Germany take Britain's already fading crown as the most powerful economic force on the continent. A continually rising middle class was prosperous and content. In short, life was good.

However, it was not perfect. After much dispute, the voting age was lowered to 20 in 1919. Women's suffrage was granted in 1922. Both of these reforms were the results of constant agitation, which worried the government. Too much organization could be problematic depending on who was doing the organizing. With the rise of Communists in Russia and France, the government cracked down hard on Communist groups, while simultaneously creating generous veterans benefits to sap support from Socialist and Communist ideology. Those weren't the only ideologies that the Germans feared. While many veterans readjusted to civilian life quite well, there were still thousands who felt broken by the war. Many were drawn to the work of controversial philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. They became the Nietzscheans, and developed two rival ideologies based on his work. Individualist Nietzscheans were anti-monarchy, anti-national, atheistic, and tended towards minarchism, libertarianism, or anarchism. They believed that Christ, Crown, and Country held humanity back, and dreamed of a world where so-called "master morality" prevailed and that in the future "there will be no more barrier between man and his raw will than there is in a wolf." The National Nietzscheans, who are grouped into the greater umbrella of croixism despite major differences, believed the monarchy to be a weak institution and felt Germany hadn't gone far enough to destroy France. They were also atheistic, or pagan, holding Christianity to be "The assorted babblings of an Oriental Jew." They wanted a "dictatorship of force" so the Teutonic Race could obliterate French culture forever. While there were never more than 35,000 Nietzscheans at any given time in Germany, several high profile incidents with police and Communists sparked a violent crackdown. Known Nietzscheans were imprisoned, and over 100 were executed. Nietzsche's work was banned across the Empire, and Imperial authorities held massive book burnings of his work. However, these groups were loud minorities. For the most part, Germany was very happy indeed.

Young veterans campaign for voting rights in full gear, swear loyalty to the Kaiser (1918)

Nietzscheans and Communists clash in the July Riot, sparking government backlash (July, 1923)

Poles are expelled from East Prussia in 1924. There would be several Polack Scares throughout the 1920's that would lead to thousands being deported to Germany's Polish client stare.​

 

[Ficboy]

Gott Mit Uns: Germany after WWI

Returning veterans are given flowers by women and girls in Berlin (January, 1918)
​

Germany, more than any other nation, was riding high after the First World War. Yes, many young men had died or been wounded, and their memories burned bright in the nation's conscience. But, as Kaiser Wilhelm II put it in his victory speech "May we not wail and weep and gnash our teeth that these men are gone. They now sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Rather, may we thank God that such men were born, and that they had the good sense to be born German. They have saved the Empire, and secured our rightful place in the world." Troops who returned home were showered with parades, honor, garlands, flowers, and even the "women of the night" were known to give lonely soldiers steep discounts for their service. They were the conquering heroes, the new Teutonic Knights. Kaiser Wilhelm and his government were held in almost sacred esteem by the public for leading them to glory and victory. In the West, their worst enemies were humiliated. In the East and Africa, Germany had won vast informal and formal empires. God was real, and he was a German.

In the East, German policymakers, businessmen, and adventurers began setting up the informal empire in former Russian lands. Aside from the previously mentioned monarchs, thousands of Germans became involved in the project in the East. Poland and the Ukraine were practically bought by large German industrial interests who wanted their raw materials and to increase production. In fact, large majorities in both countries were either directly employed by German corporations, or worked in businesses who were dependent upon German customers. However, most facilities owned by German companies weren't run by locals. Instead, thousands of promising workers and young professionals were given the chance to prove themselves as managers. This small but prominent managerial class lived in de facto colonies, which caused no small resentment in Poland and Ukraine. Their neighborhoods were built by the various companies, and they didn't allow Poles or Ukrainians into them except as help. They had their own homes, built in a German style. The German tricolor flew from many homes. Their children went to German schools, and were German citizens even if they were born abroad. They enjoyed a very high standard of living, higher than most of the local population. The wives formed and joined chapters of the Women's Empire League, a pro-empire patriotic league that engaged in charity work for veterans and disseminated pro-imperial propaganda.


The Women's Empire League was actually a very important post-war institution. Founded by Empress Augusta Victoria, it became an excellent mechanism for propaganda. Children wouldn't just hear about how wonderful the Empire was at school: now mother would say the same things during off time. The organization was strictly voluntary but a combination of boredom and patriotism drove many German mothers, especially middle class and wealthy ones, into the organization. One concept that became particularly important as a result of these women, whether their WEL chapters were in Germany, the Eastern client states, Africa, or Indochina was the dual conception of Lebensraum or living room. On the one hand, it meant lands for Germans to rule or live in. On the other hand it could mean the living room of your home. The WEL encouraged Germans in the East and elsewhere to associate imperial expansion both with territorial aggrandizement, and their desire for "Better furniture, more nutritious foods, finer household amenities, and to be able to say that the Germans live as well as the Americans." That last note would become fuel for later competition (friendly and unfriendly) as even the wealthiest European nations looked upon the budding consumer culture of America with envy. More importantly, generations of Germans would learn to conflate household comfort with imperial expansion: the bigger the Empire became, the more comfortable their own lives would be.

The German client states in Finland, the Baltic Duchy, and the Tatar Republic weren't subjected to quite the same level of treatment. Finland was actually fairly autonomous, although their economic policy was molded a good bit by German needs. The United Baltic Duchy, being run by the native Baltic German minority, was viewed as a brother nation. The Duchy was obedient to Berlin in matters of war and peace, but the German minority was allowed to exploit and Germanize the natives according to their own wishes. Some Germans would in fact move there in later years. The Tatar Republic was essentially let alone aside from being bound to alliance with Germany. If anything, the Germans helped them modernize the economy and military, as well as deport thousands of Russians and Ukrainians. The Republic's Black Sea resorts would also become a vacation favorite of Germans and Scandinavians. Speaking of the Scandinavians....

In 1922, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and a few Finnish ambassadors created the Nordeuropa System. It was fairly similar to the Mitteleuropan one, a series of political, military, and economic arrangements which were dominated by Germany. In return, Germany pledged to protect these nations and invest in them. The Nordeuropan allies were treated a bit more like allies as opposed to clients on varying levels of leash. Part of this was because it made it easier for the system to emerge. The Germans had no trump card over them comparable to "you wouldn't have a country without us, so give us perks" like they did in the East. Part of it was a product of the racial and eugenic philosophies popular in Germany, which held Germans and Scandinavians to be the core of the "Teutonic Race," held to be equal to the Anglo-Saxons, and superior to others. Nonetheless, the Germans did push the Scandinavian countries to a more militaristic stance, convinced that a strong Scandinavia was key to protecting their northern flank. They also did everything in their power to smooth over any disputes between the Scandinavian powers. Part of this effort would entail boosting the idea of "Scandinavian Brotherhood." This already fed into pre-existing pan-Scandinavian ideology, an admittedly niche belief, but not without a following.

In Africa and Indochina, the Germans were establishing a new set of colonial governments. However, these often built upon the old. French and British administrators who swore loyalty to the Kaiser and agreed to learn German could stay in the colonies, and even get additional land grants. While quite a few patriots refused, preferring to return to Britain and France, some did take the deal. There was also a flood of German settlers into these colonies, especially from Old Prussia. They recreated the aristocracy of the homeland, with themselves as the Junkers and the natives inevitably being the peasants. However, a shift in German colonial policy was occurring in Africa, or at least the pre-war colonies. Certain ethnic groups that had proven themselves exceptional in the field of battle were dubbed "Martial Races" in 1923. In German Southwest Africa, these were the Damara and Kavango peoples. Cameroon witnessed the elevation of the Bamum and Tikar peoples. Nigeria, Togo, and Ghana, the Yoruba people. Their brethren from former French Benin would get the same status in 1925. Martial Races were "Various African Races who, through their manly courage in battle and heartfelt devotion to the Emperor, are worthy of elevated status." While they didn't get any kind of say in the government, they were given privileges and respect most colonized peoples would have found incredible, including the right to challenge the government in court. In return, all military aged men would spend anywhere from 12-30 months in the Askari and would agree to answer any call to some kind of military service "so long as they were able-bodied and below 40 years of age" if Germany demanded it of them. This gave the Germans large collaborator classes in these colonies, who helped keep the rest in check. Some veterans would even go on to be educated in Germany's top universities.


Economically, Germany was thriving. The reparations from the British and French helped them pay off their own substantial war debts to the Americans. The creation of Mitteleuropa and Nordeuropa gave Germany economic pre-eminence over vast swathes of Europe. The expansion of the colonial empire created even more markets for goods, and sources of cheap raw materials. The war had left the German homeland completely untouched, meaning there was no costly rebuilding to undertake, and could get right into making money. In fact, the post-war era saw Germany take Britain's already fading crown as the most powerful economic force on the continent. A continually rising middle class was prosperous and content. In short, life was good.

However, it was not perfect. After much dispute, the voting age was lowered to 20 in 1919. Women's suffrage was granted in 1922. Both of these reforms were the results of constant agitation, which worried the government. Too much organization could be problematic depending on who was doing the organizing. With the rise of Communists in Russia and France, the government cracked down hard on Communist groups, while simultaneously creating generous veterans benefits to sap support from Socialist and Communist ideology. Those weren't the only ideologies that the Germans feared. While many veterans readjusted to civilian life quite well, there were still thousands who felt broken by the war. Many were drawn to the work of controversial philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. They became the Nietzscheans, and developed two rival ideologies based on his work. Individualist Nietzscheans were anti-monarchy, anti-national, atheistic, and tended towards minarchism, libertarianism, or anarchism. They believed that Christ, Crown, and Country held humanity back, and dreamed of a world where so-called "master morality" prevailed and that in the future "there will be no more barrier between man and his raw will than there is in a wolf." The National Nietzscheans, who are grouped into the greater umbrella of croixism despite major differences, believed the monarchy to be a weak institution and felt Germany hadn't gone far enough to destroy France. They were also atheistic, or pagan, holding Christianity to be "The assorted babblings of an Oriental Jew." They wanted a "dictatorship of force" so the Teutonic Race could obliterate French culture forever. While there were never more than 35,000 Nietzscheans at any given time in Germany, several high profile incidents with police and Communists sparked a violent crackdown. Known Nietzscheans were imprisoned, and over 100 were executed. Nietzsche's work was banned across the Empire, and Imperial authorities held massive book burnings of his work. However, these groups were loud minorities. For the most part, Germany was very happy indeed.

Young veterans campaign for voting rights in full gear, swear loyalty to the Kaiser (1918)

Nietzscheans and Communists clash in the July Riot, sparking government backlash (July, 1923)

Poles are expelled from East Prussia in 1924. There would be several Polack Scares throughout the 1920's that would lead to thousands being deported to Germany's Polish client stare.​

By the way, were there any books or articles you read for both versions of Let the Eagle Scream!

 

[Murica1776]

By the way, were there any books or articles you read for both versions of Let the Eagle Scream!

I read a bit for research, but not for any kind of inspiration. I already had my inspiration from this forum and my own mind.

 

[Jedi Dragon]

I get the feeling Germany's good times won't last. The French are a bit upset.