They might even be passing the hat on Governor's Island (home of the Commissariat for War).
The Fire Never Dies, Part II: The Red Colossus
- Thread starter Meshakhad
- Start date
14. The Afrikaner Klan
…On April 26, 1922, Edward Young Clarke[1] led five other men – four Americans, one Afrikaner – to the top of Table Mountain near Cape Town. As William Joseph Simmons had done seven years before at Stone Mountain in Georgia, they lit a burning cross, proclaiming the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan…
…The Afrikaner Klan, sometimes called the Third Klan, was a strange entity. For its entire existence, the KKK had been a primarily American organization, based upon American ideas of white supremacy. Many Europeans found it to be rather unsavory and thuggish. But with the outbreak of the Second American Revolution, the Klan became the most prominent American organization (aside, naturally from the United States Army) in combating socialism. Among the more ardent anti-socialists, the KKK was admired. Pro-White (pun intended) demonstrations in London sometimes featured approximations of Klan regalia…
…Naturally, much of the Klan’s membership perished in the Revolution itself. A huge chunk of their leadership were killed during the Battle of Washington. But thousands of Klansmen had survived, particularly those stationed in the Southeast. For many, the fall of Washington was the final straw. They discarded their robes (assuming they’d ever been issued any) and returned home, hoping to live with the new socialist order as best they could. A few chose to keep fighting, forming the core of various Wilsonite partisan groups. But most of the diehards chose exile, preferring to leave America altogether rather than live under socialism…
…Clarke was by far the most prominent surviving Klansman. During the war, Clarke had been in charge of the Klan’s day-to-day affairs while Simmons had taken on more military duties. His escape had been a close thing as he was very much on the Reds’ wanted lists, but he had made it safely to the Bahamas…
…The first destination of Clarke and most exiled Klansmen was Canada. Canada was the only other country which had any Klan presence[2]. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Canada were established in 1916 in Toronto. In June of 1919, Clarke arrived in Toronto, where he met with the Canadian Imperial Wizard, Richard L. Cowan. But while the Canadian Klan welcomed their brethren from south of the border, the Canadian government did not. Given that Klansmen were not only involved with partisan activity in the ASU but hardcore anti-Catholics, it was feared that tolerating a KKK presence on Canadian soil would draw the ire of both America and Quebec. Shortly after the Treaty of Gatineau was signed, the Canadian Parliament banned the Ku Klux Klan…
…With Canada now closed to them, many Klansmen drifted to other Anglophone countries, particularly Britain, Australia, and South Africa. London had already become the center of the larger American exile community, but while many of those exiles were sympathetic, there seemed to be little opportunity for the Klan to recruit among the British population themselves. Clarke had no illusions that if the Klan was to survive as anything more than a hollow shell of its old self, it had to recruit non-Americans…
…There was an effort to establish branches of the Klan in Australia and New Zealand, but they met with little success. While the White Australia policy was still in effect, Australians were more concerned with keeping nonwhites out than keeping them down. In New Zealand, the Klan’s attitudes ran counter to years of efforts to integrate the Maori…
…South Africa seemed to be the most fertile ground. Here was a society not unlike the pre-Revolutionary South, with whites dominating blacks. The Afrikaners were no less devoted to white supremacy than Southern whites – perhaps more so, given that blacks were a majority. There was even a white secret society similar to the KKK: the Afrikaner Broederbond, founded in 1918[3]…
…Clarke recognized that conditions in South Africa were quite different. The whites were divided between Afrikaners and English speakers, coloreds were treated as distinct from blacks, and there was also the Indian population to contend with. Rather than try and impose Simmons’ platform on South Africa, Clarke sought to adapt the Klan to South Africa. Anti-Catholicism was relegated to a footnote, while anti-socialism was brought to the fore. Clarke did try to ease tensions among whites. To make himself more palatable to Afrikaners, Clarke converted to Calvinism and learned Afrikaans…
…The Afrikaner Klan developed an unusual relationship with the Afrikaner Broederbond. The Broederbond remained closed to non-Calvinists (and therefore most Americans), but its members saw the Klan as potential allies. While the Broederbond continued to focus on political influence, the Klan held rallies and enforced the social codes that governed race relations in South Africa. Many Klansmen who had fought for the Whites found their way into the police or military…
- From Burning Cross, Burning Land by F.W. de Klerke
[1] IOTL, Clarke was the Imperial Wizard pro tempore of the Klan from 1915 to 1922. He played a major role in the Klan’s rapid expansion both IOTL and ITTL.
[2] OTL, although IOTL the Klan would not expand into Canada until the 1920s. As the KKK expanded much more rapidly ITTL, they reach Canada sooner.
[3] OTL. The Broederbond was highly influential in South African society until the end of apartheid.
…The Afrikaner Klan, sometimes called the Third Klan, was a strange entity. For its entire existence, the KKK had been a primarily American organization, based upon American ideas of white supremacy. Many Europeans found it to be rather unsavory and thuggish. But with the outbreak of the Second American Revolution, the Klan became the most prominent American organization (aside, naturally from the United States Army) in combating socialism. Among the more ardent anti-socialists, the KKK was admired. Pro-White (pun intended) demonstrations in London sometimes featured approximations of Klan regalia…
…Naturally, much of the Klan’s membership perished in the Revolution itself. A huge chunk of their leadership were killed during the Battle of Washington. But thousands of Klansmen had survived, particularly those stationed in the Southeast. For many, the fall of Washington was the final straw. They discarded their robes (assuming they’d ever been issued any) and returned home, hoping to live with the new socialist order as best they could. A few chose to keep fighting, forming the core of various Wilsonite partisan groups. But most of the diehards chose exile, preferring to leave America altogether rather than live under socialism…
…Clarke was by far the most prominent surviving Klansman. During the war, Clarke had been in charge of the Klan’s day-to-day affairs while Simmons had taken on more military duties. His escape had been a close thing as he was very much on the Reds’ wanted lists, but he had made it safely to the Bahamas…
…The first destination of Clarke and most exiled Klansmen was Canada. Canada was the only other country which had any Klan presence[2]. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Canada were established in 1916 in Toronto. In June of 1919, Clarke arrived in Toronto, where he met with the Canadian Imperial Wizard, Richard L. Cowan. But while the Canadian Klan welcomed their brethren from south of the border, the Canadian government did not. Given that Klansmen were not only involved with partisan activity in the ASU but hardcore anti-Catholics, it was feared that tolerating a KKK presence on Canadian soil would draw the ire of both America and Quebec. Shortly after the Treaty of Gatineau was signed, the Canadian Parliament banned the Ku Klux Klan…
…With Canada now closed to them, many Klansmen drifted to other Anglophone countries, particularly Britain, Australia, and South Africa. London had already become the center of the larger American exile community, but while many of those exiles were sympathetic, there seemed to be little opportunity for the Klan to recruit among the British population themselves. Clarke had no illusions that if the Klan was to survive as anything more than a hollow shell of its old self, it had to recruit non-Americans…
…There was an effort to establish branches of the Klan in Australia and New Zealand, but they met with little success. While the White Australia policy was still in effect, Australians were more concerned with keeping nonwhites out than keeping them down. In New Zealand, the Klan’s attitudes ran counter to years of efforts to integrate the Maori…
…South Africa seemed to be the most fertile ground. Here was a society not unlike the pre-Revolutionary South, with whites dominating blacks. The Afrikaners were no less devoted to white supremacy than Southern whites – perhaps more so, given that blacks were a majority. There was even a white secret society similar to the KKK: the Afrikaner Broederbond, founded in 1918[3]…
…Clarke recognized that conditions in South Africa were quite different. The whites were divided between Afrikaners and English speakers, coloreds were treated as distinct from blacks, and there was also the Indian population to contend with. Rather than try and impose Simmons’ platform on South Africa, Clarke sought to adapt the Klan to South Africa. Anti-Catholicism was relegated to a footnote, while anti-socialism was brought to the fore. Clarke did try to ease tensions among whites. To make himself more palatable to Afrikaners, Clarke converted to Calvinism and learned Afrikaans…
…The Afrikaner Klan developed an unusual relationship with the Afrikaner Broederbond. The Broederbond remained closed to non-Calvinists (and therefore most Americans), but its members saw the Klan as potential allies. While the Broederbond continued to focus on political influence, the Klan held rallies and enforced the social codes that governed race relations in South Africa. Many Klansmen who had fought for the Whites found their way into the police or military…
- From Burning Cross, Burning Land by F.W. de Klerke
[1] IOTL, Clarke was the Imperial Wizard pro tempore of the Klan from 1915 to 1922. He played a major role in the Klan’s rapid expansion both IOTL and ITTL.
[2] OTL, although IOTL the Klan would not expand into Canada until the 1920s. As the KKK expanded much more rapidly ITTL, they reach Canada sooner.
[3] OTL. The Broederbond was highly influential in South African society until the end of apartheid.
At least in this universe the ASU won’t sit by and let South Africa become a continent-dominating superpower. This timeline doesn’t have an author who decided it’d be fun to try to make the most messed-up dystopian timeline possible.
Though I’m keen on South Africa trying something audacious enough to justify the ASU coming in and absolutely crushing them. The catharsis would be wonderful.
It doesn't have to be especially audacious. Simply having South Africa aligned with Britain in World War II would be enough.
The fact that the Broederbond symbol also looks like three k's if you squint is yet one more area where the two groups overlap 😅
That's what Great War II: Limey Fascist Boogaloo is for 🤔
Very interesting…
There’s also the very different nature of race theory in South Africa. In South Africa, it was possible to ‘upgrade’ your race: a ‘Coloured’ person who looked pale enough and passed certain tests could be reclassified as White, ditto Black to Coloured (at the cost of abandoning their families and communities of course). Given how much American racists loathed the idea of black people ‘passing’, OTOH…
The Afrikaner Klan will probably adopt at least some of these attitudes. As I stated, Clarke believes that unless the Klan recruits non-Americans, it will inevitably fade away. Since the one-drop rule is largely an American thing, it'll be abandoned. Mind you, Clarke will probably be a lot more stringent when it comes to people who want to join the Klan.
15. The Austrian Crisis (Part 1)
…For Germany, the Treaty of Basel represented a victory. While not the total victory some had hoped for, Germany was now the dominant power in Europe, commanding a network of client states in Mitteleuropa. But for Austria-Hungary, the Treaty of Basel was a reprieve. The war had aggravated political tensions within the Empire and a defeat could have brought utter collapse – or, at least, something even more violent than what actually happened…
…In March 1919, Cislethenia (the “Austrian” part of the Empire) held its first postwar elections. The Social Democrats came in first, although they were divided among various ethnic blocs, most of which favored independence for their respective nations. The Christian Socials, the leading party that supported the preservation of the Empire, came in second. However, the single largest grouping of parties was the Deutscher Nationalverband (German National Association), which wanted Austria to unify with Germany, leaving the non-German parts of the Empire behind…
…Reluctantly, Kaiser Karl I turned to the Social Democrats, calling party leader Karl Renner[1] to form a government. Karl believed that the only way to preserve the Empire lay through reform, and some of the Social Democrats supported him. Unfortunately, efforts to form a coalition with the Christian Socials failed on ideological grounds. Instead, Renner formed a government with the Deutscher Nationalverband and the Czech Agrarian Party. The Cislethenian government was now dominated by parties which sought the dissolution of the Empire…
…The Christian Socials would not go quietly. Never strong advocates for democracy, they began organizing demobilized soldiers into local militias. These were initially intended to protect Austrian civilians from other demobilized soldiers who often turned to robbery as they headed home, but soon formed into a paramilitary movement known as the Heimwehr (“Home Guard”) [2]. Many Heimwehr units openly proclaimed their “eternal loyalty” to the Emperor alone. Having given up on democracy, the Christian Socials were now aiming for a coup on behalf of the Emperor. But they were not the only ones prepared to resort to violence, as the Austrian socialists began organizing into American-style workers’ councils. To counter the Heimwehr, they organized the AOS or “Ausschüsse für öffentliche Sicherheit” (“Committees for Public Safety”), modeled after the socialist gangs that had eventually formed the core of the American Red Army…
…On August 12, 1919, Ignaz Seipel[3], a prominent Christian Social politician and Catholic priest who had briefly served as Minister for Public Works and Social Welfare, was speaking to a crowd in Vienna when a three shots rang out. The gunman was Johann Koplenig[4], an Austrian socialist who had fought for the Bolsheviks. One bullet shattered a nearby window. Another struck and killed one of the listeners, a painter named Adolf Hitler. The final bullet hit Seipel in the stomach. He would die two days later. The assassination of Seipel provoked a series of urban skirmishes between the Heimwehr and AOS. The AOS had little reach outside of Austria’s cities, but within those cities, particularly Vienna, they were no less powerful than their American counterparts. By the summer of 1920, it had become effectively impossible for the Christian Social Party to safely operate in Vienna. As such, the assassination of Seipel is often taken as the start of the Austrian Crisis…
- From The Austrian Crisis by György Schwartz
[1] IOTL, Renner was the first Chancellor of the Republic of Austria after its formation and its first President after World War II.
[2] OTL.
[3] Mayr had been a member of the Reichsrat (Imperial Council) and the Tyrolean Landtag (assembly).
[4] IOTL, Koplenig was chairman of the Communist Party of Austria from 1945 to 1965.
…In March 1919, Cislethenia (the “Austrian” part of the Empire) held its first postwar elections. The Social Democrats came in first, although they were divided among various ethnic blocs, most of which favored independence for their respective nations. The Christian Socials, the leading party that supported the preservation of the Empire, came in second. However, the single largest grouping of parties was the Deutscher Nationalverband (German National Association), which wanted Austria to unify with Germany, leaving the non-German parts of the Empire behind…
…Reluctantly, Kaiser Karl I turned to the Social Democrats, calling party leader Karl Renner[1] to form a government. Karl believed that the only way to preserve the Empire lay through reform, and some of the Social Democrats supported him. Unfortunately, efforts to form a coalition with the Christian Socials failed on ideological grounds. Instead, Renner formed a government with the Deutscher Nationalverband and the Czech Agrarian Party. The Cislethenian government was now dominated by parties which sought the dissolution of the Empire…
…The Christian Socials would not go quietly. Never strong advocates for democracy, they began organizing demobilized soldiers into local militias. These were initially intended to protect Austrian civilians from other demobilized soldiers who often turned to robbery as they headed home, but soon formed into a paramilitary movement known as the Heimwehr (“Home Guard”) [2]. Many Heimwehr units openly proclaimed their “eternal loyalty” to the Emperor alone. Having given up on democracy, the Christian Socials were now aiming for a coup on behalf of the Emperor. But they were not the only ones prepared to resort to violence, as the Austrian socialists began organizing into American-style workers’ councils. To counter the Heimwehr, they organized the AOS or “Ausschüsse für öffentliche Sicherheit” (“Committees for Public Safety”), modeled after the socialist gangs that had eventually formed the core of the American Red Army…
…On August 12, 1919, Ignaz Seipel[3], a prominent Christian Social politician and Catholic priest who had briefly served as Minister for Public Works and Social Welfare, was speaking to a crowd in Vienna when a three shots rang out. The gunman was Johann Koplenig[4], an Austrian socialist who had fought for the Bolsheviks. One bullet shattered a nearby window. Another struck and killed one of the listeners, a painter named Adolf Hitler. The final bullet hit Seipel in the stomach. He would die two days later. The assassination of Seipel provoked a series of urban skirmishes between the Heimwehr and AOS. The AOS had little reach outside of Austria’s cities, but within those cities, particularly Vienna, they were no less powerful than their American counterparts. By the summer of 1920, it had become effectively impossible for the Christian Social Party to safely operate in Vienna. As such, the assassination of Seipel is often taken as the start of the Austrian Crisis…
- From The Austrian Crisis by György Schwartz
[1] IOTL, Renner was the first Chancellor of the Republic of Austria after its formation and its first President after World War II.
[2] OTL.
[3] Mayr had been a member of the Reichsrat (Imperial Council) and the Tyrolean Landtag (assembly).
[4] IOTL, Koplenig was chairman of the Communist Party of Austria from 1945 to 1965.
I have had the idea of "Hitler is a random victim of political violence in Austria" from very early on in this fic. It gives me great pleasure to condemn him to allohistorical obscurity.
Huh. Never saw Hitler be dismissed from history in such a way. Surpirisngly refreshing
- My ideal fate for Germany in this timeline is that they become a socialist-leaning constitutional monarchy.
- I want to see Austria continue to exist. I’ve never been much of a fan of “Greater Germany” scenarios. Especially ones that presumably bring Bohemia into it. They always look too unappealingly blobby to me. I know this is a blatant example of personal bias, though.
- It feels likely that either Canada is going to sit out the inevitable Anglo-American War or they’re going to be the first Commonwealth nation knocked out of it.
- Got any other ideas for OTL Nazis? I know that unless Manfred con Richthofen got killed like OTL Goering wouldn’t likely be as prominent. Because he was appointed the Red Baron’s replacement as leader of the Flying Circus. Though he’d at least lack his OTL painkiller addictions since those only started after he got injured in the Beer Hall Putsch. Also it’d be fun to know how the Red Baron is doing in the post-war years if he’s still alive.
Fodedor_de_Casadas
Banned
I'm really curious about what would the policy of a victorious ASU be against Canada, @Meshakhad (before anyone accuses me, I'm not American).
If there's a war and the socialists end up marching on Canada, would they look to annex it or to set up a friendly government? The Socialist takeover of Canada would mean the breakup of the relations between Canada and the Royal Family/Britain/The Commonwealth. Quebec would certainly go it's own way but I do believe there's a strong case for the anglo speaking parts of Canada to be annexed, considering their biggest differences with the US would suddenly be erased.
We also have to consider that there are geopolitical reasons as to why America would want control over these lands (riches, population, prestige, world revolution). Besides, if the rule of the Socialists in the US brings prosperity without too much repression, there could be lots of advocates for annexation inside Canada.
If there's a war and the socialists end up marching on Canada, would they look to annex it or to set up a friendly government? The Socialist takeover of Canada would mean the breakup of the relations between Canada and the Royal Family/Britain/The Commonwealth. Quebec would certainly go it's own way but I do believe there's a strong case for the anglo speaking parts of Canada to be annexed, considering their biggest differences with the US would suddenly be erased.
We also have to consider that there are geopolitical reasons as to why America would want control over these lands (riches, population, prestige, world revolution). Besides, if the rule of the Socialists in the US brings prosperity without too much repression, there could be lots of advocates for annexation inside Canada.
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My current outline has Germany as a constitutional monarchy by the present, although hardly socialist-leaning. They'll be the main opponent of the ASU during the Cold War.
I was inclined in that direction, but my conversation with @Teutonic_Thrash indicated that popular sentiment in Austria was behind joining Germany. Bohemia is a different matter.
Richthofen is dead - that hasn't changed. Goering is currently prominent - I mentioned him in one of the DBWI chapters. He won't be as famous as IOTL, but he will be known to history buffs.
The absence of any serious movement in Canada (that I'm aware of) to join the United States speaks against the possibility.
Well, it seems we have one political faction against expanding on the Cape Qualified Franchise....
Why do I not see them working well with the various Slavic nationalists?
So Falangist Britain/France do get slapped down in some way or another then.
The German and Slavic nationalists actually have a lot of common points - mostly that the Austro-Hungarian Empire needs to go.
What, you thought I'd set up this epic showdown and not have Socialist America win?
Is Russia a part of the Falangists? If so it would be interesting if they won a partial victory/uti possidetis or a status-quo peace. Or even they could suffer a peace like OTL Imperial Germany. Cause all timelines that have a CP Victory ALT Axis loose and that's boring.
This makes me wonder what Stalin and Mao are doing IOTL? I assume the former is dead, but still.