The Great Brown Bear
We are the Great Bear Republic- William B Ide
William B Ide was a man on a mission. Just a few days ago some US soldiers came and assured him that the US would not interfere if they rebelled. Ide took that as a go ahead so now him and thirty three Californians (and some Mexicans) were marching on Sonoma to kick this rebellion off.
As they approached the city the mayor came to meet the armed men "What is your business?" he said. Ide thrust his gun into the air "To free us at last!" he yelled as the men opened fire. The mayor dropped dead as the men charged into the city, toward the armory where General Vallejo, Commander of Northern California, was captured. While Vallejo was being led away Ide took down the Mexican Flag and replaced it with the Bear Flag. The Great Bear Rebellion spread across Alta California and when Idl woke up the next day he wrote a speech that officially proclaimed the Great Bear Republic into existence. After the speech Ide was chosen as President of the Great Bear Republic. He also established a military that quickly filled up with men just itching to serve their new country. When John C Fermont arrived in Sonoma with 60 men to take control he was chased out by Ide and 100 men, starting a long rivalry. When news of the rebellion reached President Mariano Paredes he ordered all remaining Mexican forces in Alta California to march on Sonoma and kill Ide. General Jose Castro sent 50 regular infantry under Joaquin de la Torre South to carry out the order but was intercepted by 20 militia near the small town of Olompali. The skirmish in Olompali left casualties on both sides 2 Californians killed and 6 Mexicans were killed but in the end de Torre fled North and the militia claimed victory. When word of the defeat reached Mexico City President Paredes wanted to send a bigger force but rising tensions with the US persuaded him not to. When war between the two finally arrived in late April of 1846 President Ide met with President Polk and offered Californian help in return for US recognition but was denied and sent back. as the Mexican-American War raged around them a settler in Northern California found gold and the California Gold Rush began and tensions between the US and California began to rise. News spread fast and soon almost 300,000 prospectors from as far as Latin America swarmed the country. With the arrival of Americans the American government took even more interest in taking over California and formed another army to do it. On June 3rd, 1849 the US sent John C Fermont as the leader of 20,000 men to take over the Great Bear Republic and give the US a viable source of gold. Fermont expected to find a small disorganized militia but when he moved into Southern California he was attacked by a organized military of 10,000 men. Fermont and Henry Ford, the Californian General, fought a hard battle but even with the more professional, more well trained and more well armed Americans fighting against him Henry Ford managed to flank the Americans and rout them.
As the Mexican American war wrapped up more US troops started heading to California. President Ide died of smallpox and General Ford took over in a small coup. When news of the coup spread the people celebrated, Ford was a national hero since he defeated Fermont and stalled the American advance but now they were once again in danger. Ford enlisted the prospectors into the military and sent them to training as the Americans advanced northwards meeting little resistance. As more and more men were trained the Americans started getting more and more attacks from Californians, small ones but attacks none the less. By 1847 the last prospectors were sent out and the 1st Army of the West was formed under the Great Bear flag under Fords leadership. The two forces met near Monterey but refused to do battle due to it being a Sunday. On Monday the first battle in the US-California War began and ended terribly for the Californians. Ford and his men were defeated and sent North with US forces nipping at their heels, constant attacks kept them running until they reached a mission called San Diego. The Californians moved the missionaries North and took refuge in the mission while the Americans surrounded it, reminiscent of the Alamo. The Californians had heard and didn't want another Alamo so they managed to keep open a small supply rout that kept them alive during the siege. The siege lasted a month until the US Artillery burst open the walls of the old Spanish Mission and the Battle for San Diego began. It lasted for days as the US was subjected to brutal hand to hand fighting, It finally ended when the US destroyed the last Californian bastion of resistance and forced them to flee. In the confusion Ford was captured and taken to a US federal prison in Washington where he was visited by US President Polk who admired the Californians stubbornness. The two leaders talked for some time before finally hammering out the Treaty of Washington that basically allowed the Great Bear Republic to live, for a price. Ford returned a veteran and easily won re-election in the 1848 election. Under Ford California grew closer to Britain which made the US nervous.
The Great American War
By 1850 The GBR and UK had a strong Alliance that was denounced by the US. The UK and California paid no attention to the US's hissy fit due to a rising anti-government sentiment in the South. When Civil War did break out in 1861, the Californians saw a golden opportunity to weaken their enemy forever in the CSA. The Californians began their support in June by recognizing Confederate independence which was followed by them smuggling weapons into Texas, then on July 16, 1861 after First Bull Run they entered the war on the Confederate side, they were followed by the British in November that year after Lincoln failed to maneuver his way out of the the Trent Affair. Lincoln shook off the attempts at peace from the British so they steamrolled through Northern Maine and Oregon. The GBR pushed steadily east dishing out major defeats at the battles of Denver and Cheyenne and forcing the US back in what can only be described as a rout. General Custer had his heroic last stand in Denver when him and the 33rd Calvary Brigade were surrounded inside the city, with cannons roaring in the distance and enemies on all sides Custer and his men opened fire. It went on for almost half an hour before Custer ran out of ammo and was cut down via minnie ball to the face.
Despite all of this Lincoln continued to fight. He moved the government west to Springfield, formed the Eastern Defensive Line on the Appalachians and the Western Defensive line on the Mississippi River. He ordered no retreat and managed to conquer Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas from the Confederacy securing his southern Front. After repeated assaults on all fronts yielded no results the US counterattacked into Confederate territory and blitzed into Mississippi forcing the UK to move troops south to aid the Confederates. With Canada and the Appalachians weakened the US attacked into Manitoba and met little resistance until a small town called Flin Flan (yes its a real place). The citizens of the city aided in the defense and managed to fend off the American attack. The Battle halted the American advance into Canada and began a long stalemate that ended when the Californians broke through the Line in Texas and quickly advanced up to Fort Stockton before the US could respond. The Californians now had their way in and made full use of it, any solider they could spare was sent to West Texas putting tremendous stress on the front. In July of 1864 Californian troops managed to break the line and quickly advanced into open territory. As Lincoln moved more troops South to deal with the Californians the British maneuvered their way in through Canada; faced with two rapidly approaching enemies, rising anti-war sentiment in what was left of the US President Lincoln surrendered. In the peace the UK got Northern Maine, the CSA was declared officially independent and California gained much of the West. In the US 1864 elections Lincoln was voted out of the White House and Democrat General George B. McClellan took his place. The Bear Republic no longer saw its neighbor to the east as a threat so it turned its eyes west and into the Pacific. Their first target was the little island nation of Hawaii.
Hawaii
Hawaii was all but begging to be taken over by a foreign power. A prosperous kingdom in tropics that give any nation a jumping off point for colonizing the Pacific. So when California began to invest billions into building plantations on the islands the Kingdom knew what was happening, but could do nothing to stop it. As more and more Californians came on to the island Kingdom tensions between the immigrants and natives began to rise and threatened to erupt into violence. King Kamehameha III formed a official ghetto for the Californians and ordered that they never leave as to not spark a riot. When news of the proclamation spread the Californians rioted. The riots tore up Honolulu and caused millions in damage before a string of miscommunications led to police officers firing on them. The Honolulu Slaughter killed 30 rioters and injured hundreds and thats when things quickly got out of hand. First the Royal Guard was killed and the rioters stormed the palace, then the King called in the army to dissipate the riots, When the first military units assaulted the Californians in the Palace a delegate that was visiting the King who was trapped by the riots died, In response to the murder of the delegate and "the failure of the King to maintain order" Californian troops invaded Hawaii.
The Hawaiian Army was decimated in the invasion and quickly pushed off the coasts and onto the volcano where they built a complicated network of fortifications. After three failed attacks the Californians decided that the best idea was to force a eruption with explosives, Codenamed Operation: Pele it called for a new set of ammunition, the first set of explosive rounds arrived a week later and Pele was initiated. It was a smashing success but not in the way the Californians expected. The shells routinely fell short and on Hawaiian positions and soon they decided that Pele was fruitless and shelled the fortifications. The Hawaiians held out for 4 days before a lucky shot collapsed a section of the mountain cutting off the food storage and causing lava to start to seep out and to the trenches. With that the Hawaiians were defeated and the King accepted a the terms of surrender unconditionally. The Hawaiian Islands were flooded with tourists before the ink dried netting untold millions. Hawaii was added as the 6th state in the Republic (California, Baja California, Rio Bravo *New Mexico*, Arizona and Hawaii) a month later ending the Kingdoms 98 year history. Now California had a jumping off point for the Pacific but didn't know where to expand.