The Union Forever: A TL

[A.M. Turtle]

I present:

 

[Mac Gregor]

1913-1920 ​

Part 1: Post War America ​

​

The reopened Panama Canal
1914 ​

Purchase of Panama

The United States gained possession of the Panama Canal in 1910 after entering the war against the Entente. However, before the garrison surrendered to the invading Americans the French did a thorough job of sabotaging most of the locks rendering the canal inoperable for the rest of the war. Repair of the canal began before the war was over but would take until 1913 to be completed. The following year, President Roosevelt secured the purchase of the rest of the Panamanian isthmus, minus the Darien Jungle, from the United States of Columbia whose pro-Washington post war government was desperate for funds. Despite protestations from the Democrats over the hefty sum of the purchase, the acquisition of Panama along with the continued operation of the Nicaraguan Canal further cemented American influence over Central America.

1916 Presidential Elections

The 1916 presidential election was the first presidential election since the passage of the 15th Amendment which granted suffrage to women and ethnic minorities. The election would pit incumbents Theodore Roosevelt and Jacob R. Alexander against Democratic challengers James B. Clark of Missouri and Eugene Foss of Massachusetts. The American Socialist Party and the Temperance Party also fielded candidates in the election, neither of which garnered more than 4% of the popular vote. When the votes were finally tallied President Roosevelt easily won reelection for a second term.

James B. Clark of Missouri
1916 Democratic Canidate for President​

First Transatlantic Flight

Lance Rockhill's American Eagle in Paris
December 11, 1920​

On December 10-11, 1920 32 year old Lance Rockhill of Charleston, Virginia made the first nonstop transatlantic flight. Rockhill, a former Army pilot during the Great War, became an international hero after flying his airplane the American Eagle from Lincoln Field, Long Island to Paris, France where he was decorated personally be French President Marcel Ames. Coming one day after the 10 year anniversary of the end of the Great War, Rockhill’s flight seemed to embody the postwar sense of peaceful international cooperation. Furthermore, the fact that Rockhill chose to land in Paris was viewed by many as signify France’s return as a respectable member of the family of nations.

Sports in America

Baseball players
Indianapolis, Indiana 1913 ​

As the soldiers returned from the Great War, the United States experienced what American historian John K. Lofdahl would call “an athletic explosion” as interests in sports intensified to new highs never before seen. Baseball had been growing steadily in popularity since the Civil War and by the time of the Great War had firmly established itself as the national pastime. By 1919 the Professional Baseball League boasted a total of 26 teams with 14 and 12 teams in the Star and Liberty Leagues respectively. Other sports such as rugby, handball, and lacrosse continued to expand and develop their own college and professional teams across the country. However, the sport to have the biggest impact from America’s involvement during the Great War was football.[1] Although football was played in the United States before the war, wartime experiences of playing football matches against allied units overseas fueled a dramatic increase in the sport’s popularity in postwar America. A number of professional football teams sprung up by the end of the decade and the American Football Association’s American Cup was turning into one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year. In addition to the previously mentioned ball sports, auto racing was also becoming extremely popular during the post war years. Many historians have viewed this as a natural byproduct of the growing auto market as Americans began purchasing autos in ever increasing numbers.[2]

The American Film Industry

Film set for the movie Love Lake
San Jose, California 1920 ​

The United States had been the leader of the motion picture industry since its beginning in the late 1800’s. By the end of the Great War, the American film industry had solidified around San Jose, California which in time became a metonym for the movie industry in general. Literally built atop the ruble left over from the 1906 earthquake, San Jose became synonymous with the glitz and glamour of the post war years as stars and starlets amazed fortunes staring in films such as T. B. Evans’s The Front and Millard Thomas’s bible epic Day of Days, two of the most successful movies of the decade. By the dawn of the twenties, so called “talkies” began to overtake the earlier silent films.

[1] That is OTL’s soccer

[2] That’s right, ITTL cars are almost always referred to as autos instead of cars.

 

[Mac Gregor]

Professional Baseball
​

As of 1920, the following 26 teams made up America's Professional Baseball League

Liberty League

1. Name: Atlanta Goobers City: Atlanta, GA Colors: Blue, Yellow, and White
2. Name: Havana Peloteros (Players) City: Havana, CU Colors: Pink, Lime Green, and White
3. Name: Tulsa Warriors City: Tulsa, SQ Colors: Red and White
4. Name: Baltimore Monumentals City: Baltimore, MD Colors: Yellow, Black, Red and White
5. Name: Kansas City Bulls City: Kansas City Mo/KS Colors: Black and White
6. Name: Philadelphia Independents, City: Philadelphia, PA Colors: Black, Gold, White
7. Name: Santo Domingo Dominics City: Santo Domingo, SN Colors: Red, Blue
8. Name: Chicago Tornados City: Chicago, IL Colors: Orange and White
9. Name: Brooklyn Brawlers City: New York City, NY Colors: Green, Black, and White
10. Name: Newark Bricklayers City: Newark, NJ Colors: Brown, Black, and White
11. Name: Memphis Moneymakers City: Memphis, TN Colors: Red, Gold, an White
12. Name: Los Angeles Angels City: Lose Angeles, CA Colors: Gold and White

Star League

1. Name: Miami Manatees City: Miami, FL Colors: Navy Blue, Gray, and White
2. Name: Richmond Marblemen City: Richmond, VA Colors: Black, Grey, and White
3. Name: San Francisco Miners City: San Francisco, CA Colors: Yellow and White.
4. Name: Indianapolis Hoosiers City: Indianapolis, IN Colors: Silver and Blue
5. Name: Detroit Lions City: Detroit, MI Colors: Green and Gold
6. Name: Cleveland Lakemen: City: Cleveland, OH Colors: Light Blue and White
7. Name: Cincinnati Buffalos: City: Cincinnati, OH Colors: Brown and White
8. Name: Boston Minutemen: City: Boston, MA Colors: Red, White, and Blue
9. Name: New York Eagles: City: New York City, NY Colors: Navy Blue and White
10. Name: Texas Cowboys City: Houston, TX Colors: Red and Yellow
11. Name: Columbus Discovers: City: Columbus, OH Colors: Black, Orange, and White
12. Name: St. Louis Mounders City: St. Louis, MO Colors: Purple, Gray, and White
13. Name: Charlotte Hornets City: Charlotee, NC Colors: Brown, Yellow, and White
14. Name: Portland Pioneers City: Portland, Oregon Colors: Brown and Green

 

[Mac Gregor]

1913-1920​

Part 2: Foreign Developments​

Reconstruction in Europe

In the years following the Great War, continental Europe would be preoccupied with recovering from the devastation wrought by the conflict. In the newly minted Federal Kingdom of Germany, the German Parliament busied itself by integrating the Catholic south German states into the new nation and rebuilding destroyed cities such as Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, and Cologne. In 1914, the beloved Fredrick III, King of the Germans, died at the age of 82. He was succeeded by his 55 year old son who was crowned Wilhelm II. It was universally recognized that Wilhelm II lacked many of the talents and admirable character traits of his father. The new German constitution however, limited the king’s power and therefore the damage that the new monarch could do. In France, the centrist republican government of President Marcel Ames successfully fought of attempts by radical groups on the left and right to topple the republic, causing President Theodore Roosevelt to give him his famous nickname “the Rock of Liberty.”

Marcel Ames
President of the French Republic​

In Central and Southeastern Europe, the successor states to the Austro-Hungarian Empire struggled with political instability. In February of 1916, the Kingdom of Hungry briefly fell to a Communist revolution under the draconian rule of Hungarian radical Robi Vencel Ignacz. For 9 months Ingacz launched what became known as the Red Terror on so called “counterrevolutionary” elements in Hungarian society resulting in tens of thousands of deaths the majority of whom were innocent civilians. By the end of the year, German and Russian troops intervened to stop the bloodshed. On December 10, 1916 Ignacz was deposed and lynched by a Hungarian mob as Russian and German troops entered Budapest. The bloody and ultimately failed Hungarian revolution, or Red Revolt as it is also known, to create the world’s first communist state would do much to discredit communist movements around the globe.

The New Olympic Games

In an effort to instill national pride and generate revenue, the Kingdom of Greece held the first of what would become known as the New Olympic Games in Olympia in 1918. Although the first competition was restricted to only Greek athletes, in later years it was opened up to foreign nations. The New Olympic Games however, was just one of several international gaming competitions that formed following the Great War such as the British Imperial Games and the Pan-American Games.

Developments in Africa

Africa saw dramatic increases in development and white colonization following the Great War. France, who had before the war controlled most of the northern half of the continent, now retained only the province of Algeria. As such, the majority of the white French colonists who had settled in other African colonies chose to immigrate to Algeria. They in turn were largely replaced by emigrants from the British Empire, Germany, and Italy who were adamant about solidifying their hold over their new territories. The heaviest white immigration took place on the North African coast where hundreds of thousands of French and Italian settlers would emigrate over the years.

Photo of the construction of the bridge over the Zambesi river
1914​

In an attempt to cement their control over their African possessions, the British government embarked on an audacious railroad building program in the years following the war under the supervision of the Imperial African Railway Company. All though it wouldn’t be completely finished until the late 1920’s, the railway eventaully ran from Dakar in West Africa to Juba in the White Nile region where in intersected with the over 4,000 mile long Cape to Cairo railway. In East Africa a spur line connected the Cape to Cairo line with Dar es Salaam. Despite being at the time the most expensive construction project in history, the Imperial African Railway was widely viewed as a monument to the British Empire and British engineering.

The Imperial African Railway's route is shown in neon green.​

The Dominion of Ireland

In 1919, after centuries of foreign rule, the British government fulfilled its wartime promise and granted Ireland self government within the British Empire. The new Dominion of Ireland, which consisted of the Catholic portions of the island, had its own legislature but still recognized King Victor I, who had succeeded to the throne after his father’s death in 1913, as head of state. In time historians would regard the creation of the Dominion of Ireland as a compromise that didn’t really satisfy any side and simply delayed ultimately dealing with the “Irish Question” for another few decades.

Flag of the Dominion of Ireland​

 

[Mac Gregor]

The 1920s​

Politics and the Economy​

The 1920 Presidential Election ​

Despite the urgings of some Republicans, Theodore Roosevelt citied poor health and chose not to seek a third term as President. The race for the Republican nomination soon devolved into a contest between Roosevelt’s Vice President Jacob R. Alexander of Oregon and Great War veteran and one term governor of New Hampshire Leonard Wood. The 60 year old Wood, who had rose to the rank of Lt. General commanding the U.S. 3rd Army in Europe, eventually squeaked by a narrow victory at the Republican National Convention in New York City. For his running mate, Wood was paired with Missouri Senator Nelson R. Doner. ​

As competition the Democrats nominated former Indiana Governor Erik Millman and Representative Neil Pilson of Kentucky. 1920 would see significantly wider use of new technological mediums for campaigning like radio and newsreels than previous elections. During the campaign the Republicans touted their success over the past quarter century of how they had lead America out of a depression and to victory in the Great War. The Democrats’ strategy differed considerably, having adopted a temperance plank in their platform which resonated with many teetotalers and women voters. Significantly, the 1920 Democratic platform was noticeably less nativist than in previous years marking the beginning of the Democratic Party’s slow turn away from its sometimes racist past. Another important difference between the two parties’ platforms was the Democrats’ vow to abolish the third Bank of the United States set up under the Robert T. Lincoln administration and return America to a specie backed currency. The Democrats also continued to favor a more isolationist foreign policy than their Republican counterparts. In the end, the Republicans won the election and retained control of the White House and Congress but with reduced margins.​

The Wood Administration ​

Leonard Wood
Republican from New Hampshire
24th President of the United States​

Leonard Wood holds several important records as president such as being the last U.S. president born before the Civil War, the last President to be elected without a middle name, and the first U.S. President to have fought in the Great War. However, what Leonard Wood is most famous for today occurred a mere five months into his presidency when he became the first U.S. president ever to be assassinated. On August 27, 1921 a deranged former dock hand named Emmett Scott Drager shot and killed President Wood during a speech at the Norfolk Naval Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. The country was deeply shocked by what former President Roosevelt called “this cowardly and most un-American act.” Although one of the shortest presidencies in U.S. history, President Wood’s achievements during his brief tenure included the 1921 Veteran Relief Act and the creation of the Department of Territorial Affairs which would help lead America’s resent wartime acquisitions to statehood in the decades to come. ​

The Presidency of Nelson R. Doner and the Panic of 1923 ​

Nelson R. Doner
Republican from Missouri
25th President of the United States​

An arch politician meant to counter the political inexperience of Leonard Wood, Nelson R. Doner found himself catapulted into the Presidency upon Woods tragic assassination. President Doner possessed little of the poise or charisma of his predecessor, having relied on his inherited wealth and connections to Missouri political bosses for securing elected office. Troubles began to befall the Doner Administer almost immediately as his presidency was beset with one scandal after another. The largest of these scandals involved alleged bribery by Illinois politician Brendan Theol to secure appointment as Vice President. However, the real death knell for the Doner Administration sounded on April 6, 1923 when the stock market plummeted ushering in an economic panic. Racked by scandal and a thinner congressional majority than RTL, Doner could do little to improve the economic situation before the 1924 presidential elections. ​

1924 Presidential Election and the Return of the Democrats ​

Harold K. Abercrombie
Democrat from North Carolina
26th President of the United States​

Having accomplished relatively little during his three years as President and with the country still mired in recession few were surprised when the Democrats led by the presidential ticket of Harold K. Abercrombie and Kenneth P. Bergstrom swept the elections. Abercrombie, a hero from the Great War and a senator from the state of North Carolina, become the first Democrat elected president in twenty-eight years since President George A. Custer in 1896. Although the Republicans barley managed to hang onto the Senate by a two vote majority the House of Representatives fell to the Democrats. ​

Based heavily around the president’s Southern Baptist upbringing, the puritanical Abercrombie administration was a welcomed change for many Americans from that of his scandal plagued predecessor. Keeping his campaign promise, President Abercrombie sought to abolish the Bank of the United States and although a bill did pass the House it was narrowly defeated in the Republican controlled Senate. Long supporters of the Temperance movement the now empowered Democrats sought to establish a nationwide prohibition on alcoholic beverages. A constitutional amendment was passed by both houses of Congress but failed to achieve ratification in the allotted time by only two states. Following this defeat the Temperance Movement would begin its slow but steady slide into obscurity. Although historians differ as to why the once powerful temperance movement failed to achieve its ultimate goal a number of states, especially in the south, would keep prohibition as the law of the land for years to come. ​

Despite these policy setbacks by the end of 1926 the economy had mostly recovered and was booming by the time of the 1928 elections. As such President Abercrombie and Vice President Bergstrom coasted to reelection victory over their Republican challengers Marvin Clary of Ohio and James Cowen of Sequoyah. Foreign policy during the Abercrombie administration was marked by a return to isolationism and what he termed as a “business centric” approach to nations in the Western Hemisphere. ​

American Culture in the 20s​

American culture during the 1920’s would be marked by the spread of several new music forms. The first was the guitar heavy music known as “Delta” after the Mississippi Delta region where it partially originated. Originally performed almost exclusively by and for Black Americans over the decade Delta music would spread around the country and even to Europe. Another was Jaleo or Ruckus, a fast paced dance music from Cuba which blended Caribbean and North American instruments and styles. Ruckus soon became the music of choice for American night clubs and dance halls illustrating the influence that America’s Caribbean states were having on the country. In sports, boxing and auto racing increased dramatically in popularity during the 20s with the Tulsa 100 becoming one of the nation’s premier sporting events. Along with radio, motion pictures continued to grow during the decade including animated shorts with dozens of cartoon character such as Shane Bayard’s Dreamworld Film Company’s Ricky Raccoon and Tom Turkey entering into American popular culture. ​

Ricky Raccoon
1926​

Foreign Developments​

End of the Chinese Civil War​

After 18 years of fighting, the Chinese Civil War came to a close when Republican forces captured the capital of Peking on October 1, 1921 officially ending thousands of years of monarchial rule in China. General Chen Ching-Kuo was installed as the first president of the new republic. The long war had taken its toll on the country, with tens of millions of Chinese dead form either the marauding armies or the subsequent famines. Furthermore, while the United States was the first nation to recognize the new republic other powers had used the nearly two decades of warfare to expand their own spheres of influence. After officially incorporating Manchuria into the Russian Empire in 1920, the Russians moved quickly to establish the puppet states of the Khanate of Mongolia and the Emirate of East Turkestan out of the former Qing Empire. Meanwhile, Great Britain secured the independence of Tibet. While the Republic of China deeply resented these actions by Russia and Britain, years of war left them to weak to seriously contest them. As such, China would seek close ties to the United States for economic and military assistance. Despite the end of the civil war, China would continue to experience a plethora of problems as the shaky republican government tried to hold together and modernize the impoverished county. ​

The Great Game​

With the fracturing of China, the century old rivalry in Central Asia between the British and Russian Empires intensified to levels not seen in decades. The two nations would spend vast sums of money building fortifications and railroads to strengthen their claims. Other countries in the region were forced to take sides. Afghanistan favored the British while Persia sided with Russians after the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1924 in which the Russians gave monetary and military assistance in return for naval basing rights. These policies were not without their criticisms as liberals in both the United Kingdom and Russia deplored the large amounts of money which they claimed was being wasted on trying to gain control of areas that the people cared nothing about. Throughout the decade, the United States maintained its anti-imperialist stance and urged calm between the two rival powers. ​

Norwegian Independence​

Although advocacy for Norwegian independence had been slowly gaining steam for decades, the uncertainty of the Great War and its immediate aftermath had dampened secessionist zeal until the early 1920’s. With the ascension to the throne of the unpopular Swedish King Charles XVI in 1920, on July 16, 1922 the United Kingdoms of Norway and Sweden was formally dissolved after a successful referendum for independence by the Norwegian people, ending 107 years of unity. The Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, selected a prince from the Danish house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg to be their monarch installing him as King Magnus VIII. ​

Flag of the Kingdom of Norway
1922​

 

[Mac Gregor]

The 1930s ​

Part 1: Domestic Affairs​

52 Star American Flag after the admission of the states of Puerto Rico and Hawaii​

The 1932 Elections

After eight years in office and despite successfully bringing the nation out of the economic chaos caused by the Panic of 1923, President Abercrombie declined to stand for a third term. At the Democratic Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota the party nominated Iowa congressman Zachary T. McKinnis after the heir apparent Vice President Bergstrom died of a heart attack during the primaries. To balance the ticket McKinnis was paired with Edgar D. Glover a former two term governor from Mississippi. The Republicans’ nominated the lackluster ticket of Jerry F. Dawson and Colby St. John notable only in that St. John was the first American Catholic to be selected for a presidential ticket. The campaign consisted of the Democrats relying on the booming economy while their Republican challengers tried to shift the focus onto foreign policy. In the end, the American public was not persuaded by the Republicans’ arguments and elected McKinnis and Glover by one of the widest margins in electoral history. Further compounding the Republican rout, the Democrats captured the Senate for the first time in decades.

The McKinnis Presidency

Zachary T. McKinnis
Democrat from Iowa
27th President of the United States​

Upon assuming office, President McKinnis followed in the footsteps of his predecessor by cutting taxes on businesses and paying off the national debt which he never failed to mention was caused by “decades and decades of Republican domestic tampering and foreign meddling.” By the end of his term he had reduced the national debt to its lowest levels since the Hill Administration during the 1890s. Having often publically declared his “abhorrence” for government spending, federal projects were naturally rare during the McKinnis administration with the noticeable exception of the dam that would bear his name. Although plans had been drawn up for damning the Colorado River since the Roosevelt Administration it would be President McKinnis who presided over the ground breaking ceremonies in February of 1933. Even though it wouldn’t be completed during his time in office the dam would prove to be one of the longest lasting symbols of the McKinnis presidency.

Puerto Rico joins the Union

Flag of the State of Puerto Rico​

In what proved to be the last major act of the McKinnis administration, Puerto Rico was admitted to the Union on November 3, 1936 after having spent nearly 58 years as a territory since its capture from Spain during the Spanish-American War. The reason for finally admitting Puerto Rico during the 11th hour of his presidency is not fully understood but it is believed by many historians to have been an attempt to improve the ailing chances of his Vice President’s 1936 presidential campaign. Along with Cuba and Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico became the third state in the Caribbean and like them used English as the language of government and taught it alongside Spanish in island’s public schools. Furthermore, like its Caribbean sister states, Puerto Rico had “Americanized” considerably since its liberation as seen when the San Juan Coquis joined the Professional Baseball League in 1939.

Election of 1936

Although many expected McKinnis to be easily reelected for a second term, McKinnis declined re-nomination after being diagnosed with lung cancer during the spring of 1936. After a contentious convention in Baton Rouge, Louisiana the Democrats nominated Vice President Glover for President and Secretary of State Arlen Tucker as his running mate. In what should have been an easy campaign, the Democratic ticket soon ran aground due to a series of public relation blunders committed by Glover. With a thick southern accent, the portly and heavy drinking Vice President failed to connect with voters in the now all important medium of radio. The most damaging example of which was a September radio address in which it was widely perceived that Glover had slurred some of his words due to being drunk on the air. Furthermore, Glover was an ardent segregationalist and his recorded use of words such as “nigger-like” and “misceginated” to describe things he didn’t care for distanced himself from the American people, most of whom were perfectly content not to think about the country’s race relations. At the Republican National Convention in Boston, Governor Daniel E. Warburton of Pennsylvania and Travis B. Wingfield the senior senator from Maine where chosen to try and regain the White House for the Republicans. After a bitter campaign Warburton managed to beat Glover by one of the narrowest margins in American history. The Democrats however managed to hold on to both houses of congress with solid majorities.

Hawaii joins the Union

Flag of the State of Hawaii​

Following only a few months after Puerto Rico, Hawaii was admitted into the Union on March, 28 1937 becoming the republic’s 52nd state. The Democrat controlled Congress’s decision to admit the archipelago was in part to further their majority in the Senate. Politically Hawaii had been dominated by Anglo-American businessmen since the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the islands annexation by the United States in 1893. After achieving statehood, Hawaii dutifully elected two Democratic senators to send to Washington to represent their state much to the pleasure of congressional leaders and to the chagrin of President Warburton.


“4 Damn Years as a Lame Duck”: The Warburton Administration

Daniel E. Warburton
Republican from Pennsylvania
28th President of the United States​

Upon assuming office, President Warburton soon found his political agenda “mired up to the hip” by the Democratic congress. Again and again, Congress refused to hear or voted down matters that Republicans wished to see discussed such as a constitutional amendment to allow for the direct election of U.S. senators, a permanent international forum for nations in the Western Hemisphere, and an increase in the national minimum wage. Utterly flustered on tackling what he saw as the big issues of the day, Warburton turned his attention to accomplishing a multitude of lesser tasks. Warbutron is today remembered as a great conservationist having designated more national parks and wildlife reserves than any president in American history including Pico Duarte National Park in Santo Domingo, Everglades National Park in Florida, and Luquillo National Park in Puerto Rico. Warburton, a Great War veteran himself, also managed to secure funds from the ever frugal congress for the construction on the National Great War Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Designed by famed American architect Gary Godwin, the Great War memorial was constructed over the course of 4 years at the far end of the Washington monument reflecting pool. A prime example of Rationalist architecture, the monument took the form of a large white marble sphere nestled into a tiered pedestal. Measuring 176 feet in diameter, the sphere or globe was meant to represent not only the global scale of the war but also the new world which had been born out of the conflict.

American Culture in the 30s

While Ruckus and Delta continued to be popular throughout the decade, new music forms such as Sawmill, which was based off of Appalachian folk music, also started gaining time on the airwaves. In sports, Edwin Anderson would break the color line when he became the first black American to play Professional League Baseball outside of the Caribbean after signing with the Brooklyn Brawlers in 1930. The 30s would see the American film industry continue to grow as seen by the production of several large budget epics with the two most influential movies being Our Country (1935) and In Troubled Times (1937). Our Country, a historic drama set in eastern Tennessee during the Civil War, explored the interfamilial conflict of the Patterson family who were torn between loyalty to the Union and their native state. In the end, the eldest son Joseph persuades the Pattersons to stay loyal to the Union after showing them that the film’s villain Mr. Cain, the town’s wealthy slave owning mayor, really views the war as a way to save his property and not about protecting freedom. The movie is often cited today for encapsulating the growing belief amongst Americans, including Southerners, that the Civil War was a doomed enterprise bent upon protecting the wealth and position of the South’s antebellum elite. In Troubled Times was the first in a new genre of movies that would become known as “Alternate History”. Set in 1936 in a world where America stayed out of World War I, the victorious Second French Empire invades the American eastern seaboard. The most expensive film to date, the movie featured enormous battle scenes using over 2,500 human extras. Although often belittled on grounds of plausibility, In Trouble Times remains one of the most influential movies in American film history.

 

[Mac Gregor]

The 1930s​

Part 2: Foreign Developments​

The Italian Miracle

During the 1930s the Italian Republic underwent a sort of economic and cultural renaissance with Italian films and fashions becoming the toast of Europe and Italian manufactured goods competing with American, British, and German products on the world market. Italy during this time saw a massive period of industrialization which in a few decades time would make it one of the leading economies in Europe. Since the abolition of the monarchy, Italy has continued to remain a stable and vibrant democracy with the center-right Democratic Republican Party of former President Brancaleone Lucchesi and the center-left People’s Party of Italy competing for the votes of the Italian electorate. In foreign policy, the Italian Republic has distanced itself somewhat from its German allies and drawn closer to other republican governments like France and the United States. Furthermore, since the end of the Great War the Italian government has encouraged nearly 100,000 Italian citizens to immigrate to its sole colony on the African coast. While this has led to some skirmishes with nomads in the desert interior the Republican Army has so far been able to squash any serious resistance.


South America

Flag of the Federal Republic of Brazil​

In the decades following the Great War, the nations of Latin America saw more liberal minded governments come to power as the influence of the now defunct French Empire was replaced by that of the United States. The region’s most powerful state continued to be the Federal Republic of Brazil who since the fall of the monarchy in 1909 has made impressive gains in industrialization and education. The United States of Columbia is one of the continent’s most prominent success stories having grown by leaps and bounds since the return of democracy in 1910. Although some Columbians still resent the selling of the Panamanian isthmus to the United States, few doubt the good that has resulted from the massive amounts of American aid and investment that have flowed into the country. Argentina and Chile have also continued their climb towards industrialization and modernization and as such are the chief destinations in Latin America for emigrants from Central and Eastern Europe.

All however is not well in South America. Domestic progress in the nations of Venezuela and Ecuador has been turbulent as military coups during the 20s and 30s have undermined the nations’ stability. Lain America has remained relatively peaceful since the Great War with the only near exception being the Chaco crisis of 1930 when the dictatorial governments of Bolivia and Paraguay almost came to blows over the disputed Gran Chaco region. In the end, Brazilian and Argentine arbitration prevented the crisis from escalating into a war. The result provided an enormous boost of support for the rightwing Serrano regime in Bolivia but ended up toppling the Paraguayan government leading ultimately to a democratic takeover in 1934.

Blue nations are functioning democracies, Yellow nations are flawed democracies, and Maroon nations are dictatorial states. ​

The Birth of Krulikism

The brainchild of Slovenian academic and engineer Jurcek Krulik, the socio-political philosophy of Krulikism gained considerable attention and spread throughout the world during the 1930s. As described by his 1931 book Man and the Technocratic World, Krulikism is, in its most basic form, a call to place the decision making powers of society in the hands of those best qualified to solve society’s problems which Krulik claims are the world’s scientist, engineers, and doctors. However unlike other proposals for Technocracy, Krulikism does not call for the abolition of the state. In these new states known as “technates” the learned professionals would select the best amongst their number to govern society. At over 700 pages, Man and the Technocratic World espoused ideas on a variety of other subjects which further differentiated Krulikism from more mainline technocratic theories. These ideas resonated with many different groups around the world for different reasons. Many socialists and dishearten communists were attracted to Krulikism due to Kurlik’s emphasis on using the state’s wealth on the construction of massive engineering projects for the betterment of society. Large numbers of academics supported Kurlik’s call for universal higher education and nationally subsidized research and development in order to create a smarter and therefore better run state. Others sympathized with Krulikism due to its harsh stance towards religion which Kurlick, much like Marx, believed “curtailed the intellectual and productive potential of society.”

Jurcek Krulik
1931​

The Ottoman Civil War

Since its defeat in the Great War, the Ottoman Empire has been racked by near incessant political instability. With the loss of its territory in the Balkans, Mesopotamia, and Arabia, the Turks’ once great empire is by the 1930s a mere shadow of its former glory. Tensions between the empire’s two largest ethnic groups the Turks and Arabs have been on the rise for decades but began to boil over in 1937 when General Fareed Bakri Kattan an Arab member of the Ottoman Parliament openly called for the independence of the empire’s remaining Arab territories. General Kattan, who had fought valiantly for the Sultan during the Great War, was forced to flee Istanbul for his life when he was denounced as a traitor by Sultan Murad VI. For the rest of the decade, in what would become known as the Ottoman Civil War, General Kattan would wage a guerrilla war against imperial forces from the hinterland of his native Syria. Kattan and his rebels were aided by arms shipments and volunteers from the neighboring Sultanate of Arabia who wished to see the Turkish Sultan’s claims on title of the Caliph of Islam ended. Further compounding the Ottomans’ problems was an ever-growing faction of Turkish officers and intellectuals who wished to see the monarchy toppled and the establishment of a modern and secular Turkish state.

The international community was bitterly divided on whom to support in the conflict with each Great Power rooting for either the Arab rebels, Ottomans, or Turkish nationalists. To avoiding the conflict sparking a wider war, the British called for a summit on Malta in June of 1938 where the nations of Britain, Germany, Russia, Italy, and France agreed not to send troops, sell munitions, or annex Ottoman territory for the duration of the conflict. The United States was conspicuously absent during these negotiations due to a congressional resolution by the isolationist Democratic congress which bared the State Department from becoming involved. This was much to the annoyance of President Warburton who had initially voiced support for the Arab rebels.

 

[Mac Gregor]

Hey everybody,

Sorry about this but I don’t think I will have time to post a full update this week. The following is a short blurb about the 1940 Presidential election. The two flags are teasers for other events during the 1940s. I will try and post the rest as soon as possible. Until then please feel free to post any questions, comments, or requests. Cheers!


1940 Presidential Elections

The 1940 Republican National Convention was held in a large convention center next to the state capitol building in Lancaster, Nebraska.[1] There President Warburton and Vice President Wingfield were dutifully renominated by the Republican Party to stand for a second term despite four lackluster years shackled by a Democratic congress. At the Democratic convention in Salem, Oregon the delegates were especially careful not to repeat their 1936 mistake and after a thorough vetting process selected the amiable and well mannered Senator Vernon M. Kirkman of Massachusetts as their presidential nominee. For his running mate Kirkman was paired with former governor Timothy G. Buchholz from the State of Texas. During the campaign President Warburton crisscrossed the country trying to drum up support for a more active federal movement and a greater role for the United States in world affairs. Kirkman, whose campaign was notable for the first recorded use of helicopters and television ads for political campaigning, successfully painted Warburton as a typical “busybody Republican, always tampering with a system that doesn’t need to be fixed”. Although Warburton’s poll numbers closed significantly with those of Kirkman in the weeks before election day, in the end they were not enough to keep him in the Whitehouse. When the votes were tallied, Vernon Kirkman was elected the 29th President of the United States accompanied by thick Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.

Vernon M. Kirkman
Democrat from Massachusetts
29th President of the United States ​

Upcoming flags from the 1940s. Speculation welcome.

[1] OTL Lincoln.

 

[Mac Gregor]

(Hey everybody, sorry for the quality of this update. It is a bit rushed as my internet has been going in and out. Let me know what ya'll think. cheers!) ​

1941-1943​

Domestic Developments


Alaska joins the Union

Flag of the State of Alaska​

On April, 21 1942, Alaska became the 53rd state to join the Union. During the official statehood ceremony at the newly constructed statehouse in Sedgewick[1], President Kirkman remarked that Alaska’s new star on the flag was a “splendid addition to the American constellation.”

Beginning of the Second Wave of the Civil Right Movement

Historians today usually trace the beginning of what is known as the Second Wave of the Civil Rights Movement to October 18, 1943 when a group of white and black politicians and businessmen gathered at the historic Atlanta Baptist Church. There they drafted the Atlanta Declaration which called for the phasing out of segregation in the American South. While cheered by many people and politicians outside the South, and especially in the Caribbean states, the Atlanta Declaration caused considerable consternation in many cities and towns of the Deep South.

The Spread of Television

The early 1940s saw the spread of television throughout the United States. American interest in television, often abbreviated as TV, increased exponential as the sale of TV sets as well as the programming available climbed dramatically throughout the decade. In these early years, American television would be dominated by a small number of networks known as the “Big Four”. These included the American Television Network (ATN), Rockefeller Broadcasting Company (RBC), and the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBC). The fourth member of this quartet, the National Broadcasting Service (NBS), was created in 1943 after Congress established a nonprofit and nonpartisan board of directors to provide “wholesome and educational programming for the American public.” As such, NBS devoted its airtime to world and national news, civic education, and American history.

Foreign Developments

Rise of the Kobushi Party

Flag of the Kobushi Party​

Following Japan’s withdrawal form the Great War per the stipulations of the Treaty of Honolulu, the Empire of Japan entered a prolonged period of self imposed isolation and introspection. The much despised treaty had ended Japanese influence in Manchuria. With only Formosa and Korea remaining, the Japanese people were deeply resentful of the nation’s decline in great power status. Utilizing this public disenchantment, Katsuo Akiyama , a former Japanese army officer and veteran of the Great War founded the rightwing Kobushi Party in 1929. Meaning “fist” in Japanese, Akiyama’s Kobushi Party sought to return the Japanese Empire to its former glory and end the parliamentarian bickering which he claimed had paralyzed the government since the Great War. In 1941, Akiyama became Prime Minister after a Kobushi led coalition of rightwing parties achieved control of the Japanese Diet. Within three years, Akiyama and his “Fisters” had solidified near total control over the government absorbing or banning all other political parties. Although he had reservations about the Kobushi Party and Akiyama in particular, Emperor Kazuo went along with their plans for Japan which called for a strong central imperial government, dramatically increased industrialization, greater emphasis on education, and an expansion of the empire’s military.

Norway gains Svalbard Islands

On May 27, 1941 at the request of the Emperor, the Russian Duma agreed to officially cede control of the Svalbard archipelago to the newly independent Kingdom of Norway. Although the majority of the islands few thousand inhabitants had always been Norwegian, the fact that the Russians were willing to relinquish control over these islands was viewed by many in foreign policy circles as an attempt by Russia to curry favor with Norway before Sweden and the Federal Kingdom of Germany could cement their own alliances.

Collapse of the Ottoman Empire

After nearly six years of fighting, the Ottoman Empire came to an end on April 5, 1943 when a coup led by republican army officers deposed Sultan Murad VI. Murad was forced into exile in Albania ending 644 years of monarchial rule in Turkey. Led by Erol Adem Macar, the newly empowered army officers proclaimed the establishment of the Turkish Republic on April 10. With Macar as the first president of the republic, this new secular Turkish state relinquished control of the former empire’s provinces which lacked a Turkish majority. In Syria, Arab revolutionary General Fareed Bakri Kattan entered Damascus in triumph on the 18th of April and declared the creation of the Republic of Greater Syria comprising all of Syria, the Levant, and a swath of territory east of the Jordan River.

Flag of the Republic of Greater Syria​

[1] OTL Anchorage

 

[Mac Gregor]

1944-1947 ​

Part 1: Domestic Affairs ​

1944 Presidential Election

President Vernon Kirkman shaking hands with the Chief Justice on the day of his inauguration. ​

After four prosperous in somewhat uneventful years in office, President Vernon Kirkman and Vice President Buchholz were easily renominated by the Democratic Party for a second term. At the Republican National Convention in Richmond, Virginia the GOP was deeply divided and was unable to form a ticket until the twelfth ballot. The Republicans finally settled on Jasper V. Richards the amiable governor of Colorado and Harold McCann a former senator from Maine as his running mate. Many Republicans were less than thrilled by the lackluster nominees, which Leroy Connor, the progressive governor of Georgia, decried as “the only two Americans more boring than Kirkman and Buchholz”. Also to Connor’s frustration, the Republican platform shied away from embracing the growing civil rights movement preferring to play it safe and stick to their usual message of a more robust foreign policy and larger military. Many political scientists have argued that the Republicans selection of the stodgy 72 year old Richards to run against the 46 year old Kirkman, then the youngest president in American history, was unwise. Unsurprisingly, Kirkman beat Richards winning nearly 54% of the popular vote. At his second inauguration, Kirkman pledged that his administration would “maintain the harmony of the status-quo” words that years later Kirkman would come to regret. ​

The Civil Rights Movement Intensifies

Demonstrators in North Carolina
1945​

During President Kirkman’s second term the American civil rights movement began to gain momentum fueled in part by Kirkman’s apparent indifference. Around the country an ever increasing number of Americans began demonstrating and challenging segregation. Reformers in the America South were joined by several notable activists from the states of Cuba and Santo Domingo where racial attitudes tended to be more progressive than in some areas of the mainland. The most famous of which would be Thomas Reynoso a lawyer from San Cristobal in Santo Domingo. A light skinned man of mixed decent with a gift for oratory, Reynoso was jailed numerous times as he refused to abide by the “Whites Only” signs which segregated most Southern public facilities. Although many segregationists dismissed Reynoso as a “damn miscegenated Carib” Reynoso always maintained that he was first and foremost an American and as such entitled to the same treatment as any purebred white man. Another aspect that aided the Civil Rights movement was the large number of nonwhite professional athletes and musicians who were during the 1940s coming to the forefront of American pop culture.

Building of the Lincoln Memorials

Color photograph from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial​

After lobbying by the Republican congressional minority, President Kirkman secured the necessary funds from Congress for the construction of a memorial in Washington D.C. to honor Presidents Abraham and Robert Lincoln. Designed by the Puerto Rican architect Solomon Salcido, the twin Lincoln memorials were constructed south of the White House on the banks of the Potomac River. Made of white marble, the semicircular monuments each housed a seated statue of their respective president who faced each other across a 76 yard colonnade. President Kirkman dedicated the monuments himself, demonstrating that the Lincolns were no longer considered the nemeses of the Democrats but had finally taken their place in the pantheon of American heroes.

Birth of Groove Music

Starting in the early 40s, a new form of music began to crop up in several American cities. Known as Groove, it combined elements from Delta, Ruckus, Sawmill, and Gospel music. The genre’s popularity grew rapidly throughout the decade despite some traditionalists’ claims that it was a corrupting influence on America’s young people. Without a doubt, the most popular musician of this new style of music was Danny “Funky” Turpin. Turpin, who originally started as a Gospel singer in Atlanta, would sell millions of records earning him the title the “King of Groove”. That Turpin was black naturally didn’t sit well with segregationists but the widespread popularity of his music with white audiences is today seen as an important step towards integration.

 

[Mac Gregor]

1944-1947 ​

Part 2: Foreign Developments​

Rise of Anti-Colonialism in India

Indian Protestors
1946​

The 1940s saw a dramatic increase in anti-colonial sentiment in India, an acceleration of a trend that had been building since the end of the Great War. Despite numerous petitions, the British government repeatedly failed to adequately deal with the Indians' calls for greater autonomy and reform. Indians themselves were also divided on what the political future of India should look like. Some, such as the Loyal Indian Society (LIS) wished to see India join the British Commonwealth as a self governing dominion along the lines of Canada or Australia. Others wished for India to become an independent state free from the British crown such as the Indian Independence Party (IIP). Further complicating matters were the myriad of smaller parties and organizations which campaigned for a variety of different goals such as Krulikism, socialism, or greater regional and ethnic autonomy. As the decade wore on, street clashes between these groups and British troops and police became more and more common with several resulting in the loss of life. Naturally these incidents further exacerbating Anglo-Indian tensions.

The Bolivian-Peruvian Alliance

Celso Serrano
President of Bolivia​

Following the successful showdown with Paraguay over the Chaco region in 1930, the dictatorial government of President Celso Serrano solidified its hold over Bolivian society. Over the next 15 years he violently pushed Bolivia into the twentieth century making significant gains in modernizing the nation’s economy, infrastructure, and military. By 1945, Serrano sought to extend Bolivia’s influence in South America. On the 5th of July, Serrano signed the Treaty of Cobija with Peruvian autocrat General Elbio Paz Armenta. The treaty was a a renewal of the alliance between Bolivia and Peru during the late 19th Century and was focused on regaining lost territory from Chile and countering the influence of America and its democratic allies in the region.

Elbio Paz Armenta
President of Peru ​

Break up of British Indochina

Flag of the British Protectorate of Indochina (1911-1945)​

The area of southwest Asia known as Indochina was first brought fully under European rule by the French in the early 1880s. In June of 1909 during the Great War, British forces marched east from Burma into the northern region of the territory known as Tonkin. A few months later Australian and New Zealand forces made landings near Saigon and Hue. After the war the Treaty of Brussels awarded Indochina to the United Kingdom. For the next three decades, the British nominally ruled the territory under the official title the Protectorate of Indochina. European rule came to an end in February, 1945 when the British government under the Liberal Prime Minister Isaac Pickering unilaterally decided to grant the area independence under the name the Indochinese Federation. Britain’s decision to do so was based less on egalitarian principles and more on the realization of growing administration cost, increasing native resistance, and the need for British troops in other colonies deemed more vital by the government.

The Indochinese Federation, which was designed to be closely aligned with the British Commonwealth lasted less than three years when it dissolved in the autumn of 1947 along ethnic lines. The largest of the successor states was the reconstituted Empire of Vietnam. With its capital in the city of Hue along the Perfume River, this new state was lead by Emperor Chung Pham. Although the empire had a constitution and parliament, the real power remained concentrated in the hands of the Emperor and the newly formed Imperial Vietnamese Army (IVA) both of which favored authoritarian and anti-western policies. To the northwest of Vietnam, the Lao people established the Kingdom of Laos with a constitutional monarchy and parliament based on the British model. In what was formally known as Cambodia, a civil war broke out after the British withdrawal. After nearly four years of fighting, Colonel Norodom Vam eventually gained control of the country and founded the State of Kampuchea. Norodom Vam and Chung Pham’s rise to power was widely believed to have been partially financed by the Empire of Japan which would explain Vietnam’s and Kampuchea’s alliance with Japan following independence. Laos on the other hand aligned itself with the Republic of China to the north to counter growing Vietnamese and Khmer influence. Many Conservatives in Britain lambasted the Liberals disengagement in Indochina with opposition leader Sir Ryan Baxter decrying it as “a mistake of epic proportions” and a “betrayal to the Empire”.

Flag of the Empire of Vietnam

Flag of the Kingdom of Laos

Flag of the State of Kampuchea

 

[Mac Gregor]

Country Profile​

Egypt​

Flag of the Republic of Egypt​

Name: Republic of Egypt
Capital: Cairo
Official Language: Arabic
Demonym: Egyptian
Government: Presidential Republic
Establishment: Independence from France (October 12, 1911), End of British Rule (March 29, 1941)
Currency: Egyptian Dollar

A Brief History of Modern Egypt as of 1950:

For hundreds of years Egypt was ruled as an Ottoman province with varying degrees of autonomy until the forces of Napoleon IV conquered it in 1883. During the Great War, the United Kingdom invaded the French colony in January of 1910 under General Baden-Powell primarily in order to gain control of the Suez Canal. At the end of the war, the Treaty of Brussels officially awarded Egypt to Britain as a protectorate. For thirty years, Britain exercised suzerainty over Egypt while leaving domestic affairs in the hands of the Cairo based Council of Egypt. Over the years, many Egyptians began to resent their British “protectors” and hungered to take matters in their own hands. On March 29, 1941 Mahmoud Orabi Pasha, Chairman of the Council of Egypt, rather suddenly declared that Egypt was “an independent republic, free from any allegiance to or influence of the government of the United Kingdom.” Caught off guard by the abrupt declaration, the British government was at first unsure how to respond. When British Prime Minister Isaac Pickering was informed by the Foreign Secretary that Egypt had declared itself a republic, Pickering is reported to have remarked “well, so they have.” In a smart move, Orabi Pasha and his collaborators did not move against the British forces guarding the Suez Canal, but merely seized control of local radio stations, bought the loyalty of the Cairo police, and ran up the new republican flag. After nearly a week of uncertainty, the British government acknowledged the new Egyptian government on the conditions that the United Kingdom would remain in control of the canal, and that British ships could use the naval base at Alexandria. In the years following independence, the new nation adopted a constitution which provided for a unicameral parliament and a strong executive with Orabi Pasha serving as Egypt’s first president.

 

[Mac Gregor]

The 1948 Presidential Election​

In the final days of 1947, Vernon Kirkman announced his decision to run for a third term as President of the United States. According to Kirkman’s memoirs this unorthodox move was prompted in part by his relative youth with him claiming that at the age of 50 he “couldn’t bear the thought of spending the next 30 years out of public life.” While the American economy had grown steadily during his eight years in office, tensions in the ongoing civil rights movement were reaching their zenith leading to an extremely devise election year.

Having lost five out of the last six presidential elections the Republican Party was adamant about regaining the White House. Starting in the Republican primaries and culminating at the Republican convention in Atlanta, the reform minded branch of the GOP waged an insurgency of sorts against the more traditional party elements. At the forefront of these Republicans was Leroy R. Connor then serving his second term as governor of Georgia.

Leroy R. Connor

Leroy R. Connor
1948​

Born near Savannah, Georgia in 1891, Leroy was one of seven children and spent most of his early childhood assisting his father and brothers on the family farm. Connor was an extremely intelligent child and despite speaking with an impenetrable Southern drawl managed to distinguish himself on his high school debate team. When America entered the Great War in 1909, Connor joined the army after completing his senior year of high school. In Germany, Connor would serve with distinction and rise to the rank of sergeant before the end of the war. Upon returning to the United States, Connor enrolled in the inaugural class of Georgia State College in Atlanta where he studied business and played on the school’s baseball team. After graduating, Connor was employed at a number of local businesses including as a salesmen for the
Coca-Cola Bottling Company[1].

In 1930, Connor bought the struggling Atlanta Newspaper the Daily Intelligencer. Although not a newspaperman, Connor was, in a mere six years time, able to turn the nearly bankrupt Daily Intelligencer into one of the premier newspapers in the Southeast. In 1937, Connor sold ownership of the Daily Intelligencer and bought the city’s baseball team the Atlanta Goobers. In much the same way he had with his newspaper company, Connor’s hands on management style reaped impressive dividends reviving the Goobers from a slump that had lasted most of the decade. Furthermore, Connor went out of his way to hire the best players and staff regardless of race, something that his predecessors had been reluctant to do.

In 1940, Connor surprised many by throwing his hat into the ring in the state’s gubernatorial elections. With no political experience and running against the incumbent Howard Bates many viewed Connor’s candidacy as a long shot. Connor easily secured the Republican nomination, but was forced into one of the most heated electoral contests the state had seen in decades. The bespectacled cigar smoking Connor crisscrossed the state and used his fiery oratory skills to great effect. To the astonishment of many, Connor managed to capture 50.7% of the popular vote becoming the first Republican governor in Georgia’s history. Connor’s first term in office was characterized by several well publicized fights with the Democrat controlled General Assembly. Despite these tensions, Connor was able to pass several important bills including a statewide tuition plan, dredging of the Savannah harbor, and the construction of several new roads and railways. Reelected for 4 more years in 1944, Connor was aided by a Republican dominated lower house another first in Georgia history. During his second term, Connor’s two most significant accomplishments were the expansion of the Atlanta airport, later renamed the Leroy R. Connor International Airport, and the integration of Georgia’s public universities despite considerable protests from segregationists. Throughout his tenure as governor Connor never shied away from the growing racial tensions in the state. Connor appeared with several prominent civil rights leaders and publicly endorsing the tenants of the 1943 Atlanta Declaration which called for the phasing out of segregation. Connor’s bold stance on civil rights catapulted him into the national spotlight making him the darling of reformers and progressives.

The Campaign

Demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention in Havana, Cuba
July, 1948​

The 1948 elections were arguably the most contentious presidential elections since 1860. The Democrats’ plan to hold their convention in Havana, Cuba, reportedly to shake their white-centric image, backfired terribly as riots in the predominately Republican state appeared on television sets across the nation. Also, the Democrats decision to drop Vice President Buchholz and replace him with Jonathan Broussard a representative from Lousisana and the first Catholic vice presidential nominee did little to improve Kirkman’s polling numbers. The fact that the Republican convention was held in Connor’s home turf of Atlanta only helped him secure the party’s nomination which he did after beating out Senator Luther T. Vanderbilt Sr. of New York, the traditionalist favorite. Vanderbilt was in turn selected to be Conner’s running mate in order to balance the ticket. During his acceptance speech, Connor railed against President Kirkman stating that his 8 years of “maintaining the harmony of the status quo” was leading the country to ruin. Connor swore that if elected he would take “swift and decisive action” on civil rights and “heal the tears” that were appearing in American society. Foreign policy planks on the Republican platform included strengthening hemispherical unity and promoting decolonization abroad. Television played an important role in the 1948 elections with both candidates making extensive use of it for campaigning. One of the more heated moments occurred during a televised debate when Connor, using one of his characteristic baseball analogies, stated that “when being president, unlike being up to bat, one cannot wait for three strikes to throw the bum out”.

Results

Leroy R. Conner
Republican from Georgia
30th President of the United States​

On election night, Kirkman’s bid to be the second president in American history to serve more than two terms failed to materialize. The Republicans’ Conner-Vanderbilt ticket captured around 51% of popular vote. Kirkman only managed to garner a measly 45% with the remaining votes being split between the Socialists and the newly formed segregationist American Conservative Party. In Congress the Republicans captured the House of Representatives while the Democrats retained a slim majority in the Senate. Excitement over the Republican victory was tempered by the news that on November 3 the Republic of Chile was invaded by the right wing governments of neighboring Bolivia and Peru. The fact that President Kirkman, now a lame duck, would remain in office until March 4, 1949 left America’s response to the invasion much in doubt.

​

[1] I acknowledge that following my strict rules for butterflies that Coca-Cola should probably not exist ITTL. However I am going to include it because who would want to life in a world without it.

 

[Mac Gregor]

The Second Atacama War​

​

Settling Old Scores

On the evening of November 3, 1948 the authoritarian republics of Peru and Bolivia launched a surprised and unprovoked attack into northern Chile. The fact that the invasion took place only a day after the United States presidential election was no accident as Peruvian and Bolivian dictators Armenta and Serrano wished to take full advantage of the post election uncertainty in any potential American response.

The Combatants

Flag of the Republic of Bolivia​

The Republic of Bolivia has historically ranked as one of South America’s poorest countries. From 1881 to 1884, Bolivia fought alongside Peru in the ill-fated Atacama War against Chile which resulted in Bolivia losing its access to the Pacific Ocean. Following this defeat, Bolivia would suffer over the next four decades from a cascade of ineffective and corrupt governments. Bolivian fortunes began to improve somewhat in 1930 when the conservative government of Celso Serrano successfully asserted its claims over the disputed Chaco region with neighboring Paraguay. Buoyed by this achievement Serrano was able to cement near absolute control over the unruly country. Hailing from a wealthy Bolivian family and educated in Europe, Serrano wished to modernize backwards Bolivia. With the nation under the strict supervision of his secret police, Serrano was able to import advisers and engineers from a variety of countries to construct new roads, bridges, and railways. Serrano was also adamant about Bolivian industrialization, establishing dozens of new factories in the country’s interior. With military support being the primary pillar of his regime, Serrano spent lavishly on updating and modernizing Bolivia’s armed forces. By the invasion of Chile, the once destitute nation of Bolivia could boast one of the most modern militaries in Latin America. At a time when most armies in the world were still using magazine fed repeaters, Bolivia’s army was armed with the semiautomatic PQ-45 rifle acquired from the Japanese. From Spain, Bolivia was able to procure a large amount of rapid fire artillery. Bolivia could even boast of a small air force of attack aircraft, mostly purchased from Germany, which were used to devastating effect on Chilean forces. Most impressive however, were the indigenously designed and produced armored tracked vehicles known in most countries as cataphracts or cats for short. Although Bolivia lacked the industrial base to produce them in large numbers, the cataphracts gave Bolivia a decisive advantage over Chile.

Flag of the Republic of Peru under the Sol Rojo Party​

Like her ally Bolivia, the Republic of Peru suffered through a series of political and economic crises for much of its post independence history. In 1933, General Elbio Paz Armenta, and his rightwing Sol Rojo party, came to power in a violent coup. Emulating many of Serrano’s reforms in Bolivia, Armenta sought to modernize Peru while cracking down on any form of domestic decent. The Peruvian Army was similarly recast into an effective fighting force and armed with the latest European and Japanese weaponry. To pay for these programs, Armenta nationalized the nation’s gold and silver mines netting him a considerable fortune. To a greater extent than Serrano in Bolivia, Armenta cultivated a cult of personality around his role as leader and vigorously persecuted the Peruvian Amerindian community.

Before the war the Republic of Chile was one of Latin America’s biggest successes. Having spent decades under uninterrupted democratic governments Chile was one of the continent’s most stable and prosperous nations. An unforeseen consequence however of this prosperity and liberalization was that Chile’s once significant army and navy had fallen behind that of its rivals to the north. The civilian Chilean government’s fear of a strong army was due to Chile’s 19th Century history of military coups. By the time the Second Atacama War broke out Chile was unprepared to face the modernized forces of Peru and Bolivia. Chile’s armed forces were equipped with mostly outdated American and British armaments, some dating back to the Great War. The one area where Chile did maintain an edge of superiority was in her navy which was slightly larger and in better shape than that of Peru.

In the weeks following the invasion, Chile suffered a string of stunning defeats at the hands of the Peruvians and Bolivians or the brutos as they were commonly derided. By the end of 1948, the Chileans had lost the important coastal city of Arica, where Peruvian forces triumphantly raised their flag for the first time since the 1880s. At the Battle of Calama, Chilean loses exceeded 25,000 men when Bolivian armored forces cut of the city and forced it to surrender, an impressive feat in this rugged high desert region. The most important battle during the early months of the war occurred at the city of Antofagasta where the bulk of the Chilean army was forced to withdraw to the south despite the presence of the navy after Bolivian aircraft armed with Japanese made torpedoes sunk half a dozen ships. Despite these reversals and the calls of some members of the Chilean government for a negotiated peace, Chilean President Arturo Diaz remained steadfast and refused to discuss anything except regaining all of Chile’s lost territory.

Foreign Reaction

Foreign reaction to the Second Atacama War was near universally in favor of Chile. Japan was the only major power to publically back Peru and Bolivia which came as no suprise in light of the massive arms sales Japan had made to those countries. Practically all the democratic governments of Latin America condemned Bolivia and Peru’s actions with the noticeable exception of Argentina who due to their own territorial disputes with Chile maintained an eerie silence. In the United States, the lame duck administration of outgoing President Vernon Kirkman provided only lukewarm support for America’s Chilean allies which amounted to a small loan of money and a trade embargo against Peru and Bolivia.

 

[Mac Gregor]

this is one of mi favorites TL of the site

plis don't screw mi country too much

Once again this is a marvelous TL Mac Gregor! I'm absolutely loving the post war history! Keep up the good work.

Just finished reading the TL as posted in completed TL's. Pretty damn good. Pretty damn good indeed.

Thanks for all of the support. Here is another tidbit to tide ya'll over.

The People of the Union Forever
Part 8

​

William H. Taft (1857-1933)

William Howard Taft was born in 1857 near Cincinnati, Ohio. A gifted student, Taft graduated from Yale University in 1877 but turned down plans to attend law school with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Like many other men of his generation he volunteered for service and served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. During the war, Taft saw considerable action fighting under George A. Custer in the Cuban Overland Campaign and in the Battle of Havana. Finding army life to his liking, William “Big Bill” Taft, stayed in the army, serving at a number of posts in the American West. In the early 1880’s, Taft returned to Ohio where he became a successful business and family man raising six children with his wife Nellie Grant, the daughter of Civil War Major General Ulysses S. Grant. With the outbreak of the Great War in Europe in 1907 and the prospect that America could be dragged into the conflict, Taft and two other concerned citizens founded the Frontier Rangers of America, an organization for local young boys to teach them patriotism, civic duty and wilderness survival skills. The Frontier Rangers of America, often known simply as the Rangers, would spread like wildfire during the war years where they participated in numerous scrap metal drives and public safety campaigns. The Ranger Movement would prove to be such a huge success that Taft would serve as the organization's first president, or Chief Ranger, founding chapters in every state in the Union as well as planting the movement in the United Kingdom and Germany. Taft died in 1933 at the age of 76. He was buried in Cincinnati, Ohio in his Frontier Ranger uniform.

William "Big Bill" Taft with chapter #1 of the Frontier Rangers of America
1907 ​

 

[Mac Gregor]

1949​

Part 1: The Atacama War Escalates​

1949 would go down in history as one of the most important years of the twentieth century. During its 365 days the world would be forever changed as breakthroughs in science and political upheavals marked a dramatic turn in global affairs.

Leroy R. Conner takes Office

President Leroy Conner during his first days in office
March, 1949 ​

During his inauguration speech on March 4, 1949 President Leroy R. Conner outlined his administrations two chief goals. First and foremost Conner vowed to tackle the current civil rights issue and end racial segregation during his time in office. Conner’s second primary focus was on foreign policy with him declaring that he will take “decisive action” to support America’s ally Chile in their ongoing war with Peru and Bolivia and carryout the Republicans’ long held plan to forge some sort of permanent hemispherical alliance. Unbeknownst to Conner, developments in South America would soon escalate America’s involvement in the conflict far farther than he had originally intended.

Ecuador enters the War

In less than six months of fighting the invading armies of Bolivia and Peru had achieved their war aims of regaining territory that had been lost to the Chileans during the nineteenth century. Unfortunately for them however, the resolute Chilean President Arturo Diaz refused to negotiate any end to the conflict which ceded control of Chile’s northern provinces. This coupled with the heavily restricted terrain created a stalemate centered a few miles south of the Chilean town of Chanaral where both sides began to fortify in earnest. It was during this lull in the fighting that Peruvian dictator Armenta, without consulting his Bolivian ally, would make a decision that would dramatically alter the scope of the war.

Flag of the Republic of Ecuador​

Armenta wished to take advantage of his rise in stature after the resent triumph over Chile by trying to press Peru’s land claims against their longtime rival to the north the Republic of Ecuador. Although not wanting to spark an all out war, things soon spiraled out of control when on March 29, 1949 Peruvian and Ecuadorian soldiers clashed along the north bank of the Maranon River resulting in over 350 casualties. Ecuador, who only a few months ago had held their first real democratic elections in decades, cited the incident as declaration of war by the Armenta regime. The Maranon River incident sparked a firestorm in the American press who painted the attack as the second strike in an attempted to stamp out democracy in South America. In response, President Conner and the Republican controlled House of Representatives were able to pass a massive military and economic aid package to Ecuador and Chile through the Democratic Senate. Conner also authorized the deployment of a small number of military advisors to both Ecuador and Chile and sent American warships into the area to “monitor developments”.

 

[Mac Gregor]

1949​

Part 2: A Continent at War ​

The War Intensifies

Civilian victims of the Peruvian gas attack on Nauta
April 23, 1949 ​

With Ecuador now in the war, and supplies pouring in from the United States and other Latin American countries to their opponents the Armenta and Serrano regimes of Peru and Bolivia began a desperate look for a way to break the stalemate. Already over extended, the Peruvian Army shocked the world when on April 23, 1949 it used chlorine gas during its attack on the Ecuadorian city of Nauta. The horrors of the chemical attack were recorded by American reporter Thomas Celestino of the National Broadcasting Service (NBS) who was imbedded with the Ecuadorian defenders. Lacking a gas mask, Celestino and his crew bravely kept the camera rolling until they succumbed to the fumes. Weeks later, when the film hit American television sets public opinion began to shift sharply towards intervention. During this time news of atrocities on the Chilean front also began to appear in American newspapers when Bolivian soldiers killed 100 unarmed men and women in the town of Chanaral in retaliation for their supposed “collaboration” with the Chilean army.

Neither of these two incidents however would have the same level of impact that the sinking of the American ship Compassion would. The USS Compassion was a hospital ship that was operating in the Gulf of Guayaquil tending to wounded Ecuadorian soldiers as part of the resent influx of American aid. During the predawn hours on June 30 the clearly marked Compassion was struck by two torpedoes from a Peruvian submarine the BAP Tiburon, previously the Japanese submarine I-403, resulting in 448 deaths, 87 of which were American. Although it would be revealed after the war that the captain of the Tiburon had wrongfully identified the Compassion as a supply freighter, at the time the story played out in the press as yet another cold blooded attack by the forces of a ruthless dictator.

Charter for a Free Americas

That year, the 4th of July celebrations in the United States were marked by memorials for victims of the Compassion and angry demonstrations against the dictatorial regimes of Armenta and Serrano. In response to the resent atrocities committed by Bolivia and Peru, President Conner convened a summit of Latin American leaders in Cuba on July 10 to address the ongoing crisis. After three days of debating the issues at hand, the leaders crafted what would become known as the Charter for a Free Americas. This short document outlined the general principles that would become the cornerstone for the Western Hemisphere during the second half of the twentieth century such as democratic elections, collective defense, mutual trust, and peaceful resolution of conflicts. The charter signatories also presented a united front against the Armenta and Serrano regimes demanding that if Bolivia and Peru did not agree to withdraw all their forces from Chilean and Ecuadorian territory by August 1 “the free nations of the Western Hemisphere would take concerted action” to force their departure. To the surprise of many pundits and foreign policy experts the August 1st deadline came and went without any word from the Bolivian or Peruvian governments. On August 3, 1949 President Conner addressed a joint session of Congress and reluctantly requested a declaration of war on the republics of Bolivia and Peru in order to “make the Americas safe for democracy”. The measure passed with a 56 -50 vote in the Senate and 253-137 in the House and the United States found itself for the first time since 1910 in a state of war.

A joint session of Congress hearing President Conner request for a declaration of War
August 3, 1949​

Signatories of the Charter for a Free Americas

Haitian Republic
Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Republic of Chile
Republic of Costa Rica
Republic of Ecuador
Republic of El Salvador
Republic of Guatemala
Republic of Honduras
Republic of Nicaragua
United Mexican States
United States of America
United States of Colombia

Of the independent nations of Latin America only four chose not to sign the Charter for a Free Americas. The Republic of Venezuela who at the time of the Second Atacama War was ruled by an embattled military junta chose not to associate itself with charter largely out of fear of stirring pro-democratic elements in its own country. Despite being democracies and allies of the United States, the three other states, the Federal Republic of Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Paraguay also chose not to join in the war against Bolivia and Peru for a variety of reasons. Paraguay refused to join because it wished to acquire Bolivia's Chaco region, but the charter only authorized a return to prewar borders. Argentina had long standing territorial disputes with Chile and could not bring itself to openly come to rival Chile's aid. Brazil declined to send a delegate to the summit in Havana because it wished to promote its own offer of arbitration for the conflict. Many historians and political scientist have cited Brazil's inability to resolve the crisis as an important factor for the United States assuming the leadership role in not just hemispherical but in South American affairs as well. It is also worth noting that none of the nations that singed the charter, who weren’t already at war, shared a land border with either Peru or Bolivia. This might possibly have been out of fear of reprisals which events in Chile and Ecuador showed could be costly.

 

[Mac Gregor]

While I'm not a fan of unnecessarily bumping a thread, I'd just like to say how much I like this timeline. I found this TL yesterday and have been catching up ravenously. A very simple POD and a few butterflies have really turned into something fun and interesting, and I must commend how much your writing skills have grown over time. That being said, I can hardly wait to see how this latest war is going to go down. I'm subscribed.

Thanks for the support!

An update should be coming soon but here is a little something to tide you over. I would also love to see some of y'all's ideas for some propaganda posters. Cheers!

 

[Mac Gregor]

1949​

Part 3: The Tide Turns​

Peruvian/Bolivian Strategy

Beach defenses outside of Arica
October, 1949​

News of the signing of the Charter for a Free Americas rocked the Peruvian and Bolivian establishments. Neither dictators Armenta or Serrano had believed that the United States would take such an active role in their ongoing struggle with Chile and Equator. By August of 1949 the two nations’ collective war effort had effectively bogged down due to over extension. Both dictators realized that the massive influx of American men and material would soon render their positions untenable. Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of Peruvians and Bolivians underarms neither of their governments were prepared to give up their hard won gains believing that simply withdrawing from the conflict would critically undermine domestic support for their regimes. The dictators’ strategy was simple. Documents released after the war have shown that they wished to bleed America and her allies as much as possible by defending every inch of captured territory. As such the Bolivians and Peruvians redoubled their efforts to fortifying the coastline in the occupied Atacama region and sowed the territory with landmines. If they proved unable to retain their ill gotten gains, Armenta and Serrano planned to withdraw their forces to the countries’ interior and wage a guerrilla war against the Norteamericanos and their lackeys. The dictators believed that America would not be willing to carry on the war for a long period of time and would eventually settle for a negotiated peace. Armenta and Serrano also held out hope that their allies Japan and Spain or one of the neighboring neutral countries would mediate the conflict.

Free Americas Strategy

With the majority of the nations of the Western Hemisphere now at war, the United States took the lead in coordinating the expeditionary forces of the signatories of the Charter for a Free Americas. To head this herculean task President Conner appointed army General Glen C. Henslee, a Great War veteran known for his political acumen, to be Commander in Chief of Free Americas Forces (CINCFAF). Below Henslee was the Supreme Military Commission for Free Americas Forces (SMCFAF) composed of representatives from the signatory states. With the enormous military and industrial resources at the allies disposal there was little doubt that FAF would eventually emerge victorious. However, as President Conner advised Henslee before leaving for his headquarters in Quito “it is not a question of whether we shall win but how we shall win” and that “the conduct of this fight, more so than its outcome, will determine the future of the hemisphere for the next century”.

The USS Cuba after being damaged by a Peruvian Submarine
September, 1949​

Armed with this somewhat cryptic guidance from the President, General Henslee, along with considerable help from Secretary of War Bernard Kelly, swiftly created a threefold plan to prosecute the war. First, complete naval supremacy would be attained in the South Pacific and an airtight blockade imposed on the Peruvian and Bolivian coastline. This was accomplished with little difficulty during August and September as the Bolivian and Peruvian navies scattered or were driven to port by vastly superior FAF vessels. The only notable hiccup being the battleship USS Cuba which was damaged by a Peruvian submarine. Secondly, large numbers of troops and supplies would be deployed to Ecuador and Chile to shore up the frontlines. For Ecuador these reinforcements consisted almost entirely of troops from Colombia and smaller contingents from the Central American states along with a number of American and Mexican aircraft units sent to provide air support. Further south, American, Mexican, and two battalions of Uruguayan troops came to the aid of their beleaguered Chilean allies. Overall, the United States and her allies were able to deploy their forces much faster than Bolivia and Peru predicated having staged them accordingly during the run-up to war. The third phase of the plan would be to take offensive actions to liberate territory currently under Peruvian and Bolivian occupation which as the conflict neared its one year anniversary seemed imminent.

 

[Mac Gregor]

The People of the Union Forever

​

Wilhelm II (1859 –1941)

Wilhelm II was born Frederick William Victor Albert in 1859 to Princess Victoria and Prince Fredrick. Growing up as the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Prussia, Wilhelm from much of his life lived in the shadow of his father whom he often disagreed with on political matters. Regarded as difficult and impatient, Wilhelm had a modestly successful career in the Prussian Army. During the Great War, Wilhelm served on the Prussian General Staff where he often butted heads with other generals. Upon the death of his father Fredrick III in 1914 Wilhelm succeeded to the throne as King of the Germans. Wilhelm II was considerably more conservative than his father and he chaffed under the liberal constitution of the new Federal Kingdom of Germany which granted him little decision making powers. Arguably one of the most controversial events during his reign was his 1923 confrontation with Wenzel Boch of the Liberal Federalist Party after he refused to recognize Boch as German Prime Minister. In the end, the German Parliament stripped the monarchy of the royal prerogative of approving prime ministers, effectively forcing the monarch out of legislatorial matters. In recent years Wilhelm II’s legacy has improved somewhat largely due to Gustaf Kurzmann’s influential book King of the Germans: The Reign of Wilhelm II and the creation of a united Germany. Kurzmann’s book argues that while Wilhelm II is often remembered today for confrontations with parliament, it was during his reign that the united German state solidified and became the leading political and economic force in Europe. In 1941 Wilhelm II died of a blood clot at the age of 82. He was succeeded to the throne by his son who was crowned Fredrick IV.