TL-191: Filling the Gaps

[Zoidberg12]

In OTL they did.... doesn't mean that the Liberals wouldn't have a more anti-American stance in TL-191 or be supportive or free trade with the CSA, Mexico, Japan and Russian Alaska.

Good point. I guess that the list is fine as it is then.

In terms of the CSA VPs list, Joseph W. Byrns Sr. would have to be changed as he would have been only 34 in 1903 when he was elected as Champ Clark's VP and as a result to young to run for VPOTCS. Any good replacements for Clark's VP? Any suggestions?

 

[bguy]

In terms of the CSA VPs list, Joseph W. Byrns Sr. would have to be changed as he would have been only 34 in 1903 when he was elected as Champ Clark's VP and as a result to young to run for VPOTCS. Any good replacements for Clark's VP? Any suggestions?

How about Henry Grady of Georgia? OTL he was a leading proponent of Southern industrialization, so he would help provide some ideological balance on the ticket for the more rural oriented Clark as well as giving the Deep South a place on the ticket (which could be important since those states were shut out of the last Whig ticket.) OTL Grady died in 1889, but that was after catching pneumonia while delivering a speech in December in Boston. It's doubtful he would be making speeches in the US in TL-191, so his OTL death should be butterflied.

Another possibility could be E. Porter Alexander of Virginia. With the US in the middle of a major arms build-up under President Mahan, and Clark possibly perceived as somewhat soft on defense, the Whigs might like having a war hero on the ticket to help reassure their voters that Clark isn't going to completely knuckle under to the US.

 

[Zoidberg12]

How about Henry Grady of Georgia? OTL he was a leading proponent of Southern industrialization, so he would help provide some ideological balance on the ticket for the more rural oriented Clark as well as giving the Deep South a place on the ticket (which could be important since those states were shut out of the last Whig ticket.) OTL Grady died in 1889, but that was after catching pneumonia while delivering a speech in December in Boston. It's doubtful he would be making speeches in the US in TL-191, so his OTL death should be butterflied.

Another possibility could be E. Porter Alexander of Virginia. With the US in the middle of a major arms build-up under President Mahan, and Clark possibly perceived as somewhat soft on defense, the Whigs might like having a war hero on the ticket to help reassure their voters that Clark isn't going to completely knuckle under to the US.

Henry W. Grady seems like the best choice to me. When Clark is elected in 1903, Mahan is no longer POTUS and Nelson Aldrich is POTUS and going through with his reproachment policy towards the CSA. Therefore, the arms build up wouldn't be as big an issue.

One question; is there any mention in the TL-191 books of when the CS elections are held? Are they on the first Tuesday of November like in the US or on some different date?

 

[vesica]

Henry W. Grady seems like the best choice to me. When Clark is elected in 1903, Mahan is no longer POTUS and Nelson Aldrich is POTUS and going through with his reproachment policy towards the CSA. Therefore, the arms build up wouldn't be as big an issue.

One question; is there any mention in the TL-191 books of when the CS elections are held? Are they on the first Tuesday of November like in the US or on some different date?

By chance I was reading and finished The Center Cannot Hold again last night and I distinctly remember that the CS elections in 1933 were held on November 7th. A cursory glance from Google tells me that November 7th of that year was a Tuesday, so its safe to assume that the CS does their elections on the same day as their hated enemy to the north.

 

[bguy]

Henry W. Grady seems like the best choice to me. When Clark is elected in 1903, Mahan is no longer POTUS and Nelson Aldrich is POTUS and going through with his reproachment policy towards the CSA. Therefore, the arms build up wouldn't be as big an issue.

Mahan was President until March of 1905, so the US arms build up would still be going full bore at the time of the 1903 Confederate elections.

 

[President Mahan]

Henry W. Grady seems like the best choice to me. When Clark is elected in 1903, Mahan is no longer POTUS and Nelson Aldrich is POTUS and going through with his reproachment policy towards the CSA. Therefore, the arms build up wouldn't be as big an issue.

Are we suggesting Henry W. Grady for VP or the 9th CS President. I like Henry W. Grady, either way. It's another chance to butterfly someone to life and he seems like he would be a founder of the Whig Party along with Longstreet. A bio (by anyone) to that effect would be cool.

Saying that I like Clark as well, both fit presidents that are interested in the economy and good relations. I imagine in TL 191 he would have stayed in the CSA and I think in my Mahan bio shows that despite the arms build up, Mahan was going out of his way to act peacefully in foreign affairs after the Canal crises. Its also a good chance to have a Kentuckian as a President, which reinforce the desires of the CSA to have peaceful ties. It also explained why it took until Wilson for the CSA to get a Federal Reserve Bank. My next Lodge installment will reinforce that. Finally I don't necessarily want to go back and rewrite too much of Craigo did, its a bad precedent.

As for E. Porter Alexander for 9th President, I like Craigo's narative of Gist being when the CS turned their back on ex- Generals as Presidents. Most of my articles of that period conform to that idea. I have had the idea of E. Porter Alexander being the CS counter part to Emory Upton. His being a Powerful Secretary of War in Gist administration and continuing on for who ever was the 8th President.

I was kind of hinting in my Lodge post that Upton's mobilization of an army in Maryland during the Haitian Crises, caught the CSA unprepared. This shock combined with the Canal crises a few years later drove home how they needed to modernize their military as well. I think E. Porter would be a cool person to over see it. He was involved with military inovation like balloons and new methods of artillery fire in OTL Civil War. His overseeing these military changes as a Secretary of War would also show the difference between the US-CS military establishments.

I was either going to do a short E. Porter Bio. With the US perspective of his reorganization in my next Upton bio. which is coming along, but slowly.

 

[bguy]

Are we suggesting Henry W. Grady for VP or the 9th CS President. I like Henry W. Grady, either way. It's another chance to butterfly someone to life and he seems like he would be a founder of the Whig Party along with Longstreet. A bio (by anyone) to that effect would be cool.

I was suggesting Grady for Clark's vice president. Agree that there is no reason to disturb Craigo's original choice of Clark for the 9th Confederate president. And it seems like there is a consensus in favor of Grady over Alexander as Clark's veep, so are we good to update the list?

 

[Zoidberg12]

By chance I was reading and finished The Center Cannot Hold again last night and I distinctly remember that the CS elections in 1933 were held on November 7th. A cursory glance from Google tells me that November 7th of that year was a Tuesday, so its safe to assume that the CS does their elections on the same day as their hated enemy to the north.

Thanks.

Mahan was President until March of 1905, so the US arms build up would still be going full bore at the time of the 1903 Confederate elections.

Sorry, just a little brainfart there.

With that, the US military buildup would still be an issue in the CS elections of 1903, but still, as President Mahan said above, the CS stopped electing former generals after the Gist presidency, therefore Brady would be a better choice for Champ Clark's VP. As a result, I have edited the CS Presidents and VP's list on the previous page.

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=10140510&postcount=1132

 

[Zoidberg12]

William E. Dodd (1869-1939)

Confederate politician, professor and historian William Edward Dodd was born on October 21st, 1869 in Clayton, North Carolina, CSA. Growing up, his family was impoverished and his father semi-literate. As a result, his father had no other way to support his family except through the generosity of wealthier relatives. This ingrained in the young Dodd a sense of contempt towards Southern Aristocratic values. It was this contempt that would later influence him in his political career.

Dodd earned his bachelor's degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1895 and his master's degree two years later in 1897. He earned his PH.D. at Oxford University in 1900. On Christmas Day, 1901, he married Martha Eccles, and nearly four years later, on August 8th, 1905, their only child William E. Dodd Jr. was born.

In 1900, Dodd became a Professor at Randolph–Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. During his time as Professor, Dodd would became notorious for his attacks on Southern Aristocratic values. While these opinions proved controversial and got Dodd in trouble with the College's staff on a few occasions, he remained at the College as a Professor until 1908.

It was also during his time as Professor that Dodd wrote a number of scholarly articles and books, mostly history books on Confederate History and the American South. One of most well known works included The Southern Elite and the Confederate Nation, published in 1904, in which Dodd argued that the Southern Elite had fought for Southern independence mostly to support slavery, their intertwined financial and economic interests, and their superior societal status, not just over Blacks and poor Whites as well, with Southern nationalism as a mere ulterior motive. This went against the generally accepted historical narrative in the CSA at that time, in which it was taught, in Confederate Schools, Colleges and Universities alike, that Southern nationalism and a less centralized, more free government were the main reasons the people of the South, both rich and poor [1] fought for Southern Independence, with slavery as an ulterior motive, a small part of the greater "Southern Culture" which the Confederate Founding Fathers and people sought to preserve. Other parts of this historical narrative included that the Confederate War of Secession was the natural and justified "spiritual successor" of the American Revolution, and that Northern and Southern Americans were never the same people, nation or culture and that their separation was destined to be since the moment English colonization of North America began, drawing upon the circumstances behind the founding of the southern colonies, such as Jamestown and Roanoke, and the founding of the more Puritan-based northern colonies, such as those in New England. Most Confederate historians of the time stated that the Puritan roots of the Northern Americans lead to their disdain and eventual abolishment of Slavery, while the South had no such disdain towards slavery due to their lack of major Puritan influence. Some Confederate historians even advocated the "Puritans vs. Cavaliers theory" also advocated by American senator and historian Henry Cabot Lodge [2], though unlike Lodge these Confederate historians presented the Confederacy's supposed Norman roots in a positive, sometimes even glorified, light. Dodd, in his 1906 book, Of Northern and Southern Americans argued that the North-South divide and resulting War of Secession wasn't inevitable, and rebuked parts of the "Puritans vs. Cavaliers theory" while agreeing with others, stating that Northern and Southern Americans were essentially the same "Anglo-Saxon-Britannic" people and race, as both were settled by Protestant English colonists (with an added Scottish and Scotch Irish influence in the South) and that the changes between them were more the result of historical and cultural developments from the 17th to 19th Centuries rather then a fundamental difference between the two. Dodd did state that the Norman-rooted and originally Feudal English aristocracy was a fundamental factor behind the shaping of Southern American culture and as a result the origin of the Southern Aristocracy, but also stated that this was no evidence that Northern and Southern Americans were a different race and people, stating that the solely religious Puritan influence in the north was the only reason said aristocracy did not fundamentally influence the North as it did the South. Dodd also argued that the cultural intermingling and intermarriages of Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Normans and Scots from the 5th to 12th Centuries was the origin of the "Anglo-Saxon-Britannic" people, and that racial differences between Anglo-Saxons and Normans disappeared as a result, presenting the root of the English language as evidence of this theory. Dodd also stated that the Puritans were not descended solely from the Saxons, and that their origins were solely theological in nature. These and other works of his made him friends as well as enemies in Confederate academic and political circles, but nevertheless Dodd remained a respected figure, winning excellent reviews as a teacher from his students.

Dodd first became involved in politics when he joined the Radical-Liberal Party in 1907, during his last years teaching at Randolph–Macon College. After his time as Professor at said college ended in 1908, Dodd and his family moved to New Orleans. It was here that Dodd began actively campaigning for local Rad-Lib candidates, albeit with mixed results. Some have speculated that the reason Dodd moved to New Orleans in the first place was because Louisiana was a stronghold for the Radical-Liberal Party, and that Dodd saw moving their as his best chance at furthering his new political career. In 1909, Dodd actively campaigned and wrote speeches for Rad-Lib Presidential Candidate, Thomas E. Watson, with the two travelling on campaigns and becoming good friends in the process remaining so until Watson's death in 1922. Sadly for Dodd, Whig Woodrow Wilson won the election. In a letter to Watson, dated December 1st, 1909 and released to the public in 1998, Dodd lamented Wilson's winning of the election and stated his past and present support for CS President Clark's and US President Aldrich's Reproachment policies. Dodd went on to write how he feared that Wilson and Aldrich's successor, whoever he would prove to be when 1912 came along, would undue Reproachment policies in favor of strengthening ties to their respective European allies.

These words, written in a private letter, proved prophetic. The First Great War began less than five years later in July of 1914. By this point, Dodd had became an influential Radical-Liberal politician both in New Orleans and the rest of the country, having been elected to the Confederate House of Representatives in 1912. It was in the House of Representatives that Dodd actively spoke out against the Confederacy joining the war, saying at a speech on June 29th, 1914, a day after Franz Ferdinand's Assassination; "Let Europe rot if they wish to, but keep Dixie out of this." Nevertheless, the majority of people and politicians in both the CSA and USA were in favor of honoring their alliances and joining the war. Thus, the Great War came to North America, much to Dodd's chagrin. Nevertheless, Dodd supported the war effort, hoping for a Confederate victory and the implementation of Wilson's idea of a "League of Nations".

During the Red Rebellions, Dodd supported the use of arms to crack down on the rebels, but also advocated for addressing the grievances of the rebels so as to prevent another such rebellion from occurring in the future. This opinion was not popular to say the least, but Dodd would be able to keep his seat in the House. During the 1915 elections, Dodd, once again, actively campaigned and wrote speeches for the Rad-Lib candidate, this time said candidate being Doroteo Arango, the first Hispanic-Confederate presidential candidate and the youngest up to that point, Arango only 37 years old. Dodd, who had become fluent in Spanish during his years in New Oreleans meeting with Rad-Lib party members of the Hispanic states, became good friends with Arango just as he had with Watson six years previously. Dodd believed that Arango would prosecute the war better than Wilson had and win the war for the CSA. Dodd also hoped that the war and its effect on the Confederacy would weaken the "Southern Aristocracy", eventually leading to more equality for White and Hispanic Confederates, as well as, to a lesser degree, Black Confederates, though Dodd believed they would only gradually become equal to White Confederates. Nevertheless, the Whigs under Gabriel Semmes won the election once again.

In 1917, the Great War ended in utter defeat for the Confederate States of America and the rest of the Entente. Dodd and much of the Rad-Lib Party blamed the Whigs for losing the war, with Dodd being one of Semmes' most vocal critics. Despite this, Dodd lost his seat in the Confederate House of Representatives in 1920. After that he returned to his old home in New Orleans, and retired from politics for a number of years. In 1923, Dodd published, The Lost Cause, a book analyzing why the CSA lost the Great War.

Dodd's retirement from politics ended in 1924 when he ran for Governor of Louisiana under the banner of the Rad-Lib Party. He won the election and served as governor until 1928, after which he returned to his previous life of retirement in New Orelans.

It was during this second retirement that Jake Featherston and the Freedom Party came to power in the CSA. Dodd had voted for the Rad-Lib Hull/Long ticket and was against the rise of Featherston, but for now, Dodd decided to keep quite about these affairs. This changed a year after the election in November, 1934 when Louisiana governor Huey Long offered Dodd the post of Lieutenant Governor. Dodd accepted and by the end of the year became an integral part of Huey Long's political machine in Louisiana. By supporting Long, Dodd hoped to remove Featherston from power once and for all by the 1939 elections.

However, this was not to be. During the mid-late 1930s, Jake Featherston increased his hold and power over the Confederate States. This included in 1937 when Featherston and his Freedomite government took control of the state of Louisiana and arrested a number of Longists and other opponents to Featherston, William E. Dodd being one of them. Dodd, like so many others Longists, was sent to and imprisoned in Camp Dependable in Louisiana. Dodd would spend the rest of his life there, dying in a cold prison cell on his 70th birthday in 1939.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[1] Of note is that this generally accepted historical narrative ITTL's CSA makes little to no mention of a Southern Elite, downplaying its significance.

[2] Originally from President Mahan's "Henry Cabot Lodge: Part II" Article. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[President Mahan]

I wonder if Dodd's daughter had a fling with Ferdinand Koening, like she did with Rudolf Diels. I enjoyed in the Garden of The Beasts and the post.

Watson is an interesting OTL personality. I hope to hear more about him and the formation of the Radical Liberal Party. I know Craigo had a post about there being two separate Parties that merged.

 

[Zoidberg12]

I wonder if Dodd's daughter had a fling with Ferdinand Koening, like she did with Rudolf Diels. I enjoyed in the Garden of The Beasts and the post.

Watson is an interesting OTL personality. I hope to hear more about him and the formation of the Radical Liberal Party. I know Craigo had a post about there being two separate Parties that merged.

Its possible. I've actually never read In the Garden of The Beasts but I have read Erik Larson's other book Devil in the White City and I really enjoyed it. I'll probably read In the Garden of The Beasts soon. Also, thanks.

I agree an update on the Radical-Liberal Party would be interesting.

 

[President Mahan]

Henry Cabot Lodge Part iV
1897-1900: The First Mahan Administration

1897
Mahan Inauguration
Again Lodge found himself at the center of Presidential decision making. Again Lodge was given a front row seat for the Presidential inauguration in Washington DC. The Mahan inaugural speech was different from the Reed address eight years earlier. Where Reed speech emphasized the need of the nation to make the hard choces necessary to never be humiliated again. Mahan was more positive and confident, an adress to an nation ready to claim its place in the sun. Mahan touched on the growing expansion of the economy, but his speech primarily focused on defense and foreign policy.

Mahan promised to continue asserting US power abroad. Mahan also promised to build a Navy that would surpass Britain as the dominant Naval force on the earth. On advice from Lodge, who knew of the deep-seated apathy with Imperialism in the United States following the Second Mexican war. Mahan distinguished his policies from that of other European powers calling, for the US not to conquer new territory and exploit the in habitant, but in steadto merely build a series of overseas bases to protect US trade. He called his policy Navalism as opposed to the Imperialism practiced by the Europeans in Asia and Africa and Confederacy in the Caribbean.

Mahan Cabinet
Despite his years in the Cabinet Mahan was an outsider to Democratic Party politics. As a result Mahan leaned heavily on Lodge’s experience as a party broker. Lodge was instrumental in Mahan’s selection of his Cabinet. Because of Lodge’s influence and the growing clout of the Remembrance Faction, Mahan’s was decidedly more Remembrance heavy than Reed’s.

To smooth things over with the Bourbon’s and law and order Democrats, Mahan chose Olney as his Secretary of State. As another sop to the hard right he chose John W. Griggs of New Jersey as his Attorney General;. Griggs was a protégé of Olney and the former Governor of New Jersey. For the treasury he chose the pro- gold candidate Banker and Lawyer Leslie M. Shaw. For Secretary of the Interior he honored his primary commitment and chose Philander Knox. Knox uniquely was both a militarist and an intimate of the nations industrial elite. He was on the board of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce along side Andrew Carnegie and the late Henry Frick. He was ideally suited to bring the nations powerful trusts in line with the new rationing law. For Secretary of War he chose Russell A. Alger was an important Midwestern Militarist and an able administrator. More over Chief of Staff Upton approved of him. Secretary of the Navy Mahan Chose William McAdoo, Mahan’s Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Secretary of State Richard Olney, (NY)[D-B]
Attorney General John W. Griggs (NJ) [D-B]
Secretary of War Russell A. Alger (MI) [D-R]
Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw (IA) [D-B]
Secretary of the Navy William McAdoo (NJ) D-R]
Secretary of the Interior Philander Knox (Pa)[D-R]

Mahan’s first order of business was the new Two Ocean Navy Bill. Under Reed the Navy had expanded exponentially. But by 1897 the Navy was not the Blue Water navy Mahan envisioned. The US Navy could protect the Eastern Seaboard from Naval bombardment but could not project its power beyond the West Atlantic. Mahan through Lodge presented a Bill that would make the United States the dominant naval power in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific. The Two Ocean Navy Bill had support among the Steel Trusts, but the ever spiraling military expenses caused alarm among the fiscal conservatives. In April of 1897 A smaller naval bill was passed with an small increase for both army and navy spending.

Nicaragua Crises
By May the Mahan administration was beset by its first crises. Confederate Secretary of State Tyler Morgan had reached an agreement with Britain to build a canal across Nicaragua, starting June 1st. For years rumors of this deal circulated through the Capitals of North and Central America. In May its realization raised alarms of Navalists in Philadelphia. Mahan called a cabinet meeting to deal with this development, the meeting included Cabinet members, leading Remembrance Democrats in Congress and the Chiefs of Staff.

Mahan started the meeting by insisting the creation of a trans-isthmian canal would be intolerable to US interests. Economically speaking, it would allow the CSA and Great Britain to dominate Atlantic-Pacific trade. Militarily it would allow Great Britain and the CSA to move warships between the two oceans at three times the speed the US could. Mahan informed them that he was ready to risk war to stop it. He then asked the Cabinet to give their opinions. Chief of Staff Upton spoke on behalf of the War Department stating the current army was the most effective force in its history, superior in readiness and effectiveness now then at the outbreak of the Second Mexican War, War of Secession or even the First Mexican War. However it was still growing and many forces were new and still organizing. The army could fight and win, but it would the cost inlives would be much greater than if the nation waited a decade.

Secretary of the Navy McAdoo and Navy Chief of Staff Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Jr. advised Mahan that at present the Navy could do little except protect the Eastern Seaboard and raid CSA- British trade. The Atlantic Navy took the bulk of the Navy funding. The US Pacific Squadron could do little more than protect San Francisco. All other Western cities were open to bombardment and invasion. Chief of Staff Upton reminded the Cabinet that if the Navy could not protect the West coast the Army would be forced to retain a sizable reserve to defend it.

Secretary of Treasury Shaw warned of the continued vulnerability of the economy, as did Secretary of the Interior Knox. Attorney General Griggs warned of the growing anti-militarism among the socialist and radical left. Secretary of State Olney, though and able administrator knew little about foreign affairs. As a result Mahan relied heavily on Henry Cabot Lodge. Lodge knew for example that British attention was primarily fixed on South Africa. The British believed that war was likely with the Boer republics. Lodge also knew gold had been discovered in the Klondike and was of more importance to the British then the canal. It was Lodge’s opinion that the British would not back the CSA if pressed. Unfortunately if he was wrong on Britain's priorities the US had no official European allies to distract Britain. After speaking with the German ambassador Theodor von Holleben, Lodge was sure the Germans would not intervene. Though friendly and sympathetic to US interests the Germans would not to join in the US without a formal alliance.

Despite these many misgivings Mahan still believed that war, even a costly war, was more preferable then allowing the construction of a canal. On May 15th the US ambassadors to the Confederate States and Great Britain officially sent an ultimatum demanding the CS abandon its attempt to build a trans-isthmian Canal. Confederate President Gist was enraged and demanded the Congress pass a bill authorizing the canal and all available force to defend it. CSA Congressional leadership was unwilling to act with out British support. Britain backed down and President Gist was forced to as well.

The nation was jubilant. Mahan and the military had thwarted both Britain and the Confederate States. Lodge’s incite on the British geopolitical priorities was decisive. Mahan came to rely on Lodge not only for political advice but diplomatic expertise. Mahan took Lodge’s advice over Olney later that year when Olney advised against supporting Wilcox’s rebellion. Thought the rebellion would end in defeat, 1897 was still considered by many to be the brightest year in the United States since the War of Secession.

Mahan called a second meeting in wake of the crises on how to press their advantage. The group identified three key US weaknesses. 1). The overall weakness of the US Navy vis a vis Britain, especially in the Pacific 2). The Political isolation of the US in Europe 3). The Need for continued US Army expansion and modernization.

To overcome these problem Mahan used his post crises popularity to beat Congress into passing his Two Ocean Navy Bill. Within a week of its passage construction began on 10 new Battleships and 8 armored cruisers, 68 protected cruisers. It’s passage was a boon to the Steel, Shipbuilding company’s and Wall Street, which was still from the 1893 recession. The crises and the passage of the The Navy Bill further enhanced Mahan's prestige and national popularity. Mahan and Lodge decided that to overcome the Second source of US weakness, they needed to draw the US out of isolation and lay the foundation for entering the US into a defensive alliance with Germany. US decision making rested heavily on the CSA’s alliance with Britain and to some extents France. If the US could call on its own European ally the US would be in a much better bargaining position.

Soldiers Circle
To overcome problem three, Lodge persuades the President to support the creation of the Soldier’s Circle. For the past fifteen years the Remembrance faction was using veterans groups and military advocacy organizations to pressure members of Congress to pass pro-military reform legislation. A combination of the nations leading pro- army reformists wanted to unite all of the veterans and pro-militarist groups into one organization. 1898 the dreams of men Theodore Roosevelt, General Emory Upton, MG Sherman, the late Senator John A. Logan, Governor Joshua Chamberlain and MG John Schofield was realized. The new organization was named the Soldiers Circle. It was composed of conscripts who had served out their enlistment, organized by induction class and state. These states were then grouped into "districts" (New England, Eastern, Middle, Western, and Pacific) under "Generals." Lodge was named a Colonel in the New England District of the Soldiers Circle. The Soldier’s Circle’s first Commander was the recently retired commander of first Army Major General John Schofield, ret.

The Soldier Circle served not only as a veterans organization but a ready pool of auxillary police and strikebreakers. Despite the growth of the economy and the recovery in laborers wages, major sections of the economy were still suffering. The Coal Miners of Eastern Pennsylvania were especially hard pressed. Even with the increase in demand for coal as a result of the arms industry, miners wages had not yet recovered. When Miners went on strike in Luzerne county that summer, the local sheriff responded by massacring more then a dozen miners. Initially public opinion was on the side of the workers. however when radical members of the local Socialist Party responded with a string of bombings in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Le High; national opinion turned against them. Mahan sent in the Army and the newly formed local chapters of the Soldiers Circle volunteered to support the local sheriffs and crushed all resistance.

1898
By 1898 Lodge had come to lead the Imperialist or "Navalist" faction in the Senate. As such he was continually looking for places for possible over seas expansion. The Nicaragua Crises had shown the US that it need to be able to project it’s Navy beyond it’s shores and to do so it would need coaling bases. US overseas trade was dramatically expanding after the crash, especially in Asia. A Naval Base in the Western Pacific would be especially advantageous. The moribund Spanish Empire looked as the best opportunity for an acquisition of Pacific Naval bases. In the late 1890's Spain was in a dire political and economic state. With possessions in the Carolines, the Philippines and the island of Guam Spain had territory to spare.

Lodge had called a Senatorial Commission to look into the feasibility of acquiring Spanish territories in the Pacific. The commission recommended the purchase of Guam or the Philippines. The recommendation of the committee immediately created controversy in Philadelphia. As a result of the Second Mexican War and European predations in Latin America, Imperialism was unpopular with many American intellectuals and national leaders. In 1894 these groups coalesced into the bi- partisan Anti-Imperialist League. It’s most famous members included Andrew Carnegie, Major General Charles F. Adams, Henry Adams, Williams Jennings Bryan, Carl Shurz, George Frisbee Hoar, Grover Cleveland and ex- President Thomas B. Reed. When Lodge raised the issue of purcahsing or leasing bases in the Phillipines he was attacked on the floor by his fellow Senator from Massachussets George Frisbee Hoar. He threatened to fillibuster any legislation for the purchase of overseas territory.

Other forces conspired to thwart Lodge’s attempts for overseas expansion, the United States was not the only nation interested in Spain’s possessions. Germany had been negotiating with Spain for years, for the purchase of her overseas possessions. Japan had also enquired about purchasing Spanish colonies. Spanish pride and desire to retain some of its overseas empire, was throwing awrench into US, German and Japanese plans. Japan seemed the sincerest in its negotiations and desires. However it later turned out that those negotiations were a smoke screen hiding Japans true intentions, the invasion of the Philippines and flexing its muscle against a European power.

Hispano Japanese War

On May 1st, Japan declared war on Spain. In less then six hours of the declaration of War a Japanese Fleet was bombarding the City of Manila. On the same day as the declaration of the Japanese the attacked and sunk the Spanish Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Manila. Japanese forces destroyed Four Spanish Protected cruisers while only suffering 1 casualty to heat stroke. Over the next three months Japanese Warships hunted down and destroyed of the Spanish Pacific Fleet. Domestic instability prevented the Spanish government from reinforcing their forces. By September Japan had secured all Spanish possessions and Spain was forced to surrender. The Treaty of Paris legitimated the new status quo in the pacific and recognized Japan’s seizure of its territories.

Japan’s victory was a seismic shift in naval the balance of power in the Pacific. For the first time in more than a century an Asian power defeated a European power. In Philadelphia the President looked up on this development with both opportunity and concern. If Japan could be convinced that the international order maintained by the British Empire was to their disadvantage the US might gain a new ally. This would further stretch the Royal Navy, to the US’s advantage. Lodge advised Mahan to authorize Congress to send a new mission to Japan. Its purpose was to look into the possibility of further cooperation between the two powers. The President chose the young Remembrance Congressmen from Ohio William Howard Taft. Unfortunately Japan at the time had close relations with Great Britain and was holding its cards close to the vest.

The Hispano-Japanese war helped to reinforce the need for a powerful Pacific Fleet. The growing trade with China and the pacific was severly disrupted by the war. Lodge used this as fodder for his campaign for overseas naval bases. Congress would never allow for the outright purchase of overseas territory. Mahan however had negotiated reciprocal naval coaling rights with Germany for its bases in the Pacific. The need to keep Warships in the Western Pacific to protect trade convinced the Senate to pass this treaty. For Mahan and Lodge this was an important step towards overseas expansion and a formal alliance with Germany.

The War brought home the need for a powerful US amphibious capability. It was clear President Mahan and Chief of Staff Upton disagreed over future US Military planning. Upton wanted to severely restrict the navy and focus all possible resources on the Army and the nations traditional enemy the Confederacy. To side step Upton’s interference and give the US the capability of seizing overseas territory, Mahan through Lodge got approval for the expansion of the Marines into Ten total divisions. Lodge watched as his once former ally, Upton became increasingly obsessed and paranoid towards those that interfered with his domination over defense policy.

The other major foreign policy development of that year was the death of Major General Arthur MacArthur in an Indian raid into Kansas. Border raids between US and CS backed Indians had been ongoing since the War of Secession. The death of one of the US military’s senior military figures brought national attention to the ongoing border issue. After the Nicaragua crises and the realization of the US’s naval weakness, Mahan decided the US should try to repair relations with the CSA. The new CS President Hogg provided an excellent excuse to negotiate a new deal with the CSA ending Indian raids in the West, however die-hards in both nations prevented this from happening until the Aldrich administration.

On the Domestic Front the Lodge began to increasingly identify with those who wished to establish immigration control. He was concerned about the assimilation of immigrants in an American culture. Lodge joined the Immigration Restriction League in 1894 and over the next four years became its public voice. Lodge argued in support of literacy tests for incoming immigrants, appealing to fears that unskilled foreign labor was undermining the standard of living for American workers and that a mass influx of uneducated immigrants would result in social conflict and national decline. Lodge was alarmed that large numbers of immigrants, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, were flooding into industrial centers, where the poverty of their home countries was being perpetuated and crime rates were rapidly rising. Depsite appealing to the conservative agrarian Republicans and Socialists who sought to protect workers wages, there was little support in the Democratic party for immigration reform. The growing demand for cheap labor shelved any immigration reform.

1899

The year 1899 was another year of economic prosperity, which saw growth in not only the economy but wages of average workers. Many of the Bourbon Democrats increasingly led by Nelson Aldrich were afraid that the unchecked growth in the military budget would affect the nations prosperity. The Remembrance Democrats not wanting to seem unconcerned with the growth proposed a Wage-Price Control Bill. This would allow federal agencies to set wages and prices in the defense industry. Bourbon Democrats were appalled as they saw this as just more unnecessary manipulation of the free market. Lodge a leading Remembrance man supported the Bill and helped ensure its passage.

On the foreign affairs front 1899 was another year of growing international tension. Both Mahan and Lodge were concerned with the spread of the Boxer Rebellion in China. This rebellion, which targeted foreigners and Christian missionaries, was creating uproar in the community of Christian nations. Some were talking about military intervention. Mahan Secretary of State Olney worked to calm these fears and prevent a further European land grabs in China. Britain who also wanted to keep china a open to free trade was also gravely concerned of its diviision. Mahan and Olney saw backing Chinese sovereignty and nation integrity as a way of cooperating with Britain. They hoped it would lead to an easing tensions and prevent war before the US was ready.

Second Boer War and th Stuyvesant Brigade
The outbreak of the Second Boer War officially began in October 1899, this again immediately strained US- British relations. The US public almost universally supported the struggling Boer free states. There was a good deal of pro-Boer sentiment in Congress as well. Senator Lodge introduced a “Resolution of Sympathy for the South African Republic;” Senators from Illinois, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado introduced other pro-Boer resolutions. The city council of Buffalo, Rochester, Erie, Cleveland, New Haven, Portsmouth, and Boston all passed unanimous votes of sympathy for the Boers. The governor of Illinois made a personal appeal for money on behalf of the Boer Relief Fund. The newly integrated City of New York, now comprising New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond County went so far as to change the colors of its flag to Blue, White and Orange in show of solidarity with its Dutch kin.

Lodges old friend’s Theodore Roosevelt was the Boer’s most vocal supporters and Britain’s biggest critic. Lodge tried to steer Mahan into supporting the Boer Republics, but Mahan ignored him. To circumvent the President, Roosevelt organized the Stuyvesant Regiment. This would be a Regiment of Irregular Cavalry modeled on his unauthorized Regiment of the Second Mexican War. Roosevelt recruited a regiment for service with the Boers made up of members of New York’s leading families, members of the New York Police, former members of the Unauthorized Regiment and other western roughnecks. The most famous members were: Lawmen Seth Bullock and Bucky O’Neill, Former Indian fighter and British army scout Frederick Russell Burnham, Manhattan socialite Hamilton Fish (future Great War commander of the 42nd division), John Jacob Astor IV (currently a major in the reserves), Algernon van Nuys Jr. (from an old knickerbocker and leading Wall Street Lawyer whose father was a casualty of the Second Mexican war) and Republican Frank Knox (the future secretary of the Navy under Smith/ La Follette)

Roosevelt wanted to personally lead the Regiment, but Mahan as head of the Democratic Party forbade him. Mahan thought that Roosevelt’s involvement would further anger the British, something he wanted to avoid for the time being. Through Lodge, Mahan promised Roosevelt a cabinet position in the near future if he sat out this war. Roosevelt disheartened seriously considered disobeying the President. Lodge however convinced Roosevelt that if he ran off and joined the Regiment it would imperil US foreign policy. It would hard to convince the Brits the US government was not actively supporting the Boers if a former assistant cabinet member was a member of the unit. It would also derail any future hopes of running for the Presidency, as it would brand him a fanatic and unreliable adventurer.

Roosevelt reluctantly agreed and helped to organize the Regiment and secure its transportation through the Portuguese Colony of Mozambique. The unit over 850 men arrived in late 1898 and immediately began working with Boer Commando units. The Unit fought with the Boers for three years, with many being captured. Luckily for the Regiment the new US Ambassador Adelbert Hay son of Lincoln’s former Secretary and a leading figure in the Republican Party worked tirelessly to prevent any of their execution as Guerrillas. As a result of his work when the Boer Republics fell the 642 of the 853 members returned to the US as heroes.

1900
As 1900 began most peoples attention again the focused on the coming Presidential election. Mahan was the most popular President in living memory, out surpassing his predecessor Reed. However Mahan and his advisors were aware of his lack of support among Bourbon Democrats. To rule out any kind of revolt during the convention Mahan supported Nelson Aldrich’s Federal Reserve legislation. Mahan was also feeling pressure from those Remembrance Democrats who that was felt he was neglecting the Army. Secretary of War Alger was proving to be incapable of controlling Chief of Staff Upton. Mahan decided he needed a stronger Secretary of War and brought on Theodore Roosevelt, the darling of the militarists.

The 1900 Democratic Convention was held in Kansas City, in a show of solidarity for the recent Indian Raids. Mahan’s strategy worked and he won a first ballot victory. The Republicans in an attempt to appeal to eastern voters nominated John Hay while he was still serving as Ambassador to France.

The Socialist Party nominated the famous Jacob Coxey, leader of Coxey’s army. Since his now famous march on Philadelphia he had spent the last four years raising money for charities and working on behalf of the "common laborer." His fame had only grown after the release of Frank Baum’s Queen of Ix, loosely based on Coxey’s Army episode and the Reed Administration. The party again hoped his nomination would appeal to middle class progressives and Christians. 1899 saw a wave of new strikes including the Buffalo New York Grain Shovellers' Strike, The Cleveland Ohio Street Railway Workers' Strike, The Coeur d'Alene Idaho labor confrontation and the New York Newsboys Strike. The continuing violence in labor relations hurt the parties chance of respectability. Party leadership was consistently trying to change the it’s image among the middle class and christians. Coxey was by far the most popular and well-known candidate yet (outside of former President Lincoln of course).

China Relief Expedition
In the realm of foreign policy the US saw their first opportunity for military cooperation with the CSA. The Boxer Rebellion continued to rage across China, on June 20th an Army of Boxers besieged the foreign legation in Beijing. An international expedition was organized to relieve the legations and their families trapped inside. The US dispatched more then 2,500 Soldiers, Marines and light artillery. Thanks to re-coaling rights the US had negotiated with Germany for supporting their claim to Samoa[1], The US was able to send warships to shepherd its transports, these included two protective cruisers the USS Bennington, the USS Newark and the Battleship USS Rhode Island. The US forces planned to land in the German controlled port city of Tsingtao and join the International Expedition of 18,000 soldiers in Tienstein. The Confederate States had over twenty four citizens trapped in the Legation Quarters and wished to participate. However the Confederate Navy lacked the transport capacity and their British allies had its capacity stretched to the max supporting the Boer War. The US Secretary od State Olney and Secretary of the Navy McAdoo offered to transport 500 Confederate Marines to take part in the expedition. The new Confederate President James Hogg who was elected on a platform of military reform and better relations with the United States agreed to the assistance.

The US- CS Forces reached the rally point of the Eight Nation alliance at Tienstein on August 2nd. On Two days later on August 4th marched for Beijing. The alliance forces consisted of about 18,500 soldiers (4,300 Russian infantry, Cossacks and artillery; 8,000 Japanese infantry; 3,000 British, mostly Indian infantry, cavalry and artillery; 2,500 US soldiers and Marines with artillery; 500 Confederate Marines and an 800-man French brigade with artillery;. Austria, Italy, and Germany though members contributed less then a hundred soldiers and sailors.

The Eight Nation Alliance defeated the Chinese army at the Battle of Beicang on 5 August and the Battle of Yangcun on 6 August and reached Tongzhou 14 miles from Peking, on 12 August. The relief force was much reduced by heat exhaustion and sunstroke and the men available for the assault on Peking probably did not greatly exceed 10,300. The Confederate Marines led by Lt. Colonel John Lejeune showed Exceptional Bravery and sided with the Japanese and Russian forces wishing to press on.

When the Battle to take the Legation began on August 14th the US and CS forces were given the mission of seizing the Tung Pien gate. The two forces cooperated and were the first to enter the embattled Legation quarter. Many famous and future commanders of the Great War fought in the expedition including Smedley Butler as a young Marine Lieutenant, Seymour du Pont as a Battery commander of Light Artillery, Regimental Commanders Hunter Liggett and Frederick Funston. Two future Commandants of the CS Marine Corp John Lejeune and Wendell Cushing Neville also took part in the expedition.

Boer War
Despite the goodwill the China Relief Expeditions created between the US and CS. The US public continued to fume over the British treatment of civilians in the Boer War. Thanks to dispatches sent by Richard Harding Davis embedded with members of the Stuyvesant Brigade and William Randolph Hearst sensationalist headlines; the public outcry had reached a fever pitch. When the public learned of the use of concentration camps, where thousand of Boer women and children were starving, a Congressman from Maine put forward a motion to ban imports from Britain. There were demonstrations and burning of effigies outside the British Embassy and consulates. Suddenly Mahan the United States Arch-Navalist seemed soft on the British Empire, threatening his support with powerful Irish Catholic voters.

Since the Nicaraguan Crises the administrations policy towards the Britain was that of a reproachment. Olney as Secretary of the State was the author of the policy. The growth of United States Navy whose single purpose was to fight Britain for control of the Western Atlantic, could not be seen as anything but a threat. Because the Naval construction program would not be completed for more than a decade, Olney believed the US needed to tread lightly with Britain. Especially considering it’s dominance of the international financial markets. Olney has was an able administrator and served well as Secretary of State. He elevated US foreign representative to Ambassadors, before him US envoys to foreign states were not allowed to call themselves anything but Consul or Representative. This was owed to the anti-rank/authoritarian streak in the in the government. (this was most prevalent in the US military which had not seen an officer with a active duty rank of even Lieutenant General since Washington). Olney also helped to reorganize the State Department's Intelligence Bureau. Modeling it on the Criminal Investigation Division, the State Department formed the Foreign Information Desk. This move stream lined the nations Intelligence gathering service and helped the administration understand the growing web of international alliances.

With the collapse of the reproachment policy, Olney let it be known that he wished to retire after almost twelve years as a Cabinet member. Mahan decided to tap his most trusted foreign policy advisor and the most vehement Anti- Britain in the Senate, Henry Cabot Lodge. Disclosure of Lodge’s future nomination as Secretary was well received and helped Mahan to win the largest popular vote in United States victory. The second Mahan administration, would be dominated by Mahan Lodge Roosevelt triumvirate.

[1] There was an attempt in the late 1880's to claim some of the Samoan Islands for the US, however popular apathy and the need for funds to support the arms growth prevented its purchase. Instead the US backed German claims for their support after the Second Mexican War.

 

[President Mahan]

I put the Hispano- Japanese war in 1898. A poster on the Photos frm Jake Featherston's Confederacy had it the same year. I guess it crept into my brain. I checked it out Japan's Navy in 1898 was bigger than Spains and capable of seizing the Phillipines. With atleast 4 Battleships. Spain only had two protected cruisers and 4 unportected cruisers.

Its on the timeline I put up as 1901. I don't remember why I put it up that year. Does Anyone remember another Post its discussed or have an opinion on what year it should be?

I tried to leave it vague so others can expand upon it another post. It is easily movable. It is more to show the two foreign policy camps in the Democrats and how the Anti-Imperialists at the time are more powerful.

Thoughts?

 

[Zoidberg12]

I put the Hispano- Japanese war in 1898. A poster on the Photos frm Jake Featherston's Confederacy had it the same year. I guess it crept into my brain. I checked it out Japan's Navy in 1898 was bigger than Spains and capable of seizing the Phillipines. With atleast 4 Battleships. Spain only had two protected cruisers and 4 unportected cruisers.

Its on the timeline I put up as 1901. I don't remember why I put it up that year. Does Anyone remember another Post its discussed or have an opinion on what year it should be?

I tried to leave it vague so others can expand upon it another post. It is easily movable. It is more to show the two foreign policy camps in the Democrats and how the Anti-Imperialists at the time are more powerful.

Thoughts?

I made a wiki infobox for the Hispano-Japanese War once and I had the war lasting from July 14th to November 6th, 1901. I don't think Turtledove ever gave a year, but on the Turtledove wiki it states the war took place in the early 20th century.

Anyways, great update!

 

[President Mahan]

I made a wiki infobox for the Hispano-Japanese War once and I had the war lasting from July 14th to November 6th, 1901. I don't think Turtledove ever gave a year, but on the Turtledove wiki it states the war took place in the early 20th century.

Any reason you gave those dates? I was just picking 1898 as a good reason to pass a Two Ocean Navy Bill in the first Administration. And the whole anti-imperialism thing

 

[Zoidberg12]

Any reason you gave those dates? I was just picking 1898 as a good reason to pass a Two Ocean Navy Bill in the first Administration. And the whole anti-imperialism thing

I picked 1901 as the year was mentioned on this rough timeline on the Turtledove wiki. The dates were random, but I had the war last five months as it seemed probable that the war would begin and end relatively quickly just like the Spanish-American War OTL.

 

[President Mahan]

Ok I am going to keep unless someone gives me a good reason otherwise.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Ok I am going to keep unless someone gives me a good reason otherwise.

Sounds good to me, considering how you tied in the Two Ocean Navy Bill and anti-imperialism with the advent of the Hispano-Japanese War.

 

[Imperator Maximilianius]

Ok I am going to keep unless someone gives me a good reason otherwise.

Okay, good.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Kingdom of Romania

The Kingdom of Romania was established on March 14th, 1881, when the United Principalities of Moldova and Wallachia, in the face of Russian influence, raised the status of their country from principality to that of a kingdom; the Kingdom of Romania. Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a German prince, the German born Dominator of the United Principalities since 1866, became King Carol I of Romania, and was crowned on May 10th, 1881. The Kingdom of Romania, surrounded by the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires, looked to Western Europe, particularly France, for models of culture, education and administration.

Romania remained a peaceful nation until 1913, when they entered the Second Balkan War (having abstained from the First Balkan War). The Second Balkan War began as the result of a number of border disputes between Serbia and Greece and Bulgaria in the region of Macedonia. The war began on June 29th, 1913 and Romania, seeking Bulgarian territory containing ethnic Romanians, joined the coalition of Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire against the Tsardom of Bulgaria. As the war began, Romania sent an army of 330,000 troops across the Danube River and into Bulgaria. One army occupied the region of Southern Dobrudja, a region inhabited mostly by ethnic Romanians, while another army moved into the north of the country to threaten the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, thus helping to bring an end to the war. The war ended on August 10th, 1913 with a victory for the aforementioned alliance. As a result, Romania annexed the region of Southern Dobrudja, an ethnically Romanian region it had desired for years, and the defeated Bulgaria became a revanchist local power, drifting towards the camp of the Quadruple Alliance.

In July of 1914, the First Great War began. At that point, what role Romania would play in the war had yet to be seen. In 1883, King Carol I of Romania had secretly signed a pact with the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, which stated that Romania would enter a war on the side of the Triple Alliance only if Austria-Hungary was attacked. King Carol I, a German, a member of the House of Hohenzollern and a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm II, as well as the Conservative politicians in the country, wanted Romania to join the war on the side of the Central Powers when the First Great War broke out. However, the Romanian people and liberal politicians were in favor of Romania joining the Entente Powers. This was so for a number of reasons, one of them being that Romania had long had territorial claims over Transylvania, an Austro-Hungarian territory which contained ethnic Hungarians, Romanians and Germans, but had a Romanian majority. After Romania had annexed Southern Dobrudja in 1913 after the Second Balkan War, many Romanians wanted the other Romanian lands, Transylvania included, to be a part of the Kingdom of Romania and a so-called "Greater Romania". Nevertheless, Romania decided to remain neutral during the opening months of the Great War.

On October 10th 1914, three months after the Great War began, King Carol I of Romania died at the age of 75. As a result, his son Prince Ferdinand succeeded him as King Ferdinand I. During his reign, lasting until his death in 1927, Romania would remain neutral throughout the entirety of the Great War.

There were a number of reasons for Romania remaining neutral during the First Great War. For one thing, during the first months of war, King Carol I and the Conservative politicians in the country argued that Austria-Hungary was not attacked, but had in fact started the war by invading Serbia, and as a direct result Romania was not obliged to join the war, let alone on the side of the Central Powers. Romania was also worried about having to fight a two front war against Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. Romania also knew that their armies would need Russian support in the event of having to fight a two front war, and feared their country might became a Russian puppet state in the aftermath of an Entente victory, even if they did gain more territory. While Bulgaria would not join the war on the side of the Central Powers until October of 1915, by 1914 the country was very close to the Quadruple Alliance/Central Powers due to their loss of the Second Balkan War to a number of nations, including the Russian allied Serbia. When Bulgaria did finally join the Central Powers on October 14th, 1915, Romania's fears were realized, giving them more of a reason to stay neutral. In 1916 and 1917, Romania was given even more reasons to stay neutral in the Great War. In 1916, on May 5th, the Battle of Verdun ended in a crushing defeat for the French Army at the hands of the Germany. This event signaled to many that the Entente cause was begging to falter, especially in regards to France's war effort. In 1917, Russia withdrew from the war due to a revolution back at home. With Russia out of the war, what could have been Romania's major ally against Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria was gone. It was also in that same year that the French armies mutinied. When it was said and done by September of 1917, King Ferdinand I was happy he had kept his country neutral, considering the Entente had lost the war and had seen little his country could gain from joining the Central Powers anyways. It should be noted that these same, aforementioned events convinced other nations that would have otherwise joined the Entente, such as Greece and Portugal, that it would be a fools errand to do so by that point. It is also interesting to note that King Ferdinand I's consort, Marie of Romania, was sympathetic to the Entente cause and encouraged her husband on a number of occasions to have Romania join the Entente. Marie of Romania was born Marie of Edinburgh to Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the forth born child of Queen Victoria, and his Russian wife Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, the daughter of the ill-fated Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Marie, a native Briton and the granddaughter of two major British and Russian monarchs, was understandably sympathetic to the Entente and also wanted her adoptive country of Romania to gain more ethnic Romanian land and become a "Greater Romania". Nevertheless, Ferdinand knew the risk would not be worth the reward. After Russia withdrew from the war, even Queen Marie knew there was no chance of the Entente winning the war, and thus agreed that it was best for Romania to remain neutral. Nevertheless, Marie, naturally, was disappointed that the war had ended in a defeat for the Entente.

While Romania remained neutral during the First Great War, it was involved briefly in the Russian Civil War. On December 15th, 1917, the Moldavian Democratic Republic was declared in the region of Bessarabia, a region formerly under the control of the Russian Empire and inhabited mostly by ethnic Romanians. On April 9th, 1918, the Moldavian Democratic Republic declared union with the Kingdom of Romania, with full support from King Ferdinand, Queen Marie and the Romanian government. Germany and Austria-Hungary, as well as their new puppet state of Ukraine, condemned this action, as Ukraine had claims on the region. Nevertheless, Germany and Austria-Hungary, now the most powerful nations on Continental Europe, were too weary from the Great War to invade Romania and regain Bessarabia for Ukraine, as Romania posed no major threat to either power.

During the Interwar Period, Romania remained a peaceful, relativity prosperous nation. During the 1920's, Romania began fostering good relations with the German Empire, which seemed only natural with King Ferdinand I being a relative of Kaiser Wilhelm II thorough the House of Hohenzollern. In truth, it was also in both nations' best interests to have good relations with each other. Romania was completely surrounded by nations which were once part of the Central Powers, said nations being Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and now Ukraine and did want to be invaded and/or subjugated by any of them, including Germany. Germany, on the other hand, did not want Romania to become unfriendly or aggressive towards Germany and her allies or get any funny ideas about invading Austro-Hungarian territory. As a result, Romania had very good relations with the German Empire, however, almost paradoxically, relations remained cold between Romania and Germany's main European ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, due to the issue of Transylvania and ethnic Romanians in said region. Nevertheless, Romanian relations became so good with Germany that Romania became a nominal member of Zollverein. The Zollverein of the 20th century was an expansion of the Zollverein of the 18th century. This new Zollverein was spread to Germany's new puppet states in Eastern Europe, where the German Mark became the only legal tender currency (the exception was Ukraine where both the German Mark and Austro-Hungarian Krone were legal tender). Romania was a nominal member as the Romanian Leu continued to remain the dominant currency of the country and the German Mark became a secondary currency, thus increasing trade with Germany and making Romania a wealthy nation. It should be noted a proposal to make the Austro-Hungarian Krone legal tender as well was refused by King Ferdinand and the Romanian parliament, due to the cold relations between Romania and Austria-Hungary.

In 1927, Ferdinand I died, and was succeeded by his son Prince Carol, who became King Carol II. Some in the Romanian government wanted to block Carol from becoming king due to a number of previous marital scandals, but Carol officially declared that he renounced his mistresses, so there was nothing those that wanted him gone could do. Nevertheless, Carol continued to see his mistresses, the most famous of which was a woman by the name of Magda Lupescu, as he had them secretly snuck into his residences without anyone else knowing. As it would turn out, Carol II's reign would prove to be a turbulent time for Romania. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 hit Romania hard, and ensuing early years of the 1930s would be marked by social unrest, high unemployment, and strikes. The Romanian government violently suppressed strikes on a number of different occasions. While the Romanian economy recovered and industry grew significantly by 1935, most Romanians, about 80%, were still employed in little more than agricultural work.

As the 1930s progressed, a number of far-right political movements grew in strength in Romania. These movements included the Romanian Front led by Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, the National-Christian Defense League led by A.C. Cuza and the Iron Guard led by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and Horia Sima. All of these groups were inspired by the far-right groups in Italy, France, Russia and Great Britain. Their goals were many and sometimes differing, but they shared a number of goals in common. These goals were the annexation of Transylvania from Austria-Hungary and the creation of "Greater Romania", an alliance with the former Entente nations of Great Britain, France and Russia, and a number of other anti-semitic goals as well. Germany and Austria-Hungary looked upon the popularity of the far-right in Romania with alarm. This was especially so after King Carol II, who had become increasingly unpopular in Romania due to his rumored extra-marital affairs and meddling in politics, showed his true colors as a a far-right sympathizer and appointed LANC leader and former poet Octavian Goga as Prime Minister in December of 1937. The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary were naturally worried, not wanting to fight another front of war if Romania joined the former Entente nations and another war in Europe broke out. As a result, when rumors of a coup against King Carol II and the far-right government came out of Romania and into Germany, the German government knew it was time to act. German, Austro-Hungarian, Polish and Ukrainian agents came into contact with the man who was rumored to be leading the coup, Prince Nicholas of Romania, the younger brother of King Carol II. With German and Austro-Hungarian backing, Prince Nicholas and a number of Romanian military officers and politicians launched their coup in Bucharest on May 9th, 1938. The "May 9th coup" was a success; King Carol was deposed and fled the country and a number of far-right politicians were arrested, some even executed. King Carol II's 17 year-old son Prince Micheal became King Micheal of Romania and was a regency was established under his uncle Prince Nicholas. Prince Nicholas meet with German and Austro-Hungarian ambassadors later that month, and signed a number of agreements between each other. These agreements included that, in the event of another major war in Europe, Romania would not be obliged to join the Central Powers (this was agreed upon so not to upset a number of Romanian politics who feared German and Austro-Hungarian domination of Romania), German and Austro-Hungarian protection of Romania if it were ever attacked by another nation, among others. It should be noted that just two months after the May 9th coup, the popular yet increasingly reclusive Queen Marie of Romania died at her residence of Pelișor Castle in Sinaia, Romania. Recently uncovered evidence suggests that Marie had a hand in the aforementioned coup against her son, as Marie was outspoken against the right-wing groups in Romania and relations between her and her son Carol had soured ever since Carol came to the throne in 1927, much for the same reasons as why he was unpopular with the rest of the country. As for Carol, he fled to Rostov-on-Don in the Russian Empire. After the Great War began in June of 1941, Carol, not wanting to be in the middle of a war-zone, fled to Barcelona, Spain, where he eventually died in 1953, aged but sixty years.

With that, Romania was spared from becoming a far-right nation in the line with the former Entente Powers, which by the late 1930s showed signs of re-forming their alliance. They eventually did, and on June 22nd, 1941, the Second Great War broke out. Romania, once again, remained neutral in the Second Great War. However in May, 1942, Romania decided to show some gratitude to Germany and the rest of the Central Powers for the deposition of the unpopular King Carol. A volunteer division known as the "Romanian Volunteer Division", headed by Romanian general Constantin Constantinescu-Claps was sent to fight alongside the Central Powers on the Eastern Front. The division remained with the Central Powers armies on the Eastern Front until the Second Great War finally ended in July of 1944. In October of 1942, Romania also allowed Germany to use the oil from their oil fields outside the town of Ploesti to help them with the war effort against the Russian Empire. Germany used said oil from said oil fields until the war ended in July of 1944. Of the two forms of assistance Romania provided to the Central Powers during the war, the leasing of oil from the Ploesti Oil Fields proved the most beneficial to the Central Powers and their war against Russia. So much was this the case that on October 20th, 1943, the Royal Air Force conducted a raid, known the Pleosti Raid, led by fighter ace Douglas Bader over said oil fields. The raid proved a strategic failure, and almost brought Romania into the war and out of neutrality. All that kept Romania out of the war by that point was the less-then prepared state of their military.

After the Second Great War, the Kingdom of Romania, finally prosperous again with the Great Depression over, looked to a brighter future under their young King Micheal, who began to rule as King ever since he officially came to power after his 18th birthday in 1939. King Micheal still rules Romania to this day, and with his reign approaching its 77th year, is the 5th longest reigning monarch in European history, behind Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, William IV, Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen and Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz. King Micheal is also the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state.