Union and Liberty: An American TL
- Thread starter wilcoxchar
- Start date
Yeah, New Orleans will be bigger.
Probably. It might not be as bad as the OTL Great Depression because of the Silver Depression being worse and no durable goods bubble (yet), but in the immediate aftermath of the war there would be the problem of growing power of trust companies, and the end of a wartime economy that can cause an economic downturn.
Cool!
So shipping has already moved to the Confluence region, at it seems industry won't be far behind. It seems the real boom will actually come after the war; the Eastern and Great Lakes states will have damaged and more likely, outdated infrastructure.
Also I wonder, what the effects of the trust bust not happening prior to the great war will be. The business magnates (oil and steel in particular) would have probably benefited greatly from the war. Have they more powerful than in OTL? And of course how this will affect the economy.
Any reason why you specify "free black" aren't they all free now? As I understand sharecropping didn't quite happen in TTL, after the 40-acres Act.
I do wonder if the war plus this new melting pot at the Confluence will provide the fuel for an early Civil Rights movement. And a cultural boom akin to OTL's Jazz Age / Harlem Renaissance.
Excellent update man. I love the culture segments always. And I do hope that if Cairo continues to grow, that someone builds a gaudy ass monument imitating the pyramids or some Egyptian theme sometime.
So shipping has already moved to the Confluence region, at it seems industry won't be far behind. It seems the real boom will actually come after the war; the Eastern and Great Lakes states will have damaged and more likely, outdated infrastructure.
Also I wonder, what the effects of the trust bust not happening prior to the great war will be. The business magnates (oil and steel in particular) would have probably benefited greatly from the war. Have they more powerful than in OTL? And of course how this will affect the economy.
Any reason why you specify "free black" aren't they all free now? As I understand sharecropping didn't quite happen in TTL, after the 40-acres Act.
I do wonder if the war plus this new melting pot at the Confluence will provide the fuel for an early Civil Rights movement. And a cultural boom akin to OTL's Jazz Age / Harlem Renaissance.
Excellent update man. I love the culture segments always. And I do hope that if Cairo continues to grow, that someone builds a gaudy ass monument imitating the pyramids or some Egyptian theme sometime.
"Free black" is used to specify that it's southern blacks coming north.
You've already seen hints of it on the Gulf Coast.
I've already been thinking about what landmark will be the centerpiece of Cairo.
I'm thinking a large tower at the point jutting out into the two rivers. Maybe modeled after the Torre de Oro in Seville, but bigger and more ostentatious. Also I found out that with Cairo bigger, one of the reasons for its decline goes away since the road bridges over the Mississippi and Ohio to the south don't bypass the city anymore if that's where they're built.Good update, Wilcox!
Sadly, as in OTL, the war spirit prevailed over the Olympic spirit.
I was hoping for another peace myself, but realities over war, and the fact their isn't a nation as influential as the US pushing for such a truce this time around makes this outcome predictable.
I've already been thinking about what landmark will be the centerpiece of Cairo.
That is actually pretty cool. They probably be prouder of that than a gaudy set of pyramids. Though maybe down the line in the late 20th century, they could build a classy set like these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttart_Conservatory.
That would be interesting to behold. Why not west of Cairo, as it's Old World counterpart?
That would be interesting to behold. Why not west of Cairo, as it's Old World counterpart?
Which is why I said across the river in Missouri, rather than Kentucky. And yes, I agree with you completely. The Mississippi could be said to be America's Nile, after all.
That would actually be pretty cool. There is nothing on that part of Missouri in OTL, but I reckon a city would likely pop up there in TTL if Cairo keeps expanding.
The other interesting part is that Cairo is essentially at the cross point of 3 states, Illinois, Missouri and Chikasaw, while Kentucky and Arkansaw are not that far away from it. I reckon this will make the place a bureaucratic haven for crime especially if prohibition stays at state level. If Illinios and Chikasaw become dry states, then the hypothetical West Cairo would be the watering hole. But if Illinois stays wet and all its neighbors dry up, Cairo its self would be a heart of vice.
Yeah, the next update will be about the war. I've been doing NANoWriMo so haven't been able to do much more writing outside of that lately. I'm still aimino try to get two updates done this month.
Part One Hundred Twenty-Four: The Balkan Powder Keg
Update's done!
Part One Hundred Twenty-Four: The Balkan Powder Keg
Out With the Turks:
As Europe became embroiled in the Great War, the other nations that sat out on the sidelines were still affected by the conflict, and none more so than the Ottoman Empire. After the Treaty of Rome ended the invasion of Turkey, a token French force had remained in the Balkans helping to garrison the passage to the Black Sea and preventing a chaotic rebellion as had happened to Austria three decades prior. As the Great War escalated though, the French force was recalled to fight in Spain and Italy. With Turkey weakened, the ethnic strife in the Balkans began anew.
In Albania, the uprising that started after the Treaty of Rome festered with protests and frequent violence near Skadar. Once the foreign forces withdrew from the Adriatic coastal cities, the uprising flared into a full blown rebellion and groups began attacking Ottoman military camps near Lezhe and Kruje. At a conference between the different Albanian clan leaders in Kruje in May of 1909, the leaders of the Albanian clans met and declared their besa, or promise[1], to unite in a struggle against the Ottomans. The clans, now united under the leadership of Xhemal Pasha Zogolli[2], spread the uprising from the Durrazzo vilayet and moved into the Kosovo vilayet. By now, the Albanians were joined by Serbia and the Bulgarians in revolt against the Ottomans. The new Albanian state scored important victories at the Zhur and Kacanik passes over the next year, blocking the railway northwest from Skopje and preventing the Ottomans from moving back into northern Albania. In 1910 at the Assembly of Prizren, the clans met again and declared an independent state of Albania. The borders of the state drawn up at Prizren were much larger than the eventual borders, claiming all of the Durrazzo, Kosovo, and Monastir vilayets[3].
As the Albanian rebellion spread, the rebellious sentiment spread anew throughout the Ottoman Balkans. The leaders of the autonomous regions of Serbia and Montenegro began demanding more rights. Clashes erupted in Banja Luka and Zvornik between Serb and Bosnian nationalists and Turkish authorities in August of 1909, inspired by the insurrection in Albania. The Serbs and Bosnians had been incited by a cultural revival led in part by Antun Knezevic, as a splinter from the Illyrian revival further north[4]. With Ottoman rail links to the autonomous region cut off by the Albanian rebellion, the leaders of the Serbian uprising began to march on Belgrade. The young prince Alexander I Obrenovic of Serbia, who had succeeded his father Milan IV upon his death in 1901, was sympathetic to the Serbian uprising and upon the arrival of the rebels in Belgrade declared the Serbian autonomous region fully independent of the Ottoman Empire.
A Latecomer to the Great War:
The main focus of the German offensive in 1909 switched from pushing into Poland, to pushing south and at least breaking out of the Alps. While Verona was a tempting target for the German Alpine forces, a breakthrough on the eastern side of the front was more important, as it would bring Illyria closer to ending their neutrality and joining the war of the German side. The German army was still encamped in the Valbelluna after enduring an Italian counteroffensive, but at the snows melted away in the southern Alps the army went on the offensive again. This time, the attempt to break out of the Valbelluna was successful, following the course of the Piave River. The capture of the village of Quero on April 22, 1910, was soon followed a week later by an Italian retreat from the southernmost ridge of the Venetian Alps. The German army had finally broken through to the Venetian plain. The breakthrough was solidified with the fall of Conegliano a month later.
The breakthrough in the Italian front was soon followed by feverish diplomatic activity in Ljubljana as the ambassadors of the warring power around the small monarchy tried to convince Illyria to assist either side or stay neutral. Illyria's reliance on the Italian ports of Trieste and Fiume made neutrality a sensible option, but as the German ambassador often pointed out, it also made them juicy territorial prizes should Illyria join the Alliance Carolingien[5]. King Adolf Anton and Prime Minister Anton Haus[6] frequently discussed the matter. The king was averse to becoming involved in the surrounding war, but Haus, who had previously had experience in the navy, saw the benefit of gaining the two large port cities. When the German army in Hungary neared Agram in June of 1910, the king consented and Illyria joined the war. The Illyrian army moved quickly to secure the east bank of the Isonzo River, defeating the Italian forces at the First Battle of Gorizia on July 2. The road west from Trieste was soon blocked and the city isolated from the rest of Italy by land. The mountainous terrain kept the Illyrian army from capturing Rijeka early on, though they won a small battle with Italian forces near Jelsane.
[1] The besa was an important part of Albanian nationalism.
[2] Father of OTL King Zog.
[3] Here's a map of the vilayets; Albania wants to have the OTL Ishkadra, Kosovo, and Monastir vilayets minus what's in Montenegro ITTL. That proposal may seem excessive, but in OTL the Albanian movement wanted a single vilayet with all that plus Janina.
[4] Knezevic plays a bigger role in OTL, so the develompent of Bosniak ethnic national identity is more broadened than being Muslim.
[5] Trieste and Fiume have always been rightfully part of Illyria as the Austrian successor state anyway, or so the nationalists say.
[6] Anton Haus is Slovene, and was the grand admiral of the Austrian navy during part of WWI in OTL. He still gets a naval education.
Part One Hundred Twenty-Four: The Balkan Powder Keg
Out With the Turks:
As Europe became embroiled in the Great War, the other nations that sat out on the sidelines were still affected by the conflict, and none more so than the Ottoman Empire. After the Treaty of Rome ended the invasion of Turkey, a token French force had remained in the Balkans helping to garrison the passage to the Black Sea and preventing a chaotic rebellion as had happened to Austria three decades prior. As the Great War escalated though, the French force was recalled to fight in Spain and Italy. With Turkey weakened, the ethnic strife in the Balkans began anew.
In Albania, the uprising that started after the Treaty of Rome festered with protests and frequent violence near Skadar. Once the foreign forces withdrew from the Adriatic coastal cities, the uprising flared into a full blown rebellion and groups began attacking Ottoman military camps near Lezhe and Kruje. At a conference between the different Albanian clan leaders in Kruje in May of 1909, the leaders of the Albanian clans met and declared their besa, or promise[1], to unite in a struggle against the Ottomans. The clans, now united under the leadership of Xhemal Pasha Zogolli[2], spread the uprising from the Durrazzo vilayet and moved into the Kosovo vilayet. By now, the Albanians were joined by Serbia and the Bulgarians in revolt against the Ottomans. The new Albanian state scored important victories at the Zhur and Kacanik passes over the next year, blocking the railway northwest from Skopje and preventing the Ottomans from moving back into northern Albania. In 1910 at the Assembly of Prizren, the clans met again and declared an independent state of Albania. The borders of the state drawn up at Prizren were much larger than the eventual borders, claiming all of the Durrazzo, Kosovo, and Monastir vilayets[3].
As the Albanian rebellion spread, the rebellious sentiment spread anew throughout the Ottoman Balkans. The leaders of the autonomous regions of Serbia and Montenegro began demanding more rights. Clashes erupted in Banja Luka and Zvornik between Serb and Bosnian nationalists and Turkish authorities in August of 1909, inspired by the insurrection in Albania. The Serbs and Bosnians had been incited by a cultural revival led in part by Antun Knezevic, as a splinter from the Illyrian revival further north[4]. With Ottoman rail links to the autonomous region cut off by the Albanian rebellion, the leaders of the Serbian uprising began to march on Belgrade. The young prince Alexander I Obrenovic of Serbia, who had succeeded his father Milan IV upon his death in 1901, was sympathetic to the Serbian uprising and upon the arrival of the rebels in Belgrade declared the Serbian autonomous region fully independent of the Ottoman Empire.
A Latecomer to the Great War:
The main focus of the German offensive in 1909 switched from pushing into Poland, to pushing south and at least breaking out of the Alps. While Verona was a tempting target for the German Alpine forces, a breakthrough on the eastern side of the front was more important, as it would bring Illyria closer to ending their neutrality and joining the war of the German side. The German army was still encamped in the Valbelluna after enduring an Italian counteroffensive, but at the snows melted away in the southern Alps the army went on the offensive again. This time, the attempt to break out of the Valbelluna was successful, following the course of the Piave River. The capture of the village of Quero on April 22, 1910, was soon followed a week later by an Italian retreat from the southernmost ridge of the Venetian Alps. The German army had finally broken through to the Venetian plain. The breakthrough was solidified with the fall of Conegliano a month later.
The breakthrough in the Italian front was soon followed by feverish diplomatic activity in Ljubljana as the ambassadors of the warring power around the small monarchy tried to convince Illyria to assist either side or stay neutral. Illyria's reliance on the Italian ports of Trieste and Fiume made neutrality a sensible option, but as the German ambassador often pointed out, it also made them juicy territorial prizes should Illyria join the Alliance Carolingien[5]. King Adolf Anton and Prime Minister Anton Haus[6] frequently discussed the matter. The king was averse to becoming involved in the surrounding war, but Haus, who had previously had experience in the navy, saw the benefit of gaining the two large port cities. When the German army in Hungary neared Agram in June of 1910, the king consented and Illyria joined the war. The Illyrian army moved quickly to secure the east bank of the Isonzo River, defeating the Italian forces at the First Battle of Gorizia on July 2. The road west from Trieste was soon blocked and the city isolated from the rest of Italy by land. The mountainous terrain kept the Illyrian army from capturing Rijeka early on, though they won a small battle with Italian forces near Jelsane.
[1] The besa was an important part of Albanian nationalism.
[2] Father of OTL King Zog.
[3] Here's a map of the vilayets; Albania wants to have the OTL Ishkadra, Kosovo, and Monastir vilayets minus what's in Montenegro ITTL. That proposal may seem excessive, but in OTL the Albanian movement wanted a single vilayet with all that plus Janina.
[4] Knezevic plays a bigger role in OTL, so the develompent of Bosniak ethnic national identity is more broadened than being Muslim.
[5] Trieste and Fiume have always been rightfully part of Illyria as the Austrian successor state anyway, or so the nationalists say.
[6] Anton Haus is Slovene, and was the grand admiral of the Austrian navy during part of WWI in OTL. He still gets a naval education.
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