So "International Diplomacy" thats what the kids are calling it now. 
Great update. I love these pulp adventures. You should make a series
Great update. I love these pulp adventures. You should make a series
Union and Liberty: An American TL
- Thread starter wilcoxchar
- Start date
Thanks for the comments. I probably will make it a series once I get enough plot ideas and have written enough of them.
I probably will make it a series once I get enough plot ideas and have written enough of them.Did a little proofreading and adding some footnotes to the episode.
Worked a bit on a new update today, will finish it and put it up either tonight or tomorrow.
Worked a bit on a new update today, will finish it and put it up either tonight or tomorrow.
Looking forward to the update, and I am highly interested to see how you portion the new western states...
Part Forty-Eight: California Dreaming
Update time! I should probably say that the end result for California is still fairly tentative, but that is the likely possibility I'm considering for its future.
Part Forty-Eight: California Dreaming
Immigration Policy: The Republic of California enjoyed a prosperous history during the late nineteenth century. Or at least, the Iberos living in the coastal provinces and San Isidro did. With the Gold Rush and the National War bringing in many immigrants from the United States, native Californios became ever more protective of their identity as descendants of Mexicans and Spaniards. By the 1870s, Espejo was established as an officially English district by the government in Monterey. The San Xavier Purchase which gave a portion of eastern Espejo and the encouragement of American immigrants to live in the district angered the Mormon population that had already been living in Espejo. Between 1878 and 1882, the Mormons launched an uprising against Monterey and threatening to proclaim an independent state. Fearing the Mormons in Espejo might join the United States, Californio President Alonso Rivera sent a large portion of the country's army into Espejo and after a grueling four-year campaign, destroyed the Mormon uprising. In the late 1880s, restriction of American and English immigration was relaxed as the Mormon Rebellion sent the country deeply into debt.
In the late nineteenth century, the Republic of California also experienced a large amount of immigration from eastern Asia. With the development of San Diego and Yerba Buena as the major port cities in the country, many migrants primarily from China, Korea, and the Philippines arrived in the country during the 1860s and 1870s. While most Filipinos were welcomed as fellow Iberos, the Californio government initially put restrictive laws on the movement of other Asian peoples. Zhenbao Island[1] in San Francisco Bay was turned into an immigration facility where new migrants were processed before entering the country. The island also had a special town only for Asian immigrants, while the rest of Yerba Buena was off limits to most Asians. Similar neighborhoods were created in other cities. These policies persisted until the mid-1870s, when some of the restrictions were lifted for those immigrants who were employed by railroad companies.
A Political Pendulum: The late nineteenth century was a period of expansion for California in all areas, including the military. Part of the reason for this is because it received a large amount of competing aid from both Great Britain and the United States. This was part of a larger overall economic war in the petty North American states in the late 1800s between the two countries. Britain aided several nations in their ambitions, such as assisting Rio Bravo in annexing Chihuahua and developing the port of Victoria in Rio Bravo.
California was caught between the two nations, and received aid from both countries. California enlisted military advisors from Great Britain in the 1870s when Alonso Rivera launched a war against the sparsely populated Sonora. As the Mexican region was still in relative chaos, the war was bloody and the Road to Hermosillo cost several thousand Californio lives. The monetary and human cost of Rivera's military campaigns in Sonora and Espejo cast him out of favor in the populace, and in 1884 he was ousted from the Presidency and Joaquin Murrieta[2] was elected president. In the 1880s and early 1890s, California swung away from Great Britain and toward the United States.
California's relationship with the United States during this period was primarily focused around the waters surrounding the country. In exchange for once again granting the United States unlimited access to San Francisco Bay, a policy which Rivera had discontinued, the United States assisted California with building up its fleet as well as providing loans for the construction of ships. During these years, the prosperity of California boomed and the country even participated in colonial ventures in the Pacific. In 1888 several members of a California small arms company laid claim to Clipperton Island, which had remained nominally unclaimed since its discovery. Four years later, California, in a move supported by the United States, sent an expedition to the Hawaiian islands and established a fort on Hilo Bay to protect the rights of Californio sugar planters who had come to the islands. By 1900, California had acquired the entirety of the island of Hawaii and several other islands in the archipelago[3].
Ups and Downs: California prospered immensely from the gold rush in the early 1860s. Capital and investors from all over the Americas and parts of Europe came flowing in to mine and profit from the extraction of gold and silver in the Sierra Nevada, which made many new business spring up and cities grow. In the 1870s, railroads began expanding in the country and several areas experienced a massive railroad boom. The first major railroad in California connected Monterey and Yerba Buena, with and extension running down the San Fernando Valley to San Deigo. After the conquest of Sonora and Rio Bravo's annexation of Chihuahua, Great Britain financed a railroad across the continent from Tampico and Ciudad Victoria through Chihuahua and Hermosillo where it connected to the existing Californian railroads at Yuma.
However, California's prosperity was short-lived. It's numerous military adventures required many loans from both Great Britain and the United States. In the 1890s the Californio economy slumped during the general global recession and by the turn of the century the Republic of California found that it could not pay its debts to either the United States or Great Britain. The fear of war from debt collection was mitigated somewhat as Great Britain offered California debt forgiveness in exchange for a military alliance. However, this would prove to be the country's undoing as it brought war with the United States during the Great War. Juan Francisco Sepulveda, the final president of California and a nationalist blowhard, enthusiastically joined the war on the side of Great Britain against the United States. Sepulveda claimed that the San Xavier Purchase was illegally obtained by the United States and sent an army to claim the area of Colorado west of the Continental Divide. The Californio army was easily pushed back and at the end of the war, Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt authorized the annexation of all of California in exchange for outstanding debts, including the Californio possessions in the Hawaiian islands.
[1] Yerba Buena Island, translated into English roughly means Treasure Island IIRC.
[2] The only real figure in this section, and in OTL a bandit who became the basis for Zorro.
[3] The Hawaiian archipelago is being split between California, Japan, and possibly Britain. I'm not sure whether a war between California and Japan will be involved, but it might be.
Part Forty-Eight: California Dreaming
Immigration Policy: The Republic of California enjoyed a prosperous history during the late nineteenth century. Or at least, the Iberos living in the coastal provinces and San Isidro did. With the Gold Rush and the National War bringing in many immigrants from the United States, native Californios became ever more protective of their identity as descendants of Mexicans and Spaniards. By the 1870s, Espejo was established as an officially English district by the government in Monterey. The San Xavier Purchase which gave a portion of eastern Espejo and the encouragement of American immigrants to live in the district angered the Mormon population that had already been living in Espejo. Between 1878 and 1882, the Mormons launched an uprising against Monterey and threatening to proclaim an independent state. Fearing the Mormons in Espejo might join the United States, Californio President Alonso Rivera sent a large portion of the country's army into Espejo and after a grueling four-year campaign, destroyed the Mormon uprising. In the late 1880s, restriction of American and English immigration was relaxed as the Mormon Rebellion sent the country deeply into debt.
In the late nineteenth century, the Republic of California also experienced a large amount of immigration from eastern Asia. With the development of San Diego and Yerba Buena as the major port cities in the country, many migrants primarily from China, Korea, and the Philippines arrived in the country during the 1860s and 1870s. While most Filipinos were welcomed as fellow Iberos, the Californio government initially put restrictive laws on the movement of other Asian peoples. Zhenbao Island[1] in San Francisco Bay was turned into an immigration facility where new migrants were processed before entering the country. The island also had a special town only for Asian immigrants, while the rest of Yerba Buena was off limits to most Asians. Similar neighborhoods were created in other cities. These policies persisted until the mid-1870s, when some of the restrictions were lifted for those immigrants who were employed by railroad companies.
A Political Pendulum: The late nineteenth century was a period of expansion for California in all areas, including the military. Part of the reason for this is because it received a large amount of competing aid from both Great Britain and the United States. This was part of a larger overall economic war in the petty North American states in the late 1800s between the two countries. Britain aided several nations in their ambitions, such as assisting Rio Bravo in annexing Chihuahua and developing the port of Victoria in Rio Bravo.
California was caught between the two nations, and received aid from both countries. California enlisted military advisors from Great Britain in the 1870s when Alonso Rivera launched a war against the sparsely populated Sonora. As the Mexican region was still in relative chaos, the war was bloody and the Road to Hermosillo cost several thousand Californio lives. The monetary and human cost of Rivera's military campaigns in Sonora and Espejo cast him out of favor in the populace, and in 1884 he was ousted from the Presidency and Joaquin Murrieta[2] was elected president. In the 1880s and early 1890s, California swung away from Great Britain and toward the United States.
California's relationship with the United States during this period was primarily focused around the waters surrounding the country. In exchange for once again granting the United States unlimited access to San Francisco Bay, a policy which Rivera had discontinued, the United States assisted California with building up its fleet as well as providing loans for the construction of ships. During these years, the prosperity of California boomed and the country even participated in colonial ventures in the Pacific. In 1888 several members of a California small arms company laid claim to Clipperton Island, which had remained nominally unclaimed since its discovery. Four years later, California, in a move supported by the United States, sent an expedition to the Hawaiian islands and established a fort on Hilo Bay to protect the rights of Californio sugar planters who had come to the islands. By 1900, California had acquired the entirety of the island of Hawaii and several other islands in the archipelago[3].
Ups and Downs: California prospered immensely from the gold rush in the early 1860s. Capital and investors from all over the Americas and parts of Europe came flowing in to mine and profit from the extraction of gold and silver in the Sierra Nevada, which made many new business spring up and cities grow. In the 1870s, railroads began expanding in the country and several areas experienced a massive railroad boom. The first major railroad in California connected Monterey and Yerba Buena, with and extension running down the San Fernando Valley to San Deigo. After the conquest of Sonora and Rio Bravo's annexation of Chihuahua, Great Britain financed a railroad across the continent from Tampico and Ciudad Victoria through Chihuahua and Hermosillo where it connected to the existing Californian railroads at Yuma.
However, California's prosperity was short-lived. It's numerous military adventures required many loans from both Great Britain and the United States. In the 1890s the Californio economy slumped during the general global recession and by the turn of the century the Republic of California found that it could not pay its debts to either the United States or Great Britain. The fear of war from debt collection was mitigated somewhat as Great Britain offered California debt forgiveness in exchange for a military alliance. However, this would prove to be the country's undoing as it brought war with the United States during the Great War. Juan Francisco Sepulveda, the final president of California and a nationalist blowhard, enthusiastically joined the war on the side of Great Britain against the United States. Sepulveda claimed that the San Xavier Purchase was illegally obtained by the United States and sent an army to claim the area of Colorado west of the Continental Divide. The Californio army was easily pushed back and at the end of the war, Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt authorized the annexation of all of California in exchange for outstanding debts, including the Californio possessions in the Hawaiian islands.
[1] Yerba Buena Island, translated into English roughly means Treasure Island IIRC.
[2] The only real figure in this section, and in OTL a bandit who became the basis for Zorro.
[3] The Hawaiian archipelago is being split between California, Japan, and possibly Britain. I'm not sure whether a war between California and Japan will be involved, but it might be.
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Here's the pic for this update, showing the Republic of California in 1900. The Hawaiian Islands aren't shown.
So, The WWI analogue pits the US vs. the UK? Interesting. After all, you'd think that Queen Victoria and her children would be more kindly disposed to the US...
It is probably because of the intrigues surrounding California and the backing the US gave them in the war against Japan
I see dark times for Canada on the horizon... I am rather interested how they will react to WWI.
So, The WWI analogue pits the US vs. the UK? Interesting. After all, you'd think that Queen Victoria and her children would be more kindly disposed to the US...
Yep, although I still haven't decided if there will be a war with Japan, but there probably will be.
Not sure, but I could make some predictions. With the population at around 300,000 after the gold rush and the addition of Sonora and parts of Hawaii, I'd say... by 1900 it would be maybe around 700 to 800 thousand. That assumes an average rate of 3 percent increase which might be a little high, but with immigration I think that's a good estimate. Sorry for getting so technical here, my interest in urban planning is popping up again.
As for ethnic groups, Californio, English, and Filipino probably make up about 85% of the population with other influential groups being South Americans and Chinese.
That depends on how you define 'dark'. And 'Canada'.
Yeah. Teddy would've done great in a war. Shame it came 6 years too late in OTL.
EDIT: Oh, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with China. I really have no idea since the First Opium War didn't happen ITTL. Any suggestions on what's going on in China would be most welcome.
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That depends on how you define 'dark'. And 'Canada'.
Oh dear...
That doesn't sound good.
So California will be annexed? Or at least temporarily (you did say its future is tentative), maybe something like OTL's Cuba. However this only makes it so that if independence is achieved at some point, California might be staunchly anti-American (like OTL's Cuba at present). However if Teddy annexes it, it will likely loose its northern half. Mmm.. looking forward to see how this develops.
That depends on how you define 'dark'. And 'Canada'.
Well Canada doesn't quite exists in ITTL. If I am not mistaken Acadia, and Lower Canada are already individual dominions. The rest is filled with Mormons (and probably more now that many fled persecution in California).
Whatever Wilcoxchar decides to do with ITTL, I really hope it does not turn into a massive Ameriwank. I think what has made TTL unique so far, is that it is just a little bit different with the potential of becoming entirely different in an almost ASB way without it feeling like such (we have discussed the possibilities of a Mormon Greenland, a Pope in Mexico, a free California, a super Costa Rica, Belgium as a major colonial power, etc.). America gaining more territory ITTL is just not as interesting.
Also right now the population is concentrated in the Mississippi and the East adding a huge Pacific Coast like the one California has to offer, would only shift the population westward, and Cairo might end up looking like it does in OTL.
One more thing, I think the population of California might be a bit higher than what you suggested. There seemed to be a steady flow of immigrants from Mexico for the greater part of the 19th century due to its greater instability and immigration laws in a hispanic California would probably be much more relaxed than in OTLs. So there could be a greater Asian community (even if they do not share equality with the Iberos Anglos or Philipinos).
And maybe instead of fully annexing California the US could get a big northern chunk with access to the San Francisco Bay (basically Espejo, Gran Cuenca, Sacramento, Trujillo) plus San Isidro.
That way IITLs California sort of suffers the same fate of OTLs Mexico, loosing half of its territory for entering a war they could not win for nationalism sake.
And maybe instead of fully annexing California the US could get a big northern chunk with access to the San Francisco Bay (basically Espejo, Gran Cuenca, Sacramento, Trujillo) plus San Isidro.
That way IITLs California sort of suffers the same fate of OTLs Mexico, loosing half of its territory for entering a war they could not win for nationalism sake.
I think I agree with jycee.
I would first say that California's population would be atleast over a million or two, seeing as Hawaii OTL had a population over 100,000.
Also, for a nation that has had over a half century of tradition and culture, would they plausibly throw all that away for debt forgiveness? I know that they were defeated in war, but being annexed outright might be a longshot. I just agree that maybe a large territorial cession like jycee suggested would be a bit more plausible.
That being said, I will love your TL no matter what
Yeah, the part that is tentative is the complete annexation. Still not sure if that's what I want to do with California. I do like jycee's idea of having just the northern districts and San Isidro going to the US. It sounds like a good compromise of getting involved in the war without being completely annexed.
Although talking with my friend today I've realized something that might change things a lot. California would still be a major producer of gold and silver, so figuring out how they can get into so much debt that they can't just mine their way out of it could be hard. Although with the 1906 San Fran earthquake (which I somehow completely forgot to mention), that would probably put a large dent in their economy and treasury.
Although talking with my friend today I've realized something that might change things a lot. California would still be a major producer of gold and silver, so figuring out how they can get into so much debt that they can't just mine their way out of it could be hard. Although with the 1906 San Fran earthquake (which I somehow completely forgot to mention), that would probably put a large dent in their economy and treasury.
Just a quick question, how is this timeline doing technologically compared to our own? I probably either missed or ahve forgotten you mentioning it before.
I need to reread this timeline.
I need to reread this timeline.
I can't tell you because that's what the next update is about (or partially about).
It would but it might not be enough.
But in OTL during the Gold Rush California was one of the most expensive places to live in there was so much gold around that within California it actually had little value. So while California's international debts might be easily paid internally it might still be a mess. The government might be broke if all the mines are privately owned. And although it might put high taxes on mining; if it behaves like Mexico (and many other latin american countries did early on) the land owning elites would be tax exempt. So the government would still be broke.
Also while there is lots of gold and silver mining infrastructure might not be as developed as OTL, so deeper bigger mines might not be able to be mined till later. However by the 1900s there should be no problem.
Also I think that while there might be an attempt or the though of annexing all of California in the same way that there was an "all Mexico" sentiment in OTL for some people. But it would not be great for the US to have a large territory, with an angry unwilling occupied population. Sure it is only 2 million people at most. But even that would be a huge nuisance.
TR might even support this but I think it is smarter. Much easier to annex the Anglo "willing" parts of California and put a pro American president in power.
Anyway I've been campaigning of a free california all day. It is your TL, and either way it is still the best.
Looking forward on the tech update.
Quik question on the map. Does Isabella = Vegas, Euskino = Tuscon, and Vanguardia = Salt Lake City more or less?