Zangarania: A Timeline of a world without FDR

This is just a bare bones Timeline at the moment and far from my most detailed, but since Confederate victories and Monarchist America's are so common I decided to put this one on here instead. Its a bit unrealistic but I dont think its a wank of anyone really.

1930's

1930
The Dustbowl encompasses all of Oklahoma and Kansas, leading to a mass migration from those two states, west, to California.

1933
President Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt is assassinated in Miami while speaking at City Hall by an unknown assailant. John N. Garner is sworn in as President. Garner cancels several of Roosevelt's economic plans he considers "communist". He also orders a crackdown on Labor Unions, who he believes to be responsible for the death of President Roosevelt.

1934
The anti-Union campaign results in severe radicalization of Union members by Wobblies. Jacobd S. Coxey gains a large following on speaking tours throughout the Midwest.

At a rally in Chicago in June, Polcie attempt to arrest Coxey resulting in the crowd to riot. They attack City Hall and after two days the riots are finally put down. In a knee jerk reaction, the Senate proposes major restrictions on Labor Unions legality. In response, across the Rustbelt riots break out under radical labor leaders led by Coxey.

In October, the states of California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington close their borders to immigration and expel many of the "Okies" who have moved into the states.

1935
In Ohio the United States Army wins a major battle against various socialist militias, but the drive to Indiana is stopped when California secedes on February 3rd.

California claims the immigration problem and the governments inability to stop the depression as reasons to declare itself as the State of California. Several days later, Washington and Oregon join California and form the Pacific Union. Many soldiers formerly in the US Army who are from the West Coast leave the war in the Midwest to fight for the Pacific Union (PU). Frank Merriam is selected as the Pacific Union's first president.

1936
President Garner calls a ceasefire in the Midwest and withdraws troops from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. He plans to deploy the forces to retake the west coast. However a coalition of 13 Southern States demand that the Socialists be taken care of first. Garner states that the Federal government will take back the West first causing the states to secede, including the Presidents home state of Texas. Garner is impeached.

In the Special Election of July, 1936, Illinois senator Henry Thomas Rainey is elected President of the United States. However this is a hard to job to inherit, as the US has yet to retake the Pacific Union, the United State of Texas, the newly formed Confederate States of America (CSA) and the Socialist Republic of America (SRA) in the Midwest, and all of those new nations are prepared to recruit new states. By the end of the year Arizona and New Mexico have joined Texas in the United States of Texas (UST). And Colorado and New York have formed their own country's.

1937
President Rainey is forced to recognize the governments of the SRA, PU, UST, CSA and New York, after being informed the US no longer has the capacity to take back its wayward states. Upon this revelation, New England secedes from the United States. The US retains 18 States and moves the national capital to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

1938
North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota attempt to join Canada as 7 newe provinces. When Ottawa attempts to make them several larger provinces they refuse and create the Farmers Republic of America. However, Western Montana remains a semi-lawless territory ruled by the FRA in theory and Outlaws in fact.

Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska join the Pacific Union. Nevada declares its independence as the Free State of Nevada. Utah declares independence as the Holy Kingdom of Deseret.

1939
At the outbreak of World War Two, the Pacific Union invades British Columbia with a force led by General George S. Patton. The CSA declares War on the SRA and begins the invasion of Illinois from Confederate Missouri.
 
Totally unreal; there is no historical basis for this. The author has no idea how patriotic Americans were in those years, EVEN in the south. Increased class struggle is plausible without Roosevelt but it would almost certainly be led by the Communist Party, not by the Wobblies--an ineffectual and spent force by that time. "Socialist militias" would be crushed by local middle class vigilante groups organized by big business and working in conjunction with police, National Guard units and regular troops. The battle wouldn't even be close and it would be settled brutally within days. California and Texas seceding at that point requires a POD back in the 19th century producing profound changes in North America. And why would Oregon and Washington be interested in invading British Columbia without such a POD? This makes NO sense.
 
Yeah its not very realistic and I really wanted to see if it was at all realistic. Its my worst timeline but the only one I have on me at the moment, Im on vacation.
 
I agree with Alien and Sedition Bat. The Wobblies are pretty much done after World War I (a result of Woodrow Wilson's wartime crackdown on socialist groups), so the key organizing force of an American socialist revolution is probably going to be the Communist Party, which was picking up steam after the Great Crash.

With Roosevelt dead, Garner is of course going to continue the Hoover-style policies, if not expand some of them. Banking reform and deposit insurance probably does get done, though (Garner favored both of those items, IIRC), but expect Garner to cut spending further and destroy any chance of recovery in the short term. The economy will get worse, and the Republicans will make gains again in the 1934 midterms, if not completely take back both houses of the Congress, which of course will lead to gridlock and further economic implosion.

Garner will also probably not be able to send the Bonus Marchers home when they come back a second time as easily as Roosevelt did, which could lead to the beginning of a full scale revolt.

In short, the author is right that no New Deal leads to a socialist revolution, but it probably wouldn't cause the breakup of the country. Rather, revolutionaries would recruit the unemployed around the country and rise up against Garner and the bipartisan 'pain caucus' opposed to spending to ease the Depression. So a Second American Civil War along the lines of the Spanish Civil War is definitely in the works. Garner might even end up being deposed by MacArthur and some Wall Street folks who are much more comfortable with themselves running the country with the socialist revolution going forward and all...
 
Seriously, did you even bother to look up just how the US government actually works? In the event that garner is impeached, his VP would be sworn in as president, there would be no special election. Also, what is Garner being impeached for anyway? other than shitty leadership I just don't see what grounds there would be for impeachment. I'm pretty sure that a state cannot actually close its borders to interstate traffic. Also, why would seven US states secede from the Union just to join another nation?

The ACW from OTL took decades for the tensions between slave and abolitionist states to rise to the levels that secession would happen, as bad as the depression was or would get, the cultural differences haven't been diverging long enough here for the US to just balkanize like you have them.

As has been said, a spanish CW type conflict may be plausible under the circumstances, but not this ridiculous ASB fest.


The Pacific Union is California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. They want to connect Washington to Alaska.


yet another TL in which the damn map maker lobby makes gains in congress, this happens in so many TL's.
 
Seriously, did you even bother to look up just how the US government actually works? In the event that garner is impeached, his VP would be sworn in as president, there would be no special election. Also, what is Garner being impeached for anyway? other than shitty leadership I just don't see what grounds there would be for impeachment. I'm pretty sure that a state cannot actually close its borders to interstate traffic. Also, why would seven US states secede from the Union just to join another nation?

The ACW from OTL took decades for the tensions between slave and abolitionist states to rise to the levels that secession would happen, as bad as the depression was or would get, the cultural differences haven't been diverging long enough here for the US to just balkanize like you have them.

As has been said, a spanish CW type conflict may be plausible under the circumstances, but not this ridiculous ASB fest.





yet another TL in which the damn map maker lobby makes gains in congress, this happens in so many TL's.

Man I just typed what I wrote in school during the SATs when I was bored out of my mind. I found it in my wallet and decided to post it. I knew it was pretty bad but you dont have to get so mad. Just be more positive. Thanks for the pointers. I'll put this in ASB from now on.
 
If Garner is impeached by the House and removed by a vote of 2/3 of the members of the Senate then under the law then in place (The Succession Act of 1886) his Secretary of State succeeds him as President.

The 1886 Act did away with the special election provision of the 1792 Succession Act. But if the 1792 Act had still been in place in 1936, no special election under its provisions would have been required because the next regular Presidential election would occur that November anyway. The 1886 Act did away with the special election provision of the 1792 Succession Act.

I suppose a case could be made that the level of disorder and the President's failure to hold the Union together might be seen as some sort of "high crime" in a political sense, though impeachment in a time of crisis is a very risky prospect. If Texas did secede as envisioned here, I'm not sure what President Garner's legal position would be as President. More likely he would be impeached if his actions lead to violence and he could be charged with something along those lines; politically and judicially it would be firmer ground.

I agree with others here who say this would proceed more realistically if we had an American version of the Spanish Civil War. That would not preclude Hungarian style risings by communists in certain areas - proclaiming free Republics etc., but not whole states seceding as political entities, not like in 1861. I see this as fertile ground for an armed, militant communist movement and an equally dedicated fascist style movement. The possibility of forming displaced veterans into an American Freikorps type organization might exist under these circumstances.

Some states might try to stem the tide of inter-state migration; there were local actions like that during the height of the Depression in various parts of the country.
 
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