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The Socialists have really consolidated their position at the top, but with precedents like the Democrats and the Populists showing us how easy it is for a party to implode and fade away, let's hope they don't rest on their laurels too long.

Interesting to see how the AFL-IWW conflict plays out. I can see the IWW going further towards communism (If they aren't already communists) if these "secret orders" persist.
 
Hmm... it maybe in the administration's best interests to co-opt the AFL into the Socialist Party (ala the TUC and Labour Party in Britain), give the moderate unionists far bigger clout and anchor the Party into their blue-collar base.

As the New Socialism keeps on growing and America seems as powerful as ever, will the Roaring Twenties appear in any recognisable form?
 
CountArach: Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the victory of the Socialists is a little bizarre compared to IRL, but the party is not too far left for mainstream Americans to be ok with.

stnylan: Well, like any group that gains power, the second it does new enemies appear.

Mettermrck: Thanks! The Socialists carried a lot of weight in this last election, and as i think about it, the 24 election might be the most complete since 1904.

demokratickid: Indeed. The IWW is radical even in this timeline.

Strategos' Risk: Yeah. The Great War is sort of my explanation for a continual series of wars from the 1910's through the 1930's. It was a 20 year period of uninterupted major wars. France gets the most of it, as does Iran. England and Russia both ended up invading Persia and then eventually fighting eachother, so it got pretty messy down there. The only power to stay out the war is the Ottoman Empire.

RGB: Good, that means you'll stay around :)

sanmartin: While not totally Marxist, they are led in essence by Communists. The Union obviously maintains some times to a Capitalist system, but the end game is a Communist one.

Dr. Gonzo: Yes, but the AFL may be resistant to throwing its lot in with a political party, especially if it wants to gain any support in more Republican and Nationalist areas like the Deep South or New England.
 
The East-Asian Naval War
~~

President Johnson and his staff returned to the White House triumphant and prepared to settle some of the remaining issues from the first socialist term in office. Step one was the admittance of the final continental territory as a state. The long-forgotten “Indian Territory” was finally admitted into the Union as the 50th state of Oklahoma in 1924. Initial elections split the state between the Nationalists (who also took the governor’s seat) and the Socialists (who won the majority of congressional seats), and made very little serious impact on either party outside of propaganda. The Senate seats were split down the middle, with one going to each of the parties. John W. Harreld narrowly carried a socialist line into the Senate, while William B. Pine easily won the Class 3 ballot into office. The end result was yet another step back for the battered Republicans, who turned their attention inwards.

The struggle for the nomination in 1924 had left the Republicans in an identity crisis. Frederick Hale and many of the other New England Republicans were cast aside in party elections for a different style of Republican. In the last four elections the Republicans had faced a tumultuous change in face. Frederick Hale was the traditional politician, and he had fallen. James P. Goodrich came in 1920 and failed to bring the Mid-West with him. Before Goodrich it was Roosevelt’s vibrant enthusiasm and cross-party popularity which stood in contrast to the divisive and self-destructive nature of Robert Bacon in 1912. Piloted by former presidential candidates (neither of whom won the party nomination) George Bruce Cortelyou and Herbert Hoover, the more left-leaning Republicans began taking control over the party. The coup was finalized when Hubert Work was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee and the stated goal of the Republican party became reclaiming the Mid-West.

work.gif

Chairman Hubert Work of the Republican Party, a “Red Republican” so called for his leftist leanings

As the Republicans hit the trails to regain popularity in the Ohio River Valley, the Socialists found themselves in a difficult situation. Johnson had spent months working on an independent Filipino government, and for a general de-mobilization in Asia. But as 1924 gave way to 1925, the Japanese navy became more and more aggressive. The Hōshō a Japanese aircraft carrier, far out-paced anything the Americans had in the pacific, and when its fleet, and the aircraft it carried, struck the American base at Manila, Johnson was moved to respond. For most of the Great War, the American had remained silent as Europe tore itself apart with conflict. But in 1925, the United States returned to war. Mobilizing the entire Pacific Fleet, and transferring command of half the Caribbean garrison through the Panama Canal gave American naval commanders gaudy numbers to work with.

Secretary of the Navy Curtis Dwight Wilbur and Chief of Naval Operations Edward Walter Eberle devised a trident-plan for assaulting Japanese Naval strength in the Pacific. No plans were made or authorized to invade or seize and serious Japanese holdings, as the hope that American dominance in pitched battles on the sea would drive the Japanese into submission. The southern leg of the assault would be led by Admiral William Daniel Leahy aboard the USS Maryland, and its goal was to drive the Japanese away for Australia before sweeping North towards the Philippines. The Northern fleet was to draw the Japanese out away from their mainland by threatening the Kuril Islands, and was led by Raymond Ames Spruance aboard the USS California. The greatest thrust was up the middle, with targets at Midway and Wake Island being priorities. This fleet was the true battle fleet, and hopes that its presence at Midway, or Wake, would draw the main Japanese fleet into battle. If not, Admiral Ernest King aboard his flag ship the USS West Virginia, was tasked with sailing on towards Iwo-Jima, which would certainly draw the Japanese into conflict.

B8398X.jpg

The USS West Virginia
 
WW2 in WW1! :D

Looking forward to the naval wars. Naval wars, always fun.
 
Warrior socialists... wow. Of course, as a Liberal Winston Churchill once admitted 'We wanted four battleships and they wanted six; we compromised on eight.' That's a paraphrase, but it does show that sometimes events can simply carry you away from what you's rather do.

I think the Japanese will have a hard time stopping that herd of battlewagons. And as for 'Hosho' raiding Manila... naughty, naughty. Shouldn't taunt the American Eagle! :)
 
Long-forgotten Oklahoma - did you infact just forget to turn Oklahoma into a state?

Destroying the Japanese fleet should be relatively straight-forward. Somehow I think the peace might be harder to achieve.
 
Ooh! ((jumps for joy)) A Battlewagon War!!! :cool:

This has a nostalgic potential to be like The Great Pacific War, Hector Bywater's fiction tale of a 1920's war between Japan and the US. I forget when it was written, but it was a futuristic account written before the start-date for his war, and before the real World War II.

Was it written in 1926, and the war portrayed as starting in 1932? Or am I just making that up. Anyway, it was something like that.

Great work EZ!

Rensslaer
 
I like the accelerated tensions and the evolvingt republicans, a nice touch with the red.
 
Rensslaer said:
This has a nostalgic potential to be like The Great Pacific War, Hector Bywater's fiction tale of a 1920's war between Japan and the US. I forget when it was written, but it was a futuristic account written before the start-date for his war, and before the real World War II.

Was it written in 1926, and the war portrayed as starting in 1932? Or am I just making that up.

I think your pretty much correct, very good book indeed. I watched a documentary about it recently and how much he predicted of the real war in the Pacific. I was amazed how viciously some of the historians attacked his book due to the absence of Aircraft Carriers, despite being written almost two decades before :wacko:

Anyway, I can't see the war going too badly. How are America's holdings in China?
 
I am still alive, though 3 straight weeks of midnight shifts at work may convince you otherwise.

RGB: They can be, though I am by no means an expert (or even more-than-casual observer) of naval warfare.

Director: Well, they are American Socialists, we do love our violence :D

demokratickid: The conflicts in Vicky have always had the potenital to get kind of weird. I think I remember early on seeing a screenshot somewhere of a nation at war with itself.

CountArach: Thats the hope. I decided I might as well just knock Japan out of the war, and was afraid my split navy wouldn't be up to the task.

stnylan: Yep, I totally forgot to make them a state for almost 100 years of gameplay. The Okies just sort of never came up.

Rensslaer: Thanks! I've never heard of the book, but I will have to go check it out.

JimboIX: Thank you sir!

asd21593: That is gloriously awful in many ways :) But whats really interesting is how the spelling of Tokyo has changed. In that poster, its Tokio...

Dr. Gonzo: For the most part, uppity. There was a pretty constant revolt problem in China for most of the period that I occupied it. Frankly, a Japanese assault would have been fine for me, because then they could have fought off the rebels.

Update is being worked on.
 
The Sinking of the Maryland
---

The American offense got off to a rough start. Delayed timetables and confusion in orders saw the three fleets set out at different times. William Daniel Leahy set out first, taking the Southern wing into the South West Pacific Basin, and driving towards the besieged British in Australia. The Southern most fleet of the Japanese navy had been begun striking a heavy blow to English and Australian shipping in the South Pacific, and had managed to drive Anglo forces ever backwards. Baron Abo Kiyokazu, an Admiral of the Japanese Imperial Navy, had been a key commander in the raids against the Philippines, and was orchestrating the Japanese assaults on the South-Pacific Islands. His crowning achievement was the overnight raid which drove the British off the Solomon Islands. With the North relatively secured, Baron Kiyokazu turned his eyes on the true prize, Australia.

Raiding would only be a deterrent, the Japanese wanted to secure and occupy the major port cities of Australia and New Zealand. Rather than making a direct assault on the Southern ports, having fought the British out of the North without much difficulty, Baron Kiyokazu designed a pincer movement, first taking New Zealand, and then striking into Australia from two directions. This would cut the southern ports off from American and British supplies, so if their resistance was too strong, they would be taken out by attrition. But before anything could begin, New Zealand had to be captured. The Americans, knowing that New Zealand was a large, useful, base they could use to drive towards Manila, moved quickly. Admiral Leahy docked his heaviest ships in the straight between the two islands of New Zealand, with the purpose of guarding the Wellington. He divided the rest of his fleet and sent it with two purposes. A southern thrust was tasked with linking up with Australian ships south of the islands, while a northern force was sent to harass Japanese supply lines in their approach.


BattleofNewZealand.jpg

The Battle of New Zealand

The Japanese rushed full on and hoped to crash into the American fleet from three angles. The Central thrust was supposed to blow through the American fleet, and meet up with the Northern force before driving the Americans back. However, the same inconsistencies which plagued the American general plan plagued the specific Japanese strategy. The Northern American force delayed the Japanese significantly, and allowed the Americans to regroup near Wellington. Meanwhile the Southern Japanese force over-extended and was too far away to aid in the assault. The result was an American strongpoint against a weakened, confused, Japanese force. The Japanese fleet crashed into the American wall, and was repelled with devastating losses. By the time Japanese reinforcements arrived, the Americans had turned to face them. The first major battle went to the Americans, but not without cost.

In the closing minutes of the engagement, a Japanese submarine managed to fire off a torpedo into the side of the USS Maryland. The damage was too severe, and the Maryland was abandoned by all hands. That was the only major vessel lost in the battle for the Americans, while the Japanese lost 2 Battleships and countless smaller vessels. Baron Kiyokazu retreated in shambles, and abandoned his gains in much of Northern Australia. Instead, he turned his attention on securing a defensive position in the Philippines. It was clear that barring a disastrous mistake, Admiral Leahy was in control of the Southern edge of the Pacific Ocean. In the following Weeks the Americans would drive the Japanese back further and retake many of the major island chains in the South Pacific. The first of the three assaults on Japan was successful.


The American North-Pacific Fleet, commanded by Raymond Ames Spruance, made his way north towards the British controlled Aleutian Islands. The islands were a constant scene of skirmish, both on land and sea, for control of the North. So far, the British were winning. Successful battles against the Russians had left the British Aleutian Islands Defense well tested, a stark contrast to the green Japanese attackers (more experienced troops being used for more important missions). With the arrival of Admiral Spruance and the Americans, the tide was turned for good. The Japanese withdrew, or fought to the death, on many of the Islands, and allowed the American fleet to work its way closer and closer to the Kural Islands. Spruance, regarding the lack of resistance as a sign of Japanese inferiority, continued to press on without awaiting new orders. He had been tasked with threatening the Kurals, and that was what he was going to do; heedless of the fact that the Japanese Navy had regrouped to the South, and was awaiting the central thrust of the American Fleet at Midway.

2WWleahy.JPG

Admiral Leahy, victor of the battle of New Zealand
 
So, the war on the peripheries appears to be going well. But the peripheries are just, at the end of the day, the peripheries.
 
Things seem to be going well for the Americans in the naval war. I'm sure you will get to the Japanese homeland eventually, or at the very least through all the minor island chains.
 
Awaiting them at Midway, eh? The optimist in me hopes for another Miracle of Midway but the pessimist fears the stronger Japanese fleet may take the feather this time.

Japan must be very strong to have overrun Australia. That was the nightmare of every Australian and New Zealander for generations, and the lack of Imperial defense spending in the East was a constant source of criticism.

Here's hoping you can mass the fleet and win a Mahan-style victory at sea!
 
Looks like a serious competition. Good.