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Aug 7, 2010
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This is basically a short history book treatment of the American Union State - Why should the Syndies get all the glory?

Contents:
Chapter 1 - A Prelude to War
Chapter 2 - Enter the Kingfish
Chapter 3 - The Californian Question
Chapter 4 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Huey's Court
Chapter 5 - If You Seek To Live in Peace, Prepare for War
Chapter 6 - National Honor is National Property of Highest Value
Chapter 7 - We stand as a unit and united we fall.
 
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A Prelude to War

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In 1932, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois the three major contenders for the Democratic Party presidential nomination were Franklin Roosevelt, John Garner and former governor of New York and 1928 presidential candidate, Al Smith. They roughly represented three competing factions of the Democratic Party. Smith was supported by the Tammany Hall machine in New York City, and had many supporters in the Democratic National Committee, as well as in Chicago. Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak packed the hall with Smith supporters.

Roosevelt was supported by a slim majority of the delegates, and had the support of Senators Burton Wheeler, Cordell Hull, Alben Barkley, and Huey 'The Kingfish' Long, who held the Deep South for Roosevelt. The new Democratic coalition would begin at this convention: Roosevelt brought into the Democratic fold western progressives, ethnic minorities, rural farmers, and intellectuals.

Garner had support from newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Senator William Gibbs McAdoo. He was never a serious threat, and never bothered to campaign for the position. However, the faction that supported Garner was important because it could break a potential deadlock between Smith and Roosevelt.

After three ballots, neither Smith nor Roosevelt held the required two-thirds majority required for a nomination and it had gotten to the point that the Garner faction was required to break the deadlock. A late night call by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (a Roosevelt supporter) to Hearst attempted to convince the magnate to throw his lot in with Roosevelt.

The call backfired dramatically, leading to Hearst to convince Garner to endorse Smith, in return for becoming his running mate. Two weeks beforehand, Herbert Hoover had been confirmed by the Republican Party as the presidential after a rather lacklustre convention.
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Al Smith, Democratic Party Presidential Candidate 1928 & 1932.

Roosevelt's political career was over, and after the closest election in American history, so was Smith's. Huey Long, after managing to elect Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas, the underdog candidate in a crowded field to her first full term in the Senate by conducting a whirlwind seven-day tour of that state, found that his national prominence had increased immensely with the election of the first female senator in US history. Whilst grateful to Long, she refused to let him control her voting in the senate, something which lead him to work toward creating something that would be loyal to him and his ideals.​

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Senator Hattie Caraway.
Long cashed in this new found popularity by breaking away from the popularly viewed as floundering Democratic Party and became the founding father of the 'America First Union Party' – using the state of Louisiana as the showcase for the new political format he had already began to imagine, since his loyal lieutenant, Oscar K. Allen was the governor and he had many friends in the Legislature – all of whom were involved in the America First.​

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Governor Oscar K Allen

The America First movement was extremely popular amongst the Southern section of the Democratic Party, leading to a schism as the senators and governors of the South abandoned the Democrats for the new party before the 1934 United States Senatorial Election. The impact of America First was hard, as almost 30 seats were lost by both the main parties. Long's campaign focused on what he coined as 'American Popular Corporatism'
Now a truly a player to be reckoned with on the political stage, Long put America First into overdrive, preparing for his first presidential campaign. Unlike the other main parties who were attempting a rather shambolic assemblage of a ticket to run at the national conventions of 1936, Long essentially began with his ticket in mind. Whilst Oscar K. Allen was on the ticket as Vice-President, through 1935, it became clear that Long had only placed him there because he had to write someone's name down.

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The main political opposition to Long came not from the two major parties – the Republicans and Democrats, but rather from the other new kid on the block. The Combined Syndicates of America, under the leadership of Alexander Berkman a prominent anarcho-syndicalist thinker and his popular lieutenant, former journalist and slick political operator Jack Reed. The CSA had evolved from the IWW and was regarded by many as their political arm.
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Alexander Berkman,

The CSA united the left-wing spectrum of American political thought and agitated primarily in the Manufacturing Belt but Berkman's poor health restricted his movements during the build up to the 1936 presidential campaign, leading to Jack Reed taking the nomination with Berkman as VP. Long and Reed often found themselves in confrontation both in the Senate (to which Reed had been elected in 1932 as the first and only Syndicates delegate) and over the shoulders of police lines – CSA supporters often were mobilised to protest Long's speeches and rallies in the south, travelling down by bus much to the irritation of the authorities.

The 12th of January 1936 saw William Z. Foster of the Combined Syndicates return from the Union of Britain, where he had spent the New Year with Oswald Mosley of the British Maximalist Faction. He brought news of a Syndicalist theory known as Totalism, which advocated complete state control of all industrial capacity. Whilst Hoover and his government quietly declaimed that nothing like this would ever happen in the United States of America, Huey Long saw the true face of the enemy, as did General Douglas MacArthur, who organised a raid on Foster's New York premises, confiscating several filing cabinets. This prompted a move by Foster to Chicago, whilst MacArthur had to explain his actions to President Hoover.​

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Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
Just as the fuss died down toward the end of January, another crisis beset the Hoover administration in the form of the Luciano scandal. As the Cosa Nostra had began to extend their activities in the United States, New York City police had on a tip and nothing more, arrested and held Luciano for several days without charges. The New York Times received a message on the 1st of February from Luciano's lawyers, sparking a fuss about illegal holding and unconstitutional arrests. This lead to his release and a further expansion in the activities of the Cosa Nostra on the East Coast as Luciano was put out of bounds by the New York City Police Commissioner, Lewis J. Valentine.

There was no rest for the newspapers either. Charles Curtis suffered a heartattack in his office on the 9th of February, recovering shortly after but seeming to signal a dark end to the troubled administration. At this point, Herbert Hoover was one of the most unpopular presidents in American history and things were unlikely to get better for him this late in his term, or so it was felt at the time.
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The 12th of February saw the United Automotive Workers protest march at the Detroit Overpass broken up in a violent confrontation that would later be known as 'The Battle of the Overpass'. The UAW men and a group of female supporters from an affiliated union were broken up aggressively by men from Ford's Service Department. Henry Ford who was an ardent supporter of Huey Long, had modelled the Service Department on near paramilitary lines and men from the Department were to be help form the nucleus of Long's Minutemen. The brutality they showed at the time however caused Long to distance himself from Ford in public, as the UAW began legal proceedings against the Ford company. Henry Ford's lawyers blocked the motion into a holding pattern between the local and state courts, much to the chagrin of Walter Reuther of the UAW​

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The same day also saw the New York Premiere of Charlie Chaplin's movie 'Modern Times' – a pro-syndicates film that was attended by Arthur Snowden, Jack Reed and Marceau Pivert (despite Canadian requests for an arrest of the first). The film portrayed Chaplin as a factory worker, employed on an assembly line such as the type Ford used. After being subjected to such indignities as being force-fed by a "modern" feeding machine and an accelerating assembly line where Chaplin screws nuts at an ever-increasing rate onto pieces of machinery, he suffers a mental breakdown. Chaplin is sent to a hospital. Following his recovery the now unemployed Chaplin is arrested as an instigator in a Syndicalist demonstration since he was waving a red flag that fell off a delivery truck. The film had to be withdrawn from cinemas by Ray Wilbur after a couple of days on the grounds that it was too politically provocative so close to the election, leading to a day strike by the unions affiliated to the IWW.
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On March 18th 1936, the St. Patrick's Day flood occurred. Due to the melting of snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, Pittsburgh was flooded. The Federal and State government had no spare funds however, and the victims of the flood were ruined In some places floodwaters had reached over 46 feet in height. When the government declared itself unable, the CSA and the IWW moved in – helping the people of the now devastated city clear up and at the same time, teaching them about syndicalism in action, much to the distress of Huey Long.
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George Henry Dern

Already reeling, the death of George H. Dern on March 21st left the government all the weaker, as the advisor to the Secretary for War had been a friend and ally of Douglas MacArthur during his tangles with Hoover, preserving his commission against Hoover's better thoughts..​

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Father Charles Coughlin

During April the final draft of the bill for the Indian Citizenship act was passed by Congress. At the urging of his vice-President Charles Curtis, Hoover did not veto the Indian Citizenship Act, meaning that, for the first time the native inhabitants of America had gained the option to accept recognition by the white authorities. That night on NBC, Father Charles Coughlin on his controversial radio show, denounced President Hoover as desecrating the memories of all of those who fought against the Indians, such as Colonel George Custer.​

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June the 15th was the hottest day in recorded history in the United States, and the great heatwave seemed to put everyone on edge, as the America First cemented their grip on the Midwest and the South, whilst the Combined Syndicates began to gather arms and form training camps in the Great Lakes. Food prices sky rocketed for basic foodstuffs as the corn and wheat harvests failed and Oklahoma was turned into a dustbowl.
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On June 28th, Alexander Berkman, who had been battling prostate cancer for the last couple of years, finally died in his home in Chicago. Jack Reed, his loyal lieutenant became the leader of the CSA in his place, though for the last 6 months he had been practically running the organisation anyway as Berkman's health visibly worsened.​

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June 30th saw the release of Gone with the Wind. Set in the Old South during the Civil War, many America Firster's saw it as supporting their cause, though privately the Kingfish let it be known that he hated the book since it was a romanticised vision of something that he felt to be backward and of having no place in his America.​

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Finally July 4th rolled around, in what had been a long 6 months for the Hoover administration, something finally seemed to go right, as the national holiday was celebrated by all, and a slight relaxing of tension occurred. Eleven days later, the Stanley Cup was won by the Detroit Red Wings, giving the nation another cause for celebration and taking their minds off the burgeoning troubles.
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Malin Craig
In September, autumn finally cooled down America, which had been a boiling pot all Summer. Many had feared that something would trigger a fight, one which both Jack Reed and the Kingfish were not certain they could win just yet. At the same time, despite urging by Douglas MacArthur, Herbert Hoover refused to call off the elections, with MacArthur being replaced by Malin Craig as the Chief of the Army for attempting to interfere in the political process.

Through September and October, the Presidential Election consumed the attentions of all sides involved, things moved toward the election, both Long and Reed were consumed with the idea of conducting themselves with something resembling politeness to their mortal enemy. November the 4th was election day and in a surprise victory, John Garner, the former VP of ill-starred Presidential contender Al Smith, won it for the Democrats.​

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8 days later and Long established his Minutemen, whom he called the vanguard of the American Future, the paramilitaries were particularly effective, and mostly made up of former Ford Service Department workers and the Kingfish's Louisianan constituents.​

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On November 17th Long started a Supreme Court Case against the Democratic Party, stating that they had rigged the election in the favour of their candidate, John N. Garner. The CSA initiated a copy-cat suit the next day, with the great press coverage that followed.​

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Until the New Year things were quiet. Then the nation saw the CSA, lead by UAW workers in Flint, Michigan, go on General Strike. Since practically every man in any heavy or resource industry was with an IWW affiliated union, the Manufacturing Belt practically shut down. General MacArthur filed a formal request for the Armed Forces to intervene – as paltry as they were. Word got out, and syndicalist strikers acting of their own volition declared the independent Pittsburgh Syndicate. The CSA catalysed around it, as the 3rd 'Rock of the Roanoke' Division were sent to besiege the strikers – though the transit from California was expected to take months.
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USAAF bombers flew sorties against the still flood ruined city. In protest of the lack of humanity displayed by the government and the unfair election results, the Kingfish organised his 'Southern Rally' – an immense protest that saw most of the Southern states cease work, at least toward Federal projects.​

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John Nance Garner​

John Nance Garner gave his inaugural address on the 21st of January, 1937. In it, he addressed the issues of the nation and specifically the issues of the Labour Unions. He spoke of a need to come to an agreement with the CSA, but he said he would not let the nation be held to ransom by organised labour. Privately Long was furious – he had been hoping that the Southern Rally would have merited a mention. Four days later, Garner entered negotiation with Reed to end the strike and get the nations industrial complex back into action. Long's agitation increased as the negotiation became drawn out, Garner refusing Reed's initial terms on the 30th, partly afraid of Long's reaction and partly because he was afraid of his stance given in his inaugural address being compromised. National reaction saw a rise in Syndicalist uprisings, as well as the first Plains Indian revolt in 50 years, and the first 'Southern Uprising' in Macon. Long, Reed and Garner all became irritated as things began to spiral out of control, the movements around each man beginning to operate under their own momentum.
Just when things seemed set to spiral into a patchwork of chaos, Jay McShann and the Count Basie Orchestra released their record hit 'One o'Clock Jump' – a 12-bar blues instrumental that seemed to burn into the feet and souls of the American people, that reflected. It was not a popular song with everyone however, as America Firsters acting independently of Long started a riot that saw the military in the streets of Washington, defending the White House, where Reed and Garner were still negotiating.
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On February 15th, the Kingfish was shot in Washington, and though not seriously wounded, America Firsters opened fire into the crowd as the would-be assassin attempted to escape. The man, was found to have no political associations. On the 20th anti-CSA mobs in Washington forced Reed to flee. Garner took the podium and appealed for calm, his voice quivering as he spoke. 9 days later, Douglas MacArthur, having over-ridden Malin Craig's objections lead a military commission into the White House and deposed Garner – in the interests of national security. The CSA, the Pacific States and the America First all seceded in the following days. The 2nd American Civil War had began.​
 
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Great start, will follow!
 
Will follow, I love Huey Long's AUS, needs more of it. I wonder who you will make your HoG.
 
I hate you! I was thinking in doing a Union State AAR! :mad:

At least you do it better than I, so I forgive you.... By now. :D
 
Great start, will follow!

Glad to have you onboard gentlemen. All your base are belong to AUS! :rofl:

Will follow, I love Huey Long's AUS, needs more of it. I wonder who you will make your HoG.

Again, thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy the rest. Wonder for not much longer!

I hate you! I was thinking in doing a Union State AAR! :mad:

At least you do it better than I, so I forgive you.... By now. :D

So kind as to forgive me. This will be history book style, so you have the option of an AUS gameplay AAR. Playing the USA in Kaiserreich AoD is a real task as their peacetime IC is simply too low to prevent partizans, especially with all the dissent events.

Seconded, and Fritz Kuhn! For a united Republic! :D

Thank you for your time, and sorry to disappoint. Do not worry though, Kuhn will get something to occupy him.

I like it but i am confused what side your on.....

Also What does Union State mean.....

Well i am wraped up in it. Good job so far.

Okay, In Kaiserreich there is an event chain for the 2nd American Civil War (with bazillions of paths. It's really good!) Of the sides there are:
  • The USA proper
  • The American Union State - a revolter that occupies the Deep South - Ideologically Rightist
  • The Combined Syndicates of America - a revolter that occupies the Manufacturing Belt - Ideologically Leftist
  • The Pacific States of America - a revolter that occupies the West Coast. - Ideologically Centrist
  • New England - a revolter that oddly enough, occupies all of New England (except New York State) - Ideologically Centrist - usually a Canadian Puppet
  • Hawaii - who just sit on their islands until the Japanese either attack or ally them!
 
Enter the Kingfish

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February 30th was to be the official founding date of the nation, as Oscar K. Allen was given the position of ''District Leader of Louisiana' – whilst Long publicly announced that he would be the head of this new state whilst his loyal lieutenant and close friend, Father Charles Coughlin, who he felt had proven himself to be the most loyal of his personal circle was put in charge of the day to day affairs of running the Government.
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The Union State was drawn up on the ideas of the 'American Popular Corporatist State' – a concept that originated with Lawrence Dennis, who predicted the end of democracy but sought to create something that merged the strengths of both autocratic and democratic society – something which allowed for the creation of a National Youth Organisation under Fritz Kuhn. The 'American Pioneer' movement was immediately popular, and provided willing helpers for enlisted soldiers, with children the age of 15 and above working in the maintaining the impromptu supply depots and in guarding the captured state and federal arsenals within the Union State.​

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The 2nd of March saw the Canadian armed forces sweep into New England and seize the territory, before releasing a puppet government under the aegis of the wealthy Nelson Rockefeller At the same time Long made the decision that whilst this was to be a complete war – the support of the people was needed and a total war economy would destroy the ability to wage war more effectively due to the civil unrest that would be generated by pouring every single ounce of production into war materiel. By keeping civilian lifestyles at an acceptable standard, the subsidiary civilian industries maintained workers and incomes, meaning that after the war was won, there would be plenty of jobs for those who no longer wished to serve in the armed forces.​

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First Governor of New England, Nelson Rockefeller

The war effort was aided by the corporate barons and old money of the South sending a massive contribution to the war effort as well as the industry of the Southern states working to support rather than oppose the Union State, seeing the success of the AUS experiment as vital to preserving their financial assets from war-damage by ensuring all the fighting was done far away from them. Finally, Cuba sent a division of volunteers to aid the war effort, who arrived on the 5th of March at Miami Docks. On the same day the Pacific States under the leadership of Frank Merriam also declared war on the USA, plunging the MacArthur junta into a two front battle for survival.​

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Pacific Governor, Frank Merriam

Through the use of scavenging teams of children and the contribution of excess metal items from houses saw the war capacity of the nation slightly increased as volunteer companies were drawn up across the nation, and the armed forces of the Union State moved to set up a frontline along the borders of primarily with the Combined Syndicates, who were suffering insurrections from New Englanders on the wrong side of the border, anti-syndicate elements, and former-US National Guard divisions gone rogue in their territory. Tennessee and Virginia both were dead zones, with the MacArthur junta having relocated to Denver as the continent had plunged into war, leaving Washington D.C. as an open city​

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March the 16th saw the 7th Louisiana Cajuns under the leadership of Minuteman Division Commander Etheridge take Dallas. The commander forbade looting, stating 'We don't steal from other Americans'. Minuteman Division Commander Stockman issued the same orders on March 25th as the 2nd Alabama Corps occupied Louisville. The short term objectives on the East Coast were being met with very little resistance, though Syndicate controlled zones were now in direct contract with Union forces. The Philadelphia Union under Mj. Gen DeWeese blocked any advance out of Baltimore until Mj. General Collins and the tank division arrived in Clarksburg to break the Syndicalist lines.
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El Paso, aerial shot early 1937.​

The Texan campaign was also progressing smoothly – MacArthur's obsession with stamping out Syndicalism meant that the Army of Texas was involved in a siege of the 'Unaffiliated El Paso Syndicate of Texas' instead of defending against the Union troops occupying Lubbock. Kennedy received reinforcements in the form of the Cuban volunteers – who had marched from Miami and sent them on into Oklahoma as Etheridge swept up Texas to occupy Abilene.

The most pressing concern however was the inability to finance both the required amount of production for the care of the people in the territories of the Union State, and at the same time produce enough supplies the armies at the front – the war and the state that some factories had been left in by the previous administration meant that the offers of money for energy by Chile and Centroamerica were taken with pleasure, even if it meant dealing with the devil.​

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Puerto Buenos Aires​

A telegram was sent to the La Plataen government as it was public knowledge that the German government was sending more military aid than the Justo government knew what to do with and soon German manufactured rifles and bullets were making their way across the Atlantic to Puerto Buenos Aires where they were repackaged and then shipped to the docklands of Miami, from which they were distributed across the Union State, whilst metal and Union State dollars were sent in return to the South American country. All the shipping into and out of Miami was under the La Plataen flag, and as a neutral in the conflict, it proceeded unhindered by USN ships, despite the fact that the Gulf of Mexico was crawling with them.​

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April the 2nd was when Long ordered the issue of War Bonds – bringing in a small income that generated great enthusiasm amongst the populace, since the war had been almost bloodless thus far – the one major battle being that in Baltimore, where the AUS tank division first steamrolled the recalcitrant De Weese's militia out of their positions in the scrubland around the town and then overran them as they attempted to retreat toward Scranton. The other main battle of the war had been the AUS Navy hunting a rogue US carrier fleet that had attempted to bomb them out of their docks at Union Terminal, Charleston and were now eating shells as the battleships pursued them up and down the East Coast.​

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The USS Saratoga – under the command of Chester Nimitz, photo taken during the pursuit toward New York by AUS spotter planes.

April 16th saw the simultaneous capture of Cleveland and New York, as the AUS tanks overran the Buffalo Union as they retreated into the city, whilst Watt's North Carolina regulars occupied the city unopposed. Indeed all New York State was unoccupied, as the tanks had overran De Weese and then proceeded west prior to their victory – making the territory into an enclave of the Combined Syndicates. The 17th saw Pittsburgh occupied. The city was a complete ruin from the combined troubles of war and flood. In Pittsburgh, more than ever, the no looting policy was enforced by the Cohort Commanders and Pittsburgh saw 3 soldiers hung in the city square after they attempted to loot a small convenience store in the city's down-town district.

At this point the AUS was advancing on all fronts, pushing back opposition where it found it, whilst the Combined Syndicates was being squeezed from the South by the Union State and from the West by the United States. April 18th saw both Detroit and Columbus fall, once again neither city saw any resistance by the Syndicates.​

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Field Artillery Corps troops prepare a late present for US Army troops​

On April the 24th, The Edwards US Army division attacked Minuteman Division Commander Kennedy from St. Louis as he occupied Springfield, having began his own advance along the West shore of the Mississippi after a long month of defence drill and watching for enemy troops. The 10th Little Rockers fought back bravely whilst the 1st American Union Army under Commander Watt-Page with the 3rd South Carolina Division made a flanking attack across the river and into St. Louis. Both sides tired themselves out, but before Krueger and The Edwards could press their advantage and proceed across the river, Syndicate troops under Aalto attempted to remove them from the city, forcing Krueger to entrench himself once again against the Syndicalist onslaught.​

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May the 3rd saw Ernest Hemingway, the Combined Syndicates delegate to the Second International, give a speech condemning the actions of the Union State and calling for intensified support of the Reds. Long apparently laughed himself blue when hearing of it, and pointing out that the only port the CSA still held was Chicago, and that soon he wouldn't have a country to represent!

Long's words proved accurate soon enough, with the AUS tank army capturing Chicago on May the 9th, and fighting off determined attempts to evict them from the city. The battle between the two sides led to the city being ravaged, and reports of looting got back to the Kingfish, who was known to have said 'A little vengeance will help morale'. Shortly after, the Combined Syndicates government went into exile in France, after evading Canadian border patrols and escaping across the Great Lakes. Ernest Hemingway, along with Jack Reed, Paul Mattick and the other movers and shakers of the Syndicates government were declared persona non grata in the AUS.
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Minutemen prepare to advance on US Army positions in Milwaukee

By June 6th, the northern half of the front was catching up with the South. Syndicalist deserters and those sympathetic to the America First cause had flooded to sign up after the fall of Chicago, meaning that the United States was facing twice the numbers of foes it had perhaps previously considered itself to be dealing with. Combined with the fact that Remington Arms had finally developed a copy of the German rifles on purchase from La Plata meant that regular infantry units could be trained with weapons other than broomsticks and old M1903 Springfields. After Remington completed their work on the self-loading M1937 Springfield (Union State Rifle, Caliber .30 Model 1937) the Southern Railway began a campaign to improve production standards in factories across the Union State, implementing new proceedures and equipment with government funding where necessary, under the guidance of Henry Ford.​


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Battlefield medicine outside of Dodge City. The US Army's repeated attacks took their toll on both sides.​

June 11th saw the third of three concerted efforts to dislodge the 2nd Alabama Division from their positions around Dodge City. The frontlines continued to sweep across the plains as the United States showed the feebleness of it's armed forces and both Pacific and Union State troops began to occupy former US territories.​

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MacArthur and his cabinet of lackeys orchestrated their lacklustre defense from Denver, but it was no good. June 14th saw the largest battle of the Civil War, with 6 divisions of mixed irregulars, regular infantry and the AUS tanks clashing with 3 US Army units, including the Montana National Guard and the 3rd Rock of the Roanoke divisions. After that it was just a matter of time. MacArthur made his last stand Alberquerque, before being captured by troops from the 1st AUS Tank Army, and surrendering to Mj. General Collins.

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A defeated MacArthur signs the surrender instrument

With the surrender of the United States, the American Civil War, was considered over by many, under the assumption that the Pacific States would return to the Union State. Nonetheless, armed vigilance along the border was maintained, with AUS lines stretching from Billings to Las Cruces.​
 
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So kind as to forgive me. This will be history book style, so you have the option of an AUS gameplay AAR. Playing the USA in Kaiserreich AoD is a real task as their peacetime IC is simply too low to prevent partizans, especially with all the dissent events.

I dislike gameplay AARs. :p

Don't worry, I have other ideas in mind. :D

Well, that was an easy victory, so... What now?
 
Get the PSA, Canada, and New England into the AUS of course! P.S., I think you should offer the PSA some incentive to join, a bloodless annexation is probably preferred.

Very nice job, I usually don't like narrative AARs ... but this is awesome!
 
Great update, really enjoyable read! It's very nice to have history book AAR for American Union State, to show this nation in more realistic and detailed view.
 
Never gets old. :rofl:

Hopefully neither will this!

I dislike gameplay AARs. :p

Don't worry, I have other ideas in mind. :D

Well, that was an easy victory, so... What now?

You're about to see! (I'm updating a touch early today.)

Get the PSA, Canada, and New England into the AUS of course! P.S., I think you should offer the PSA some incentive to join, a bloodless annexation is probably preferred.

Very nice job, I usually don't like narrative AARs ... but this is awesome!

Hmmm... not too certain about Canada. I mean yes each nation has different styles, but they're both right wing.

Great update, really enjoyable read! It's very nice to have history book AAR for American Union State, to show this nation in more realistic and detailed view.

Thanks. I hope you continue to feel that way, I try my best.
 
The Californian Question

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With the continent in a state of tension, the month of July saw the Long demand the return of Alaska from the Canadians, who acceded to the request. This lead to the PSA beginning to feel encircled, though it was a baseless fear at the time. The government was too busy rebuilding the war-torn land they had inherited. Vast sums were pumped into the reconstruction efforts, whilst the armed forces were slowly expanded.

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August saw the request for the return of Puerto Rico rebuffed by the Caribbean Federation, who had come into possession of it after MacArthur's government had lost control of the East Coast and quietly sold the island to the entente. Long vowed that the American Union State would see it returned one way or another, and began a relentless diplomatic campaign to see the territory returned to the fold, situating three divisions of troops in Miami and a transport fleet with a supporting carrier based group, though it was mostly posturing – the AUS border with Canada was essentially porous and too many resources were involved in defending against the Pacific States to give war with the Entente a thought at the time, something which also saved New England from any confrontation.

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The 17th of August 1937 saw the signing of the American Union State Constitution, giving the nation a legal and political grounding along the lines of that enjoyed by the United States before it and establishing the Union State as the legitimate successor to the USA as well as setting out the mandate of the government, and the proceedure by which advancement was to be commenced. The installation of meritocracy within the very constitution of the nation was hoped to be able to enshrine the spirit with which Long had torn the nation out of the rotting bloated carcass of the USA.

The question of where to rule arose on September the 7th and Long refused to move the government to Washington – stating that the AUS might be the successor to the USA, but it was not going to commit the sins of it's forefathers. The same month the issue of labour shortages arose, and Long let the corporations handle it for themselves – which saw an increase in both production and worker satisfaction, as companies implemented greater incentive schemes for citizens

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The 12th also saw the integration of former United States and Combined Syndicates territories by the AUS – the acceptance of which and failure to resist by the people allowed Long's project to really get underway. However the acceptance of the AUS by the former USA also lead to sections of the Pacific States wishing to return to the fold, something which agitated Frank Merriam's government.

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September 19th was an interesting day for the AUS, as shots were exchanged across the Rio Grande, as a group of Mexicans attempted to illegally enter the Union State. Minutemen divisions caught them, and drove them back into Mexico, where Ejército troops shot at the Minutemen. Long ordered a declaration of war the following morning. Union State Troops crossed the Rio Grande into Monclova, Monterrey and Tampico, with the AUS tank Army leading the charge. The Mexicans, equipped with outdated weaponry from the Weltkrieg nonetheless fought bravely against the Minutemen and the Regular Armed forces, but in vain.

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Monterrey was captured on the 27th of September, leaving the road open for a strike up into Mexico City. The 1st Tank Army was ordered to remain in place however until the foot troops had moved in to support their positions, not wishing the tanks to get bogged down and surrounded in the mountains around the enemy capital. October 7th saw the occupation of Puebla, and the attack into Mexico City commenced whilst the 21st Texan Division attacked Villahermosa with support from the Minutemen in the area.

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The Mexican campaign progressed slowly, the poor terrain and lack of infrastructure hampering the advance, as the AUS tank army didn't stick around in Mexico City, capturing it on October 20th and moving on to Acapulco, whilst the 21st Texan continued their slow advance down to Villahermosa. October 25th saw the 1st Texas Division deploy at Los Alamos, the first result of the nationwide training campaign, with many more divisions lined up to follow them.

November 1st saw the institution of new agricultural chemicals developed by Louisiana District University. A new development contract was issued to Georgia Technical Research Institute to work on developing further armoured vehicles. November 8th saw the Mexican Government attempt to buy the American Union State with land, but Long rejected the peace offer – America had to be free of Syndicalism – this was no imperialist war.​

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By December it was all over for Vincente Lombardo and his regime, Mexico was formally dissolved, becoming the newest territory of the American Union State, and putting the PSA into a state of fright, as Union State troops occupied Baja California, and slipped past the main lines of their defences. As 1938 opened, it looked like Long had a plan for resolving the Californian question once and for all. Then to the surprise of everyone, Long extended the Olive Branch to the Pacific States. - Surrender and join the American Union State and spare yourselves the war you declared independence to avoid.

The negotiation dragged into February, with Long providing Merriam with reports showing that the American Union State economy was robust enough that Californians would not be subsidising the rest of the nation, as had previously been the case.

The Pacific Industrial Complex was also to be exempted from any legislature enacted by the Union for a decade, allowing for the protection of jobs in the West. Free movement between the rest of the Union and the new territories was a sticking point that Long eventually won Merriam over on, mostly because he knew that the West was suffering severe supply shortages, due to a lack of raw materials and the means to acquire them.

During the negotiation period, Minutemen had began rounding up Syndicalists and left leaning sympathisers in AUS territories – Merriam raised the issue with Long, who agreed that the death penalty was too much for them and ordered them exiled to France. It was now late January, and Long sweetened the deal personally for Merriam by offering the job of District Commander for the Pacific Coast for at least 5 years.​

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Fritz Kuhn leaving his office for the final time.

The final term was that Fritz Kuhn lose his job as Security Commissioner for the American Union State. Merriam was implacable on the topic and Long, whilst initially thinking the man would be useful, had found his instigation of the round up of socialists and syndicalists embarrassing, so he quietly shuffled Kuhn to the rank of Union State Youth Leader, and asked Michael Harlan, a former police commissioner from Louisiana and a close friend, to take up the task which he duly did. The difference between the two was amazing as the previously menacing overtones of Kuhn's security apparatus were reduced and the creation of the Union State Internal Security Bureau (USISB) lead to a reduced number of over-zealous Minutemen in the ranks of the counter-espionage branch, leading to a less oppressive atmosphere.​

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Long announced the success of the negotiations himself, to the nation.
The two men despite their ideological differences, worked well together, especially since Merriam was keen to avoid war with the AUS, whose armed forces were more numerous and better equipped than his own. Finally on February the 28th of 1937, the Pacific States of America were formally included in the expanded Union State, with some dissent from those who thought it was a bad idea, however the amnesty given by the Union State was extremely helpful as the entrepreneurs and innovators of the West Coast received the funding that they had been starved of along with raw materials toward the end of the previous regime.​

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This looks great. I hope you can provide some good insight into the structure of a One State Union in America, as the tendency for AUS AARs is for them to simply be the USA mk.2 with Huey Long as a sort of Mussolini-esque fascist. The AUS is far more nuanced than that, as you have shown. I look forward to seeing more!
 
Are you going to keep Mexico in the AUS (maybe make them national provinces if so) or puppet it and put the Paternal Autocrat triumvirate in?
 
I love the Story but sorry to say i would hate that nation and i would have to follow the syndies to France lol.

So is this a mod if so where can i get it and where do i put it as there is no mod folder or a mod loader screen either that i know of.

Besides that I do like the ARR good luck. But seeing as you don't need it i will wish the other Syndie nations luck.
 
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