"A government must not waiver once it has chosen it's course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward."
C.S President William Smith
The Presidency of William Smith is often recollected, if at all, as a pleasantly uneventful one. This was in part thanks to the Democrats maintaining a strong majority within Congress, affording the Whigs little opportunity to successfully combat the Administration. By the time of Smith’s confirmation in March 1867 the Cotton Recession was fading as expanding European and U.S textile industry fed the Deep South with demand. In August, the Hampton Brothers Company opened the nation’s first major shipyards in Charleston, a sign of growing economic prosperity. Across the country unemployment slowly fell in line with rising profits, while outrages by Unionist Redeemers in Tennessee and Kentucky had largely run their course. The kidnap and disappearance of Congressman Jeremiah Wheaton in June was to prove a last great plot for the Redeemers, with their leader, William Brownlow[1] being arrested soon after, and later executed for treason in October. In January 1868, Confederate diplomats signed a trade treaty with President Baez of the Dominican Republic, part of growing relations between the nations, as well as a warning to neighbouring Haiti, the two nations forever skirmishing over their ill-defined border. During discussions Baez suggested the annexation of his nation to the C.S.A, however Smith via telegram politely declined the offer[2]. Instead his agents in Santo Domingo suggested a loan for the debt-stricken nation in return for future naval bases. This second deal would help to ultimately cement the Dominican Republic within the Confederacy’s orbit.
Later in the year, attention turned north as the United States moved towards her presidential election. President Tod had so far been a dependable if uninspiring head of state. The Union’s economy had remained relatively sluggish since the end of the Secession but Tod had overseen a major rise in employment, and had continued the Homestead initiative started under President Lincoln. However he had deeply divided society in refusing to abolish slavery at a federal level. Slavery in the Union by 1868 was relegated to a minority practice in the states of Maryland and Delaware, Missouri having abolished it in 1866 under a Republican administration. Tod argued the practice all but dead, however Radicals disagreed in principal and in May shocked the nation by winning the Republican Party’s nomination for the fire-breathing abolitionist, Senator Henry Wilson[3]. Wilson campaigned primarily for a Constitutional Amendment to abolish slavery and a punitive tariff, effectively an embargo, on Confederate cotton, calling it “the financial arm of the Slave Power, reaching across the border, infecting the Union through bribery and corruption”. Tod, having won the Democratic nomination without opposition, called the tariff a threat to economic recovery and cited his Administration’s successes in stabilising the banking sector, returning people to work, and the purchase of the “virgin lands” of Alaska from the Tsar[4]. Regardless, Tod was aware of the circumstances that had seen him elected in 1864 and saw slavery as the crucial issue. As such it was no coincidence in June when the Democratic-led legislatures of Maryland and Delaware put forward identical Bills calling for abolition with compensation for slave owners. When the Bills passed, the Republican programme was left deflated. Wilson, ever the ideologue, continued to call for an Amendment, despite little practical reason. As the campaign dragged on, focus came to rest on the so-called “Dixie Tariff”, which only helped to alienate the New England textile industry, normally a bedrock of Republican support. Wilson hopes were further dashed when Salmon P. Chase, a leading light of the Republican moderates attacked the proposal as counter-productive. Chase had hoped to swing Wilson away from folly, however as bitter political rivals, the Radical candidate, as proud as he was stubborn, took the criticism as a personal attack and soldiered on. For a second time, it seemed Republican factionalism had handed victory to the Democrats[5].
Ultimately the 6 votes of Connecticut decided the Election
Back in the Confederacy, the rural population gave a collective sigh of relief on Wilson’s defeat. In Richmond, Whig Congressmen pointed to the proposed Dixie Tariff as a clear sign of the danger of the nation’s reliance on exporting cotton. John Bell of Tennessee called for the strengthening of the Confederacy’s own textile industry through legislation and protective tariffs, to remove farmers reliance on the orders of New England manufactures. Despite this worry caused by the Union election, the Confederacy’s own 1868 Congressional elections saw the Democratic programme of low taxes and free trade maintain control for another session. 1869 passed by without major incident, bar perhaps the arrival of a diplomatic mission from Tokyo. The exotic ambassadors attracted much attention amongst the socialites of Richmond, and following the signing of a treaty of friendship in September, President Smith and his Cabinet were each gifted a ceremonial katana. General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, recently appointed Secretary of War, was particularly impressed with the Japanese blade, and soon substituted it for his traditional sabre when in uniform. Then in early1870, the ‘Cuban Question’ raised its head. For decades, the landed elite of the South had looked to the Spanish colony as a possible focus of expansion. Although they had primarily saw Cuba as a way of expanding slavery to maintain balance in the United States, the economic value of the ‘Jewel of the Antilles’ had not been lessoned by secession. By the turn of the decade the C.S.A received almost half of Cuban exports and in the eyes of many Confederate politicians was a natural addition to the young nation. As such in February, Pierre Soule, the Minister to Spain, received word from Smith to offer Madrid the sum of C$150 million for the island. At the time Spain was in the midst of flux as popular unrest had seen Isabella II forced to abdicate in 1868, leading to a prolonged search for a new monarch. In this situation the Cortes was unwilling to give up such a valuable colony as Cuba, with both nationalist and economic sentiments opposed to the idea. State Secretary Benjamin reacted to the refusal philosophically, quoting John Quincy Adams in his journal:
"There are laws of political as well as of physical gravitation; and if an apple severed from its native tree cannot choose but fall to the ground, Cuba, disjoined from Spain, incapable of self support, can gravitate only towards us, which by the same law of nature cannot cast her off from its bosom."
He added his own epilogue “the apple shall fall, or it shall be plucked”.
Coincidently, the Spanish search for a monarch soon triggered the largest European war since 1815, with Paris irate over the possibility of a Prussian ruling in Madrid. Chancellor Bismarck played the French Emperor well in his efforts to provoke France in the name of uniting the German states in common cause, with Napoleon declaring war on Prussia in July 1870. The conflict proved to be a bloody slogging match as huge armies clashed on the frontier. By September the Prussians had pushed into France itself, marching towards Paris. However time and again the Germans failed in their efforts to surround and destroy French armies, losing precious men in the process. At the same time, French and Austrian diplomats raced to and fro from the Mexican embassy in Paris. The successful establishment of Maximilian in the Americas had greatly improved the previously tense Austro-French relations, and following Vienna’s humiliation at Prussian hands in 1866, the two nations’ diplomats had increasingly discussed the threat Berlin posed to the status quo. Ultimately mutual self-interest won over past grudges and in November, Bismarck cursed to hear Austrian forces had crossed the frontier in support of Napoleon. Soon crucial regiments were being redirected to face the new threat. By the end of the year numerically superior French forces led by General Faidherbe had pushed their enemy back across the border, with first Prussia’s ally Baden falling and then industries of the Rhineland. In the East, the Austrians were struggling against Prussian forces, however February 1871 saw Bavaria and Württemberg, Berlin’s remaining allies, switch sides in order to avoid French occupation. The ’stab in the back’ was too much for Prussian forces to cope with and within six weeks Allied forces marched through the streets of Berlin. The peace treaty signed in Dresden was a harsh one, with Prussia losing almost all of her 1866 gains, as well as her industrial heartlands to Austria, France and the new Kingdom of Rhineland.
While Confederate citizens read of violence in Europe in October 1870, they were beset by the loss of two of their national figures in as many weeks. The first was the hero of the Secession, Robert E. Lee. The nation was stunned by the loss of the victor of Camp Hill, and despite the General’s wishes for a quite burial, he was to be the first recipient of a Confederate state funeral. The procession through Richmond saw hundreds of thousands from the country and beyond gather to give their respects. Alongside Presidents Davis and Smith, representatives from a dozen nations, including controversially General William Tecumseh Sherman, Lee’s former nemesis, followed the coffin in procession, draped in the Stars and Bars. The great outpouring of grief over Lee’s death was soon cut short however, with the sudden death of the President himself only ten days later. Smith, already a septuagenarian when he took office, had fought hard to shake off the wizened caricature presented by his opponents, however he could not ignore his worsening health, which the strain of executive office had only exacerbated, and finally overcome him. On his passing, Vice-President James Seddon was quickly sworn in. A man known primarily for his less than robust health and his participation in the abortive 1861 Peace Convention[6], was seen as something of a damp squib and quickly garnered the nickname “Steady-on Seddon”. Little did anyone know at the time, he would become one of the most important figures in Confederate history.
The 1871 Treaty of Dresden
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[1] A staunch Tennessee Unionist, he was one of the few politicians to stay behind during the Civil War and campaign against the Confederacy, using connections in the Smokey Mountains to evade the authorities. During Reconstruction he became the state’s Governor and the Ku Klux Klan’s most hated enemy. Somehow I doubt he would have accepted Montreal lying down.
[2] Baez was the leader of a popular movement in the Dominican Republic in the 1860s to seek annexation by a major power - truly unique in Latin American history. IOTL the Spanish briefly reoccupied the nation in 1863, and later Baez requested the United States under Ulysses S. Grant to do the same. He was intrigued but Congress shot it down.
[3] The result of 1864 has convinced Radical Republicans of the pointlessness of a third-party solution. As such they entered the National Convention, unlike four years previous, united behind a single candidate from the get-go, winning the nomination before moderates have time to organise themselves.
[4] Contrary to popular belief, ‘Seward’s Folly’ was a relatively well-received move IOTL. Prior to the purchase Americans viewed Alaska as a land rich in fur, fish and mineral wealth just waiting to be exploited. I imagine in a world were the South and frontier lands of Arizona are lost, Alaska will be even more tempting for any U.S Administration.
[5] In game the Democrats did actually win in 1864 and 1868, despite the electorate of the United States seemingly being inclined to the Republicans
[6] An effort to prevent war between the seceding states and the Federal government. No major figures attended and it was widely regarded at the time as a pointless exercise in fence-sitting.
