The flag of the California Republic flying over northeastern Papua? I think the Germans will not like it haha
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Can't believe I'm agreeing with Jamous :blink: ... Congratulations on the Writaar of the week, and for another great update! 
I can only echo these wise words.
The end-of-century political game in California is a real thriller!
Can't believe I'm agreeing with Jamous :blink: ... Congratulations on the Writaar of the week, and for another great update!
Forgot, but congrats Fry! You deserve it!
And how could you not agree with Jamous? He knows what he is talking about, plus he had the law on his side. Why else do you think his empire in "The Presidents" hasn't been busted yet? Best president ever right there
I just read through this entire AAR, and I must say it is the best I have seen in several years.
Agreed, definitely deserving WritAAR of the Week. I sincerely hope Harrison can end out his time favorably, unlike several other Californian presidents. I cannot wait for the next update.
@John Forseti: Thanks! I'm glad you thought that.
@Shock3r: Many Thanks.
@Neoteros: They can deal with it. I'm the Empire of the Pacific dammit!
@King50000: Very possible.
@TKFS: Thanks!
@Riccardo93: It is hard to agree with him... either way, Thanks!
@blindgoose: They are getting rather strong... worrisome.
@Commandante: You haven't seen anything yet.
@King50000: Who knows, Jamous may wrench President Harrison's place as first in the heart of his countrymen...
@Sematary: I am honoued that you think that. I have put much time and effort into this AAR for the enjoyment of all my readers.
@rednax7: You'll find out today.
Update inbound today.
@Shock3r: Many Thanks.
@Neoteros: They can deal with it. I'm the Empire of the Pacific dammit!
@King50000: Very possible.
@TKFS: Thanks!
@Riccardo93: It is hard to agree with him... either way, Thanks!
@blindgoose: They are getting rather strong... worrisome.
@Commandante: You haven't seen anything yet.
@King50000: Who knows, Jamous may wrench President Harrison's place as first in the heart of his countrymen...
@Sematary: I am honoued that you think that. I have put much time and effort into this AAR for the enjoyment of all my readers.
@rednax7: You'll find out today.
Update inbound today.
This makes me extremely excited
I've developed an unhealthy addiction to this AAR, so please, for the sake of my health, keep writing!
Harrison: 1891 - 1896
President James Harrison's third Inauguration took place simultaneously with the announcement that the Californian Marines had seized control of a small island in the South Pacific, dubbed Easter Island, and with it, it contained huge, giant statues of men, deciphered from the locals as being called Moai. President Harrison, receiving, word of this moments before his speech, decided to shove it in the middle of his speech as an off-the-cuff remark, telling the stirring rendition of why California is expanding her wings over the Pacific, becoming the benevolent Empire, bringing civilization and enlightenment to those who need it. It was meet with a vastly popular reception, giving and indication that President Harrison was given his mandate over the Empire of the Pacific.
1. Painting of Easter Island by the Californian Marines.
In late March of 1891, the nation of Japan agreed to enter into an exclusive trade deal with the Californian Republic, and furthermore become a member of California's slowly growing Sphere of Influence. The benefits of this increased trade and the majority of trading between Japan and the Californian Republic rapidly boost both economies up, pushing the budget well into the black, solving an intermediate deficit crisis that was growing in California.
In response to this new partnership, the Californian Republic took its first diplomatic, tentative steps, when they established their first overseas Diplomatic Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. Although California has enjoyed diplomatic relations with other nations for the past fifty years, the lack of both funds and importance limited California to renting a small room out of a larger embassy, more often than not the United States Embassies hosted the Californian Republic's as well. With the establishment of an independent Californian Embassy in Japan, the Californian Congress immediately started to debate a bill for the establishment of embassies in all the major countries, and to stop renting rooms from other countries. The bill passed, though with strong Progressive opposition, and was enacted on June 16th, 1891. The first purchase of land took place in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River, directly opposite of the United States Capitol[1].
2. The Californian Embassy and Customs House in Tokyo, Japan.
California became the centre of attention in North America in the summer of 1891, when representatives from the Confederate States of America and the United States of America meet in San Diego, California to discuss the first real attempt at bringing the South and the North closer together. While the Confederacy rejected integration outright, they agreed to set up a common market between the two countries. For the first time in decades, the Boys in Blue and the Boys in Grey stood together with their regimental flags in a parade outside San Diego, commemorating the new relationship between the two nations. Confederate leaders pledged to do their best in getting their nation to accept their old enemies as friends, they claimed that they worked together once before, and they could do it once again.
3. Union and Confederate Soldiers parading together outside San Diego.
Many of the people in California are now begging to believe that the Californian Mainland was becoming simply too crowded. Cities were filling up faster than the infrastructure could be built to support them. San Diego and San Francisco, California's two largest cities, grew larger each and every day. Many people professed their distaste with the rapid population growth, and the unsanitary conditions of the country. For the first time in Californian history, a major opposition group formed to combat the influx of immigrants, in hopes that it will be sufficient to save the cities. During this time period, there was also a very rapid migration of people from the Mainland Territory out to the Pacific Territories.
4. Main Street in San Diego, 1892.
One bloody splattering on the normally peaceful summer of 1892 was the San Francisco Riots. These riots, born out of a small, grungy tavern, soon engulfed the whole industrial section of the city. Hundreds upon Hundreds of Californian Industrial Workers poured into the streets to support the overthrow of the Californian Government. They quickly grabbed their arms, and proclaimed the Worker's Commune of San Francisco. Worker's Union Party leader, John Henderson, quickly played his cards right and denied any involvement and refused to recognize these people as members of his party. He wished to install a socialist government, but he wanted the support of the people, not the rioting of men to overthrow the Government.
5. Militant Workers, organized by the Worker's Union Party, rioting in San Francisco.
With the Commune losing the support of the Worker's Union Party, the government, at this time just a "Leader of the Revolution" and a few advisers, holed themselves up in a steel works mill, using the offices as the Seat of Government, where the controlled over a sizable amount of the City for a few days. Then, quickly, the Californian Marines arrived to restore order. Surging into San Francisco, the Marines were meet as liberators, as the citizen's rations, money, and generally anything of worth was collected up by the socialists and kept in the Steel Works Office to be "Redistributed" among the population. The Marines stormed the office and killed all the members of the revolutionary government and their army on sight. Overall, two Marines lost their lives compared to five hundred and twenty-six socialist revolutionaries.
6. The Capital of the San Francisco Commune, the offices of Hilderbrant Steel Works, after the revolution.
Once word of the San Francisco Commune leaked out into the rest of the public, people were horrified and scared of the socialist doctrine. The City of San Francisco was under socialist control for only a week and general output for the year was down thirty-six percent. The average wealth and property holdings of all the citizens went down twenty-one percent, and the whole population reportedly abandoned the Worker's Union Party and massively went to the Californian Conservatives in droves.
The Worker's Union Party, so powerful just a few months ago, soon saw a large chunk of their support erode away as people saw what socialism does to a structured government and its society. Interestingly enough, the Federalist Party, once so strong under the leadership of President Harrison, voted to disband and dissolve into the Progressive Party and the Republican Party. Defiant, President Harrison kept his status as a member of the Federal Party. Technically an Independent, President Harrison continued his crusade of what he deemed to be the right. To further enhance his public image, he decided that wading through the rivers of Eastern California on a moose would raise his public opinion.
7. President Harrison, riding on the back of a swimming moose.
Because of his "Tough-Guy" Persona, President Harrison's popularity surged and he urged many people to not commit to the shackles of a political party. For the first time in history, there was a massive push towards the abandonment of parties, as more and more people decided to switch to being an Independent, or registering as a defunct party. This slowly growing mass of people became to be known as the "Bull-Moose Party". Although not an official party in any sense, they were the fervent supporters of President Harrison and the expansion of the Californian Empire across the Pacific Ocean. Support was largely from the rural areas of the country, as well as the Californians who moved out to the Pacific Territories.
As it would turn out, in the Pacific Ocean proper, the Californian Republic only needed to gain control of one more island before it could truly proclaim to have complete control over the Pacific. President Harrison, noting this in a speech, that it was now time to expand California's borders further. Push her expansion farther, and try to claim even more land for the Empire of the Pacific.
This new expansion of territory was seen in the form of the Sultanate of Brunei. President Harrison, in the summer of 1892, declared that the Nation of Brunei was no longer deemed fit to control the territory over which it currently holds. In order for "true peace" to enter this area, it would be up to the Californian Republic to swoop in an seize control of this nation, and the parts of the islands not owned by the Dutch, in order to establish the Californian Western Pacific Territory. Support for this initiative was lukewarm, but it began to grow slowly up until the spring of 1893, where a sheet outlining the battle plans was leaked, and finally the Nation of Brunei had gotten wind of it, and mobilized their armed forces as preparation.
8. Soldiers of Brunei Mobilizing to defend their nation.
The first shots of the war were from the CRS John Walsh, a lightly armed ship in the Californian Navy that made short work of several shore fortifications. This was followed by a landing party by the Californian Marines. The Marines quickly swept throughout the country, establishing Military Control, and annexing most of the territories to the Californian Republic. The only hold out was the capital city, which finally fell in November of 1893 to Californian Forces, after a major assault on the land by the Marines and a near leveling of the city by the Cruiser CRS Empire
9. The CRS Empire docked outside Brunei, after the city was leveled.
The war barely lasted a year, and the nation was rapidly put under Civilian Administration as the Californian West Pacific Territory. President Harrison proclaimed a huge victory. This was only the second nation that California has completely subjugated, but it was also the western-most holding of the Empire of the Pacific. Highly noteworthy was the fact that this new holding for California gave the Empire of the Pacific a huge staging ground for any possible attacks upon the Dutch East Indies, something that could be a highly favored prize for any Crown Jewel in the Empire of the Pacific's Crown.
10. Californian Marines working on Garrison Duty in the new Western Territories.
Once again, as it would seem for anytime California makes a large territorial conquest, the Nation began to focus more inwardly, working on domestic policy and the expansion of infrastructure of the nation. However, the newly formed anti-immigration movement also went into full swing. Unfortunately for them, people were flocking into California faster than ever before, among these were the immigrants from the Chinese Empire. In recent years the Emperor loosened restrictions on immigration out of the country, and soon enough - thousands of Chinese immigrants lined the streets of ethnic communes in the heart of the cities, the most notable being Chinatown in San Francisco.
11. Chinatown in downtown San Francisco, a popular place for Chinese immigrants.
Opposition to these Chinese immigrants was fierce. With the construction of the new Confederate-Pacific Railroad, which was going to connect San Francisco to Richmond, then onto Boston, labour was needed to construct the railroad, and the Chinese immigrants would work for a severely reduced wage when compared to the average wage of a Californian worker. Many times would the police or even the army have to be called in to protect the rights of the Chinese immigrants and workers in the nation.
Another interesting development was the completion of the new telephone and electricity grid between the major cities. San Diego was the first to experience this new phenomena of nation-wide telephone service, and the installation of lighting in every household was completed in March of 1893, becoming one of the only cities in the world to offer electricity, telephone service, and gas lines to every household in the city.
12. View of the clean and orderly downtown San Diego.
President Harrison announced that, while he disagreed with the idea of monopolies, he agreed that the Californian Armed Forces needed to have a constant supply of weapons and manufactured goods. He resolved, miraculously, to advocate and push a bill through the Californian Congress that established the Military-Industrial Complex, a quasi-governmental organization that would bring several companies under its direct control for the sole purpose of giving the military what it needed. The first acquisition of this new organization was an old, closed, factory from the break-up of Howard Industries. It was immediately put to work producing steel for the Californian Navy once again, with ample benefits and a low workday, this was the best run factory inside the nation, and workers flocked to it because of its high wages, low work policy.
13. Former Howard Steel Works, now Californian Steel.
The results from the Census Department were received by the Californian Congress and the results were read by a stunned Speaker of the House. Overall, through conquest and immigration, the Californian Republic grew by 1,000,000 able bodied men over the past five years, for a total standing population of 2,593,323 able bodied men and 10,375,345 total population. These results were shocking and stunning, being a testament to the true strength and willpower of both the Californian and the Immigrant to forge a new life in California and grow and prosper.
Another surprising aspect is that the previous years' socialist scare seemed to be ebbing with support for the Worker's Union Party above the Progressive Party's support once again. As always, the Californian Conservatives receive the most support, as the Federal Party and the era of Harrison were ending.
14. Population Statistics of the Californian Republic, 1895.
It would be it that the glory and fervor of the Federal Party was indeed over. There was no longer any desire for romanticized visions of expansion over the Pacific Oceans, claiming unclaimed territories for the Californian Republic. Indeed, the Era of Harrison was well over. The President realized this, as his speeches seemed to become less impassioned, and less people showed up from time to time. He felt it was his civic duty to duly step down and take a hands-off approach to the Presidency. President Harrison all but quit the office during his last six months, and instead let the full brunt of the population's interest rest upon the election.
15. President Harrison and his family during his last months in the White House.
The election then descended upon California like wildfire. There were numerous minor candidates, but only two really mattered. The first was the Worker's Union candidate, Jack Murdy, a local party boss who organized many strikes around the country, who came to the Californian people with a real, sensible plan that eased their fears of an economic collapse under socialism. The second candidate came from the Californian Conservatives, Senator Andrew Jamous, owner of Jamous Steel Works in Northern California, and the main opposition leader to the former Federal Party. With the Federals gone, and the progressives weak, Senator Jamous went after the Worker's Union Party.
16. Jack Murdy, Worker's Union Candidate for President of the Californian Republic.
The campaign itself was a varied affair. Surprisingly, the Murdy decided to focus on the specific conditions in one specific steel works mill, trying to portray Jamous as a greedy industrial Baron who lives in a lavish lifestyle while his workers suffer. Senator Jamous proved this wrong when he gave reporters a tour of his apartment in Eureka and San Francisco, both sparse, because he invested most of his money into his business. Instead of vilifying him, Murdy made Jamous into the embodiment of a benevolent baron, who cared for his people.
17. Jamous Steel Mill #003, the main focus of the campaign.
In the end, it was the focus on Jamous' character that won him the election. Many people saw him as the benevolent man who would look over the nation at all costs, sacrificing what he could because he truly cared for the well-being of the people. He pledged to all those who listened to his acceptance speech that he would abandon this idea of an Empire of the Pacific, and instead move towards the idea of freedom and commerce inside the Californian Republic, and reform many territories into full blown districts in order to give proper representation to the people under the control of the Empire of the Pacific.
Previous Update: Harrison: 1889 - 1891
Next Update: Jamous: 1896- 1901
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Author's Note(s)
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[1] - OTL this is the site of the Lincoln Memorial.
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Any of my characters probably had coronaries about the military-industrial complex... if not, then over the anti-immigrant sentiment being compacted.
Of course, congratulations Mr. Jamous.
And another great update, Frymonmon!
...(and go Republicans!)
Of course, congratulations Mr. Jamous.
And another great update, Frymonmon!
...(and go Republicans!)
I have a feeling that sooner or later Jamous will do what many Californian presidents have done before him, slowly forget their promises.
@Morrell8: Indeed he is. But... the Socialists did have a very strong showing this election.
@Sakura_F: Quite possible.
@Riccardo93: I'm pretty sure he decided to move out of the country at that. Also, thanks!
@Sematary: All he needs is a really good border incident with the Dutch. Oh? Who said that?
@Sakura_F: Quite possible.
@Riccardo93: I'm pretty sure he decided to move out of the country at that. Also, thanks!
@Sematary: All he needs is a really good border incident with the Dutch. Oh? Who said that?
And so now I am a President both in the US and California
Time for the nation to have its greatest economic growth ever
Time for the nation to have its greatest economic growth ever