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cosmeIII

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Welcome to my Kaiserreich AAR, the Times of Strife. In which I take the helm of the U.S. and explore the world of Kaiserreich with you, playing with the A.U.S. civil war faction.

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My main aims with this AAR are:
  • To provide a human and realistic perspective of the United States during its downfall and (potential) resurgence in this alternate timeline, with a lower emphasis on the rest of the Kaiserreich world. Continuing, at the very least, until the end of the Civil War.
  • To roleplay as much as possible and give reason behind every choice taken by me, the player, throughout gameplay.
  • To provide an entertaining read and avoid egregious gameplay situations which may lead to inconclusive writing, even if it means reloading saves or otherwise editing the situation through console commands.
  • To create a symbiotic relationship with my readers so that they may provide knowledge, ideas and takes on the situations at hand.
I will avoid:
  • Taking a politically biased attitude in my writing.
  • Continuing with plots which may end up going nowhere, even if it means retconning certain parts of my previous chapters.
  • Focusing on one single region too much.
  • Abandoning the project for extended periods of time without warning.
I expect this project to be slow and rather time consuming if done right, so please bear with the long waits between chapters if they are to happen!

Before starting, I'd like to extend my thanks to:
-The Kaiserreich Team, for providing us with extensive free content related to this intricately crafted Alternate History setting.
-Paradox, for creating the HOI series.
-The Darkest Hour devs, for providing me with endless hours of fun with their redesigned HOI2 game, and providing me with the first glimpse of the setting so many years ago.

Index:
1.- Prelude: The Great Depression
2.- Chapter 1: Prelude to the Fall (1st of January - 6th of February 1936)
3.- Chapter 2: The G-W Fiasco (6th of February 1936 - 13th of April 1936)
Sidestory 1: Eli and the Little Fish (Around the last week of April, 1936)
 
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Prelude: The Great Depression
The United States of America is known as the silent man in the west for the old powers of the Entente.

Its decisive pursuit of isolationism during the Great War came as a heavy blow to its comrades in the old continent.

During the Great War, the U.S. bloomed. The war in Europe turned the Union into one of the most prominent exporters of supplies, loans and armament to its fellows in Europe. Woodrow Wilson, unabated in his desire to continue the policy of neutrality that ruled the United States’ foreign policy for years, envisioned a Europe where the Entente would have no issue winning the war.

The U.S. themselves could simply watch until they were given a proper reason to intervene, all the while fuelling the United Kingdom and France so they may continue the war effort and, eventually, be relieved by American intervention.

And yet, no excuse came. The leftist revolution in Imperial Russia torn the country asunder, and the eastern front collapsed. Germany sent thousands upon thousands of soldiers towards the west, quashing a socialist revolution of its own, then pushed hard through the battered French front, which collapsed under the weight of the Deutches Heer. By 1919, the front had moved to Paris, and finally, the French government surrendered. France though, did not, a syndicalist revolution took over the country and the Germans, unable to hold conquests in both east and west, gave up France to the agitators and returned home to celebrate its triumph.

The remnants of the French Republic retreated to Africa, led by a cadre of prominent generals, where they became little more than a government in exile.​

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French revolutionaries hastily armed themselves and took to the streets of French cities, their pressure saved continental France from becoming a German puppet.
This was a severe blow to the American economy. Hundreds of thousands if not millions in loans owed by the French were suddenly very unlikely to ever be repaid. The newly established Commune of France had no will to recognize any economic ties to the U.S., and the impoverished French Republic in Africa had no way to repay its debts. Still, the United Kingdom stood.

Eventually, the U.K. and the German Empire called for an armistice in 1919. The war was technically over, and both giants went home to lick their wounds and care for their conquests. The war continued in proxy: the Irish civil war, which brought an independent Irish republic to the international fold, and the nigh collapse of the Ottoman Empire, being the largest conflicts to grace the ‘cold war’ period of 1919-1921. Finally, the Peace with Honour was signed, where Prime Minister David Lloyd George and General Erich Ludendorff, the de-facto dictator of the German government, signed a white peace between the two Empires.

American investors were pleased to hear of the white peace, though it was little more than a confirmation of the new Status Quo of 1919. A sigh of relief echoed across the American financial tissue, as the promise of the United Kingdom repaying what was owed stood, and the two countries could form a bloc against German dominion.

But this was not to last, as Germany, now controlling the resources of most of Europe through its newly formed economic bloc: the Reichspakt, began an unofficial trade war against both the United Kingdom and the United States.

The economy of Britain began to plummet as tariffs on British goods increased across the Reichspakt and the French Republic staunchly opposed trade deals with the Commune, under threat of leaving the Entente entirely. Britain’s manufactured goods were too expensive to compete in Europe, and the United States’s industry was more than capable of feeding itself without help from Britain. Internal strife began in earnest in the early ‘20s in the island of Great Britain, consumer prices soared as foreign imports were reduced due to trade sanctions, and wages plummeted as industries on the island found no markets to place their goods on.

And thus, in 1925, the Trade Unions Congress of the United Kingdom called for a general strike, quickly answered with martial law by Home Secretary Churchill who enforced continuous production. Violence escalated in South Wales and riots spread from there, the Welsh and Scots rose first, then the English, even members of the Labour Party began to become outspoken supporters of the violence spreading throughout the country. By the end of the first half of the year, the entire country was engulfed in civil strife, and the British government and Royalty fled to Canada. And by the second half of the year, the TUC formally proclaimed the Union of Britain in an inaugural congress, abolishing the former government entirely.

The United States saw its own economy plummet in the next week. The loans of the U.K. became just as unlikely to be repaid. Its only ally against German domination had fallen, and suddenly, there was no place to import resources to fuel its industry, or to export its produce. Wall Street crashed, investors and banks lost many of their financial instruments, industries could no longer generate enough income, wages were reduced, and prices soared.

What used to be the first and foremost financial investor in the world, was now taken by a Great Depression. The Berlin Stock Market became the new indicator for the world’s financial health, and the U.S. was relegated to a secondary position by the country that now ruled the world: Germany.​

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Wall Street had finally stabilized after the loss of its investments in France, but collapsed when faced with the sudden 1925 revolution in Britain.
From 1928 onwards, the Republican Party under Herbert Hoover ruled the United States, attempting through various unfruitful measures to save the dying American industry. Increasing numbers of population now lived in abject poverty, businesses closed, and industries collapsed. Northern industries suffered, and southern businesses fell into destitution.

In the Great Lakes region, the people reacted by forming the Socialist Party of America, a leftist party taking after the French Syndicalists led by the prominent journalist John Reed; in the traditionally-minded Deep South, the people gathered around former Louisiana governor Huey Long’s America First Party. Both promised to reform the American state and fix its woes through direct action, both became the two most prominent new faces in American politics.

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John Reed, prominent supporter of the Commune of France and founder of the Socialist Party, led the disenfranchised workers of the heavily industrialized northern regions of America.​

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Huey Long, a law student, politician, and founder of the America First Party, led the impoverished traditional farmer families of the deep south.​

Meanwhile, moderate reformers found a home in the new Progressive Party led by Floyd B. Olson, who sought to reform the United States into a country that could adapt to the new world order.

Tensions continued to soar and, by 1936, Hoover’s second term, which was just as unfruitful as the first, was coming to an end. One of the most contentious American elections in its history was about to take place, as all sides of the 20th century political spectrum took their stand in the lands of the United States.

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State of the Country, 2nd of January 1936.

“I would rather lose in a cause that will someday win, than win in a cause that will someday lose!”

― Woodrow Wilson
 
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Off to a great start! :)
 
Chapter 1: Prelude to the Fall (1st of January - 6th of February 1936)
1936 began with a busy month of January for the foreign affairs department of Herbert Hoover’s government, and for homeland security. Two very distinct departments which had seen all manners of busywork ever since the beginning of the Great Depression.

The assassination of Kerensky in January 7 was met with both surprise and a lack of care by the people of the United States. Veteran volunteers that went to the civil war in Russia spent afternoons arguing with each other on whether Kerensky was the savior or Russia or a weak man that did little more than take a seat in the Duma’s presidential throne. John Reed published an article detailing Kerensky’s failure as a president, and called him ‘little more than a sock puppet for the bourgeois interests of Russian and German moguls’. The AFP, meanwhile, said little of Kerensky, asking the other parties in the U.S. to focus in the issues at home, instead of bothering with the ailing outside world. As both extremes bashed each other, Hoover sent a letter of condolences to the Russian Duma, and expressed his desire to support the Russian Republic in the coming years. Russia was, ironically, one of the last democratic bastions in a world that is ever-growing towards authoritarianism.

Not long after Kerensky’s death, the Duma scrambled to elect Grand Duke Dmitriy Romanovich, kin of the deceased Tsar Nicolas II, to preside over the Duma for the coming years. While the Grand Duke promised to ‘continue the policies of the Republic and ensure its continued good relations with the democratic world’, Hoover and his cabinet feared a return of a Tsardom or worse even: A second syndicalist revolution.

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The unstable Russian Republic found itself at odds with the multiple extremist factions dotting its political landscape. Dmitry's election guaranteed that the aristocratic class would have a say on the new government of the Republic.

President Hoover was due to attend the funeral of King George VI of the United Kingdom. The King had become a shadow of his former self after losing the home isle, starting to isolate himself in private mansions and ignoring the pleas of his son, the crown prince Edward, to begin militarizing Canada for an eventual invasion. He had developed a bad cough in the last two decades and his health was waning. Eventually, the death of his sister, Victoria, in 1935 sent him into seclusion, where he only ever allowed his doctors to enter his room and his son only at times. By 1936, the ailing King spent days fading in and out of consciousness, asking “How is the Empire?” His doctors always replied: “All is well.” But sorrow overtook King George before he faded out again. Prime Minister Mackenzie King visited once, and rumors say that he asked the PM to ‘ensure that Edward never take the throne’. George died in January 22, 1936.

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King-Emperor George V of the United Kingdom was a sickly, rather deranged man by the '30s. His son Edward had taken up the affairs of royalty long before his death.​

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The coronation of Edward VIII was celebrated but a few days after the former King's death, the ambitious King would set a new path for the United Kingdom for years to come.

After the funeral and coronation, Hoover held a meeting with the newly crowned Edward VIII and his prime minister, Mackenzie King, where they discussed their willingness to continue with the good relations that the United Kingdom and the United States had enjoyed for decades. President Hoover ensured to the media that ‘The United States and the United Kingdom shall always be staunch allies of one another’. But some rumors spoke of a disagreement between Hoover and the King on where to take the Entente’s foreign policy as they went forward, with Edward claiming that ‘decisive action’ had to be taken in order to regain control of the home isle, and the PM and president both called for ‘caution’ in the coming years. Both knew that Canada and the U.S. were finally on the path to slow recovery thanks to a slight warming in the trade relations with the burgeoning Reichspakt as it focused its attention on the threat of Syndicalism. Their dilapidated industries were finally showing signs of kicking themselves into gear once again as Germany sought new markets to export its products to and new markets from where they could import goods. The presence of the German foreign minister, Friedrich Wegner von der Schulenberg, indicated an intention to warm these relations further and establish new economic relations between the old powers of the world. Showing signs of belligerence too early could make the Reichspakt reconsider its position.

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Von der Schulenberg expressed the 'willingness of the German empire to ally against the thread of Syndicalism' to Prime Minister Mackenzie King and President Herbert Hoover.


As President Hoover boarded the plane to the U.S., still worried by the belligerent intents of King Edward VIII, he was approached by agents of the FBI, who warned him of ‘rather worrying developments’ at home. Their greatest fears were revealed to be true: Both the Socialist Party and the America First Party had been arming some of their hardlined volunteers in the last years, a reaction to the increasingly large crime spree overtaking the country. The SPA’s Red Guard and the AFP’s Minutemen became de facto military police in the northeast and southeast, respectively, dishing out justice where the country’s own sparse military police couldn’t.

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The Red Guard was composed of both men and women from the northeastern industrial belt. It was praised by the SPA for their actions against 'the robber baronies of the entrenched bourgeois strongmen' and mafia organizations, though rumors abound of wanton killing of well-off middle class men by totalist sub-units.

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The Minutemen was composed of various disorganized units who swore loyalty to one leading member of the AFP or another, though most swore to the Kingfish, quite a few also swore to the racial purist Charles Coughlin. They carried out operations against bandits roaming the countryside and organized criminals in the big cities. Though units often entered scuffles with one another over racial issues, and Coughlin followers were suspected of murdering black families in the countryside.

The President and his cabinet of ministers gathered as soon as he arrived to Washington. President Hoover, fearing the escalation of hostilities, accepted a last minute plan to garrison the north and south with the country’s infantry and cavalry divisions, and begin the works to raise a few more National Guard divisions before the beginning of the elections, to counteract the armed influence of the two parties in each region.

In order to gear up these divisions, the cabinet petitioned to increase the production of the newly tested M1 Garand. A semi-automatic rifle which had removed the unwieldy bolt-action system of the old Mauser variant, the M1903 Springfield. Factories and imports were put to work, though the first output of rifles were surprisingly inefficient, even by the unruly standards of the Great Depression.

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It was a grand surprise for President Hoover when the FBI again contacted him, reporting that the inefficiency’s prime cause was found: The rifles and ammo were actually being produced, but they went missing, straight into the hands of the Red Guard and Minutemen, whose more experienced thugs were now armed with semi-automatic rifles. Factory workers across America were betraying the nation to the dismay of Congress.

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Pictured: The Kingfish's Strikers, a unit of veterans of the Russian war who pledged loyalty to Huey Long, training with stolen M1 Garands.
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Pictured: A member of the Red Guard using a standardized US Army uniform and rifle, resting in the countryside nearby Detroit.

As debates raged on how to proceed with the pacification of the extremist paramilitaries, impeded by the SPA and AFP, who defended the people’s right to defend themselves, news broke out in February 3rd. The Berlin Stock Market had crashed and Germany was about to enter its own brand of the Great Depression. The news reached Wall Street, whose stocks plummeted yet again after years of to and fro recovery. Again, the SPA and AFP had their visions of the crumbling capitalist system reinforced. Again, support for the federal state plunged into new lows during the month. And thus, the hope for a renewed American industry fell along with German stocks.

President Hoover, fraught as he called for an urgent meeting of congress, famously told his trusted attendants:

"About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends."

-31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover.

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The Black Monday was seen by most as the final nail in the coffin for American stability.


In other news:
A section dedicated to happenings in the rest of the world where the United States has little or no interest on.

In Europe, syndicalism continued to grow and develop. The Commune of France and Union of Britain were governed by a workers’ democracy, and their internal workings changed radically as capitalist companies were kicked out and new economic principles came to rule each nation. The newly created Totalism, a nationalist authoritarian version of syndicalism, called the current situation in syndicalist countries ‘the final and purest product of syndicalism’ and wished to export the ideology out of both countries, though it was repudiated by old guard syndicalists and other socialist ideologues as a abhorrent to the cause of Syndicalism in the world.

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The most famous proposers of Totalism are British and Italian politicians: Oswald Mosley and Benito Mussolini.


After the death of King George V, the Dominion of India, ruled by the bicameral Chamber of Princes and officially a member of the Entente and close ally of Britain, saw Afghani troops cross their borders and openly declaring war to the Dominion. The war is expected to be a quick Dominion victory, and is reported as little more than a ‘tribal scuffle’ by the shores of the Indus River.

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The Anglo-Afghani War was seen by conspiracy theorists as a push by Germany to destabilize the British Empire. But most agree that the Afghan King Amanullah Khan simply went in over his head and was oblivious to the realities of the world.
 
Will follow
 
Hoover and co are in for a rough ride...
 
America is about to have a rough period
 
subbed!
 
Chapter 2: The G-W Fiasco (6th of February 1936 - 13th of April 1936)
As violence grows in the United States, congress also entered into more and more heated debates. Up on the table, with the support of the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party, is the possibility of a coalition between them and the Republican Party for the next presidency. President Hoover asked his party to avoid such misuse of the political system: “We are not a country of cliques, we are a democracy, our people know who to elect, and who will lead them forward to prosperity. Do not treat them as sheep, but as rational citizens of a country of liberty.” But his hold on his own party was tenuous at best and the three parties made a deal behind closed doors, ignoring the President’s call. A coalition would be formed against the threat that the SPA and AFP posed to the American system, ‘until instability died down’. By the 10th of February, the deal was signed between higher ups of the three parties, with Hoover disapproving every step of the way.

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Two days later, Hoover proposed that the Democrats begin another vote on the Garner-Wagner Bill, a series of reforms on unemployment benefits, saying he was now willing to pass it through congress and sign it. Critics spoke from both extremes, some mentioned the high costs related to benefits for unemployment, others called out that the bill was not nearly enough to help the workers who lost their wages during so many years in the crisis. Both AFP and SPA complained that the ‘establishment political cliques’ were in cahoots, and had superseded the authority of the President. Hoover, meanwhile, refused to comment on the situation.

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For the next two weeks, the AFP and SPA both became outspoken critics of the bill endorsed by whom they called the ‘establishment triumvirate’, complaining it was not enough to relieve the American workers from the economic crisis they were facing. Debates raged on in congress as the parties struggled to get their views across and find supporters for each of their sides. During this time, it is believed that Hoover started to see how the establishment was actually struggling to hold onto power in congress and the senate. The AFP and SPA were growing more and more demanding, often petitioning to have their strict views enforced instead of reaching compromises, the triumvirate grew more reticent to negotiate as time trottled along.

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Meanwhile, Father Charles Coughlin continued his radio broadcasts filled with anti-semitism and generalized racism towards blacks. Another cause of contention, condemned by all parties but the AFP, who asked Huey Long to ‘reconsider who he called his allies and who he didn’t’. Congress voted in favor of having the broadcast sanctioned and banned. After the ban, Minutemen units loyal to Coughlin escalated violence for a few weeks, even going so far as attacking Military Police dispatches in the South.

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As March entered, good news for the democratic world reached the ears of the U.S. government. The Australasian confederation, which was under an ironfisted authoritarian rule after a Syndicalist revolt in 1924 due to the economic plights brought in by the Great War’s lost generation and the collapse of the Commonwealth, was finally returning to a democratic system. William Birdwood, governor general of Australasia, relented and allowed elections to be held although with Syndicalist parties barred from participating. The United Australasian Party led by the conservative Stanley Bruce won the elections, and pressures mounted on the Confederation to relent on rulings which encroached upon the liberties of the average Australasian, mostly on those related to the Freedom of Press and the constant state of Martial Law the country was in. American foreign minister Henry Lewis Stimson was sent to Canberra to visit the newly elected leader of the Confederation in The Lodge, there, both men reaffirmed their compromise towards a ‘democratic future’ for both nations and a renewed hope for economic recovery.

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Stanley Bruce was a war veteran who participated in the Gallipolli campaign and had earned the respect of Birdwood throughout his authoritarian rule. He is expected to enact liberal economic reforms and expand on Australasia's dwindling social rights.

A few days later, a Cuban delegation arrived in Washington to discuss the tariffs on non-American goods imposed on the nation, which crippled the economic freedom of the island country. Hoover, a firm believer in the free market, reassured the Cubans that the sanctions would be lifted and that ties between the US and Cuba would hopefully be maintained.

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President Rafael Trejo González was elected in the '36 general elections of Cuba and, after Cuban labour riots were dispersed harshly by the army, engaged in talks with the strikers' leaders in order to appease them. Seeking further independence from the US was one of the demands of the strikers.

After the Cuban deal was struck, debates resumed on the G-W Bill, as it was now commonly referred to after weeks of intense arguments. The establishment senators now vehemently refused to strike any deals with the AFP and SPA, chief among them being Robert Wagner, one of the drafters of the bill, who mentioned that the anti-establishment parties had made requests that were ‘wholly un-American and unsuited to the continued tradition of this American government’. The AFP and SPA, meanwhile, had similar views on the changes to be made to the bill, but refused to ally with each other on the matter. Hoover was called to intervene and make the final decision. Fearing the increasing strength of both the AFP and SPA and unable to go against the establishment triumvirate, he joined with the triumvirs to further support the draft of the bill.

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The extremist parties both criticized the decisions of the camera, asking them if they ‘truly represented the will of the people, or rather the will of their lobby-backed establishment’. Criticism which was echoed again and again throughout what remained of March. And when the vote finally came in April 8…

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Hoover was awestruck by the fact that the triumvirate was not able to garner enough support amongst itself to get the bill through. The power of the AFP and SPA had now been set in stone deeper than ever before, and it seemed that former establishment senators were now switching sides as days passed while riots in the cities spread and grew more intense.

The White House struggled as they pondered on what to do next. The perspectives for the future were internal dissent and violence leading up to a contentious election which may decide the fate of the United States for years to come. All fuelled by the presence of the two extremist parties in American politics, who were even arming their own paramilitaries under the counter. President Hoover, with a heavy heart, called for War Plan White to be dusted off in April 12; the plan to deal with domestic insurgencies.

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“There are some principles that cannot be compromised. Either we shall enforce a society based upon ordered liberty and the initiative of the individual, or we shall have a planned society that means dictation no matter what you call it or who does it. There is no half-way ground. They cannot be mixed.”

-President Hoover during the White House meeting in which he approved the Executive Order to call upon War Plan White.

War Plan White established how the United States would fight against political violence at home. During the past years, General MacArthur, who was in the Philippines but held an iron grip on affairs of the armed forces at home, had begun redrafting the plan to deal with the SPA and AFP troublemakers. Among the proposals of his reformed plan was expanding the war industry in the Midwest, an area with little AFP and SPA presence, and dedicating production to infantry equipment, artillery guns, production of the P-26 fighter and the A-17 CAS plane. This plan was supposed to take around two to three years to come into fruition with pre-Black Monday conditions.

When MacArthur returned to the US after the call for War Plan White to be put into motion, he apparently spoke with President Hoover in the White House, and complained that the plan should’ve set in motion earlier. Saying: “The situation at home is so dire that we may face a war in our own soil, between Americans, and we have but eighty thousand soldiers in the field. ”

Hoover meekly nodded. Wondering just how deep this situation would go.

“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”

- General Douglas MacArthur

Other news:

Political gridlock in France after the elections for the Comité de Salut Public of 1936. The most important elections for the Commune leave the country in indecision. During the next few years, it is expected that the Commune will enter negotiations as factions within the Bourse Generale du Travail (BGT) will seek to bring their own into the new government that will form the CSP.

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This did not stop Paris from hosting the First International Congress however, where influential syndicalists from all around the world gathered to discuss the direction of socialism for years to come after a lengthy military parade that showed the world the might of the French Communard army. Chief amongst the issues mentioned by Chairman Benoit Frachon were the situation of North America, Spain and colonialism, along with the processes for accepting new nations into the military alliance of the third internationale, currently composed of the Commune, the Union of Britain and the Socialist Republic of Italy. Leading the talks along with Frachon were Chairman Philip Snowden of the UOB, President Palmiro Tagliatti of the SRI, and, as a surprise for most, British Exchequer Oswald Mosley.

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Afghanistan surrendered to British-Indian troops on March 14, 1936, after around a month of war. Unwilling to add another unruly territory under its dominions, the British were content with taking the lands of Quetta and Peshawar as a buffer zone between Afghani troops and the mainland of the Dominion.
 
The clamour of chaos grows louder.

As to threadmarks, at the bottom of each post he/she makes the thread author will have the following options: Edit Delete Threadmark Report - you want the Threadmark one.
 
Sidestory 1: Eli and the Little Fish (Around the last week of April, 1936)
The clamour of chaos grows louder.

As to threadmarks, at the bottom of each post he/she makes the thread author will have the following options: Edit Delete Threadmark Report - you want the Threadmark one.

Thank you!

As an addendum to the main geopolitical story that's unfolding, I'll also be making 'sidestories'. The common people have a voice too, and in such unstable times in America, there is ground for many stories and rumors. Let me tell you the story of Eli and the Little Fish, an encounter bred by the times of strife in the south.

Eli and the Little Fish

“Get off him, Elijah.” One of the soldiers of the Little Fishes yelled, pointing his Winchester rifle at the man he called out.

Elijah was a member of the Father’s Chosen, one of the many Minutemen units which served as judge, jury and executioners across the wilder reaches of the Deep South. He left the man he was beating on the ground, who coughed up blood and tried as hard as he could to get onto his side, battered and bruised. The Minuteman picked up his M1 Garand from the ground, ignoring the orders the Little Fish was barking.

“I said leave it on the ground! Now!” The little fish yelled again in a thick southern accent.

“What are you gonna do if I don’t? Shoot me? Poor lil’ Huey’s boy wouldn’t hurt no fly.” Elijah said, taunting the kid. He seemed to be 18 at best, probably a tall 16 year old. They’d both been sent to reconnoiter the forest north of Ellijay, where their two units were stationed, far from home back in Alabama for Elijah. Ol’ Oliver, it seems, had hoped that Elijah could convince the kid to join Coughlin’s Boys. Sadly, the kid doesn’t have the right mindset.

“Don’t fuck with me, Eli. You gonna leave that man alone right now and we’re both heading back to headquarters.” The little fish had no intention of lowering his gun, having at his shoulder and just ready to fire.

“Just tell me what your big plan is, kid. You gonna help this bandit keep murdering Americans?” Eli aimed his rifle at the man on the ground. “I say we send him back where he came from, kid. And you can tell the place probably ain’t American.” Eli’s accent showed, his calm, sarcastic demeanor was unsettling to the little fish, who observed the situation in horror.

“Damn it Eli! We don’t even know if he’s an outlaw! Who do you think you are, killing folks for nothin’?!” The little fish cried out, his voice breaking as he felt the shakes from the stress swell up in him. The wounded man was still trying to get up and crawl away as the scene unfolded.

“Nothin’? He’s polluting American ground, kid. And you’re gon’ learn what I do with folks who threaten my family and America.” Eli brought his rifle to his shoulder in quick motion.

“No!” The little fish cried.

A shot fired, then, after a dreadful silence, Eli spat at the dead man then looked at the kid again. “See what I m-“

Another shot fired, and Eli dropped his weapon in surprise and then could only see the red stain spreading in his shirt before taking a few steps back and holding onto a tree. “What did y-“ Eli slumped back and fell, ass first, onto the ground, breathing heavily. “Oh God, please watch over Abby. Please God… please God… Abby…” Then his head slumped over and his light faded from his eyes. The kid, still shaking in his boots as he picked up Eli’s weapons and ammo, swore again and again, wondering how he’d gotten in a mess this deep so quickly. As he marched back to town, he could only utter the words that his mother kept saying whenever she was under duress:

"Lord, have mercy."
- Madison Carver, baker in Atlanta, mother of Jacob Carver, minuteman, Little Fishes unit.
 
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American Democracy, in its present form, is virtually on its deathbed. One well lit spark inside America would likely burn the entire continent
 
4.- Chapter 3: May 20, 1936. (13th of April 1936 – 20th of May 1936)
War Plan White’s preparation was kept secret, but tension could be felt in the air as production kicked into full gear, divisions were trained, and informants of the AFP and SPA gathered intel into this new, sudden belligerent stance by the government.

Another part of General MacArthur's plan to fight against extremism was having Hoover finally accepting the coalition of Republican, Progressive and Democratic parties. Although, unofficially, the alliance was effective ever since its inception in February, the official statement by Hoover and his likeliest successor as head of the party, Floyd B. Olson, fused the three parties into a larger one: The National Unity Party.

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A solemn and unwilling Herbert Hoover announces the creation of the National Unity Party.


This alliance was unceremoniously named the ‘American Triumvirate’ by both America First and the Socialist Party. Their followers’ reaction was fast, and during April, members of both parties entered into congressional bids across their areas of greater support, such as the Steel Belt for the Socialists and the South for America First. In the rest of the American states, tensions grew as the once quiet supporters of the AFP and SPA rose against the supposed tyranny implied by the creation of the National Unity Party.

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But it would be remiss to speak of the conflict between the Establishment and extremism, and not of the conflict existing between the two extremes. Although AFP and SPA usually agreed to the fact that they despised the National Unity Party, they also agreed that they despised each other. Conflict between the two was constant, as followers fought to defend their views against the other extreme. Hotbeds of violence were found in most east coast cities: Philadelphia, Washington and New York City.

This violence escalated during May 1, May Day. A festivity referred to as ‘International Worker’s Day’ by the now defunct Second International, though it is backed by the Third International nonetheless. Reed’s Socialist Party called for workers all around America to protest for the defense of their rights against ‘the bourgeoisie and false patriots of America’. Cities all across the country had demonstrations, which more often than not turned violent, sides blamed each other, but many saw culprits in America First members seeking to set the tension between police and demonstrators aflame. President Hoover was unwilling to let the SPA’s action go unanswered, and blamed them for ‘inciting the average American citizen to go up in arms instead of enjoying a fine holiday free of political squabbles’. Even though urban areas were up in arms, many rural ones instead enjoyed the sun’s warmth and the soothing weather in a rather uneventful spring holiday. Obviously, Congress and Senate would not see the end of the SPA’s complaints over the incidents during May Day.

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May Day syndicalist demonstrations saw an uncommon demonstration of racial unity in American society. A fact that drove Coughlin and Pelley supporters to escalate violence between protester and policeman.

The President’s attention was turned the other way though, as in the May 5, he received reports of military escalation in Central America. Panamanian ‘police’ forces, which were a de facto army controlling much of the government’s affairs, had entered into small shootouts with Costa Rican forces over a territory named ‘Coto’. It had been the casus belli for a war between both nations in 1921, a conflict in which around 35 people died, due to the lack of a defined border between the two nations. Back then, the United States intervened on behalf of corporate lords in Central America and pressured Panama to let go of their claim on Coto and Costa Rica to renounce their claim on Bocas del Toro, a territory of Panama according to the US-defined border of 1914. But, as years passed, Panama was turning more belligerent, and its ‘Policia Nacional’ held more and more of a sway in national matters. Though Panama swiftly backed down from any further violence after a condemnation by Hoover’s administration following the Monroe Doctrine, the elections of 1936 and the elected party therein would inevitably decide the future of the small conflict between the two nations.

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Panamanian democracy was controlled by its police force through threat of coups in case of political actions which may undermine its influence.

This small dispute was largely ignored by the American public, who had more important news reach their ears May 6, barely a day after the Central American conflict; Quentin Roosevelt would be Olson’s Vice President, and brought a proposal to stop the Great Depression with him: The Fair Deal. The politician, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, sought to ensure the education, healthcare and fair employment of all Americans. While the majority of the NUP, including a reluctant President Hoover, praised the Deal, the AFP and SPA swiftly voiced their disapproval. “It is not enough, and will never be enough, to ensure the American worker’s safety from corporate interests.” Exclaimed John Reed in Congress.

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Quentin Roosevelt senior is an expert aviator who followed in his father's footsteps as a politician. After Floyd B. Olson, he was the second most ardent and influential proponent of ensuring American unity through the NUP.

But then came May 20. One of the most contentious days of 1936, and, were it not for what the future held, it could’ve been the most contentious of the decade. Outside America, two events sprung the world out of its tense slumber: The new Chairman of the Trade Unions Congress was none other than the charismatic Oswald Mosley, whose Totalist, anti-German rhetoric had infatuated many in the Congress; and, as reported by German and Communard newspapers: The Second Russian Civil War had officially begun. The first would set the tone of the political reforms of the second most important nation of the Third International: Into a nationalist, centralized view of the state, which should militarize the nation while proudly enthusing of a conflict with Imperialism’s stronghold: the German Empire.

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Many in America, and even in the Syndicalist world, had deemed a Totalist head of state as 'unthinkable'. But Mosley broke all of these expectations barely a few months after Totalism was unveiled to the world.

The second became the new flagship of the cold war between the old ways and new, a giant proxy war amidst the impoverished, still war-torn lands of the Russian state, the figureheads of syndicalism in Russia joined together under Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, a leading radical socialist thinker who had participated in the First International Congress earlier in the year; Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze, an old, pragmatic and unassuming Red Army general with clear Syndicalist views; and the iron-willed and ruthless Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky, who had proclaimed his passion for Totalism not too long after its formation by Mosley and Mussolini. It seems that internal dissent sparked by the Duma’s election of an aristocrat as President of the Republic turned into a full blown revolution as Syndicalist propagandists around the country called for ‘all workers to rise up against the return of Tsarism’. The Whites, as they already called themselves according to German newspapers, were led by the Duma’s elected president, Grand Duke Romanov; old guard generals and influential Pyotr Nikolayevich von Wrangel, nicknamed ‘the Black Baron’, and Anton Ivanovich Denikin; and radical nationalist Lavr Kornilov and his lackey Boris Savinkov.

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The three leaders of the new Russian revolution hold disparate ideals, but were brought together under a renewed Soviet Union which seeks to imitate the UOB and Communard style of government, a worker elected legislative chamber and a chamber elected executive committee. With Bukharin forming the first government of the new bolsheviks.

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The soviet forces were armed and backed by French and British arms for their initial push.


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Grand Duke Dmitry and the Republic's two most influential generals: Lavr Kornilov and Pyotr von Wrangel, took up command of White forces as soon as the conflict began in May 20.

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The huge army of the Russian Republic was underarmed and underfed, but they quickly found themselves recieving German support in the form of arms, soldiers and military advisors.

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“We find there to be no France to pay French debts and no United Kingdom to pay British debts. Soon, we might just find ourselves with no Russia to pay Russian debts, if only for the destruction caused by their new conflict.”

Although economic woes were limited thanks to the already pitiful state of pre-war Russia, who only saw American investors with a risk seeking profile, there were social woes coming. The SPA’s expressed their direct support for the Russian Civil war in Congress, they were reprimanded by the NUP and AFP, but their comments inflamed the hearts of many in America, particularly in Minnesota, which was suffering due to its crumbling iron mining industry, the birthplace of Minnesotan syndicalism, and struggling farmers. In Minneapolis, workers were taking to streets up in arms over their situation, and calling for the SPA to rise as the soviets did.

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Dissenting American workers in Minnesota protested that the SPA was not taking enough action to enact the dream of World Revolution.

President Hoover convened with General MacArthur. After a short discussion, it was swiftly agreed. War Plan White had to be enacted against syndicalism in America, starting with Minnesota.

“Execute War Plan White.”

-General MacArthur speaking to his officers through radio.

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I wonder how long before this powder keg explodes in full.
 
Its very likely that this American Triumvirate is going to be very much like the First Triumvirate, which even includes an American Caesar! ;):p

Of course, said Triumvirate emerged during the final days of the Roman Republic. It seems history is about to repeat itself.