Random ideas thread

[Strategos' Risk]

* With the terrible civil disorder going on in the U.S., would it be possible for African-Americans to become radicalized in the process, causing the rise of Marcus Garvey's black separatist movement, with the goal of either carving out their own state in the South (New Afrika, opposed by the AUS and tacitly supported by the CSA), or of having a mass exodus out of the wartorn U.S. and back to Africa?

*Futurism becomes an important ideology in some circles, becoming a (far weaker) analogue to fascism? Which is different from national populism, because that's even more of an umbrella term than an actual ideology.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

*No CCP in China, but a left-wing revolutionary faction still may rise up- syndicalists, anarchists, etc.

*Colombia/Andean states form an alliance roughly aligned with the Entente, to counter the Brazil-Bolivia Syndicalist alliance and the Santiago-Buenos Aires Axis that is aligned with Mitteleuropa.

 

[unmerged(169228)]

Let me give my opinion on these matters (note that my opinion isn't nessecarily the opinion of the Kaiserreich team):

- Most Afro-American activists are part of the CSA already, so no need for New Africa IMO. Also, note that Huey Long wasn't openly racist and actively opposed the KKK. Furthermore, Africa isn't exactly waiting for immigrants, with National France, Mitteleuropa and South Africa not being the most enlightened regimes in the world.

- Futurism sounds like a school of arts that could flourish in syndicalist countries, but fascism is dead (never born actually). The closest analogies to fascism would be Mussolini's national-syndicalism.

- The syndicalist ideology is heavily oriented on the industrialized western nations, support of skilled labourers and the existence of trade unions. I think it would struggle in China for that reason. The Shanqqing cultists would fill the gap IMO. The syndies could win some support in the Legationist cities perhaps?

- This is in fact something where working on right now. The idea is to have the major alliances fight a proxy war in South America. Colombia would be themain state backed by the Entente too.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

Thanks for the replies! I hope you don't mind if I put other random ideas here in the future.

1. Which bloc does Venezuela lean towards? Are they neutral?

2. Maybe while the traditional ROC takes up root in the Algostasien GmbH, syndicalists/anarchists/leftists are the ones stirring up trouble in the Legationist cities. So even if the colonialists are kicked out, China is still divided against itself.

3. Will the AUS be more fleshed-out in the future? I'm still trying to wrap my head around what an American regressive, corporatist state would look like. It seems like they're basically a mixed group of nuts, ideologically speaking.

 

[unmerged(169228)]

Feel free to post any ideas you might have here. Same goes for anyone else. Many developers browse these pages and might get some inspiration from them.

- I'm not sure. I believe current Venezuela can go syndie, but that the new setup would place them in the Entente's camp.
- We're working on China, and a developer had about the same idea posted here. If syndicalism takes root in China, it would be among theLegation Cities or ROC supporters.

- The AUS will be fleshed out more. Expect a state organized among Fascist Italy's lines (Parliament and Chamber of Corporations), but with several factions fighting for power. From the top of my head there will be a pro Long-faction (Lawrence Dennis, Gerald K Smith), a dictatorial faction (Fritz Kuhn), a Paternal Autocrat faction (Coughlin) and a democratic faction (Lindberg, Kennedy Sr.). Long will be HoS in all cases.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

I think I'd like to suggest more AUS personalities for possible addition in the future. I think for syndicalist parties it's fairly straightforward (just see whomever was a leftist agitator at the time), but the AUS is a bit more tricky, especially since as you say Long was not openly racist- was he even racist at all? Some suggestions:

• William Lemke, the Union Party's actual nominee in 1936
• Francis Parker Yockey, neo-Nazi intellectual and author of the infamous Imperium- he had interesting theories about cultures and was an ex-Marxist, so he's more than yet another virulent racist and anti-Semite
• George Sylvester Viereck, whom I guess could be the German equivalent of Ezra Pound in those Mosley/Nazis take over Britain scenarios.
• William Dudley Pelley, founder of the Silver Legion

 

[^_AC_^]

If I'm not wrong, I've already included all of them as ministers for the AUS.
Long was not a racist, as far as I know he even exchanged deadthreats with members of the Ku Klux Klan.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

Wait, Yockey is in there? Now that's comprehensive!

What about Milo Reno, founder of the Farmers' Holiday Association?

From Huey Long's Wikipedia page:

Long biographers T. Harry Williams and William Ivy Hair speculated that the senator never intended to run for the presidency in 1936. Long instead planned to challenge Roosevelt for the Democratic nomination in 1936, knowing he would lose the nomination but gain valuable publicity in the process. Then he would break from the Democrats and form a third party using the Share Our Wealth plan as a basis for its program. He also planned to use Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest and populist talk radio personality from Royal Oak, Michigan; Iowa agrarian radical Milo Reno; and other dissidents. The new party would run someone else as its 1936 candidate, but Long would be the primary campaigner. This candidate would split the progressive vote with Roosevelt, thereby resulting in the election of a Republican as president but proving the electoral appeal of Share Our Wealth. Long would then run for president as a Democrat in 1940. In the spring of 1935, Long undertook a national speaking tour and regular radio appearances, attracting large crowds and increasing his stature.

 

[^_AC_^]

Milo Reno and William Lemke are already included in current version. Francis Parker Yockey and George Sylvester Viereck will be included in next version (already planned).
William Pelley has been considered, but discarded (he was a minister for USA but will be removed).

Thanks for your suggestions, by the way. We appreciate it.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

Are there people missing from this list or people involved in the Business Plot?

 

[^_AC_^]

Most of them are not included. Here's a quick overview:
- Seward Collins: could be included, perhaps Coughlin's faction;
- Virgil Effinger: will not be included (KKK);
- William Joyce: already used by UoB;
- Joe McWilliams: doesn't feel good to me, I can't see him in the AUS;
- Robert Rice Reynolds: could be included, don't know in which faction, perhaps none at all (or maybe in the USA?);
- Tom Metzger: will not be included (young and KKK);
- Edith Starr Miller and Almeric Paget: belong to the UoB IMHO;
- John W. Davis / Hugh Samuel Johnson / James Harbord / Thomas W. Lamont / Hanford MacNider: belongs to the USA IMHO (maybe FlyingDutchie can use them?);

 

[JRHINDO]

- The syndicalist ideology is heavily oriented on the industrialized western nations, support of skilled labourers and the existence of trade unions. I think it would struggle in China for that reason. The Shanqqing cultists would fill the gap IMO. The syndies could win some support in the Legationist cities perhaps?

Farming Unions and Maoism? (Replacing the factory workers of communism with peasants)

 

[Strategos' Risk]

* Fascism existent or not, OTL's early half of the century was a time where racialist theories such as Social Darwinism, eugenics, and so on were in vogue. Where did those memes go, if it didn't become part of fascism? As I recall, some Scandinavian nations, even though they were all staunchly social democratic, incorporated some eugenicist identities. Does this mean there will be a dark side to certain syndicalist ideologies? Or other ideologies.

* I think maybe to the left of the Lindbergh/JPK democrat faction, the AUS should have a workers'/farmers' populist faction behind men like Milo Reno, who are supportive of the Kingfish's Share Our Wealth policies but want more protection. All done outside of a syndicalist framework, of course, they try to show themselves as an alternative but unfortunately still can't escape accusations of crypto-syndicalism.

* More possible rogues for the AUS villains' gallery (this is a list of people and parties associated with the American First Committee of OTL). Note the presence of the Ethiopian-Pacific League.

 

[JRHINDO]

* Fascism existent or not, OTL's early half of the century was a time where racialist theories such as Social Darwinism, eugenics, and so on were in vogue. Where did those memes go, if it didn't become part of fascism?...

lol meme

 

[Vidboy10]

I thought of changing some of the flags in KR...
Like for example..

-Prussia, from what I've known, the flag in the current version was used under a Kingdom, not a republic, I thought of using a Latvian styled flag instead of deep red it would be Prussian black.

-North German Federation, I mean, Come on... Thats not a flag for a republic, thats a revolution flag! If we could get a good flag like this, I think also the name "North German Federation" doesnt really fit due the fact there already was a NGF, I think a resurrect of Hanover would be a cooler idea.

 

[Leon_Corona]

More mexican involvement in the 2nd ACW. I knew Reed? has some talks with syndy mexico, so i cant imagine why they wouldnt further pursue the event chain. I did make some mexico events, you guys are more than welcome to modify them however you want. -Leon

 

[unmerged(214224)]

With regards to syndicalism in China, isn't the Wuchang Revolution event essentially syndicalist? After all, it's instigated by workers, and according to the text in the event that you're not supposed to see in normal play, the newly-formed Republican China is fighting for workers' rights. Which makes sense, considering how heavily industrialised the Chinese southern coast is. Only thing is, that the Wuchang Revolution doesn't set political sliders - they retain the same ideology as the AOG when liberated. It wouldn't take much to tweak the event just a bit so that they're automatically set to Radical Socialist when released.

(Plus there's the fact that, as a revolter, Republican China is inherently left-wing.)

 

[Strategos' Risk]

I personally would prefer if the ROC was distinct from syndicalist movements. Keeps things more interesting, mirroring our world; after the Germans are kicked out, who then gets to govern China? The ROC, a separate workers' revolt, Shangqing Tianguo, or some warlord? Civil war time!

* Are there formal events for "Cuba becomes the Taiwan of the AUS" results that I've seen in AARs? That is, if the AUS gets taken over, do Long and his government flee to Havana and set up shop there, becoming possible ministers for Cuba? If not, that sequence could be interesting, with the AUS meddling in Cuban politics, attempting to establish a unitary state there with long-term plans of recapturing mainland America.

 

[JRHINDO]

I personally would prefer if the ROC was distinct from syndicalist movements. Keeps things more interesting, mirroring our world; after the Germans are kicked out, who then gets to govern China? The ROC, a separate workers' revolt, Shangqing Tianguo, or some warlord? Civil war time!

I have some more ideas to maybe make things more interesting: RoC go Syndie, join the international or not. RoC go Democratic, can join the entente or can join a democratic japan to free SE asia from imperialism (oh the irony) or try to stay neutral and possibly face a civil war like you suggested.

 

[Strategos' Risk]

I guess if you think about it the KMT-CCP feud was technically a ROC civil war in OTL. Your suggestions would work pretty well.