The Second American Revolution

[Methuslah]

The Second American Revolution: A 1936 CSA AAR

The Second American Revolution​

Introduction
In this AAR, I will be playing as the Confederate States of America, starting in 1936. The background was inspired when I noted that America went fascist when event 67 was fired; I assume as the game believes that Germany has defeated the US. My plan: to rebuild the Confederacy, and build a southern bastion of freedom in alliance with California. I have plans for Central America; Cuba and Nicaragua held a fascination for the historical CSA, and I intend to follow that through. Another obvious goal is a route to the Pacific, probably at the expense of Mexico. I've noted several Confederate AARs in the recent past, but I have kept this one as unmodded as possible.

General Notes
The game is played with an unmodded Doomsday 1.2 on Normal/Aggressive. I removed the GIP - which I generally use - to eliminate annoying swastikas for the purposes of this AAR.

Instead of using a mod per se, the Confederacy is created using event '67', which partitions the USA into USA, CSA, Texas and California; not a huge problem as far as I was concerned, as the start-up appeared to justify it. The event creates a rather small Confederacy; problem number one to deal with. I created an additional tech team, the Tredegar Iron Works, designed to help with the creation of infantry. In '36, the Confederacy as it stands is extremely weak in this area. I also made a few slight tweaks to leaders - changing Long to a 'Die Hard Reformist'. I contemplated 'election' events, but decided against it - largely because I planned to stay with Long all the way, and I suspect the Founder of the Confederacy would win his first couple of elections.

In terms of cheats, I used 'freedom' at the start of the game to move the CSA to Social Conservative - simply because this was the setting of the majority of the ministers. I also rejigged things a little; the CSA now favours a small, elite army and is considerably more interventionist, as is California and Texas. Given the circumstances of their birth, the latter seemed to me to be logical.

In my dummy run of the game, I discovered that the USA, even when losing horribly, would not simply surrender the native Confederate states, so I will use 'acceptall' to force it, if it is justified. (Which I term as taking back 80% of said territory and Washington D.C.) The territory in question: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Chattanooga, Fort Smith, Greenville, Jackson, Jonesboro, Memphis, Monroe, Nashville, New Orleans, and Pine Bluff. The AI gives a 10% dissent hit within two days of the game starting for some reason, and I will use 'event 1009' to remove it. Other than that, the game will run as it runs.

Richard

 

[unmerged(55934)]

Sounds great! Will be reading!

 

[Methuslah]

In The Beginning

Throughout 1933-5, dissatisfaction with the Federal Government of the United States grew. Rallies and marches demonstrated against a New Deal that, regrettably; appeared to be failing. The people's hope in democracy was faltering. Behind this agitation - Fritz Kuhn. Fascist, friend of Hitler and Mussolini. With the backing of prominent industrialists, and individuals such as J. Edgar Hoover, the dissent grew. Until finally, in late November 1935, the end came. An army of a hundred thousand American Fascists descended on the capital, and demanded the resignation of President Roosevelt, and calling of a special convention of the Supreme Court to name a new President. After the use of Director Hoover's black files, the man they appointed - was Fritz Kuhn.

President Fritz Kuhn, taken at his inauguration.​

The French, British and Canadian governments all expressed alarm at this turn of events; Canada even threatened to end relations, and openly began to accept refugees. Mexico was bought off by some quick loans, and the German, Italian and Portuguese governments openly welcomed the new President; Hitler and Mussolini would both make appearances in Washington in the near future.

 

[Methuslah]

December 1935
President Kuhn's first act was to suspend Congress and the Senate, sending in the National Guard - by now thoroughly dominated by the Fascists - to remove the members. Some agreed to become American Fascists; others refused, and joined President Roosevelt in Canada, where a government-in-exile was forming. In New England, and across the Midwest, the FBI began to round up suspected troublemakers, and established internment camps in Maryland. Once there, many did not return.

Fascist National Guard, marching through Wilmington.​

The state governors faced major dilemmas. They were unaware to what extent their staffs had been infiltrated, but secret discussions began. The general decision: prepare the National Guard - what they could of it - and ready a surprise attack on Washington. Much of the Regular Army concurred. On Christmas Day 1935, a final meeting was held to plan the campaign. The meeting, at the Delaware State House, was raided. Governor Buck was publicly executed as a traitor, the next morning.

Governor C. Douglass Buck, taken shortly before his arrest.​

 

[Thistletooth]

Your first three posts are in your own AAR? Are you a long-time lurker, or just a casual HoI gamer who up and felt like writing something late one night?

 

[Methuslah]

I'm a long, long, long-time lurker. Two years or so, in fact! The reason I bought the original HoI - then II, then Doomsday - was looking at this forum and reading the AARs. I finally decided to write one of my own.

Next part coming up...

Richard

 

[Vann the Red]

Wow. Very interesting start. Can't wait to see how this develops.

Vann

 

[Methuslah]

Liberation Day
Many prominent anti-fascist leaders were now imprisoned - and imprisoned in such a way as to seriously damage their cause. The Regular Army switched sides, many electing to join the Fascists. Secretly, they estimated that they might be able to take over the system from within, though they underestimated the effect of the Fascist takeover. With many newspapers on the side of President Kuhn, public opinion began to slip. The fact that the stock market made considerable gains - prodded by many businessmen behind the aborted coup of 1933 - also led to a positive reaction.

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister King, December 29th, 1935​

In the South and West, however, Fascism had failed to take root. The Governors of seven states - Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, California and Texas met in Winnipeg, in a secret meeting with President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King on December 30th. There they came to a fateful decision. The United States must break. California and Texas would become independent; the remainder would unite under prominent anti-fascist Earl Long as a new Confederate States of America. Quietly, British and Canadian support was assured for the new nations. They could also expect some co-operation from the regular army of the USA, which would at least agree to stall President Kuhn as much as possible, in terms of a military build-up.

And on January 3rd, in the Confederate White House in Richmond, Earl Long made the speech that would go down in history.

Confederate White House​

"All that it takes for evil to conquer is for good to be inactive. Gentlemen of the South, we have been inactive too long. If the United States will willingly accept the jackboot of Fascist Oppression, we will not! My friends, America will - it must! - break! Governors Ehringhaus, Johnston, Sholtz, Peery and Talmedge - as well as the leaders of the relevant state legislatures - have all agreed that this will be so. Hence, as of now, the Confederacy is reborn! Men of the South, I call on you to rise!"

 

[Thistletooth]

Mistah prezdunt, Ah propose that our fuhrst motion be to construct ahsehlves a bettuh Whaite Hause. Ahfta all, one can not conqua' the wahld witha't a little mo' stai'l.

 

[Methuslah]

I think it looks a little better from the other side.

 

[Methuslah]

The Rising
Within less than six hours of secession, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands recognized the CSA, Texas and California as independent states. The remainder of the free world would follow in dribs and drabs, but these were the important ones. With the support of Britain and France, a quick invasion was out of the question - not that the U.S. Army was capable of conducting one. In the key cities of the Confederacy, street parties erupted. Old war songs - not heard in this spirit for seventy years - were sung in the streets, and radio announcers found near-unanimous support for the war among the people. It seemed strange that as little as two months ago, secession would not even have been thought of, but now was a practical reality. Yet, there were natural objections. In Wilmington, anti-Long groups rioted, sealing off the town for a week before the police regained control. Tampa, Charleston and Rivington broke down completely, the criminal element taking over - no doubt encouraged by Kuhn.

Street fighting in Tampa, January 5th, 1936​

Other problems faced the new Confederate government. The US Constitution was hastily modified to serve as that of the new Confederacy temporarily; it was accepted that a Constitutional Convention would be an urgent necessity. Government itself was another problem; for the moment, the President ruled essentially alone. Senators and Congressmen from the Southern States were called to Richmond for urgent conference; but many had been imprisoned or had fled the country in November. And it would be two weeks before they could meet.

At this point, the fledgling nation was shaky, and faced another blow. Inspection of the National Guard armouries revealed that the weapons had been destroyed, presumably by Kuhn loyalists. The State governors, debating over wireless, elected that the only option was to strip down the National Guard and rebuild from the bottom-up. The majority of the rioting had been led by Guardsmen, officer and enlisted alike. And an army controlled by Kuhn was worse than no army at all - especially without guns. Britain and France rushed to prepare convoys of modern equipment to dispatch to Miami, and the Tredegar Iron Works began to tool up; but it would be at least four months until the first equipment would arrive. And six months before the first new divisions could be ready. As the first week of independence ended, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said to his Cabinet.

"To paraphrase a predecessor of mine; the Confederacy has no army, no navy, but they have that more important thing, a nation."

 

[Vann the Red]

Nice line. Please liberate my native Tennessee from the Fascists soon!

Vann

 

[Methuslah]

The Crash Heard Round the World

January 7th, 1936.
Richmond Airfield

The bored young policeman rested on his stick, and wondered why on earth he was sitting here. The Yankees had flown all their planes out before Liberation Day, and he was guarding an empty stretch of tarmac, and a few empty hangars. Nothing at all but...

A buzz could be heard in the air. Growing louder and louder, but with occasional stutters. There was something, something in the sky. A small dot, growing closer. The policeman ran to the telephone and called out the guard - such as it was. A siren began to sound out, warning of a possible air raid. AA guns - none. Surprising they'd left the siren. The burring grew closer and closer - some sort of aeroplane. The captain of the guard - and the only member present - ran forward with his telescope. A small monoplane, looked to be in a bad way. Riddled with machine gun holes, and the tail almost off. It would take a miracle for that pilot to get down in one piece.

Suddenly, with a squeal of rubber, a limousine sped onto the runway from the road. Inside - the President himself. Snapping a quick salute as the President ran out of the car, he quickly began to chase him onto the tarmac. For a brief second, the plane seemed to hold still in mid-air, as if the elements were deciding whether or not to dash the pilot to the ground. They did.

The flames licked up as the pilot threw himself out of the plane, and ran towards the President. The explosion of the fuel tanks singed them both, and threw them to the deck. But the important thing - the blueprints - had survived.

"Welcome to the Confederacy, Brigadier General Walker!"

 

[Vann the Red]

Splendid post. Loved the action. As my uncle taught me, any landing you walk away from is a good one. If they can reuse the plane, it was a great one.

Vann

 

[GeneralHannibal]

This is a great AAR, could you show a map of what it looks like.

 

[Methuslah]

Thanks Vann! I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's proving to be a blast to write, and I'm beginning to work in one of my POV characters. As for maps, General...

Richard

 

[Methuslah]

Diary of Brigadier General Kenneth Walker, Chief of the Air Force, CSA

January 12th, 1936

Today I attended my first Cabinet meeting.

Words I never thought I'd write in this diary. In the USAAF, there is no way - absolutely no way - that I would have ever risen this far, even before Kuhn's coup. But now...it's like a dream. A new nation, a new start. And a new Air Force! President Long completely agreed with my request, and Admiral Bourne actually went along with it. So - the Confederacy has an independent Air Force. I only hope that, as I expect, the organisational gains from this move will outweigh the superiority of the USAAF. Not to mention the question of whether I can order my men to shoot at people they have flown alongside for decades.

So, the meeting. Secretary Williams reported, unsurprisingly, that the CSA has been recognized by more than a dozen nations already; Central America is sewn up, as is Europe. Texas and California are supplying us with oil, in exchange for cotton - though we must build up our stockpiles, for a war will cut those lines first. Britain - god bless her - is supplying us with specie. Again in exchange for cotton, though at a pretty good rate. Which means the Confederate dollars they're printing are actually going to be worth something.

The key issue, of course, is the military. General Graves confirmed our worst suspicions; the armouries have been ransacked and pillaged. We're starting from scratch; however, the Tredeger Iron Works is producing equipment at quite a rate. But no Infantry divisions until August, at best - possibly as late as October. And with both manpower and industrial constraints, we can only create and equip one division every fifty days. I reckon the US could do it in five. Some good news, though; the French Ministry of War has agreed to train some of our boys in the latest General Staff tactics. It'll be a few months, but we'll have a modern HQ unit to form the core of our Army of Northern Virginia. The British have agreed to construct our transport fleet in the Clyde, and they should be ready - enough to transport six divisions - by January next. Poor Admiral Bourne was a bit upset to learn that his fleet - until at least 1939 - will be mostly transports!

As for the air force - good news and bad news. The good news is that the blueprints I stole from the Pentagon are complete; Langley's working on turning out a prototype now. In the last war, ground battles were aided immeasurably by aerial co-ordination; with these Close Air Support craft, I reckon the same will be true in the next one. After that, some interceptors. By 1938, the Confederacy should have an air force worthy of the name; Secretary Holland thinks that we're better equipped to tool out planes than we are men, and he could be right about that. Those dullards back in Washington are still living in the nineteenth century; they've got no respect for air power. President Long, on the other hand...

He's got plans. Some were outlined at the meeting. We're taking back Tennessee and Louisiana; I get the impression the latter state is personal for him. That's by 1939. April 9, 1939, the plan is we go to war. God help us be ready by then, and the Fascists not. Nicaragua, as well, probably; we need a foothold in Central America to match Panama, and the opposition leaders apparently have no problem with us moving in. The Philippines are out; no chance of us having a navy capable of getting there for a very long time; and I understand we have a tacit agreement to leave the Pacific to the Californians. Cuba is a possibility; they're getting close to Kuhn's government and could be a serious threat in the Caribbean. Admiral Bourne is drawing up attack plans now, though I personally doubt we can be ready much before 1939. Another is Liberia. We're hearing rumours; Kuhn is vigorously racist, and the safety of him having an African nation in his thrall is doubtful. If we can, I reckon we'll go in.

Who would have thought - the Confederate States of America going to war to free the slaves.

Who would have thought of the Confederate States of America.

The Confederate States of America, c. 1936​

North America, c.1936​

 

[Vann the Red]

The partitions didn't really hit me until I looked at the map. How did Texas get so little of Texas? And, maybe even more surprising, how is Mississippi not in the CSA?

Nice change from history book to narrative. I like this guy, especially his closing lines.

Vann

 

[Spitfire_Pilot]

I hope you load the game up as all of those nations and just demand the territory, because the area they own is so little. Except Calfornia, thier claims are huge ! :rofl:

 

[Methuslah]

Texas is somewhat small, I agree; still an oil powerhouse, but it should have at least four more provinces. We'll have to work on that one. As for Mississippi, I agree entirely; second state to join the original confederacy should certainly be in this one. In terms of the game, I'm assuming that the Governors of Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana turned Fascist, and ended up supporting Kuhn. Not entirely realistic, but that's what the event gives. (I suspect that, as the event assumes German control, the states would be far larger if any nation other than the US was in control. At least California comes off reasonably well.)

As for General Walker - I'm not sure why he's the Confederate Chief of the Air Force (born in Denver, lived in Washington) but as far as I'm concerned he's an excellent choice. One of the less well known heroes of World War II.