As I stated before, direct annexation of new territories has been out of fashion for quite a while in the US at this time. Indeed, the last time the US did that was in the Spanish American War and even then, the largest piece of real estate gained, the Philippines was not intended to be a permanent acquisition, or at least our rhetoric implied it wasn't. If we were fighting in the Pacific, the United States might seek to gobble up some Pacific Islands with low populations and high strategic value. Europe, however, is a different story. The populations are large, fiercely nationalistic, and it would serve no strategic interest to annex them. Mexico was the only thing that might have been annexed and since we didn't do that in the First Mexican American War when we totally could have, it shows that the United States doesn't really want that territory to be directly annexed.
Personally, this is honestly my best guess. America is now going to be the sole superpower for a long time as it is the only country to come out of the war with a booming economy, a massive military, and a homeland relatively undamaged from the scars of the war. While it is true Russia might also meet those criterion, they also have shown no interest in exerting themselves internationally yet while the US has. While I expect their isolation would not last forever in this timeline, I think that the massive head start enjoyed by the US will mean that by the time it does break its isolation, they will have a lot of catching up to do. Best case scenario, they become like today's Russia and China, who are only recently getting to point where they can seriously challenge US influence. Worst case scenario, they wind up as a Great Power with the ability to exert massive influence when they want, but with no capability to seriously threaten the United States. Indeed, seeing as the United States has no real rival immediately after the end of the war, as we did in our timeline, I think the modern day US might wind up being even more powerful in this timeline then in our timeline.
Japan is a regional power at best in this timeline. They have Manchuria and the Russian Far East, but did not really move to seize any of the German colonies when they easily could have, nor did they make any move for Hawaii. As such, I would say their opportunity to become a true world power has come and went as, if they had seized those colonies along with the Dutch West Indies, then moved to seize control of China, they might actually of had the strength to challenge Russia and America and be a Third Superpower and somethng of a wild card in this world. However, with this opportunity gone and America and the Entente likely looking very unfavorably on any further attempts at Japanese expansion, they are at best, stuck with what they already have. Also, keep in mind that they still have Transamur and that the Russians could decide to make something of that. Unless the United States intervene to stop that war, Russia would steamroll them. If that happens, Japan is going to be sent reeling and it could take a while for them to recover. If they can hold onto what they have or manage to recover from the shock of a war with Russia, they might do what OTL Japan did and poor all of their efforts into becoming an economic superpower. If they keep their empire, I see them being a counterweight between the Russians and Americans, with neither side really willing to attack them for fear of bringing the other in or upsetting the balance too much.
Russia, as discussed above, is an economic power and a sleeping giant militarily but as long as it doesn't rouse itself, it will never truly rival the Americans in that regard. Personally, I do not see their influence extending much farther then Eastern Europe at best, and that is if Germany allows its puppets to drift into their orbit. America might not care if they extend their control over the Caucasus, having little influence their and no real interests in the region. Combine this with the regions proximity to Russia, and I don't see America really raising a stink if Russia decided to absorb Don Kuban and possibly not even if they decide to gobble up Georgia, Armenia, or Azerbaijan. Central Asia is likely a similar case, no real American influence or interests and no real way to project power into the region to stop them, so that might also be gobbled up. If they go for Japan, I could easily see America getting nervous and America would be easily able to project power into the region to stop them. I also don't really see expansion into the Middle East or Turkey being allowed to happen in this timeline, as America would very much object to Russia getting too much power in this way and gaining too much control over the world's oil supply. Also, remember, nobody has nukes yet, as far as I know, in this timeline so there would likely be a lot less reluctance for the Great Powers to line up against each other if one of them starts getting too big for its breeches.
Russia does have an undamaged economy, but their economy was never as strong as the US's in the first place and by the time the War ends, I have actually fully developed all of my states to the point where they literally can't hold any factories anymore. Also, my consumer goods factory requirement is currently zero so i have access to all of my civilian factories. As you can tell from the screenshots above, my factory count is currently at over 500. As such, Russia at the moment I am actually more of an economic power then I ever was before the Civil War. That being said, if Russia spends the next 50 years developing their economy, they might eventually manage to start catching up, but unless American economic development stagnates eventually, I don't see Russia overtaking them anytime soon.
As for Japan, I think your assessment is accurate. The only way it could stand up to either Russia or America is if it yells to the other one for help and in the case of Russia, Russia is not going to do that for free, almost certainly demanding former Russian territory be returned to them. Economically, they are in a decent position to become very strong due to not engaging in many big wars.
If I am not mistaken, it is Annie Kenney who is leading the UK so their will be no boup in this timeline.
Victorious indeed. I personally think this treatment of Reed is the most likely way for him to go out. Roosevelt doesn't really gain anything from throwing the book at him, so why risk opening that old wound again.
thanks a lot.
As regards this discussion, i don't really see a Fourth Internationale being a thing. Gandhi is not really into the whole "World Revolution" thing and is more interested in India and its own growth, prosperity, and unity. Considering he only just reunified the country, he is likely going to be spending most of his time and energy developing it and not really caring about exporting the Revolution. Brazil is also not really a worthy rival the US, especially not alone. Best case scenario, they become China, where they are socialist, but the rest of the World doesn't really care too much and everyone just does business. Worst case scenario, they become like Cuba, exporting the Revolution where they can with their limited resources but, making themselves a nuisance, but not one worth destroying. Cuba also funded a lot of Communist Revolutions but didn't have the resources to flip any major countries like the Soviet Union did. I see Brazil as being the same way if it decided to export the World Revolution. Also, as Bored Student points out Democrats were traditionally the more interventionist party in this timeline, as it was a Democratic President that led us into both World Wars. TR and his wing wanted to join the war, but they were the outliers in this regard when it came the Republicans. The Republicans were the party that mostly wanted the United States to stay out of European Affairs, voting against Lend-Lease and not supporting the League of Nations.
I will be honest, I didn't even catch the Hannibal reference till you mentioned it otherwise I would have stated it myself. I also agree that generally it is a bad idea to reopen old wounds. Had Reed been caught right after the war, I think the book might have gotten thrown at him but by now, tempers have largely had time to cool and their is no need to add new fuel to the syndicalist fire. I also do agree that the Democrats supporting more foreign involvement is a surprise, but I think Roosevelt might have been expecting them to oppose him just for the sake of being contrarian. I also agree with your assessment of India and Brazil. Both of them are likely not to actively challenge America in any meaningful name.
I have to agree. Germany is no longer going to be the power it once was and, while Russia might eventually rise to rival America, that is a long way off.
With active combat operations in the Weltkrieg now finished, The truly difficult work was now poised to begin. That was, of course, the job of sorting out a peace treaty that would not just sow the seeds for another conflict down the road. After the blood and horror of this most recent conflict, pretty much all of the European countries were completely spent and not in any shape to fight a round 3 and in even less of a mood to. Worse, the First Weltkrieg had showed everyone what happened when you made a bad peace after a war of this scale. As a result, when the delegates from the various nations arrived in Paris to work out the peace treaty, all of them agreed that this must be a lasting peace which all of the vicotrs could agree on. As such, it was agreed that they would adopt a rule that any peace deal to come out of this conference must have the unanimous approval of all the nations in attendance.
While virtually every nation sent delegates to the peace conference, most of the discussions of any serious importance were mostly dominated by Five men at the conference: America President Quentin Roosevelt, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the French Emperor Napoleon IV and German Chancellor Paul von Lettow Vorbeck, and Italian King Amadeo II. Of these men, Roosevelt, by virtue of having the largest army remaining in the field, loomed the largest in discussions. That being said, he was keenly aware that this could not simply be an American peace, as that could breed resentment among the other nations. As such, he took great pains to set himself up not as a bully, but as the voice of reason and peacemaker, seeking to use his influence to end conflicts between the other parties at the conference. This was a role he was ideally suited to play as his nation's strong position meant that whichever side he backed in a debate was almost certain to have the advantage.
King, for his part, was by far the most moderate of the people present at the conference. His only real goal was to see the British Isles once again under the control of the British crown. While King Edward had initially wanted to push for the return of certain British African colonies and the Suez canal, King was against the idea, believing Germany had no real reason to give that territory up. With the dropping of these demands, that meant that all the territory the Canadians wanted, Great Britain, was not being actively contested by anyone. This left him free to join Roosevelt in playing the part of mediator between the often at loggerheads Napoleon IV and Vorbeck.
Vorbeck, for his part, was under no illusions to the relative weakness of Germany's bargaining position. While Germany had been able to stay in the fight and secure control of much of Eastern and Central Europe, it was still militarily weak and in no position to make extravagant demands. While Vorbeck knew that Germany still commanded a lot of strength and prestige, he was also firmly aware that its days of superpowerdom were over, at least for now. What he worried about, therefore, was that Germany was in danger of slipping out of the ranks of the Great Powers entirely and being reduced to a second rate power eternally waxing nostalgic about the good old days when all was glory. In order to prevent this, Vorbeck had set as his goal asserting Germany's position as a Great Power on equal standing with any of the nations present, with the possible exception of America. He was willing to make concessions where he needed to, but only in exchange for compensatory gains elsewhere and only when the lands given up had no real value to the Germans.
King Amadeo II in turn, had come to the meeting with his own list of very specific demands. in particular, he mainly wished for the other nations to recognize his claims to Trentino, Istria, Trieste, and Carinthia. These regions had been former Austrian territory that the Italians had always contested with Austria and, with the defeat of Austria, they had been placed under French and Austrian control. When France attacked Italy, Italy had overrun the French Balkan possessions and had annexed these regions in order to satisfy their territorial ambitions. While Italy stated its willingness to give up the rest of this territory, they blatantly refused to do so unless their claims to these specific territories were recognized.
Napoloen IV was by far the most troublesome of the four, being overly fond of making bellicose statements and overly ambitious demands of the other powers, often needing to be reigned in by either King, Roosevelt, or both. Indeed, in the opening statements, he even began by trying to stake a claim to all of the territory that the Commune of France had annexed from Germany. When informed by all the parties involved that this was a completely unacceptable solution, he reduced his demands to simply demanding all land west of the Rhine, claiming the Rhine River to be the "Natural border of France". This proved totally unacceptable to both King and Vorbeck, as it would essentially involve the annexation of Belgium and Luxemboug along with vast swathes of western Germany and the Netherlands. King found the idea of French control of Belgium and the Netherlands completely unacceptable and, while Vorbeck was willing to make some territorial concessions if need be, that was far to much and would constitute handing over large chunks of the German industrial heartland to the French. It was at this point that an exasperated Roosevelt stepped in and informed Napoleon that he would not give his support to this deal. The whole Napoleonic concept of the "Natural Borders of France" was an archaic idea with no grounding in reality that would give France control of large swaths of land that did not speak French and over which France had no real claim. In addition, he found it unlikely that the Dutch, Flemish, and Germans over which France would now have control would simply meekly accept their new overlords, leading to even more instability. He therefore stated he was willing to entertain discussions about French control of Alsace-Lorraine, over which France actually had a claim, but nothing beyond that. It was at this point that Napoleon IV finally relented and agreed to moderate his demands to simply those regions.
Almost immediately, Vorbeck voiced his belief that the issue of Alsace-Lorraine should be put to a plebiscite. This was the third time that France and Germany had fought over the region and Vorbeck believed it to be the strongest point of contention between the two nations. Therefore, he was strongly of the opinion that an amicable solution should be reached that could be agreed upon by all sides in the conflict. Napoleon IV immediately voiced his objection. German arms had lost the region to the Commune of France and it had been French and American arms that recovered and still held it. Alsace-Lorraine, he claimed, was and always had been French territory and why should France give it up. Roosevelt personally favored the idea of plebiscite, stating it was the fairest way to resolve this issue. This, however, enraged Napoleon, who viewed it as a betrayal from his allies and threatened to walk out of the negotiations, withdrawing from the Entente completely if his demands were not recognized.
Almost immediately, Roosevelt and King sensed a ploy here by Napoleon. Napoleon's early demands had made absolutely no sense, as there was no real way he would ever have been given the territory he initially claimed and now, this bald refusal to accept moderation. This prompted Roosevelt to suspect that Napoleon was actually playing a different game here. Napoleon had never liked being forced to accept a status as a Constitutional Monarch and had only done so because it had been the only way to get American assistance for the war. This in turn, led Roosevelt to think that maybe Napoleon had intended to get shot down all along. This would, in turn, give him the excuse he needed to withdraw from the Entente, claiming that the other nations were slighting France and refusing to honor the sacrifice of Imperial French men from the war. Indeed, by trying to hold onto this one shred of territory that the Commune had seized that many actually recognized as French territory, he might even endear himself to his new subjects in Metropolitan France. In turn, this withdrawal from the Entente would allow him to void the treaty wherein he agreed to rule as a Constitutional Monarch, allowing him to return to his preferred form of absolutism and, with the Americans having already freed France in his name, there would be little they could do about this. While it was true the other nations could try to force him to comply to the treaty or hand over his occupied lands with force of arms, he calculated, probably correctly, that all of the other nations would be too exhausted and uninterested to really bother with doing that. Indeed, if they demanded the territory under threat of war, he could potentially make a big show about how France was being bullied and taken advantage of, cough up those territories he didn't really want, and use the argument that France was surrounded by rivals who wanted to weaken her to rally even more support for his regime. Indeed, the only nation really in a position to force anything on him right now were the Americans, and he doubted they would be eager for another war, this time with a former ally, over something that to them, would seem so trivial. While he was aware that such a move would ruin his relationship with Canada, who would feel betrayed, the US, who would feel used, and Germany, who would feel cheated, Napoleon didn't really seem to care as none of those nations were especially likely to attack him. Indeed, even if the other nations forced a plebiscite on him, he had every reason to believe that the people there would vote to become French, thus letting him keep both his absolute power and Alsace-Lorraine. Thus, in truth, Napoleon IV would not be risking anything he didn't care to lose by this gambit and might actually score some political points at home for his willingness to stand up to the other nations.
The more they thought about this, the more this all started to make entirely too much sense to Roosevelt and King. Not wanting to risk playing right into Napoleon IV's hands, Roosevelt and King met with Vorbeck and shared their suspicions with him. Upon hearing the argument put forth by them, Vorbeck also thought that this might be exactly what was going on. Eager to stop this power play, Roosevelt asked if there were any conditions under which Germany would be willing to accept the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Vorbeck paused for a moment and said that their just might be. After conferring with the Kaiser and the rest of the German cabinet, Vorbeck came back with a deal. Germany would be willing to renounce all claims to Alsace-Lorraine if France agreed to demilitarize the region, with Germany also agreeing to demilitarize the Rhineland should they agree, and allowed for free border access. This, however, was not the only demand. While Germany was willing to renounce the claim to Alsace-Lorraine, they were not willing to do so unless they were adequately compensated for the loss by territorial gain elsewhere. Initially, the discussion was made about possibly handing over the Sudetenland, but as this had limited value in comparison to Alsace-Lorraine and could damage Roosevelt's plans for an independent Czechoslovakia, this idea was thrown out. Eventually, after much discussion, they did manage to find a territory that they believed to be suitable compensation: Austria.
Austria was kind of a weird situation in general. Pretty much the whole country had been overrun by first the French and then by the Italians. This had meant that any idea of an Austrian Empire was now dead in the water, as the Austrians had proven to the non-German peoples that the Hapsburg's could not protect them. Therefore, it was almost a certainty that these groups would not accept a return to Hapsburg rule. In addition, with the exception of the claimed territory, Italy did not want to annex Austria proper. That left the question of what exactly to do with Austria. it didn't really make much sense to crown Otto the Emperor of such a tiny rump state, as that would be more farce then anything. Besides, it was just as likely that the Austrians would reject rule by the family that failed to protect them. But, if they didn't want to put Otto in charge, then who would they put in charge? In light of this conundrum, handing the region over to Germany seemed like a perfect solution. Indeed, at least half of the reason why Austria hadn't joined Germany during the unification was an unwillingness by the Hapsburg's to give up the non-German parts of their empire or subordinate themselves to another power. With the Hapsburg's in no position to argue this time, it seemed like a natural choice. In order to avoid opposition from Otto von Hapsburg, which ran the risk of Napoleon discovering and ruining the deal, it was decided that he could continue to rule the area as Archduke of Austria. However, in order to do so, he would have to both swear fealty to the kaiser and accept changes to the Austrian Constitution that would bring it more in line with the German Constitution. While Otto was reluctant to do so, he realized that the chances of him regaining his throne as an independent Kaiser were slim, and so accepted the offer.
With Otto's acceptance of the offer, Germany officially agreed to sign over its rights to Alsace-Lorraine in exchange for mutual disarmament of both borders and the granting of free border access. When this was agreed upon, Roosevelt, Vorbeck, King, and Amadeo met with Napoleon and informed him that Germany had agreed to give over Alsace-Lorraine in exchange for the above mentioned mutual concessions. Furious at having been outmaneuvered, he initially tried to still refuse, saying that he wanted the mutual guarantees dropped, but Vorbeck countered saying that seeing as both nations had fought three wars over these regions, it only seemed fair to de-militarize them to reduce the risk of further conflict. Much to Napoleon's consternation, he realized that the very mutual nature of these agreements meant that if he were to back down over them, he would by far seem like the unreasonable party, demanding vast concessions but seeming totally unwilling to make any himself. Thus, if he walked out now, when they had essentially given him the territory he actually wanted, he would not look like he was standing up for French interests, but simply nursing a wounded ego, which could do tremendous harm to his image. When he realized that Austria had been ceded to Germany, however, his outlook changed. Immediately, he began railing against German expansionism and arguing that it made little sense for Germany to be given territory in a war they had lost. Indeed, he argued that Germany had not won that territory on the field and it was only due to the sacrifices of the Entente nations that Germany had remained a going concern. If Germany was to be given territory, he argued, let them receive territory they actually occupied in the war, such as Bohemia. Finally, if there was to be a question as to German territorial concessions, let the territories in question hold a plebiscite on the issue. Vorbeck, however, was prepared for this, stating that Germany would be more then happy to consent to plebiscites in the Sudetenland (the only part of Bohemia they had any real interest in) and Austria, on the condition that France do the same in Alsace-Lorraine. This caught Napoleon completely off guard. He had expected Germany to make the same blustering response he was prone to making that those lands were German and that they would never give them up, but this concession took all the wind out of his sails. If he refused, the Germans would look like the reasonable party, being willing to make concessions. If he accepted, the Germans were certain to win in Austria and very likely to win in Czechoslovakia. On the other side of the coin, while Napoleon felt confident that he would win any plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine, the possibility remained for Germany to win. If that happened, Napoleon would lose all the territory the Commune of France had gained, bringing France back to the pre-Second Weltkrieg borders, while Germany would gain at least one and probably two fat new slices of territory. With no further moves left to make, Napoleon finally accepted that Roosevelt and Vorbeck had outfoxed him, accepting the terms offered by Germany
With this issue solved, the discussion then moved to less controversial topics. First on the list was the issue of the British Isles. Initially, Kind Edward had tried to stake a claim to the entirety of the British Isles, claiming that all of it was his birthright. When this happened, both Roosevelt and Vorbeck spoke up and indicated that under no circumstance would they condone the annexation of Ireland into the new United Kingdom. Ireland had been independent since around the signing of the Peace with Honor agreement and Britain had given up all claims to the Island in the peace treaty that ended the Irish Rebellion. To the surprise of no one, except possibly Edward, King sided with Vorbeck and Roosevelt. This, however, was not the last problem to arise over the British Isles. The next problem would come from Vorbeck who, flush with confidence over the fact that Mittleuropan troops occupied much of Scotland, tried to push for an independent Scotland in alliance with Germany. While this argument initially seemed to lack all logic, it stemmed mostly from German fears regarding King Edward. King Edward was well known for dreaming of the glory days of British Imperialism, longing to recapture that lost power. Until now, this had been more of an irritation then anything, as the bluster and overreaching ambition of Edward had always been kept in check by the far more pragmatic Mackenzie King. King held a much more realistic view of what Canada and the Entente could realistically achieve and he would not continence pursuing the more wilder of Edward's fantasies. With the British Isles now reclaimed, however, it was a near certainty that King Edward would return to the British Isles to yet again be crowned King of Britain. With Edward now ruling from Britain and not Canada, he would no longer be restrained by Mackenzie King, who would almost certainly remain in Canada as its prime minister. Should Edward, who was known to harbor a desire for direct power no less strong then Napoleon's, decide to take advantage of the current lack of a civilian government, he could set himself up as an absolute monarch. Even if his sense of pragmatism prevented this, he could still try to arrange it so that the Prime Minister was his creature who would follow his dictates. Should these restrictions on his power be removed, Germany feared that Edward might take advantage of Germany's weakness to reclaim the colonies Germany had seized in Britain's own moment of weakness. Worse yet, there always remained the possibility that France, led by the bellicose Napoleon, might join in such ventures. Therefore, Germany initially tried to claim Scotland in an attempt to have an army in the British Isles that could check any such ambitions. With Ireland free and likely to be friendly to Germany, this meant that Britain would have German friendly states to their North and West and, it was hoped, would think twice before moving aggressively.
While many who knew King Edward could understand Vorbeck's concerns, both Mackenzie King and King Edward immediately rejected the demand. They were willing to allow Ireland its independence, as that had been long established even before the British Revolution, but they refused to give Scotland up. Scotland had remained part of Britain since the Acts of Union and if Germany wanted insurances, they always had Ireland as an ally. After the debate went on for some time without much progress, Quentin Roosevelt finally weighed in on the matter. He proposed that King Edward would be crowned King of United Kingdom and all of Great Britain given to him. In exchange, King Edward would have to sign an agreement formally renouncing all claims to their former colonies and stating that any move to seize them would void both his alliance with France and the United States. With Napoleon IV already receiving all of the territory he really cared about, and nervous about reigniting German hostility, he urged King Edward to sign it and informed him that if he did make a fuss about or attempt to attack Germany, France would not stand behind him. King Edward raged about giving up claims to the lost colonies, as doing so would mean finally accepting that his dream of restoring the empire would never come to pass, claiming that was an ignoble thing they would have him do. When it became apparent that no amount of bluster would get him out of this, he then began to hem, haw, and drag his heels as much as possible. This was ended when Quentin told him in no uncertain terms that if he did not sign the agreement, he would be forced to conclude that the German concerns were completely valid and throw his support behind them. Finally, with no recourse left to him, Edward signed the agreement renouncing all claims to the British colonies seized by Germany, finally acknowledging what had been apparent to just about everyone but him; that the British Empire was dead and gone and never coming back.
With these matters now settled, the last bit of territorial claims needing to be addressed where those of the Italians. Italy, under first the Pope and then King Amadeo II had done something everyone thought impossible by not only resisting the French invasion, but actually throwing France out of the Balkans entirely. When France had initially declared war, it had been everyone's expectation that Italy would, at best, be able to stalemate the French by virtue of the Alps and, more realistically, be able to stall them for a time before eventually being overrun. When war actually came, however, Italy had shocked all by proving itself capable of punching well above its weight. Now, King Amadeo had arrived at the peace conference with a very specific set of demands. In exchange for renouncing Italian claims to most of the Balkans, Italy wished to have their claims to Krain, Istria, Trieste, and Trentino, those territories commonly referred to as "Italia Irredenta", recognized by the other nations. In addition, it wanted the lands formerly belonging to the Syndicalists in Southern Italy handed over to them so that Italy could finally be reunified. As Southern Italy had nominally been under the control of the Italian Republic, which was technically a member of the Entente, Canada was initially reluctant to agree to this, proposing instead that a plebiscite be held on the matter. France was even more of a problem, insisting that it would be happy to recognize those claims, so long as Italy return control of Savoy, Nice, and Corsica to them. Amadeo, however, flat out refused any mention of a plebiscite or the transfer of territory to France, saying that those lands were Italian and that the time had long since come for the Italians to be reunited. If his claims were not recognized, he threatened that he would refuse to hand over any of the territory they had occupied, which at this point, included every inch of the old Austro-Hungarian empire, barring the lands that had been seized by Romania. While Amadeo knew he could not reasonably defend those lands should the allies decide to attack him for them, he also reasoned that all the European powers would be too exhausted and the American public unwilling to countenance going to war over the Balkans and so decided to take the gamble. Crucially, this meant that Austria, which was critical to the deal between France and Germany, was now being held captive for the release of the territories. Yet again, Roosevelt stepped in, negotiating with the Italians and agreeing to recognize the Italians claims to "Italia Irredenta" and hand over Southern Italy, so long as Amadeo agreed to renounce all claim to the rest of the lands they had seized and swore not to push for any more territory in the future. Napoleon initially tried to reject the treaty claiming that he still wanted the formerly French Territories returned to him, but with Napoleon already on shaky ground due to his earlier stunt, he didn't really have the political capital left to block the agreement and thus grudgingly signed it.
With all the nations thus satisfied with their new territorial acquisitions, the question now remained of what to do with the remaining territory that had been seized by France. Here, due to the Germans, British, and French having no real designs on the territory, America took the lead in the negotiations. From the beginning, Quentin Roosevelt had made no bones about the fact that he intended for all of the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire to be released as independent states based on ethnicity and nationalism. While many advocated for the creation of a mere two states out of the Empire's corpse, those being a Czechoslovak state and a reborn Kingdom of Ilyria, Roosevelt claimed that Illyria was a monstrosity that had nothing to do with the nationalities of the people who made it up. As such, the Kingdom of Illyria had no hold on the hearts and minds of the people who lived in it and would never make for a stable state. He therefore stated that he favored the creation of states for the Slovenes, Croats, Montenegrans, and Bosnians. With Italy having no interest in these states and Austria no longer a concern, this was done with basically no opposition and was met with great fanfare across all the newly liberated states.
While these territories were largely sorted out without any opposition, there was a little bit more overt opposition on the Czechoslovak front. While not actually being opposed to the idea of a Czechoslovak state, Vorbeck had initially hinted at the idea that the Sudetenland, which was largely ethnic German, should be incorporated into Germany. This, however, was resisted by Roosevelt, who was worried that excluding this territory would give the Czechoslovak state impossible to secure borders as well as rob it of some of its richest economic areas. Furthermore, Napoleon IV was loathe to allow them to take the region as with the annexation of Austria, he was worried about Germany becoming too powerful of the back of this war. While this argument would rage for quite some time, Roosevelt eventually proposed a solution. the Sudetenland would be offered the opportunity to hold a plebiscite on the matter, with Roosevelt and the incoming Czechoslovak government offering them the choice of becoming a part of Czechoslovakia and receiving a large amount of autonomy within that state, even the possibility of a recognized duel German-Czechoslovak citizenship, or to become a part of Germany with a similar arrangement. Banking on the plebiscite coming up in their favor, the German's accepted. As it turned out, the plebiscite would wind up being an incredibly close run thing. In the end, however, to much shock and amazement, the Sudetenland would vote 51%-49% to join with Czechoslovakia. While Vorbeck was understandably miffed by this result, the he found himself unable to really question the results of the plebiscite, as it had had Czechoslovak, German, and American oversight. When poled later, many Sudeten Germans who voted to join the Czechoslovak state would claim that they preferred the more democratic nature of the new Czechoslovak constitution and that they had never really seen themselves as part of Germany. After all, the region had never been part of Germany and had, administratively, always been part of the Austrian region of Bohemia. This meant that these Germans did really feel any attachment to the German Empire, feeling more like Austrians then anything else. Indeed, initially, the Sudeten Germans had wanted to remain a part of Austria and join Germany as a part of Austria. When this option was taken off the table, it actually turned off many of the Sudeten off the idea. This was especially true when the new Czechoslovak government started promising them wide ranging autonomy within the new nation, indeed in many ways offering more then the Germans did. So, in the end, Czechslovakia would emerge intact as a union of Czechs, Slovaks and Germans.
With this issue finally ironed out, the discussions finally moved to an issue with very little controversy: The Irish Question. While, as discussed earlier, King Edward initially tried to claim this territory for the UK, the notion was pretty quickly shot down by all other parties in attendance. As such, the announcement would pretty quickly be made that Ireland would again be made an independent state. Initially, the person who would be put in charge of this new nation would be Cathal Brugha, the leader of Sinn Fein, who was elected by a razor thin margin with a full endorsement from President Roosevelt. This leadership, however would not last long as shortly thereafter, the still heavily popular Michael Collins, who had come in a very close second in the election who had broken with Brugha and Sinn Fein sometime before, would lead a coup with his supporters and regain control of the country, claiming that the Americans had meddled in the election to ensure his defeat. While the Americans condemned the move, Michael Collins pre-empted them by immediately calling for a plebiscite to legitimize his government, putting the question to his people on whether or not he should step down and return power, even offering to let the Americans oversee the process to ensure he did not rig the results. Much to the Americans surprise, Collins won the Plebiscite in a landslide, with their own observers swearing up and down on a stack of Bibles as tall as they were that they found no evidence of tampering. Thus, a frustrated Quentin Roosevelt found himself with little choice by to accept Michael Collins' seizure of power.
With the Irish Question resolved, five Questions now remained: Poland, Romandy, Sweden, Hungary and the Low Countries Of the five of them, the Romandy and Low countries questions was easily the most difficult. In both cases, Napoleon tried to claim the French speaking Romandy and Wallonia as part of France. This went along with original claim for a restoration of the "Natural Borders of France" and it was only after he found himself outmaneuvered by the Germans, Canadians, and Americans that he finally relented on these points. Finally, the decision would be made to return the Romandy to Swtizerland, as the French claim to it had always been dubious at best. Afterward, the question then remained as what to do with Flanders and Wallonia. While Germany had seized a chunk of Wallonia in the wake of the Weltkrieg, these territories, as well as those of Luxembourg, had never been all that important to the Germans and with both territories currently occupied by the Americans and French, they saw little problem with renouncing their claims to the territories. Luxembourg was given its independence almost as an afterthought, but Belgium presented an altogether different problem. There, the issue wasn't whether the region would pass under French or German control, but whether to release Belgium as a single state or as two states. The debate on this issue went back and forth with no real conclusion. On the one hand, a united Belgium would be stronger both economically and militarily. On the other, the linguistic and cultural divisions among the Flemish and Wallonians could potentially destabilize the country in the future. Indeed, these ethnic tensions had been actively inflamed and encouraged by the Germans, who had feared allowing too great a Walloonian influence. Due to this fear, they had openly supported the Flemish in the initial phases of their occupation and had created a situation where the two regions had been independent of each other in all but a few areas. This had only been further encouraged when the French had overrun the region and split into two independent states. This meant that Belgium had now spent the last 30 years with either active or passive encouragement of separatism and there was no telling what effect this might have had. In the end, the decision was made to put the issue to a vote. In yet another narrow victory, the decision to separate won out with a 51-49 vote. As such, the Americans gave their support to the creation of a new Flemish and Walloon state.
Thankfully, of the last nation in the Low Countries, The Netherlands, there was no controversy, as all nations agreed that the Netherlands should be given its independence and the House of Orange restored to the throne, both of which were done shortly after the conclusion of the conference. When this was announced, there were many in Flanders who discussed the possibility of Flanders joining with the newly independent Netherlands. While some of the Entente leaders, most notably Napoleon IV, were in favor of this, the idea was ultimately vetoed. This was because Quentin Roosevelt, Von Lettow Vorbeck, and Mackenzie King all feared that if that happened, Napoleon would revive his claims to Wallonia and try to acquire it in a similar fashion, a fear that was reinforced by his seemingly overenthusiastic support of the proposal.
Sweden also proved to be a very uncontroversial issue, as all factions agreed to liberate under the control of the returned monarch Gustav V Bernadotte, which was done shortly after the end of conference as well.
This then brought the Entente leaders to the issue of what to do with Hungary. Hungary had lost most of its territory to the Romanians when they invaded to gain control of Transylvania and now all other powers were worried that Romania might not be satisfied. Initially, the idea had been to formally unify it with Austria to give it some protection, but with Austria being annexed to Germany, that was now out of the question. Eventually, the decision was made that Hungary would be released as a kind of buffer state between themselves and the Romanians with all of the Great Powers agreeing to guarantee the new nations independence should the Romanians come knocking. The Romanians protested the creation of this rump state, fearing it might fuel unrest in the regions of Hungary they controlled and even threatened war if the Hungarians were given their own state. The Allies, however, met this threat by informing Codreanu that if he declared war on Hungary, he would be fighting all of them. That was a fight he was singularly unprepared for and, not wanting to chance losing the territory he had already claimed, Codreanu backed down, clearing the way for the creation of a Hungarian state.
This finally brought them to the issue of Poland. Poland had fought for the Entente in the war and had been overrun shortly after the fall of Germany and now the Entente were claiming the freedom of Poland. Germany, however, had seized part of Poland, the region of Plock, and refused to give it back. In the end, the Americans and their allies decided the issue wasn't worth pressing the Germans on and the Polish were given their own state again, with the region of Galicia in the South remaining under temporary occupation until it too could be integrated into the new state of Poland.
With all territorial issues now settled, many of the assembled leaders thought that the Conference should be formally ended and the treaty signed. This was not to be however, as right when the motion to formally conclude the conference was being proposed, Roosevelt stepped forward saying he had one more proposal to make, much to everyone's shock. When he was given the floor in front of all the assembled National leaders, he pointed out that while this Conference had gone a long way to settling long festering disputes, it did nothing to provide for the prevention and resolution of future ones. The world had already been raked by two devastating Great Wars and Roosevelt now feared that another one would be inevitable unless some provision was made for conflict resolution. To many of the assembled leaders, this sounded very much like the Concert of Europe that had been constructed by the exhausted European Nations in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars to prevent another such conflict. When they pointed this out to Roosevelt and informed him that the previous attempt at this had failed spectacularly, he admitted that they were right, but that that had failed for one reason. That reason was that he Concert of Europe had always been an informal arrangement, simply consisting of the rulers of the Great Powers getting together and working things out. This meant that it had no power to compel States to work out their differences in this manner and if a state simply did not want to have one, it didn't have to. Furthermore, the Conferences were only ever called when a crisis was currently in motion, meaning they had only really served to put out fires and would always fail if one of the parties to the crisis simply refused to attend.
This, however, was not what he was proposing. Instead, he proposed that the assembled nations create a new, continuously meeting body whose sole purpose would be to solve disputes between nations and serve as a forum where different countries could err their grievances. He called his proposed body the World Congress and laid out a proposal for how it would function. The organization would consist of three main bodies. The first of these would be the General Assembly. This body would consist of representatives from all of the member states and would be the main venue in which disputes were to be resolved and grievances settled. Any member nation could put a proposal before the General Assembly and have it voted on. Critically, the General Assembly's motions would not be binding on the members and would not have the force of law. However, they would represent the general consensus of International Community and it was generally understood that if a majority ruling was achieved, especially by a wide margin, that that could bring sufficient pressure to bear on nations in question.
If an issue passed the General Assembly, it would then be put before a second body. This second body would be called the Security Council. The Security Council would consist of 11 (later increased to 12) members. Of these, Germany, the United States of America, France, and Great Britain would hold permanent seats on the Security Council. In the future, this permanent group would be expanded by the inclusion of Russia but as Russia was not in attendance at the Conference and had very little interest in foreign affairs, they were not initially considered for this role. The other members would be elected on a rotating basis each year and would serve for a 2 year term. Any issue passed by the Security Council would immediately be binding on all members of the World Congress, with all members signing an agreement to abide by any ruling made by this council. the Security Council would also have the power to levy sanctions on any nation that was refusing to abide by its instructions and, when necessary, authorize an international strike, or vote to send troops to any nation that either requested this. Critically, To prevent any of the Great Powers from using this as a means to simply impose their will on other Great Powers, a provision was added that any of the Permanent Members could veto any motion. Many of the assembled nations immediately cried foul at this last provision, claiming that America, as currently far and away the strongest nation on Earth, could simply use this to stop anything the other nations proposed. Roosevelt, however, had anticipated this complaint, however, and revealed that his veto carried with it a massive caveat. While it was true that any of the permanent members could veto any motion, they were expected only to use it if they could provide a compelling argument that the motion in question posed a direct threat to their own vital interests. The veto, he argued, was there to ensure that Great Powers with more friends internationally did not attempt to force through members directly targeting one of the other Permanent members, and nothing more. Furthermore, the veto was not fully absolute, as it could be overridden with a 3/4th vote in the General Assembly and the unanimous agreement of all other Security Council members. Furthermore, if the other members of the Security Council suspected that the veto was being misused, the issue could be put before the World Court, that was also set up under this proposal. If the country could not provide a compelling argument of how the proposed resolution would have a disproportionate negative impact on them, then the Veto would be overruled and the motion would pass.
This last branch, the World Court, would have the explicit job of settling legal disputes between member nations and issuing advisory opinions to either the General Assembly or the Security Council. It would be composed of 15 justices, elected every 9 years by General Assembly and the Security Council. Its decisions would be binding on any nation that submitted a dispute to them, but nations would have to voluntarily present cases to them.
Almost immediately, this proposal met with fierce debate by many, especially the idea of the Security Council as many of the smaller nations felt that the Great Powers would simply dominate. Roosevelt, however, countered that this organization was what was needed to avoid another war and that he doubted that France, the UK, and especially Germany, would sign the agreement otherwise. He also threatened that the US might refuse to sign the Treaty if the World Congress was not ratified. Eventually, the UK, France, and Germany agreed to sign it, both not wanting to lose the US as an ally and believing that an organization like this might be what was needed to prevent a Third Weltkrieg. Thus, on October 13, 1948 The Treaty of Paris was signed, formally bringing an end to the Second Weltkrieg and announcing the formation of the World Congress.
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There is the latest update for you. Expect another one sometime next week. I hope you enjoyed and as usual, I welcome all feedback you might have.
