Freakin' Sweet!
Just love that comment by Napoleon IV!
Man, this AAR is awesome! It feels like it actually happened!
Just love that comment by Napoleon IV!
Man, this AAR is awesome! It feels like it actually happened!
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Sorry about my extended absence from my golden baby here -- unfortunately, it's probably going to be the state of affairs in general into 2005, since I have more work to do before New Year's than any man has a right to. So instead of the update promised last time, a little teaser: a dramatis personae, something this AAR has needed, well, more or less since William Randolph Hearst showed up. Might get bigger as time goes on; time is limited right now, so I'm just covering the big ones.(How did I manage to turn this into a great-men AAR? I think I'll be scratching my head on that one for a while.)
Blood: The Actors
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Eugene V. Debs: President of the United States of America. Elected on the wave of popularity grassroots socialist movements gained during the '80s; the 'Debs Revolution' which turned the Socialists from a minor party into a kingmaker into the US ruling party in 1888, 1892, and 1896, respectively, involved a move to oppose Texan imperialism on ideological grounds. Prior Socialist movements often failed based on 'defense issues', but now they were in charge of the country, overseeing a war which would make or break America as a nation.
Debs's country enjoys a great military superiority, and a less negative rapport on the world stage. The only country in Europe Texas hasn't alienated in some major way -- that is, among those not directly dependent on the Lone Star Republic -- is France, and they support the USA just as enthusiastically.
Eugene Debs represents his country: young but intelligent, erudite but articulate, married but childless, meek but ambitious. A labor representative who fights unflaggingly for universal rights, a Socialist who fights for war, a President who never trusted a leader in his life.
Theodore Roosevelt: Colonel, US Cavalry. Roosevelt is another young, dynamic figure in the US; one of many, prepared to establish the United States as a new power in the world. Having volunteered to fight in Cuba, Roosevelt requested his unit be moved to Wyoming as soon as it became obvious war would break out between Texas and the USA. As far as contemporary politics are concerned, Roosevelt is a liberal moderate, and he may well have a rich political career ahead after the war. Roosevelt and Debs share a professional rivalry likely to last most of the men's lifetimes.
James Longstreet: General, US Army. Supreme commander of the American forces in the Americo-Texan War, later of the entire Army under Debs. His home state seceded from the Union, but he was convinced by many of his former West Point comrades from Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia that the Confederate cause was vile and nebulous. Longstreet is easily the most dangerous man Texas has ever run up against; he is the high commander of a numerically superior force, and is generally acknowledged to be the greatest tactical genius the Americas have ever known. His defeat of Confederate heavyweight Thomas Jackson in Tennesee made him a national celebrity, and his invasion plans take keen advantage of known weaknesses on the Texan front. He blames Texas for the humiliation and devastation of the South and "[he] will not rest until they are scourged from this continent and the Earth".
Nelson Miles: General, US Army. Supreme commander of the American forces in the Spanish-American War; distinguished in fighting natives, but nowhere near as inspiring as Longstreet. Plans are being made to integrate his command and Longstreet's entirely, leaving Miles second-in-command and Longstreet inferior in command only to Debs.
Joseph Pulitzer: Mogul. An immigrant of Hungarian birth, Pulitzer controls the entire American media machine; he has been jokingly called 'the United States's answer to Little John Sutter's right leg' by many, but his power is, by all accounts, spreading rapidly. He bought large amounts of infrastructure in booming, powerful Minnesota while it was cheap -- and now he reaps the profit and influence. His eyes and ears are everywhere; he was once a loyal supporter of the Republicans, but nowadays his papers seem to veer more and more into Socialist territory.
Stephen Crane: Journalist. Crane is a young, ill man; a writer of some popularity in the US, he is well-known for covering Texan wars of imperialism. Later historians will call Crane 'the biggest little man in history'; his frank reporting of the brutal Texan wars of imperialism helped shift US opinion against Texas to a great degree, even though his opinion on the Texans was by no means as fiery as that of his contemporaries.
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
'Million Dollar' Bill Hearst: Career soldier; Colonel, RT Army. His writings are famous in Texas, and he is easily the Lone Star Empire's best-known and most popular fighting man, save perhaps Sam Houston. After fighting in China, however, Hearst changed dramatically; the lifetime soldier suddenly became a bitter anti-militarist. His worldview, as evinced by various public speeches before and after China, had almost overnight become jaded, angry, and filled with innocent blood. Hearst's most direct command is the Globetrotters, a veteran unit having seen service in wars from Greece to Korea. So far, he seems to view the US as a worthy opponent; he and his unit, stationed as they are in northern Minnesota, are likely to see quite a bit of action very soon.
Samuel Houston: Aristocrat; General, RT Army. Son of Sammy Houston, great-grandson of Sam Houston. The supreme commander of the Texan army, and a sincere contender for its Presidency in 1900. A true-blue Anticonfederate; Samuel Houston is a third-generation general, and the member of the influential and proud -- if not directly powerful -- Houston family. He has had plenty of experience fighting colonial wars, but how successful he will be fighting disciplined, modernized opponents is yet to be seen. A known proponent of fire-supremacy doctrine; the General Staff lament that, under his command, the Texan military will likely consume more cash in a day's fighting in the coming war than they did in the last four wars combined.
'Jumping' Jack London: Sergeant, RT Army. A member of Hearst's command, London is a tough young man, an adventure-seeker, and a veteran of several colonial wars; he is the Globetrotters' most passionate reactionary, a supporter of the flagging Texas Party and a strong believer in Social Darwinism. This is a point of some great contention between himself and the increasingly radical Hearst.
'Little' John Sutter: Mogul. Easily the strongest man in Texas, Sutter owns the majority of Texan industry and infrastructure. His family has been starting wars since Sam Houston's day, and there are rumors with growing adherence that Sutter is responsible for this one. A personal enemy of Bill Hearst, although the rivalry is on the one-sided side.
Samuel Clemens: Senior journalist. a well-celebrated writer who went to Minnesota with Houston's command to see the war unfold; comes from the South, votes Anticonfederate, and edits one of Sutter's newspaper affiliates. Harbors little professional respect for the man; after seeing various articles by Hearst which Sutter elected to shoot down, he felt obligated to see the Texan invasion for himself...
Mirabeau Hood: Admiral, RT Navy. Young, ambitious leader of the Texan Navy; he stood in firm opposition to the so-called Canada Plan, which would reduce the Navy's role in managing the war to a mere supply of ferries before the real action. He and a number of other officers have lead a near-coup in the Navy of late; they plan for a major, warship-supported invasion of Florida, and, as of the beginning of the War, were already setting sail for it...
OTHER
Lev Bronstein: Member of the Duma. The rising star of Russian politics, Bronstein has canvassed incessantly for Russian support of Texas in the war after observing Texan occupation of Panama and watching the US go to war with Spain and Texas in turn.
Winston Churchill: Aristocrat. Possesses some political aspirations to speak of, but has, of late, taken up a hobby rather popular among the pro-US British aristocracy: observing its pair of seemingly unlosable wars. While Churchill is well-known for a spectacular gaffe predicting that a 'disloyal Southern element' would aid in an invasion from Texas state into the former CSA; he's long planned to see the 'curious and paradoxical' Great Lakes states, at the same time inhospitable and heavily populated, remote and industrialized, and now that the War is on, he has all the more reason to.
These are the great names of the War, those whose careers began there or those whose careers ended there, and those through whose eyes it will be seen.
At the end of the War, half of these men will be dead.
Blood: The Actors
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Eugene V. Debs: President of the United States of America. Elected on the wave of popularity grassroots socialist movements gained during the '80s; the 'Debs Revolution' which turned the Socialists from a minor party into a kingmaker into the US ruling party in 1888, 1892, and 1896, respectively, involved a move to oppose Texan imperialism on ideological grounds. Prior Socialist movements often failed based on 'defense issues', but now they were in charge of the country, overseeing a war which would make or break America as a nation.
Debs's country enjoys a great military superiority, and a less negative rapport on the world stage. The only country in Europe Texas hasn't alienated in some major way -- that is, among those not directly dependent on the Lone Star Republic -- is France, and they support the USA just as enthusiastically.
Eugene Debs represents his country: young but intelligent, erudite but articulate, married but childless, meek but ambitious. A labor representative who fights unflaggingly for universal rights, a Socialist who fights for war, a President who never trusted a leader in his life.
Theodore Roosevelt: Colonel, US Cavalry. Roosevelt is another young, dynamic figure in the US; one of many, prepared to establish the United States as a new power in the world. Having volunteered to fight in Cuba, Roosevelt requested his unit be moved to Wyoming as soon as it became obvious war would break out between Texas and the USA. As far as contemporary politics are concerned, Roosevelt is a liberal moderate, and he may well have a rich political career ahead after the war. Roosevelt and Debs share a professional rivalry likely to last most of the men's lifetimes.
James Longstreet: General, US Army. Supreme commander of the American forces in the Americo-Texan War, later of the entire Army under Debs. His home state seceded from the Union, but he was convinced by many of his former West Point comrades from Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia that the Confederate cause was vile and nebulous. Longstreet is easily the most dangerous man Texas has ever run up against; he is the high commander of a numerically superior force, and is generally acknowledged to be the greatest tactical genius the Americas have ever known. His defeat of Confederate heavyweight Thomas Jackson in Tennesee made him a national celebrity, and his invasion plans take keen advantage of known weaknesses on the Texan front. He blames Texas for the humiliation and devastation of the South and "[he] will not rest until they are scourged from this continent and the Earth".
Nelson Miles: General, US Army. Supreme commander of the American forces in the Spanish-American War; distinguished in fighting natives, but nowhere near as inspiring as Longstreet. Plans are being made to integrate his command and Longstreet's entirely, leaving Miles second-in-command and Longstreet inferior in command only to Debs.
Joseph Pulitzer: Mogul. An immigrant of Hungarian birth, Pulitzer controls the entire American media machine; he has been jokingly called 'the United States's answer to Little John Sutter's right leg' by many, but his power is, by all accounts, spreading rapidly. He bought large amounts of infrastructure in booming, powerful Minnesota while it was cheap -- and now he reaps the profit and influence. His eyes and ears are everywhere; he was once a loyal supporter of the Republicans, but nowadays his papers seem to veer more and more into Socialist territory.
Stephen Crane: Journalist. Crane is a young, ill man; a writer of some popularity in the US, he is well-known for covering Texan wars of imperialism. Later historians will call Crane 'the biggest little man in history'; his frank reporting of the brutal Texan wars of imperialism helped shift US opinion against Texas to a great degree, even though his opinion on the Texans was by no means as fiery as that of his contemporaries.
THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
'Million Dollar' Bill Hearst: Career soldier; Colonel, RT Army. His writings are famous in Texas, and he is easily the Lone Star Empire's best-known and most popular fighting man, save perhaps Sam Houston. After fighting in China, however, Hearst changed dramatically; the lifetime soldier suddenly became a bitter anti-militarist. His worldview, as evinced by various public speeches before and after China, had almost overnight become jaded, angry, and filled with innocent blood. Hearst's most direct command is the Globetrotters, a veteran unit having seen service in wars from Greece to Korea. So far, he seems to view the US as a worthy opponent; he and his unit, stationed as they are in northern Minnesota, are likely to see quite a bit of action very soon.
Samuel Houston: Aristocrat; General, RT Army. Son of Sammy Houston, great-grandson of Sam Houston. The supreme commander of the Texan army, and a sincere contender for its Presidency in 1900. A true-blue Anticonfederate; Samuel Houston is a third-generation general, and the member of the influential and proud -- if not directly powerful -- Houston family. He has had plenty of experience fighting colonial wars, but how successful he will be fighting disciplined, modernized opponents is yet to be seen. A known proponent of fire-supremacy doctrine; the General Staff lament that, under his command, the Texan military will likely consume more cash in a day's fighting in the coming war than they did in the last four wars combined.
'Jumping' Jack London: Sergeant, RT Army. A member of Hearst's command, London is a tough young man, an adventure-seeker, and a veteran of several colonial wars; he is the Globetrotters' most passionate reactionary, a supporter of the flagging Texas Party and a strong believer in Social Darwinism. This is a point of some great contention between himself and the increasingly radical Hearst.
'Little' John Sutter: Mogul. Easily the strongest man in Texas, Sutter owns the majority of Texan industry and infrastructure. His family has been starting wars since Sam Houston's day, and there are rumors with growing adherence that Sutter is responsible for this one. A personal enemy of Bill Hearst, although the rivalry is on the one-sided side.
Samuel Clemens: Senior journalist. a well-celebrated writer who went to Minnesota with Houston's command to see the war unfold; comes from the South, votes Anticonfederate, and edits one of Sutter's newspaper affiliates. Harbors little professional respect for the man; after seeing various articles by Hearst which Sutter elected to shoot down, he felt obligated to see the Texan invasion for himself...
Mirabeau Hood: Admiral, RT Navy. Young, ambitious leader of the Texan Navy; he stood in firm opposition to the so-called Canada Plan, which would reduce the Navy's role in managing the war to a mere supply of ferries before the real action. He and a number of other officers have lead a near-coup in the Navy of late; they plan for a major, warship-supported invasion of Florida, and, as of the beginning of the War, were already setting sail for it...
OTHER
Lev Bronstein: Member of the Duma. The rising star of Russian politics, Bronstein has canvassed incessantly for Russian support of Texas in the war after observing Texan occupation of Panama and watching the US go to war with Spain and Texas in turn.
Winston Churchill: Aristocrat. Possesses some political aspirations to speak of, but has, of late, taken up a hobby rather popular among the pro-US British aristocracy: observing its pair of seemingly unlosable wars. While Churchill is well-known for a spectacular gaffe predicting that a 'disloyal Southern element' would aid in an invasion from Texas state into the former CSA; he's long planned to see the 'curious and paradoxical' Great Lakes states, at the same time inhospitable and heavily populated, remote and industrialized, and now that the War is on, he has all the more reason to.
These are the great names of the War, those whose careers began there or those whose careers ended there, and those through whose eyes it will be seen.
At the end of the War, half of these men will be dead.
Yeah,
I second that.
I can't wait to see how somebody handles attacking the USA - any chance of a comparison of forces (although i think this is not really that type of AAR) - if the USA has a healthy size army, you're going to need a monster size can of Whoop-ass.
Heretic
I second that.
I can't wait to see how somebody handles attacking the USA - any chance of a comparison of forces (although i think this is not really that type of AAR) - if the USA has a healthy size army, you're going to need a monster size can of Whoop-ass.
Heretic
Looks to be very interesting. Thus far Texas has not had any real problems in its wars of conquest. I am curious as to whether the USA AI will be a real player and actually give Texas a run for its money, or sit there like a frightened child as the Texan's "steal its candy".
Part 2: Mankind's Worst Year
The armies of Texas and the United States are, thanks to a continuous but so far peaceful competition between the two, large, undisciplined, and technologically advanced -- observation of this war will be key to winning future wars on the Continent and abroad...
--Churchill's Minnesota Notes
...
Mirabeau Hood, Admiral of the Texan Navy, had a radical idea: he, along with the celebrated Seven Brigades -- a versatile cavalry corps which the Texans had kept in mostly the same shape since the Mexican War -- would force a landing at Washington.
His compatriots in Canada were still setting up the ferries by the time he and the Texan Navy came through the Canal, Seven Divisions in tow.
His personal command was seven fine ships -- the Texan navy, less transports and the Liberty -- which had served the Republic for years. The Goliad, Alamo, Mirabeau Lamar, Sam Houston, and Corpus Christi were wooden steam raiders; the Colorado and Cameroon were the latest in ironclad design.
American records showed Hood meeting Admiral James's detachment at roughly 0750 hours, October 16, 1898, somewhere between Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The encounter seemed to surprise at least the Texans.
Jones's detachment consisted of an elderly ironclad and a full, British-model battleship. The Corpus Christi and Goliad were each destroyed in the first volley; the Cameroon was believed to take a series of crippling and eventually fatal injuries, the Sam Houston and the Mirabeau Lamar collided and both sank in a futile effort to escape the battle.
Of Hood's seven ships, only the RTNS Alamo and Cameroon escaped the encounter; while Jones's detachment did not witness either sinking, neither them nor Hood nor the Seven Brigades were ever seen again.
Until that day, the battleship had been named McClellan after a minor general under Robert E. Lee in the anti-Confederate campaign. That day the Americans rechristened it Texas.
...
The defenders of the Texan garrison in Pueblo fell under massive attacks and were forced to withdraw to a series of redoubts near Grand Junction. The flat terrain of Pueblo, much like Kansas to the west, was easy to attack and difficult to defend; American command recognized the blunder of advancing further without overwhelming force, and for now, Pueblo would only be the beginning of an advance into Texas.
The Texans had presumed to attack Minnesota, America's beating industrial heart, and they would suffer. The Union army would devote all forces not keeping the border secure into dislodging the Texans for good -- roughly 750,000 trained, disciplined men against a total invasion force of around 200,000. Things were looking even worse for Texas than had previously been imagined...
The armies of Texas and the United States are, thanks to a continuous but so far peaceful competition between the two, large, undisciplined, and technologically advanced -- observation of this war will be key to winning future wars on the Continent and abroad...
--Churchill's Minnesota Notes
...
Mirabeau Hood, Admiral of the Texan Navy, had a radical idea: he, along with the celebrated Seven Brigades -- a versatile cavalry corps which the Texans had kept in mostly the same shape since the Mexican War -- would force a landing at Washington.
His compatriots in Canada were still setting up the ferries by the time he and the Texan Navy came through the Canal, Seven Divisions in tow.
His personal command was seven fine ships -- the Texan navy, less transports and the Liberty -- which had served the Republic for years. The Goliad, Alamo, Mirabeau Lamar, Sam Houston, and Corpus Christi were wooden steam raiders; the Colorado and Cameroon were the latest in ironclad design.
American records showed Hood meeting Admiral James's detachment at roughly 0750 hours, October 16, 1898, somewhere between Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The encounter seemed to surprise at least the Texans.
Jones's detachment consisted of an elderly ironclad and a full, British-model battleship. The Corpus Christi and Goliad were each destroyed in the first volley; the Cameroon was believed to take a series of crippling and eventually fatal injuries, the Sam Houston and the Mirabeau Lamar collided and both sank in a futile effort to escape the battle.
Of Hood's seven ships, only the RTNS Alamo and Cameroon escaped the encounter; while Jones's detachment did not witness either sinking, neither them nor Hood nor the Seven Brigades were ever seen again.
Until that day, the battleship had been named McClellan after a minor general under Robert E. Lee in the anti-Confederate campaign. That day the Americans rechristened it Texas.
...
The defenders of the Texan garrison in Pueblo fell under massive attacks and were forced to withdraw to a series of redoubts near Grand Junction. The flat terrain of Pueblo, much like Kansas to the west, was easy to attack and difficult to defend; American command recognized the blunder of advancing further without overwhelming force, and for now, Pueblo would only be the beginning of an advance into Texas.
The Texans had presumed to attack Minnesota, America's beating industrial heart, and they would suffer. The Union army would devote all forces not keeping the border secure into dislodging the Texans for good -- roughly 750,000 trained, disciplined men against a total invasion force of around 200,000. Things were looking even worse for Texas than had previously been imagined...
Looks like the United States has a rather modern navy, this could prove to be a major challenge.
August
The impromptu meeting had been set up as soon as word of approaching US forces was received: dozens of colonels, a dozen generals, and at their head Generals Houston and Carson, sat in a pavilion and discussed the attack.
A motion came from one of the colonels to withdraw altogether. "Gentlemen, the latest reports say that our current position is suicide. The enemy outnumbers us dramatically and our artillery, while well-trained and well-tested, has never actually seen combat. It is artillery superiority alone that has allowed us to even consider holding this ground. With no guarantee of its power, we cannot sensibly continue..."
Carson and Houston unanimously declared their intent to veto any such motion, and several other generals chimed in agreement. The rank and file grumbled.
Grunts pulled in several chalkboards decorated with detailed maps of the Minnesotan countryside, as well as the major urban centers of northern Minnesota. "We have set up our defensive line --" a long line of chalk -- "here. We suspect the enemy will attack us where it is weakest." Houston put a bold X on one particular location. "The General Staff and I refer to this region as the Quarter. We will need the greatest concentration of divisions there; we suspect that Longstreet will not be active for some time yet, so there's hope that the US will not realize their blunder in attacking us where the terrain is weakest."
A colonel rose. "Do we have any evidence they plan to do so?"
Carson looked over at him. "Yes. The enemy is careless; that is all we can say."
...
"You're damned right I'm angry," the young colonel shouted into a Minneapolis telephone. "The Texans botched the whole Pueblo assault -- they had to invade Minnesota and make the dinosaurs in Command hellbent on shifting them out. We could easily launch the same sort of attack against Texas itself, and yet Command insists on repulsing the Roseau front." Roosevelt listened to the phone a while. "Yes, yes, I know. We've got a reasonably competent man on the ground -- used topographical data to determine where the Texans would be strongest -- wherever the terrain could hold them, of course... they'd never invest more forces than they needed into holding difficult terrain. We learned as much from the pitiful fight they put up to keep us out of Colorado..."
...
Near Hearst, a man in a tower was looking on the advancing horde of US soldiers with all sorts of telescopic and rangefinding equipment. Every once in a while, he would shout out ranges.
From what Hearst remembered of his briefing, they were well within the longest range of Texan artillery, and getting closer and closer.
"Red range!"
Hearst didn't know what that meant. He wasn't in the artillery, though, so he had no reason to.
"Red range!" The call echoed out again, and then over and over from all of the towers the Texans had erected across the entire state of Minnesota.
Then all hell broke loose.
...
The terror had gone on for days as Texan artillery showered the Easterners with shells of various kinds -- high-explosives, shrapnel, sometimes just dumb shells, and all with terrifying accuracy. General Wood ordered the men -- thirty divisions in the first wave alone -- to trudge forward through the storm, as the Texan guns butchered hundreds upon hundreds, then thousands upon thousands, of men.
The first barrage lasted forty-eight hours, and had continued piecemeal since then. Advancing was becoming less and less difficult as the stock of shells gradually petered out and the Texans were forced to conserve ammunition. Roosevelt had survived. Roosevelt and his corps had advanced. Attrition wasn't as severe as it could have been...
Early on the seventh day of the march, American brigades came into range and attacked; some with Rebel yells and some without, but all with great enthusiasm. The Texans ahead fell back -- just as Longstreet and Wood had said they would. The terrain was too flat -- it couldn't be held well. They couldn't hold it at all.
No sooner had the Union Army broken through than the machine guns started up -- from the west, from the east, and from the north.
Theodore Roosevelt's war only lasted a few months.
September
The United States's forces hit the Texan military hard, but the superior firepower of the Texans soon triumphed. Some of the Union soldiers had deserted before the assault began in earnest, and some were lucky enough to be too far in the rear to see any action before the Texans' obscene superiority became evident. But for the moment being, the statistics were clear and brutal: the Texans had suffered one hundred thousand casualties -- an incredible number for a nation of only 53 million -- but thirty divisions entered northern Minnesota in the August of 1898 and not a single one left.
Then the Texan Army marched south...
The impromptu meeting had been set up as soon as word of approaching US forces was received: dozens of colonels, a dozen generals, and at their head Generals Houston and Carson, sat in a pavilion and discussed the attack.
A motion came from one of the colonels to withdraw altogether. "Gentlemen, the latest reports say that our current position is suicide. The enemy outnumbers us dramatically and our artillery, while well-trained and well-tested, has never actually seen combat. It is artillery superiority alone that has allowed us to even consider holding this ground. With no guarantee of its power, we cannot sensibly continue..."
Carson and Houston unanimously declared their intent to veto any such motion, and several other generals chimed in agreement. The rank and file grumbled.
Grunts pulled in several chalkboards decorated with detailed maps of the Minnesotan countryside, as well as the major urban centers of northern Minnesota. "We have set up our defensive line --" a long line of chalk -- "here. We suspect the enemy will attack us where it is weakest." Houston put a bold X on one particular location. "The General Staff and I refer to this region as the Quarter. We will need the greatest concentration of divisions there; we suspect that Longstreet will not be active for some time yet, so there's hope that the US will not realize their blunder in attacking us where the terrain is weakest."
A colonel rose. "Do we have any evidence they plan to do so?"
Carson looked over at him. "Yes. The enemy is careless; that is all we can say."
...
"You're damned right I'm angry," the young colonel shouted into a Minneapolis telephone. "The Texans botched the whole Pueblo assault -- they had to invade Minnesota and make the dinosaurs in Command hellbent on shifting them out. We could easily launch the same sort of attack against Texas itself, and yet Command insists on repulsing the Roseau front." Roosevelt listened to the phone a while. "Yes, yes, I know. We've got a reasonably competent man on the ground -- used topographical data to determine where the Texans would be strongest -- wherever the terrain could hold them, of course... they'd never invest more forces than they needed into holding difficult terrain. We learned as much from the pitiful fight they put up to keep us out of Colorado..."
...
Near Hearst, a man in a tower was looking on the advancing horde of US soldiers with all sorts of telescopic and rangefinding equipment. Every once in a while, he would shout out ranges.
From what Hearst remembered of his briefing, they were well within the longest range of Texan artillery, and getting closer and closer.
"Red range!"
Hearst didn't know what that meant. He wasn't in the artillery, though, so he had no reason to.
"Red range!" The call echoed out again, and then over and over from all of the towers the Texans had erected across the entire state of Minnesota.
Then all hell broke loose.
...
The terror had gone on for days as Texan artillery showered the Easterners with shells of various kinds -- high-explosives, shrapnel, sometimes just dumb shells, and all with terrifying accuracy. General Wood ordered the men -- thirty divisions in the first wave alone -- to trudge forward through the storm, as the Texan guns butchered hundreds upon hundreds, then thousands upon thousands, of men.
The first barrage lasted forty-eight hours, and had continued piecemeal since then. Advancing was becoming less and less difficult as the stock of shells gradually petered out and the Texans were forced to conserve ammunition. Roosevelt had survived. Roosevelt and his corps had advanced. Attrition wasn't as severe as it could have been...
Early on the seventh day of the march, American brigades came into range and attacked; some with Rebel yells and some without, but all with great enthusiasm. The Texans ahead fell back -- just as Longstreet and Wood had said they would. The terrain was too flat -- it couldn't be held well. They couldn't hold it at all.
No sooner had the Union Army broken through than the machine guns started up -- from the west, from the east, and from the north.
Theodore Roosevelt's war only lasted a few months.
September
The United States's forces hit the Texan military hard, but the superior firepower of the Texans soon triumphed. Some of the Union soldiers had deserted before the assault began in earnest, and some were lucky enough to be too far in the rear to see any action before the Texans' obscene superiority became evident. But for the moment being, the statistics were clear and brutal: the Texans had suffered one hundred thousand casualties -- an incredible number for a nation of only 53 million -- but thirty divisions entered northern Minnesota in the August of 1898 and not a single one left.
Then the Texan Army marched south...
October
The reports from the front were growing increasingly dim, and the country was in a frenzy. Looking at the crowd, Eugene Debs could certainly tell as much. He saw placards with all sorts of slogans -- plenty of END THE WAR NOWs, quite a few simply the face of Abraham Lincoln or other such implicit comparisons, and a worrying number of WORKERS OF AMERICA UNITE flowed throughout. Social Republicans, Debs thought with some worry. They love you when you're promising them the moon, but deliver it to them... oh well.
"Hey, Ernie? Let's get going."
"I think we'd better not, Mr. Debs. It's looking particularly bad today."
Ernest Hart: career policeman, one of the first to join the Washington Special Police when it was created, and now Eugene Debs's personal bodyguard. Debs despised being called 'Mr. President' or any variation thereof and wouldn't allow anyone who worked with him to use the title.
"It'll be worse tomorrow. Will one more speech pacify this -- this mess? No. But it has to be made. Get Joe and Rob and let's get going."
Ernest Hart got up and summoned the other two men. The three, wearing what was rather like a standard police uniform -- in black rather than blue, though -- nodded to Debs and lead the march into the crowd.
Booing engulfed the capital steps. "Hear that, Ernie? Washington loves me." Hart chuckled. A woman -- overdressed for this crowd, certainly, although no one would make note of that until later -- stepped forward.
On the day of October 17, fighting across Minnesota would claim some indeterminate thousand lives. The Washington sky was a stormy black, and some way distant, a French gentleman in The Figaro's employ was filming stock footage -- protests against the Socialist government.
He watched the crowd waving signs through the scope, and saw Edith Roosevelt advance. Then a blast of smoke and -- though the sound didn't carry -- silence and screams. Roosevelt dropped to her knees, Debs fell to his.
The fifteen seconds the Figaro paid for were supposed to be split between a protest, a Democratic rally, and an artillery barrage. They never complained.
...
Little John Sutter had always passionately hated Eugene Debs. He hated everything he stood for, and he hated the idea of the man being in power, and he imagined if he ever met Eugene Debs he'd hate him all the more.
An underling brought him a draft of the next paper. He stared at it greasily, and picked up a red pen and scratched out the headline, then more lines, then entire columns. "Tell any journalist working for me that if he wants to throw that bomb-throwing anarchist communard sonofabitch a funeral, he can do it in some other country. To set the tone I expect to be used for tomorrow's edition, I've got a headline all worked out for you."
...
Discussion in the trench network now crisscrossing Minnesota and a few Wisconsin counties had turned into heated and passionate debate near Roseau. Some anonymous private -- a Socialist Party man, one of a vocal few there -- wanted to lower the flag for Debs. The man wasn't dead -- yet -- but few believed he would long survive the shot he took.
The debate turned into a near-riot. The conservatives disliked the idea of mourning a foreign leader, believing the amount of respect to be too thorough. The liberals, considering Debs a good if mislead and foreign man, were wont to disagree. And the socialists were, of course, actively trying to tug the flag down to half staff.
Hearst strode into the fray, holding a newspaper in one hand and a pistol in the other. He aimed the pistol at the sky and discharged it twice. "Quiet! Quiet, all of you!"
The yelling stopped. "The Texan government has officially issued its congratulations to Edith Roosevelt at the behest of a large coalition of concerned corporate heads -- among the most prominent John Sutter. Would anyone care to read the headline for today's paper? Hmm?"
He unfurled the paper, shook it straight, and held it up with both hands. It shouted into the crowd:
GOOD RIDDANCE!
Rabble-Rousing Eastern President Shot, Likely Mortally Wounded
All but the most hardcore of the Anticonfederates and Texas Party men felt something jerk in their stomachs. A chorus of boos slowly rose from the assembled crowd -- a reaction of absolute disgust.
Hearst, expecting a negative reaction but surprised at its near-unanimity and extremeness, shouted into the air the evils of the government and the corporations.
Samuel Houston stared, half-petrified, at the gathering storm. Hearst had begun chanting. Jesus, I knew he was trouble, but...
The men were gaining passion; they had gone through hell and weren't anywhere near coming out the other side. They were perfectly ready to take out the building rage any way they could...
Carson patted him on the shoulder. "Sir?"
"Yes, Carson?"
"I think it may be wise... to look into... damage control, sir."
In a moment, Houston assimilated that and nodded. "Screw Sutter! Screw Austin! Screw Sutter! Screw Austin!" He shouted as loud as Hearst, and soon louder -- and the simple chant rushed south at the speed of sound and fury.
The reports from the front were growing increasingly dim, and the country was in a frenzy. Looking at the crowd, Eugene Debs could certainly tell as much. He saw placards with all sorts of slogans -- plenty of END THE WAR NOWs, quite a few simply the face of Abraham Lincoln or other such implicit comparisons, and a worrying number of WORKERS OF AMERICA UNITE flowed throughout. Social Republicans, Debs thought with some worry. They love you when you're promising them the moon, but deliver it to them... oh well.
"Hey, Ernie? Let's get going."
"I think we'd better not, Mr. Debs. It's looking particularly bad today."
Ernest Hart: career policeman, one of the first to join the Washington Special Police when it was created, and now Eugene Debs's personal bodyguard. Debs despised being called 'Mr. President' or any variation thereof and wouldn't allow anyone who worked with him to use the title.
"It'll be worse tomorrow. Will one more speech pacify this -- this mess? No. But it has to be made. Get Joe and Rob and let's get going."
Ernest Hart got up and summoned the other two men. The three, wearing what was rather like a standard police uniform -- in black rather than blue, though -- nodded to Debs and lead the march into the crowd.
Booing engulfed the capital steps. "Hear that, Ernie? Washington loves me." Hart chuckled. A woman -- overdressed for this crowd, certainly, although no one would make note of that until later -- stepped forward.
On the day of October 17, fighting across Minnesota would claim some indeterminate thousand lives. The Washington sky was a stormy black, and some way distant, a French gentleman in The Figaro's employ was filming stock footage -- protests against the Socialist government.
He watched the crowd waving signs through the scope, and saw Edith Roosevelt advance. Then a blast of smoke and -- though the sound didn't carry -- silence and screams. Roosevelt dropped to her knees, Debs fell to his.
The fifteen seconds the Figaro paid for were supposed to be split between a protest, a Democratic rally, and an artillery barrage. They never complained.
...
Little John Sutter had always passionately hated Eugene Debs. He hated everything he stood for, and he hated the idea of the man being in power, and he imagined if he ever met Eugene Debs he'd hate him all the more.
An underling brought him a draft of the next paper. He stared at it greasily, and picked up a red pen and scratched out the headline, then more lines, then entire columns. "Tell any journalist working for me that if he wants to throw that bomb-throwing anarchist communard sonofabitch a funeral, he can do it in some other country. To set the tone I expect to be used for tomorrow's edition, I've got a headline all worked out for you."
...
Discussion in the trench network now crisscrossing Minnesota and a few Wisconsin counties had turned into heated and passionate debate near Roseau. Some anonymous private -- a Socialist Party man, one of a vocal few there -- wanted to lower the flag for Debs. The man wasn't dead -- yet -- but few believed he would long survive the shot he took.
The debate turned into a near-riot. The conservatives disliked the idea of mourning a foreign leader, believing the amount of respect to be too thorough. The liberals, considering Debs a good if mislead and foreign man, were wont to disagree. And the socialists were, of course, actively trying to tug the flag down to half staff.
Hearst strode into the fray, holding a newspaper in one hand and a pistol in the other. He aimed the pistol at the sky and discharged it twice. "Quiet! Quiet, all of you!"
The yelling stopped. "The Texan government has officially issued its congratulations to Edith Roosevelt at the behest of a large coalition of concerned corporate heads -- among the most prominent John Sutter. Would anyone care to read the headline for today's paper? Hmm?"
He unfurled the paper, shook it straight, and held it up with both hands. It shouted into the crowd:
GOOD RIDDANCE!
Rabble-Rousing Eastern President Shot, Likely Mortally Wounded
All but the most hardcore of the Anticonfederates and Texas Party men felt something jerk in their stomachs. A chorus of boos slowly rose from the assembled crowd -- a reaction of absolute disgust.
Hearst, expecting a negative reaction but surprised at its near-unanimity and extremeness, shouted into the air the evils of the government and the corporations.
Samuel Houston stared, half-petrified, at the gathering storm. Hearst had begun chanting. Jesus, I knew he was trouble, but...
The men were gaining passion; they had gone through hell and weren't anywhere near coming out the other side. They were perfectly ready to take out the building rage any way they could...
Carson patted him on the shoulder. "Sir?"
"Yes, Carson?"
"I think it may be wise... to look into... damage control, sir."
In a moment, Houston assimilated that and nodded. "Screw Sutter! Screw Austin! Screw Sutter! Screw Austin!" He shouted as loud as Hearst, and soon louder -- and the simple chant rushed south at the speed of sound and fury.
Last edited:
Abandoned, eh?
I heard about the flu, that has to suck 8-< But you're really going to need to show up a LOT more -- the APs are in, like, a month, and Fowler sez most (%30-50 usually) of the TH exam is going to be about the North American War. Missing out on it is going to be really risky, esp. with the exams so close.
I'll be happy to get you more outlines, but don't get lazy.
1898 / Dec 11: Anticonfederate government overthrown - party collapses. Unified Socialist party takes government without serious opposition.
1898 / Dec 17: Multipartite Declaration - other states given parity status with Texas.
1898 / Dec 22: Battle of Honolulu - US-Pacific fleet surrenders to Korean navy. Korea begins 'island-hopping' campaign under own auspices; President Houston officially approves.
1899 / Jan 1: Potter breaks free - General Potter attacks Kansas City with a large artillery contigent. USA too slow to cut him off.
1899 / Feb 12: Eugene Debs returns to active service as POTUS, denounces US conduct in Minnesota and Kansas.
1899 / Feb 14: John Sutter hanged for funnelling funds to Grand Army of the Republic. Sutter property passes to August Sutter, his brother.
1899 / Mar 14: General Parmer catches US Army flatfooted in Eastton; 19-division force easily decimates 2,000 volunteers and starts 'sweep down Maine'.
1899 / Apr 8: Portland attacked - Texan forces repulsed by far inferior force. Pulitzer papers call it 'Miracle at Portland'.
1899 / Apr 16: US forces attempting to encircle and destroy Parmer's detachment near the border fail thanks to coordination with Canadian forces & artillery.
1899 / Apr 19: Invasion of Vermont and New Hampshire / '2nd New England Campaign' begins.
1899 / April 20: 'Battle of Skagway' - Canadian forces attack Alaska throughout 1898 and 1899 - culminating in Battle of Skagway on the 20th. Alaskan port town attacked by contigent of People's Rep. Canadian Mounted Police supported by army groups in the Yukon. American forces repulse Canadians.
1899 / April 23: Alaskan declaration of independence. AK remains independent for 40 years.
1899 / May 1: 'May Day Truce'. Soldiers on both sides lay down arms; spontaneous cease-fire nearly leads to general peace.
1899 / May 2: Eugene Debs urges USA to 'press on to victory' in spite of clear defeat and existing cease-fire.
1899 / May 3: General Cotten attacks Texan forces in Louisiana, ending the cease-fire and forcing the Lowland Republic west. Battle ends in inconclusive stalemate.
1899 / May 5: Third Battle of Minnesula. US gas attack - the first known to have been used - fails to dislodge or seriously damage Texan forces. Known anti-war writer and apparent Socialist Presidential hopeful Bill Hearst disappears - assumed to be killed - during attack.
1899 / May 8: August Sutter dies three days after gas poisoning; Sutter Corporation defaults to state control.
1899 June - 1900 June: The Silence - a period of a little over a year in which no major ground is broken. Texas controls:
*Alexandria / West Louisiana
* New Hampshire / Massachusetts / Vermont - northern Maine (temporarily annexed to Canada)
*Korea has occupied most of Hawaii, with some forces engaging in a limited 'island hop' campaign.
*The Bucephalus Society has occupied Liberia, but refuses to annex it - not wishing to disturb 'global order'.
*The Republic of Alaska is independent, and is attempting to broker a separate peace under a cease-fire with Canada.
*The Uprising never properly organized -- while some believe them to have been US-associated, they owed the US no allegiance, so the USA had no forces or official occupation zones in Africa. (Common misconception)
1900 / July 18: Texans attack New York City. Militia easily defeated; largest city in North America occupied. Generally acknowledged to be the turning point of the war.
1900 / July 20: 'The Bolt From The Blue' - American forces under Potter, loosed from earlier action in the Midwest, attack defenses along the Potomac. Government of United States thrown into panic.
1900 / August 30: Texan forces overrun Washington D.C. Debs government escapes to Philadelphia.
1900 / September 7: Cease-fire declared.
1900 / September 10: Treaty of San Francisco signed by Eugene Debs, ending North American War.
Which brings us up to today. You really shouldn't miss the Treaty of San Francisco - it was apparently a real circus, you NEED to hear the lecture.
Cyo when-ev - Sara
Next time: The Treaty of San Francisco
Also, screenshots - once I've had my host shot for treason.
Part 3: A Gentleman & A Scholar
Sara Gardella
4-11-06
Mike:I heard about the flu, that has to suck 8-< But you're really going to need to show up a LOT more -- the APs are in, like, a month, and Fowler sez most (%30-50 usually) of the TH exam is going to be about the North American War. Missing out on it is going to be really risky, esp. with the exams so close.
I'll be happy to get you more outlines, but don't get lazy.
1898 / Dec 11: Anticonfederate government overthrown - party collapses. Unified Socialist party takes government without serious opposition.
1898 / Dec 17: Multipartite Declaration - other states given parity status with Texas.
1898 / Dec 22: Battle of Honolulu - US-Pacific fleet surrenders to Korean navy. Korea begins 'island-hopping' campaign under own auspices; President Houston officially approves.
1899 / Jan 1: Potter breaks free - General Potter attacks Kansas City with a large artillery contigent. USA too slow to cut him off.
1899 / Feb 12: Eugene Debs returns to active service as POTUS, denounces US conduct in Minnesota and Kansas.
1899 / Feb 14: John Sutter hanged for funnelling funds to Grand Army of the Republic. Sutter property passes to August Sutter, his brother.
1899 / Mar 14: General Parmer catches US Army flatfooted in Eastton; 19-division force easily decimates 2,000 volunteers and starts 'sweep down Maine'.
1899 / Apr 8: Portland attacked - Texan forces repulsed by far inferior force. Pulitzer papers call it 'Miracle at Portland'.
1899 / Apr 16: US forces attempting to encircle and destroy Parmer's detachment near the border fail thanks to coordination with Canadian forces & artillery.
1899 / Apr 19: Invasion of Vermont and New Hampshire / '2nd New England Campaign' begins.
1899 / April 20: 'Battle of Skagway' - Canadian forces attack Alaska throughout 1898 and 1899 - culminating in Battle of Skagway on the 20th. Alaskan port town attacked by contigent of People's Rep. Canadian Mounted Police supported by army groups in the Yukon. American forces repulse Canadians.
1899 / April 23: Alaskan declaration of independence. AK remains independent for 40 years.
1899 / May 1: 'May Day Truce'. Soldiers on both sides lay down arms; spontaneous cease-fire nearly leads to general peace.
1899 / May 2: Eugene Debs urges USA to 'press on to victory' in spite of clear defeat and existing cease-fire.
1899 / May 3: General Cotten attacks Texan forces in Louisiana, ending the cease-fire and forcing the Lowland Republic west. Battle ends in inconclusive stalemate.
1899 / May 5: Third Battle of Minnesula. US gas attack - the first known to have been used - fails to dislodge or seriously damage Texan forces. Known anti-war writer and apparent Socialist Presidential hopeful Bill Hearst disappears - assumed to be killed - during attack.
1899 / May 8: August Sutter dies three days after gas poisoning; Sutter Corporation defaults to state control.
1899 June - 1900 June: The Silence - a period of a little over a year in which no major ground is broken. Texas controls:
*Alexandria / West Louisiana
* New Hampshire / Massachusetts / Vermont - northern Maine (temporarily annexed to Canada)
*Korea has occupied most of Hawaii, with some forces engaging in a limited 'island hop' campaign.
*The Bucephalus Society has occupied Liberia, but refuses to annex it - not wishing to disturb 'global order'.
*The Republic of Alaska is independent, and is attempting to broker a separate peace under a cease-fire with Canada.
*The Uprising never properly organized -- while some believe them to have been US-associated, they owed the US no allegiance, so the USA had no forces or official occupation zones in Africa. (Common misconception)
1900 / July 18: Texans attack New York City. Militia easily defeated; largest city in North America occupied. Generally acknowledged to be the turning point of the war.
1900 / July 20: 'The Bolt From The Blue' - American forces under Potter, loosed from earlier action in the Midwest, attack defenses along the Potomac. Government of United States thrown into panic.
1900 / August 30: Texan forces overrun Washington D.C. Debs government escapes to Philadelphia.
1900 / September 7: Cease-fire declared.
1900 / September 10: Treaty of San Francisco signed by Eugene Debs, ending North American War.
Which brings us up to today. You really shouldn't miss the Treaty of San Francisco - it was apparently a real circus, you NEED to hear the lecture.
Cyo when-ev - Sara
Next time: The Treaty of San Francisco
Also, screenshots - once I've had my host shot for treason.
And now for something completely different
USA & Texas: Quick National Comparison - 2008
USA:
President/Party: Al GORE / Republican
Vice-President: Barack OBAMA
Legislative:: Bicameral; both houses controlled by Republican Party, with significant Socialist presence, esp. from the 'red states' (deep South, West, etc.)
Presidential Challengers, 2008: Dick GEPHARDT / Socialist; Rick SANTORUM / Socialist; Ralph NADER / Green; Edward KENNEDY / National Liberal
Current Events Of Note: Country still mired in Iranian occupation; Socialist Party and Republican Party both proposing Constitutional amendments - to respectively ban cloning and enshrine gay rights - each of which are highlighting increasing problems in the two-party American system. A Nader-Kennedy coalition seems to be inevitable, and would seriously damage Republican dominance of the liberal vote. Overtures by Gore government towards Iraq not popular with American public.
Texas:
President/Party: Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER / Liberal
Governor of Texas / Party: Harry REID / National Fraternity
Legislative:: An almost dead heat. The Green Party provides a crucial voting bloc, usually supporting the National Fraternity Party on economic issues and the Liberal Party on societal ones.
Presidential Challengers, 2006: Harry REID / National Fraternity; Peter CAMEJO, Green
Current Events Of Note: Texas has been in an uproar over Schwarzenegger's withdrawal of troops from Iran; the economy has been hit incredibly hard by outsourcing to India and China, and relations with other OPEC countries is increasingly antagonistic. In a year marked by poor news, the surprising election of John Pius VI has buoyed the spirits of Texans; he will be the first Texan pope in addition to the first American one in history.
USA & Texas: Quick National Comparison - 2008
USA:
President/Party: Al GORE / Republican
Vice-President: Barack OBAMA
Legislative:: Bicameral; both houses controlled by Republican Party, with significant Socialist presence, esp. from the 'red states' (deep South, West, etc.)
Presidential Challengers, 2008: Dick GEPHARDT / Socialist; Rick SANTORUM / Socialist; Ralph NADER / Green; Edward KENNEDY / National Liberal
Current Events Of Note: Country still mired in Iranian occupation; Socialist Party and Republican Party both proposing Constitutional amendments - to respectively ban cloning and enshrine gay rights - each of which are highlighting increasing problems in the two-party American system. A Nader-Kennedy coalition seems to be inevitable, and would seriously damage Republican dominance of the liberal vote. Overtures by Gore government towards Iraq not popular with American public.
Texas:
President/Party: Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER / Liberal
Governor of Texas / Party: Harry REID / National Fraternity
Legislative:: An almost dead heat. The Green Party provides a crucial voting bloc, usually supporting the National Fraternity Party on economic issues and the Liberal Party on societal ones.
Presidential Challengers, 2006: Harry REID / National Fraternity; Peter CAMEJO, Green
Current Events Of Note: Texas has been in an uproar over Schwarzenegger's withdrawal of troops from Iran; the economy has been hit incredibly hard by outsourcing to India and China, and relations with other OPEC countries is increasingly antagonistic. In a year marked by poor news, the surprising election of John Pius VI has buoyed the spirits of Texans; he will be the first Texan pope in addition to the first American one in history.
Last edited:
Two socialist Presidental challengers? 
Are there two parties with the same name?
Good show, tho. Nice to see that the AAR back and all. Also:
Texan Pope! Could it possibly be George W.? There's actually a written timeline out there detailing the path that his life may have taken, becoming a bishop in the Catholic Church or something.
Also, apparently this time the Red States are really 'Red'. :wacko:
Are there two parties with the same name?Good show, tho. Nice to see that the AAR back and all. Also:
Texan Pope! Could it possibly be George W.? There's actually a written timeline out there detailing the path that his life may have taken, becoming a bishop in the Catholic Church or something.
Also, apparently this time the Red States are really 'Red'. :wacko:
The Bush boy whose public conversion to Islam nearly cost Jeb governorship of Connecticut - Pope? You sure pick some odd ones...
'Albert Schwarzenegger'? Was I drunk? Agh.
Also, clearly the 2008 election hasn't happened yet as of the quick-comparison - Santorum and Gephardt are just the big dogs this time around. The Socialist Party hasn't been doing so good since 4/11, because they can't demand attention on economic injustice or social immorality without looking soft on fundamentalism. To hear them talk, you'd think Gore would have lost by a landslide...
'Albert Schwarzenegger'? Was I drunk? Agh.
Also, clearly the 2008 election hasn't happened yet as of the quick-comparison - Santorum and Gephardt are just the big dogs this time around. The Socialist Party hasn't been doing so good since 4/11, because they can't demand attention on economic injustice or social immorality without looking soft on fundamentalism. To hear them talk, you'd think Gore would have lost by a landslide...
The Treaty Of San Francisco
"San Francisco was a circus. I sat opposite a gross of Texan delegates who seemed to agree only that the United States ought to suffer. One party wanted us to cede everything gained after the Treaty of Paris. One party wanted the old Confederacy, another the old Union; a large and alarmingly narrowly defeated movement wanted us put under the Canadian flag and administered as a client state. There were proposals to convert us to the Indian melange faith, to state atheism, or to a number of military districts ruled by a caudillo apiece. Delegates demanded all amendments be stripped from the Constitution, the executive, legislative, and/or judicial branches be destroyed, that the United States be legally disallowed to send or receive migrants, imports, or exports. We fought hard, but they fought dirty; all I could save from that pack of jackals was our dignity."
--Eugene Debs, 1901
The Treaty of San Francisco began the Texan golden era; the only rival to the rising star remaining on the North American continent had been beaten down in the most brutal, bloody war the world had ever seen.
The terms were as follows:
I. The United States recognize that the Republic of Texas and her associate states have decisively triumphed in this conflict and shall dictate terms at its convenience; the United States unconditionally surrenders.
II. All claims of the United States on Texan lands are hereby renounced for perpetuity.
III. No American or Texan state shall change legal administrations upon the signature of this treaty, or for a period lasting five years after.
IV. The independence and self-determination of the Alaskan Republic is hereby recognized by all signing parties and shall be jealously guarded against outside intrusion.
V. The state of Liberia shall gain complete independence from both the United States and Texas.
VI. The United States shall pay a monthly restitution amounting to half of its economic income for a period of five years.
VII. The United States will heretofore and for perpetuity remain subject to the utter political and economic authority of Commonwealth administration. Their status within the Commonwealth shall be determined at a later date.
VIII. In addition to membership within the Commonwealth of Texas, the United States shall hereby recognize the direct suzerainity of the Republic of Texas over their affairs.
IX. The United States shall take no further diplomatic actions outside of their borders without the direct guidance of the Republic of Texas.
X. Texas officially recognizes the manful conduct of the United States in war and in peace and shall require, as respects this conflict, no public apology, trial, or similar ingratiation from them for any reason.
Signed - Party:
Samuel Houston IV - President, Republic of Texas
Eugene Debs - President, United States of America
Kojong Hwangje - Prince of Korea
Dick Seddon - President, Republic of New Zealand
Gabriel Lamar-Montenegro - President, Republic of Colombia
Wilfrid Laurier - President, Republic of Canada
Signed - Observers:
Lev Bronstein - Prime Minister, Empire of Russia
Raymond Poincaré - Prime Minister, Empire of France
September the Tenth, Nineteen Hundred - San Francisco, California.
END OF CHAPTER 4
"San Francisco was a circus. I sat opposite a gross of Texan delegates who seemed to agree only that the United States ought to suffer. One party wanted us to cede everything gained after the Treaty of Paris. One party wanted the old Confederacy, another the old Union; a large and alarmingly narrowly defeated movement wanted us put under the Canadian flag and administered as a client state. There were proposals to convert us to the Indian melange faith, to state atheism, or to a number of military districts ruled by a caudillo apiece. Delegates demanded all amendments be stripped from the Constitution, the executive, legislative, and/or judicial branches be destroyed, that the United States be legally disallowed to send or receive migrants, imports, or exports. We fought hard, but they fought dirty; all I could save from that pack of jackals was our dignity."
--Eugene Debs, 1901
The Treaty of San Francisco began the Texan golden era; the only rival to the rising star remaining on the North American continent had been beaten down in the most brutal, bloody war the world had ever seen.
The terms were as follows:
I. The United States recognize that the Republic of Texas and her associate states have decisively triumphed in this conflict and shall dictate terms at its convenience; the United States unconditionally surrenders.
II. All claims of the United States on Texan lands are hereby renounced for perpetuity.
III. No American or Texan state shall change legal administrations upon the signature of this treaty, or for a period lasting five years after.
IV. The independence and self-determination of the Alaskan Republic is hereby recognized by all signing parties and shall be jealously guarded against outside intrusion.
V. The state of Liberia shall gain complete independence from both the United States and Texas.
VI. The United States shall pay a monthly restitution amounting to half of its economic income for a period of five years.
VII. The United States will heretofore and for perpetuity remain subject to the utter political and economic authority of Commonwealth administration. Their status within the Commonwealth shall be determined at a later date.
VIII. In addition to membership within the Commonwealth of Texas, the United States shall hereby recognize the direct suzerainity of the Republic of Texas over their affairs.
IX. The United States shall take no further diplomatic actions outside of their borders without the direct guidance of the Republic of Texas.
X. Texas officially recognizes the manful conduct of the United States in war and in peace and shall require, as respects this conflict, no public apology, trial, or similar ingratiation from them for any reason.
Signed - Party:
Samuel Houston IV - President, Republic of Texas
Eugene Debs - President, United States of America
Kojong Hwangje - Prince of Korea
Dick Seddon - President, Republic of New Zealand
Gabriel Lamar-Montenegro - President, Republic of Colombia
Wilfrid Laurier - President, Republic of Canada
Signed - Observers:
Lev Bronstein - Prime Minister, Empire of Russia
Raymond Poincaré - Prime Minister, Empire of France
September the Tenth, Nineteen Hundred - San Francisco, California.
END OF CHAPTER 4
So 20 years to go in the game, huh?
Also, the treaty seems to be ridiculously harsh on the USA. Did they really lose that badly? Well, I suppose they did. But still, the USA is quite strong in this timeline.
Also, the treaty seems to be ridiculously harsh on the USA. Did they really lose that badly? Well, I suppose they did. But still, the USA is quite strong in this timeline.
Chapter 5: Old World Order
It had been a miserable and hard fight, but Texas had finally succeeded in unifying North America under its banner. Through economic and political dominance and, on occasion, outright physical coersion, Houston had become the center of the Lamar Constellation, an informal name for an informal coalition of nations under Texan thrall spreading from Ottawa to Bogota.
In Europe, on the other hand, the situation could hardly have been more different.
Italy and Germany languished idly, their former destinies of independence and unity slipping forever into an unkind future. Austria was falling apart, the Scandinavian alliance system had collapsed, and Russia was once more rising to prominence over the affairs of the Continent.
Britain watched its new rival across the sea and waited - a little bitter, certainly, at its rise to dominance over the colonial world she had grown so great at exploiting. The people welcomed an Anglo-Texan friendship - a continuation of trends lasting since Texan indepencence - a sort of reciprocal quiet warmth. A new clique rising from power in the navy, having watched the Great North American war from the wings, knew that the scrap was only a matter of the date and the stakes.
The French and Ottoman empires sparred blindly in the twilight years of a war that had already lasted more than two and a half decades. Ships and bands of warriors under the Tricolor and the Crescent and Star fired their guns into one another in the night, bearing slowly forward an uncomfortably louche and inhuman war.
The French ambassador to Italy, meanwhile, had begun secret negotiations with the nation's Texan overlords. Years ago, the Texans' intercession saved the French from a rampaging Prussia and gained Texas a powerful, prestigious foothold on the Old World. In 1901, Texas was ready to fall apart from the strain of keeping the United States from lashing out in every direction.
Napoleon and Houston had to talk: it was time to bring the old favor full circle.
It had been a miserable and hard fight, but Texas had finally succeeded in unifying North America under its banner. Through economic and political dominance and, on occasion, outright physical coersion, Houston had become the center of the Lamar Constellation, an informal name for an informal coalition of nations under Texan thrall spreading from Ottawa to Bogota.
In Europe, on the other hand, the situation could hardly have been more different.
Italy and Germany languished idly, their former destinies of independence and unity slipping forever into an unkind future. Austria was falling apart, the Scandinavian alliance system had collapsed, and Russia was once more rising to prominence over the affairs of the Continent.
Britain watched its new rival across the sea and waited - a little bitter, certainly, at its rise to dominance over the colonial world she had grown so great at exploiting. The people welcomed an Anglo-Texan friendship - a continuation of trends lasting since Texan indepencence - a sort of reciprocal quiet warmth. A new clique rising from power in the navy, having watched the Great North American war from the wings, knew that the scrap was only a matter of the date and the stakes.
The French and Ottoman empires sparred blindly in the twilight years of a war that had already lasted more than two and a half decades. Ships and bands of warriors under the Tricolor and the Crescent and Star fired their guns into one another in the night, bearing slowly forward an uncomfortably louche and inhuman war.
The French ambassador to Italy, meanwhile, had begun secret negotiations with the nation's Texan overlords. Years ago, the Texans' intercession saved the French from a rampaging Prussia and gained Texas a powerful, prestigious foothold on the Old World. In 1901, Texas was ready to fall apart from the strain of keeping the United States from lashing out in every direction.
Napoleon and Houston had to talk: it was time to bring the old favor full circle.