For the Republic: A History of the Second American Civil War
- Thread starter The Angry Observer
- Start date
Long, to my knowledge, had zero secessionist sympathies. Few people in the South actually did at this point beyond fanatical devotion to their “institutions”— which Long was uniquely apathetic to for a Southern politician. Asserting the South’s de facto independence while maintaining the Union de jure is him being pragmatic and trying to protect the South (and himself!) from MacArthur. And of course get his ideas implemented and become one of the richest people on earth while he’s at it. The status quo won’t last forever, and the best thing Long can realistically hope for is using what he’s built to leverage a beneficial situation under the winner. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people crazier than Long dreaming of foisting the stars and bars again, which is obviously going to be trouble later on.
Yeah, I think I’m going to do this. I’ll spend a chapter or two rapping up the 1934 war and then briefly look into the world as it stands a year after the March on Washington.
The west coast states are neutral like another commenter said but otherwise this is pretty close! MacArthur does control more of northeast Pennsylvania, though, and he also has south Jersey. That’s all I can think of at the moment. I don’t think I specified Iowa, but that will be an important member of the Republican coalition. Great map overall, thanks so much for making it!
Do you think white for neutral states looks good?
Not sure what to do with Alaska and Hawaii.
PS: Just saw the latest reply and edited it.
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Basically everything west of Missouri would be neutral. A lot of people just aren’t sure where to go and if the war isn’t in their immediate vicinity most governments won’t participate in it. But yeah, about what I’m thinking otherwise. My next post will provide more details and I’ll probably end up leaning on gaysinspace for a map of the frontline.
Ok, final version till the next chapter.
Grey are the majority aligned Natcorps
US colour is the U.S. federal governments stronghold in the northeast, the two loyal states in the west and the territories of Hawaii and Alaska who are still mostly out if it, but I simply included them in the US because they are technically still owned by the Federal government. Dark grey is the military advancement of the Natcorps, with those lands I imagine being actually run by the military right now instead of any "civil" government.
Blue are the states under majority control of Huey Long and his circle, with it's borders being in the colours of the Natcorps as too show it's aligned status as well as in the US colour to show de jure control.
White are the states that proclaimed neutrality (as far as I know), while the light grey ones are those who are de facto still mostly unaffected.
Iowa is shown in both the Natcorps and the US colour.
Grey are the majority aligned Natcorps
US colour is the U.S. federal governments stronghold in the northeast, the two loyal states in the west and the territories of Hawaii and Alaska who are still mostly out if it, but I simply included them in the US because they are technically still owned by the Federal government. Dark grey is the military advancement of the Natcorps, with those lands I imagine being actually run by the military right now instead of any "civil" government.
Blue are the states under majority control of Huey Long and his circle, with it's borders being in the colours of the Natcorps as too show it's aligned status as well as in the US colour to show de jure control.
White are the states that proclaimed neutrality (as far as I know), while the light grey ones are those who are de facto still mostly unaffected.
Iowa is shown in both the Natcorps and the US colour.
That’s great, thanks so much! My next post should go more into depth on this. I hope to have it done by Monday at the latest.
Deleted member 191087
Hey @The Angry Observer! Really like the story you’ve got here! Just wanted to come by and ask some questions as well.
So first off, what would these people be up to in this timeline:
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
LBJ
Joseph McCarthy
Strom Thurmond
Curtis “Bombs Away” Lemay
Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky
Gerald L.K. Smith
W.E.B. Du Bois
Woody Guthrie
So first off, what would these people be up to in this timeline:
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
LBJ
Joseph McCarthy
Strom Thurmond
Curtis “Bombs Away” Lemay
Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky
Gerald L.K. Smith
W.E.B. Du Bois
Woody Guthrie
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Thanks so much! I don't want to spoil too much as a lot of the people that you have mentioned do have prominent roles in the Second American Civil War and its aftermath. If you want more, feel free to ask and I'll happily elaborate!
Reagan, in the 1930's, was actually a Democrat and OTL had been pretty sympathetic to Roosevelt. He was in Hollywood during this period. He'll be a firm Republican and will be supporting the cause however he can.
Also a Californian, the young Nixon would have gone to Duke University in the fall of 1934 due to a law scholarship. That's after the March on Washington, so the question is if Nixon would let the trivial matter of a coup discourage him from pursuing his ambitions. I don't think he would, which means he's right in the middle of Natcorp territory.
Hadn't thought about this one too hard, but he's in Texas, which is under Long's protection. As a political animal, he, like Nixon, will be cooperating with the regime he's under in any capacity that he can.
A Wisconsite in his twenties, McCarthy would be fighting on the side of the Republicans when the Natcorps invade the Midwest.
A State Senator in South Carolina, Thurmond would be a cautious supporter of Long.
I don't know too much about him, but considering that he was Army man and had access to planes my money is on him being a Natcorp.
These two might just have more in common with the Republic than MacArthur
I don't know too much about him either, but considering locale he'd likely be a MacArthur supporter if he isn't branded a Coughlinite and mopped up.
He will be critical of the Republic in many respects but a thorough supporter of the war effort. Notably, they've already made gargantuanly progressive moves, such as integrating the armed forces right off the bat.
Guthrie is certainly a devoted Republican even if he is skeptical and critical of Smith personally. He'll find developments in the Republic promising for his political views.
I think what would be interesting if there was a confederate civil war between longists and neo-confederates. The neo-confederates making an alliance with NatCorp and the longest making an alliance with the Federal Government. Also I think it would be interesting to see how the Communists in all of this. I could see a scenario where there are communists uprisings in Chicago, Seattle and among Midwest/west farmers given their strong presence there.
Yeah, those are definitely concepts I intend to explore in some form as I move forward.
Sorry I've been late-- finals have been eating up quite a bit of my time. New update should be ready today.
“All Quiet on the Northeast Front” (Chapter 6)
“All Quiet on the Northeast Front”
“We find ourselves locked in the greatest struggle of our times— a product of a generation of godlessness and lawlessness. The fate of the American nation depends on how long we shall fight under the glorious banner of General MacArthur.” - Nicholas Murray Butler
George C. Marshall
George C. Marshall
During the Great War, Erich Ludendorf, who by the March on Washington was an aging but prominent supporter of the Nazi regime, had scoffed at the possibility of American outrage costing Germany the war. Americans, after all, were locked behind the Atlantic Ocean. Even if they did have the muscle to defeat the mighty German Army, there was thousands of miles of ocean between them and whatever America could muster. Among other things, by making this statement Ludendorf had profoundly underestimated American industrial capabilities, which would become the most powerful in the world by the outbreak of the Second American Civil War. At the same time, the world was on the brink of a military revolution dominated by armored warfare and airpower. And while capable commanders on both sides would quickly discover that revolution, before they did the Second American Civil War saw a rehash of Great War tactics with 1930’s arms. The result of this was heavy casualties and mass disorganization.
MacArthur, who had inherited most of the Army’s equipment, initially benefited the most from this. The Syracuse campaign had mostly ended any hopes of a quick and easy war, but in the Winter of 1934 the Natcorps still had reason to believe that they could ensure the Republic’s defeat by breaking the Marshall Line. Locking the Republic into New England and especially capturing New York City would turn the war into a siege, with the Natcorps doing the besieging. And for any hope of that, the Natcorps would need to muscle through New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. MacArthur, whose regime was being hastily assembled across the country, reorganized his faction of the United States Army into ten Corps. He took control of the III Corps himself for the winter of 1934, which was stationed in eastern Pennsylvania. Coordinating with Eisenhower’s I Corps in New Jersey, MacArthur intended to crush the green Republican recruits through raw force. The result was fighting so hideously bloody that nobody could’ve predicted even a year beforehand that such a thing was even possible in America. The finest artillery pieces the Army had were quickly put to work by both sides to obliterate enemy territory. What was “enemy” territory was never entirely clear to anyone and constantly changed. The result was a high collateral game that turned eastern Pennsylvania into a wasteland.
Artillery aside, the Second American Civil War initially left commanders with little idea of what to do with their infantry. Tanks and airplanes shattered most green recruits they encountered. George C. Marshall despaired that, “a million men, two million men— if I had ten million they’d still break before the Jackboot tanks.” And this was much of the challenge of upholding the Marshall Line. Republican high command managed to muster hundreds of thousands from New England farms to New York City slums, but it was all they could do to even delay MacArthur. Meanwhile, equipping this army aside, it needed to be fed and housed through the winter. No area in America was prepared to do that, meaning troops lived off the land and even when commanders on both sides were discouraging outright brutality it happened regularly. Theft was the most common offense, but murder and rape were all too common as well. The result was two ragtag, mismatched armies duking it out in bitter cold with weapons neither side truly understood.
Natcorp recruits in Delaware
Under joint attack from Eisenhower and MacArthur, the Marshall Line buckled and in many places broke entirely. Marshall recognized the importance of not being boxed into the Northeast alone, and endeavored to hold anything in the Mid Atlantic he could. Philadelphia, for both strategic and sentimental reasons, was a city he and President Smith absolutely refused to see fall into Natcorp hands. For this reason, when the Republican position in southern New Jersey became completely untenable Marshall prepared for the unthinkable: a siege of the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. This was a decision that very nearly resulted in Smith dismissing him, but there simply were not other generals to be found as Smith wanted Butler transferred to the Midwest. Nonetheless, Marshall’s early preparations were vindicated. MacArthur turned his sights on the City of Brotherly Love, pounding any Republican formations with heavy artillery. Marshall suffered many defeats on many fronts. The Republican recruits were often no match for what MacArthur and Eisenhower had, and the result was continual collapse around Philadelphia. But, steadily, the delays played into the Republicans’ hands. In November MacArthur launched a major offensive into the suburb of Pottstown, and this time the Republican recruits held their ground and were able to compete with the Natcorps for air superiority. The sheer mass of raw recruits coming in from both sides meant that while the Natcorps were not by any means outnumbered, the bulk of their army was as green as the Republicans. And the Republicans quickly learned the ways of war. “There is so much butchery,” wrote one Irish American private in Quakertown to his parents in New York City. “I believe firmly in the Lord and Virgin whenever the whistling begins. I fear the engines of hell themselves but I hate them too. There is kerosene that we use for our night fire, and unlike in July I will never break for hope that I can one day cook a jackboot alive in his tank.” In the Midwest, British volunteer Eric Blair, also known under his pen name George Orwell, wrote simply: “Every one of us has vowed to kill at least one fascist. If we do so, they shall soon go extinct.”
The venom and hatred from the Natcorp side was equally powerful after several rounds of hideous fighting. “They turn their guns on their own cities,” wrote a colonel in MacArthur’s army, “they loot their own food stores. When fighting starts they break and loot— and neither women nor children are safe when they do. We have seen firsthand the despotism and government-by-thief the Romanist has planned for every corner of our fine country should we fail.” “I wish to kill Smith and that whore Roosevelt,” wrote another. “And I would consider it my honor to do the same to any rumpub. in my path.” The stories of the battles, rather than cause the population to turn on MacArthur, polarized his base of support. Even as the stakes became impossible to avoid, MacArtur’s partisans became even more fanatical, which enabled the DOJ to ramp up the crackdowns on his domestic opponents. The staunchest of MacArthur’s enemies formed resistance movements, which were of course encouraged by Republican authorities. Before Christmas of 1934, Mary Dothan was such a participant, sending parcels of information from D.C. socialites on the tenuous road to Albany. “I have invested in the pineapple trade,” she wrote bluntly. The DOJ, meanwhile, would engage in unprecedented subterfuge under Hoover’s stewardship.
George Marshall was successful in plugging the leaks north of Philadelphia. Despite heavy losses, the Republicans were able to stop the Natcorps from breaking into New Jersey and meeting up with Eisenhower to encircle Philadelphia. Republican artillery and airpower, while at a clear disadvantage to the Natcorps, was able to keep MacArthur’s various subordinates from linking up and completely cutting off Philadelphia. Like George Washington before him, it made MacArthur’s chances of crossing the Delaware River successfully incredibly low without a military victory first. The Republicans in Philadelphia understood that evacuation would probably lose the war and give the better armed and more numerous Natcorps a straight line to New York City. “We are in check if we should move our rook,” explained Marshall to Stimson. Well before Christmas, however, it was clear that Marshall had won the maneuvering game, keeping the Natcorp armies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania from cutting Philadelphia off completely. This prompted MacArthur’s next move: seize the city by raw force and destroy the Republicans through bloodletting. In November, days after Thanksgiving, MacArthur sent orders to invade Philadelphia through West Chester. And thus begin the Battle of Philadelphia, among the war’s most infamous.
Carnage to the west of Philadelphia
In the midst of a bitterly cold autumn turning into an even colder winter in a country already wracked by poverty, Philadelphia was subjected to a savage artillery barrage. This was pulled straight from MacArthur’s Great War manual. It was, according to him, an “unfortunate but necessary way to soften ‘em up.” These were followed by air raids, which were new to the world of warfare. Both sides quickly grasped their value, and for MacArthur they were a fine way to target military structures in Philadelphia. His hope was to demoralize and wound the Republicans enough to destroy them in a pitched battle, separate Republican formations in Philadelphia and Wilmington, and then strangle what was left like a python. The Natcorps understood that this would mean extensively bloody fighting with very high civilian casualties, unlike anything the war had seen so far, but also knew that if they could seize Philadelphia that New York City and then Albany would not be far ahead. The best case scenario was taking New England early in 1935. The worst case scenario was protracted war, which was what the Natcorps would surely face if they did not attack Philadelphia to begin with. The Natcorp bombings— followed by an invasion on the city’s western fringes that was resisted as savagely as it was conducted— were successful in putting the defenders through hell, but the result was they only became further indistinguishable from the civilian population. The Battle of Philadelphia was widely called the “Bloodletting of Philadelphia”, and consumed the largest amount of troops of any single engagement in the war. By Christmas Day of 1934, Philadelphia was a ferocious stalemate. The Natcorps were grinding their way into the city, but the war most certainly would not end in 1935.
During the winter of 1934, MacArthur ordered a new theater of the war to be opened in order to box in Smith. The victory of Philip La Follette in the 1934 Wisconsin Governor’s race solidified that state and nearby Minnesota and Iowa as Republican bastions. As Hobbs had failed to take Syracuse, this meant that the Great Lakes was a viable route for men and treasure to reach the Republican cause. General Hugh Johnson, also the Secretary of Labor for the Natcorp regime, was directed to take the Midwest at any and all costs. The Natcorps were successful in deposing the governments of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan but large portions of those states were outside of their control. These states also had powerful labor movements, which were, as Brinkley writes, “the backbone of Republican resistance.” The DOJ already had a decent idea of who the strongest supporters and organizers of labor were. Fast arrests drove unions underground, but many leaders had fled ahead of the Natcorp takeover. And this did not stop massive strikes from forming within days of the coup, joined by angry citizens everywhere. Johnson saw this as the greatest threat to the regime’s legitimacy, and understood that it would be impossible to prosecute a war against La Follette and Olsen without the states they already had completely pacified. Furthermore, outside of the major population centers the Natcorps had no power at all. They were unable to exert power any further north than Lansing in Michigan, allowing for Michigan politicians that had escaped to form a rump government in Marquette.
“Ohio,” wrote Johnson, “must be destroyed, not overrun. Only that way can we hope to rebuild it.” Strikers were brutalized. Rioters were shot. When Ohio and Indiana were engulfed in strikes, Johnson, who had divided them into tiny militarized districts, responded quickly and harshly. Green Natcorp troops fought laborers hand-to-hand with bayonets. Cities like Cincinnati, Columbus, and Gary were severely damaged, but the Natcorps were on top by the end of the struggle. The winter revolts were useful to Johnson, who quickly discerned which troops were truly loyal to the regime and which weren’t. Ordered to fire into crowds, the hectic environment saw most Natcorp soldiers doing as they were told. “The devil owned us from that day forward,” recalled one sergeant who survived the war, “and his name was Hugh Johnson.” All urban centers with high union populations saw mass demonstrations followed by crackdowns. Johnson’s actions earned him a moniker from his new subjects: the Butcher of Ohio. Johnson promptly forced strikers back to work at the point of a gun and cut pay to help finance the war effort. He was advised by Hoover to create work camps for agitators, where they could become useful. According to anecdote, Johnson simply smiled at one of the Director’s agents and said that “we have Ohio for this purpose.” Although the savagery in 1934 and early 1935 would pale next to actions further into the war, the stories nonetheless horrified many everywhere, even though Johnson and MacArthur were not without their supporters. Organized labor and the radical left across the world flocked to the Republic’s banner. When Philip La Follette was tasked with defending his state, he had so many volunteers that the Republic could never hope to arm them with the majority of its industrial might on the other side of Michigan.
Photo of Eric Blair, a Republican volunteer
MacArthur sensed weakness. He instructed Johnson to take whatever hard equipment the burgeoning Natcorp war machine could spare and carve a path of fire and blood to Minneapolis. A winter attack was thought to be best— here as in other areas, the Natcorps gambled that their superior training would carry the day and that the winter would be more burdensome for the Republicans than for them. Immediately after La Follette’s victory, preparations were made. Johnson himself was to lead the expedition. Speed would be the most valued element, with MacArthur wanting a decapitation strike that would destroy the left wing governments in the Midwest before they could become a serious threat to the Natcorp war effort. The expedition would begin with 100,000 troops and was to be reinforced from divisions coming in from the east and new recruits. Within days, Johnson had already secured favorable automobile routes that could bring transfers from Pennsylvania to Illinois in days. He flooded into northern Illinois on November 10th, crushing the sparse Republican units that came into conflict with his men. Floyd Olsen, who assumed de facto control of the Midwestern Theater, ordered a general retreat to Madison. The Wisconsin legislature, meanwhile, unanimously passed an emergency bill investing authority in La Follette, who declared a state of emergency.
Mayor Cermak of Chicago, who had been in office for a little under two years, was openly defiant in the face of Johnson’s army, penning an obscenity-laden reply to Johnson’s offers of clemency in exchange for surrender. As Johnson’s army made its way north under increasingly hostile conditions, like subzero temperatures and multiple feet of snow, it could not hope to take Chicago. As a result, Johnson decided to simply bypass the city and leave a small force to surround it and ensure that his rear was secure. In reality, Cermak's bluster aside, Chicago had nothing in it resembling an army. This was the first mistake Johnson made, weakening a force that was already thoroughly miserable thanks to the winter. “If only Mac knew of our conditions” wrote one Maryland private. “I apologize for the state of my handwriting as I have lost a finger.” The Republicans, meanwhile, scrambled to arm and train the ragtag horde of men and women offering to fight for them. The Johnson Offensive, as it came to be known, wanted chiefly to capture Madison and Milwaukee, seizing southern Wisconsin much the same way that the Natcorps had captured southern Michigan. If nothing else, Johnson would have a base of operations to subdue the midwest and could easily keep Olsen from reinforcing Smith in Albany. The Republicans prepared to make a fight of it. Personally surveyed by La Follette, they hastily constructed fortifications in and around the town of Rockford, with the hope being that they could keep Johnson at bay and use that as a springboard for keeping Chicago safe, much as Marshall was seeking to do in and around Philadelphia. The Republicans managed to arm a force of 70,000, close to what Johnson had in total and with the defensive advantage.
Johnson, nonetheless, feeling the bitter cold with his army, felt he had little choice politically but to make the offensive work lest he return to MacArthur empty handed. This was a recurring issue for the Natcorp commanders— few had regular access to the flamboyant and egotistical MacArthur, and therefore scrambled not to disappoint him, Hoover, or anyone else that could take their power from them or do worse. Later in the war, it would result in commanders taking extravagant and unnecessary risks which often backfired. Johnson, however, was correct that he was facing the Republican army at its weakest. The idea of potentially capturing La Follette also whet his appetite for battle. In any event, he ordered an attack on December the 10th, with the spirited backing of the Natcorp air and armor. The Republicans in the Midwest, like the Republicans at Danville, had more or less no response to these. Military theoreticians had long believed that the intense fortification that had dominated the Great War would give way to a new, mobile era defined by the ability to shatter infantry and artillery formations. As previously explained, at the war’s beginning the Natcorps were the ones better poised to exploit this new reality. “They have the guns,” Stimson grimly explained to President Smith. “All we can do is hold out until more can be constructed.” The Battle of Rockford was a strategic blunder on the Republicans’ part because La Follette played a huge part of his hand without understanding this.
Natcorp airpower at the Battle of Rockford
Consequently, Johnson scored a massive victory for under 5,000 casualties. La Follette barely escaped to Madison and prepared to flee further north, and probably half of the Republican army scattered, was captured, or was simply killed. Natcorp airpower here was the decisive factor, with timely bombings obliterating Republican defenses. “They were like fire breathing dragons,” recalled La Follette, who personally witnessed a strafe not far from his position. “I lost all hope at that moment because I’d never seen anything like it. I can’t even begin to explain what those boys were feeling when they belched flame on our ranks.” “Uncomfortably,” wrote Eric Blair, who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, “we were slaughtered.” The victory, meanwhile, was helpful politically for MacArthur. He abandoned his post in eastern Pennsylvania and returned to D.C. to truly govern, according to some reports because he felt so alarmed by the extent of J. Edgar Hoover’s purges of supposed homosexuals and communists in the regime. There is at least some evidence to suggest that MacArthur feared that the associates of John Davis were trying to marginalize him. Others have suggested more base motivations: MacArthur, although much preferring to lead in person and receive the adulation of his new army, wanted to bask in the power and glory of his new empire even more. Whatever the case, MacArthur did not spend Christmas with the men and instead went to D.C. with his entourage. “Ours is a new America,” said MacArthur to a parade of newly minted Natcorp soldiers who would soon be in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, “evolved, but as intrepid as the old. And although before me is the greatest threat to the supremacy of the American nation since Lincoln, seeing you here today I abound with confidence that our flag shall prevail once again.”
Meanwhile, Smedley Butler was spirited through Ontario to put the Midwestern Theater back in order. Tens of millions of Americans would find themselves in a war no one could have hoped to predict a year ago, and froze in drenches or went hungry in the ruins of their houses. And all of this American carnage was inflicted at the hands of their countrymen, and as the New Year approached most understood that the very worst of the Second American Civil War, however long it would endure, was yet to come.
Smedley Butler
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Deleted member 191087
Great chapter as always Angry. I got ask two questions as well:
1: How badly will the US economy be affected by this war till its end, considering this is during the Great Depression and having a huge Civil War take place and with the South having left the Union as well I foresee an economic fall-down unlike anything ever seen in such a rich country.
2: What’s the Soviet Union’s reaction to all of this? You’ve gone into both Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany‘s reactions to the NatCorps but I wonder what the good ole‘ USSR would think of the Republican War Effort.
1: How badly will the US economy be affected by this war till its end, considering this is during the Great Depression and having a huge Civil War take place and with the South having left the Union as well I foresee an economic fall-down unlike anything ever seen in such a rich country.
2: What’s the Soviet Union’s reaction to all of this? You’ve gone into both Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany‘s reactions to the NatCorps but I wonder what the good ole‘ USSR would think of the Republican War Effort.
mapuche lautarino
Banned
This story left me with a wild fantasy, a Patton book that tells about the conquest of the south, a long road to Houston.
Again, nice chapter.
And with this, another attempt at a map.
Did some changes so that Philly is in Republican hands.
Tried to show the sparse control of the Natcorp in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Although I had to work with modern population density maps.
Also showing the rather brutal take over of Indiana and Ohio following the strikes, compared to what I assume was a more stable take over of Illinois.
As well as the push into Wisconsin as well as the loyal rump government of Michigan.
Any corrections would of course be kindly received.
And with this, another attempt at a map.
Did some changes so that Philly is in Republican hands.
Tried to show the sparse control of the Natcorp in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Although I had to work with modern population density maps.
Also showing the rather brutal take over of Indiana and Ohio following the strikes, compared to what I assume was a more stable take over of Illinois.
As well as the push into Wisconsin as well as the loyal rump government of Michigan.
Any corrections would of course be kindly received.
GIVE EM HELL SMEDLEY!
It's a messy, messy war this time around. Very curious to see how the Soviets, French, and the British are getting involved, I don't think they'd sit on their hands especially since the Germans and Italians are poking their noses in rather unsubtly. The Brits are in the best position to support either side, though I doubt the Republicans want a handout from the British if they can avoid it, that's a propaganda coup waiting to happen.
It's a messy, messy war this time around. Very curious to see how the Soviets, French, and the British are getting involved, I don't think they'd sit on their hands especially since the Germans and Italians are poking their noses in rather unsubtly. The Brits are in the best position to support either side, though I doubt the Republicans want a handout from the British if they can avoid it, that's a propaganda coup waiting to happen.
Pretty straightforward - just emotionally repress, never talk about it, and then watch all the buried issues explode 20-30 years later.
Thanks! Glad you’re liking it so far!
Severely. You might’ve noted I’ve been excluding the language “Great Depression”, because the war happening will put everyone to work again and distract everyone from their poverty with heinous butchery. It will also give both governments a pretext and a motivation to liquidate businesses aligned with the enemy, something I’ve already shown with the Natcorps. By the end of it, the U.S. will have a ready made army and industrial wartime economy which will of course have dramatic repercussions for Europe.
I’ll cover that in the next chapter. Basically, cautiously sympathetic to the Republican cause and looking to expand its own influence more than anything.