Southern Victory(Cody and Tigerstar)

American Empire(Part 4)

Me:

What previously happened was that Featherston joined the Freedom Party and used speeches to gain popularity in the South, socialists like Upton Sinclair became U.S. presidents, and Canadians are fighting Americans to maintain their identity. Of course, Confederacy isn't the only one resenting the North. And the U.S. isn't the only despised nation after the Great War.

Cody:

The British look at protestant rebellions and, just like the Confederates, long for the days where they were once the great power of the World. And the French do too. We'll count them in this. Just slowly building resentment. The thing I love that Turtledove does is that he includes single fringe movements of OUR timeline into the narrative of THIS timeline.

The British politician Oswald Mosley in our timeline ran a small group called the British Union of Fascists. They were properly shut down when the war began. However, in Turtledove's world, Mosley's views aren't only mainstreamed. They're prominent. He leads a group called the Silver Shirts, which forced the British parliament into a hardline stance.

And France, they are simply done with democracy altogether. The Republican experiment failed in the eyes of many Frenchmen, and one group, the Action Francaise, (I'm terrible at French), come to power and install their leader as the new French monarch. Charles XI.

The 1930's begins with an age of economic turmoil. It appears that radicalism has grown throughout the Western world. The only one left is the Confederate States. The stock market crash exploded the popularity of the Freedom Party, and Jake Featherston is the new leader of the South. In quick succession, Featherston was voted into office along with his party, where they abolished the Supreme Court and voted to make Featherston effectively president for life.

Me:

The reason the Confederate Supreme Court was abolished was that they opposed a dam project that Featherston came up with. As for the C.S. Constitution, it has something that limited C.S. presidents to just one term of six years.

Cody:

The main rhetoric preached was he wanted the states back, that the United States took during the war. Sinclair agreed to allow the people of the States of Houston, Sequoia, and Kentucky to vote in 1941. Well, all but Sequoyah voted to get back into the C.S.A. The deal was that the South wouldn't demand anymore after this. But, this wasn't enough for Featherston, who demanded Sequoyah back. You see, Featherston wanted a war no matter what. It was something he had prepared for, for decades, and his allies across the sea, war as well.

Me:

When Houston rejoined the C.S.A., they rejoined Texas. But, Sinclair was not in charge of the U.S. in 1941. Another socialist was.

Cody:

There had to be a breaking point, and there was. Wilhelm II of Germany died, and his son, Wilhelm III, refused to allow France its captured territory back. For the new alliance, this was enough to declare war. Featherston set his sights on Ohio. Ohio was the heartland of the U.S. And if it was, say, successfully annexed, the U.S. would be split in half.

Me:

I feel that Featherston forgot about American Canada. He could've chosen to capture Michigan's lower peninsula and maybe Ontario as well. More information in the next chapter.