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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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A USA Less World Part 2 1867-1914 By Michael W Moore
(Author’s note: There were so many permutations and combinations possible in this ATL I just went with what I felt were some of the most likely and interesting. Before we go forward I’m going to address some questions raised concerning Part 1 My primary interest in writing this ATL was to explore a world where the USA did not exist and in doing so I intentionally glossed over details of how that scenario came to be. Several people questioned this glossing over of the details and in attempting to address their questions I got interested myself.)
Further edification on the seemingly inequitable westward expansion of the American countries: In this TL New York and the rest of New England fall out and bicker over Vermont and Maine. The new countries have several small military actions over a period of years, in which NY eventually comes out on the short end and New England acquires both Vermont and Maine. This keeps all parties concerned occupied for the better part of a decade. New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland are 'land locked' as per this westward expansion and though they bitch, threaten, and moan they eventually settle down after being bought off with some cash and the settlements of some local national boundaries in their favor. Pennsylvania and Virginia initially only divide up land as far west as Indiana and Kentucky, along the Ohio River, with the lands west to be held jointly and the division of the territory to be negotiated later. Initially Virginia wants it’s Southern boundary, extending west, to be 80 miles or so farther south on the map. However North Carolina strenuously disagrees and threatens to go to war over the issue. Virginia relents and the border is fixed approximately between the two countries where it is OTL. After the dust settles, all are relatively happy with their shares. I think this works out rather peacefully, considering basic human nature, because there is SO MUCH land it's silly to argue over small parts. Also I think that the countries, with common history, struggle, language etc., do manage to work out their differences, at least at this point, in a relatively peaceful style. The Louisiana Purchase brokered by Virginia President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 set off a whole new round of bickering. Pennsylvania and Virginia had not been able to come to any agreement as to the division of the territory held jointly by them west of Indiana. Settlement of this ongoing and potentially violent disagreement was one of the main factors considered by Jefferson when contemplating the Purchase from France. As worked out by Jefferson, the westward division of the Purchase was to be accomplished by westward extension of the existing (east to west) borders of the American countries. With the exception of a compromise worked out between Virginia and Pennsylvania to make the Missouri River from the Mississippi River the primary western border between the two nations. Georgia was for the most part happy with her allotment because of the acquisition of the rich southern part of the territory including the port of New Orleans. The now united Carolina however was decidedly unhappy with her share, on the basis of Jefferson’s plan. Jefferson and the Virginia Congress refused to compromise and Carolina declared war on Virginia in mid 1802. Pennsylvania took Virginia’s side in the conflict, as it would profit greatly along with Virginia in the purchase of Louisiana. Georgia remained neutral. In minor skirmishes, Carolina at first seemed to do well. But at the first major battle of the war near Danville Virginia, its forces were routed by those of Virginia. The Virginians were under the command of Col. William Henry Harrison. The Carolina commander Col. Andrew Jackson was captured along with more than half of his men. Two months later the Carolinians suffered a second defeat, at the hands of now General Harrison, that proved decisive. Virginia’s military reputation had been greatly enhanced by this short war. In Nov. 1802 Carolina sued for peace and agreed to Jefferson’s terms for the Louisiana Purchase. Carolina seethed at this defeat, as the purchase from France was completed. As a part of the Purchase the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri Rivers were declared open waters to all four American purchasers. When Virginia received the northern part of Texas in 1838, as compensation for its assistance in the war for Texas independence, it effectively cut Carolina off from any further westward expansion. Greatly pissing Carolina off. When Virginia would not budge on Carolinian demands, it angers Prime Minister John C Calhoun and Carolina once again declares war on Virginia. It can find no allies. A hastily assembled army of some 4,000 men crosses over into Virginia territory in Oct. of 1838, its objective was to take the Virginian fort at New Madrid. The plan was to cut Virginia in two parts and also close down the Mississippi to all Virginian shipping. A force of 400 Virginian regulars manned the fort, commanded by a young Captain fresh out of the Virginia Military Institute named Robert E Lee. Rather than wait for the fight to be brought to him, Lee elected to meet the enemy in the field. The series of battles fought and the flanking maneuvers employed by Lee are still taught to this day at VMI. The much larger Carolinian force was taken apart by Lee over a 3 day period. Accepting some 180 casualties Lee’s force killed, captured, or wounded over 800 Carolinians and sent the rest fleeing. With other defeats, 5 months later Carolina sued for peace. They agreed to pay a healthy indemnity to Virginia and to give up forever any rights west of its present borders. This second defeat in war to Virginia deeply embittered Carolina. The hostility that the average Carolinian would carry for Virginia would continue for some time.
The Fate of the American Indians: Virginia and Pennsylvania together worked out their answer to the question of what to do with the Indian population in their borders. They established an Indian Territory in most of OTL South Dakota. They each gave up equal land. Virginia elected to give the land to the Indian nation permanently, relinquishing all claims. Pennsylvania would keep permanent title to the land but ‘reserve it’ to excusive Indian use, creating a reservation. All Indians in both countries were forcibly re-located to this territory. Carolina and Georgia took much the same path. Establishing a mutual Indian territory in OTL Arkansas as a reservation and forcibly re-locating all Indians there. Texas and California, followed this lead, however they created smaller and separate reservations for their Indian populations based on tribe. In Mexico the northern state of Arizona proved to be a constant thorn. Many of the tribes there, particularly the various Apache tribes, were quite war like and refused any assimilation. After years of repeated and costly attempts to take control of the area the Mexican government finally agreed to consider the state of Arizona an autonomous Indian area in 1861.
On Slavery in the Americas: Britain abolishes slavery 1833. New England abolishes slavery in 1835, with New York and Delaware follow suit and do the same in 1838. Pennsylvania and Maryland both pass laws outlawing the importation of new slaves into their territory in 1839. By the mid 1840s the existing American slave holding countries of Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, Carolina, and Georgia are coming under increasingly strident social and political pressure to renounce slavery. When California declares its independence from Mexico in 1849 it bans slavery. In 1851 New Jersey agrees to outlaw the importation of new slaves. In 1856 Pennsylvania abolishes slavery. Existing slaves are legally given the status of non-voting indentured servants with work contracts to their previous owners, depending on age, from 5 to 15 years. This will be called ‘the Pennsylvania Solution’. Both Maryland and New Jersey follow the same path in 1857 and 1858. Texas agrees to ban the importation of new slaves in 1858 and abolition of slavery in 1859 following the Pennsylvania Solution. During the late 1850s increasing pressure of all kinds has been brought to bear on the slave owning countries in North America. Britain has led the way followed by New England. There is growing talk in the British Parliament that an embargo on slave owning countries may be necessary to end this evil. There is even talk of a naval blockade. Virginia finally agrees the time has come and in 1860 abolishes slavery using the Pennsylvania Solution. In 1860 the Pennsylvania Parliament votes to buy out the indentured contracts of all of its former slaves, ending slavery in Pennsylvania once and for all. This buy out was partially financed by Britain on very generous terms. Once it turns this corner Pennsylvania also begins to push heavily for the reform of its southern neighbors. By 1861 this leaves Carolina and Georgia as the only countries in North America where slavery is still legal or not being phased out. They angrily agree to a ban on the importation of new slaves but will not consider the freeing of existing ones. The shear number of slaves in these countries and their economic importance makes their situation vastly different from that of the other Americans. By early 1863 it is clear that no amount of talking will sway the two slave states from their position. Britain leads a boycott of all Carolinian and Georgian products. Canada, Pa., NY, and New England immediately join the boycott. Virginia and California follow two months later. By mid year Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey have been pressured into joining the boycott. Texas, the loan holdout, joins by the end of the year. The boycott hurts Carolina and Georgia but does not change their mind. May 1864 Britain declares it will blockade any North American country that will not renounce slavery effective Jan. 1st 1865. Virginia and (Texas reluctantly) agree to seal their borders as the Royal Navy blockades the coasts. Both Carolina and Georgia considerer this blockade an act of war. They declare war on everybody else, but practically there is little they can do. They know that any serious offensive action is unavailable to them. Their small navies are dwarfed by the power of the Royal Navy. On land, the forces that the anti-slavery Allied American nations can put in the field also seriously outclass them. Feb. 5th 1865, in order to enforce the blockade and keep traffic flowing down the Mississippi, British Marines seize the port of New Orleans and the Royal Navy begins patrolling the Mississippi as far north as Virginia border. Georgian forces attempt to retake New Orleans but are thwarted. British, Virginian, and Pennsylvanian troops garrison the town. The thousands of miles of Georgia coastline was impossible to defend effectively and the British began a series of raids from the sea. These raids were not meant to hold territory; rather they were slashing attacks meant to cause economic loss and hardship. Aug. 1865 the British along with Allied troops landed at Mobile. They sacked the port town freeing any slaves they ran across and burned it to the ground. After ten months of blockade and warfare, and seeing no realistic end to it in their favor, the Georgia Prime Minister Jefferson Davis and Parliament finally bitterly agree to end slavery within it’s borders using the Pennsylvania Solution. With the signing of the treaty the Allies agree to withdraw any troops from Georgian soil, with the exception of New Orleans, which will remain in Allied hands until the successful conclusion of the war with Carolina. Britain agrees to stop blockading Georgian ports. Carolina stubbornly continues to hold out against the anti-slavery forces. Georgia, as a part of the treaty it signed with Britain and its American Allies, agreed to become part of the blockade on Carolina. However Georgia considered this a further usurpation of her rights as a free nation and would not take any serious part in the blockade. The Georgia border with Carolina would allow some commerce with the outside world for Carolina and would ameliorate the harshest effects of the blockade. As the second anniversary of the start of the blockade rolled around on Jan. 1st 1867 it had become obvious, that if Georgia would not really hold up its agreement to seal the Carolina border, that Carolina could hold out indefinitely. Talks of invading Carolina began between Britain and its American Allies. Neither Georgia or Texas would participate in any way in the invasion of Carolina. Virginia would not allow the staging of any foreign troops within its borders. Outside of New England and Pennsylvania the American Allies wanted to give the blockade a longer shot at bringing Carolina to its knees. Britain had begun to doubt the resolve of some of its anti-slavery allies and was beginning to resent carrying almost all of the costs of the blockade. Later in 1867 it was becoming increasingly obvious that Texas as well as Georgia were sieves and the blockade was not working. Expanding the blockade again to include Georgia and now Texas did not seem like a good idea to anyone as it might bring both into the war on Carolina’s side. Short of blockading all three countries it looked like there was no way to compel Carolina to end slavery, outside of invasion, at least on Britain and the Allies terms. Back channel discussions were begun to try and find a compromise, that all could stomach anyway, to end the impasse.
Two major engagements are fought in the summer. In the west an Allied army, composed mostly of Virginians under the Command of Virginian General Lee, defeats a Carolinian force at Blytheville. Cut off from retreat across the Mississippi by British and Allied gun boats the Carolinian Army of the West surrenders to Lee. With this battle control of Carolina west of the Mississippi falls to the Allies. In the east the British landed a sizable Allied force south of Charlestown and attempt to raid the city. They are met with much stronger resistance than their intelligence suggested. Carolinian spies had uncovered details of the raid on Charlestown a month prior. Under command of Gen. James Longstreet they had prepared a series of fixed fortifications around the city that the Allied forces could not breach. While they were trying, cavalry lead by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest cut off their retreat to the sea. Unable to break through the cavalry and pressed by Longstreet coming out from Charlestown the remaining Allied soldiers were forced to surrender. The Charlestown defeat is a tremendous political problem for many of the Allies, particularly Virginian President Lincoln who is up for re-election in the fall. Support for the war in his country has always been thin, as there was a very large contingent of slave owners in Virginia. His opponent George B McClellan, for the coming Nov. election, is campaigning on a neutrality platform. Virginia’s Army is the best among the Allies; its loss would be a disaster to the coalition. Winter ‘68 is coming and a new effort is made by both sides to reach a compromise. Virginian President Abraham Lincoln calls for a ceasefire and formal peace conference between the British and American Allies and Carolina. Weary of the war all concerned agree to sit down on Oct. 5th, just a month before Lincoln’s election, in Georgia’s capital at Atlanta. The two sides extremist elements make it very difficult to hammer out any compromise. On one hand Britain and New England want Slavery abolished immediately in Carolina, while Carolina wants a free hand to settle the issue as it sees fit. There is a great deal of background maneuvering going on. Carolina is attempting to convince Georgia and Texas to come into the war on her side. Lincoln and everyone else, knows that he is out of time. With the Charlestown debacle fresh in the voter’s minds it’s likely he will be thrown out of office if he can’t end the war. And if he loses the election, Virginia will surely pull out of the anti-slavery coalition, in all probability wrecking it. Lincoln makes the only deal he can with Carolina. Called the ‘Carolina Compromise’, Carolina agrees to abolish slavery using a modified version of the ‘Pennsylvania Solution’. It will grant its slaves the status of non-voting indentured servants to their previous owners, with freedom in 15 to 30 years, depending on their age. Negro’s votes, when granted their freedom, will count as ½ votes for an additional 20 years. Texas immediately amends its constitution to the same terms. Georgia wanted to follow suit, however with the Allies still in possession of New Orleans and pushing for the status quo, in the end it agrees to hold to the terms of the ‘Pennsylvania Solution’. New England, especially, considers Lincoln’s Virginia a traitor to the cause and refuses to sign the Carolina Compromise. However there is little it can do to stop it as the other anti-slavery Allies, unhappy in varying degrees, reluctantly fall into line with Virginia and sign the Compromise, thus ending the ‘American War of Abolition’. Having not pleased anyone, Lincoln narrowly losses the election in Nov. anyway and retires from public life in semi disgrace and is to be known forever as the man who blew it on slavery. So slavery will linger on in Texas and Carolina, until the last slaves are finally freed in 1898. Texas, with a smaller % of black population than Carolina, eventually gives blacks full voting rights in 1905, relying on many Jim Crow type laws to limit blacks and Hispanics voting. By 1914 the black situation in Carolina would more resemble that of OTL South African apartheid than a contemporary USA. Carolina, like Texas, had implemented many of the same Jim Crow laws to hinder black voting, along with extending indefinitely the ½ votes for blacks allowed in the Carolina Compromise. The standard of living of whites in Carolina was similar to the rest of North America, while the mostly still illiterate blacks had fallen way behind. Carolina would remain estranged from its northern neighbors well into the 20th century. Georgia had ended slavery completely, ahead of the schedule called for when it implemented the ‘Pennsylvania Solution’, when a buy out of all former slave’s remaining indentured contracts was brokered by New England abolitionists and bankrolled by British ones, in 1880. The Georgians adopted a separate but equal attitude toward racial issues. Many New Englanders came to Georgia and set up schools to educate the newly freed blacks as part of the buy out. As a result blacks had a much higher per capita income in Georgia than elsewhere in the south and enjoyed, for the most part, a better relationship with their white neighbors. Jim Crow laws were instituted in Georgia, though not to the extent of Texas or Carolina, so blacks participated more freely in the political process. Liberia was also conceived this ATL and was populated by freed slaves from several of the American countries. The great black migration north that occurred in OTL USA did not happen this TL. No blacks were free to leave Carolina and the exodus north from the other southern slave countries would be greatly impeded by the national borders existing in this TL. Also the blacks in Georgia could for the most part find good paying jobs in their own country.
German American Colonial Expansion in this ATL:
(ATL) With no USA and no Monroe Doctrine to pressure France this ATL, France manages a tenuous hold onto Mexico up until the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. With the French pre-occupied in Europe Juarez's forces capture Mexico City in Dec. 1870 and shoot Maximilian. While not relinquishing ownership the French withdrew their remaining troops and the Mexicans win a short-lived independence. However the French were quite happy to throw in their recently lost (pain in the ass) colony of Mexico, into the treaty with Germany, as last minute sweetener. Busy founding the German Empire, Bismarck had not contemplated being in the colonial business. Indeed for some time Bismarck had refused to give in to Emperor Wilhelm I's aspirations of making Germany a world power through the acquisition of colonies ("Germany’s place in the sun"). Bismarck had wanted at all cost to avoid tensions between the European great powers. However with France safely bottled up and German unification a fact as of Jan. 1871, the time was right and the opportunity too good to pass up. Bismarck insisted on this provision of the treaty with France being kept a secrete. The first time the rest of the world would learn of this secrete codicil to the treaty, the French handing Mexico over to Germany, was when German troops landed in Veracruz and Tampico in April of 1871. The German army made short work of the fledgling Mexican forces and captured Mexico City June 12th and proclaimed Mexico a colony of the German Empire. In 1872 the Kaiser would officially change its name to German America. Mexico City was renamed Kaiser’s Burg. Several American countries along with Britain protested this takeover but were not prepared to oppose it. The Germans soon formed good relations with the conservative landholders in Mexico, guaranteeing them all existing property rights. Arizona- In 1874, expecting to find great mineral wealth there, Bismarck decides to settle the hash once and for all of the renegade Indians that inhabit Arizona. He sends a sizable army to conquer the area, but they immediately run into trouble. This is no war that a European army has been trained for. The land is mostly desert, incredibly hostile and impossible to live off of. It is a logistical nightmare; everything has to be packed hundreds of miles to this remote area of the world through a land without railroads or roads. The non-organized but fierce guerilla resistance in the area is paralyzing. You can’t kill an enemy you can’t catch. After a year of frustrating effort the German Army has drastically improved it’s methods in this most unconventional war but the cost in treasury and men has been high. The German General Staff persuades Bismarck to pull out until such a time as adequate infrastructure can be built to facilitate the large-scale effort necessary to pacify the area. By 1877 a harbor has been dredged at Puerto Penasco on the Baja coast and a rail line extended inland to Nogales. In the next year a line is run north, from Nogales through Tucson, to the Salt River. A series of forts are built along this rail line, which is protected by the German Army. The largest fort is built at the end of the line in the area of OTL Phoenix, known as Fort Arizona. From Fort Arizona the Germans raid north and brutally suppress the native population. Within a year the last holdout Apache tribes have surrendered and been re-located to lands in the OTL four-corner area. The Germans had decided to create an Indian Reservation on the Carolina-Georgia model. Immediately after the land was pacified prospectors flooded the area. The rail lines were extended north, east, and west from Ft. Arizona. As all sorts of minerals were found including some huge deposits of copper. Plans were made to dam the Colorado, Salt, and Verde Rivers and by 1914 many were complete. The Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted settlers to make the area prosperous. Land grants were offered freely and many flocked to the area and claimed land. By 1914 over 250,000 people had migrated to the area; about 20% of which were German, another 20% were European immigrants and the rest had come from various American countries. The valley around Ft. Arizona was now being irrigated following the canal paths laid out long ago by the ancient Hohokam people. It showed real promise as an agricultural area. The copper deposits in Arizona proved to be some of the largest in the world. Together with other deposits in northern German America it made Germany one of the largest copper producers in the world. OTL Mexico is decidedly more peaceful and prosperous as ATL German America. The German American rail network was complete by 1890 and this spurred even greater immigration. By 1914 there were 100,000 small farms and businesses being run by European immigrants, which did not exist in OTL Mexico. By 1914 just over 1,000,000 (additional from OTL) Europeans had immigrated to German America, 80% of them Germans. Most would settle on the central plateau. They would change the face of the land forever.
German Colonial Expansion Worldwide this ATL: The accidental and successful acquisition of Mexico has stirred the Kaiser’s ambition. He demands colonies for Germany and Bismarck is willing to go along. This sets off a new race for colonial possessions and puts Germany in direct competition with Britain, and France once it recovers from its war with Germany. This in turn sets up a race for naval expansion between Germany and Britain. In this TL Britain is an even more dominant worldwide naval power without competition from OTL USA. When Germany begins it’s big naval build-up in the mid 1870s, Britain intends to double it. Bismarck weaves his web of European alliances as in OTL to create a secure position for Germany. He decides and persuades the Kaiser to concentrate on the acquisition of colonies on the west coast of Africa. Germany comes into possession of the area from the Cameroons to Portuguese Angola. It also establishes itself in Walvis Bay and South West Africa (today’s Namibia) before the British do in 1876. As in OTL, Germany picks up a China concession around Tsingtao and a few insignificant Pacific possessions. Tanganyika is added to the Empire in 1880.
North American Economics: The economies of the American countries were very much shaped by their geography. Up until the mid 1800s all were primarily engaged in agriculture, with the exception of light industry in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania: (hear after known as Pa., I’m sick of typing it out) The advent of the industrial revolution spread unevenly throughout North America. With the rich iron ore deposits of the Mesabi Range in Minnesota and access to the vast coal reserves of the Appalachians, Pa. has a natural advantage on the other countries. By 1914 an industrial belt stretches west from Philadelphia to Chicago, south to St. Louis, north to Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Another natural advantage it enjoys is the convenient transportation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes. By 1914 Pa. is an industrial powerhouse, it produces more steel than any other country on earth, more automobiles, locomotives, etc. It is also a net food exporter, a leading producer of wheat, corn, hogs, dairy, cattle, you name it. It’s capital Philadelphia has become the largest and most important city on the continent and its financial heart, think OTL New York. It has also become the busiest port in the world. Virginia: By 1914 Virginia has much smaller industrial base than Pa., agriculture is more important. Tobacco in the east and grains in the mid-west, are its primary exports. The mining and export of coal, to Pa., is a large part of its economic base. In the west mineral deposits of all kinds have filled Virginia’s coffers. St. Louis, half being in Virginia and half in Pa., is a bustling economic center for both and is known as the gateway to the west. Its main trading partner is Pa., with whom it has for the most part remained cordial with. There is virtually no commerce between Virginia and Carolina. It’s a long and unfriendly border. New England and New York: In this ATL New England and NY are backwater areas. Small farms and light industry is their mainstay. The population of the area is less than a third of what it is in OTL, NY City and Boston are both under 500,000. New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland: All remain independent countries and are fairly prosperous. Like New England and New York their populations are much smaller in this TL. New Jersey has some industrial base; Delaware and Maryland have primarily agricultural economies. Carolina: Remains almost fiercely agricultural. With all of its problems concerning the slavery issue it is a bit of an isolated backwater, having only cordial relations with Georgia. It still has a plantation type economy, where cotton and tobacco are king. Georgia: Georgia has a prosperous economy in this TL. Since the slavery issue was resolved it has had pretty good relationships with the rest of the American countries and trades vigorously with all. Georgia’s capital was established at Atlanta in 1861. Agriculture is a varied and strong part of the economy, with cotton being its most important product and export. Georgia had large quantities of iron ore, coal, and limestone. One specific location, Jones Valley, in which Birmingham is located, was particularly ideal for iron and steel manufacture because it had access to greater quantities of iron ore, coal, and limestone within a thirty-mile radius than any place on earth. Georgia produced all of the steel it needed and also met Carolinas more modest needs. It had strict tariffs on the importation of foreign (namely Pa.) steel. It garnered only modest income from exporting steel, as it usually couldn’t compete successfully on the open market with the cheaper Pa. product. Georgia has one of the longest coastlines in the world. It also has one of the largest commercial fishing industries in the world. Shipbuilding is a large part of its industrial base as it enters the 21st century. To protect its interests it has built a navy, though modest by European standards, is the largest in the Americas. Texas: Has an economy built primarily around cattle and cotton, with oil a rising star. California: Has some of the most productive farmland in the world. Its population growth is slower than OTL as its border is not that of a state but that of a sovereign nation and the first railroad linking it to the eastern American countries was not completed. Canada: Is considerably bigger this TL with the addition of Alaska and the Oregon country. Railroad expansion westward was faster that OTL and the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1880. Seattle not Vancouver becomes Canada’s most important west coast city, indeed western Canada will be much more important to it this TL. German America: The economy centers on agriculture and mining. The older conservative Mexican landowners for the most part get on quite well with their German rulers, and both are quite content with keeping a boot on the neck of the mainly Indio Mexican peasants. Railroads were very important to the growth of the American countries. In this TL the North American rail network is put together considerably slower due to national boundaries being involved. Such as, Carolina will not allow any rail traffic between it and Virginia prior to 1903 and has insisted on a different gauge rail bed than that of Virginia and the countries north. Georgia and Texas have the same gauge rails as Carolina, where as all the other North American countries standardized theirs in the 1870s to the Pa. gauge. Financed largely with Pa. and British capital, by 1875 the rail network east of the Mississippi is complete and has been extended westward, population growth and dispersion went with it. By 1914 the rail network of North America exceeds that of Europe. Without OTL pressure to unite both coasts of the same country, the first transcontinental railroad linking Pa. to Canada’s Oregon country is not completed until 1881, followed shortly by a line linking Virginia to northern California a year later. By 1914 Oil is becoming more important to the world economy every day. Georgia, Texas, and California all have major fields in production. However the two largest oil companies in the world headquarter in Pa. Other differences this ATL: None of the North American countries has any real interest in affairs outside of their borders except where trade is concerned. Of the major countries only Canada and German America span the continent. Germany and Britain are both bigger and stronger in this ATL. Britain had annexed Hawaii, bought Guam from Spain, added Oregon and Alaska to Canada, and opened Japan to trade in the 1850s. The Pacific was one big British lake. Germany has a rich colony in German America and much greater and more economically important African colonies. Indeed, with the taking of the Portuguese colonies, German Africa stretches south from Kameroon to the Orange River and east to Tanganyika and Mozambique, it now entirely dominates central Africa. Both countries have, by 1914, much bigger navies as the naval race between them began earlier. Britain despite great effort has been falling behind; its navy is 50% larger than in OTL. However Germany’s economy has expanded faster than Britain and Germany’s navy is almost double its OTL size and a greater percentage of the German ships are newer and more dangerous models. Add in the many more commitments it has around the world than Germany, the RN is overstretched and possibly outmatched in several key areas. The two powers had managed to avoid any real conflict until 1910 when Germany upset the status quo and seized the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. Britain had no alliance with Portugal and certainly would not go to war over the loss of her colonial possessions. The act did however completely sour the relations between the world’s two largest naval powers and really kicked the naval arms race into a higher gear. Many in both countries thought war between the two competing powers was inevitable. Construction on the Columbian Canal over the Isthmus of Panama, Panama did not break away from Columbia this ATL, is well on the way towards completion. It was financed and dug by Britain on land leased from Columbia. It wont be finished and opened until 1918. Spain, with no war with the USA this ATL, still has its remaining colonial possessions, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines etc., largely because no one else really wanted them.
The situation in China and the rest of the Far East, with the exception of the Philippines, which stays Spanish, is similar to OTL. The Mormons who settled in Utah this TL are pretty much left alone by Virginia and almost function as an autonomous state. Virginia has a liberal constitution with strong states rights. The Utah area, along with Nevada, is at the end of Virginia’s long westward expansion and is much more of a backwater now than in OTL.
End Part 2
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