Return of the King a Kaiserreich Canada Play through Part 2

James McAllister had never liked civilian clothes, not since he'd gone to the British Military Academy at Sandhurst as a youth of 18 back in 1912. That seemed so long ago now, before the horrors of the Weltkrieg, before the Syndicalist Revolution, before the Great Depression. He longed to return home to Scotland, but he couldn't, not while the vile Reds ruled Britain. When he returned home, he intended to do so as part of the victorious Canadian army. But that was getting ahead of himself. For now, he had a mission to accomplish, one that would be vital to Canadian national security.

MI6 (which had gone into exile to Canada with the King in 1925) had been reporting for a while that there was severe unrest in the United States. Between the Syndicalists in the Rust Belt and the America First Party in the South, it looked like America was headed into a Second Civil War. As the higher ups in Ottawa saw it, there was only one man who might be able to save America, and it was McAllister's job to make contact with him. That man was General Douglas MacArthur. He'd arranged to meet with the General at a fancy hotel in Washington called the Watergate. As he approached the door to MacArthur's room, he took a deep breath, and opened it.

"General MacArthur, I presume?" He said in his refined Edinburgh accent.

"That's right." The General replied. "So, what exactly is it you wanted to meet with me for?"

"I'm here to give you this letter. It's from King Edward VIII himself."

"Why didn't you just mail it to me?"

"The intel in it is too sensitive, we couldn't let it go through the postal service..." McAllister responded as he handed MacArthur the letter.

"Dear General Douglas MacArthur. I and my cabinet have been monitoring affairs in your country for quite some time, and needless to say, we find the situation quite troubling. We fear that, if left unchecked, the Syndicalists or America First Party might well attempt to seize power, and our intelligence service has good reason to believe this. After much discussion, the Canadian government has come to the conclusion that you may well be the only man who can save your country in this dark hour. Please rest assured that, if you are forced to take drastic action, the Canadian government will support you in your efforts.
Signed His Majesty King Edward VIII."

The stage had now been set for the bloodiest conflict the American continent had ever seen...

Return of the King, A Kaiserreich Canada Play through Part 1

When Britain went to war against the Germans in 1914, hardly anyone could have predicted that the war would end in 1920 with Russia defeated, France and Italy in revolution, and Britain herself humiliated. And it only got worse from there. The British economy took a sharp nosedive, and in 1925 Britain went through it's own syndicalist revolution, forcing the Royal Family and their supporters to flee to Canada. Like vultures, aggressive neighbors swooped in to seize many of Britain's old colonies. The Irish invaded Ulster, most of British Africa fell to the Germans, the Spaniards took Gibraltar, The Ottomans captured Cyprus, and half on India rose up in rebellion against the Raj. By 1936, all that was left of the old British Empire and Commonwealth was Canada, Australia and New Zealand (now united as the Australasian Confederation) The Dominion of India (Which was in fact nothing but northwest India) and the various Caribbean Islands. Their only remaining ally was the authoritarian democratic French government in exile, based out of old French Algeria.

Considering this bleak situation, it is perhaps no surprise that King George V died in Ottawa on January 20, 1936, a broken man. His eldest son, now crowned Edward VIII, was determined to avenge his father by taking back the British Isles from the wretched Reds.

But in order to do so, the political situation in Canada itself would need to be sorted out. The Liberal Party, under Prime Minister Mackenzie King, had been in power for nearly 10 years by 1936. It was no secret that King Edward and the Prime Minister did not exactly get along, to the point that many Canadians joked about "The War Between Two Kings." Edward VIII felt that Prime Minister King was two soft on the Syndicalist menace, while the Prime Minister saw the King as a dangerously ambitious warmonger.

Events abroad soon swayed Canadian public opinion in Edward's favor. The rise of the Totalist demagogue Oswald Mosley in Britain, and Afghanistan's attack on the Dominion of India, convinced many Canadians that a stronger leader than Mackenzie King was needed to lead Canada through the crisis. That leader, Edward believed, was Richard Bennett.

A devout Methodist, army veteran, and Empire loyalist, Bennett was the charismatic leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, nicknamed the Tories after their old British predecessors. Bennett made no secret of his stance on the Syndicalist menace, calling for it to be crushed "with an iron heel." As a result, the 1936 Canadian General Election was a landslide victory for the Tories, and Bennett was swept into 24 Sussex*, determined to crush the Mosleyites in the Union of Britain...

*24 Sussex is the official residence for the Canadian Prime Minister, and more or less the Canadian White House.

Ideologies of Kaiserreich

In preparation for my next Kaiserreich play through, I thought it might be useful to explain some of the political ideologies in Kaiserreich so when these terms pop up you'll know what they mean. To be clear, I won't explain what Conservatives, Liberals, or Social Democrats are, because I assume you already know what they mean. I'm going to focus on explaining terms that are either obscure or unknown outside of Kaiserrech. So. here it goes:

TOTALISM: Totalism, short for "Totalitarian Socialism" is essentially exactly what it says on the tin. Totalists believe that an all powerful government with a cult of personality around the glorious leader is necessary to protect the worker's revolution from the bourgeoisie scum. They oppose traditional religion, considering it a tool of capitalism, and tend to embrace either atheism, or in some cases paganism. Many of them are also hardcore nationalists, and they REALLY want to spread the revolution to other countries by force. The closest example in real life would be Stalin's Soviet Union, or maybe modern North Korea. Basically, they are Orwell's nightmare. One running gag in Kaiserreich is that many of the Totalists are people who in real life started out as socialists but eventually shifted to fascism, most notably Oswald Mosley in Britain, Marcel Deat in France, (google them) and Benito Mussolini in Italy.

SYNDICALISM: Syndicalism is kind of similar to Leon Trotsky's vision, in that it is made up of Trade Unions who run the economy and elect members to represent them in a Trade Union Congress, which serves as the country's government. While they're not quite as extreme as the Totalists, in that there's plenty of room for debate within the party elite, they're still hardly democratic either: non-socialist parties are banned, the media is state controlled propaganda, and religion, while tolerated, is strictly controlled and monitored by the state. The best real life examples would be Khruschev's Soviet Union, or modern Venezuela.

RADICAL SOCIALISM: These guys can be seen as the "nice" socialists. They're basically just a democratic state with a somewhat socialist economy, state's rights, free speech, and freedom of religion. Basically, they're what America might be like if Bernie Sanders were president.

AUTHORITARIAN DEMOCRACY: These guys basically believe that in order to protect the nation from it's enemies, it's sometimes necessary to use... "Questionable" methods, like, say, monitoring or arresting suspected extremists. They also tend to value traditional religious values and nationalism at least somewhat. They aren't total dictators though, they still have regular elections, and as long as you're not a radical or something, you'll probably be fine. Similar to America during the McCarthy era, or the George W. Bush administration.

PATERNAL AUTOCRATS: These people are highly conservative and highly authoritarian. All the subjects are treated as wards of the benevolent and paternalistic leader (either an absolute monarch, or some other kind of dictator.) But don't step out of line, the wise leader's patience has it's limits... Franco's Spain or Saudi Arabia would fall under this category.

NATIONAL POPULISM: National Populism is a totalitarian ideology that supports uniting the nation under a strong leader. It combines socialist economic policies and militarism, with ultra nationalist and even racist beliefs Nazi Germany would be a good real life example, as well as Assad's regime in Syria.

So there you have it. Aside from the regular liberals and conservatives, these are the ideologies of Kaiserreich! I hope this clears things up a little.

American Caesar Part 4

Nearly all historians agree that the Battle of St. Louis was the decisive turning point of the Second American Civil War. Lasting for the first half of 1937, it was the bloodiest battle in American history to date. US troops stood guard in trenches for days and even weeks on end, as wave after wave of Syndicalist and America First soldiers attacked across the Mississippi River into the city. But thanks to the fortitude of the American forces, the line held. 

By June of 1937, with St. Louis firmly in US hands, MacArthur decided he was ready for a counter attack. On June 4, US forces crossed the Mississippi and began what became known as "The Long Push". The Long Push lasted for almost two and a half years, and finally brought total victory to the United States on September 2, 1939. 

But even as the war in America was winding down, across the Atlantic, another war was breaking out. The Syndicalist Commune of France and the Union of Britain under the rule of its Totalist dictator Oswald Mosley, invaded Switzerland, forcing the Germans to come to aid of the Swiss. Meanwhile, the exiled royals in Canada saw this as their chance to liberate Britain from Syndicalism, and declared war on Mosley. The Second Weltkrieg had begun, and it was time for the United States to pick a side...

American Caesar Part 3

The first two months of the war went poorly for the US to say the least. The Syndicalists were closing in on Washington D.C. from the north, while the AUS troops were approaching from the south. Further north, the Canadians peacefully occupied New England and Alaska. MacArthur opted not to press the issue for the time being, privately admitting that it was probably for the best, considering that he had no troops in the region, and that without the Canadians, New England would likely have fallen to the Syndicalists. On the West Coast, there were fears that California, Washington State, and Oregon would secede from the Union, but a tense meeting between California governor Frank Merriam and MacArthur resulted in them agreeing to join forces.

By December of 1936, it was clear that MacArthur's strategic position east of the Mississippi River was indefensible. AUS troops had captured the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, while Syndicalist troops took Baltimore after a bloody battle. With the fall of Washington clearly inevitable, MacArthur made the difficult decision to retreat his troops westward to the Mississippi River where they would regroup and form a new defensive line. Vowing to return, MacArthur and his wife and son boarded a biplane and flew to the new temporary capital of Denver, Colorado. By January of 1937, most of his troops had made it to St. Louis, Missouri, which MacArthur had chosen as the center of the new front line.

To make things even worse, the syndicalist government in Mexico decided to take the chance to declare war on the United States in order to regain lost territory. For the most part, MacArthur tried to limit the war with Mexico to small border clashes, but it hardly made his position easier. It was difficult to see how he could accomplish victory now...

American Caesar, Part 2

September 26, 1936, Washington D.C.:

General Douglas MacArthur had fervently hoped it would never come to this, but alas it had. President Hoover had proved himself unwilling and unable to quell the chaos and subversion of the Syndicalists and America Firsters. If America was to be saved from tyranny, Hoover had to go. MacArthur had already secretly discussed this with Vice President Curtis, who had agreed to support him, and the General was now marching on Washington at the head of his 1st Infantry Division.

Within a few minutes after leaving the barracks, a number of civilians had gathered around to see what was going on, and many of them jeered at the troops.
"Syndies..." MacArthur snarled under his breath. One of the soldiers next to him seemed nervous, casting worried glances at the angry mob.
"Don't worry Private." MacArthur told the young man. "As long as you keep marching and don't let on that you're afraid, they won't dare bother you."
"Yes Sir." The young soldier replied. Sure enough, as the troops marched on undaunted, the mob lost their nerve and dispersed. Within a few minutes, MacArthur and his men could see the White House just ahead. As they neared the gates, they finally encountered a guard.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE?!" The guard demanded.

"General Douglas MacArthur." The General replied calmly. If there was one thing he'd learned after so many years in the army, it was keeping cool under pressure. He wasn't about to back down now, not with so much at stake.

"What's your business?" The guard asked.

"To save this republic." MacArthur replied, keeping his poker face as much as possible.

The two men stared at each other in silence for a tense few seconds. Finally, the guard spoke.

"Alright. Go ahead sir." He said, opening the gate and saluting MacArthur, who strolled into the White House lawn as his troops surrounded the building. Finally, he came to the Oval Office door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

"General MacArthur?!" President Hoover exclaimed. "I wasn't notified that you had an appointment here/ What's going on?!"

"Mr. President," MacArthur replied, with all the nerve he could muster, "as you have proven yourself unable and unwilling to protect this country from subversive elements, I, as Chief of the Army Staff, am invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows for the cabinet to remove a president who has become unfit for office. As Vice President Curtis is in poor health, he has agreed to place me in office as acting president."

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! IT'S TREASONOUS!" Hoover bellowed.

"On the contrary Mr. President, it's perfectly constitutional."

"And what if I refuse to comply?!" Hoover demanded.

"I would not recommend that, Mr. President. My troops have surrounded the building. I suggest you do things the easy way, and leave peacefully.

Hoover's face was still red with rage, but he grumbled "Fine" through clenched teeth. MacArthur than had him escorted out of the building to a comfortable house arrest.

-
The next day, Acting President General MacArthur made a speech to congress, announcing his takeover from Hoover and cancellation of the 1936 election until the situation had stabilized.. Congress, having essentially been presented with a fait accompli, voted unanimously to approve MacArthur's coup, giving his junta an air of democratic legitimacy. MacArthur made it clear that he did not intend to impose a dictatorship, and would keep the Congress in place as an advisory body. Most ordinary Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the crisis was over. But not everyone accepted the change so readily. Syndicalists rioted in several cities, and MacArthur responded by declaring martial law, and banning the Combined Syndicates, as well as the America First Party.

This proved to be the last straw for the extremists. On November 24, 1936, Jack Reed's Syndicalists took control of Chicago, and proclaimed a new regime called the Combined Syndicates of America. Two days later, on November 26, Huey Long's Minutemen Militia took control of Atlanta and announced the creation of the American Union State. MacArthur refused to back down, and there was no turning back. The Second American Civil War had begun...

American Caesar, A HOI4 Kaiserreich Playthrough Chapter One

At the dawn of the 20th Century, many Americans believed it would be their time in the sun. However, they were cruelly disillusioned. The German victory in the Great War (also known by its German name, the "Weltkrieg"), and the resulting Syndicalist revolutions in Britain and France, cut the United States off from Europe, resulting in a disastrous economic depression.

Inevitably, the resulting social chaos in the United States led to the rise of extremist parties on both the left and the right. On the left there was the Combined Syndicates of America, led by Jack Reed, a journalist who had covered the failed Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and now wanted to bring Syndicalism to American shores. 

On the right there was the America First Party, led by the Nationalist Populist governor of Louisiana, Huey Long, whose party was full of rather unsavory bigots. 

Caught in between these two extremes, the old Democratic and Republican Parties were losing more and more political support, to the point that President Herbert Hoover's administration was virtually unable to act, and with the 1936 Presidential Election pitting Long against Reed, many feared that the Republic as they knew it was doomed...

But one man refused to let that happen...