A Destiny Made Manifest - Part 29: Re-Union

In just three months, Canada capitulated and handed over New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island in the Treaty of Syracuse. American Irredentists who had seen these provinces as rightful American lands after the shameful Treaty of Boston signed seventy years earlier celebrated, while Olive-branchers across the nation protested the annexation.

President John Nance Garner had achieved his first goal. His second lied far to the north.

Burton K. Wheeler's administration had attempted to peacefully bring the fascists in Alaska back into the fold to little success. In a speech to the American people over radio, Garner announced that he would do everything in his power while he was in office to end the last remnant of the Western Republic and crush fascism in North America.

In March 1933, a devastating earthquake occurred off of Long Beach, California. This leveled parts of Southern California, and the government in Sacramento under Hiram Johnson was entirely incapable of providing relief or rebuilding the region. Many saw this as the epitome of the weakness of an independent California, and opinion swung hard in favor of reunification.

On October 13th, 1933, the referendum is held.

"Should the Republic of California petition for annexation to the Free States of America?

Yes: 55.7%
No: 44.3%"

The Californian Congress accepts the results of the referendum, and in a public declaration states that "annexation shall be considered to be the top priority of this government, but a small transitional period will take place before any formal application to the Free States government is made."

(I'm sorry for doing this to you, Californians.)

Well... unless the fascists were our Mexican allies. Mexico marches on the Empire of the Yucatan, which had been independent for nearly ninety years and was entirely non-Mexican at this point.

Some of the most ardent warhawks in the nation wanted American to take up the rifle and saber against Mexico and defend the Yucatan again, as the Democrat Martin Van Buren had so many years ago.

Garner had no interest in upsetting the Mexican regime, so he publicly declared that the Free States would not intervene in the war.

(After we fought so hard for Yucatecan independence and we shielded them for almost this entire game, this is kind of a gut punch. I'm sorry, Maya bros T_T)

Game's ending in a few years, so let's build that shit up and boost my military score.

Just before Christmas of 1933, Congress officially announces its intent to "remake the Union, by any means necessary." This draws the ire of Europe, who worries what a fully united America might do on the world stage. President Garner defends himself by arguing that Alaska should be rightfully part of the Third Republic anyway and that he shouldn't have to risk 22 infamy to take a state with some fascists and some bears, but whatever.

We're officially in the future, by the way. Technology cannot progress past this point.

The Militants force through more progressive reforms, with an 8 hour work day being established for dangerous and dirty jobs like mining or vigorous factory work.

I should be able to just instantly declare war on them, video game. Don't get all self-righteous.

We shouldn't have to use this war goal at all! In this case, I feel entirely good about using the console to keep me just under that infamy limit.

And on March 29th, 1934, all that cheating was made null and void. A popular revolution is planned and executed by liberal Republicans in Sitka, ousting the fascist regime. Rather than take the "United States of America" title, however, a convention meets in Sitka.

"We, the free people of Alaska, declare this to be an independent state. We appoint George Alexander Parks to be our president, and send this request to Philadelphia: We will relinquish all claims to the title 'United States of America' and shall take the name 'Republic of Alaska,' in exchange for a gentlemen's promise: that the Third Republic shall not infringe on our territory."

That arrived on the desk of President Garner on April 1st, 1934, and he almost believed it was an April Fool's joke. This was too good to be true; he could look like a hero to both the Olive-branchers and the Irredentists by accepting.

That very same day, Garner announces that he recognizes Alaska independence. On April 2nd, Congress passes a law formally changing the title of the nation to "The United States of America."

On April 3rd, American troops march into Richmond and Sacramento and declare that the Union is restored, and that it would be in the best interest of both California and the Confederacy to officially petition for annexation. Within two days, these governments are officially annexed.

The Union is officially reborn.

Parades across the nation break out in celebration. For the first time since the 1880s, all Americans are united under one banner once again.

Well, except for Alaska. But the agreement is honored, of course, to this day.

I wasn't aware that slavery was still around, wow

Lots of unexplored land in the West, even though those are all states settled with Americans. Get out there, guys!

We've still never explored the Dakotas, even though they're both states and have both been respected parts of the American Republic for decades now.

Guys, when you form the Union in 1934, the game really doesn't like it. It breaks real good. Note that the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo is there too.

Okay, this one actually makes a little sense?

Okay, Victoria, you're fucking drunk. Did the French start building this in like 1884, finish it in the '90s, and then hide it until right now, waiting for the perfect moment to give us this present?

The catharsis of this pop-up was tremendous for me.

Meanwhile, we're boat rich! Start building them shits!

I think I also went to the army screen and built every infantry unit I could. Might as well pump up that military score so I can pass Britain before the end of the game.

There she is. THE PERFECT UNION (MINUS ALASKA AND PLUS THE MARITIMES)

Reunion brings along with it an influx of socialists living in both California and the South. In response, the SIlver Legion continues to spit out anti-red propaganda; Father Charles Coughlin is their mouthpiece on the radio, and William Dudley Pelley organizes new wings of the party across the South.

*Breathes it in*

Smells like capitalism in here.

In honor of all the sweet dunks we did on other nations in this AAR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rhcli0I8MA

Whatever, we already dumb rich but we can some nerds a boat I guess

Modernize that navy, my guy!

A series of treaties are signed with the Republic of Alaska, bringing us close with our brother nation both diplomatically, commercially, and militarily.

In addition to this, agreements are signed with the Mexican State. While supporting the far-right falangist regime in Mexico is unpopular, it is seen by many Americans as the only real option that Garner had in order to keep trade moving across the southern border.

I have a very hard time believing that the socialist-dominated Midwest would have any traces of trusts active, but that's fine I guess.

Cuba, who recently had *another revolution* (this is like their 8th) establishes a friendly democracy aligned with Philadelphia. We can never forget that one time that Cuba basically single-handedly kicked the South's ass and kept the Second Republic afloat.

In New Brunswick, a group of violent anti-American protests are held. Uniting under the banner of communism, these rebels shout for either reunification with Canada or the creation of a sovereign Maritime Union.

Troops are sent in to crush the rioters. Suddenly, America realizes that maybe not everything is as settled as some hoped it would be after the Union was reborn.

And with that, the game is over. The Election of 1936, of course, approaches, but I'll address that in a few slides.

(Please don't click off here. Stick with me.)

The United States of America, despite being sundered just fifty years ago, is just behind the United Kingdom and one of the undisputed great powers of the world. We ended up a mere fifty points behind Britian; I considered extending the timeline just so I could finish ahead of them, but knowing that I almost passed them is good enough for me.

Germany, with its vast population, resources, and army, is easily the foremost power on the world stage. The marginal Third Republic of France and the Russian Federation attempt to contain the German powerhouse with an alliance, while Japan and China continue to duke it out in Asia.

Here is, of course, the United States of America.

(I have a really nice world map made by u/Jurkus1000 that I'll be using in the epilogue)

Central America looks normal. Sadly, the Yucatan fell in 1935; there was nothing we could do for them.

South America looks like normal too, with the exception of that weird Peru thing happening with Ecuador.

The Middle East. The Ottoman Empire remains strong here, with the Balkans still firmly under their control thanks to Japanese support. However, the Sick Man of Europe is likely terminally ill; nationalist agitation from the Slavs and the Arabs will likely lead to the dismantling of the ancient empire in the next decade or so.

Africa is an absolute mess. Some small nations are independent in the aftermath of unrest in the British Empire.

Also, Liberia has been communist for like 50 years.

Germany's Africa holdings are small and scattered, and Tanganyika holds Zanzibar while Zanzibar holds Tanganyika.

Also: The Republic of Congo, which was a puppet of the rump American state until 1934, is now a small independent republic.

The Rising Sun has a rather impressive empire in Asia, mostly walking all over the Chinese Empire. However, the Chinese were on the verge of a huge technological revolution, with their immense population eventually giving them the upper hand against the Japanese.

Oceania is Fine.

Now back to the Election of 1936. The Workingmen's Party, badly split between Militants and Traditionalists, were unable to agree on a candidate until Franklin D. Roosevelt, Governor of New York, threw his hat into the ring. Roosevelt was immensely popular in New York, and serves as a moderate between the two extremes of his party.

The Democrats, of course, renominate John Nance Garner. Despite his conservative administration, a lot of progressive reforms had been signed into law by him. With the new wild card that was the South, the Democrats hoped that Garner being a Southerner would help them out in the region, even if the population there was largely socialist.

The American people will decide the vote, of course.

In celebration of Reunification, the American Historical Association decided to hold a "Great Survey of American Historians." The members of the AHA (that's you guys) were handed a survey, asking them to answer a series of opinion-based questions that pertained to American politics in the last 100 years.

These were:

Best President
Worst President
Best Time Period
Best Political Movement

Most Successful Political Party
Most Surprising/Upsetting Occurrence

And also, y'all get to decide the Election of 1936. That's the last question of this survey. That's my carrot-on-a-stick for you to answer this thing

Pick up your pencils, historians, and get to work. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScns7M9F0n6pPSncnS_sQ3PUsCzVDNMjoi9_COjuilJQyLupA/viewform

(If Imgur is being difficult with the link, then don't worry, I'll post it in the comments of the reddit post too.)

That brings us to the end of this AAR! Holy shit guys, the reception to this has been incredible. I'm incredibly thankful to all of my readers, especially those of you who have been here since the very beginning, and had no idea how batshit stupid this would get. I'll do some more callouts in the epilogue.

Right, an epilogue! I'll be turning the results of the survey into some finalized infographics using the data I get, and then show who wins the Election of '36. If any of you are interested in making art/anything for the epilogue, I'd be more than happy to showcase it.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Stay tuned for the epilogue.