1899-1902--THE GREAT WAR. In March 1899, fighting opened simultaneously on several fronts. In Europe, under the direction of Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, five German armies invaded northern France, moving through the neutral territory of Holland and Belgium so as to bypass the heavily fortified Franco-German border. Holland's armed forces were quickly overwhelmed, and Queen Wilhelmina quickly capitulated and went into exile in Sweden. However, the Belgians, under King Leopold II, bravely resisted and refused to capitulate. But the Belgians were hit on a second front when the British landed an expeditionary force to cooperate with the Germans, and King Leopold was forced to retreat, with his army, into France, where they linked up with the main French army north of Paris. The Anglo/German armies advanced nearly to the gates of Paris before being halted by entrenched Franco Belgian forces on the Marne River. The front stabilized as the Anglo-Germans also dug in, and a bloody stalemate which would last for over two years resulted. At the same time, the Italian Army invaded Savoy and Nice in southern France, but was halted not far from the border by the French. In the east, Russia invaded Austrian Galicia and German East Prussia from Poland and a huge slugging match ensued which saw huge casualties inflicted for very little ground gained.

Meanwhile, in America, U.S. and Oklahoma forces invaded northern Texas, but were halted by the Alamo Line. Hundreds of thousands of Yankees and Oklahomans fell in useless assaults on these formidable works. Texas made brilliant use of rail lines to move reserve forces from front to front as needed, and they were aided in this by their early deployment of a helium-filled rigid airship, which performed invaluable recon missions with impunity over U.S. and Oklahoma lines. These airships also were equipped to perform bombing missions, and squadrons of airships transported raiding parties of Texas troops behind enemy lines to attack U.S. and Oklahoma supply lines, especially railroads (incidentally, Count Ferdinand Zeppelin also, in 1900, built a successful rigid airship which, unlike the Texas model, was filled with hydrogen, and this too...largely because there were no easy ways to attack these craft as the airplane had not yet been invented...gave valuable service performing similar missions for German forces in Europe). Texas also had a large force of armored cars which proved very useful on the flat plains of northwest Texas and the deserts of the southwest (at least in areas which were not scarred by deep trenches and shell craters). Nevertheless, Texas was heavily outnumbered, and things did not look good for it's long-term prospects.

Fighting also broke out in other regions as well. In Africa, British, German, and Italian forces attacked French colonies all over the continent. At the same time, the Boer Republics, Orange Free State and the Transvaal, declared for the Triple Entente and attacked the British colony in South Africa, placing the British garrisons of Capetown, Ladysmith, and Mafeking under siege. In the middle east, Russian armies invaded Afghanistan, with the intent of attacking India. Those armies would go on to occupy Afghanistan, and would clash with British and Indian troops in the Khyber Pass region, but they would never penetrate India itself during the entire war.

On the seas, there were major clashes between the various fleets. French and Austro-Italian fleets battled in the Mediterranean, resulting in a defeat for the French which opened the way for the landing of an Italian expeditionary force in Algeria. Anglo-German and U.S. fleets met off the coast of Nova Scotia, resulting in a victory for the U.S. which prevented the landing of an Anglo-German expeditionary force in Canada. And a combined Franco-U.S. fleet defeated an Anglo-Texas fleet in the Caribbean, which allowed the landing of an expeditionary force at Jamaica. The capture of this important naval base from the British forced the Anglo-Texan fleets to take refuge in the Texan naval base at Galveston, and also allowed the Franco-U.S. fleet to institute a blockade of the Texas coast, where the blockaders were severely harassed by Texas torpedo boats and submarines.

April 1899 saw several other nations enter the war. The Ottoman Empire and Japan, both with major grudges against Russia, entered the war on the side of the Grand Alliance. The Ottomans opened a new front against Russia in the Caucasus (where they made only limited progress, but tied up a sizeable number of Russian troops), while Japan attacked Russian forces in Manchuria, defeating them and occupying most of Manchuria within a year. The entry of the Ottomans, however, also spurred the entry of the Balkan nations...Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece...on the side of the Triple Entente. These nations quickly occupied most of the Ottoman European possessions, as well as invading Austria's Balkan provinces. The entry of these nations did not materially change the balance of power in the main theatres, however, and the bloody stalemate of trench warfare continued.

In May 1899, the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked and defeated the British fleet in the Hawaiian islands, depriving the British of this important coaling station within striking distance of the U.S. Pacific coast. Over the next three years, several attempts would be made to take back this vital base by the combined Anglo-German-Japanese fleets in the Pacific, but none of these would be successful, and the hoped-for landing of a British/Australian/New Zealand/Indian expeditionary force in Texas was never able to be effected. Also in May 1899, in Africa, with the British unable to immediately spare forces for the succor of their South African colonies, the Boers forced the surrender of Ladysmith, Mafeking, and Capetown and occupied all of South Africa. And, at the same time, the Grand Alliance forces (primarily Italian and British, with some German and Ottoman support) occupied all of France's African colonies.

The period from May 1899 to July 1901 was one of stalemate on all fronts, punctuated by bloody assaults (primarily by Grand Alliance Forces in Europe and by Entente Forces in North America) on entrenched enemy forces, resulting in huge casualties to the attacking forces. The only notable events during this time period was the introduction of flamethrowers by Texas forces in June 1899, and poison gas by Texas forces in February 1900 (both of these innovations were quickly copied by the U.S. forces, however, and were also to be used by both sides in Europe as well), as well as the capture of the French colony Indo-China by an Anglo-Japanese expeditionary force in April 1901.

July 1901 would prove to be the decisive month of the conflict. In that month, several things happened which decisively tilted the balance against the Triple Entente. First, the Confederate States of America entered the conflict on the side of the Grand Alliance. The Confederacy was drawn into the conflict as a result of several factors. The first of these was continuing harassment of Confederate shipping in the Caribbean by the Franco-U.S. fleet operating from Jamaica, including several sinkings by Entente submarines. The second was the increasingly belligerent attitude by the U.S. toward the Confederacy with regard to the trade in munitions and oil...Texas exporting oil to the Confederacy in exchange for arms...being carried on across their mutual border by the Confederacy and Texas, which was providing Texas with practically it's only means of outside supply (Of course, the Confederacy is also trading with the U.S., but that has not prevented the U.S. from pressuring the Confederacy over it's trade with Texas). The entry of the Confederacy proved vital to the Grand Alliance in several ways. The Confederate Navy joined with the fleets of Britain and Germany to finally crush the U.S. Atlantic fleet, enabling the landing of Anglo-German expeditionary forces in Canada and in Virginia (where they operated in cooperation with Confederate forces). Confederate naval forces in the Caribbean also assisted the Anglo-Texan fleets in that region in breaking the blockade of the Texas coast, and an Anglo-Confederate expeditionary force was landed at Jamaica in December 1901, retaking that strategically important base. And the Confederates themselves were able to provide the extra troops which kept Texas in the war and allowed the Grand Alliance to finally take the offensive on all fronts in America. Texan, Confederate, and British troops advanced north, and occupied all of Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico before the end of hostilities in early 1902, while British, Confederate, and German forces advanced north from Kentucky and Virginia, seizing much of the midwest and even capturing the U.S. capital of Philadelphia, D.C., before the end of hostilities in early 1902. And the Anglo-German expeditionary force in Canada occupied Montreal and Quebec before the end of hostilities in 1902.

Second, the Mormons of Utah, who had long felt that they were being oppressed for their religious beliefs with regard to their practice of polygamy, declared their secession from the United States, seized government arsenals around the Territory (which, unlike OTL, had not been granted statehood by this time) and rose in armed revolt. Mormon independence was immediately recognized by the Grand Alliance powers. The major transcontinental rail line was thereby cut, and the United States was forced to divert troops from the New Mexico and other fronts to deal with the rebellion, which it was unable to crush before the end of hostilities in 1902.

And third, spurred on by popular anger resulting from a combination of famine caused by poor harvests and the unending casualty lists of the war, a revolution lead by a coalition of Menshevik Marxists and bourgeois liberals broke out in Russia which toppled Tsar Nicholas II, who abdicated in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail. The new Tsar Mikhail II had the good sense to "go with the flow," and agreed to a new written constitution. The document strictly limited the powers of the monarch, guaranteed civil liberties, and created a popularly elected legislative body, called the Duma, which had the power to approve or veto any new law and to approve and control officials of the crown. Mikhail II also quickly bowed to the obvious popular will and sued for peace, taking Russia out of the war. The Grand Alliance powers quickly concluded a treaty with Russia, signed at Warsaw in August 1901, which stipulated that Russia was to cede it's lands in Poland to Germany and Austria, cede the Caucasus to the Ottomans, withdraw from Afghanistan, and recognize Japan's annexation of Manchuria. Germany and Austria were then able to transfer large forces from the east to the front in France, and the Ottomans were able to transfer large forces to the Balkans. This decisively tipped the balance in Europe. Within a year, France had fallen to a coordinated assault by German, British, Italian, and Austrian troops, and the Turks (with German and Austrian help) had re-conquered most of the Balkans. The Balkan states (Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece) were all forced to surrender by the end of October 1901. France held out until February 1902, when it, too, surrendered. With it's last ally out of the war, the United States, too, capitulated in March 1902, virtually ending the Great War (fighting continued for another year in South Africa as Grand Alliance forces gradually crushed the Boer Republics with troops freed by the end of fighting elsewhere).

The war had been devastating for nearly all nations involved. Casualty figures were as follows, by nation...

THE ENTENTE FORCES
--UNITED STATES: 4,000,000
--OKLAHOMA--200,000
--FRANCE: 7,000,000
--RUSSIA: 9,000,000
--SERBIA: 400,000
--MONTENEGRO: 30,000
--GREECE: 100,000
--ROMANIA: 500,000
--BULGARIA: 300,000
--BOER REPUBLICS: 100,000
--BELGIUM: 100,000
--HOLLAND: 50,000
TOTAL: 21,680,000

THE GRAND ALLIANCE FORCES
--CONFEDERATE STATES: 350,000
--TEXAS: 2,000,000
--BRITISH EMPIRE: 5,000,000
--GERMANY: 6,000,000
--AUSTRIA: 3,000,000
--JAPAN: 350,000
--OTTOMAN EMPIRE: 3,000,000
--ITALY: 2,000,000
--UTAH: 20,000
TOTAL: 21,720,000

Aside from the obvious impact of the widespread use of magazine rifles firing smokeless powder, machine guns, flame-throwers, poison gas, submarines, armored cars, airships, and large caliber, quick-firing artillery, the war is significant in that it marks the first widespread use of radio communication (which was invented in the late 1890s by Marconi and others) by the militaries of all nations.

1899, South Africa--At the outbreak of the Great War, Mohandas Gandhi argues that Indians must support the war effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship, and organizes a volunteer ambulance corps of 300 free Indians and 800 indentured laborers.  Gandhi is captured, along with the other British forces, when Ladysmith falls to the Boers in May 1899, and is interned in a squalid P.O.W. Camp. 

1899-1902, India--The Indian National Congress is strongly split on whether or not to support the British war effort in the Great War.  The extremist, nationalist faction within the party favors efforts to disrupt British recruiting in India, while the more moderate wing wants the party to show it's loyalty to Britain, and hopefully earn rewards later, by encouraging Indians to serve in the British armies.  The extremist faction wins, and the Indian National Congress creates numerous disturbances throughout India during the war.  

1900--Elections in the Union. Republicans William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt run for an unprecedented third term. They defeat William Jennings Bryan and Charles A. Towne, the Democratic challengers, in large part because voters do not want to "switch horses" in the midst of a war.

1900, The Confederacy--John M. Browning is appointed as Chief of Weapons Design at the Confederate Ordnance Department. Under his supervision, many innovative weapons will be introduced into the Confederate arsenal, including the Browning Self-Loading Rifle, the first semi-automatic rifle to be adopted by the military of any country, and the Browning Light (.30 caliber) and Heavy (.50 caliber) Machine Guns.

1900-1910, Civil War in China-- The Chinese imperial court responds to the threat posed by the foreign "spheres of influence" by giving aid to various secret societies. One of these is the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist, also known as the Boxers. In 1900, the Boxers rise in rebellion throughout China. The Dowager Empress Tsu Hsi orders the Imperial Army to support the Boxers, and because the European powers are distracted by the Great War, the Chinese are able to expel the foreigners from almost all of China by the end of 1901. Britain is able to hold onto Hong Kong, and Japan to it’s conquests in Manchuria, but the rest of the European enclaves are over-run. The Dowager Empress, however, does not long savor her victory, for the Boxers, having expelled the European foreigners, then turn on the Imperial Government itself. Empress Tsu Hsi is dragged out of her palace and hacked to death, along with the Emperor Guang Hsu and the crown prince, Pu Yi. The Forbidden City is burned to the ground, and anarchy reigns supreme. This ushers in a period of civil war which engulfs the whole country as various bands of Boxer rebels and generals of the former Imperial Army vie with each other for supremacy. Millions die in the violence across the country, including a couple of insignificant university employees in Beijing, Chief Librarian Li Ta-chao, and a professor of literature, Chen Tu-hsui. Also killed is a young student in Hunan Province named Mao Tse Tung. By 1910, one warlord has emerged supreme...Yuan Shikai. Yuan establishes an authoritarian military dictatorship over most of the country.

4 March 1901, Philadelphia, D.C.--William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt are sworn in for their third terms as President and Vice President of the United States.

1901, South Africa--Mohandas Gandhi dies of typhoid and general mistreatment in a P.O.W. Camp outside of Pretoria, South Africa. 

1901, Italy--Benito Mussolini is drafted into the Italian Army.  He serves bravely, being gravely wounded in battle in southern France before the end of the year.  Mussolini is sent home to recuperate, and then given a medical discharge.  He soon takes a job as the editor of a socialist newspaper. 

1902 onward, Deseret--With the achievement of independence from the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints issues a constitution for the new Republic based on that of the proposed State of Deseret, which had been authored in 1849 under the orders of then-Church President Brigham Young, with the new document being modified to meet the current circumstances.  A bicameral General Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives), is created to enact ordinances having the force of law.   Laws regulating elections are also passed;  one major modification  from the earlier 1849 constitution is that non-LDS members ("Gentiles") are not eligible to vote or hold public office in the new Republic. Elections will be regularly held in the Republic, but in fact, voters will simply ratify choices previously made by church leaders. Functioning within the framework of this ecclesiastically created constitution, the General Assembly creates  a militia, patterned (and named) after the earlier Nauvoo Legion. Taxes on property and liquor are authorized, gambling is suppressed, and the use of water, timber, and other natural resources is regulated.  Polygamy is enshrined in the new Constitution, with provisions guaranteeing it's legality and forbidding future amendments from impairing the right to practice it in any way.  Gentiles who refuse to adapt to the changed circumstances are not-so-gently encouraged to leave the Republic, and most Gentiles do so over the next few years.  The heart-rending stories many of these refugees tell, upon arriving in neighboring U.S. cities, will create a legacy of ill-will between the Union and Deseret which will survive for many years. 

1902 onward, India--Remembering the anti-war agitation in which the party had engaged during the Great War, Britain outlaws the Indian National Congress in 1902.  Without Mohandas Gandhi to guide the party on the road of non-violent resistance...and thus garner worldwide support...the Indian independence movement  degenerates into chaos and violence, and the British administration begins ruthlessly rounding up it's leadership. This leads to massive outbreaks of anti-British violence across the Indian subcontinent, and the British respond brutally.  Several widely publicized massacres will occur over the next decade, as British troops open fire on crowds of rioting civilian demonstrators in several cities. Unlike in OTL, the Indians...who are fired upon while engaging in violent riots and mayhem...are not viewed as victims by the rest of the world. Over the next two-and-one-half decades numerous Indian National Congress leaders...including Bal Gandaghar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sardar Patel, Jawarlahal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan...will be captured, tried for sedition, and hanged.   In the end, the brutal British repression has it's effect, and by the late 1920s, the nascent independence movement is effectively crushed.  British rule in India seems more stable than it has ever been. 

1902--The Geneva Peace Conference. In May 1902, representatives of all the powers involved in the recent war...except the Boer Republics, which were still at war...met in Geneva to hammer out a final peace treaty. President Semmes of the Confederate States of America tried, unsuccessfully, to encourage moderation in the peace terms so as to prevent the treaty from becoming the seed ground for a future war, and the terms of the final treaty which was signed in November 1902 are harsh. Provisions of the treaty were as follows...

--Texan annexation of Oklahoma was recoognized, despite protest by the Confederacy.
--The United States was forced to cede to Texas all of New Mexico Territory east of the Rio Grande, which was the part of that territory which was originally claimed by the Republic of Texas at the time of it's annexation by the United States (Texas had pressed for cession of all of New Mexico and Arizona, but the Confederacy strongly opposed Texas annexation of territory to which it had no historical claim, and in this was supported by the British).
--The United States was forced to cede all of Canada, except the former province of British Columbia...which it successfully argued (with Confederate support) was necessary to link it's Alaskan Territory to the rest of the United States...to Great Britain. These territories had been under uneasy U.S. military occupation since the Reparations War in 1881, and the people within them were glad to be returned to the British Empire.
--Britain also re-annexed the Dominion of Nova Africanus, which was less glad to re-join the British fold, having tasted de-facto independence during the war.
--The United States was forced to grantt independence to the Mormons in Utah, which immediately announced the re-birth (as they viewed it) of their state of Deseret.
--The Confederacy (despite the clamorinng of some hotheads who noisily demanded that the Confederate government seek the re-annexation of West Virginia by the Confederacy) did not ask for any territorial revisions.
--At the insistence of Britain and Texaas, the United States was forced to strictly limit the size of it's navy to no more than 1/2 that of Britain, and reduce it's standing army to no more than 200,000 men.
--The Terms of the Treaty of Warsaw, siigned earlier between Russia and the Grand Alliance, were recognized by the Geneva Conference, but additionally, Russia was forced to grant independence to Finland.
--The annexation of Holland, Belgium, aand Luxembourg by Germany was recognized, despite the strong objections of Britain.
--France was forced to cede Savoy and NNice to Italy, as well as Corsica.

--All of France's colonies in Africa were ceded, with some going to Germany and others to Italy.
--France was forced to limit the size oof it's army to no more than 100,000 men.
--Germany, as previously agreed, ceded it's colony in East Africa to Britain, allowing it to complete it's Capetown to Cairo railroad at last.
--Belgium's colony in the Congo was cedded to Germany.
--Britain annexed the Boer Republics inn South Africa.
--Japan was allowed to keep the former French colony in Indo-China, as well as the Philippines (which it occupied shortly after invading Indo-China in 1901, even though Spain was officially neutral in the conflict).
--The British re-claimed the Hawaiian IIslands.
--Germany, which had annexed Holland, aalso claimed the Dutch colonies in the East Indies and South America, and this was recognized.
--The Balkan States, with the exceptionn of Greece, are partitioned between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Greece...which has some powerful friends in Britain and Germany...is allowed to retain a precarious independence, but suffers territorial loss to the Ottomans.
--The United States, France, and Russiaa were all forced to pay heavy reparations to the victorious powers.  The Confederacy refuses to accept reparations.

The Treaty of Geneva well illustrated the principle that "To the victors go the spoils." And, as Confederate President Semmes had feared, it would lead to further conflict later in the century.

1902 onward--In the aftermath of the War of Secession, almost all of the Confederate States had adopted the suggestion of Judah P. Benjamin that freed blacks be placed in a system of "peonage," where they were bound to work the plantations of their former masters...for wages or on a share-crop system...while they were educated and until such time as they became financially self-sufficient enough to leave the plantation. In most places, this had worked as Mr. Benjamin intended...providing a gateway through which freed slaves made themselves ready for the responsibilities of citizenship. But in some areas...Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama, the traditional strongholds of the old States Rights Party...the system was abused to create a sort of "slavery without slavery." Plantation owners trapped former slaves by getting them in debt, forcing them to continue to work the plantation in order to pay off the debt, which of course, never quite happened (similar to the "company stores" in the North by which factory owners kept many of their employees effectively in slavery). Those three states also never adopted legislation granting State Citizenship (i.e. the ability to vote in State elections or to run for State offices) to blacks. Blacks in those States have a tough life, with little hope for betterment.

As time has gone on, public outcry in the more "progressive" States of the Confederacy has steadily risen against these "archaic" practices. This outcry is strengthened when, in the Great War...as in the War of Secession and the Spanish War...black soldiers once again show their bravery and patriotism for the Confederacy and play a vital part in the successful conclusion of the war. More and more people are questioning why blacks, anywhere in the Confederacy, should be denied full citizenship.

1903, South Africa--Britain crushes the last Boer resistance and occupies the Orange Free State and Transvaal. These are unified with their own Cape Colony and Natal province to form the colony of South Africa.

1903, Deseret--In the first elections held in the new Republic, Joseph F. Smith, who is also the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is elected the first President of the Republic of Deseret.  President Smith will be re-elected every four years until his death in 1918. 

1903, Russia--The Bolshevik wing of the Russian Marxist movement strongly opposes the new government, as it desires the complete overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a "dictatorship of the proletariat." Bolshevik leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin are forced into exile, fleeing ahead of Tsar Mikhail's security forces.

1903--Elections in the Confederacy. The State Sovereignty Party, flush with it's recent victorious handling of the Great War, offers J.E.B. Stuart, Jr. of Virginia for President and Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. of Kentucky for Vice President. The Liberty Party candidates are Allen D. Candler of Georgia for President and Benton McMillin of Tennessee for Vice President. The State Sovereignty ticket of Stuart and Buckner easily wins the election.

1903 onward, North America--Despite the fact that the Confederacy recently sided against the United States in the Great War, the recent actions of the Confederacy at the Geneva Peace Convention in trying to moderate the demands of Britain and Texas and in not demanding territory or reparations for itself has prevented any great animosity from forming between the Union and the Confederacy. Indeed, relations between Texas and the Confederacy have taken a dramatic downturn, given the Confederacy's strong opposition to Texan grabs for territory after the Great War, and the Union and the Confederacy find themselves gradually drawn together by a common opposition to Texas.

1903--The Union is experiencing a severe depression in the aftermath of it's defeat in the Great War. The heavy reparations imposed by the Treaty of Geneva, plus the enforced reduction in the size of the military (which impacts many major industries which supply the military) are mainly responsible. The large-scale transfer of gold, in the form of reparations, out of the United States Treasury has severely affected the money supply in the U.S., causing a collapse of prices which has thrown millions out of work. Riots by hungry, unemployed men take place in many large cities and are brutally suppressed by the U.S. Army and various State Guards.

1904, The Confederacy--On 22 February 1904, at Washington, C.D., J.E.B. Stuart, Jr. is sworn in as the ninth President of the Confederate States of America, and Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. is sworn in as Vice President. President Stuart will immediately introduce a bill in Congress to eliminate the Conscription Act...one of the key issues for the State Sovereignty Party...and to reduce the size of the army to 200,000 men, arguing that the limitations on the size of the U.S. military imposed by the Treaty of Geneva obviate the need for a larger military force. His bill will be passed by the end of the year, a major victory for the State Sovereignty Party. Also in this year, John M. Browning resigns his post as Chief of Weapons Design for the Confederate States War Department in order to accept the post of Chief of Ordnance, Republic of Deseret. However, the Browning-trained designers at the Confederate Ordnance Department continue to turn out innovative designs for the Confederate military.

1904--Elections in the Union. Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. Fairbanks are facing opposition by Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Alton Parker. In response to the continuing Depression in the United States, Bryan is once again proposing the free coinage of silver, as well as a new issue of "greenbacks," to restore the money supply and encourage inflation of prices. His message finds a receptive ear among the electorate, and the Democratic candidates win election in a landslide victory. Democratic majorities are also returned in both the House and the Senate.

1905 onward, the Balkans--The annexation of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the Great War has lead to the formation of various Serbian independence groups in Austrian-held territory. These groups engage in various acts of terrorism, mostly against Austrian occupation forces, which test the stability of the already shaky Austrian Empire.

1905, Great Britain--The Hornsby Company, improving on earlier designs by one Richard Edgeworth dating back to 1770, patents the first truly practical caterpillar track. The invention is soon put to use in Europe and North America by companies producing agricultural tractors.

1905, Texas--Not satisfied with it's territorial gains in the Great War, the Republic of Texas decides to "settle accounts" with Mexico. Battle-hardened Texas troops invade Mexico in March 1905, and by the end of the year, have conquered the entire country. The United States and the Confederate States strongly protest, but when Britain begins rattling it's sabre in support of Texas, both decide to keep their own swords sheathed. Texas soon reorganizes the crazy quilt of States in Mexico into twelve new "Territories," which it plans to gradually admit as States in the future. The incident serves to strengthen the trend toward increasing cooperation between the Union and the Confederacy which has been growing since the Great War.

1905, Scandinavia--Norway peacefully secedes from Sweden.

4 March 1905, Philadelphia, D.C.--William Jennings Bryan is sworn in as the twenty-fourth President of the United States, and Alton Parker is sworn in as Vice President.

1905, The Union--The Depression continues. President Bryan's Monetary Act, which ushers in free coinage of silver as well as issuing several tens of millions of dollars in paper currency (Greenbacks) in an effort to boost the economy, is passed by the Democratic Congress. It does have the desired effect, gradually inflating prices and encouraging new hiring by employers. By the end of the year, the Depression seems to be well on it's way out.

1906, The Union--Unfortunately, the temporary boon to the economy caused by President Bryan's inflationary monetary policy has played out, and now the effect of ever-increasing prices is forcing the economy back into recession. Unemployment is rising again as a result.

23 October 1906, France--Beginning with the work of Englishman George Cayley in 1799, scientists and inventors in many countries have been experimenting with designs for heavier-than-air flight. There have been many partially successful designs, especially unpowered gliders, but also experiments with craft powered by steam engines which actually achieved flight...over very short distances...in 1874 and 1890. However, the weight of the steam engine makes it an impractical for anything other than very short flights, and it has only been the development of the internal combustion engine, powered by gasoline, which has finally made a manned, powered, heavier-than-air craft a practical idea. It is not until 1906 that the first flight by such a machine is made, however, in France by Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont (Wilbur and Orville Wright were never born in this timeline...their father, abolitionist United Brethren Bishop Milton Wright, was among those killed in the July 1865 riots). The aeroplane is born. Research is soon underway in all major nations to develop their own version of the machine.

1907, The Union--In an attempt to arrest the inflationary spiral which is gripping the country as a result of his 1905 Monetary Act, President Bryan orders the recall of all Greenbacks (paper currency). This sudden contraction of the money supply, however, simply accelerates the gathering recession which has been building over the past year. By the end of the year the country is back in the throes of a full-scale Depression. Also in this year, Glenn Curtis designs and flies the first American aeroplane.

1907 onwards, Europe--Increasing tension between Britain and Germany. In the aftermath of the Great War, Germany has come out with an empire which rivals that of Great Britain, which does not please the British one bit. And to make matters worse, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany has resumed his naval buildup, which has worsened relations dramatically between his nation and Great Britain. Then, in 1907, the British up the stakes by introducing the first all-big-gun battleship powered by oil-burning, steam turbine engines, the H.M.S. Fearless. The warship carries twelve 14-inch guns in six turrets (two fore, two aft, and two amidships). This vessel instantly renders every battleship then existing in the world obsolete. Germany immediately begins work on it's own version, and the two nations are shortly in a bitter naval arms race. Tensions between the two nations rise to unprecedented levels, and the already fragile alliance between Britain and Germany, which was severely shaken by German land-grabs in Europe after the Great War, will not survive. Britain will, over the course of the succeeding years, find itself gradually pushed toward France and Italy...other nations in Europe who feel as threatened by Germany as Britain does...as concern over increasing German power grows.

1907, Austria-Hungary--With the huge loss of life in the recently ended Great War, the Vienna Academy of Arts finds the pool of artistic talent seeking admission to the Academy severely depleted, resulting in declining enrollments and, of course, declining revenue.  And so, when a young man named Adolf Hitler applies for admission, his application is not denied.  Young Hitler will graduate from the academy several years later, and will gain some minor notoriety as a painter of landscapes and as an architect. He will never enter politics. 

1908--Elections in the Union. President Bryan doesn’t run for a second term. Vice President Parker runs for President with John W. Kern as his running mate. Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft are the Republican candidates. The charismatic Roosevelt runs an aggressive campaign, making speeches in cities all over the country in which he denounces the "buffoons who have ruined our great nation." People are generally disgusted by the way the Democrats have handled the Depression, and T.R. easily wins the election.

1908, The Confederacy--Captain John Gabriel Rains, Confederate States Army, flies the first Confederate-designed aeroplane.

1908, The Union--Brigadier General John T. Thompson, U.S. Army, has been tinkering with an idea for a new weapon, based on his experiences in the recent war, which he calls the "Trench Broom." In 1908 he patents the first truly practical sub-machine gun, what will become known to history as the "Tommy Gun." The U.S. Army adopts the new weapon the next year. Competing designs will be adopted by most other countries over the next decade.

4 March 1909, Philadelphia, D.C.--Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the Twenty-fifth President of the United States of America, and William Howard Taft is sworn in as Vice President.

1909--The Union. President Roosevelt introduces into Congress legislation which he calls the "Sound Money Bill," which consists of several items and is intended to replace President Bryan's Monetary Act. The bill calls for the withdrawal of all gold coins from circulation, as well as all silver coins in denominations higher than $1. These are to be replaced by a new paper currency, which will be backed, not by specie, but by the "full faith and credit of the U.S. Government." This will divorce the "value" and the supply of money from the ever-expanding and contracting supply of specie. Also, the supply of this new paper money will be regulated by a new central bank, called the Reserve Bank of the United States, to prevent abrupt expansions or contractions of the money supply. This legislation is bitterly opposed by Democrats in Congress, but Roosevelt, through sheer charisma and adroit political maneuvering, is able to get it passed before the end of the year. President Roosevelt also takes advantage of the increasing friction between Britain and Germany to announce that the United States will not abide by the disarmament provisions of the Treaty of Geneva, and at his urging, Congress passes legislation increasing the peacetime strength of the U.S. Army back to it's pre-Great War strength of 340,000. Although there are protests from Britain and Texas especially, nobody much wants to re-open armed conflict, and Roosevelt's bold declaration stands.

1909--Confederate Elections. This election is the first in which the cause of full black citizenship in all States of the Confederacy becomes a major campaign issue. The State Sovereignty candidates, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. of Kentucky and Martin F. Ansel of South Carolina, strongly oppose any interference by the national government or other States in the "internal affairs of Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina," and they narrowly defeat the Liberty Party candidates, Nathan Bedford Forrest II (son of William Montgomery Forrest and grandson of General Nathan Bedford Forrest) of Tennessee and John Isaac Moore of Arkansas.

1910, North Africa--Italian airmen make the first military use of the aeroplane, using it for reconnaissance and even dropping some primitive bombs on rebellious Berber tribesmen in Libya and Tunisia. Other nations begin forming their own military air services in response.

22 February 1910, Washington, C.D.--Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., is sworn in as the tenth President of the Confederate States of America, and John Isaac Moore is sworn in as Vice President.

1910, The Confederacy--Despite the increasingly close relationship between the Union and the Confederacy since the Great War, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's recent announcement that he is abrogating the limits imposed on the U.S. military by the Treaty of Geneva is a cause of concern in the Confederacy. President Buckner does not want to re-impose compulsory conscription...the elimination of which was one of the State Sovereignty Party's key victories...but he needs to find a way to counterbalance increasing U.S. military power. He secretly authorizes development of an idea for an armored fighting vehicle, to be based on the recently invented caterpillar tractor, which will have the ability to cross trenches and, it is hoped, restore mobility to the battlefield. In order to disguise their real use, the new vehicles are developed under the pretense that they are simply tractors for hauling artillery ammunition. They thus acquire the code name "wagon," and are known in Confederate military circles...in private...as "Battle Wagons."

1910, The Union: In the United States, the civil service system has never been reformed (largely because assassination of President James Garfield didn't happen in this alternate timeline). Government jobs are still given out according to a "spoils system" which dates back to the administration of Andrew Jackson. On June 19, 1910, that particular chicken finally comes home to roost when President Roosevelt is shot to death in front of the White House itself by a disgruntled job seeker. William Howard Taft is sworn in as the Twenty-sixth President of the United States of America shortly afterward. In the aftermath of this incident, the civil service system is reformed and the "spoils system" is finally eliminated. Taft also begins a program of tax cuts, spending cuts, and reductions in government regulation aimed at stimulating business investment and hiring which, when combined with the effects of the "Sound Money Bill" of deceased President Roosevelt, will finally end the Depression by the end of the following year.

1911, The Confederacy--The shocking assassination of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt has lead the Confederate government to examine it's own system for distributing government jobs, which is also basically a political "spoils system." By the end of the year, legislation will be passed by the Confederate Congress to reform the civil service system and eliminate the Confederacy's version of the "spoils system."

1912--Elections in the Union. Buoyed by his success in ending the Depression, President Taft and running mate Charles W. Fairbanks handily defeat their Democratic challengers, James Beauchamp Clark and Thomas R. Marshall.

1912 onward, The Union--Ever since the end of the Great War, the Temperance Movement has been picking up steam in the United States.  In the aftermath of the U.S. defeat in the war, the demoralized public embraces religion with fervor, which feeds the political power of the Temperance Movement, which is largely church-based.   By 1912, the movement is demanding a Constitutional amendment prohibiting the production, importation, transportation,  and sale of alcohol, and the power of the movement becomes evident during the 1912 Presidential race, when the issue becomes one of the hot issues of the campaign.  President Taft opposes the proposed amendment, and his Democratic challengers favor it.  Only Taft's popularity, buoyed by his success in ending the post war Depression and national sympathy following the assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt (whom Taft succeeded in office) ensures his victory over his opponents. The Temperance Movement has met a temporary defeat, but it will be back...

1912, China--Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen found the Kuomintang Party.

4 March 1913, Philadelphia, D.C.--President Taft is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States, and Charles W. Fairbanks is sworn in as Vice President.

28 June 1914, Sarajevo, Bosnia--The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, is assassinated by Serbian nationalists. Unlike in OTL, this is all considered an "internal" matter for the Austro-Hungarians to resolve and does not lead to war. Emperor Franz Josef orders a crackdown and thousands are arrested all over Serbia and Bosnia. However, the Serbian independence movement is not destroyed. Numerous acts of terrorism will occur over the next few years.

1914, North Africa--German and Italian troops skirmish in the desert on the Algerian/Tunisian border, almost igniting a war between Germany and Italy. Cooler heads prevail, however, and war is avoided. However, King Victor Emanuel III of Italy is offended by what he regards as "haughty" treatment by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and he begins to re-consider his relationship with Germany.

1915--Confederate Elections. The big issue in this election is, as in 1909, the issue of full black citizenship in all States of the Confederacy. The Liberty Party candidates Woodrow Wilson of Virginia and William Edward Burghardt DuBois of Maryland (a popular black Congressman whose family had been expelled from the Union in 1870...when DuBois was a child of two years...and had settled in Maryland), who argue persuasively in favor of the extension of full citizenship to blacks residing in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama, narrowly defeat the State Sovereignty Party candidates, Edmond Favor Noel of Mississippi and Emmett O’Neal of Alabama.

1915, Europe--In February of this year, Great Britain, Italy, and France secretly sign a mutual defense treaty aimed at Germany. The new alliance is called the London Pact (after the city where it was signed). Germany, however, finds out about this, and Kaiser Wilhelm begins making diplomatic overtures to his cousin, Tsar Mikhail of Russia. Russia is, like Germany, looking with avaricious eyes at the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire, and these overtures are well received.

1915, Germany--Albert Einstein publishes the General Theory of Relativity.

1916, China--Yuan Shikai dies. China once again falls into chaos.

1916, The Union--The Temperance issue once again raises it's head in the Presidential election held this year, but the popular President Taft wins, so the Temperance Movement is forced to wait yet again.

1917, China--Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang establish a new government in southern China. However, it has only tenuous authority in most of the country.

1917, The Ottoman Empire--In the aftermath of the Great War, which revealed grave deficiencies in the Ottoman military, and perhaps more importantly, in the government of the empire, a movement arose within the Army for reform of both institutions.  Lead by Mustafa Kemal, a young and energetic Turkish officer who had distinguished himself in the Great War, these officers lead a military coup in early 1917 and seize control of the government.  Ultra-conservative Sultan Abdul Hamid II is forced to abdicate in favor of his cousin, Yusuf Izzeddin (Mehmed Resad, brother of Abdul Hamid II and the legitimate heir, is viewed as too conservative by the rebels and not allowed to assume the throne).  While they leave the Ottoman Sultan as the official (albeit figurehead) Head of State, the rebels force the Sultan to agree to a constitution, which calls for an elected national legislative assembly and a bill of rights.  The government would be managed by a Prime Minister, elected by the national legislative assembly.  Only ethnic Turks living in the Turkish homeland of Anatolia are to be given the right to vote...basically the new Constitution will apply to Anatolia itself, but not to the provinces, which will continue to be ruled by governors appointed by the central government.  Yusuf Izzeddin accepts his role as a figurehead constitutional monarch, but he works closely with the Prime Minster, Mustafa Kemal, to further the development of his empire. 

1917, Austro-Hungarian Empire--Leo Szilard enters the army as a Lieutenant of Artillery. 

1917-1919--Researchers in several countries nearly simultaneously develop interrupter mechanisms to allow machine guns to be fired through the spinning propeller of an aircraft without hitting the propeller blades. This allows the development of true fighter aircraft for the first time.

1918, Deseret--President Joseph F. Smith dies.  He is succeeded by Heber J. Grant. 

1918, The Ottoman Empire--Elections held.  The new National Assembly selects Mustafa Kemal as the first Prime Minister under the new constitution.  Kemal immediately initiates reforms for the military, and begins seeking means in improve the economy of the Ottoman Empire.   

1918, Texas--Since occupying the remainder of Mexico in 1905, Texas has faced a continuing problem with rebellion and banditry in the conquered territories and has been taking ever harsher measures to suppress it, including the use of poison gas, dropped by air onto Mexican villages which are suspected of harboring guerillas. Besides condemnation by the United States and the Confederacy, Texas’s ally, Great Britain, has repeatedly condemned the use of poison gas on civilians, but Texas has ignored the pleas for moderation by the British.  The alliance between the two nations is not broken, but it is very strained. 

1918 onward, Russia--The support given by Leon Trotsky to the government of Tsar Mikhail II during the recent attempted Bolshevik coup has not gone un-noticed, and the new Prime Minister is, with the Tsar's support over the next several years, to make great strides toward his goal of a socialist Russia.  What gradually emerges in Russia is a hybrid state, capitalist for the most part but with many socialist features designed to protect the workers, such as trade unions, a social-security-type old-age pension plan, etc. Trotsky also pushes the industrialization of Russia and seeks out foreign investment which greatly boosts the economy.  Of course, all this increases the resources available for Russia's military, which grows accordingly in size and power. 

1919, Deseret--President Heber J. Grant has a "revelation" and declares that the Constitution of the Republic of Deseret must be amended to constitute the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in perpetuity as the President of the Republic, with no need for elections.  Furthermore, the President will serve for his lifetime, with no term limits.  The General Assembly obediently passes the proposed legislation. 

1920, Britain--Rutherford speculates on the existence of the neutron at the Royal Society.

1920, The Ottoman Empire--Prospectors working on the orders of Prime Minister Kemal discover oil near the city of Kirkuk, in the province of Mesopotamia.  After negotiating with several nations, Kemal signs a pact with Great Britain for development of these resources.  Petro-money begins flowing into the coffers of the Ottoman Empire, allowing a complete and thorough overhaul of the military, as well as many programs to industrialize the country and reform the backwards aspects of Turkish society so as to bring the nation fully into the Twentieth Century. 

1921, The Union--On March 4, at Philadelphia, D.C., Alfred E. Smith is sworn in as the Twenty-Seventh President of the United States, and James M. Cox is sworn in as Vice President.  As promised, within thirty days after taking office, President Smith introduces a draft amendment prohibiting the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages within the boundaries of the United States. Strangely, the amendment does not ban USAGE of alcoholic beverages.  By the end of the year, Smith has persuaded Congress to adopt the amendment, and it is submitted to the States for ratification. 

1921--Confederate Elections: Breaking with tradition, Vice President DuBois declines to run for his own term as President, saying "I don’t think this country is ready for a black President just yet." And so, instead, the Liberty Party nominates Thomas Clark Rye of Tennessee for President and Ruffin G. Pleasant of Louisiana for Vice President. The State Sovereignty Party nominates Eugene Talmadge of Georgia for President and Thomas E. Kilby of Alabama for Vice President. The charismatic Eugene Talmadge, a renowned "stump speaker" in his native State, quickly outshines his rather lack-luster opponents, and the State Sovereignty ticket handily defeats their opponents in the general election.

1922, Europe--The Ottoman Empire, which has viewed the growing rapport between Germany and Russia with alarm, joins the London Pact.

1922, The Confederacy--On February 22, at Washington, C.D., Eugene Talmadge is sworn in as the Twelfth President of the Confederate States of America, and Thomas E. Kilby is sworn in as Vice President.

1922--The Oklahoma War. Popular opinion in the Confederacy has been inflamed by reports that Texas is committing atrocities in Oklahoma, where, like in Mexico, the Native American residents are in rebellion against harsh Texan rule. Unlike the situation in Mexico, where although the Confederacy deplores the atrocities being committed, it does not feel it has any historical duties on behalf of it’s people, Oklahoma was, at one time, a territory of the Confederacy, and there are many in the Confederacy who feel that the Confederacy has a duty to protect the people of Oklahoma. Swept along by a tide of public opinion, the new President, Eugene Talmadge, issues an ultimatum to Texas...withdraw from Oklahoma, or face war with the Confederacy. Texas calls on it's British ally for support, and Britain (which is unhappy about the brutality being practiced by Texas in it's conquered territories) does some half-hearted diplomatic sabre rattling. This encourages President William Pettus Hobby of Texas to refuse the Confederate demand, and President Talmadge asks the Confederate Congress for a Declaration of War. The Congress takes only one day to vote in the affirmative, and so the war begins.  Britain, although it does not immediately issue an ultimatum, takes an increasingly belligerent tone in it's diplomatic messages to the Confederacy.  It looks for a while like Britain may enter the war on the side of Texas, but then the United States (although remaining technically neutral) begins  massing troops on the Canadian and Texas borders.  This serves the dual purposes of tying down large Texas forces which would otherwise have been committed to the struggle against the invading Confederate armies as well as giving Britain pause. Meanwhile, Confederate armies, lead by armored divisions equipped with the new, and until now secret battle-wagons and closely supported by squadrons of fighter and bomber aircraft, slash rapidly through Texas forces in Oklahoma and begin driving into Texas itself, piercing the vaunted Alamo Line in several places. Despite urgent pleas from Texas, Britain does not take the final plunge, and contents itself with condemning "Confederate and Yankee aggression."  Left in the lurch by his British allies and seeing the spectre of total defeat before him, President Hobby of Texas sues for peace, and President Talmadge of the Confederacy agrees to a cease fire in July 1922. After a couple of months of negotiation, a treaty is signed at Washington, C.D., on September 22, 1922, ending the war. Oklahoma is formally ceded the Confederacy. Texas also agrees to pay an indemnity of $10 billion dollars to the Confederacy which will be used to repair the damage done in Oklahoma since it was occupied by Texas in 1902. President Talmadge declares that a plebiscite will be held within a year to determine if Oklahoma wishes to join the Confederacy as a State, or if it wishes to once again resume it’s former status as an independent nation.

1922, The Union--President Smith's Prohibition Amendment is ratified and becomes law.  The production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages is now banned everywhere within the borders of the United States. 

1922 onward, The Union--The Prohibition Era. As in OTL, the amendment to ban the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States proves completely unenforceable, especially since the amendment does not ban USAGE of alcoholic beverages.  Since demand is not reduced...and indeed, increases as people who normally would never have taken a drink now flock in droves to illicit taverns for the "thrill" of doing something "risky"...the laws of economics take hold and suppliers step up to fill the demand.  Most of these suppliers are members of the Irish, Jewish, and Italian street gangs which have flourished in Northern and Western cities since the mid-19th century, and as a result, the gangs are infused with obscene amounts of ill-gotten bootleg money which they use to bribe police and city officials to look the other way and ignore their activities.  Indeed, the money is so plentiful that in some cities, gang bosses actually gain virtual control by using their wealth of influence the outcome of local elections.  All of this greatly increases the power of the local gangs.  At first, the gangs fight bloody wars for control of bootleg money, but under the influence of men like Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky, they begin to link up and join forces, and organized crime is born.  

1922 onward, The Confederacy--Although no Prohibition Amendment will ever be passed in the Confederacy...several individual Confederate States have passed Prohibition Laws which apply within their own borders, but unlike in the Union, the prevailing political culture is strongly against the practice of special interest groups using the national government as a means to coerce the people of other States...the passage of the Prohibition Amendment by the Union also impacts the Confederacy.  Confederate brewers and distillers (and those industries which directly or indirectly support them) experience an economic boom as the Confederacy (along with Canada) becomes the major supplier of alcoholic beverages for the thirsty consumers of the United States.  Indeed, as cross-border bootlegging reaches huge levels, there are actually a few skirmishes between U.S. Prohibition agents caught in the act of hot pursuit of bootleggers across the international border and Confederate border police, and relations between the Union and the Confederacy actually begin to chill over the issue.  

1922, Europe--Emperor Karl of the Quintuple Monarchy dies, and is succeeded by his son, who reigns as the Emperor Otto I. 

1923 onward--The recent performance of Confederate armored divisions, closely supported by aircraft, in the Oklahoma War has sent shock waves through the military establishments of the world. Some countries, such as the United States, Britain, and Germany, had already been experimenting with armored fighting vehicles based on the caterpillar tractor, but none were close to operational deployment of such a vehicle. All of the major powers now devote a significant portion of their military budgets to getting their own versions of the battle-wagon in service as quickly as possible.

National Flag of the Confederate States of America

after October 1923.

1923, Oklahoma--The plebiscite to decide the future status of Oklahoma is held, and voters overwhelmingly vote to join the Confederacy as a State. The Confederate Congress acts on this expressed will of the people in October 1923. The Confederate flag now has fourteen stars.

1923, China--In this year, President Sun Yat-sen of China asks for help from Tsar Mikhail II of Russia in liberating and unifying China.  Tsar Mikhail, seeing a door opening for increased Russian influence in China, provides arms, equipment and military advisors who train the Kuomintang army.  With Russian help, the Kuomintang will crush it's opponents, chiefly the warlords which have held sway in different parts of China since the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916, within three years.  

1924, Elections in the Union--The Democrats renominate President Smith and Vice President Cox. The Republicans nominate Charles Evans Hughes of New York and William Dennison Stephens of California. Hughes and Stephens decry the recent stance of the U.S. in the Oklahoma War, arguing that President Smith was wrong to "endanger the lives of American boys on account of Rebels and Red Indians."  In a surprise upset, Hughes and Stephens defeat the incumbents by a wide margin, indicating a strong inclination toward isolationism among the U.S. population.

1925, The Union--On March 4, at Philadelphia, D.C., Charles Evans Hughes is sworn in as the Twenty-eighth President of the United States, and William Dennison Stephens is sworn in as Vice President.  Since the last decades of the 19th Century, there has been a growing movement in favor of the extension of voting rights to women.  This movement has gained support, and in 1925, an amendment to the Constitution to grant female sufferage passes the U.S. Congress.  It is submitted to the States for Ratification. 

1925, China--Sun Yat-sen dies of cancer.  Leadership of the Kuomintang passes to General Chiang Kai-shek. 

1926, The Ottoman Empire--Mehmed Vahdettin, heir to the Ottoman throne, dies.  The new heir is the brother of the current Sultan, Abdul Mejid. 

1926, China--Chiang Kai-shek signs a treaty of military alliance with Russia, aimed at Japan.  China becomes effectively a partner in the Dual Alliance. 

1927-1936, The War of Austrian Devolution--In early 1927, the Hungarian Diet declares the secession of Hungary from the Quintuple Monarchy. Emperor Otto I declares the secession to be illegal, and calls on the other peoples of the empire (the Czechs, Poles, Germans, and South Slavs) to rally behind the monarchy. Instead, all except the Austrian Germans also declare their secession from the Habsburg realm, and reports of massacres of various ethnic minorities begin to filter out of the secessionist states. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, declaring himself the protector of the German minorities in these areas (and also seeing an opportunity to gobble up some territory) begins mobilizing his military and declares his intention to intervene in order to "restore order." He is supported in this by his ally Tsar Mikhail II of Russia, who holds that Russia is the protector of the Slavic peoples of the region (and who also sees an opportunity for territorial aggrandizement). The nations of the London Pact issue a joint statement which declares their total opposition to any German or Russian intervention in Austrian affairs. Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Mikhail ignore this quasi-ultimatum, and on April 5, 1927, German and Russian troops cross the borders of the Habsburg empire. Emperor Otto, seeing this intervention for the naked territorial grab that it is, denounces this foreign interference in the internal affairs of his realm, and appeals to the London Pact for aid. Kaiser Wilhelm, in response, sends German troops into Vienna, where they narrowly miss capturing Emperor Otto, who escapes across the border into Italy.  The London Pact issues an ultimatum...withdraw from Habsburg territory by April 10, or face war. Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Mikhail haughtily refuse the ultimatum, and on April 10, the London Pact declares war on the Dual Alliance.

In North America, Texas, holding true to it's alliance despite some bitterness over British inactivity in the Oklahoma War, also declares war on Germany and Russia.  Texas's participation will not be huge...a small contingent of Texas divisions will be transported to Britain, where they will take part in the British cross-channel invasion of France in June 1934, and Texas will supply oil and beef to the beleaguered British. The other three American republics...the United States, the Confederate States,  and the Republic of Deseret...all declare their neutrality in the burgeoning European struggle.   And in the Far East, Japan...which is still having some border issues with Russia and which is eyeing the German colonies in the East Indies (with their valuable resources of rubber, oil, and other vital materials) with greed...declares it’s allegiance to the London Pact and declares war on Germany and Russia.  In response, President Chiang Kai-shek of China declares war on Japan.  

The war will be unlike any which have been fought before, as what in OTL would be called "blitzkrieg" tactics (combined arms tactics based on the use of armored vehicles supported by aircraft) are used by all sides. Germany and Russia initially have the best of it.  German panzers sweep into France and northern Italy, and Russian armored divisions sweep into the Ottoman Empire's European possessions.  Other Russian divisions advance into the Ottoman Caucasus territories.  France, which has only a small armored force, is effectively knocked out of the war within a month and forced to surrender.  The British, who had landed an expeditionary force in France to support their ally, is forced to withdraw it back to Britain.   Italian resistance, supported by another British expeditionary force, is stiffer, however, and the Germans are held at the Po River.  The Ottomans also give a very good account of themselves, and Russia finds it's thrust into the Balkans and the Caucasus blunted as well. They will also be reinforced by the British, and a see-saw campaign of thrust and counter-thrust ensues will will consume the next several years. For the most part, the German and Russian armies will dominate the European continent, with the British, Italians, and Ottomans clinging precariously to the peripheries. 

One interesting "side-show" takes place in the Ottoman provinces of Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine, where German and Russian agents intrigue with the local Arab chieftains, inducing them to rebel against the Ottomans by promising them their own independent states after the war. The most successful and famous of these is Oberst Thomas Lorenz, Imperial German Army, who gathers together an alliance of several powerful Arab tribes which conducts a brilliant hit-and-run guerilla campaign against the Turks, blowing up Turkish railroad lines, attacking and wiping out isolated garrisons, and destroying oil wells and pipelines.  Lorenz adopts native dress and mannerisms, and is somewhat of a "media hog," and thrilling tales of his exotic exploits will delight (or appall) readers around the world.  He will go down in history as "Lorenz of Arabia," and a major multi-million dollar epic motion picture will eventually be made about his life and exploits. 

Another side-show operation takes place in Africa, where British and Italian troops mount operations to invade and conquer Germany's colonies.  However, Germany's colonial troops, under some very resourceful commanders, put up a fierce resistance, and some of the colonies are still not totally secured by the end of the war. 

In the far east, Chinese and Russian armies invade Manchuria, where they meet fanatical resistance by the Japanese.  Despite being hugely outnumbered, the "plucky Japs,"  as they come to be called in the world's press, aided by British troops (and later by United States troops, transported from the West Coast in 1934), dig in and are never expelled from Manchuria during the entire war.  

At sea, the Royal Navy effectively blockades the German coast, bottling up the High Seas fleet. Only one major naval engagement will occur in the European Theatre, resulting in severe damage to the German High Seas fleet when it tries to sortie into the North Atlantic in March 1928.   The Germans will not repeat the experiment, and the High Seas fleet is confined to port for the remainder of the war.  The Germans and their Russian allies counter the British blockade with unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain, aiming to starve the British into submission.  This causes much resentment among neutral powers, especially the United States and the Confederate States.  Most of the major naval engagements on the high seas during the war will be between the German and Russian Pacific fleets and the fleets of Japan and Britain for control of the German colonies in Indonesia.  In the end, the outnumbered German fleet is defeated, and a combined Anglo-Japanese-Anzac force will occupy the German colonies by the end of 1929. 

In the air, the war sees major and ominous innovations.  The rigid airship fleets built up by most nations after the Great War prove to be much less successful in this war than in the last, as fighter aircraft prove an effective counter to them. Strategic bombing of cities and industrial centers is carried out on a large scale by Britain, Germany, Russia, and Italy. Hundreds of thousands die, but the campaign does not significantly impact the fighting ability of any of the warring powers.  It does have one impact which will have major consequences later...during a July 1931 raid by British aircraft on Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute is hit, a large bomb crashing through the roof of the air-raid shelter, where it detonates.  As it happens, a conference on nuclear physics was being held at the Institute on that day, and the attendees were packed into the Institute's shelter.  No  less than forty leading scientists in the fields of chemistry and physics are instantly killed, including such famous and/or up-and-coming scientists as Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Kurt Diebner, Paul Harteck, Edward Teller, and John von Neumann, to name a few.  Land-based aircraft also harry shipping near the coasts of the warring powers, not causing large amounts of damage, but indicating...to some who have eyes to see...the potential of aircraft as the naval weapon of the future.  Another related innovation, which will not see action in the war, is made when the British successfully land an aircraft on the deck of a warship in 1931. 

The turning point in the war comes in 1932. On February 15, a German submarine sinks the Confederate liner S.S. Robert E. Lee, en route to Britain.  Over 1,000 civilians perish in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, and Confederate public opinion is outraged.  The very next month, the U.S. liner S.S. Atlantic Star is sunk by another German submarine.  1,300 civilians drown.  The combined effect of these two atrocities create a wave of "war fever" in both the Union and the Confederacy.  Resisting popular pressure for as long as practicable, Confederate President Albert Cabell Ritchie finally is forced to ask for a declaration of War against Germany and Russia in July 1932, which Congress grants.  President Charles Evans Hughes of the U.S. refuses to back down from the "keep us out of war" position on which he was elected, but nevertheless, begins holding discussions with Confederate President Ritchie with the aim of coordinating joint action if necessary.  Hughes declined to run for another term in the 1932 U.S. election, and riding a wave of war fever, stoked by yet another high-casualty sinking by a German submarine, war-hawk Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in a landslide in November 1932.   President Hughes, bowing to the inevitable, asks Congress for a Declaration of War against Germany and Russia in mid-November 1932.  The U.S. Congress grants his request, and by the end of 1932, both the U.S.A. and the C.S.A. are at war with Germany and Russia. 

U.S. and Confederate troops begin arriving in Britain by March of 1933...just in time for Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration....and the navies of the two American republics join those of Britain and Italy in battling German and Russian submarines in the Atlantic.  In June 1934, British, Texas, U.S. and C.S. troops land on the French coast and begin an advance which will clear the Germans out of France and then, in mid-1935, cross the Rhine River into Germany itself.  Despite fanatical German resistance, the allies make their way slowly and painfully toward Berlin.  Meanwhile, British, Italian, and Ottoman troops also advance northward in Italy and the Balkans, preventing the Germans and Russians from reinforcing the newly opened Western Front.  In January 1936, Tsar Mikhail II of Russia...seeing that Germany is doomed...decides to get the best deal he can for himself and secretly offers peace.  After conferring, the London Pact powers accept the offer, stipulating only that Russian troops withdraw to Russia's pre-1927 borders.  Tsar Mikhail accepts the stipulation, and in April 1936, Russia drops out of the war.  

The news that Russia has abandoned the fight leads Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and President Chiang Kai-Shek to also sue for peace in May 1936.  The London Pact advises Wilhelm and Chiang that they will grant an armistice, provided that all German troops are withdrawn to Germany's pre-1927 borders and all Chinese troops are withdrawn from Manchuria.  Wilhelm and Chiang agree, and an armistice is declared on June 1, 1936.  It is agreed that allied military forces will remain where they are...including those occupying a large section of Germany...until a final peace treaty is agreed upon. The war is over. 

1927, Confederate Elections--The State Sovereignty Party nominates Vice President Thomas E. Kilby for President and Cameron Morrison of North Carolina for Vice President. The Liberty Party nominates Albert Cabell Ritchie of Maryland and Thomas William Hardwick of Georgia for Vice President. The Liberty Party ticket of Ritchie and Hardwick are victorious in a close election.

1927, Hungary--Leo Szilard is recalled to the military during the mounting crisis which will eventually lead to the war of Austrian Devolution.  He is killed, later that year, while resisting the invasion of Hungary by Russian troops. 

1927 onward, India--Subhash Chandra Bose, a fugitive Indian nationalist who, largely because of the effectiveness of the British repression of the Indian National Congress leadership and his own skill in avoiding capture, has risen to the leadership of the I.N.C., enters into negotiations with German and Russian agents, seeking the aid of these powers for a general revolt against British rule in India.  With the coming of the War of Austrian Devolution, the Germans and Russians are eager to assist. Arms caravans begin flowing across the porous borders of India with China and Afghanistan, and German and Russian submarines clandestinely drop off arms caches at secluded inlets along the coast.  These arms find their way into the hands of the Indian National Congress, which soon begins fighting guerilla actions against British forces across India.  This struggle will continue even after the end of the War of Austrian Devolution, and will eventually lead to Indian national independence in 1950 (albeit at a huge cost...more than 20 million people will die in the War for Indian Independence, as the struggle will come to be called in later history).  Subhash Chandra Bose will eventually become India's first President. 

1927 onward, Italy--Benito Mussolini breaks with the Italian Socialist Party over it's opposition to Italy's entry into the War of Austrian Devolution.  He soon forms his own, right-wing political party, the Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria, to oppose the Socialists.  He recruits gangs of thugs, uniformly dressed in black shirts, who break up socialist anti-war rallies and generally terrorize socialists wherever they can be found.  

1928, The Confederacy--On February 22, at Washington, C.D., Albert Cabell Ritchie is sworn in as the Thirteenth President of the Confederate States of America and Thomas W. Hardwick is sworn in as Vice President.

1928, Elections in the Union--The Republicans renominate Charles Evans Hughes for President, but Vice President Stephens declines to run for a second term, and John Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts is nominated for Vice President. The Democrats nominate Franklin D. Roosevelt (cousin of former President Theodore Roosevelt) of New York for President and Percival Proctor Baxter of Maine for Vice President. The public responds to the Republican campaign slogan, "He kept us out of war," and  President Hughes wins a landslide victory.

1930 onward, The Confederacy--The debate over the issue of Woman's Suffrage in the Union has spilled over in to the Confederacy.  It will become an increasingly important issue in Confederate elections as time goes on.  

1931, The Union--The Woman's Suffrage Amendment is ratified and becomes part of the U.S. Constitution as the 16th Amendment (Abolition of Slavery was the 13th, Prohibition of Secession the 14th, and Alcohol Prohibition the 15th).

1931, Germany--During a July 1931 raid by British aircraft on Berlin, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute is hit, a large bomb crashing through the roof of the air-raid shelter, where it detonates.  As it happens, a conference on nuclear physics was being held at the Institute on that day, and the attendees were packed into the Institute's shelter.  No  less than forty leading scientists in the fields of chemistry and physics are instantly killed, including such famous and/or up-and-coming scientists as Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Kurt Diebner, Paul Harteck, Edward Teller, Hans Bethe, and John von Neumann, to name a few. 

1932, Elections in the Union--President Charles Evans Hughes having declined to run for a third term, the Republicans nominate Frank D. Fitzgerald of Michigan for President, and Ralph Owen Brewster of Maine for Vice President.  The Democrats once again nominate Franklin D. Roosevelt for President, but this time nominate David I. Walsh of Massachusetts for Vice President.  The big issue in the election that year is the issue of U.S. neutrality in the war then raging in Europe and Asia.  The Republicans favor continued neutrality, but the Democrats, citing several high-profile sinkings of American merchantmen on the high seas by German and Russian submarines and other "insults to American honor," argue for a declaration of war.  In a hotly contested race, the Democratic ticket of Roosevelt and Walsh carry the election by a wide margin. 

1932, Britain--James Chadwick discovers the neutron. 

1933, Confederate Elections--The Liberty Party nominates Vice President Thomas W. Hardwick as it's candidate for President, and nominates Earle C. Clements of Kentucky for Vice President.  The State Sovereignty Party nominates John Wellborn Martin of Florida for President, and Angus W. McLean of North Carolina for Vice President.  The Liberty Party ticket of Hardwick and Clements wins by a wide margin. 

1933, The Union--On January 5, Vice President John Calvin Coolidge dies while in office. On March 4, at Philadelphia, D.C., Franklin Delano Roosevelt is sworn in as the twenty-ninth President of the United States, and David I. Walsh is sworn in as Vice President. 

1934, The Confederacy--On February 22, at Washington, C.D., Thomas W. Hardwick is sworn in as the fourteenth President of the Confederate States of America, and Earle C. Clements is sworn in as Vice President.

1934, Italy--Enrico Fermi bombards uranium with neutrons and unknowingly achieves the first nuclear fission. It will only be several years later when German scientist Fritz Strassman confirms that nuclear fission is a reality. 

1935, The Ottoman Empire--Sultan Yusuf Izzeddin of the Ottoman Empire dies, and is succeeded by his brother, Abdul Mejid II. 

1936, Elections in the Union--The Democrats renominate President Roosevelt and Vice President Walsh.  The Republicans nominate Hubert Simms of Maine for President and Wilford Langley of Minnesota for Vice President. Riding a wave of public elation over the successful conclusion of the recent war, the Democratic ticket of Roosevelt and Walsh win by a wide margin. 

1936-1945, Arabia--In the aftermath of the War of Austrian Devolution, the Ottoman Empire is left with a legacy of the mission of German Oberst Thomas Lorenz, namely a rebellion among the Bedouin tribes of Arabia which continues after the end of the war.  Led by Sheik Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, these rebels cause much trouble for the Ottomans for many years.  But finally, in 1945, Ottoman troops crush the uprising.   Ottoman troops, supported by battlewagons and aircraft, ruthlessly seek out the desert encampments of the bedouin  and devastate them.  Abdul Aziz ibn Saud is killed, and most of the Saudi clan and their supporters are wiped out in the brutal crackdown.  Among the unintended consequences of this is that Wahhabism and other militant "Salafi" sects within Islam...most of which supported the anti-Ottoman rebellion and as a result are suppressed by the Ottomans...will never become more than minor components within the Muslim world.  

1937, The Union--On March 4, at Philadelphia, D.C., Franklin Delano Roosevelt and David I Walsh are sworn in for their  second term as President and Vice President of the United States.  

1937 onward, The Union--President Roosevelt's jubilation at winning his second term is short-lived, however, as the economy of the United States, in common with many countries in the immediate post-war period, goes into a steep decline.  It doesn't reach the level of a full-out Depression, but does qualify as a deep recession.  Unemployment rises sharply, as does inflation, creating much misery among the population.  Roosevelt's attempts to boost the economy by pumping government money into it (in the form of subsidies for business and "make-work" projects for the unemployed) fail.  Another issue which is causing much debate in the Union is Prohibition.  It has become evident that the Prohibition Amendment has completely failed in it's purpose, and has caused many unforeseen side effects, the rise of organized crime chief among them.  The Republican Party makes this an issue, advocating repeal of the Prohibition Amendment, and this will influence the outcome of the next election. 

1937 onward, The Confederacy--The Confederacy, too, is experiencing rising unemployment and inflation in it's economy.  President Hardwick's attempts to stimulate the economy via tax incentives to business fail.

1937 onward, Texas--Texas, unlike it's neighbors, is experiencing somewhat of a boom.  Rising prices have increased the profits from Texas exports of oil, petrochemical products, and beef.  Many people from the more economically depressed areas of the U.S. and the Confederacy emigrate to Texas during this period, swelling the population of Texas.     

1937, Stockholm, Sweden--A peace conference to formally end the War of Austrian Devolution is held in Stockholm.  The United States and Confederate States form a united front at the conference in favor of a "just and lasting peace."  Their representatives try to moderate the demands made by various powers, and they push the concept of "self-determination" for the minority populations of Europe, seeking to defuse the "time-bombs" which could explode into renewed conflict later.  The final document to emerge carries the following provisions...

--Germany to withdraw to it's pre-1899 borders.  The governments of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are to be reconstituted. 

--Russia to withdraw to it's 1927 borders (Russia was never invaded by London Pact armies during the war, and so is in a better bargaining position than Germany).

--The independence of the Polish, South Slavic, Czech, and Hungarian Kingdoms which had seceded from the Habsburg Empire in 1927 are recognized.  Emperor Otto will remain as ruler of Austria (the German portion of the former Habsburg Empire) only.  Polish lands taken by Germany in the Great War are to be ceded to the new Polish Kingdom. The Hungarian Kingdom is to keep the conquered territory of Romania, which was absorbed by the Habsburg Empire after the Great War. 

--German colonies in Africa are divided between Britain and Italy.  France, although formally a London Pact member, surrendered early in the war and is essentially left out in the cold by her allies and gets none of her former colonies back. 

--Japan takes control of the German colonies in the East Indies (Indonesia).  China is to withdraw from Manchuria, which is to be returned to the full control of Japan, and to formally recognize Japanese ownership of said lands in perpetuity. 

--The fate of Germany's colonies in South America causes much discussion and dissension at the conference, as Britain, the U.S., Texas, and the Confederacy all put in claims.  The three American republics take a united stand against the expansion of British territory in the Americas, and Britain reluctantly relinquishes it's claim.  The U.S. also bows out, as the South American colonies are a long way away, and the general feeling among the U.S. population is tending, by this time, once again toward isolationism.  In the end, the colonies are awarded to the Confederacy, as public outcry against the atrocities committed by Texas in Mexico and Oklahoma lead most nations to adopt a "anyone but Texas" attitude.   

--Germany and Russia and China are each to pay reparations to the victorious powers, said reparations totaling 50,000,000,000 gold marks each, to be paid over a period of twenty years (2.5 billion gold marks per year each for Germany, China and Russia). The Reparations can be paid in gold, or "in kind" through shipments of oil, coal, steel, and other items.  

1937-1938, Germany--In the aftermath of the lost war and the harsh peace terms imposed at Stockholm, revolution breaks out in Germany.  However, the revolutionaries are strongly divided between Marxists who want to create a socialist state and ultra-nationalist right-wingers who want to maintain the economic status quo, but seek the overthrow of what they believe is an "effete" monarchy which has lead the nation to disaster.  Because of this, the Kaiser is able to rally the majority of citizens, who are neither Marxists nor ultra-nationalist right-wingers, behind the monarchy, and crucially, the Army remains loyal to the government.  And so, after some bitter fighting in many German cities, the revolution is crushed, and Wilhelm II remains on the throne of Germany. 

1937 onward--The growth of Socialist parties in Europe has been, up until recently, significantly less than in OTL.  The reasons for this are varied, but the main one is the fact that the main nations where such existed in OTL...such as Germany and Italy...had ended up on the winning side in the Great War.  The monarchies there had been able to maintain a tight grip on control as a result and had not been forced to make concessions to the local socialists.  Another factor, ironically, had been the success of Menshevik Socialist Leon Trotsky, in cooperation with Tsar Mikhail II, in transitioning Russia from being an authoritarian absolute monarchy to a liberal democratic constitutional monarchy.  Although Trotsky was highly successful, during his tenure as Prime Minister,  in introducing socialist features into the economic structure of Russia, he was seen my many socialists outside of Russia as a "lackey of the bourgeoisie."   As a result, Russia did not, as in OTL, become an example for socialist revolution elsewhere,  and also did not actively support revolution in, or export it to, other nations.  However, this situation has now changed.  The defeat of Germany and Russia in the recent War of Austrian Devolution has weakened the monarchies in those countries, and made them more susceptible to socialist agitation.  France, which was on the winning side in the recent war but was "left out in the cold" during the recent peace talks, has also seen a surge of socialist activity and agitation.  Last but not least, the postwar economic depression also has fueled the growth of socialist parties in many countries.  And in reaction, anti-socialist right-wing parties are rising in various countries, determined to keep the socialists from achieving power.  The political situation in most countries in Europe is a precarious one, as a result, for some time to come. 

1938, Arabia--A huge oil field is discovered in northeastern Arabia, in the provinces under Ottoman control.  The Ottoman Empire grows yet richer.

1938, Germany--Uranium nuclear fission is detected by Fritz Strassmann...one of the few survivors of the bombing of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in 1931...after irradiation by neutron of uranium at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute.  

1938 onwards--The crushing weight of the war reparations imposed on Germany, Russia and China as a result of the Treaty of Stockholm plunges these countries into a severe economic crisis.  The outflow of gold causes the currencies of these countries to experience spiraling inflation, and millions are thrown out of work.  The depressions in these countries will have fallout effects in other countries as well, and by the end of 1938, much of the world is experiencing, if not a depression, at least a very severe recession.  

1938, The Ottoman Empire--Long-time Prime Minister Mustafa Kemal dies.  The National Assembly selects Mustafa Ismet Inonu as his successor.  Inonu, like Kemal, is a former army officer, and he will continue his predecessor's policies with regard to the buildup of the Ottoman economy and military and the modernization of Ottoman society.  

1938, The Confederacy--The Confederate Congress votes to organize the Confederacy's new acquisitions in South America as the Territory of Guyana. 

1939, Elections in the Confederacy--Vice President Clements having declined to run for his own term as President, the Liberty Party nominates Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia for President and Oscar Kelly Allen of Louisiana for Vice President.  The State Sovereignty Party nominates Harvey Parnell of Arkansas for President and Robert Archer Cooper of South Carolina for Vice President.  In a close election, the State Sovereignty ticket of Parnell and Cooper carry the election. 

1939, Germany--Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose health has rapidly deteriorated largely due to depression he has suffered since the end of the War of Austrian Devolution and the loss of Germany's overseas empire, dies.  He is succeeded by his son, who reigns as Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I.  The new Kaiser, who was a popular Crown Prince, works to unite the country and heal the wounds created during the recent abortive revolution, and in this he will be very successful.   He also institutes political reforms, giving increased power to the elected Reichstag and accepting a reduced role for the monarch in the government.  He will also seek closer relations with France and other European powers who are growing increasingly suspicious of Britain, which is seen as the big winner in the recent war.  

1939-1941, The Persian War--Another power which was essentially left out in the cold during the recent peace conference at Stockholm was the Ottoman Empire, and this has created much resentment among the Turks.  Having been denied what they consider to be the fair spoils for their participation in the War of Austrian Devolution, the Turks turn their eyes eastward, toward the decrepit state of Persia, which holds rich oil reserves. In September 1939, the Ottomans declare war on Persia, and Turkish armored columns cross the border.  They slice through ineffective Persian resistance, and by the end of the year have taken the Persian capital of Tehran. The Shah, Reza Pahlavi, flees the country.  But it will take another two years of hard fighting before the entire country is subdued.   The British government protests the Turkish aggression, but assured by the Ottomans that their oil concessions in Persia will not be affected by the change in government, the British do nothing more. 

1940, The Confederacy--On February 22, at Washington, C.D., Harvey Parnell is sworn in as the fifteenth President of the Confederate States of America, and Robert Archer Cooper is sworn in as Vice President. 

1940, Elections in the Union--President Roosevelt runs for a third term, but David Walsh declines to run again for Vice President.  Instead, Lloyd C. Stark of Missouri is selected by the Democrats to run for Vice President.  The Republicans nominate Herbert Henry Lehman of New York for President and Franklin S. Billings of Vermont for Vice President.  Public dissatisfaction with the post-war economic downturn and Republican support for the repeal of the Prohibition Amendment leads to a narrow Republican victory in the election.   

1940 onward--Nuclear research continues in various countries, at a much slower pace than in OTL.  Most of the scientists who were in OTL involved in the Manhattan Project were either killed in the recent war or have remained in their home countries rather than concentrating in the United States, which will delay the progress of research.  The death of numerous other European physicists and chemists during the War of Austrian Devolution, particularly during the bombing of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in 1931,  will also dramatically delay the progress of research. 

1940 onward, Italy--In response to increasing violence between Mussolini's Fascist Party and the Italian Socialist Party, King Victor Emanuel III of Italy realizes that if he does not choose a government under either the Fascist or Socialist party, Italy will be in a civil war in the near future.  Disapproving of socialist policies, he asks Benito Mussolini to become Prime Minister. At first Mussolini is supported by the Liberals in parliament. With their help, he introduces strict censorship and alters the methods of election so that in a short time he is able to assume dictatorial powers and dissolve all other political parties. Skillfully using his absolute control over the press and his native skill in propaganda, he has surprisingly little opposition to suppress.  Italy is soon, quite willingly, a police state. 

1941, The Union--On March 4, at Philadelphia, D.C., Herbert Henry Lehman is sworn in as the thirtieth President of the United States of America, and Franklin S. Billings is sworn in as Vice President.  President Lehman immediately begins working with Congress toward passage of an amendment to repeal Prohibition.  At the University of California at Berkeley, scientists first discover the element plutonium after conducting deuteron bombardment of uranium in a cyclotron.  Later that same year,  nuclear fission of the new element is first verified. 

National Flag of the Confederate States of America 

after July 1941

1941, The Confederacy--For some time, there has been agitation among the people of the island of Puerto Rico, which has been a Confederate Territory since the end of the War with Spain in 1873, by those who favor statehood within the Confederacy.  This is finally granted in July 1941.  The Confederate flag now has fifteen stars.  

1941, Europe-- In March 1941, Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I of Germany, seeking to heal old wounds with France, offers to return the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France.  This offer is received with much rejoicing in France, and serves to dramatically thaw relations between Germany and it's neighbor to the west.  A treaty formally ceding the provinces to France is signed in July 1941, and German troops evacuate the provinces in September 1941.  This marks the beginning of a period of increasingly close cooperation between these traditional enemies which will have great impacts on future history.  

1941 onward, Europe--With the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France, French public opinion begins to focus on the return of other provinces "stolen" from France in past wars, especially Savoy, Nice, and Corsica, which were taken by Italy after the Great War.  In this France is supported by Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I of Germany. As a result, tensions in Europe rise dramatically.   And while Italy would naturally gravitate toward Great Britain as a counterbalance to Germany and France, colonial competition between these two powers in Africa has lead to deteriorating relations between them as well.  Italy is feeling increasingly isolated as a result, and Mussolini's Fascist government begins taking increasingly belligerent stands both at home and abroad. 

1941, Russia--Tsar Mikhail II of Russia dies, and is succeeded by his son, who reigns as Tsar Georgi I. Tsar Georgi faces a very unstable political situation, since the ongoing economic depression is severely impacting the populace and causing a large segment of the population to support extremists of various stripes who seek the overthrow of the government. 

1942, The Union--President Lehman's proposed Constitutional Amendment repealing Prohibition passes Congress and is submitted to the States for ratification.  It quickly is ratified by nearly all the State Legislatures and becomes law later that year as the 17th Amendment.

1942, Europe--Benito Mussolini secretly makes a pact with the Ottoman Empire for the partition of Greece. 

1943, Europe--Benito Mussolini sends an ultimatum to Greece, demanding that it surrender Crete and other strategically important islands in the Mediterranean.  When Greece refuses, Mussolini declares war.  The Italian navy quickly sweeps the tiny Greek fleet from the seas, and Italian expeditionary forces land at several sites in Greece, where they are soon in cooperation with invading Ottoman spearheads.  Despite desperate resistance by the hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned Greek army, the aggressors soon occupy the country. Greece is partitioned between the victorious powers, with Italy taking Attica, the Peloponnesus, Crete, Rhodes, and some other Aegean Islands, while the Ottomans gobble up the rest. Great Britain protests this naked Italian and Ottoman aggression, but does not go to war to challenge the fait accompli.  Nevertheless, the relationship between these powers...former allies in two major wars...is permanently damaged, and Britain makes it clear that any further Italian or Ottoman "adventurism" in the Balkans will be met with armed force. 

1944, Europe--Great Britain signs treaties of alliance with the Kingdom of the South Slavs and the Kingdom of Hungary, two nations who feel threatened by the recent Italo/Ottoman aggression against Greece.  Italy and the Ottoman Empire sign a treaty of permanent military alliance, aimed at Britain.   

1944, India--The ongoing struggle for independence in India is injected with new life when arms and other supplies for the rebels begin to be clandestinely shipped into India by Italy and the Ottoman Empire, both of whom see the ejection of Britain from this rich province as a major priority.  

1944, The Ottoman Empire--Sultan Abdul Mejid II dies, and is succeeded by Ahmed IV Nihad.  The new Sultan is an extreme nationalist, and strongly supports Prime Minister Inonu in taking an increasingly belligerent stand vis-à-vis Britain.  The new Sultan will also use his authority as Sultan and Caliph to push for constitutional reform within his own country, working with Prime Minister Inonu to seek passage of amendments to extend voting rights to non-Turkish Muslims living in Anatolia, as well as both Turkish and non-Turkish Muslims living in the provinces.  Within a few years, the only people in the Ottoman Empire with no say in the government are various Christian, Jewish, and other minorities living in the Empire. 

1944, Elections in the Union--President Lehman and Vice President Billings, buoyed by a surge of popularity following their successful effort to repeal Prohibition, are once again nominated by the Republican Party.  The Democrats field a slate consisting of Earl Warren of California for President and Richard J. Hughes of New Jersey for Vice President.   The economy being in relatively good health and no major political crises having developed in the latter half of President Lehman's term, the Republicans are swept back into office by a landslide. 

1945, Deseret--President Heber J. Grant of the Republic of Deseret dies, and is succeeded by George Albert Smith. 

1945, Europe--Great Britain signs a treaty of alliance with France, aimed at Italy.  It also enters into negotiations with Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I of Germany, whose recent moderate actions in improving relations with France have impressed the British. 

1945, Confederate Elections--The State Sovereignty party nominates Robert Archer Cooper of South Carolina for President and Albert Benjamin Chandler of Kentucky for Vice President.  The Liberty Party nominates Richard Brevard Russell of Georgia and Gordon Weaver Browning of Tennessee for Vice President.  One of the major issues of the campaign is the issue of Statehood for Guyana.  The State Sovereignty Party, arguing that Guyana is too far away from the main body of the Confederacy and too different in culture to the rest of the nation to be successfully integrated at such an early date, opposes statehood, while the Liberty Party favors it.  Another issue is the woman's suffrage issue, which the Liberty Party favors and the State Sovereignty Party opposes.  In a bitterly fought election, the Liberty Party ticket of Russell and Browning narrowly win the election. 

1946, The Confederacy--Richard Brevard Russell is sworn in as the sixteenth President of the Confederate States of America,  and Gordon Weaver Browning is sworn in as Vice President.  Russell's Presidency will be consumed in the main by endless wrangling with Congress...which retains a State Sovereignty Party majority in both houses...over the Woman's Suffrage and Statehood for Guyana issues.  

1946, Africa--At the orders of Benito Mussolini, Italian troops invade Ethiopia.  The modern Italian forces quickly overwhelm Ethiopia's primitive military, and Italy claims Ethiopia as a colony.  Britain protests, but as Ethiopia is not covered by any mutual defense treaty with Britain, does nothing more. 

1946, Europe--A treaty of alliance is signed between Great Britain, France, and Germany, aimed at Italy.  With British and French support, Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm declares that Germany will no longer pay war reparations as stipulated in the Treaty of Stockholm, and is also abrogating the provisions requiring limitations on the size of the German military. 

1947, Italy--King Victor Emanuel III dies, and is succeeded by Humbert II. Humbert enthusiastically supports Mussolini's Fascist regime. 

1947, The Egyptian Crisis--Egypt, although legally an Ottoman possession, has been under British occupation since 1882.  In 1947, with the support of Mussolini's Italy (which has promised support for Ottoman reclamation of Egypt in exchange for Ottoman recognition of Italian ownership of Libya...itself, a former Ottoman province illegally seized by Italy some years earlier), the Ottoman government formally demands that the British withdraw from the province.  Britain, which knows that control of Egypt is essential to it's control of the vital Suez Canal, refuses.  For several months, there is a major war scare as the Ottomans, Italy, Britain, France, and Germany all mobilize their military forces.   But in the end, cooler heads prevail, and the Ottomans...realizing that they and Italy cannot hope to win against the combination being formed against them...back down.  

1948, Elections in the Union--President Lehman, still popular after two terms, seriously considers running for a third term, but decides, in the end, to retire from office.  His Vice President, Franklin Billings of Vermont, likewise declines to run again.  And so the field is wide open, and a heated race ensues between the Republican ticket, consisting of of John William Bricker of Ohio and George T. Mickelson of South Dakota, and their Democratic challengers, Frederick George Payne of Maine and Albert Baumle Meyner of New Jersey.  There are no serious campaign issues in this election, and a close race results.  In the end, the public, bored with Republican politics after eight years of the Lehman administration, opts for the Democrats, and the ticket of Payne and Meyner narrowly win the election. 

1948, The Ottoman Empire--Seeking to redress, to some degree, the humiliation of having to back down on it's demand for Egypt, the Ottoman Empire nationalizes the holdings of British oil companies in Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Persia.  The British strongly protest and threaten war, but their allies do not support them in this, and Britain is forced to back down.   Sultan Ahmed IV Nihad and Prime Minister Inonu are lionized in the Ottoman press.  The Ottoman Empire is in full control of the bulk of the world's oil supplies.  

1948, Great Britain--The continuing guerilla war in India has, over the past two decades, gradually eroded the will o the British people to continue to hold onto the discontented province.  In early 1948, Tory Prime Minister Winston Churchill...who favors maintaining British control of India at any cost...loses a "no confidence" vote in the British Parliament and is forced to call elections.  In elections later that year, Labour Party candidate Clement Atlee is swept into office on a platform calling for "An end to the killing."  Atlee, upon assuming office, opens negotiations with Subhash Chandra Bose, leader of the Indian National Congress. 

1949, The Union--On March 4, 1949, at Philadelphia, D.C., Frederick George Payne is sworn in as the thirty-first President of the United States, and Albert Baumle Meyner is sworn in as Vice President. 

1949, Great Britain--An agreement ending the ongoing guerilla war in India is reached between Clement Atlee and Subhash Chandra Bose.  By this agreement, all British troops will be withdrawn from India by May 1, 1950, and full independence is to be granted as of that date.  A provisional government for the new nation is to be elected prior to that time.  A ceasefire is to go into immediate effect. 

1949, India--The news of the agreement between the British government and the Indian National Congress for the independence of India is greeted with jubilation throughout India.  Indian National Congress leaders and leaders of other rebel groups soon meet to draft a provisional Constitution for the new nation.  Although there is some agitation by Muslims for a separate state, in the end, the various factions...whose shared experiences in the bitter guerilla struggle have forged bonds between them that prove impossible to break...remain united, and a Constitution is agreed upon.  This Constitution is adopted by the end of the year, and the date for Parliamentary and Presidential elections is set for March 1, 1950. 

1949, The Confederacy--Realizing that he is not going to get the State Legislatures to move on the Woman's Suffrage issue, President Russell decides to try to salvage at least part of his agenda and makes a deal with leaders in the House and Senate in which he promises to drop his support for said issue in exchange for passage of a Statehood for Guyana bill.  Also in this year, Virginia becomes the first Confederate State to pass a Woman's Suffrage law, allowing women to vote in State elections but not in Confederate national elections. 

National Flag of the Confederate States of America

after August 1950