To Struggle and Strive: The Combined Syndicates of America in 1932. A Kaiserreich Quest

Wave the Red Banner - 1 Influence, 51, First They Came For the Payment Army - 2 Influence, 33+61+5 = 99
-Subject: First They Came For the Payment Army

The moneyed classes howl when you publish your article. Copies are ripped from newsstands and burned in protests guarded by armed policemen. Huey Long decries your radicalism. The Senate holds a vote to expel you. The Chicago Tribune and a dozen other newspapers publish articles of their own, trying to explain why everything you said is a lie.

But all of that is pissing on a forest fire. America rages. The strike begins in Chicago a day before you planned on having it start, fueled by the outrage you have generated. It doesn't matter if there are no laws protecting them, it doesn't matter if the Army is threatening to march into Illinois and "restore order," it doesn't matter. The people of America will be heard.


The night is dark in Chicago, even with the gas lights providing some faint illumination. All the city seemed to be under a shadow to Ivan, and he sat quietly in his newsstand and prayed the darkness would not find him. He had escaped it once before in Russia when the Bolsheviks shot everyone who dared to speak against them and those they fought were little better. Before him, thousands of men marched down the thoroughfare, feet stamping in rhythm, torches, and signs rising and falling. "REED! REED! REED! REED!" They roar like a great fire roars, hungry and hateful.

And they burn just like a fire does. A factory that tried to refuse hiring unionized workers. A lawyer who only defended bosses. A bar where Pinkertons drank. All feed the flames of anger.


You normally use a typewriter. But this article, and the speeches that would be based on it, were special. So you took a pen, your most prized possession, a gift from your wife. And you began to write.

"America was founded upon a simple principle: Freedom for all men. Not just political freedom, but economic. It was founded so that an honest day's work earned you honest pay. Where is that pay today? Not in Washington DC. If it was, the soldiers who approached the city unarmed, after giving advance notice of their intentions, would have been sent home with paychecks and not with bullets.

If it happens once, it can happen again. What happens if your boss refuses to pay you? You can complain to the government, the government which murders people for that and awards the killers medals?"

On and on and on you write. Page after page pours from your hand, all the anger you have felt for years coming out. You have opened the bottle, and now you empty it.


"The People and Workers Of America Demand Fair Pay For All, For The Workers And Farmers And Soldiers!"

The message is painted across dozens of buildings and streets, the red paint often streaking down, looking like someone has taken a knife and carved bloody wounds into Chicago to deliver it. Under these scars sit the hungry and weary, taking shelter in them, in the promise those words have delivered. Bread is brought to them, simple loafs baked by the dozens. The kitchens were many, but the lines were long. But now there is enough for all, an incredible abundance that seems like a dream. But it is a dream no one wants to wake from, and so they keep it going just a little longer. Hushed, dazzled whispers disturb the night, saying this dream can be reality. "If we will it, it is no dream," they whisper.


"If we will it, it is no dream. The butcher MacArthur, the incompetent Hoover, and the demagogue Long cannot stand against us. Honest pay for honest work. That's all we want, and if the people of America have to start a second Revolutionary War, we will. There's already been a Boston Massacre, but this time it was in Washington."

The words are seared into you, truths you know as surely as you know your name. You will sear them into the very landscape of America if you have to. Like angels on your shoulders, you can hear the whispers of Debs and the cries of the people of America. Or perhaps that's the lack of sleep. You find yourself halting...



Trains halt coming into the heart of the city, and they don't leave. Their befuddled passengers cower in them as Red Guards patrol the length, crying out and shouting, warning them that they now enter the Chicago Commune. Freight trains are broken into, the animals herded into the slaughterhouse, the goods taken to those who need them or distributed freely. Guards occasionally resist. They don't last long. Sometimes, their surrenders are honored.


The headlines about you are hysterical. As you write more and more articles, they demand your imprisonment, then your execution. "REED WANTS TO MURDER ALL CHRISTIANS!" one frantic piece from the Tribune exclaims. Comrade Flora hangs it in the party office, and more, similarly outrageous ones get added to it over time. You catch young party members bickering over which one should be placed highest every so often.

But even with the blatant attacks on you and your party, the tide begins to turn. Letters are pouring in, have been pouring in, the tone beginning to change from accusing to astonished to attracted. New recruits sign up in droves. Donations flow into the party funds, joining the strike fund or going to establish new ones or even buying fresh reams of paper. And what resistance there is is confused and disorganized. Fights are breaking out in every city you have a presence, and you are winning.


Dawn finds Chicago a city transformed. Ivan has left the shelter of his newsstand, wandering in a daze. He doesn't see the homeless anymore. They've gone away. The night of terror has vanished like a bad dream, and in it's place...he sees a mural, paint still wet to the touch, showing a dozen men and women striding onwards into some distant future. Around each of their arms are red bands.

He flinches away and keeps wandering, too shocked and scared and exhausted to go home. Someone hands him a pamphlet at one point, and somehow he finds himself standing in line for a meal, then guided by a couple of enthusiastic boys to a park where musicians are playing, so many that you can't hear a single song.

It's beautiful and overwhelming and he can't understand it!

He collapses against a tree, holding the pamphlet still, the cheap paper crumpled in his grip. So not everything is perfect in this Commune...he thinks with bitter satisfaction.

And then he sees a woman cry in outrage as her purse is stolen, and the thief is being chased after by two Red Guards, showing more zeal than the police ever did.

Barely thinking, he rises and lurches into the man's path.

The two Red Guards apprehend the thief, one dragging him off to apologize to the woman, the other turning to Ivan. The boy can't be older than sixteen, with bright eyes. "Are you alright sir - Comrade...you don't mind me calling you comrade, do you sir, I mean comrade?"

Were it anyone else, Ivan would say "Of course not Comrade," because it was safe. But this stumbling, earnest boy doesn't seem like he could shoot anyone.

Ivan finds himself saying "Of course not," anyway.

Result: Massive gain in support, reactions are disorganized and feeble...so far.

Invoke Party Discipline: 1 Influence

You know the governor rather well. It's why you are surprised he's being so obstructionist, this sort of law is the embodiment of his principles - a temporarily worker-controlled state being used to further empower the workers so they can make permanent changes has been something he advocated for alongside you many times.

So why is he balking?

When you are escorted into the governor's mansion to meet him, you think you can guess why. Something has happened. He's twice as pale as normal and his foot won't stop tapping, even when he seems to grab his leg to try and keep it still.

"Comrade Reed. I've tried to write to you a dozen times, but..." he swallows. "This would be so much easier if I had proof, but all I have is a meeting with a single man and nothing written. I believe it though, the strike has to be stopped or..."

You hold up a hand. "Gov...Comr...John, we have known each other for years. I have never seen you like this. Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Right." He breathes, stiffens his shoulders...but his foot keeps tapping.

"About a week ago, just after the Payment Army, I met with a man. I think he was Bureau, he had the attitude. He told he was here on the orders of the President."

"It was Curtis. I've seen the president, he's in no fit state to do anything."

You don't think John quite realized how bad Hoover's condition is, but he rolls over you without acknowledging the comment.

"And he said that the army will go in and restore order if the strike happens. I've told the local party, but since I don't have any proof..." he spreads his hands.

"You believe me, Jack, right?"

You are quite sure he's telling you the truth. But you aren't sure that Curtis and MacArthur will go through with it if you call their bluff. You could back down and call off the strike, or you could tell John to sign the bill and let the strike go ahead.

Of course, given how scared the man is, you might need to push him to do so. You will need to decide how far to do so.

[] He's right. It's too risky. Call off the strike. -2 Influence, general strike loses party backing, likely to be a severe drop in support and relations.

[] They are bluffing. Go on ahead. Terrible consequences if you are wrong.
-[] Just tell him that, and leave the decision up to him.
-[] Be firm in telling him, privately censure him if he keeps backing down.
-[] Threaten to make his decision making public, something which will likely see him lose the upcoming election one way or another.
-[] Threaten to expel him from the party.
-[] Threaten to reveal the dirty laundry you have on him, which admittedly isn't much.
-[] Red Guards protect the mansion...You hate yourself for even considering this.

A/N: I have already rolled for whether the intervention is a bluff and what it will take to persuade him to sign the law. If he doesn't, you fail the Mandate.


Create Strike Fund - 1 Influence, 79

The concept of the strike fund is as old as a union. But never before has there been as one as large as you have established. All the donations from the party and the CSA went into it, along with significant amounts of the regular dues. The announcement of its creation is greeted by wild cheers and promises of substantial contributions from several other unions. Now those forced into the most desperate circumstances to keep them oppressed and beaten-down have resources to draw on in a form more tangible than the advice of IWW organizers.

You examine the amount of money in the account, amazed at the sheer size of it, at the vast string of zeros. This is the might of the working class, distilled into your hands. And it will break the capitalists.

Result: Large, enormous strike fund created for the use of unions.

Striking Education (Ideological) - 1 Authority

Those working with the unions, speaking with them, encouraging them have found undeniable success using your methods. Other approaches have been less reliable, but the massacre of the Payment Army - of innocent men asking that they receive their agreed-upon wage did more to radicalize them than anything else, ensuring that there is strong report for a revolution so long as MacArthur escapes punishment.

The only problem is that it hasn't necessarily convinced them it needs to be a socialist revolution, especially in areas where you compete with Long's supporters for the strength of the working class. However, there are still significant portions of your supporters who are newly determined to paint America red.

Result: Your supporters are more radical, the Left and Center gain strength at the expense of the Right and Social Democrats.

The American Revolution, Pt. 1 - 1 Authority

You pass copies of your manifesto around and get people's feedback. Doing it personally might not have been the best idea, several people were overwhelmed. Still, you received useful suggestions you could incorporate - Comrade Flora's suggestion for linking the complaints against King George with your complaints against capitalism was inspired, and Mayor La Guardia pointed out that several syndicalist strongholds were also strongholds of the Independence movement...the symbolism is obvious.

The manifesto is done and distributed to various party offices. It's critiqued quite heavily for being overly nationalistic and simplistic - you are accused of thinking workers are stupid when you proposed replacing "proletariat" with "worker" but being undeniably right that it's easier to use the word everyone understands insulates you from some criticism.

Result: Effectiveness of recruiting efforts increased, support is easier to gain, loss of relations with all factions of the party, no loss of Influence.

Report from the Coordination Committee

Efforts at expanding the program have faltered to a degree. Large portions of several police departments, seemingly anticipating a similar restructuring, have chosen to abandon their jobs. In many cases they have been hired on as Pinkertons and plant guards, serving the same interests they did before, but in more honest colors. Others have left for more welcoming environments. Still others have been murdered by Red Guards determined to destroy the threat these reactionaries posed, attracting a spate of negative attention and leading to calls for a condemnation of the men and women responsible from the right of the party.

[] Condemn them. These individual police were no threat to the Revolution, but now they serve as a martyr. In addition, with the mechanism of justice largely in control of the people, there were better ways to handle it, ways that would not reflect badly on the movement. Increased relations with the Right, increased support among moderates, temporarily reduced number and effectiveness of militias. +1 Influence

[] Be silent. You cannot judge the oppressed for striking back at their oppressors, and if this costs you the support of some few...were they ever going to support you? Reduced support among moderates.

Personal Attention: Wave the Red Banner

You would prefer to spend the time playing with your daughter or walking - your back has begun to ache from the endless hours of sitting - or doing anything else. But you have a duty. So you force yourself to use what time you can spare writing the article you have devised, sculpting it to be as perfect as you can make it. It is always late when you come home, and your wife never acknowledges you when you say "Goodnight."

But you think it will be worth it. It has to be worth it. Or else what have you given up so much for?

Focus: The Struggle Carries On!

The workers of America are a diverse lot. And as much as that diversity is a strength, it has given capitalism an easy method of creating divides, divides which leave people unable to resist and defy the bosses. Even within your own party, there are significant currents of such thought. You will destroy these divisions wherever they appear. The working class is forging itself into a single bloc, united in the destruction of capital, in the greatest struggle humanity has ever known.

And until all the workers from San Diego to Albany stand united, the struggle will carry on.

Result: 1/3 months complete.