- Location
- Omniverse #1345
I imagine Mao just quietly never stopped using his fake name, after finally figuring out why they were after him to begin with?
A Second Sunrise: Taiwan of 2020 Sent Back to 1911
- Thread starter ChrisProvidence
- Start date
- Original Modern Post-1900
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yup.
That, and it was the name on all his documents ever since he filled out his paperwork after the Revolution.
"What's your name?"
"M- I mean, Lei Feng!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever, kid. Fill this paper out so you qualify for benefits when you retire."
- Location
- San Francisco
I find the idea of tyrants that might've been instead choosing to quietly slip into obscurity and spend their twilight years making tea in a small village or something extremely funny for some reason.
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hermann Goering is probably still kicking, but it's likely he would be reassigned away from the frontlines and passed over for promotion because of his other self.
Nonzero chance he just screws off to Argentina and opens a winery under the name of Hermann Meyer.
Either that, or Himmler screwing off to Argentina to be a chicken farmer, or Sergei Taboritsky opening up an antique clock shop in Ust-Sysolk.
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ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
CIA: *coughs* "It's not entirely our fault."
In all seriousness, that seems to be the status quo right now for a lot of Nanjing Accord nations, since Japan overthrew the militarists, while the Koreans, Siamese, Chinese, and Filipinos all recently had revolutions or independence.
They're all basically "Big Tent" parties, which means there are different factions in the same party, like the Left KMT and the Right KMT.
Factor in the modernist movement, and these are parties largely united by that and see the big tent as the means of getting there ASAP.
Technically it's still in that phase, but they don't really want to give up power, to the point of doing all kinda of shenanigans to stop it.
Things like gerrymandering, carpetbagging, and straight-up bribery to get people to join them.
The KMT is basically the political party in China. Think of them like Putin's United Russia, except much less corrupt, insane, and idiotic.
So still corrupt to a degree, but the big difference is a technocratic mindset in an effort to modernize for the "People's Welfare."
Sure, the people still largely benefit from that (Higher standard of living, lower inequality), but it's largely done for technocratic rather than altruistic reasons.
As for the modern Taiwanese parties, the Blues stick with the KMT because they claim to be the rightful descendants, while the Greens coalition with them because otherwise would be political suicide.
The Blues support the Right KMT and push for closer integration with the mainland, while the Greens support the Left KMT and emphasize Taiwan's status as an autonomous province.
I actually wrote a chapter on him for my thesis back in college, and I definitely got a similar read.
The crux of the chapter was whether he saw collaboration as the best-case scenario for China or a second chance at power to see through Sun's "true" vision. My answer was that I didn't know, but probably a mix of both.
Second Sunrise Wang Zhaoming definitely sees this as a second chance. A chance at redeeming himself.
That said, a lot of the Mainlanders don't really know or care about what he did in the Lost History.
Sure, his political opponents try to smear him as a would-be traitor, but it's kinda hard to do that when Japan is your ally this time around.
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The Internet Is For What?!
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Tsu Residence, 24 June 1925
"This," Laura observed while looking at her screen, "Might be the gayest place I've ever seen in my life."
That wasn't an insult. No, this was literally the largest gathering of gay people she'd ever seen since the Great Journey.
"Didn't you do gigs at gay bars?" her husband asked her from his own desk. "You're telling me there is a place on the internet that is gayer than the gay bars your band used to perform at?"
"No, I mean the internet, Manny. Look at this."
"I swear, you better not be looking at p- Huh. Didn't expect to see that on YouTube."
"Yeah, it's kinda interesting, isn't it? It's kind of like a little community for LGBT people to come out of the closet and be themselves."
"Laura, I don't think sites like YouTube is the most gay-friendly place on the internet."
"I mean, all of the Professional Assholes are as good as dead, and the ones that aren't can't speak English. It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"
"The online community where LGBT people can be themselves or not getting ads from PragerU or one of their professional asshole friends every five minutes?"
"Yes?"
"Okay, honestly, fair."
"Yeah. You've got these places all over, kinda like an online gay bar where people can just hang out and be themselves for once."
"For an hour at a time at the local library or internet cafe," Manny pointed out. "And that's if they live in a major city in America."
"Hey, it's more than they had before."
"More than what?" one of their daughters asked, having overheard them.
Laura looked at Manny, who looked back at her.
Nope, not getting out of this one.
"Okay, Ria, how do I put it… Sometimes, people like other people, but their society doesn't like them liking those people, but the internet lets them be themselves."
"Oh, like you and dad?"
"I guess?" Wait, Manny and I aren't… Oh. "Because we look different, right?"
"Yeah. They said that would be a problem in America, but not here. Why?"
"Mostly because Mestizo isn't really a new thing," Manny explained for the two of them. "That, and segregation being outlawed in the Constitution."
"Oh, we learned about that in class! So, the internet is a place where people can be themselves?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Laura figured, but she needed another moment to think about it. "For better and for worse."
"Mostly for better, right?"
On one hand, people could be assholes, especially when they were hiding behind an alias or a camera.
Pussies.
On the other hand, she was watching Alice Ross interview five of her fellow downtimers about how the internet saved their lives.
They were from all over, be it Germany, Britain, France, America, and Russia. Yet every single one of them boiled down to, "I learned I wasn't alone."
It was unorthodox, yes, but this was community for these people. A place where they could be who they were and accepted for who they were.
None of the backhanded-kindness that was called "Christian Love."
True, genuine community.
"Yes, sweetie. Mostly for the better."
"This," Laura observed while looking at her screen, "Might be the gayest place I've ever seen in my life."
That wasn't an insult. No, this was literally the largest gathering of gay people she'd ever seen since the Great Journey.
"Didn't you do gigs at gay bars?" her husband asked her from his own desk. "You're telling me there is a place on the internet that is gayer than the gay bars your band used to perform at?"
"No, I mean the internet, Manny. Look at this."
"I swear, you better not be looking at p- Huh. Didn't expect to see that on YouTube."
"Yeah, it's kinda interesting, isn't it? It's kind of like a little community for LGBT people to come out of the closet and be themselves."
"Laura, I don't think sites like YouTube is the most gay-friendly place on the internet."
"I mean, all of the Professional Assholes are as good as dead, and the ones that aren't can't speak English. It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"
"The online community where LGBT people can be themselves or not getting ads from PragerU or one of their professional asshole friends every five minutes?"
"Yes?"
"Okay, honestly, fair."
"Yeah. You've got these places all over, kinda like an online gay bar where people can just hang out and be themselves for once."
"For an hour at a time at the local library or internet cafe," Manny pointed out. "And that's if they live in a major city in America."
"Hey, it's more than they had before."
"More than what?" one of their daughters asked, having overheard them.
Laura looked at Manny, who looked back at her.
Nope, not getting out of this one.
"Okay, Ria, how do I put it… Sometimes, people like other people, but their society doesn't like them liking those people, but the internet lets them be themselves."
"Oh, like you and dad?"
"I guess?" Wait, Manny and I aren't… Oh. "Because we look different, right?"
"Yeah. They said that would be a problem in America, but not here. Why?"
"Mostly because Mestizo isn't really a new thing," Manny explained for the two of them. "That, and segregation being outlawed in the Constitution."
"Oh, we learned about that in class! So, the internet is a place where people can be themselves?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Laura figured, but she needed another moment to think about it. "For better and for worse."
"Mostly for better, right?"
On one hand, people could be assholes, especially when they were hiding behind an alias or a camera.
Pussies.
On the other hand, she was watching Alice Ross interview five of her fellow downtimers about how the internet saved their lives.
They were from all over, be it Germany, Britain, France, America, and Russia. Yet every single one of them boiled down to, "I learned I wasn't alone."
It was unorthodox, yes, but this was community for these people. A place where they could be who they were and accepted for who they were.
None of the backhanded-kindness that was called "Christian Love."
True, genuine community.
"Yes, sweetie. Mostly for the better."
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ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
With computers only recently spreading to the rest of the English-speaking world due to having to work out the satellite problem, it's still pretty niche.
Basically, it's a place for techies and social outcasts to hang out, since those are the bulk of the early adopters who use it for non-work-related things.
It's the "hip, cool thing" to do, which means it will instantly stop being cool once their parents get into it.
Basically, it's a place for techies and social outcasts to hang out, since those are the bulk of the early adopters who use it for non-work-related things.
It's the "hip, cool thing" to do, which means it will instantly stop being cool once their parents get into it.
- Location
- San Francisco
RISE: France's Ambitious Postwar Economic Network
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
RISE: France's Ambitious Postwar Economic Network
By Kim Mun-Hee
"Popular Science," June 1925
France has been through almost half a decade of war, and they have seen it all. From coups to invasion to blockades to poison gas attacks, the French have endured the conflict and come back stronger.
Today, they are the sole-remaining power in West Africa, and the undisputed power of Western Europe and Western and Central Africa.
While they lick their wounds and begin their occupations of their neighbors, it is clear that the French are more than content with looking to the future than living in the past.
It can be seen in its rhetoric, with President Jaures giving speech after speech of a "New Era" for Western Europe as well as Western and Central Africa. It seems France seems to have learned from the Lost History and is focusing on cooperation, rather than retaliation.
It can also be seen in its actions, with how France has overthrown the various monarchies in the territories they occupied. "Relics of a past that brought us into war," is what Elysee had to say of them.
But most interestingly, it can be seen in their vision for a socialist future. Not just for France, but for all the countries it has liberated as well.
This is what the Réseau International de Simulation Économique (Internationale Economic Similation Network), otherwise known as "RISE" intends to do.
Now, it is no secret that France is an ever-socializing nation. The meme of the "French Nationalization Cycle" had gone viral in the prewar era, but it does have a basis in reality.
Many French companies had at least some tie to the OAS, even if it was simply the latter reaching out to the former.
This was more than enough pretense for the Radical-Socialist government to justify nationalizing many a company and its assets.
The OAS coup, coupled with the occupations of the Benelux, Portugal, Italy, and Germany were simply the pretense for the much-expanded nationalization across French society, as well as Western Europe as a whole.
Ironically, the war managed to speed up the nationalization process more than anything else. The French had little need for pretenses when half the remaining businesses threw in with the OAS, while the other half were deemed necessary for the war effort.
That brings us to where we are today, with the Radical-Socialist coalition in control of much of Western Europe and its machinery and openly embracing the modern computing technology that allows RISE to be more than Marx's wildest dream.
RISE is directly-inspired by the unfinished Chilean Cybersyn program developed by the Allende administration of the Lost History. Although it was never implemented, the four module system was based around a viable system model theory that utilized telex machines to send and receive data to the capital in Santiago.
RISE follows a similar design that contains four modules: a network of computers connected to a single mainframe in Paris, production analysis software, a custom-built economic simulator, and an operations room that would allow operators to analyze data and run simulations to decide on policy that would maximize efficiency and productivity.
We begin with the computer network, which is perhaps the largest divergence from Project Cybersyn. This is no surprise when Project Cybersyn was abandoned in 1973, two years before Microsoft was founded and six before Apple.
Project Cybersyn was limited by its technology, in the form of telex machines. Telex machines were an evolution of the telegraph that used the binary system to transfer messages rather than the varying voltage of the telephone and the fax machine that replaced the telex machine.
France, unlike Chile, has access to modern computing technology that allows for the near-instantaneous sharing of information by automated programs rather than relying on human input.
If the test reports are to be believed, this would allow for real-time sharing of inventories as well as performance metrics on the ground level.
The production analysis software itself will likely be largely-automated as well, though it would likely be a hybrid system in which the program compiles human-entered data regarding inventories, productivity, and the supply chain. All of this would then be transmitted to the central mainframe in Paris so that the controllers can monitor the data in real time.
The economic simulation software is expected to be a more-advanced version of that envisioned by the Allende administration that capitalizes on the more-modern computing technology available.
The software is a joint project between Nanjing and Paris to accurately model and simulate entire economies given enough input. While the two centers of power may disagree on economics, it is more a friendly rivalry than anything else, with both French and Asian academics motivated by the common goal of increased prosperity for their different peoples.
The control room is the final module, and its purpose is simple. Analysts will receive data in real time from various factories and other productive enterprises, input the data into the simulations, and then provide the results to the decision makers.
These decision makers will in turn make the most-appropriate decision based on data from the simulations.
This system, should it work, has the potential to revolutionize the revolutionary economic system that France hopes to export to its colonies and Europe as a whole.
That said, the system has its critics, both within and without. Dr. Jia Ah-Lam of the National Taiwan University has argued that RISE would require more-advanced infrastructure like fiber-optic cable to constantly-transmit so much data in real time.
"Satellite-based internet is all well and good for YouTube and Reddit," she says, "But it just isn't enough to handle the sheer amount of data Paris wants to process."
"If they really want to make this work, they need to have started laying cable five years ago."
However, there have been several criticisms from within France itself, particularly the SFIO.
"While I am all for cooperation with our friends in China," one high-ranking member said anonymously, "The fact remains that our entire socialist economy would be overly-reliant on China. This is a system that would run on Chinese computers, use Chinese software, and rely on Chinese parts to maintain and fix."
"Productivity is all well and good, but we cannot simply hand the keys of the Great Socialist Experiment to the capitalists. Even if they are our closest friends."
In response, a spokesman from Elysee has pointed out that France has already been building internet infrastructure throughout the country and has been doing so for years.
"It is a simple extension of what we have already been doing," said spokesman Jean Brodeur. "As for the reliance on the Chinese, I must point out that these computers may be bought from the Chinese, but they will be operated and maintained by patriotic Frenchmen and women who believe in the prosperity this project can bring for all our people."
Whether it is the future of the Revolution or a rushed and over-reliant technocratic system, RISE is a ray of hope for socialists and technocrats throughout the world.
As Field of Dreams once said, "If you build it, they will come."
In this case, "You" is the French government, "It" is RISE, and "they" will be the converts to socialism after they see its success.
Assuming it works, of course.
By Kim Mun-Hee
"Popular Science," June 1925
France has been through almost half a decade of war, and they have seen it all. From coups to invasion to blockades to poison gas attacks, the French have endured the conflict and come back stronger.
Today, they are the sole-remaining power in West Africa, and the undisputed power of Western Europe and Western and Central Africa.
While they lick their wounds and begin their occupations of their neighbors, it is clear that the French are more than content with looking to the future than living in the past.
It can be seen in its rhetoric, with President Jaures giving speech after speech of a "New Era" for Western Europe as well as Western and Central Africa. It seems France seems to have learned from the Lost History and is focusing on cooperation, rather than retaliation.
It can also be seen in its actions, with how France has overthrown the various monarchies in the territories they occupied. "Relics of a past that brought us into war," is what Elysee had to say of them.
But most interestingly, it can be seen in their vision for a socialist future. Not just for France, but for all the countries it has liberated as well.
This is what the Réseau International de Simulation Économique (Internationale Economic Similation Network), otherwise known as "RISE" intends to do.
Now, it is no secret that France is an ever-socializing nation. The meme of the "French Nationalization Cycle" had gone viral in the prewar era, but it does have a basis in reality.
Many French companies had at least some tie to the OAS, even if it was simply the latter reaching out to the former.
This was more than enough pretense for the Radical-Socialist government to justify nationalizing many a company and its assets.
The OAS coup, coupled with the occupations of the Benelux, Portugal, Italy, and Germany were simply the pretense for the much-expanded nationalization across French society, as well as Western Europe as a whole.
Ironically, the war managed to speed up the nationalization process more than anything else. The French had little need for pretenses when half the remaining businesses threw in with the OAS, while the other half were deemed necessary for the war effort.
That brings us to where we are today, with the Radical-Socialist coalition in control of much of Western Europe and its machinery and openly embracing the modern computing technology that allows RISE to be more than Marx's wildest dream.
RISE is directly-inspired by the unfinished Chilean Cybersyn program developed by the Allende administration of the Lost History. Although it was never implemented, the four module system was based around a viable system model theory that utilized telex machines to send and receive data to the capital in Santiago.
RISE follows a similar design that contains four modules: a network of computers connected to a single mainframe in Paris, production analysis software, a custom-built economic simulator, and an operations room that would allow operators to analyze data and run simulations to decide on policy that would maximize efficiency and productivity.
We begin with the computer network, which is perhaps the largest divergence from Project Cybersyn. This is no surprise when Project Cybersyn was abandoned in 1973, two years before Microsoft was founded and six before Apple.
Project Cybersyn was limited by its technology, in the form of telex machines. Telex machines were an evolution of the telegraph that used the binary system to transfer messages rather than the varying voltage of the telephone and the fax machine that replaced the telex machine.
France, unlike Chile, has access to modern computing technology that allows for the near-instantaneous sharing of information by automated programs rather than relying on human input.
If the test reports are to be believed, this would allow for real-time sharing of inventories as well as performance metrics on the ground level.
The production analysis software itself will likely be largely-automated as well, though it would likely be a hybrid system in which the program compiles human-entered data regarding inventories, productivity, and the supply chain. All of this would then be transmitted to the central mainframe in Paris so that the controllers can monitor the data in real time.
The economic simulation software is expected to be a more-advanced version of that envisioned by the Allende administration that capitalizes on the more-modern computing technology available.
The software is a joint project between Nanjing and Paris to accurately model and simulate entire economies given enough input. While the two centers of power may disagree on economics, it is more a friendly rivalry than anything else, with both French and Asian academics motivated by the common goal of increased prosperity for their different peoples.
The control room is the final module, and its purpose is simple. Analysts will receive data in real time from various factories and other productive enterprises, input the data into the simulations, and then provide the results to the decision makers.
These decision makers will in turn make the most-appropriate decision based on data from the simulations.
This system, should it work, has the potential to revolutionize the revolutionary economic system that France hopes to export to its colonies and Europe as a whole.
That said, the system has its critics, both within and without. Dr. Jia Ah-Lam of the National Taiwan University has argued that RISE would require more-advanced infrastructure like fiber-optic cable to constantly-transmit so much data in real time.
"Satellite-based internet is all well and good for YouTube and Reddit," she says, "But it just isn't enough to handle the sheer amount of data Paris wants to process."
"If they really want to make this work, they need to have started laying cable five years ago."
However, there have been several criticisms from within France itself, particularly the SFIO.
"While I am all for cooperation with our friends in China," one high-ranking member said anonymously, "The fact remains that our entire socialist economy would be overly-reliant on China. This is a system that would run on Chinese computers, use Chinese software, and rely on Chinese parts to maintain and fix."
"Productivity is all well and good, but we cannot simply hand the keys of the Great Socialist Experiment to the capitalists. Even if they are our closest friends."
In response, a spokesman from Elysee has pointed out that France has already been building internet infrastructure throughout the country and has been doing so for years.
"It is a simple extension of what we have already been doing," said spokesman Jean Brodeur. "As for the reliance on the Chinese, I must point out that these computers may be bought from the Chinese, but they will be operated and maintained by patriotic Frenchmen and women who believe in the prosperity this project can bring for all our people."
Whether it is the future of the Revolution or a rushed and over-reliant technocratic system, RISE is a ray of hope for socialists and technocrats throughout the world.
As Field of Dreams once said, "If you build it, they will come."
In this case, "You" is the French government, "It" is RISE, and "they" will be the converts to socialism after they see its success.
Assuming it works, of course.
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ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Okay, that should fix it.
Turns out just copying the entire piece works.
Turns out just copying the entire piece works.
Chile's attempt at this was really amazing for its time, limited by technology. However despite being a democratically elected leader, America of course decided to fuck around.
You see as part of ensuring the wealth of Chile's resources would oh I don't know... go to the Chilean people, he proposed to nationalise the two largest copper mines which were owned by US companies. Now the US government, not wanting to let go of its stranglehold on foreign countries resources decided to back protests, and a coup to overthrow his presidency. They also withheld aid they had been paying previously. Allende also wanted to reinvest these excess mining profits that would have gone to American corporations into Chile's education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
It's ironic that when another country wants self determination and to not live under the yolk of a foreign government the US doesn't like it... despite that being how the US was formed.
I'm mad at this of course because the US government has a history of doing this shit. But also because it did it (albeit more subtly) in Australia. So Gough Whitlam (a Labor PM) wanted to get rid of US intelligence agencies crawling around the country and close a site called pine gap, which was a remote spy base. He also wanted to nationalise Australia's resources so that we received the bulk of the wealth rather than British and US corporations. Essentially, he wanted Australia to be independent and not America's and the UK's mineral sugar daddy.
Yet again, the US and the UK didn't like this.
To finish this, here's a quote from an article on the whole affair:
"On 10 November 1975, Whitlam was shown a top-secret telex message sourced to Theodore Shackley, the notorious head of the CIA's East Asia division, who had helped run the coup against Salvador Allende in Chile two years earlier.
Shackley's message was read to Whitlam. It said that the prime minister of Australia was a security risk in his own country. The day before, Kerr had visited the headquarters of the Defence Signals Directorate, Australia's NSA, where he was briefed on the "security crisis".
On 11 November – the day Whitlam was to inform parliament about the secret CIA presence in Australia – he was summoned by Kerr. Invoking archaic vice-regal "reserve powers", Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister. The "Whitlam problem" was solved, and Australian politics never recovered, nor the nation its true independence."
You see as part of ensuring the wealth of Chile's resources would oh I don't know... go to the Chilean people, he proposed to nationalise the two largest copper mines which were owned by US companies. Now the US government, not wanting to let go of its stranglehold on foreign countries resources decided to back protests, and a coup to overthrow his presidency. They also withheld aid they had been paying previously. Allende also wanted to reinvest these excess mining profits that would have gone to American corporations into Chile's education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
It's ironic that when another country wants self determination and to not live under the yolk of a foreign government the US doesn't like it... despite that being how the US was formed.
I'm mad at this of course because the US government has a history of doing this shit. But also because it did it (albeit more subtly) in Australia. So Gough Whitlam (a Labor PM) wanted to get rid of US intelligence agencies crawling around the country and close a site called pine gap, which was a remote spy base. He also wanted to nationalise Australia's resources so that we received the bulk of the wealth rather than British and US corporations. Essentially, he wanted Australia to be independent and not America's and the UK's mineral sugar daddy.
Yet again, the US and the UK didn't like this.
To finish this, here's a quote from an article on the whole affair:
"On 10 November 1975, Whitlam was shown a top-secret telex message sourced to Theodore Shackley, the notorious head of the CIA's East Asia division, who had helped run the coup against Salvador Allende in Chile two years earlier.
Shackley's message was read to Whitlam. It said that the prime minister of Australia was a security risk in his own country. The day before, Kerr had visited the headquarters of the Defence Signals Directorate, Australia's NSA, where he was briefed on the "security crisis".
On 11 November – the day Whitlam was to inform parliament about the secret CIA presence in Australia – he was summoned by Kerr. Invoking archaic vice-regal "reserve powers", Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister. The "Whitlam problem" was solved, and Australian politics never recovered, nor the nation its true independence."
Chilean refugees demand Australia apologise following revelation of secret spy operation
A group of around 60 Chileans, many of them refugees who arrived in Australia after the coup against Salvador Allende in 1973, have sent a letter to the federal government expressing outrage after previously classified documents revealed that ASIS agents operated in Chile during the '70s at the…
www.sbs.com.au
This is what Gough was scared of. ASIS (Aussy spies) were "requested by the US government" to intervene in Chile.
And they did. He couldn't trust his own spies because the US already owned them.
For the record, satellites aren't the primary mechanism of intercontinental internet connections - undersea cables are. And while that's still a problem, it's not one that needs too much extra special fancy engineering to be solved.
- Location
- Neptune
In 2023 they are. In 1923 they are not available. Telegraphy and early telephony cables are not suitable, the cable layers are not suitable for modern cables, China can't produce modern cable in the necessary quantity nor the ships to lay it and satellites are cheaper and faster to implement.
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yup.
Sure, there are long-term plans to develop and build it out, but that hasn't really been done yet, besides a short one from Taiwan to the mainland, and that was expensive as hell and used what was already there.
Long-distance? Not happening for a while.
Sure, it's not lost technology, but the ships and factories needed take time to build in bulk, and that was before the war.
Give it another half decade, minimum, before it really gets into gear.
Chapter 59: Reconstruction
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ministry of Finance, Nanjing, Republic of China, 2 May 1925
"Shit."
That was not what Finance Minister Wang Zhaoming liked saying, but it seemed oddly-fitting given the circumstances.
Said circumstances were the fact that the United States was sitting on an economic time bomb that could destroy the global market, or at least that of the United States.
In short, the four largest banks in America, JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb, Brown Brothers, and Kidder Peabody had all lent out heavy loans to the European Alliance's members. And, if the MIB was to be believed, they were also guilty of insider trading and working as unregistered foreign agents.
He believed them. The information seemed solid, and he trusted both Li and Fong after they saved his life a decade ago.
That said, the insider trading and serving as foreign agents were irrelevant to his office.
What mattered was the sheer amount of money loaned to the British, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and Italians that the Big Four American banks would probably not get back.
That was how fractional reserve banking worked, in a nutshell. When you deposited money into a bank, the bank had to keep a certain percentage (the fractional reserve) on hand at all times, but they could basically do other things with the rest of it while paying you interest on your deposit.
This usually took the form of loans, but investments in stocks or bonds were also on the table.
In this case, it was loans to the Big Four of the European Alliance and investments into war-related stocks that generated dividends and greatly-increased in value as the war continued.
Now, this was all well and good for the Big Four banks, so long as the war continued. They made money off of the dividends, and their portfolios appreciated in value from all the war-related stocks they held.
That was the problem, though. So long as the war continued.
Sure, the Big Four banks likely made a healthy profit off of it all, especially when they were able to sell off their war-related stocks once the Nanjing Accord made landfall on the British isles.
Which means the four governments who owe them money no longer exist. Wonderful.
This alone wouldn't be enough to sink the Big Four of banking. Sure, they wouldn't get their money back, but it wasn't as if they put all their eggs in one basket.
No, the problem is that once the average American realized they wouldn't get their money back, there would almost certainly be a bank run, and those banks didn't have enough money on hand if everyone ran to the bank at once to withdraw their money.
That, and the congressional subpoenas from Representative Butler over war profiteering and alleged insider trading.
Though I would rather be dragged before Congress if the alternative was running out of money and my bank collapsing.
And they don't get to choose.
Wang sighed, then picked up the phone to his secretary.
"Please get the American Secretary of the Treasury on the line. We need to act fast if we want to avoid catastrophe."
"Loans, sir?"
"Something to that effect, if necessary."
American Union Bank, New York City, New York, United States of America, 3 May 1925
The bank was closed, but the people either didn't realize or didn't care.
Their money was "in" there, and that meant staying in line so they could take it out.
The only problem was that, well, the banks didn't actually have the money in the banks.
Sure, this one hadn't lent out money to the European Alliance like the Big Four, but they still lent out to homeowners, small businesses, or just people who were hard up for cash.
The money wasn't in Europe, but it still wasn't there. Not enough, anyways.
Not that they cared, of course.
That was why the NYPD was here. Money or no money, they couldn't have the average citizen breaking down doors to try to get into the vault.
"Hold the line!" Sergeant McKinley shouted to his men. "Hold!"
"We've been holding this line for three hours!" Officer Smith shouted back at him. "They're not leaving!"
"Well the next shift isn't coming for another three, so get it together!"
"Move aside!" shouted some officers from the back, and McKinley waved them forward. Thankfully, the crowd parted.
"Are we being relieved already?"McKinley asked him. "I would not say no to that."
"An announcement from City Hall," the second sergeant told him. "I'll need the crowd's attention."
"Give me a second," McKinley grumbled, before shouting to the crowd. "I need your attention!"
The crowd continued to rabble.
"Oh for the love of," McKinley drew in a deep breath and picked up a megaphone. "I need your attention! Now!"
That, thankfully, was loud enough to get them to listen.
He handed the megaphone to his fellow officer. "Your turn, Sergeant."
"Can everyone hear me?" A couple people shouted yes, so he continued. "I am Sergeant Frederick Hammond of the NYPD! I am here to inform you all that all of your deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as per the 1916 Deposit Insurance Act! Your money is insured by the government, and it will be paid out to you in full once you finish!"
"Furthermore," Hammond continued, "The federal government has reached an agreement to take control of JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb, Brown Brothers, and Kidder Peabody and will liquidate, then restructure them to cover any uninsured costs! These funds will then be distributed in due time!"
"I repeat! Your deposits are safe and insured by the federal government! In all likelihood, your workplace's deposits are safe and will be reimbursed by the federal government! With that knowledge, I ask on behalf of Mayor John Francis Hylen that you all kindly return to your homes! Thank you!"
"Will it work?" McKinley asked him, and the two sergeants just stared as the crowd made up their minds.
"Hopefully."
Thankfully, they listened to reason and walked away, content with the knowledge that their money would come back, sooner or later.
"The American Debt Crisis and Resolution, Explained in A Nutshell," In A Nutshell, YouTube, 1925
You're in charge of one of these four countries during the Great War: Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
You need weapons and raw materials, and raw materials need money to buy them. Now, you can do this normally, but when you run out of cash, you need to take out loans.
Enter the Big Four banks of America: JP Morgan, Brown Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, and Kidder Peabody. They have money, and they'll gladly lend it to you. They'll even facilitate sales for a one to two percent cut!
(And use this knowledge to practice insider trading to make even more money off the war effort)
So now you have money to buy weapons and raw material to fund your war machine- wait is that a Chinese missile?
[Footage of Chinese airstrikes plays]
Well, at least the Chinese aren't invading-
[Footage of Nanjing Accord tanks plays, before fading to black]
You're in charge of the occupation of one of these four countries after the Great War: Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
You're celebrating, happy that you've won the war and have gotten your stolen historical artifacts back when you realize that, oh no, they have millions, if not billions, in debt to multiple American banks.
You brush this off after sending the news back to Nanjing. This is America's problem. Not yours.
No, your job is to process all those prisoners of war and train them to help rebuild their countries for less than a private would make in a year.
[Footage of a victory parade plays, before fading to black]
You're the American Secretary of the Treasury. Thankfully, your country has avoided the war, which means that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the economic benefits of not having your country bombed by futuristic aircraft.
Wait, why are all those people lining up outside the banks?
Oh boy.
Okay, this is what the FDIC is for, which means that every cent up to a quarter of a million is covered by a fund the Big Four banks have paid for.
You know, the Big Four banks that… literally just ran out of money despite several important businesses having deposited more than a quarter of a million dollars that the businesses can't get back.
Okay… Don't panic. Now it's time to break the glass in case of a bank collapse.
[An animation shows a "Break In Case of Pending Economic Collapse" case with a book inside]
Step One: Seize control of the bank. The Roosevelt Administration– No, not the Vice President, the other Roosevelt– passed legislation that allows the FDIC to take control of a bank once it runs out of money.
Or in this case, four banks.
Step Two: Now that you have control of the Big Four banks, you need to find a way to get the rest of the money out of there.
The good news is that the banks didn't invest all their money into businesses. They own stocks, bonds, and properties that you can sell off and reimburse their depositors.
So, you start a fire sale, where everything must go! Now all you need are buyers.
[An animation shows a bank garage sale with a tumbleweed rolling by]
Wait… Those banks need to make payroll by the end of the week, don't they?
Step Three: Find somebody who has money that you can use in the meantime. You're the Secretary of the Treasury, so surely the United States has the hard currency to-
The good news is that you have some money. The bad news is you don't have that much.
Okay, don't panic. All you need to do is find somebody who does have enough money to tide you over in the meantime.
[An animation shows a hand picking up a phone]
Step Four: Work with the Chinese Minister of Finance to come up with a plan to make sure the American economy doesn't collapse.
The good news is that China has the money, and you two have a plan to prevent the American economy from collapsing.
[An animation shows an American man and a Chinese man tossing bags of money back and forth]
Step Five: The Chinese government will lend the American government money to reimburse the uninsured deposits from the banks, which means the American business sector doesn't collapse into a fiery explosion.
Meanwhile, you will keep selling off everything from the Big Four banks that you can to pay the Chinese back.
Stocks? Sold!
Bonds? Sold!
Office furniture? Sold!
The kitchen sink? Anyone? Anyone? Sold!
The buildings themselves? Sold!
Step Six: You take the money that would have been used to reimburse the uninsured depositors and use it to instead pay off the Chinese whose money you used to pay off the uninsured depositors.
With a little bit of interest.
Crisis averted, and you're not massively indebted to the Chinese government!
The rest of the money can be used to clean up the mess these banks have left behind. Somebody has to fill their place, and that's still up in the air.
Another bank? A government-run bank? A credit union? A government-run credit union?
That's for another day, because today you can rest easy knowing that your economy (and by extension, the global economy) will not explode in a fiery mess that could lay the foundation for fascism to come again.
London, Occupied Britain, 6 June 1925
"Well then," Thomas Lawrence said at the sight of the queue before him. "This is certainly something."
According to it, the Accord Occupational Authority in Britain was actually the largest employer at the time.
Truth be told, it wasn't that surprising, seeing that the British government surrendered and industry had been either bombed to smithereens or confiscated. Given those circumstances it would be more of a surprise if the Chinese occupational authority hadn't earned the top spot by default, since they were basically paying people to sit around and fill out paperwork.
The Chinese have mastered bureaucracy, and they seem to have brought it with their army.
"Name?" asked a Chinese officer in surprisingly-good English.
"Thomas Edwared Lawrence. Here are my papers."
"Very well," said the officer, before looking over the files. "You have a background in history, yes?"
Lawrence nodded.
"Alright, then." The officer typed a few more lines into the machine in front of him. "According to our data, you seem to be proficient in academia, which is why you are eligible for a career in education."
"As a teacher?" The officer nodded. "Secondary school, at the moment, but we have you in our system if any openings at Oxford open up."
"I thought Oxford was closed down."
"Oh it is," the officer told him. "But when it does reopen, we will need lecturers to educate the next generation of Britons."
"Which reminds me," the Chinese man continued, before typing out something else and printing out a piece of paper. "Here is the reading list that will be used for the curriculum. The copy shop down the road should be able to print out the textbooks that will be used. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Come again?"
"Just a joke about free textbooks, Mr. Lawrence. The lack of copyright laws ever since the Great Journey has saved us from going bankrupt to pay for textbooks?"
"Is that a problem in China?"
"It was an international problem, back in our time," the officer sighed, before handing him another paper. "Please fill out this form as well when you have finished reading the course materials for your students. And before you ask: The Chinese government loves its paperwork."
"I can tell," the former British POW remarked. "Will that be all?"
"More or less." The officer gave him a polite nod, then motioned him to the side. "NEXT!"
Dublin, Republic of Ireland, 12 June 1925
"FUCK OFF BACK TO ENGLAND!" the Irish soldiers shouted at the departing ship, and then they started singing again.
Go off, ye Black and Tans,
You tried to face me like a man.
Show your wife how you've been beaten, back in Dublin!
Tell them how the IRA, made you run like Hell away,
From the green and lovely plains of a new Ireland!
"Alright, that's enough," Shanahan chuckled, before the men burst into cheers. This was yet another British ship full of soldiers and public servants who would, in all likelihood, never return.
Not that the locals minded, anyways. Most of the ones who had were on those boats and sailing back to Britain as fast as they could. Loyalists, civil servants, and Protestant clergy had all packed their bags as fast as they could once the Accord had offered to ferry any refugees away.
That said, there was one thing that all of them had on their mind.
"And now what?" Private Griffith asked for all of them. "What happens now?"
"Good question," Shanahan told him. Because he didn't know.
There'd need to be a provisional government. That was for sure. The only problem was who would be in charge of it, seeing that half the people in charge tried to kill the other half in the Lost History, and they all knew it.
De Valera wouldn't accept Collins, just as Collins wouldn't accept De Valera. Sure, there was no Anglo-Irish treaty this time around, but the Lost History was enough for them all not to trust one another.
These were not the only factions in Ireland. Not when the famous "Leaders of '16" weren't executed this time. Just as De Valera and Collins had their reputations tarnished by their other selves in the eyes of some, these men were lionized by many.
Men like James Connolly, Sean Mac Diarmada, and Tom Clarke formed the core of the Provisional Government, given their own reputations as martyrs in the lost history.
At least we aren't going to kill each other this time.
That was all well and good, but the next issue would be the Civil Service. Sure, there were people who could help, but the fact remained that a whole lot of civil servants were now in Britain or on the boat there. Something would have to be done, and the Provos were coming up with something.
Last was the elephant in the room. The non-Catholic elephant in the room that they could all agree on.
No, it wasn't "Let's run all the Protestants out of Ireland like Saint Patrick did with the snakes." Well, not most people, anyways.
Sure, there were some who proposed that, but an even larger count were quick to shout them down for various reasons.
There were those like Connolly, who once said that Socialism and Catholicism were not incompatible. A lapsed Catholic himself, he and his followers saw Irish Protestants as fellow proletarians.
Then there were people like Mac Diarmada and Clarke who advocated for a lighter hand out of sheer pragmatism, as neither of them were interested in fighting a "Reverse Troubles" against half of Belfast.
The fact that the Chinese "Men In Black," as they called themselves, were also not interested in fighting a Reverse Troubles against half of Belfast had almost-certainly played a part in this decision.
And they were the ones who were funding, arming, and backing them.
What would be done with the Protestants (or rather, religion as a whole) would almost-certainly be kicked down the road. Not in a sense of shirking responsibility, but by virtue of it being a complicated issue that needed time, deliberation, research, and a light-enough hand so that the same mistakes would not be made again.
Wellington - Te Whanguni-a-Tara, Provisional Government of New Zealand-Aotearoa, 5 July 1925
Temuera had his hands full with the entire reconstruction process, and that was before the Conference had been started.
Sure, the island had been largely-spared of the fighting once the American Red Cross had volunteered to evacuate civilians to Hawaii, but the fact remained that the islands were largely-chaotic, with a Provisional Government consisting of some of the few MPs who had decided to stay.
Apirana Ngata and his staff were the closest thing to a local government on the islands, and they had the heavy task of basically-rebuilding a government from what remained.
There were easy parts, of course. Declaring independence had been easy enough when the occupying forces were actively offering resources and supplies to develop the islands and many loyalists had fled.
Though it wasn't as if they were going to let us keep the King around.
Even the issue of the Tohunga Suppression Act had been largely-uneventful, with a commission of Maori leaders and peoples created to re-evaluate various traditional treatments for their effectiveness. Sure, Ngata didn't take much stock in traditional medicine, but it would help their main issue.
That main issue being what to do with Rua Kenana. Sure, the Accord were happy enough to enact land reform to return Maori lands, but the fact remained that the man declared himself a prophet… and wanted a seat at the table.
There were plenty of plans floated around, from "Let him in" to "Ask the Men in Black to assassinate him" (though that was largely a rhetorical exercise on why it would be a terrible idea.).
"Work with him when our goals align, but keep him at a distance," Ngata had finally offered, "Then we wait him out."
It was a simple-enough plan, but the fact of the matter was that the man had little more than a decade left in him, and Rua wasn't one for modern medicine.
"More for us," Temuera agreed, before flipping the page in his report. "It does seem that the Accord is awfully-interested in restoring Maori culture, doesn't it?"
"They see us as fellow Asians," Ngata told him. "Even if we make up a mere fraction of the population these days."
It was a sad reality they both knew. While the Lost History had seen a resurgence in the Maori culture and population, they currently constituted but a fraction of the country's population despite the exodus of people who would never return.
Even then, the majority of them were on the northern island, and they weren't exactly a majority there, either.
"I want to see a resurgence in our people as well," Temuera told his boss. "To see us grow and prosper to our full potential. We will not get there by kicking all of the Pakeha out."
"Which is why we will be working through education and medicine," Ngata pointed out. Idealist they may be, neither of them thought that turning Aotorea into a Maori ethno-state was a good idea.
Not that either of us would, anyways.
"Our language and our traditions," the Prime Minister continued, "Will be taught to our children, just as they will be taught to their children."
That, of all things, had been the biggest change since the Accord had arrived.
Sure, the local school still stood, but the students would not be punished for speaking their mother tongue.
Of course, this had the side-effect of several teachers either resigning or fleeing with the American Red Cross, but there had been a crash course of sorts to train new ones.
"Which reminds me. Regarding education," Temuera continued. "It seems that the first batch of teachers will start this year. Thirty Maori and a hundred Pakeha."
Delhi, Republic of India, 1 August 1925
Minister VIkram Singh sighed.
Sure, winning the war was all well and good, but running a country was something else entirely.
At least the war had managed to keep everyone united.
This? Peace was almost as chaotic, with Ghadar, the INC and Muslim League, and the United Bharat Party (the newly-formed conservative and traditionalist party) all duking it out on the debate floor.
Thankfully not literally this time.
Sure, they all agreed on the basics of a united India in some form or another, but Ghadar was full of socialists, the INC was a large tent of intellectuals and professionals, and he was pretty sure United Bharat was somewhere between conservative and Hindu Nationalist.
At the bare minimum, they had a government of Ghadar-League-INC in the most recent elections, with the former as the lead member of the "RGB Coalition," as they were known.
"The first matter at hand was writing a constitution, and this was something the three had been very careful about.
Vikram knew full well what had happened in the Lost History, and he had little interest in seeing over a million Hindus and Muslims die, ten times as many displaced, and the SIkhs stuck somewhere in the middle.
No, this time there would be a secular state of many religions, with people allowed to practice as they saw fit. Within reason, of course, though that went without saying.
Which was a fancy way of saying "No, you can't force Hindus to eat beef, Muslims to eat pork, or strip Sikhs of their kirpans."
At the same time, religious crime legislation would have to be enacted. Not so much in the sense of forcing people to follow certain religious laws, but protecting people from religiously-motivated crimes.
For example, slaughtering a cow to eat was fine if you were a Muslim, but slaughtering a cow in front of Hindu to piss them off? That was a crime.
"Sort of like burning a cross on a lawn?" the American ambassador asked him one time. "More or less?"
It wasn't perfect (and in all likelihood the politicians were still arguing about it in their conference room as he spoke. Though as Minister of Industry he had enough of an excuse to excuse himself from that headache.
Next was the issue of meat itself, and that had been a whole other hassle. His proposal to invest in poultry and sheep farming had been greenlit by all three members of the coalition, with the Hindu-aligned interests insisting on a campaign to encourage the consumption of sheep and poultry by the meat-eating population as a whole.
Then there was the issue of the caste system, and Vikram counted his blessings that he would be busy during that discussion.
As of now, the INC, Ghadar, and the League had all agreed on a general idea of "Social Equality." The problem was that all three had their own view of just what that term meant.
On one hand, they weren't going to kill each other over the issue this time. On the other hand, it would be "like pulling teeth," as the saying went.
Santiago, Republic of Chile, 14 September 1925
"War is good for business," was not something that the Radicals in Chile had ever wanted to say aloud, but the facts were the facts.
Chile had copper. China needed copper for wires. So China invested in Chile's mining industry in the nick of time.
Sure, nobody would ever admit it, but the Chilean economy had been on the brink of collapse before this when the Haber-Bosch process had gone mainstream.
Chilean revenue had gone up in smoke almost overnight, and it was how the Radicals had gotten here in the first place.
It took a while, along with a few loans, but the nation had survived, even starting to pay their loans back within a year.
Wires had to come from somewhere, after all. So did bullets.
And when the Great War broke out, Chile had experienced their own economic windfall. Sure, they were selling copper to both sides of the conflict through their intermediaries, but it wasn't as if the Accord or the Alliance had a choice once the bidding wars started.
Chile had grown rich off of the war, and the Radicals had taken care to "Plant the Copper," as the saying went.
It wasn't much at first. Not when so much of Chile was still reliant on copper exports.
But they at least had enough to plant the seeds of economic diversification once the Chinese had come back after the war.
Sure, they weren't exactly happy about having to engage in a bidding war for copper, but they had always found the money, sooner or later.
Besides, there was lithium to be mined. They had it, China knew where it was, and both of them had their reasons to get it out of the ground.
Gdansk Autonomous Region, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire, 1 October 1925
Karol had seen it all. From the initial Russian invasion to joint Russo-Chinese occupation, Gdansk would now be part of Congress Poland, now that the referendum had been finished.
It was a simple enough affair with one question: "Do you want to be part of the German Empire or the Kingdom of Poland?"
And it was, for all intents and purposes, the "Kingdom of Poland." Sure, the Tsar had traditionally ignored the Sejm's powers, the recent overthrowing of the Diterikhs regime had greatly-liberalized the treatment of non-Russians, as well as greatly limiting the powers of the Tsar.
This in turn limited the Tsar's own powers in Poland, which allowed the Sejm to pass several reforms under their newly-earned autonomy.
In effect, the Tsar was little more than the King of Poland, while the Sejm held more power, and Petrograd had the final say. It was a messy system, but it was an agreeable-enough one for the time being.
The war changed all of that. Both sides had fielded Poles into their armies, with the promise of creating a Polish state from their enemy's territory. The Alliance had promised a Kingdom of Poland, while the Accord had promised a United Kingdom of Poland that consisted of Galicia, German Poland, and the Kingdom of Poland as it was.
After the Oder Offensive, the Accord vision of Poland had won out. Poland would be united from its partitioned parts, at the cost of having a Romanov as the King of Poland.
There were issues, of course. While the Kingdom of Poland had de-facto devolved powers in the spirit of the United Kingdom of the Lost History, there were those who were unhappy about Petrograd having the final say, while others had raised similar concerns about just how much control the latter would have in the first place.
This, coupled with deals made to form the Unity Government at the start of the war, effectively kicked the can down the road until hostilities had been concluded.
Well, hostilities had been concluded, and it was now time to address their elephant in the room.
Karol had been there himself as a representative of the formerly-German Poles, and he pointed out the differing rights and autonomies enjoyed by Poles in Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary.
Which, now that he thought about it, boiled down to, "We want to be sure that Petrograd won't do what the Tsar had done to the Sejm in previous years."
Or to put it another way, they wanted to know where the line would be drawn between them and Petrograd. Sure, they didn't want to fight an entire revolution (especially when the Chinese would almost-certainly come to the Russians' aid), but they didn't want Petrograd to start curtailing their rights.
It took another few weeks of haggling and backroom dealing, but they had finally come to an agreement: For all intents and purposes, the Russian Empire would undergo a process of federalism in which the Kingdom of Poland would remain a constituent state, but one with their own delineated rights.
Sure, they couldn't engage in foreign relations, but they had gotten their United Kingdom of Poland and a fair amount of autonomy from the Petrograd.
It was the best of both worlds, and they were content enough to enjoy this victory.
"There is one problem," one of the Russian Kadets told him at the reception. While he had voted in favor of federalization, Karol had to twist his arm a fair bit. "Now that you all have your autonomy, the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Balts, and Finns will want theirs."
"Would you vote for that?" Karol asked him.
The Russian Kadet downed his champagne and picked up another from the table.
Only to down it as well.
"So long as we don't have to go through that again."
"Shit."
That was not what Finance Minister Wang Zhaoming liked saying, but it seemed oddly-fitting given the circumstances.
Said circumstances were the fact that the United States was sitting on an economic time bomb that could destroy the global market, or at least that of the United States.
In short, the four largest banks in America, JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb, Brown Brothers, and Kidder Peabody had all lent out heavy loans to the European Alliance's members. And, if the MIB was to be believed, they were also guilty of insider trading and working as unregistered foreign agents.
He believed them. The information seemed solid, and he trusted both Li and Fong after they saved his life a decade ago.
That said, the insider trading and serving as foreign agents were irrelevant to his office.
What mattered was the sheer amount of money loaned to the British, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and Italians that the Big Four American banks would probably not get back.
That was how fractional reserve banking worked, in a nutshell. When you deposited money into a bank, the bank had to keep a certain percentage (the fractional reserve) on hand at all times, but they could basically do other things with the rest of it while paying you interest on your deposit.
This usually took the form of loans, but investments in stocks or bonds were also on the table.
In this case, it was loans to the Big Four of the European Alliance and investments into war-related stocks that generated dividends and greatly-increased in value as the war continued.
Now, this was all well and good for the Big Four banks, so long as the war continued. They made money off of the dividends, and their portfolios appreciated in value from all the war-related stocks they held.
That was the problem, though. So long as the war continued.
Sure, the Big Four banks likely made a healthy profit off of it all, especially when they were able to sell off their war-related stocks once the Nanjing Accord made landfall on the British isles.
Which means the four governments who owe them money no longer exist. Wonderful.
This alone wouldn't be enough to sink the Big Four of banking. Sure, they wouldn't get their money back, but it wasn't as if they put all their eggs in one basket.
No, the problem is that once the average American realized they wouldn't get their money back, there would almost certainly be a bank run, and those banks didn't have enough money on hand if everyone ran to the bank at once to withdraw their money.
That, and the congressional subpoenas from Representative Butler over war profiteering and alleged insider trading.
Though I would rather be dragged before Congress if the alternative was running out of money and my bank collapsing.
And they don't get to choose.
Wang sighed, then picked up the phone to his secretary.
"Please get the American Secretary of the Treasury on the line. We need to act fast if we want to avoid catastrophe."
"Loans, sir?"
"Something to that effect, if necessary."
American Union Bank, New York City, New York, United States of America, 3 May 1925
The bank was closed, but the people either didn't realize or didn't care.
Their money was "in" there, and that meant staying in line so they could take it out.
The only problem was that, well, the banks didn't actually have the money in the banks.
Sure, this one hadn't lent out money to the European Alliance like the Big Four, but they still lent out to homeowners, small businesses, or just people who were hard up for cash.
The money wasn't in Europe, but it still wasn't there. Not enough, anyways.
Not that they cared, of course.
That was why the NYPD was here. Money or no money, they couldn't have the average citizen breaking down doors to try to get into the vault.
"Hold the line!" Sergeant McKinley shouted to his men. "Hold!"
"We've been holding this line for three hours!" Officer Smith shouted back at him. "They're not leaving!"
"Well the next shift isn't coming for another three, so get it together!"
"Move aside!" shouted some officers from the back, and McKinley waved them forward. Thankfully, the crowd parted.
"Are we being relieved already?"McKinley asked him. "I would not say no to that."
"An announcement from City Hall," the second sergeant told him. "I'll need the crowd's attention."
"Give me a second," McKinley grumbled, before shouting to the crowd. "I need your attention!"
The crowd continued to rabble.
"Oh for the love of," McKinley drew in a deep breath and picked up a megaphone. "I need your attention! Now!"
That, thankfully, was loud enough to get them to listen.
He handed the megaphone to his fellow officer. "Your turn, Sergeant."
"Can everyone hear me?" A couple people shouted yes, so he continued. "I am Sergeant Frederick Hammond of the NYPD! I am here to inform you all that all of your deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as per the 1916 Deposit Insurance Act! Your money is insured by the government, and it will be paid out to you in full once you finish!"
"Furthermore," Hammond continued, "The federal government has reached an agreement to take control of JP Morgan, Kuhn Loeb, Brown Brothers, and Kidder Peabody and will liquidate, then restructure them to cover any uninsured costs! These funds will then be distributed in due time!"
"I repeat! Your deposits are safe and insured by the federal government! In all likelihood, your workplace's deposits are safe and will be reimbursed by the federal government! With that knowledge, I ask on behalf of Mayor John Francis Hylen that you all kindly return to your homes! Thank you!"
"Will it work?" McKinley asked him, and the two sergeants just stared as the crowd made up their minds.
"Hopefully."
Thankfully, they listened to reason and walked away, content with the knowledge that their money would come back, sooner or later.
"The American Debt Crisis and Resolution, Explained in A Nutshell," In A Nutshell, YouTube, 1925
You're in charge of one of these four countries during the Great War: Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
You need weapons and raw materials, and raw materials need money to buy them. Now, you can do this normally, but when you run out of cash, you need to take out loans.
Enter the Big Four banks of America: JP Morgan, Brown Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, and Kidder Peabody. They have money, and they'll gladly lend it to you. They'll even facilitate sales for a one to two percent cut!
(And use this knowledge to practice insider trading to make even more money off the war effort)
So now you have money to buy weapons and raw material to fund your war machine- wait is that a Chinese missile?
[Footage of Chinese airstrikes plays]
Well, at least the Chinese aren't invading-
[Footage of Nanjing Accord tanks plays, before fading to black]
You're in charge of the occupation of one of these four countries after the Great War: Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
You're celebrating, happy that you've won the war and have gotten your stolen historical artifacts back when you realize that, oh no, they have millions, if not billions, in debt to multiple American banks.
You brush this off after sending the news back to Nanjing. This is America's problem. Not yours.
No, your job is to process all those prisoners of war and train them to help rebuild their countries for less than a private would make in a year.
[Footage of a victory parade plays, before fading to black]
You're the American Secretary of the Treasury. Thankfully, your country has avoided the war, which means that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the economic benefits of not having your country bombed by futuristic aircraft.
Wait, why are all those people lining up outside the banks?
Oh boy.
Okay, this is what the FDIC is for, which means that every cent up to a quarter of a million is covered by a fund the Big Four banks have paid for.
You know, the Big Four banks that… literally just ran out of money despite several important businesses having deposited more than a quarter of a million dollars that the businesses can't get back.
Okay… Don't panic. Now it's time to break the glass in case of a bank collapse.
[An animation shows a "Break In Case of Pending Economic Collapse" case with a book inside]
Step One: Seize control of the bank. The Roosevelt Administration– No, not the Vice President, the other Roosevelt– passed legislation that allows the FDIC to take control of a bank once it runs out of money.
Or in this case, four banks.
Step Two: Now that you have control of the Big Four banks, you need to find a way to get the rest of the money out of there.
The good news is that the banks didn't invest all their money into businesses. They own stocks, bonds, and properties that you can sell off and reimburse their depositors.
So, you start a fire sale, where everything must go! Now all you need are buyers.
[An animation shows a bank garage sale with a tumbleweed rolling by]
Wait… Those banks need to make payroll by the end of the week, don't they?
Step Three: Find somebody who has money that you can use in the meantime. You're the Secretary of the Treasury, so surely the United States has the hard currency to-
The good news is that you have some money. The bad news is you don't have that much.
Okay, don't panic. All you need to do is find somebody who does have enough money to tide you over in the meantime.
[An animation shows a hand picking up a phone]
Step Four: Work with the Chinese Minister of Finance to come up with a plan to make sure the American economy doesn't collapse.
The good news is that China has the money, and you two have a plan to prevent the American economy from collapsing.
[An animation shows an American man and a Chinese man tossing bags of money back and forth]
Step Five: The Chinese government will lend the American government money to reimburse the uninsured deposits from the banks, which means the American business sector doesn't collapse into a fiery explosion.
Meanwhile, you will keep selling off everything from the Big Four banks that you can to pay the Chinese back.
Stocks? Sold!
Bonds? Sold!
Office furniture? Sold!
The kitchen sink? Anyone? Anyone? Sold!
The buildings themselves? Sold!
Step Six: You take the money that would have been used to reimburse the uninsured depositors and use it to instead pay off the Chinese whose money you used to pay off the uninsured depositors.
With a little bit of interest.
Crisis averted, and you're not massively indebted to the Chinese government!
The rest of the money can be used to clean up the mess these banks have left behind. Somebody has to fill their place, and that's still up in the air.
Another bank? A government-run bank? A credit union? A government-run credit union?
That's for another day, because today you can rest easy knowing that your economy (and by extension, the global economy) will not explode in a fiery mess that could lay the foundation for fascism to come again.
London, Occupied Britain, 6 June 1925
"Well then," Thomas Lawrence said at the sight of the queue before him. "This is certainly something."
According to it, the Accord Occupational Authority in Britain was actually the largest employer at the time.
Truth be told, it wasn't that surprising, seeing that the British government surrendered and industry had been either bombed to smithereens or confiscated. Given those circumstances it would be more of a surprise if the Chinese occupational authority hadn't earned the top spot by default, since they were basically paying people to sit around and fill out paperwork.
The Chinese have mastered bureaucracy, and they seem to have brought it with their army.
"Name?" asked a Chinese officer in surprisingly-good English.
"Thomas Edwared Lawrence. Here are my papers."
"Very well," said the officer, before looking over the files. "You have a background in history, yes?"
Lawrence nodded.
"Alright, then." The officer typed a few more lines into the machine in front of him. "According to our data, you seem to be proficient in academia, which is why you are eligible for a career in education."
"As a teacher?" The officer nodded. "Secondary school, at the moment, but we have you in our system if any openings at Oxford open up."
"I thought Oxford was closed down."
"Oh it is," the officer told him. "But when it does reopen, we will need lecturers to educate the next generation of Britons."
"Which reminds me," the Chinese man continued, before typing out something else and printing out a piece of paper. "Here is the reading list that will be used for the curriculum. The copy shop down the road should be able to print out the textbooks that will be used. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Come again?"
"Just a joke about free textbooks, Mr. Lawrence. The lack of copyright laws ever since the Great Journey has saved us from going bankrupt to pay for textbooks?"
"Is that a problem in China?"
"It was an international problem, back in our time," the officer sighed, before handing him another paper. "Please fill out this form as well when you have finished reading the course materials for your students. And before you ask: The Chinese government loves its paperwork."
"I can tell," the former British POW remarked. "Will that be all?"
"More or less." The officer gave him a polite nod, then motioned him to the side. "NEXT!"
Dublin, Republic of Ireland, 12 June 1925
"FUCK OFF BACK TO ENGLAND!" the Irish soldiers shouted at the departing ship, and then they started singing again.
Go off, ye Black and Tans,
You tried to face me like a man.
Show your wife how you've been beaten, back in Dublin!
Tell them how the IRA, made you run like Hell away,
From the green and lovely plains of a new Ireland!
"Alright, that's enough," Shanahan chuckled, before the men burst into cheers. This was yet another British ship full of soldiers and public servants who would, in all likelihood, never return.
Not that the locals minded, anyways. Most of the ones who had were on those boats and sailing back to Britain as fast as they could. Loyalists, civil servants, and Protestant clergy had all packed their bags as fast as they could once the Accord had offered to ferry any refugees away.
That said, there was one thing that all of them had on their mind.
"And now what?" Private Griffith asked for all of them. "What happens now?"
"Good question," Shanahan told him. Because he didn't know.
There'd need to be a provisional government. That was for sure. The only problem was who would be in charge of it, seeing that half the people in charge tried to kill the other half in the Lost History, and they all knew it.
De Valera wouldn't accept Collins, just as Collins wouldn't accept De Valera. Sure, there was no Anglo-Irish treaty this time around, but the Lost History was enough for them all not to trust one another.
These were not the only factions in Ireland. Not when the famous "Leaders of '16" weren't executed this time. Just as De Valera and Collins had their reputations tarnished by their other selves in the eyes of some, these men were lionized by many.
Men like James Connolly, Sean Mac Diarmada, and Tom Clarke formed the core of the Provisional Government, given their own reputations as martyrs in the lost history.
At least we aren't going to kill each other this time.
That was all well and good, but the next issue would be the Civil Service. Sure, there were people who could help, but the fact remained that a whole lot of civil servants were now in Britain or on the boat there. Something would have to be done, and the Provos were coming up with something.
Last was the elephant in the room. The non-Catholic elephant in the room that they could all agree on.
No, it wasn't "Let's run all the Protestants out of Ireland like Saint Patrick did with the snakes." Well, not most people, anyways.
Sure, there were some who proposed that, but an even larger count were quick to shout them down for various reasons.
There were those like Connolly, who once said that Socialism and Catholicism were not incompatible. A lapsed Catholic himself, he and his followers saw Irish Protestants as fellow proletarians.
Then there were people like Mac Diarmada and Clarke who advocated for a lighter hand out of sheer pragmatism, as neither of them were interested in fighting a "Reverse Troubles" against half of Belfast.
The fact that the Chinese "Men In Black," as they called themselves, were also not interested in fighting a Reverse Troubles against half of Belfast had almost-certainly played a part in this decision.
And they were the ones who were funding, arming, and backing them.
What would be done with the Protestants (or rather, religion as a whole) would almost-certainly be kicked down the road. Not in a sense of shirking responsibility, but by virtue of it being a complicated issue that needed time, deliberation, research, and a light-enough hand so that the same mistakes would not be made again.
Wellington - Te Whanguni-a-Tara, Provisional Government of New Zealand-Aotearoa, 5 July 1925
Temuera had his hands full with the entire reconstruction process, and that was before the Conference had been started.
Sure, the island had been largely-spared of the fighting once the American Red Cross had volunteered to evacuate civilians to Hawaii, but the fact remained that the islands were largely-chaotic, with a Provisional Government consisting of some of the few MPs who had decided to stay.
Apirana Ngata and his staff were the closest thing to a local government on the islands, and they had the heavy task of basically-rebuilding a government from what remained.
There were easy parts, of course. Declaring independence had been easy enough when the occupying forces were actively offering resources and supplies to develop the islands and many loyalists had fled.
Though it wasn't as if they were going to let us keep the King around.
Even the issue of the Tohunga Suppression Act had been largely-uneventful, with a commission of Maori leaders and peoples created to re-evaluate various traditional treatments for their effectiveness. Sure, Ngata didn't take much stock in traditional medicine, but it would help their main issue.
That main issue being what to do with Rua Kenana. Sure, the Accord were happy enough to enact land reform to return Maori lands, but the fact remained that the man declared himself a prophet… and wanted a seat at the table.
There were plenty of plans floated around, from "Let him in" to "Ask the Men in Black to assassinate him" (though that was largely a rhetorical exercise on why it would be a terrible idea.).
"Work with him when our goals align, but keep him at a distance," Ngata had finally offered, "Then we wait him out."
It was a simple-enough plan, but the fact of the matter was that the man had little more than a decade left in him, and Rua wasn't one for modern medicine.
"More for us," Temuera agreed, before flipping the page in his report. "It does seem that the Accord is awfully-interested in restoring Maori culture, doesn't it?"
"They see us as fellow Asians," Ngata told him. "Even if we make up a mere fraction of the population these days."
It was a sad reality they both knew. While the Lost History had seen a resurgence in the Maori culture and population, they currently constituted but a fraction of the country's population despite the exodus of people who would never return.
Even then, the majority of them were on the northern island, and they weren't exactly a majority there, either.
"I want to see a resurgence in our people as well," Temuera told his boss. "To see us grow and prosper to our full potential. We will not get there by kicking all of the Pakeha out."
"Which is why we will be working through education and medicine," Ngata pointed out. Idealist they may be, neither of them thought that turning Aotorea into a Maori ethno-state was a good idea.
Not that either of us would, anyways.
"Our language and our traditions," the Prime Minister continued, "Will be taught to our children, just as they will be taught to their children."
That, of all things, had been the biggest change since the Accord had arrived.
Sure, the local school still stood, but the students would not be punished for speaking their mother tongue.
Of course, this had the side-effect of several teachers either resigning or fleeing with the American Red Cross, but there had been a crash course of sorts to train new ones.
"Which reminds me. Regarding education," Temuera continued. "It seems that the first batch of teachers will start this year. Thirty Maori and a hundred Pakeha."
Delhi, Republic of India, 1 August 1925
Minister VIkram Singh sighed.
Sure, winning the war was all well and good, but running a country was something else entirely.
At least the war had managed to keep everyone united.
This? Peace was almost as chaotic, with Ghadar, the INC and Muslim League, and the United Bharat Party (the newly-formed conservative and traditionalist party) all duking it out on the debate floor.
Thankfully not literally this time.
Sure, they all agreed on the basics of a united India in some form or another, but Ghadar was full of socialists, the INC was a large tent of intellectuals and professionals, and he was pretty sure United Bharat was somewhere between conservative and Hindu Nationalist.
At the bare minimum, they had a government of Ghadar-League-INC in the most recent elections, with the former as the lead member of the "RGB Coalition," as they were known.
"The first matter at hand was writing a constitution, and this was something the three had been very careful about.
Vikram knew full well what had happened in the Lost History, and he had little interest in seeing over a million Hindus and Muslims die, ten times as many displaced, and the SIkhs stuck somewhere in the middle.
No, this time there would be a secular state of many religions, with people allowed to practice as they saw fit. Within reason, of course, though that went without saying.
Which was a fancy way of saying "No, you can't force Hindus to eat beef, Muslims to eat pork, or strip Sikhs of their kirpans."
At the same time, religious crime legislation would have to be enacted. Not so much in the sense of forcing people to follow certain religious laws, but protecting people from religiously-motivated crimes.
For example, slaughtering a cow to eat was fine if you were a Muslim, but slaughtering a cow in front of Hindu to piss them off? That was a crime.
"Sort of like burning a cross on a lawn?" the American ambassador asked him one time. "More or less?"
It wasn't perfect (and in all likelihood the politicians were still arguing about it in their conference room as he spoke. Though as Minister of Industry he had enough of an excuse to excuse himself from that headache.
Next was the issue of meat itself, and that had been a whole other hassle. His proposal to invest in poultry and sheep farming had been greenlit by all three members of the coalition, with the Hindu-aligned interests insisting on a campaign to encourage the consumption of sheep and poultry by the meat-eating population as a whole.
Then there was the issue of the caste system, and Vikram counted his blessings that he would be busy during that discussion.
As of now, the INC, Ghadar, and the League had all agreed on a general idea of "Social Equality." The problem was that all three had their own view of just what that term meant.
On one hand, they weren't going to kill each other over the issue this time. On the other hand, it would be "like pulling teeth," as the saying went.
Santiago, Republic of Chile, 14 September 1925
"War is good for business," was not something that the Radicals in Chile had ever wanted to say aloud, but the facts were the facts.
Chile had copper. China needed copper for wires. So China invested in Chile's mining industry in the nick of time.
Sure, nobody would ever admit it, but the Chilean economy had been on the brink of collapse before this when the Haber-Bosch process had gone mainstream.
Chilean revenue had gone up in smoke almost overnight, and it was how the Radicals had gotten here in the first place.
It took a while, along with a few loans, but the nation had survived, even starting to pay their loans back within a year.
Wires had to come from somewhere, after all. So did bullets.
And when the Great War broke out, Chile had experienced their own economic windfall. Sure, they were selling copper to both sides of the conflict through their intermediaries, but it wasn't as if the Accord or the Alliance had a choice once the bidding wars started.
Chile had grown rich off of the war, and the Radicals had taken care to "Plant the Copper," as the saying went.
It wasn't much at first. Not when so much of Chile was still reliant on copper exports.
But they at least had enough to plant the seeds of economic diversification once the Chinese had come back after the war.
Sure, they weren't exactly happy about having to engage in a bidding war for copper, but they had always found the money, sooner or later.
Besides, there was lithium to be mined. They had it, China knew where it was, and both of them had their reasons to get it out of the ground.
Gdansk Autonomous Region, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire, 1 October 1925
Karol had seen it all. From the initial Russian invasion to joint Russo-Chinese occupation, Gdansk would now be part of Congress Poland, now that the referendum had been finished.
It was a simple enough affair with one question: "Do you want to be part of the German Empire or the Kingdom of Poland?"
And it was, for all intents and purposes, the "Kingdom of Poland." Sure, the Tsar had traditionally ignored the Sejm's powers, the recent overthrowing of the Diterikhs regime had greatly-liberalized the treatment of non-Russians, as well as greatly limiting the powers of the Tsar.
This in turn limited the Tsar's own powers in Poland, which allowed the Sejm to pass several reforms under their newly-earned autonomy.
In effect, the Tsar was little more than the King of Poland, while the Sejm held more power, and Petrograd had the final say. It was a messy system, but it was an agreeable-enough one for the time being.
The war changed all of that. Both sides had fielded Poles into their armies, with the promise of creating a Polish state from their enemy's territory. The Alliance had promised a Kingdom of Poland, while the Accord had promised a United Kingdom of Poland that consisted of Galicia, German Poland, and the Kingdom of Poland as it was.
After the Oder Offensive, the Accord vision of Poland had won out. Poland would be united from its partitioned parts, at the cost of having a Romanov as the King of Poland.
There were issues, of course. While the Kingdom of Poland had de-facto devolved powers in the spirit of the United Kingdom of the Lost History, there were those who were unhappy about Petrograd having the final say, while others had raised similar concerns about just how much control the latter would have in the first place.
This, coupled with deals made to form the Unity Government at the start of the war, effectively kicked the can down the road until hostilities had been concluded.
Well, hostilities had been concluded, and it was now time to address their elephant in the room.
Karol had been there himself as a representative of the formerly-German Poles, and he pointed out the differing rights and autonomies enjoyed by Poles in Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary.
Which, now that he thought about it, boiled down to, "We want to be sure that Petrograd won't do what the Tsar had done to the Sejm in previous years."
Or to put it another way, they wanted to know where the line would be drawn between them and Petrograd. Sure, they didn't want to fight an entire revolution (especially when the Chinese would almost-certainly come to the Russians' aid), but they didn't want Petrograd to start curtailing their rights.
It took another few weeks of haggling and backroom dealing, but they had finally come to an agreement: For all intents and purposes, the Russian Empire would undergo a process of federalism in which the Kingdom of Poland would remain a constituent state, but one with their own delineated rights.
Sure, they couldn't engage in foreign relations, but they had gotten their United Kingdom of Poland and a fair amount of autonomy from the Petrograd.
It was the best of both worlds, and they were content enough to enjoy this victory.
"There is one problem," one of the Russian Kadets told him at the reception. While he had voted in favor of federalization, Karol had to twist his arm a fair bit. "Now that you all have your autonomy, the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Balts, and Finns will want theirs."
"Would you vote for that?" Karol asked him.
The Russian Kadet downed his champagne and picked up another from the table.
Only to down it as well.
"So long as we don't have to go through that again."
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ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Status of Countries After The Great War:
Germany: Slight partition, plus joint occupation. The referendum in the Sudetenland and Austria means they might actually gain territory despite losing.
Russia: Federalism approaches.
America: "Oh-thank-God-we-made-this-work."
Britain: A lot of refugees from Ireland and the Dominions. Even more paperwork by the Reconstruction Authority.
France: Preparing to spread the Revolution to the Benelux, Portugal, and Africa.
Italy: "No, we aren't bringing back the monarchy after we got our asses kicked."
Ottomans: Egypt and Libya are theirs again, and they have big plans to develop these places.
Japan: "You know, maybe it was a good thing that most of our more traditionalist-minded officers died a decade ago."
Austria-Hungary: ERROR 404: Country Not Found
India: Better-off than OTL
China: The military is still the largest single employer, and the country is run like the DMV, but faster.
Romania: Bigger.
Hungary: Smaller.
Chile: Richer.
Germany: Slight partition, plus joint occupation. The referendum in the Sudetenland and Austria means they might actually gain territory despite losing.
Russia: Federalism approaches.
America: "Oh-thank-God-we-made-this-work."
Britain: A lot of refugees from Ireland and the Dominions. Even more paperwork by the Reconstruction Authority.
France: Preparing to spread the Revolution to the Benelux, Portugal, and Africa.
Italy: "No, we aren't bringing back the monarchy after we got our asses kicked."
Ottomans: Egypt and Libya are theirs again, and they have big plans to develop these places.
Japan: "You know, maybe it was a good thing that most of our more traditionalist-minded officers died a decade ago."
Austria-Hungary: ERROR 404: Country Not Found
India: Better-off than OTL
China: The military is still the largest single employer, and the country is run like the DMV, but faster.
Romania: Bigger.
Hungary: Smaller.
Chile: Richer.
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"do not tell British citizens everything is okay because they're starting their kingdom building arc, even if it's not entirely incorrect. They will just be confused"
So what is this 'man in black' refer to which china organization here, author ?
Apirana Ngata (as well as most other Maori politicians of the time) supported the act - they considered tohunga to be largely quacks. Apirana's main concern was providing decent medical services to Maori to replace tohungas.
At least on paper, that wouldn't be much of a change - officially, there was no provision for punishing students for speaking Maori. The punishments just usually weren't recorded (as any use of corporal punishment was supposed to be recorded).
Actually, they'd probably consider that the Lost History had their culture declining - the vast majority of Maori in that period would have spoken Maori as a first language. It didn't seriously decline until WW2.
I'm also not all that clear on why people are fleeing occupied New Zealand to occupied Britain. There doesn't seem much point, if they're trying to get away from the Chinese.
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I don't think it's to flee the Chinese, but rather to flee the Maori. They've been oppressing the natives for a long time now and might be afraid of revenge.
As a New Zealander, I really don't think that's likely, or possible. Not that there wasn't racism in New Zealand, but the Maori community would have been both too small and too intermingled with the rest of the population to do something like that.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
That may be true, but the people who are fleeing may not think or realize that that is the case. Or, in some cases, they might think that other sections of the population might back them up, depending on what it was that the person(s) in question did.
I still don't see it happening. It's only been 14 years since the ISOT, the treatment of Maori can't have degraded that far. Especially since Apirana Ngata seems to have been at least as successful as OTL (even more successful, actually, I'd have expected someone like Gordon Coates or Joseph Ward to be in charge - and there is zero chance that either of them would have gone back to Britain. For one thing, neither of them were born there).
It'd be like floods of white people fleeing the South after the Civil Rights Act.
ChrisProvidence
Time Traveling Unequal Treaty Destroyer
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah, those folks fled from the war. Sure, the Accord is a hell of a lot better than the IJA of OTL, but propaganda being propaganda meant that many people saw them as an "Asiatic Horde" and decided to get away.
That is, of course, until the islands surrendered. It was a largely-bloodless affair, I imagine, seeing that the New Zealanders are largely cut off.
Occupation policy was largely hands-off, so long as people don't try to shoot the soldiers or go around sabotaging supplies and the like.
The new government would, in all likelihood, be very similar to the old except without the monarchy. Probably with land returned to the Maori and the language being encouraged, rather than suppressed.
It's much less tumultuous than India, where the entire system was upended.
That is, of course, until the islands surrendered. It was a largely-bloodless affair, I imagine, seeing that the New Zealanders are largely cut off.
Occupation policy was largely hands-off, so long as people don't try to shoot the soldiers or go around sabotaging supplies and the like.
The new government would, in all likelihood, be very similar to the old except without the monarchy. Probably with land returned to the Maori and the language being encouraged, rather than suppressed.
It's much less tumultuous than India, where the entire system was upended.