The Cause of Humanity: A Communist America Hearts of Iron IV Let's Play

[inquisition]

The Cause of Humanity: A Communist America HoI IV Let's Play
By Inquisition

Earl Russell Browder, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Union of America and General-Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party​

Spoiler: Author's Note, all history buffs please read

The following backstory is an attempted (and rather flimsy) justification for the ingame ability to assign a major Communist Party leader to an important position in the US government. As an aficionado of alternate history, I acknowledge that this scenario is exceedingly unlikely to have played out as I outline it, and apologize in advance for any histoRAEG this LP may cause.

Spoiler: Game Info and Mod List

I will be playing on Regular, with the historical AI focus turned off.

I am using the following cosmetic mods for this playthrough:

• Sabas Historical Country Names: Not all of these are the best (the author's love for putting "empire" at the end of almost every alt-fascist, or, in italy's case, historical name is a bit irksome), but for the most part the names are an improvement over the vanilla. Especially important for this LP is the fact that it's the only mod I've found that doesn't use "United Socialist States of America" to replace the "Communist States of America." In other cases, I would recommend Better Country Names.
• Flavor Names Extended: Adds some names to some support weapons that were sadly missing them in-game. No more bombarding enemies with Interwar ArtilleryTM​!
• More Division Icons: Pretty self-explanatory, gives some nice new icons to expand division customization a bit.
• Coloured Buttons: Just makes the UI look a little better, at least in my opinion.
• World Press Mod (New York Times for democracy and Daily Worker for communism): A nice little mod that adds new letterheads for the in-game "news reports." Unfortunately, as the mod's creator has been unable to find a way to make the newspapers work depending on your ideology, only one can be active at a time, so I'll have to swap them out manually once the revolution actually goes through.
• A smattering of music packs, including Soviet, Japanese, American, and German period music, as well as a national anthems pack.

Excerpts from A History of America's Communist Century, by Karla Scheele, Professor of History, University of Zurich (2014; translated from the original German)

Preface
Contemporary American political rhetoric paints the Second Civil War (known there as the People's Revolution) as an inevitability, the sure result of 150 years of mercantilism and capitalism and the culmination of Marx's theories on the rise and fall of capital's hegemony over the country. However, once one looks past the propaganda and the rhetoric and looks for the true facts of the fall of what American historians call the "Second Republic," it becomes evident that this is simply untrue. While, as we discussed in the last chapter, the Great War played a major role in the radicalization of the American populace and military, the truth is that none of the following events were set in stone. In truth, the dice fell so perfectly for the American leftist movement in the 1930s that some have described the Second Civil War as an act of intervention from a higher power.

Still, whatever your views on the Revolution and its origins, it cannot be denied that it had far-reaching effects on world events up until this day. The Revolutionary Union of America, the new nation that arose from the ashes of the civil war, would play a major role in the great world conflict that was to come.

[...]

Chapter 2: Peace and Depression (1919-1936)

[...] The 1932 Congressional elections turned out to be more contested than they had any right to be. Given the almost universal revilement of President Hoover and the stigma it attached to the Republicans, expectations were high that the GOP would suffer cataclysmic losses to the Democrats. While this did come true, to an extent—the Republicans would lose their slight majority, dropping down from 218 seats to 183—some of this was to the benefit of the nascent Farmer Labor Party (going up from 1 to 4 seats, all at the GOP's expense) and, for the first time in US history, the Socialist Party of America (gaining 1 Illinois House seat), and while it did give the Democrats a majority, it was not large enough to assuage some of the fears of the Bourbon wing of the party.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd and final President of the United States​

This division would prove to be a major hindrance for the incoming President. It has been said that, had Roosevelt possessed more political capital at the start of his first term, he and his allies in Congress could have forced through a number of programs that he had promised during the campaign. However, as a number of right-wing Democrats were unwilling to risk their re-elections for what many saw as needless spending and worthless bluster, a number of cruical measures were either neutered on the legislative floor or were simply not enacted. Roosevelt can be credited for doing his best in the face of Congressional opposition, but public opinion in a democracy can be a fickle thing--voters, on the whole, like to see results rather than effort. As a result, the establishment took a number of heavy blows during the early 1930s.

Into this new, fracturing political scene stepped a number of more fringe groups, the most mainstream of which was the Farmer-Labor Party. The FLP, an agrarian, primarily Midwestern populist movement, had seen a skyrocketing in popularity among Middle American states, most prominently in Minnesota and Kansas, at the onset of the Depression. Until 1932, it was the only third party since the Roosevelt-era Progressives to win seats in Congress, and had sent a Minnesota representative to Congress in all but one election since 1918.

Jacob Coxey, Mayor of Massilon, Ohio and repeat FLP Presidential candidate​

The Socialist Party of America, the "mainstream" American far-left political party, also made gains during this time. Capitalizing on their "foot in the door" in the form of their House seat, the SPA relentlessly pushed their agenda throughout the Depression, simultaneously supporting Roosevelt's New Deal programs while also poaching his voters. Also ascendant was the avatar of the far left and Stalin's mouthpiece in the American political scene: the Communist Party of the United States of America. Around this time, Earl Browder would emerge as the defining figure of the American Popular Front movement. Browder was originally named General-Secretary of the CPUSA's National Committee in 1932, and while he was a staunch communist, he loyally adhered to the Communist Party's line of the 1930s: a "popular front" against fascism and its champions, Mussolini and, later, Hitler.

Norman Thomas, Presbyterian minister and SPA presidential hopeful​

This "Popular Front" doctrine was enacted at the Seventh Congress of the Comintern, spearheaded by Bulgarian political theorist and Comintern chairman Georgi Dimitrov and approved almost overwhelmingly by the majority of Comintern delegations. This doctrine would prove extremely influential in the coming years, especially during the civil war in Spain. For America's leftists, it meant an end to the confrontational Third Period, in which the USSR controlled large sections of the Party through the NKVD.

Georgi Dimitrov, Chairman of the Seventh Congress of the Communist International
​

Browder engaged in serious talks with Norman Thomas, leader of the SPA, and with the smaller Socialist Labor Party's leader, Arnold Petersen. Unbeknownst to any of them, this "triumvirate of parties" would come to form the nucleus of the Popular Front coalition in the post-1936 era, and later the All-Union Communist Party following the Revolution. The SPA, the SLP, and the CPUSA all had heavy influence in the unions--and while the New Deal came from the top, it often required collaboration with American labor organizations. As a result, a number of Popular Front leaders began to gain seats in municipal and state elections, and began to gain more and more influence in federal labor and public works programs. The SPA expanded its foothold in Congress, grabbing more and more seats as faith in Roosevelt and the establishment waned, gaining their first Senate seat in 1934 and coming to dominate a number of House delegations in the industrial heartland of America. By 1936, this alliance was confident in their own abilities to begin preparing for a Presidential bid of their own--with Norman Thomas as the White House hopeful, and Browder as his running mate.

Browder addresses CPUSA members during the 1934 elections​

With 1936 fast approaching, along with the fateful election that would come with it, the wheels of change were turning incessantly beneath the thin veneer of order in the United States. In the years to come, the world would be plunged into the bloodiest, most world-spanning conflict in its history--and it would be a conflict that a new America would take part in, like it or not.

 

[Mechasaurian]

You might want to actually put the game title in your thread title, OP. I didn't know it was HoI4 until I scrolled down to the bottom of your opening post and saw the screenshot.

 

[inquisition]

You might want to actually put the game title in your thread title, OP. I didn't know it was HoI4 until I scrolled down to the bottom of your opening post and saw the screenshot.

Click to shrink...

Thanks a bunch, fixed.

 

[inquisition]

Excerpts from Chapter 3: Revolution (1936-1938)
​

As the year went from 1935 to 1936, a sense of unease seemed to permeate Washington's bureaus and electoral houses. It wasn't quite a powder keg, but it was becoming increasingly tense in the American halls of power.

Still, not everything was bad news. In 1935, Roosevelt had launched the Works Projects Administration--his most ambitious New Deal project yet, and arguably the saving throw for his administration in the eyes of some. The brainchild of Harry Hopkins, one of Roosevelt's closest advisors, the WPA aimed to mitigate the unemployment crisis by creating a huge number of public works programs, constructing roads, bridges, tunnels, and schools by hiring from the pool of the millions of unemployed Americans desperately searching for wages. As 1936 arrived, the WPA's programs began to bear fruit. Many towns and cities had had some form of infrastructure or facility constructed by the WPA. It was not a fix-all solution, but it was certainly a step in the right direction.

​

Still, general production remained sluggish. Even as the business sector attempted to expand despite the continuing depression, actual output was low. The US Military, already badly neutered between the wars, was undersupplied and understrength. Most divisions didn't have the requisite equipment, and artillery was often missing entirely from a number of units.

​

[...]

Still, the year remained uneventful for the most part, up until the fateful day of February 26th, when the shaky Republic of Spain collapsed into civil war. A cabal of Spanish military officers, led by General José Sanjurjo y Sacanell, delivered a pronunciamento--a declaration of opposition--to the government of Prime Minister Manuel Azaña, and attempted a military coup in Spain's major cities. While much of the armed forces joined in their conspiracy, the coup failed to take many of Spain's major cities aside from Zaragoza, Burgos, and Seville.

​

Sanjurjo would be killed shortly after the start of the rebellion, as the plane he was taking from Portugal to command the Spanish forces crashed due to an overabundance of luggage--all of which Sanjurjo had demanded, as he "[needed] to wear proper clothes as the new Caudillo of Spain." With Sanjurjo's death robbing the Nationalists of their leader, the torch was passed on to General Francisco Franco, who would lead the Nationalists through the end of the Civil War.

Gen. Francisco Franco, one of the conspirators in the nationalist coup and leader of the rebellion​

The incumbent American government's initial reaction was muted. The true opinions of Roosevelt and the Democrats on the state of Spain can never truly be known at this point, but little aid for the Republican faction would be forthcoming from the United States government. The Popular Front, however, especially the CPUSA, were more involved; through the Comintern, the Soviet Union had decreed that the objective of the international worker's movement should be, instead of outright revolution in Spain, the defense of the Spanish Republic.

Nazi Germany felt similarly about the Nationalists. Between the start of the Civil War and its end in November of that year, a full two divisions--over 15,000 volunteers--fought for the Nationalists at the behest of Berlin. Mussolini's Italy, while it sent no volunteers, provided diplomatic and material aid. The assistance of these nations may have been what tipped the balance of power in the war in favor of the Nationalists very quickly, although there are a number of conflicting theories on the subject. Whatever the case, it is indisputable that Franco's forces gained the upper hand quickly, pushing east to cleave Republican territory in two.

​

Madrid fell in relatively short order, after the Nationalists broke through loyalist lines south of the city and surrounded the capital. It took several weeks, but by the end of June, Madrid was occupied by the Francoists and what remained of the Republican government fled to Barcelona, where they would continue to lead a collapsing nation until the end of the war.

Troops of the Nationalist faction enter Madrid after the lengthy siege​

The Nationalists continued their rapid advance, whittling down Republican territory to a narrow strip on the Mediterranean coast. Barcelona would be surrounded by August, with all access to the rest of Spain cut off except by sea--and with the Italian Regia Marina supporting Franco, and with the fascists in control of the Baleares, even that was tenuous. As fascist forces to the south advanced on the southern strongholds of Murcia and Valencia, the Nationalists settled in for a long siege of the city.

​

Artillery fire was kept up on an almost constant rotation, as the ancient city was slowly ground to dust by relentless bombardment. Still, for several months, the Republicans held, even as supplies of food and materiel dwindled the longer the siege continued. Bold sailors braved the Italian Navy and the rebel faction of the fleet to bring supplies to and from the besieged city, but it would not be enough.

Anarchist militiamen during the siege of Barcelona​

On the 29th of November, the siege of Barcelona was finally concluded as Nationalist forces broke Republican lines around the city and stormed the last major bastion of the Republic. Much of the leadership of the Republic, as well as the Communist Party of Spain, were killed and/or captured by the approaching Nationalists. With the fall of Barcelona, the last will of the Republic broke, and the last remnants of the loyalist government surrendered to Franco in the city of Murcia.

​

At the same time, the cause of fascism advanced in Africa. Benito Mussolini, Italy's swaggering dictator, finally acheived his dreams of a larger East African empire when the last broken remnants of the Ethiopian government surrendered to the invading Italian armies. Emperor Haile Selassie fled into exile in England, and would become something of a global icon for antifascists in the prewar world.

The Emperor arrives in Jerusalem at the start of his exile​

[...]

Back in the United States, things were coming to a head quickly. The true tipping point, the point where historians generally mark the buildup to the Civil War, was the sudden and unexpected death of Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor. A close personal friend of President Roosevelt, and the first woman in US history to hold a Cabinet position, Perkins had been vital in the early, tumultuous stages of the New Deal as a liaison between the incumbent government and the American labor movement. As a proponent of stricter labor laws, safer workplace conditions, and of social welfare, she was popular among members of the Popular Front and the FLP, and thus kept them loyal to Roosevelt's agenda.

Frances Perkins, 4th Sec'y of Labor​

On February 10th, 1936, Perkins's car was hit in the side by a drunk driver traveling at very unsafe speeds on the Washington streets. Perkins' driver was killed instantly by the shock of the crash (his seat was closest to the impact), while Perkins was severely injured and left unconscious from head trauma. She received medical attention quickly and was rushed to the hospital, but on the way she began breathing irregularly and soon slipped into a coma. Despite the efforts of paramedics to save her, she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Perkins's car lies smashed against the curb. The driver of the other vehicle survived with some injuries. The same cannot be said for Perkins and her chauffeur.​

Not only was this a deep personal blow for Roosevelt, who had just lost a close friend, it also presented a looming political disaster. Perkins had been a "known face" for the Popular Front and the FLP, and thus necessary for the continued existence of the New Deal. Acting perhaps in haste, Roosevelt and his advisors turned to the next obvious place to find such a link--the Popular Front itself. This sparked some debate within the Front itself; who should they send? Arguments flew back and forth, but in the end, Earl Browder, using both the strength of his faction and the rivalry between the SPA and SLP, won out in the end. Several weeks after Perkins' death, on March 11th, Browder was appointed the 5th US Secretary of Labor, a position he would technically hold until the final fall of the United States.

​

 

[inquisition]

In this position, not only did Browder act as a liason between the Popular Front and the Democrats, he also gained the unique position of expanding the influence of his party from the top down. With the help of Norman Thomas and other orators within the Popular Front, Browder became something of a symbol for the American far left, as a champion of the working class now working within the government. This development emboldened socialist and communist leaders, leading to them becoming even more vocal, some beginning to criticize the Roosevelt government. While Browder and Thomas made no moves to overtly support these increasingly radical elements of their own parties, they did not attempt to suppress them either.

​

In this ominous atmosphere, there was at least some distraction as the US Olympic team took home 24 gold medals, second only to Germany, with 33. While the 1936 games were a significant propaganda victory for Hitler and the Nazis, the Olympics also held prominence for the black community in the United States. Jesse Owens, an African-American track and field athlete, countered Nazi claims of "Aryan racial superiority" by taking home four gold medals, more than any other athlete in the Games.

​

[...]

As the domestic situation tottered ominously, so too did the international situation change. In Europe, the National Socialist German Workers' Party--the Nazis--pulled off a political coup of their own. One of the Nazi Party platform's most central planks was the hated Treaty of Versailles, the peace agreement forced on the collapsing German Empire by the victorious Entente in 1919. Along with crippling reparations debt and territorial dismemberment, Germany had also been humiliated by a number of heavy restrictions on their military and their sovereignty. On March 7th, several days before Browder's appointment, 19 infantry battalions of the Wehrmacht, along with a handful of aircraft, entered the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone where, under the Treaty of Versailles and the later Locarno Treaties, no German troops would be allowed to enter. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler appeared before crowds in Germany, to thunderous approval of his defiance of Versailles.

​

The reactions from London and Paris were muted. Despite far outnumbering the paltry German force (the Armée de Terre possessed approximately 100 divisions at the time), neither nation wanted to intervene. France was facing an economic crisis, and was suffering from serious political and social divisions. For France, a costly, lengthy war could potentially spell collapse. For Britain, the situation was different, but no more conducive to an intervention. At the time, the British Armed Forces were woefully unprepared for yet another general European war, and to make matters worse, the British public was very sympathetic to the Germans in this endeavor. Lord Lothian, an influential British noble, remarked that it was "no more than the Germans walking into their own backyard."

German troops cross the Rhine for the first time since the end of the Great War. No significant foreign reaction would be forthcoming.​

In the United States, President Roosevelt and members of his government declined to comment on the growing crisis in Europe, Roosevelt himself even allegedly taking a fishing trip to avoid having to speak to reporters on the matter. America would not leave its isolation for the time being.

[...]

Even as the European balance of power tottered precariously, the American domestic situation took yet another dramatic shift. The 1936 Presidential election shocked political spectators across the United States. The Thomas/Browder ticket, while they were unable to compete with the Democrats in terms of the total popular vote, still managed to pull off a significant coup in 1936. Despite being defeated by Roosevelt rather handily in terms of the popular vote, the polarization and division in the individual states allowed even pluralities of 35-45% to carry a state, and the mass mobilization of the urban electorate by the leftist parties allowed much of the American industrial heartland to flip to the Popular Front. In the overall electoral college count, Roosevelt was reelected, but at a far smaller margin than expected. The Republicans suffered their worst defeat yet, winning only Vermont and Maine for a total of 8 votes. Coxey won much of the agrarian Northwest, his biggest coups occurring in Minnesota and Kansas. However, the biggest overall winner was the Popular Front ticket of Norman Thomas and Browder, winning an astounding 174 electoral votes, sweeping the industrial heartland and winning Pennsylvania and Washington by the skin of their teeth. Much of this was attributed to the efforts of the Popular Front's representatives in Washington, as they worked to help carry out the New Deal's programs.

​

Out of 531 E.C. Votes:
Roosevelt/Garner: 303
Thomas/Browder: 174
Coxey/Buckler: 46
Landon/Knox:8

The Congressional elections showed a similar upset. The purge of the Republicans from the House continued unabated, with the Popular Front and Farmer-Labor Party devouring a large number of their seats and the Democrats chipping away at their support. By the time the polls closed, the Republicans had nearly been driven from the House entirely. When the polls closed, the incoming 75th Congress would have the Democrats maintain a thin majority in both chambers, while the Popular Front's candidates rocketed to second place in the House and a close third in the Senate and Farmer-Labor doggedly hung on to their coattails.

Out of 435 House seats:
Democrats: 226
Popular Front: 117
Republicans: 67
Farmer-Labor: 25

Out of 96 Senate seats:
Democrats: 57
Republicans: 23
Popular Front: 11
Farmer-Labor: 5

The sudden and shocking upset—both signaling the potential fall of the GOP and the radicalization of American politics—had a profound effect on the mentality of the Democrats, especially once it became clear that Browder was already engaging in backroom negotiations with Farmer-Labor's leadership. The irony was the unenviable position that Roosevelt was now in. Up until this point, Roosevelt had kept Browder and his allies around as a way to placate the labor movement--but now that the election had galvanized them into expanding their foothold in Congress, Roosevelt found that he needed an increasingly-hostile Popular Front. In order for the New Deal to continue functioning, he required the support of both leftist parties in Congress, and while the Popular Front and the FLP were more than happy to cooperate for the time being, the rhetoric of Browder and Thomas was changing. As 1936 came to a close, the tensions in Washington were ramping up.

_______________
​

Spoiler: Gameplay Notes

Technologies Researched (In no particular order)










Foci Completed




I decided to do these three after I completed the WPA, although neither the Committee on Technocracy or Rock Island were really important enought to be mentioned in a history book, so I decided to put them here.

Other Notes
So, this is the first time in all of my games that the Nationalists have won without player support. I just remember that the Spanish Civil War was one of the most frustrating things ever in my Italy game, as I had to prop up what seemed to be a militarily-incompetent Nationalist government with three celere divisions while Franco derped around getting his troops stuck in pockets. It just stands to reason that in the game where I'd prefer a Republican victory, Franco manages to unfuck himself, doesn't it?

 

[obssesednuker]

Where did you get the flavor names for the trucks and artillery?

 

[inquisition]

Where did you get the flavor names for the trucks and artillery?

Click to shrink...

It's in the mod list in the OP. It's Flavor Names Extended.

 

[obssesednuker]

It's in the mod list in the OP. It's Flavor Names Extended.

Click to shrink...

Neat-o. Downloaded.

 

[inquisition]

Excerpts from Chapter 3: Revolution (1936-1938)
​

Red Week
As 1936 passed into the fateful year of 1937, the American republic was treading water in a sea of radicalism. The 1936 elections, both Presidential and Congressional, had emboldened the communists and socialists of the Popular Front, who now saw evidence that the time for true change was at hand. The 75th Congress opened on January 3rd amid a backdrop of unrest, with strikes and protests occurring on an almost daily basis. Union organizers pushed harder for concessions from overseers and bosses; and the harder they pushed, the harder their adversaries pushed back.

​

Marxist ideologies were growing at a rapid pace, expanding beyond the reach of the Popular Front and its industrial birthplace and into New England and the Midwest. The Farmer-Labor Party found itself increasingly drawn into Thomas and Browder's sphere, and while the party remained nominally independent, the distinction between an FLP member and a member of the rural wing of the Popular Front began to blur as well. Even a number of Progressive Democrats in Congress began to collaborate more heavily with the Popular Front.

As Marxist ideologies grew, so did the ambitions of the American labor movement. While Browder, Thomas, and the other leaders of the Front were (at least at the time) more interested in changing American politics through the ballot box, a number of American radicals were preparing their own insurrection through more violent means. This faction of the Popular Front, led by Browder's constant rival William Z. Foster, were not content to wait for the next election to seriously change the US; instead, these "Fosterites" wanted to take on the "bourgeoisie-capitalist republic" through force of arms.

William Z. Foster​

On January 24th, 1937, Forsterite leaders touched off a blaze of strikes and riots in industrial centers across the country. The uprisings lasted through the 29th, and would later become known as the Red Week. Strikers demanded a number of things on top of the normal demands; this time, a large number were demanding that President Roosevelt step down. This came as a shock to both Thomas and Browder. While it is common knowledge that Browder would support a change in government mere months later during the March Crisis, it is less well-known that he was uninterested in violent revolution during Red Week. In a note written to his fellow CPUSA member and close friend James W. Ford, the communist leader stated that "[the Party doesn't] have enough support to attempt anything like what that idiot [Foster] is imagining. He's going to get us all killed."

Without the support of Thomas, Browder, and the rest of the Popular Front's National Committee, Red Week burned brightfor several days before petering out on the 29th. National Guard units dispersed the majority of the protests by the end of January, and Foster, in an emergency session of the National Committee, was expelled from both the Popular Front and from the Communist party--leaving Browder as the dominant leader on the far left of the Front. With this, only Norman Thomas and his SPA allies could oppose the Secretary of Labor for control of the Popular Front.

​

The March Crisis
Over the course of February and early March, the protests progressively became worse and worse. While none quite matched the fervor of Red Week, it was proving more and more difficult for National Guard troops and the US government to keep a lid on them. This was only exacerbated as it became apparent that "worker's societies" were beginning to form within the American military, in all three main branches as well as in their respective air corps. Workers' and farmers' militias began to form across the civilian sectors as well, with unions organizing drills and preparing for what some saw as an inevitable class war.

​

This worried the Roosevelt administration even more. It was becoming increasing clear that he and his fellow moderates were fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of the American people. Polling, still a relatively young practice, was not promising; despite the positive view of the New Deal, the Popular Front was increasingly taking credit for it due to the prevalence of their leaders in its actual implementation, and as a result Roosevelt's numbers looked grim. If the trend continued, and something was not done, it looked like the Popular Front would oust the Democrats from power in Washington in 1938 and 1940.

​

There was also worry within the Popular Front. Both Browder and Thomas were hesitant to rock the boat even further, especially in the aftermath of Red Week, as they felt that further violent unrest could severely damage what they saw as a very good chance at the Presidency. However, a number of more local CPUSA leaders and union organizers had other ideas. Against the wishes of the Party's National Committee, a number of union leaders in Chicago organized a citywide strike--demanding, instead of fairer wages and better working conditions, a national referendum--on the dissolution of the United States as an entity and its recreation into a "true Revolutionary republic," in the words of one striker.

Many expected these to peter out without Party support in the same way the Red Week riots had done. Instead, the strike grew... and grew... and grew, expanding beyond Chicago and to Detroit and Pittsburgh. Workers on New York's famous els--elevated trains--paralyzed transit throughout the city, and radio station technicians seized their radio stations. National Guardsmen abandoned their posts, marching with the masses in a great outpouring of anger and frustration against the federal government.

A strike in Pittsburgh turns violent​

Roosevelt had had enough. Over the radio, he announced that the referendum would not be held--and that it would be ignoring the laws laid down by the American constitution. The reaction was apocalyptic, as a riot began in Toledo that ended with a large blaze sweeping through partsa of the city. Police forces and the military in the area were paralyzed, and social order in many areas seemed to be unraveling. For Browder, this was a sign of two things--that reform from the top could not be achieved, and that a popular revolution could actually succeed.

​

The Republic was well on its way to total collapse.

Revolution
On April 19th, 1937, the final spark of the American powder keg was lit in New York City, and the one to throw the match was but a lowly former soldier. Evan P. Larkhill, a former US Marine corporal dishonorably discharged for poor conduct, was also a radical member of the white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, and an ardent anticommunist. Modern historians know little about Larkhill's belief in any detail beyond his hatred for leftism and African Americans, and that he had a number of friends in the US military who could get him what he needed for a certain project.

Mugshot of Evan P. Larkhill, from around the time of his discharge from the USMC​

In the aftermath of the March Crisis, Thomas, whose efforts to maintain the fragile peace, decided to deliver a speech in Times Square. With him would be the Socialist Representative for New York's 12th district. Jay Lovestone, and a number of other moderate Socialists who opposed the more radical bent of Browder and his allies within the Front.

Thomas spoke for a brief few moments, urging calm, order, and progress in the face of government reaction instead of violent revolution. He did not, however, have the chance to finish his speech--as Larkhill, armed with an M1 Mills bomb, pulled the pin on and lobbed it at the Popular Front leader's podium, crying "God bless America!" as he did. There was nothing that could be done. The grenade detonated right at Thomas's feet, killing both him and Representative Lovestone instantly. Shrapnel severely wounded a number of other Popular Front members, several of whom would later die of their wounds as the chaos in Times Square prevented ambulances from reaching the area. Larkhill was grabbed by hundreds of hands in the crowd and dragged into the crush, where he was brutally beaten to death (his mangled corpse would later be found hanging from a lamppost), but no amount of vengeance could undo his work.

In one fell swoop, the avatar of the moderate wing of the Popular Front had been silenced--and with him went any last hopes for peace in the United States. Within hours of the assassination, riots broke out in cities across the United States, egged on by Popular Front activists and affiliated union officials. This unrest made Red Week look like a minor political spat, as frantic governors called in National Guard units to quell the uprisings--only for many Guard units to defect to the rebels themselves.

In the end, the nation was pushed over the edge by the split in the armed forces, exemplified by the Sailor's Revolt in Norfolk. The US Navy high command had prepared a contingency if full-scale rebellion broke out: should Washington come under threat, the big guns of the US Atlantic Fleet's battleships would stand guard over the city, fully prepared to fire--and that was something that a number of US naval officers were not willing to abide. Of all of the three main branches of the US military, the navy was by far the most radicalized, even gaining the derogatory name "Boatsheviks" from their Army rivals. Among these Boatsheviks were a number of prominent admirals, including Ernest King, Raymond Spruance, Chester W. Nimitz, and William "Bull" Halsey Jr. Frank Jack Fletcher, Arleigh Burke, Charles M. Cooke, and Harold R. Stark rounded out this "Supreme Sailor's Soviet," so nicknamed in the aftermath of the Revolution.

The battleship USS New Mexico, later nicknamed the "Mother of the Revolution"​

In truth, it is unknown how radicalized some of these prominent officers were. Some, as in the case of Ernest King (whose anti-British sentiments had evolved into a general anti-imperialist stance), may have been true believers--but others, like Halsey or Nimitz, were just as likely to be unwilling to fire on their own cities even if Washington was threatened by rebellion. All, however, were well aware that their rank and file were heavily radicalized--and to oppose the general will of the fleet would, for some, be tantamount to suicide.

And so when, on August 7th, the sailors aboard the battleship USS New Mexico rose up and refused to sortie, the Boatshevik admirals came out in public opposition to the government. The rebellion spread across the fleet until the rebel sailors controlled the Norfolk dockyards and part of the city, joining rioters in the city proper in storming City Hall and toppling the local government. The Boatsheviks declared the creation of the "Virginia Worker's and Sailor's Council," and publicly urged other American military personnel to rise up against their officers and disobey the orders to violently suppress the rioters.

The revolt spread like wildfire after a number of sailors seized Norfolk's local radio station and began broadcasting messages of resistance and unrest as far as the transmitter could reach. New York, the site of Thomas's assassination, was the next to explode; workers abandoned factories and swarmed Lower Manhattan, burning down the New York Stock Exchange and seizing City Hall. In emulation of their Navy "comrades," the New York insurrectionists toppled Mayor LaGuardia and proclaimed the "New York Supreme Soviet." The National Guard units sent by Governor Herbert Lehman also defected, allowing the rebels to arm themselves with modern weapons and begin expanding their territory beyond Manhattan. This story was repeated across the US, as National Guard units often refused to fire on their own countrymen and simply stood aside or even joined the rebellion themselves.

A revolt in Chicago​

In Washington, at the news of widespread rebellion, Browder made his move. At 11:00 AM on May 20th, several units of US Regular Army troops--led by vetted Popular Front ally J. Lawton Collins--occupied Washington. Workers' militias and National Guard soldiers loyal to the Popular Front blocked off all access to the capital, ensuring that nobody could enter or leave the city. With this done, the Popular Front soldiers, on the orders of Browder, blockaded Capitol Hill, the White House, the Judiciary, and the War Department. Congress was in an emergency joint session when Sergeant Robert E. Fisher of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Division burst in at the head of a platoon of soldiers, shouting that "The revolution has come!"

​

The soldiers placed the majority of the Democrats and Republicans, as well as several unwilling FLP Congressmen, under "protective custody," removing them from the Congressional floor and thus giving the Popular Front total control over the legislature. The new congress quickly passed the "April Directive," stating that the country was now under martial law and that a number of constitutional rights would be "temporarily" suspended. They also "unanimously" declared Earl Browder the Provisional President of the United States, in light of the "betrayal" of Roosevelt, who himself was not in the White House--he had relocated to the West Coast several days prior, and now led the remnants of the previous US government.

As news spread, the disparate rebel enclaves expanded against determined but disorganized resistance. The industrial regions fell to the Popular Front in short order, as did New York and New England. Much of the Midwest--a stronghold of Farmer-Labor--sided with the communists as well, but by far the most surprising state to throw its lot in with the Socialists was Texas, of all places. These enclaves of leftist agitation and rebellion from whose foundation would grow the Revolutionary Union became known as the "Reds," while the citizens of the West Coast, the Deep South, and the American Southwest became known as the "Whites" in a deliberate parallel to the events in Russia twenty years before.

The battle lines were drawn. The Second American Civil War had begun.

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Spoiler: Gameplay Notes

Technologies Researched
None

Foci Completed
None; started work on BuShips

Other Notes
I... actually didn't expect the revolution to fire this quickly. I actually got very lucky, in a way; I got two instances of the "Class Conflicts Divide the United States" event, one in January and one in March. That, combined with the "partisans" event and the failed referendum, rocketed the CPUSA to 75% popularity (!) in only a couple of months.