If we could all come together once again for a solid legislative supermajority I think recognizing the Hui would be for the best. It would help with weakening the support of the Ma and any other warlords that primarily draw a base of support from a ethnic minority by creating a precedent to apply to them as well.
We would be deviating from Sun's desired application of the Five Races doctrine by recognizing the Hui as "Hui Chinese" instead of slotting them under "Chinese", but this is one of his weird hangups that we must get over with. We are not running a cult of personality here, despite the desires of some.
[] Recognize the Hui Ethnicity
[] Internationalist Left.
If we could all come together once again for a solid legislative supermajority I think recognizing the Hui would be for the best. It would help with weakening the support of the Ma and any other warlords that primarily draw a base of support from a ethnic minority by creating a precedent to apply to them as well.
We would be deviating from Sun's desired application of the Five Races doctrine by recognizing the Hui as "Hui Chinese" instead of slotting them under "Chinese", but this is one of his weird hangups that we must get over with. We are not running a cult of personality here, despite the desires of some.
[] Recognize the Hui Ethnicity
[] Internationalist Left.
That's interesting, wikipedia mentions that Hui were recognized by Sun's "Five Races Under One Union" thing. Regardless, I want to throw my support behind that option too. It seems like the best approach. We still dismantle the Ma clique without cracking down on Hui culture. I think that while it'd hurt to have to overrule his veto, it'll be a good stress test for the republic we're trying to build.
"It is all very well to be cautious, but if we are too cautious we will miss our opportunity."
- Yoshijirō Umezu
Titans clash in the Pacific.
The Empire of Japan, after the July Incident, would continue it's period of military rule, as the chief conspirators of the coup would now attempt to consolidate their own legitimacy in the eyes of the people through any means necessary for their own goals. The first waves of counterprotests, ostensibly peaceful and for the restoration of democratic institutions, would be met with brutal crackdowns, with the Yokohama Riots being the leading example of these repressions, leaving countless dead and many more arrested. Although dissent was still widespread through the urban intelligentsia of the island nation, it would seem that the most chaotic period of the coup was now over to the coupists. Under the assumption that these anti-coup forces would now need some time to reunify and reconsolidate, the military junta, now more than ever, would now be in a race against the clock to enforce it's vision of a new Japanese Empire.
The government would be wholly restructured, Count Oku and Admiral Saitō working together, somewhat reluctantly, to ensure a harmonious cooperation between the IJA and IJN within the government by way of compromise and reappropriation of state resources. Count Oku would retain his position as the Prime Minister, satisfying the Army's continued domination of the office, though noticeably not ruling his administration with complete IJA fiat, as several civilian ministers would be fired and replaced with pro-Navy politicians instead. Similarly though, the Navy would, surprisingly, agree to a slightly reduced Eight-Eight expansion bill with pressure from Admiral Saitō, increasing the Army's own resources for it's ventures to the Empire's west.
"A harmonious arrangement, the Admiral is one of the few reasonable navy men I have ever had the pleasure to converse with." Count Oku would write in his diary in early August of 1910.
It would be agreed between the two, Count Oku and Admiral Saitō, that a foreign victory would be needed to turn public attention towards, instead of continued attention being poured against the coupists. Count Oku's government would be successful in it's renegotiation for a renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in early 1911, capitalizing on Ottawa's newfound syndicalist problem to reinforce his government's foreign legitimacy.
The new treaty would be hailed as a triumph, as it now guaranteed the Japanese Empire from direct Russian retaliation for the Qing realignment, alongside continued support from the Royal Navy, at least that which remained with the loyalists. However, it was clear to both men that something more showy was needed, an occupation.
Many targets would be discussed, much of it focused on the seizure of one of the many European treaty ports in China, encouraging nationalist currents within Japan to support the government, but this would be set aside with the Conference of Paris being convened, fearful of legitimate European backlash. Instead, their eyes looked east, to the Pacific. There, their only opponents would be the debilitated United States of America, continuing to reel from the Syndicalist rebellion within their borders and seemingly the weakest it had ever been with the indecisive President Bryan at the helm of the nation at war.
Plans would be put into motion in February, with the IJN preparing it's men in cooperation with the Army for the seizure of the strategic island of Guam, the lynchpin of America's long supply lines between it's colonial administration in the Philippines and Hawaii. Amidst the flurry of ambition and flights of fancy, this would be expanded into a total operation for the occupation of not only Guam, but also the jewel of the Pacific, Hawaii itself.
Count Oku would write in his diaries that, "We had basked in the afterglow of the revolution (referring to the July Incident), and the party had not crashed. In retrospect, it should have been obvious, we had flown too close to the sun, and none of us realized we wore wax wings in the joy of it all."
This would naturally cause some friction with their Canadian allies, having only just recently agreed to the deployment of troops in US territory against the UASR, and who would have to inevitably oppose Japan's expansionist ambitions to protect it's ally in Richmond. The Canadians would begin to notice the first signs of something going awry with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu's impromptu meeting with Sir Edward Grey in Vancouver on February 15th, discussing the possibility of the Japanese occupation of the aforementioned American islands in the Pacific, proclaiming it a "necessary measure in defending the region from the threat of Syndicalism".
However, with the UASR being mostly based in the Midwest and Northeastern parts of America, this request would be taken rather unseriously by the Canadians, unsurprisingly rejecting the offer. Foreign Minister Hayashi would agree with the judgement made by Ottawa, leaving the meeting on good terms with Sir Edward and, in his mind, giving away no intentions that the Japanese government would consider the usage of force against American territories.
Ottawa would consider otherwise.
Part 2: The Clash
"There exists only two forces which endanger our policies, our enemies, and our allies." - Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Almost immediately after the "highly unusual" meeting with Foreign Minister Hayashi, Grey would call for a closed-doors discussion of the cabinet to address the demands of the Japanese government. The blatant undertone of the so called "offer for protection" would be lambasted by the Liberal Asquith government, a clear intention that Tokyo would not remain idle whilst the American conflict carried on, imperial ambitions clashing with one another amongst allies. It would simply not stand with Ottawa, still focused on addressing the Syndicalist threat given the successes of the Conference of Paris, for some "second-rate yellow power to pull the rug out from under our feet on our western flank" in the words of Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Llyod George.
Indeed, it would not stand for Ottawa to remain silent, and it would dutifully convey this information to it's allies in Richmond thereafter, where Congress was still busy fighting over the details of the new Council of National Defense bill. President Bryan, still quite burdened from the stresses of organizing the nation for a war against it's own people, would only be able to hand a response to the British by the beginning of May, agreeing that American territories in the Pacific should be defended "no matter the cost", and that the US would send it's own military assets in cooperation with the Canadians to make clear it's stance on the matter should Tokyo attempt anything.
On May 6th, a joint Anglo-American taskforce of some 600 marines would be sent to Guam to reinforce the tiny American garrison of 30 under the command of the up-and-coming General Douglas Haig, alongside a substantive naval escort of a dozen cruisers and destroyers under the command of the Earl Jellicoe to be stationed near the island at all times, which was expected to deter Japanese aggression for good by sending a unified response to the open-ended question of American sovereignty in the Pacific. King Edward VII himself would pay much attention to the proceedings, though Prime Minister Asquith would reassure him that all was well, for not even the Japanese would risk it all for, as he put it, "a scrap of dirt in the ocean."
By June 1st, most of the joint taskforce had begun to relax their posturing, assuming that the Japanese had gotten the message. They were, of course, wrong, as reports would arrive of a large Japanese taskforce approaching the island, escorted alongside it a substantive number of transport ships. It was in fact, a fleet headed by the dreadnaught Kawachi, alongside much of the heavy ships of the IJN, escorting the the VI Rifle Division to Guam. Admiral Dewa Shigetō would not be made aware that the British had deployed naval assets in the region, and would be surprised of the existence of the taskforce at Guam.
Unsure of what to do, the Japanese taskforce would waste valuable time deliberating amongst itself, sending urgent missives back to Tokyo as they watched the Anglo-American navies rush to their own battlestations. Similarly, a fleet under the venerated Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō would face down a prepared Anglo-American force at the outer edges of Pearl Harbor, both sides watching to see who would blink first.
Indeed, a standoff had now begun, both sides watching with fingers on the triggers of their respective ship.
Within the week, Ottawa would call for all sides of the crisis to gather for a conference in Vancouver, wishing to repeat the success it had achieved with the Conference of Paris. However, the parties involved would not be those of the cordial European ambassadors, but instead two irreconcilable parties, both wanting a pound of flesh from the other, with the Canadians in the middle. Naturally, the American delegates would go on a tireless tirade on the Japanese side, throwing around dozens of slurs within the first few minutes of the meeting already before negotiations could even properly begin, prompting the Japanese delegates to walk out of the charade entirely.
With the thankful help of British mediation, the two parties would soon return to the negotiating table again, this time on more "amicable" — though truthfully, it took Sir Grey several unpleasant meetings with both sides — terms, hashing out a treaty that both sides could hopefully agree upon. More absurd demands of the Japanese at this point, pushed at the behest of the coupist faction, would also include the Aleutian Islands, easily shot down, and in the end, a new treaty would be signed between the three powers, the so called "Second Treaty of Peace and Amity".
Second Treaty of Peace and Amity 1.) The Empire of Japan will join the Anglo-American Entente as a full and equal member, to be ratified in a later treaty. 2.) The naval facilities on Guam will become a joint Pacific alliance facility, controlled by a joint American-Japanese commission with a British military presence. 3.) A nonaggression pact between the United States and the Empire of Japan for ten years will be signed. 4.) Mutual docking and refueling rights will be granted to the Empire of Japan and the United States in Guam, the Aleutians, Hawaii, Korea, Okinawa, and Taiwan. 5.) The British Empire and the United States recognize the Chinese territories north of the Shandong peninsula to be a zone of Japanese influence.
A treaty that did not, in fact, guarantee neither peace nor amity between the powers involved.
Part 3: Aftershocks
"Can anyone truly doubt now, the peril which the yellow man now poses to our civilization?"
- Senator John T. Morgan
The treaty which, on the surface, seemed to satisfy all parties involved in the sordid affair would in truth further the divide between the three allies.
The Japanese would leave the crisis wounded victors, as the underground press in Osaka put it, "The regime has fallen for that most classic of national blunders, to think itself superior to all others." Although Japan would de jure succeed somewhat in it's missive to wrangle supremacy of the Pacific from the North American powers, as having a hand in the governance of Guam and securing naval ports on the eastern seaboard of the Pacific for the IJN to use was seen broadly as generous to the two Anglophile parties. In actual terms, the status quo would remain, with Tokyo even farther away from it's goals now that the two powers would watch Japanese movements with far more attention than before. It would, however, be broadly successful in selling the war as a victory in the eyes of the Japanese public, with the navy's position, unlike their army partner's, becoming ever more secure, with many in the army command viewing this as a betrayal by the navy to the army.
The Canadians would leave the crisis in a somewhat more positive situation, believing themselves successful in securing for Ottawa both of it's allies to their cause, intimating themselves with their new American partners further. Richmond would now view the British as their closest of friends, further cementing the Anglo-American Entente. However, Ottawa's failure to intimidate the Japanese to complete submission made it clear that the British Empire is not what it once was, with parliament now looking to rapidly increase British power so that it may once again return to its position of glory.
The Americans would taste a great deal of bitterness in their mouth, having had to compromise with the Japanese in the aftermath of the Conference of Vancouver. The ongoing civil war had forced the United States to respond only half-heartedly to the Japanese threat, being forced to compromise with the pure act of Japanese aggression. The situation had seen Congress agree to a greater need for American naval power and development, with many demanding increased funding to protect American assets against the Japanese, even going as far as to demand the militarization of Hawaii to the max. While public support in President Bryan's administration would reach all time lows, with only the grinding battlefields of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to look forward to as Richmond's situation seems to fall further and further into despair.
It would not, unfortunately, be the last of the Japanese, as the army would now look for it's own victories abroad. And it would find them in the west...
A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed the omake, and I just wanna say thank you to all of your wonderful support for the quest so far!
Oh boy looks like the Canadians and Americans are out as far as getting foreign support goes. Yuan Shikai has got us into quite a pickle with the Qing and Japanese. We should have a look at our foreign policy next turn, the need for foreign allies has increased because of this.
Similarly though, the Navy would, surprisingly, agree to a slightly reduced Eight-Eight expansion bill with pressure from Admiral Saitō, increasing the Army's own resources for it's ventures to the Empire's west.
Count Oku's government would be successful in it's renegotiation for a renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in early 1911, capitalizing on Ottawa's newfound syndicalist problem to reinforce his government's foreign legitimacy.
Plans would be put into motion in February, with the IJN preparing it's men in cooperation with the Army for the seizure of the strategic island of Guam, the lynchpin of America's long supply lines between it's colonial administration in the Philippines and Hawaii.
It would simply not stand with Ottawa, still focused on addressing the Syndicalist threat given the successes of the Conference of Paris, for some "second-rate yellow power to pull the rug out from under our feet on our western flank" in the words of Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Llyod George.
King Edward VII himself would pay much attention to the proceedings, though Prime Minister Asquith would reassure him that all was well, for not even the Japanese would risk it all for, as he put it, "a scrap of dirt in the ocean."
They were, of course, wrong, as reports would arrive of a large Japanese taskforce approaching the island, escorted alongside it a substantive number of transport ships.
Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō would face down a prepared Anglo-American force at the outer edges of Pearl Harbor, both sides watching to see who would blink first.
It would, however, be broadly successful in selling the war as a victory in the eyes of the Japanese public, with the navy's position, unlike their army partner's, becoming ever more secure, with many in the army command viewing this as a betrayal by the navy to the army.
The Canadians would leave the crisis in a somewhat more positive situation, believing themselves successful in securing for Ottawa both of it's allies to their cause, intimating themselves with their new American partners further.
While public support in President Bryan's administration would reach all time lows, with only the grinding battlefields of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to look forward to as Richmond's situation seems to fall further and further into despair.
It would not, unfortunately, be the last of the Japanese, as the army would now look for it's own victories abroad. And it would find them in the west...
[] Recognize the Hui Ethnicity
[] Progressive Right.
Hopefully we can get the Hui onboard with the government before the Japanese come barreling into the country. That way we can actually focus on Japan instead of internal issues.
