The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Modern World

This is the prelude to the creation of the true sequel to The World Upside Down and is going to be the official history for that NES. This thread will be updated at least one chapter every few days. I appreciate all criticism and assistance in the creation of this thread.


To many people today, Havana brings to mind paradise, a tropical haven to escape from the cares of the world and to relax upon a beach. For others it is an economic metropolis, a place where business is done and trade passes through. Few in the modern era realize that little more than a century ago, Havana was only barely a city, under the occupation of the Spanish Empire and in a state of open revolt. Havana acts as a suitable representation of the world over the past century. Havana has transformed itself from a pre-industrial cesspool of disease and filth to a modern center of industry.

As stated, in the 1890s, Havana languished as the pearl colony of a dying empire. Decades of turmoil and unrest had taken its toll and gained the notice of the island’s powerful neighbor to the north, the United States of America. The so-called “yellow press” of the time called for the American nation to go to war to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and to liberate the Cuban people. When the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898 while in the region to protect American business and interests, many argued for war. President William McKinley was quick to respond with his famous statement that “a few lumps of misplaced coal are hardly causes for war.” Cooler heads ultimately prevailed and a conference was called at the small Spanish town of Aviles, led by .

The Treaty of Aviles has gone into history as one of the most significant treaties signed not only at the time, but to the present day. Under heavy pressure from the French and German governments, who were both anxious to prevent American involvement in European affairs and wars, Spain folded to the United States, ceding control of Cuba to the American nation. Spain also pledged to end claims, influence, and expansionism within Central and South America, forced to abide by the terms of the Monroe Doctrine. As an addition of insult to injury, Spain was forced to pay funds to compensate any property damage caused by Spanish military forces while suppressing the Cuban rebels. The Treaty of Aviles would catapult the United States not only onto the European stage, but the global one.

It would be at this meeting Aviles that a friendship was formed that would shake the world. Two famous and powerful men would meet and forge an alliance which would turn the world upside down.

The first of these men, Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the absolute ruler of the newly established German empire. Born in 1859, a grandson of the British Queen Victoria, Wilhelm II was the quintessential German aristocrat. With his father’s death in 1888 after a mere ninety days of leadership, Wilhelm II was coronated emperor of the German nation. Under his rule the German military was modernized and a navy was built from scratch. The new Kreigsmarine was his victory in Germany, as over a dozen new battleships entered into service. Domestically radicalism had begun to subside in the nation and the conservatives stay dominant. German industry had boomed under his rule, and production was beginning to reach and surpass the United Kingdom and United States in some fields. Wilhelm II was also often considered to be outspoken and often intimidating to those who surrounded them. Brash statements often caused frequent embarrassment internationally, particularly with the neighboring nations of Belgium and France. This personality alienated him from the multiple Chancellors of Germany from Bismarck to his wartime Chancellor, von Bulow. Wilhelm II would arrive at Aviles as a mediator, though many modern historians believe he merely used the opportunity to build ties with the Spanish in the hopes of creating a second front in a possible war with France.

Theodore Roosevelt was born just a year apart of the Kaiser, in 1858. Born into old money from multiple family successes in the United States over hundreds of years, Roosevelt was driven by the desire to help improve and strengthen his country in the eyes of the world. Serving in the Department of the Navy, Roosevelt first came to the nation’s attention with his flamboyant speeches at the Aviles Conference. At this time he was in the station of Assistant Secretary of the Navy and was sent to the conference by President McKinley as mostly an afterthought. Prior to and following the explosion of the USS Maine, Roosevelt was one of the most outspoken advocates of war with Spain to bring America onto the world stage. At the Aviles Conference, Roosevelt would ultimately be given credit for the ensuing treaty which granted control of Cuba to American authorities.

Wilhelm II and Roosevelt would meet multiple times during the course of the conference and they took an instant liking to each other. Both viewed their respective nations in a similar light and both believed that their nations were destined for greatness through expansion and warfare. After the signing of the Aviles Treaty, Roosevelt would accept Wilhelm’s invitation to hunt throughout German Africa with the Imperial hunting party. Following Roosevelt’s return to the United States in early 1900, he was offered the position of Vice President in order to appease the more radical Manifest Destiny types within the Republican Party. President McKinley’s death by an assassin’s bullet almost immediately after the election left Theodore Roosevelt the nation’s youngest President.

Early in 1901, a series of visits were made by heads of states between Washington and Berlin. The rise of nationalism and the cordial relationship between Roosevelt and Wilhelm II led to a motley collection of ambassadors meeting in seclusion at President Roosevelt’s summer home at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Representatives from Russia, Germany, the United States, Argentina, and an assortment of weaker powers met and a revolutionary agreement was made to attack and divide the land and wealth of the mighty British Empire.

For nearly a century prior to the Portsmouth Conference, it was said that the “sun never set on the British Empire.” The British government possessed holdings around the world from every continent. Throughout the nineteenth century, the British Empire stood firmly against other nations which attempted to compete with it economically or politically. In 1901, Britain dominated not just its plethora of colonies, but economically it reigned supreme over China and most of South America. Britain used its economic strength to prevent the influence of newer industrial powers such as Germany and the United States. At sea, it was said that the Royal Navy ruled the waves, and the British used their fleet often to intimidate other European powers and indigenous peoples. On land, the British had recent established the world’s largest volunteer army as the Boers of South Africa raged against the British establishment for independence.

All of these facts were realized by the ambassadors who met at Portsmouth in 1901. The wealth and strength of the British Empire were apparent to those who viewed it, and all recognized the empire as the sole global superpower. The harsh voice of President Roosevelt would eventually shatter resistance, leading to the onslaught of the Great War. Roosevelt argued that indeed the British Empire was vast, but because of that, its forces were spread thin. He argued that the empire was economically powerful, but only due to its reliance on many of the nations at the conference. Finally he said that the British fleet was large, but the combined fleets of Germany and America were larger. In a stirring speech, Roosevelt said, “the British have spent their time robbing the world of its wealth and prosperity. They have become weak and decadent with their wealth, and have left it undefended for our taking. United we stand, and divided we fall, together we will triumph over the might of Britain.”

The world would be thrown into the twentieth century with the noise and violence of war. The peace of the Gilded Age would be shattered by a conflict of global proportions. The Portsmouth Conference set the stage for the fighting which would drown the continents in blood. Though no official declaration of war was made as a result of the Portsmouth Conference, the nations involved agreed to support each other in the case of war against Britain. The only formal alliance declared was that between the United States of America and Germany. From these small seeds, the First World War would bloom.

The first shots of the First World War were fired on November 2, 1901. The merchant ship USS Princess, bearing guns and ammunition for Boer rebels in southern Africa, was boarded by British marines and the captain and crew were placed in the brig and the ship was confiscated by the Royal Navy. This move outraged the American public and the “yellow press” which nearly sparked war with Spain, now railed against the threat of Britain. After heated debates, the United States and Germany would declare war on the British Empire on December 1, 1901. Before the dawn of the New Year, the nations of Russia, Japan, and France would all declare war on the British Empire.

The first battle of the First World War would occur at the small city of Vancouver in Canada. A regiment of United States cavalrymen under an ambitious commander would strike deep into western Canada in order to capture the city and gain glory for themselves and the United States. Though outnumbered by Canadian militia, the cavalry managed to defeat the militia and secure control of the city and thereby controlling most of western Canada. Reinforcement militia from Winnipeg would later arrive, but the cavalry was reinforced by infantry and artillery deployed quickly from California, allowing Vancouver to remain under American occupation, as it would throughout the remainder of the war.

The Allied Powers had plotted their strategy for war at the Portsmouth Conference, and they had determined goals and objectives for the course of the war. Roosevelt argued that the war would likely be one of attrition until a decisive battle was fought at sea between the Royal Navy and the allied fleets. The strategy therefore called for forcing the British to fight on multiple fronts around the world in order to strain their transport capacity and logistic supply, which would become vulnerable to raider attacks. To achieve this end, it was agreed that several major powers would focus their efforts in different regions to best distract the British. The Americans would act to open fronts in the Caribbean, eastern Pacific, and Canada. Germany and France intended to divide and conquer the Low Countries, forcing the British to fight on the continent, both powers also agreed to deploy reinforcements to Africa to continue to threaten British positions in South Africa. Japan, quickly abandoning its alliance with Britain in order to reap the wealth of Indonesia and Australia, would engage and defeat British forces in the Far East.

Politically the Allies were initially alone, though many believed they would be enough to win the war without further aid. However, the United States made several overtures to a variety of Central and South American nations in order to undermine the “unofficial empire” of economics that Britain possessed in the region. Guatemala and Argentina agreed to join the war following the entrance of Paraguay and Uruguay who offered support to Britain. Germany and France also made extensive efforts to bring Russia, Spain, and Austria-Hungary into the war with varying degrees of success. All three nations would enter the war, though Spain and Austria-Hungary provided very limited assistance outside of their own spheres of influence. Russia’s entry into the war in late 1902 would trigger the British alliance with the Ottoman Empire which would open up the Middle East as a front in the growing conflict.

The British were not unprepared for the threat of war. They were readily informed of the agreements and assurances formed within the Portsmouth Conference, however, very few politicians took the threats of war seriously. When disaster occurred for Britain in November of 1901, peace was quickly made with the Boer rebels, granting them autonomy and independence of their heartland. Britain’s goal was to achieve quick victories through rapid and brute force against the capitals of their foes. Meanwhile, defensive fights would be made using localized regiments and militias across the Empire. British political thought was that if the United States and France were forced out of the war, the other powers would sue for peace. Overall, the Crown was concerned with survival, rather than absolute victory.

Fortunately for the British Empire, they possessed considerable political and economic influence on parts of the “unofficial empire,” especially several nations in South America. Though sections of the unofficial empire joined the Allies, such as Argentina and China, several smaller South American nations provided political and military aid to the British Empire. Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay all provided soldiers, some of whom would assist in the Virginia and New York campaigns in 1902. Belgian and Dutch troops would also serve nobly in the opening campaigns in Europe as would the forces of Albania and Romania.

The first great campaigns of the First World War would not be fought until winter subsided and spring of 1902 arrived. French and German forces launch a massive invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, only to be met by stalwart resistance. The arrival of veteran British soldiers from South Africa enabled the defense to hold, and a counterattack from Belgium led to a move into France. Under command of General Douglas Haig, British soldiers defeated the French army at the Battle of Brussels then proceeded to march south into France itself. A following battle along the River Somme in early June would result in further French defeats, and the British Army seemed well on its way to capturing Paris. To the surprise of many Frenchmen and most of the world’s nations the city was saved. Valiant efforts by a French army under General Philippe Pétain would allow the French to hold until for the second time in less than twenty years, German troops marched through Paris, this time to rescue it. The arrival of the German Third Army allowed the Allies to smash Haig’s army through sheer might and push north into Belgium. The king of Belgium would surrender on November 5, 1902 and the Dutch would withdraw into “Fortress Holland,” a collection of flooded swamps and rivers around Amsterdam. The siege of Amsterdam would continue until the Dutch surrender in the middle of 1903.

In North America, a variety of major campaigns were launched in the first year of the war. During winter, squadrons of the British Royal Navy attacked the American coastal defenses along the East Coast, and even made several raids on San Francisco and Hawaii. Though some raids were defeated, the war between the US Navy and the Royal Navy continued to escalate as time progressed. Allied press would be incensed particularly at the devastation of St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, when a British squadron razed the city despite no resistance. The historic Floridian town would be portrayed as martyred to the perfidy of the British. Atrocities aside, the British fleets would win several victories after sinking the USS Texas while in port at Charleston. Most of the vaunted coastal fortifications of the United States were shattered by modern naval firepower.

On land, the United States began by launching two major offensives in May 1902. After a brief battle, a small army under Arthur MacArthur would seize the city of Winnipeg from Canadian regulars. Another, larger army was sent to capture the cities of Toronto and Ottowa using the Niagara Peninsula as a springboard into Canada. The city of Toronto fell by the end of June, but further northeastern progress up the peninsula would be short-lived. Thanks to the efforts of determined Canadian militia and British regulars, the campaign bogged down into a stalemate as trenches were dug and advances became minimal at best. The Niagara Front would foreshadow the bloody fights of attrition which would symbolize the Communist War over a decade later.

American defenses were caught off-guard by a twin assault by the British directed at the United States East Coast. The efforts by the British to shatter the coastal fortifications over winter had proven successful and using the initiative gained, invasions were launched at Long Island, New York and Norfolk, Virginia. Long Island was seized by British marines in an attempt to open up the American industrial heartland for invasion. A following attack on Manhattan would fail with the arrival of the US Navy. Trapped in Long Island Sound, the British task force under Admiral Jellicoe would be forced to surrender after a five-hour gunnery duel. In the battle, both the newly outfitted battleship the HMS Cornwallis and the older battleship the HMS London were sunk by American ships. In the process third American battleships were badly damaged and forced back into port, allowing the British to continue the Virginian campaign unhampered. The Royal Marines would hold on Long Island until they surrendered in December after a series of brutal snowstorms which left their supplies ruined. The Virginian campaign would be fought as the British attempted to capture Washington D.C. and to force the American government under President Roosevelt to end the war. British forces advanced quickly across Virginia, and would capture Richmond after destroying the Virginia National Guard in a single pitched battle. Attempts to halt the British advance in the Wilderness where Grant had fought Lee less than fifty years before failed as not enough American troops were assembled to contribute to the front. Fortunately, British naval attempts to steam up the Potomac River were halted by a series of fortifications which had remained intact. Naval mines also prevented raids against the forts by the Royal Marines. After failure by former American general Nelson Miles forced President Roosevelt to relieve him of command, Arthur MacArthur was appointed as the new commander of the army. On August 8, 1902 the American Army met in battle against the British near the small Virginian town of Centreville and with the arrival of forces from the south, smashed the British expedition. After a ten-day siege at Norfolk, the British soldiers quickly withdrew back to bases in the Bahamas and Bermuda.

In Asia of 1902, prepared German and French forces were besieging British colonies. The invasion of Siam by French troops was a direct drive at the wealth of British India and the British Indian Army was deployed by Governor-General George Curzon to halt the French advance. A series of skirmishes and minor battles resulted which left the front in Siam fluid and very hard to determine. Only the deployment of the Indians to other fronts in Asia allowed the French to hold their own against the superior British troops. The armies of Australia and New Zealand found themselves desperately holding onto New Guinea and Indonesia. A ferocious Nipponese attack quickly destroyed the minor Pacific Command of the Royal Navy and Boxer Chinese attacks against the British saw Hong Kong be overwhelmed. With the ongoing battles in Europe, the Dutch were unable to provide significant forces to aid in the protection of Indonesia from Nipponese attacks. ANZAC forces would play a vital role in holding the Dutch colonies against advance. Despite their limited success against the Nipponese, the ANZAC armies were overwhelmed by German forces in New Guinea and found themselves besieged in the town of Port Moresby. To add further complications, by the end of the year the United States had already begun their vaunted “island hopping” campaign to drive on New Zealand. The American military fortification and reinforcement of Hawaii after the November 1901 raid, and the ensuing capture of the Pitcairn Islands threatened New Zealand with possible Allied invasion.

Africa remained quiet through most of the opening year of the war. After the British withdrawal from the newly founded Boer Republic in October of 1901, less than six full British divisions remained on the continent. The only military activity to occur was the capture of several minor British colonies in West Africa by Liberia and France. Officially the Belgian colony of Congo would also be turned over to German control following their surrender in November. Overall, colonial governors throughout Africa would seize more control and power as they exercised rights of emergency rule in directing their colonies. In South Africa the assembly was dismissed temporarily and after the arrival of Indian troops following the threat of German invasion, South Africa was put under the control of the Indian Raj.

1902 was symbolized by a series of British successes, followed by major disasters and defeats. On the European continent, Britain found herself without friends or allies and hastily prepared fortifications for perceived invasion by the Allies. Both Britain and Germany appealed to the Russians and the Ottoman Empire, offering lucrative gains to whoever joined them. In America, the British found themselves on the defensive, after losing western Canada to the United States and Belize to the Guatemalans. The naval defeat at Long Island Sound and the withdrawal of the fleet from Virginia had threatened supply lines from Britain to the islands of the Caribbean. Though the entry of Paraguay, Colombia, and Uruguay initially allowed them to ease their garrisons in the Caribbean in favor of using local troops to protect the region, threats of war from Argentina remained possible to balance the political gains. In Asia, Britain’s Commonwealth fought a delaying action, hoping to forestall the Allies long enough to seek relief from Europe and America. Despite the bleak picture, the British retained hope, for the bulk of the Royal Navy stood undefeated and the steel wall of the fleet would allow Britannia to continue to rule the waves.

The illusion of British naval superiority would be shattered by the end of the 1902-1903 winter. An American convoy of wheat and grain was determined to be sent through the Channel to aid a struggling continental Europe after a poor harvest in 1902. Along with the foods were weapons and money to be used to bribe the Russians into joining alongside the Allies against Britain. The convoy would consist of nearly a thousand ships from over a dozen nations, easily the largest concentration of shipping in history, even to the modern day. The British military was aware of the opportunity to perhaps sunder the Allies and force them to a negotiated peace in Europe and America. The Dutch navy, sitting intact in Amsterdam and the full force of the Royal Navy, with the exception of the Indian Command and Caribbean Command, were marshaled to meet the threat. They were placed under the command of newly appointed Admiral Archibald Milne, who, against all odds, used a converted yacht to sink the German light cruiser Breslau and by doing so, he had become one of the few heroes Britain could point to in the first year of the war.

Against the British, the Americans deployed over 70% of their standing navy, a force which would have been sorely outnumbered by the might of the Royal Navy. However, even as the convoy steamed out of Boston and New York City, fleets were being marshaled across the world to defend the Alliance’s chance at victory. As the convoy approached the British islands, they were met by the French Atlantic fleet off the coast of Ireland, dramatically increasing their numbers, though not decisively. The British were still optimistic when the Royal Navy met the Americans near the great port of Scapa Flow. Everything changes when the Kriegsmarine came up from the southeast, positioning themselves in the rear of the British navy. The great convoy came to a halt as the largest naval battle in history began in the early hours of January 23, 1903. The British armada, desperate for a victory, formed into what would effectively be called a square formation in order to combat enemies on all sides. A scattered volley was fired at the Americans and French and the battle began. Outnumbered, but with better gunners, the Royal Navy extracted a terrible toll upon the Allied fleets. Seven out of thirteen American battleships assembled were destroyed or so badly damaged they were forced into port in Germany for the rest of the war. Five out of ten French battleships were sunk and the crews lost to the sea. Only four German ships were lost out of twelve, though KMS Wilhelm II sunk while attempting to return to port due to damaged. The Royal Navy was likewise devastated, losing twelve proud battleships and a variety of smaller vessels. With the fleet threatened with encirclement and destruction Admiral Milne withdrew the Royal Navy into the protection of the guns of Scapa Flow. The great convoy passed to Germany unmolested.

The arrival of the funds borne by the convoy would result in the Russian declaration of war on February 12, 1903. The Ottoman Empire would join alongside the British a mere month later, opening another front in the growing conflict. The Imperial armies of Russia, assisted to a limited degree by the German and Austrian armies, invaded Asia Minor, moving to at last secure their warm water port. A brief campaign by Austria against the nation of Romania in late 1902 had opened the city of Constantinople for attack by the Allies. The victorious Austrians attempted to capitalize upon their victory by bringing the navy around from the Adriatic to capture the historic city. To the humiliation of the Austrians and the surprise of the Turks, the Russian fleet arrived first, destroyed the fortresses defending the city and seized the town. Over a hundred thousand Ottoman soldiers were forced to surrender to the Russian army. Russian military forces also attempted several assaults over the Caucuses through 1903 only to be rebuffed by the Ottoman military. Elsewhere in Europe the land war came to a standstill. French and German military forces quickly prepared for an invasion of Britain itself in order to completely bring the Empire to its knees with the capture of London. An armada of ships was quickly assembled in the port of Cherbourg as German and French armies amassed in preparation to land at the mouth of the Thames and advance on London. When the fleet disembarked in May they were met by the Atlantic Command from Scapa Flow. The gallant forces of the Royal Navy routed the fleet of the Kriegsmarine and the invasion of Britain was forestalled. No Allied soldiers would set foot on Britain throughout the course of the war. For the remainder of the war, Allied and British soldiers would stare at each other from across the Channel, coining the phrase “phony war” or sitzkrieg as the Germans referred to it. With the fall of Amsterdam, the main war in Europe had ended.

As the war was drawing to an anti-climatic conclusion in Europe, in the Americas the fight was growing. A major breakthrough southeast of Ottowa, American forces had at last broken British lines in Canada. With this victory, the American armies would capture Canada’s provisionary capital and march up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec. Though for a brief time British strongholds in Newfoundland and Halifax would hold against the American onslaught, both regions would surrender by the end of the year. In the Caribbean, the victory at Scapa Flow enabled the United States Navy to act with impunity against the positions of the British Empire. Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the British Virgin Islands all fell with remarkable ease. Though the Haitian military forces continued to hold in the mountains until the armistice was signed in 1905, that island was soon secured by American marines. With winter not truly being an issue in the hot climate of the Caribbean nations, American forces would continue to press on under the relentless command of General Fitzgerald Lee. The Nicaraguan entry into the war in September 1903 resulted in the rapid occupation of Costa Rica by the Nicaraguan military, and American politicians grew concerned over possible threats in Central America. Therefore the invasion of Colombia was accelerated and American soldiers would land on the beaches of Panama and Northern Colombia by early November. The brutal jungle campaigns of Colombia would come to a conclusion with the occupation of Bogotá on April 3, 1904. Further south, Argentine forces used the withdrawal of the Falkland Command to seize control of the Falkland Islands and to assert full control over both Uruguay and Paraguay. Both nations were officially annexed on January 1, 1904.

1903 proved a disaster for British Commonwealth forces under the commands of Australia and New Zealand. The surrender of the Netherlands in June forced the British to seize control of the Dutch East Indies and defend the islands themselves. Nipponese forces easily overwhelmed the confused and strained ANZAC forces in Indonesia, and the Australian holdout at Port Moresby surrendered to Germany in July. A renewed French advance in Indochina drove the army of the Raj into Burma, and an attack through Malaysia resulted in the French occupation of Singapore. From August 1903 to March 1904, American soldiers and sailors would also continue their steady advance through the eastern Pacific Ocean, culminating in an invasion of New Zealand. Though ANZAC forces put up a valiant struggle, ultimately the weight of American arms won the day and the islands of New Zealand fell under the control of the United States. Australia had been surrounded and the forces of three nations prepared themselves for the invasion of a continent.

On April 23, 1904 Nipponese, German, and American soldiers landed at three vastly different points on the Australian continent. Nipponese forces, landing on the west coast easily dispersed the local militia and irregulars who emerged to combat the invasion. The few populated areas of the coastline were promptly occupied and martial law was declared throughout Western Australia. German forces landed east of the city of Darwin, quickly capturing the small metropolis and securing control of the northern coast line. A small engagement would be fought between German and ANZAC forces during the campaign, in which ANZAC veterans were easily defeated by the colonial Wermacht. The Americans would bear the brunt of the fighting for the invasion. Under General Cyril White, the Australians determined that if the Americans could be beaten in a single decisive battle, the terrain of Australia and the logistical strain could be used to defeat the Germans and Nipponese in detail. Six fresh, well-armed and supplied divisions were assembled outside of Sydney with the task of pushing the Americans out. For three months American forces were besieged in the city, awaiting a desperate resupply and relief attempt from California. When the convoy at last arrived, the last remaining ANZAC field army was defeated and dispersed.

The remainder of 1904 would be marked solely by two major campaigns. In Asia, the French would launch a renewed offensive into Burma alongside a French expeditionary force during the humid days of summer and fall. Governor-General Curzon had been expecting the move and after the arrival of evacuating forces from Britain, the Raj successfully defended Burma and India against the invasion. Multiple attacks were made by Allies throughout the remainder of the war, but with British positions reinforced, the Alliance had no chance to break through into the former gem of the Empire.

The most decisive campaign would be fought in the Atlantic. Surprising both their French and German allies, American forces would launch an invasion of Ireland, led by a volunteer division of Irish-American romantics and patriots under Joseph Kennedy. The Americans landed at Galway on June 6 1904, threatening both Dublin and the larger British bases in northern Ireland. Initially the Irish people fought bravely alongside their British overlords, but as American forces overwhelmed a multitude of defensive positions between the beachhead and Dublin, the tide quickly turned in favor of the invaders. Desertion reached an all-time high, and when American forces entered Dublin on July 4, they were met by ecstatic support and cheering crowds. It is widely believed that the photographs of the support of the Irish people and the victory at Sydney would lead to Theodore Roosevelt’s landslide victory in the 1904 American Presidential elections.

As the British Empire suffered defeat after defeat, dissent at home grew rapidly. Elections called at the end of 1903 resulted in a socialist victory in the House of Commons and King Edward VII was forced by the House of Lords to disband the lower House of Parliament and declare martial law and curfew throughout the British islands. Despite increasing unrest, the monarchy was able to keep control of the war effort, nationalizing industrial and financial assets to a degree never before seen in British history. By the end of the 1904, the cracks were beginning to show. The fall of Dublin in July sparked an open revolt through most of Britain. Led by communists Willie Gallacher and Thomas Johnston, the British workers refused to work in the factories until the war was brought to a conclusion. In both London and Glasglow, the military was called in to restore order and violence resulted. Large elements of the recently drafted regiments refused to fire on civilians and joined the growing unrest. By September most of Scotland and Wales had been secured by the communists, and only eastern England remained under government control. Communists then marched upon London, fighting loyalist forces as they advanced. After destroying the Household Division west of London and seizing the city in heavy urban fighting, the Congress of British Workers was proclaimed and Gallacher and Johnston proclaimed a government of the proletariat, establishing the world’s first communist regime. Under the threat of heavy gunfire from both small arms and artillery pieces, the Royal Family was evacuated along with the treasures of the Tower of London on the HMS Indomitable. The remnants of the Atlantic Command escorted the Royal Family from Britain in a dash to India, fighting two minor engagements against the Spanish and French while en route.

In early 1905, the final campaign would be fought as Nipponese forces reinforced French and German armies in Indochina. The combined forces of the Allies advanced once more into Burma, and succeeded in advancing all the way to Calcutta. By April, the tides had once more turned, and within a month, the Allies were once more forced back into occupied Siam. With both sides exhausted and stalemated, the war came to an abrupt end as an armistice was signed on November 9, 1905. No single treaty would bring the First World War to a conclusion. A series of treaties would be signed in Calcutta, ending the war after four bloody years.

In the Americas, the United States of America was recognized as the sole power, and the Monroe Doctrine was confirmed as a treaty signed by the victorious nations. Most of the formerly British possessions in the Caribbean were transferred to American control and were admitted as territories in the United States. Canada and Quebec were also annexed by the United States and placed under military occupation and martial law. The United States’ vast possessions would face significant political issues and unrest until the Roosevelt Statehood Bill was passed by Congress in 1911. Guatemala was granted a charter as the United Provinces of Central America, gaining control over Belize, San Salvador, and Honduras. It was believed that the newly reformed UPCA would act as a buffer towards Nicaraguan ambitions in Central America. This concern was caused by a series of skirmishes in Panama between American and Nicaraguan military forces throughout late 1905, which would result in a draw. Argentina was also recognized as a South American power, and the United States and Germany granted extensive trading rights with the rising nation, bringing the three powers closer together.

In Europe, several nations had disappeared from the map. Even though Allied forces were poised once more for another invasion of Britain, the massive fortifications established over three years and the fanatical military display by the communists during the Winter Revolution gave pause to most Allied commanders. It was decided that though the Congress of British Workers was not to be officially recognized, it would nonetheless be left alone for the time being. The Low Countries had been eliminated from the map, disappearing under the mass of the powerful French and German empires. Their colonial possessions had vanished into the grasps of more powerful nations.

To the east, after two years of brutal combat, Russian forces had overwhelmed the Ottoman army and officially annexed Asia Minor. To the surprise of many and to the dismay of Western businessmen, in late 1904, a group of less than three hundred men under the command of Ibn Saud would throw the Ottomans out of Mecca and Medina. This uprising would result in a massive Arab uprising which found both Arabia and Iraq wrested from Ottoman control virtually overnight. Ibn Saud proclaimed himself the new Caliph, usurping the Ottoman-controlled one and declaring the region under Arabic to be Dar-al-Islam, or “Peace under Islam.” The final nail in the coffin of the sultan came with the late Italian entry into the war in 1904, which resulted in the loss of Egypt, Libya, and Palestine to the Italian Empire. The reign of the Ottomans, which began in 1453, came to a humiliating conclusion four hundred and fifty years later as the wealth of their empire was divided amongst their enemies.

In Africa, the British Empire lost the vast majority of its possessions to the greedy fingers of Italy, France, and Germany. The single exception and oddity was the Raj-controlled South Africa, which held off a small German invasion in the summer of 1903. The Boer Republic was recognized as a legitimate nation by most nations and under colonial rule, Africa once more settled down to a seemingly peaceful existence.

The shape of Asia was dramatically changed during the First World War. Nipponese victories against ANZAC and Dutch armies in Indonesia and Chinese victories against the Europeans during the Boxer Revolution demonstrated that the “yellow man” was just as good as the “white man” in warfare. Though displeased by Chinese actions in seizing “international ports” and revoking extraterritoriality from the Europeans, the powers at the Calcutta conference reluctantly acceded to the revitalized Emperor in Peking, as well as to the vast territories taken by the Nipponese. The addition of Indonesia to the Nipponese Empire virtually tripled the territories under the rule of the Emperor of Nippon. American and German colonial authorities quickly took charge of the plethora of British islands throughout the eastern Pacific, and several islands were seized by the French as well. The biggest spoil in the Pacific Ocean was no doubt Australia. The province of Northeast Territory was granted to Germany, who set up a new military and colonial authority at Darwin, which would be renamed Wilhelmsburg. Western Australia was directly annexed to Nippon and established as a penal colony for unruly Korean agitators and political dissidents. United States military authorities would establish both eastern Australia and New Zealand as territories under martial law, and once more the regions’ fates would be disputed until the Roosevelt Statehood Bill in 1911.

The British Empire had come to a violent conclusion. King Edward VII took full control of the Raj in India, reestablishing the remnants of the British Empire as the Empire of India. The glory days were over for Britain. Yet, across the world, unrest seethed and war still menaced the new powers. Nationalist ideals and imperial ambitions threatened to turn the rising stars against each other and new alliances seemed in order to protect stability. The world had been rattled, now it began to pull itself together once more.

The fifteen years after the fall of the British Empire were not marked by prosperity and growth as the conspirators of the Portsmouth Conference believed. Instead, the period was reflected by persistent violence and unrest as nations attempted to consolidate their gains from Britain. Consolidation occurred in the form of a multitude of wars and revolts which would ultimately result in the brutal turmoil of the Second World War, less than a generation after the First.


With the collapse of the British Empire and the threat of another global war, the world’s surviving powers soon realized that a balance needed to be maintained. Begun from the collaboration which sparked the First World War, Russia, Germany, and the United States were the first to begin the new Council of Nations. This organization, like the now-defunct United Nations, was created to maintain the peace in an orderly fashion to protect the rights of large and small nations. In 1907, the first meeting of the Council of Nations occurred, consisting of twenty-three different member nations.

The Council was established with a Chairman elected from any member nation who presided over the representatives sent to the organization. The Chairman was granted somewhat executive powers, even including a veto on resolutions which he felt went against the essential spirit of the CoN. Woodrow Wilson, the Council’s primary American proponent was easily elected as the Council’s first Chairman in 1907, and presided until he retired from political office in 1919, opening new doors for those hopeful to be chairmen.

The Council of Nations acted well in its less than two decades of existence, preventing the tensions between the American supported Tehran Pact and the Russian backed Common Front International from erupting into a world war. The Council of Nations acted mostly as a forum for dialogue between these two global alliance blocs and allowed for great correspondence and cooperation in international affairs. The Communist War proved to be the greatest success of this organization, bringing about the dismantlement of the communist regime in Britain, as well as the restoration of England to the control of its rightful king.

The Council of Nations provided aid and assistance to the cause of global peace for many years, even after its failure to prevent the onslaught of the Second World War. The Council withstood trial after trial for nearly four decades, continuing to pass laws for the betterment of humanity. Unfortunately, the Council was not able to withstand the ambitions of larger powers, leading to its collapse during the Third World War in 1943. Eventually, the dismantled council would be replaced by the less effective United Nations in 1947.

See Appendix B for complete listing of Council of Nations Resolutions and Chairman elections.

Russia emerged from the First World War as the least affected empire and the one which had achieved all its goals. The annexation of Asia Minor allowed for the development of warm water ports which allowed Russian merchants to trade extensively in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean without relying upon Danish or Swedish control of the outlets to the Atlantic. The capture of Constantinople, the so-called “Second Rome,” brought about a religious revival throughout all Russia. The Emperor was declared not only the head of the political state, but the head of religion as well. Furthermore Russia acted upon Orthodox Christianity’s rebirth to expand its political influence over the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Middle East. The Orthodox Alliance was established in 1907, sealing the friendship of Serbia and the Holy Russian Empire. When Greece invaded Albania in 1908, Russia was the first to recognize the annexation of the region by the Greek government. By 1911, the Orthodox Alliance was extended to include both Greece and Serbia. In the Middle East, Russian military forces were briefly sent into Dar-al-Islam to escort several former rulers of the Ottoman government from Baghdad as Arabic forces advanced. In the Pacific Ocean, the Sakhalin Crisis of 1905 threatened war between the Nipponese and Russia, which the Russian Navy hoped to achieve. Vocal American support for the Nipponese Empire in the Council of Nations forestalled a war in the northern Pacific. Many European governments, including the rising powers of Italy and Eire recognized the threat of Russian influence and dominance over Eastern Europe to their own interests. In the Middle East the developing democracy of Persia recognized Russian designs upon new imperialism in the region.

Therefore, on May 4, 1912, the governments of the United States, Persia, Nippon, and Italy declared the establishment of the Tehran Pact. Masterminded by President Roosevelt of the United States, the Tehran Pact was a blatant attempt by America to curb the growth of Russian influence throughout the globe. The Tehran Pact was stated to protect all members against aggression and military assault, specifically aggression caused by the Holy Russian Empire. The Tehran Pact developed into a technology sharing agreement and a trade pact as well as a significant faction within the Council of Nations. At the height of the Tehran Pact, almost a dozen nations participated in the significant alliance.

In response to the anti-Russian bloc developed by the United States, the Russians quickly mustered allies of their own. Germany signed an agreement with the Orthodox Alliance, thereby forming the Common Front International, a military alliance designed to combat the Tehran Pact. The CFI would develop into a stronger and more integrated alliance than the Tehran Pact, as a multitude of unaligned nations quickly moved to join the new power.

The Common Front International also served as an economic organization, allowing for the development of looser trade restrictions and the integration of the united economies. First and foremost, the CFI became a tool of multinational expansionism. As communist revolts erupted in both Iberia and France, the Common Front International spearheaded the effort to bring about the destruction of the communist regime in Britain, using its large membership as weight in the Council of Nations. Other acts of cooperation would be made in both Asia and Europe, allowing for greater extension of German and Russian imperial power. The Common Front International acted as the world’s most consistent alliance bloc until the collapse of the tsar’s regime in Russia and the rise of the Soviet Union.

With the collapse of the Tehran Pact, the member nations began looking to new alliances and treaties. The Islamic Conciliatory Conference in 1918 brought the withdrawal of Persia from the alliance. This conference also resulted in Persia signing a binding economic and military alliance with Afghanistan and Dar-al-Islam, termed as the Brotherhood of Islamic Nations. The Brotherhood of Islamic Nations stated its goal at these initial conferences to once more unite all of Islam under a single political banner. This alliance has proved to be the most durable of the alliances which would emerge from the ruins of the Tehran Pact, lasting even until the modern day.

The United States of America, one of the founding members of the Tehran Pact, was considered an international pariah for some time following its treatment of the native Mexican population. Some of the United States’ most tradition allies, even including the Republic of Eire, distanced themselves from America. Though the Council of Nations considered economic sanctions against the United States, America’s influence over the Council prevented any direct action from being taken. From this point and until the conclusion of the Second World War, the United States remained isolated from foreign alliances, with exception of a minor token alliance with the nation of Liberia which was considered a partner in war crime with the United States.

Some sections of the Tehran Pact would be later brought into the Common Front International, which due to the success of the Communist War, became known as the true keepers of world peace and stability. Chief among these were the nations of Argentina and Nippon, both influential members of the Tehran Pact. Later cooperation in aggressive action in both South America and Asia proved these nations’ dedication and commitment to their newfound allies.

Finally, the European members of the Tehran Pact were the most affected by the fall of the alliance. Though several localized alliances were established, most predominantly the Celtic Alliance between Eire, Wales, and Scotland, much of Tehran Pact Europe began looking to Italy for guidance. Italy’s enlarged colonial empire from the collapse of France and its role as a stabilizing alternative to the Kaiser’s Germany made it an attractive ally to many. Around this support, Italy established the European League as a stepping stone to eventual European unity. The European League was the prime inheritor of the Tehran Pact’s hostility and suspicion toward the Common Front International. Political conflicts between Italy and Germany and Russia quickly rose to the forefront of European politics, and many historians now attribute this hostility as the sparks which would lead to the devastation of the Second World War.

Chapter 3: The Americas 1905-1920, Picking Up the Pieces of an Empire

Prior to the First World War, the British Empire was the largest landholding nation on both American continents. Canada acted as the great “white dominion” while the islands of the Caribbean allowed the British to press their influence into Central and South America. For over a hundred years, the British Empire and its industry had stood dominant over Latin America. The industry of the Empire continued to find a good market in the United States of America until they were ultimately usurped by their wayward colony. With the fall of Britain, the time arose for the United States and other nations of the Americas to step up. By the end of the 1910s, a new conflict was arising as the powers of South America fought to retain their identity, independence, and stability against the ever encroaching armies and economy of the United States.


The United States of America was one of the biggest winners of the First World War. The extensive claims taken by the American government were easily justified by the lives lost in the conflict. Unfortunately the gains would serve to create a major constitutional crisis. The influx of Spanish and French speaking people into the United States caused by the annexation of Colombia, Haiti, and Quebec was the heart of the crisis, as prior to the First World War, states gained admittance based on English-speaking population. The Democratic Party argued for sovereignty to be granted to the regions gained, restoring new governments under American guidance. President Roosevelt and the Progressive Party spoke harshly against the proposed policy, stating that to give up the territory would be to disrespect the American lives lost in the war. Ultimately the Progressives won in Congress. After six years of military government, most of Canada would be recognized as territories of the United States. In 1911, the Roosevelt Statehood Bill was passed, leading to the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which would create a new policy on admitting states to the Union. The Roosevelt Amendment and Bill stated that if over 30% of a territory’s population spoke fluent English, they would be eligible as a state in the Union. This would also include a population minimum of a mere hundred thousand full time residents in a territory. Under the new policy the state of Vancouver would be admitted in 1912 and the state of Hawaii was admitted in 1913. Over a dozen new states would admitted by the new policy between 1911 and 1960.

In the United States prior to 1915, controversy emerged over the treatment of those Africans who had previously been slaves. Over a process of fifty years after the end of the American Civil War, blacks, though allowed to participate, were gradually eased out of politics and voting in the South and Midwest by use of violence and intimidation. After Roosevelt’s election for a third time in 1912, he stated that he would “make America the true land of the free.” The Civil Rights Acts of 1914 and 1915 made discrimination and intimidation at the polls a felony and called for closer monitoring of the electoral process to prevent discrimination. Further allowances were made to prevent some discrimination in the workplace, especially in the emerging fields of heavy industry and other urban occupations. The heads of the Democratic Party threatened succession over the passing of the new laws, reminiscent of 1860. Crisis was averted when President Roosevelt threatened to “repeat the acts of 1864-1865” should a rebellion occur. Thanks to the Civil Rights, the Progressive Party lost the southern vote, a fact which would return to haunt it in the 1920 election. Despite that fact, the Progressive Party would win Congressional and Presidential elections in 1916. Sparked by election reforms across the world, the American woman voter’s movement gained momentum in the United States, leading to a further Constitutional Amendment being passed in 1917, allowing all women over 18 to vote.

Directly south of the United States, the nation of Mexico faced massive turmoil in the years following the Great War. Between 1905 and 1917, there were over twenty “Presidents of Mexico” and a variety of militarist warlords which held power. When elections were held, they frequently were influenced by the ruling party through fraudulent means of acquiring votes. Unlike in other American republics, reform did not take hold in Mexico and instead, a civil war broke out in 1913 and a multitude of generals proclaimed themselves warlords over large regions of Mexico. In 1916, the warlord Pancho Villa, in an attempt to force the United States to mediate the war, struck across the Rio Grande and attacked several Texan towns.

Pancho Villa’s act outraged the American public and a mere month after the attack, the United States Congress declared war on Mexico. Over a quarter million US soldiers invaded Mexico, easily seizing control of the largest cities and main roads. The warlords, often refusing to work together, would be overrun and destroyed by the American armies piecemeal. By the end of 1917, the final strongholds of the warlords fell to the United States military. The American Congress voted for direct annexation of Mexico, an act which one Senator claimed, “fulfilled the Manifest Destiny denied us in 1847.”

Manifest Destiny aside, the annexation of Mexico presented the United States’ government with an extensive problem. Unlike regions taken by the American government in the past, the nation of Mexico was vastly different in culture, ethnicity, and even religion. Furthermore, rebels and bandits roamed the countryside, threatening stability and peace throughout Mexico and even the southwestern United States. American troops were forced to retaliate frequently and even the taking of hostages was incapable of ending the threat of a full-scale rebellion.

President Roosevelt discovered the solution to rebellion in a meeting of the Tehran Pact in 1917. The ambassador of the nation of Liberia, which had dramatically increased in size since the onset of the Communist War, made a passing reference to manpower shortages within the newly created empire. Further inquires into the situation revealed that though the fledgling republic possessed massive stockpiles of resources and money, the population was at 100% of employment and skilled and unskilled labor were at a high demand. The Treaty of Monrovia was concluded a few days after the Tehran Pact meeting as a solution to both the Mexican problem and the labor issues in Liberia. Under orders of President Roosevelt, the United States Army and Navy nationalized the pitiful remnants of the Mexican merchant marine. Soldiers rounded up entire villages and large portions of the Mexican population, and began shipping them to Africa. Between 1918 and 1924, the American government shipped over 60% of the pre-war Mexican population to Liberia, though government shipping halted in 1925 after the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt as President.

The international problems caused by the forced Mexican Exodus were considerable for Presidents Roosevelt and Coolidge. The incident was one of the precipitating factors for the collapse of the Tehran Pact as nations within the alliance, particularly Eire and Scotland, denounced the American actions. Canadian nationalists, capitalizing on fear of a similar deportation method in Canada, led a revolt based out of Ottawa. Afraid of a revolt across Canada and Australia, President Roosevelt immediately called for negotiations with the rebels. The American government agreed to give Canada equal footing in Congress and governmental posts, removing administrators from the south who had been placed in charge. The Canadians were also allowed to retain weapons and militias to protect themselves if the United States reneged on its treaty. Similarly, observers from the rebellion were allowed to monitor all elections to prevent fraud under the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1915.

In Central America, the period immediately following the Great War was one of reconciliation and consolidation. Guatemala’s military successes in Belize and Honduras led to a further war against San Salvador in 1906. The small nation was easily conquered and annexed by the Guatemalans, and the United Provinces of Central America was proclaimed. From the outset, the UPCA was strictly an expansion of a Guatemalan Empire. The other provinces were given few rights and treated as occupied territories. Under diplomatic pressure by the United States and Mexico, the government of the UPCA was forced to allow voting rights for the occupied territories by 1909. Between 1910 and 1920, reforms within the UPCA by Presidents Gomez and Heuva resulted in the establishment of a true republic. The UPCA would follow their American friends to the north by passing the Total Suffrage bill in 1919, allowing full voting rights for all residents within the nation.

The nation of Nicaragua, following the military skirmishes with the United States in Panama, declared itself the “opposition to American imperialism.” Under military rule since the conquest of Costa Rica, Nicaragua gave extensive support to both the Mexicans and Canadians in their respective crises with the United States. Nicaragua was the first American nation to join the Common Front International in the hopes of affirming international support in a possible war over Panama and the newly constructed Canal. Despite the rhetoric, tensions with the United States would gradually fade from 1910 to 1920 and would turn towards the UPCA. The leaders of Nicaragua quickly turned greedy eyes on the UPCA’s provinces of Honduras and San Salvador. Failed attempts to destabilize the UPCA would result in the 1920-1922 war as a last act of imperial action by Nicaragua. Domestically, Nicaragua was crippled by political in-fighting between the military leaders of the nation. Unemployment was frequently hovering between 20% and 30%, and industrial growth was near nil. The Nicaraguan Socialist led several minor uprisings within the nation, and with the turmoil caused by the Central American War, collapse threatened the nation.

The history of South America up to the modern age is a history of warfare, disaster, and imperial conquests. The end result of the First World War in South America was to exacerbate the tensions already existing between the nations there. The obvious winner of the war in South America was the nation of Argentina. With the Falklands, Paraguay, and Uruguay all seized in the course of the war, Argentina’s power began to rival that of several European nations. Argentina’s diplomatic focus in the years after the First World War was upon unifying the nations of South America while playing a tricky international game. Argentina frequently switched between both the Tehran Pact and the Common Front International, playing off the interests of both large alliances in order to develop the cause of unity. The early establishment of the American Accord in 1911 between Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia was the first step in this effort. The American Accord would be reestablished following the collapse of the Tehran Pact, bringing in both Nicaragua and Venezuela into the fold as well.

Domestically, Argentina pursued a very controversial path, especially in regards to communism. The ultra-conservative Argentine government was one of the first to take anti-communist measures within its own nation. The Communist Expulsion Act of 1913 resulted in the rounding up of thousands of proclaimed communists and socialists and their attempted exile into Chile. However, the Chilean government mobilized the military, preventing access and entry of the exiled people, forcing Argentina to find another solution. Following this disaster, the Argentine government instead boarded these dissidents upon multiple freighters and shipped them east. After failing to find a sympathetic port in over a year in both Africa and South America, a mutiny by those on board resulted in the communists joining their ideological brothers in Britain during the midst of the Communist War. After the fiasco of the Socialist Transit, the government of Argentina is believed to have rounded up and executed the remaining communist and socialist agitators throughout the nation. Economically, trade with Russia and Germany brought a new era of prosperity to Argentina. Unfortunately, efforts both international and domestic would be brought to a standstill as war broke out in the 1920s.

Into the twentieth century and even after the First World War, Brazil was considered to be South America’s greatest hope for stability and development. Tensions had begun to decline and Brazil’s policy of appeasement and diplomacy had prevented multiple border wars from breaking out through the entirety of South America. Argentina’s annexation of Paraguay and Uruguay during the war outraged the government of Brazil, leading to harsh condemnations and outrage against the Argentine government. In the years after the war, continuing border skirmishes and outbreaks of violence frequently brought the menace of war, though thanks to external facilitation of peace talks, conflict was averted. Brazil was the first South American nation to join the Common Front International, mostly in response to Argentina’s support for the Tehran Pact. Brazil found a close ally in the nation of Chile, providing military and economic aid from what appeared to be ever-threatened invasion by Argentina.

Economically during the postwar period Brazil was in turmoil, a recession began in early 1907, throwing the economy into chaos. Though Brazil began with some small trade links with Germany and Russia, these were discarded a few years before the Second World War began. The United States of America quickly became the new trading partner and developer of Brazilian industry, using Brazil as a counterbalance to growing Argentine power. Brazil would see limited involvement in the Communist War, though it would allow a variety of claims to be pressed upon Bolivia and Venezuela, resulting in some small concessions by both nations to Brazil.

The diplomatic landscape in South America could be decisively said to be shaped by two major powers in addition to the nations of Brazil and Argentina. First and foremost the United States of America oversaw many of the diplomatic maneuverings and activity which took place. The American government was a firm initial supporter of the signing of the American Accord as well as resulting treaties with Argentina. Some historians believe that the Argentine Expulsion Act may have been encouraged by the American ambassador as tensions against the communist regimes of Western Europe rose and war began anew. However, as further problems arose abroad, the United States turned away from Argentina and the former members of the American Accord, instead choosing to support Chile and Brazil. With American guidance, these two nations rose to be the largest proponents of the American cause, even until the time leading up to the Third World War.

Russia, though isolated by many miles of distance and other nations from South America, still played an important part in local diplomacy. As the threat of war reared its ugly head in 1914 over a border crisis, Russia offered Moscow as a center to debate assorted claims. The Moscow Treaty, concluded in 1915, resulted in the world’s first coordinated effort to reduce national arms spending and military production. This treaty successfully kept the peace in South America until the onset of war in the early 1920s.