Howe's March

In 1777, British General John Burgoyne had devised a strategy to defeat American forces in New York, split the 13 Colonies in half, and eliminate the United States of America. His plan was for three British armies to attack New York State from three separate directions. The British would trap Washington near Saratoga, capture the Hudson River, and thus divide the colonies into two. His plan was unsuccessful- this was because General William Howe, who was supposed to lead one of the other two armies advancing into New York, never showed up. Instead, Howe attacked Philadelphia, and even though he won that campaign, the British lost at Saratoga. France and Spain entered the war following the American victory, and the United States won the war.

But what if William Howe had stuck to Burgoyne's plan, and attacked Saratoga. What if the British won the battle that was supposed to be the turning point for the Americans? This is the POD for Howe's March- William Howe's march to Saratoga along the Hudson River. Welcome to a world where, until 1954, the 13 Colonies remained ruled by the King of England.

The year is 1945. World War II had just ended- with the help of American industry, the United Kingdom defeated Germany. A cold war is about to begin between the Soviet Union and Japan. The UK's grip on North America is weaker then ever. During the war, North America had been under Spanish occupation. (In this ATL, Spain was one of the leading Axis powers of WWII). The wave of decolonization that occurs effects North America too. But soon, a revolution is about to occur that will rock the world.

The American War of Independence (1946-1954):
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Virginia, Canada, Louisiana, and Huron were all absorbed into British North America in stages between 1858 and 1887 with European influence and education. Nationalism grew until World War II provided a break in British control. Early American resistance centered on the intellectual Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt looked to Mexico, which had modernized and was one of the few American nations to resist European colonization.

Roosevelt started two organizations with Mexico, the Modernization Association and the Anti-British Union. Due to British pressure, Mexico deported Roosevelt to Canada. From 1914 to 1917, Sir Robert Borden’s counterrevolutionary government in Canada imprisoned him. In 1925, Roosevelt was captured by British agents in Montreal and spirited to Virgina. Due to his popularity, Roosevelt was spared from execution and place under house arrest until his death in 1932.

In September 1940, Spain launched the First North American Campaign and invaded British North America. Keeping the British colonial administration, Spain ruled from behind the scenes. As far as Virginian nationalists were concerned, this was a double-puppet government. King Herbert Hoover collaborated with the Spanish, just as he had with the British, ensuring that his lifestyle could continue.

From October 1940 to May 1941, during the British Plains War, the loyalist colonists in North America were involved with defending the colony from the forces of the invading ATF (American Tribal Federation) while the Spanish sat on the sidelines. The Tribal forces generally did well on the ground. But Tribal objectives in the war were limited. In January, the American naval forces decisively defeated the ATF forces by launching a pincer attack into the ATF and capturing Denver, with the Americans winning the Battle of Denver. The war ended in May with the British agreeing to minor territorial gains for the ATF.

Due to a combination of ruthless Spanish exploitation and ppor weather, a famine broke out in which approximately 2 million Americans died. The American Liberation Front arranged a relief effort that won wide support in the North as a result.

In March 1945, Spain launched the Second British North American Campaign and ousted the British colonial forces. Spain quickly created the short-lived Kingdom of Virginia, with King Herbert Hoover as it’s ruler.

In August 1945, when the Spanish forces surrendered in North America, they allowed the ALF and other nationalist groups to take over public buildings and weapons without resistance, which began the August Revolution. The ALF had recruited more than 600 Spanish soldiers and given them roles to train the American soldiers. In order to further help the nationalists, the Spaniards kept British governing officials and military officers imprisoned for a month after the surrender.

Henry Wallace was able to persuade Herbert Hoover to abdicate on August 25th, 1945.Hoover was appointed “supreme adviser” to the new ALF-led government based in New York, which asserted independence from Britain on September 2nd, 1945. The old Declaration of Independence from 1776 (declared three times in the last two centuries) was read and went into effect once again. That day, Henry Wallace proclaimed “We hold the truth that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happniess.”

With the fall of the short lived Spanish colony of the Kingdom of Virginia, Great Britain (which had recently been liberated by Italian forces) wanted to restore colonial rule in North America. An armistice was signed between Japan and Spain on August 20th, ending World War II. On September 2nd, British General Bernard Montgomery signed a separate armistice with Spain.

On September 13th, a British-French task force landed in Havana, capital of Cuba, and Atlanta, a major city in V Virginia. The Spanish occupied both cities during the war. Allied troops in Atlanta were an airborne detachment. French general Charles De Gaulle was the supreme commander of allied forces in North America. Gaulle proclaimed martial law in Virginia on September 21st. The following night the       Franco-British troops took control of Atlanta.

Almost immediately after Canada, as agreed to at the Potsdam Conference, occupied British North America as far south as the the 37th Parallel in order to supervise the disarming and repatriation of the Spanish Army. This effectively ended Henry Wallace’s nominal government in Atlanta.

General Montgomery arrived in Atlanta on Ocrober 9th, and with him three divisions of the British Army. Montgomery’s primary objectives were to restore public order in southern Virginia and to militarize the northern parts of Virginia. Secondary objectives were to wait for British backup in view to take over Canadian-occupied New York, and then to negotiate with ALF officials. As 1945 turned into 1946, more British forces arrived in North America and conflict was escalating. For the fourth time since 1775, Americans were fighting for independence from Britain.