Battle of Washington, D.C. (Yellowstone: 1936)

The Battle of Washington, D.C. was a ten month armed conflict between the government of the United States and several different insurgent forces. It originally started on December 12, 1936 as civilians marched on Washington with initially peaceful intents. However, over the course of the next week, the protest became a violent confrontation between rebels, labor unions, and the military. It became an armed conflict by the time it spilled over into the next year. The DC Police was dismissed from the riots and was replaced by armed soldiers of the National Guard and Army of the United States. However, several men began to defect from their ranks and the rioters began to become heavily armed. Major diplomatic missions in the District of Columbia, including the British and French Consulates, began to be blown up by rioters, and civilians and the government began to be evacuated by March of 1937. President Roosevelt and his details were the last ones to leave in June, with the President continuing to direct the military from the safety of Baltimore. On July 4, 1937, the rioters attacked major buildings, including the Capitol and the Supreme Court. The armed forces began to fallback to the National Mall and surrounding areas after the rebels set fire to Embassy Row. On September 17, 1937, the military of the United States ceased to engage with the rebels.

After the battle, rebels surprisingly did not harm government buildings; rather, they rebuilt the destroyed portions of the Capitol and the Supreme Court. The temporary Republic of Columbia was proclaimed from the White House, although it collapsed by January of the next year. The city was also part of the Six Day War between Maryland and Virginia, who both sought to control the area. Pennsylvania would later intervene and established the Washington DMZ. The DC area today is still an important city, claimed by Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. It also has a large population of the working classes of Virginia and Maryland, who built the Washington Metro System in the 1970s, connecting the city to both Maryland and Virginia.