Chamberlain's Failure

Scenario: South successfully gains independence from Union.

Civil War Fighting parties: Confederate States of America, United States of America

Divergence Point: Battle for Little Round Top during Gettysburg. Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine fail to hold Little Round Top, forcing a retreat which closes in on the Union. Gettysburg is a pyrrhic victory for the rebels, however, and Lee’s army is forced to return to Virginia. Mead and his men are heavily disorganized, and the Union government relocated to New York City. For the sake of this scenario, California, Nevada, and Oregon as well as Kansas are never ratified as states in the Union.

Confederate forces seize Maryland soon after Gettysburg, and threaten the rest of the eastern Union territory, forcing the treaty of Baltimore on September 7th, 1863. It is officially named Independence Day in the South. It effectively ended the war. On January 15th, 1864, The Republic California declares itself a country, claiming all land west of the Rockies, including California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. It is a dear friend of the Union, and much trade is established.

 In 1870, the Confederacy offers to lift the trade embargos placed on the Union in the wake of the war, allowing the free trade of people, goods, and ideas. After a short time, the Abolitionist Party puts forth a candidate in the 1874 election, winning the Presidency for the party. John B. Williams takes office in 1875, immediately abolishing slavery in the South. All is well for the next 50 years. California annexes Hawai’i, mostly allowing self-governance except for the naval headquarters.

Franz Ferdinand is assassinated. The Confederacy initially joins on the side of the Triple Entendre, with the Union remaining neutral until 1917. However, poor industrial strength combined with a famine weaken the government, until a Fascist revolution occurs in the nation. Under this regime slavery is re-instituted, however all slaves are owned by the state on state-run plantations. Propaganda spreads like wildfire, and before 1916 the CSA becomes the Liberated State of Freed Peoples, or the LSFP. The Liberated State is run by a military junta, consisting of the Army, Navy, and Citizen Command (The secret police). The LSFP consists of the former Confederate states, as well as Oklahoma and Kansas. The war goes until 1921, with an allied victory and the founding of the Weimar Republic, as per OTL. The Roaring Twenties are now in full swing, with California and the Union entering an alliance with a now-independent Canadian Democratic Republic, the American Union. The USSR forms as usual. The Nazi party begins a quiet rise to power under a certain mustachioed manlet.

Hitler offers an alliance to the LSFP regime, and they accept. When Hitler launches his assault of Poland,  LSFP forces invade New Mexico and Kentucky. California declares war on the LSFP, as does the Union, and they begin counterattacks almost immediately. The LSFP is a military state, so their forces are able to keep battle lines along the national borders. When the Japanese attack the RCA naval base at Pearl Harbor, President Hiram Johnson and the Assembly unanimously declare war on Japan, The Union follows suit, and soon the Canadians join the fight.

It is a war on two fronts for the USA, RCA and CDR, all three sides having largely ignored Europe. Soon enough, however, the combined assault from the three powers cripples the LSFP, and the nation withdraws from the war on July 23, 1943. The USSR had been helping this fight as well, and it was decided that California would receive Texas, the USSR would receive Georgia, Mississippi and Florida, the Union would gain Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas, while Canada received the remaining territory. With that war done, the American Union set it’s sights for Berlin, with the USSR folding under a successful Operation Barbarossa. With all of Europe except for Switzerland, the UK, and Sweden under their fist, the Nazis were a formidable enemy.

Operation American Dawn began with an invasion at three points: Normandy, The Azure Coast and various points around the Iberian Peninsula, all coordinated within the minute on November 11th, 1943. It was a smashing success, with all targets captured with minimal losses. The American Coalition began to gain momentum, and Paris was liberated within the week. Rome fell next, and the Union routed the Germans in Brussels and Amsterdam. Germany was not contained on one side of the alps, with the Turkish military assaulting the Baltics. Meanwhile Japan had been crushed and the Communist Party in China was annihilated. World War II ended in an Allied victory. Hitler was kidnapped days before the Battle of Berlin, and brought to trial.

The world is at peace in April 1945. The USSR lost much of its populated territory, now occupying its American Oblasts and Siberia. The Cold War never occurs, as the USSR is dependent on its American allies. The Swiss and Swedes are now the most powerful peoples in Europe, with France and England close behind. Iberia, the combined territory of Spain and Portugal, is a close ally of England. The Catholic Church becomes a power player in Europe, establishing a Catholic theocracy in the Mediterranean. Malta gains independence and annexes Cyprus.