Empires of Liberty

Empires of Liberty is a timeline wherein the United States gained Canada as part of the Revolution, the British Empire still thrives, and Germany fell from power but renewed itself in the form of a Republic.

Timeline: 1748 - England captures Santiago as part of the War of Jenkin's Ear. British naval forces land at Santiago, and not having been so poorly affected by diseases, manage to conquer the place under Admiral Vernon, leaving a settler colony and troops to defend it. Lawrence Washington returns to Virginia and names his plantation after Admiral Vernon. Being part of the Hanoverian throne, British allow 'German' settlement here to build the infrastructure. 1763: French and Indian War: Britain manages to push Spain back on Cuba, effectively controlling OTL Camagüey and Oriente, and Santa Clara, thanks to Guy Carleton's attack on Havana destroying the Spanish navy. Britain takes all of Cuba in the peace treaty. 1774: Quebec Act: harsher than OTL, due to a misreported pub fire turning into a papist-anti-UK attempt on Guy Carleton's life, unfortunately leading to much more patriot sentiment in Quebec. 1775-1782: American War for Independence: US defeats the UK, marking its northern border as Rupert's Land, while Newfoundland remains British. The US manages to capture Bermuda and the Bahamas, fail to capture Cuba, despite two landings attempting to take Santiago. 1782-1787: Articles of Confederation; northwest territory includes the Ohio River Valley and west of the Ottawa River, will be turned into states. Loyalists leave the US for Jamaica, Cuba, British Honduras, and Africa. 1787: US Constitution written. 1794-5: British seize Guadeloupe; some settlement occurs, slavery abolished. Guadeloupe is returned to France in 1795. 1798-9: French American War: France and US conduct small war, US Privateers and Navy pivotal, leading to Marine landings on St Pierre et Miquelon, Martinique, and Guadaloupe. In the end, all but St Pierre et Miquelon are returned to France, which is not enough to give President Adams a second term by the time the news comes to the states. 1802: " Law of 20 May 1802" passed by Napoleon restoring slavery; Mulattoes in rebellion on Guadeloupe, causing it to become a money sink. 1802: Treaty of Amiens returns Martinique to France, which re-institutes slavery, leading to a worse slave revolt, creating another money sink for Napoleon, who wishes to offload it. 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson gains Louisiana, Guadaloupe, and Martinique from France. France sells the lands to the Americans, while they agree to remove most of the slaves to their other colonies so that Americans can move in with their own slaves. 1806: Rio de la Plata War: British invade the River Plate for a new settler colony as part of the Napoleonic Wars. After 7 months, they succeed in capturing and gaining via treaty Buenos Aires along the Parana west to the source of the Salado, and south to the end of the continent. Settlers arrive from UK, Cuba, and British Honduras, looking for better land. 1809-11: Second South American War: British fight against invasion from Montevideo against Spain. British capture Porto Alegre and Montevideo, Rosario, Sante Fe, and Santiago. In the end, they force out Spaniards, and claim the Uruguay river to the ocean and all territory south of the Parana up to Santa Fe, and west to the Pacific. This is the sparsely populated portion of the continent, to which Spain agrees to cede. 1812-16: War of 1812: US and UK fight over impressment and trade harassment. US captures Cuba in three daring raids on Havana and Santiago, but also cedes from Lake Nipigon-Great Lakes outlet to the Lake of the Woods outlet on the Great Lakes, giving Rupert's Land an outlet on the Great Lakes, and guaranteeing water access, and the 49° parallel to the Pacific as the common border between the two nations. 1818: Third South American War: British fleet captures Santiago, South America, while the land army encircles Cordoba after Spanish-speakers attack Bonnaire. The British crush the invasion after a several-month attack, leading to the cession of all South America south of the Salado River and in a straight line from Santa Fe to the Pacific. 1819: Adams-Onis Treaty: Spanish cede Florida to US. 1820: Fourth South American War: British forces invade land north of Montevideo, and capture the Spaniards who had been pirating their ships. They chase the Spaniards northward, while Brazil attempts to assist, leading to a new boundary: everything encircled by the Uruguay River becomes British territory, though treaty ambiguity leads to another war with Brazil in the 30s. The Parana River becomes the northern border, then west on the Bermejo and then to the Pacific. 1821-23: Guatemala-Honduras War: British Army and Guatemalans fight over the small territory's borders, and loses Peten in a striking raid against the Spanish army. This is one of the sparks leading to Mexico's war for independence and those across South America. 1824: White Bay founded by Admiral Beresford, leading a group of 1000 Loyalist settlers who had come from Jamaica. 1825: New Belfast founded (OTL San Antonio Oeste) with 400 Irish settlers and 200 Loyalists from British Honduras. 1831-2: Brazil-British War: Brazil attacks the British for settling between the Canoas and Pelotas rivers, which they claim as sovereign territory. Fighting goes for 13 months, ending with the capture of Sao Paolo and the Treaty of Sao Paolo, ceding the Tiete to the Parana to Britain in perpetuity, including Sao Paolo, now "St. Paul." All Brazilians are evacuated. Loyalists and their descendents are settling here in rapid numbers, more than making up for the loss of settlers. In the roughly 20 years since capturing this new colony, the population is now about 45% English-speaking. 1833: New Brighton (OTL Comodoro Rivadavia) and Birmingham (OTL Río Gallegos) founded. Birmingham is founded as a new naval port for the Royal Navy. 1836: Texas rebels against Mexico, declares independence 1840: Republic of the Rio Grande and the Yucatan Republic secede from Mexico, aided by Texan and American filibusters. RRG gets Texan aid in exchange for settling their mutual border at the Rio Grande river. 1846-8: Mexican-American War: US annexes Texas and Rio Grande, Mexico attacks a US army outpost, sparking war. The US gains all Mexican land north of Sinaloa/Durango. 1848: German liberals leave Germany, some settling in Montevideo, some founding Port James (OTL Puerto Montt), named for James Bruce, the Governor General of British South America. Other towns founded include Marienpforte (Mary's Port, OTL Ancud), and Lambton (OTL Castro, Chile). 1850: British South America Act: divides territory into provinces (territory encircled by the Paraguay-Parana river becomes New Berkshire, Patagonia is split into North Victoria and Patagonia along the Colorado River). Most Spanish names are changed to names of British origin: Cordoba becomes Richmond, Santa Fe became South Lothian, Rosario to St. James, Santiago to South Dublin, and Montevideo to Marienburg. Guanaco furs become a prized export from Birmingham, South America. 1860: Several southern states secede from the US, sparking the Civil War. Cuba is named a state by the confederacy, along with the Bahamas; Bermuda remains Union, much like Missouri and other border states. 1861-5: US Civil War: South and North fight over states' rights and slavery, with the North winning, but Lincoln being assassinated soon after victory. VP Pierre du Calvet (usu. known as Peter Calvet or "Honest Pete") assumes the presidency. The 13th amendment is passed by Congress, and the 14th soon after, with the additional clause "Any person seeking to become president or vice-president shall be a natural-born citizen, that is, both parents being citizens of the United States at the time of his birth, or under this amendment. Any other persons are ineligible to become president. Children born in the United States to foreign nationals are not citizens, as they are not under the jurisdiction of the United States." Decades later, Chester Arthur's birth becomes known, and his acts are vacated by Congress. 1871: German Empire forms as in OTL 1898: Spanish attack USS Monitor docked in Cuba, sparking Spanish-American War. US captures Puerto Rico and Philippines. 1914: World War I starts as in OTL; US purchases Virgin Islands from Denmark, and from UK in return for war materials. 1916: US enters war early on President Henri Wittman's urging the Congress after the submarine warfare of Germany strikes the Lusitania. 1918: German monarchy collapses, surrenders. Treaty of Versailles is much milder this timeline due to Wittman's maneuvering, to the chagrin of France, which wanted to crush Germany. Germany loses Alsace-Lorraine, North Schleswig gets a plebescite, and Polish speaking areas of Posen could vote to join Poland or Germany. The Kreise bordering Brandenburg/Silesia stay German. Part of Silesia (OTL) goes to Poland. Reparations are not as heavy as OTL, and the Allies occupy the Rhineland for 5 years to demilitarize. Polish Corridor created as in OTL; Wittman's Armenia forms, and Constantinople made international zone, while Smyrna and the Dardanelles turn Greek, along with Thrace. Northern Epirus ceded to Greece. 1919-22: Greco-Turkish War: with more British help from Cyprus, the Greeks turn back the Turks and capture several Aegean provinces, resulting in the Treaty of Istanbul (1922), yielding Constantinople to the Greeks, and finishing the population transfers, making a mono-Greek country, and a mono-Turkish country. Italian intervention yields them Hatay Province (Hatay, Adana, Karatas, Yumurtalik), nominally under League of Nations mandate in cooperation with the French in Syria. 1926: Hagia Sophia restored to a church; all non-Christian items removed. Turks protest when they find out months later. 1929: Great Depression begins, hits everyone hard. Weimar weathers the storm slightly better than France. Mussolini is already in power in Italy. 1933: Danzig Crisis: Danzig holds plebescite, and rejoins Germany as part of East Prussia. This sets up a crisis in Poland, which is believing that Germany is going to seek out its remaining territories, including the corridor and Posen, and possibly annex more territory from Poland. Poland sends its troops to the border, Germany sends theirs, and a month-long stand off is called off only by League of Nations intervention, and a backroom deal with France and Poland. Republican B. Carroll Reece stated the citizens of Danzig are "as German as they've always been," causing a small diplomatic crisis with the Polish diplomatic delegation visiting the House of Representatives at the time. 1934: Feb 6 Crisis topples France and leads to a right-wing regime; this regime aids the Franco coup in Spain, leading to three fascist governments taking power by 1937 (France, Spain, Italy). Józef Piłsudski still leads Poland, and asks France for back-up in case Germany attacks, which the foreign minister grants "carte blanche," exceeding his mandate slightly. 1937: Austrian-German war: German-Austrian pangermanist leagues between the countries have been stoking fears of union between the two countries in France and Poland with their rhetoric, and the Austrian PM sends troops that attack a German troop, starting a small war that Germany wins; the war is fought nearly completely within Austria, and the Austrian people see the Germans as liberating them from the fascist government, and with their approval, a plebescite it held, voting overwhelmingly in favor of union with Germany. France and Poland mobilize their forces, while Czechoslovakia, feeling surrounded, seeks French help also. Germany, seeking to avoid another war, seeks arbitration by PM Neville Chamberlain, which de-escalates the situation. The PM returns to England declaring 'peace in our time', which comes back to haunt him in 2 years. 1938: French-Soviet Nonaggression Treaty signed; Franco-Polish Axis formed, propoganda increases against German 'aggression' against their people, with their economies sputtering in comparison to Germany's. France and Poland increase military build-up to boost their economies, as do Spain and Italy, while Germany begins a modernization and training program, which Britain half-heartedly supports, due to lingering post-WW1 anti-German sentiment, which also lingers in the US in the form of FDR, who is seeking distraction from having his New Deal overturned by the supreme court. Franco-Japanese pact formed with France promising China to Japan in return for the Southeast Asian territories. 1939: Czech forces move to the Sudeten region, citing German aggression and insurrection, and using french-provided arms and vehicles, begin instituting martial law. Germany makes diplomatic maneuvers to stop and protect its ethnic minority in Czechia, which the LoN ignores, but a German courier escapes with photos of German dead, after which the Czechs declare war when the Germans send their troops to the border; France declares war on Germany, along with Poland, Spain, and Italy. The United Kingdom's gov't falls, bringing in Churchill. France declares war on UK, while Turkey attacks Cyprus, bringing Greece and UK against Turkey. WW2 begins. 1940: Arthur James wins the Republican nomination, with McNary as his VP, and wins against FDR, who sought a 3rd term. James attempts to keep the US out of war, but he is very pro-British, and starts Lend-Lease, trading the Virgin Islands for war materials. Germany gets aid and food also, as James promised to aid any country unfairly attacked in Europe. Turkey declares war on Greece and Britain, which is backing Greece. Poland captures East Prussia, Upper Silesia, and most of Pomerania. France takes the Rhine, and sets up a puppet government so they can march forward.

1941: Pearl Harbor attacked by Japan, US declares war. France declares war on US, and the US is now part of WW2. 1943: Italy falls when the south hangs Mussolini and joins the allies against the fascist north. Southern Italians capture Corsica from the French. USSR joins in the war against the fascist forces when Poland attacks Belarus. VP McNary dies of a stroke, replaced by John Bricker. 1944: James wins re-election when Henry Wallace's coded letters to his Russian spiritual guru are discovered and used to accuse him of spying, giving James an edge in the Electoral college. B Carroll Reece is named Secretary of State; his work was instrumental in redrawing the map of Europe, including returning Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Gustave Biéler is executed in France as a spy for the Americans. His image is used in Quebec State to encourage volunteers for the war effort. 1945: Spain falls, then France, and Turkey and Poland, and finally, Japan after two atom bombs are dropped. 1946-8: Sino-Soviet War: Chinese Communist fight against their Republican forces, which the Allies join and force to a standstill, creating a north and south Chinese state. Communist China erects a border wall between themselves and South China. 1948: Strom Thurmond splits the Democrat vote with his States' Rights Dixicrat vote, against Truman and Russell, leading to the victory of Bricker and LaFontaine on the Republican ticket. Davis-Bacon is repealed by his congress, and the highest tax rate is reduced to 25%. 1950-2: Korean War: Communists defeated, Korea remains united. 1952: Eisenhower, having led the Korean War effort and the Sino-Soviet War efforts, easily wins election as President. Harold Stassen is his VP. 1957: USSR launches Sputnik, leading to the 'space race' 1960: JFK is elected President over the Republican Nelson Rockefeller, who didn't excite his party's base. 1961: JFK challenges the US to send a person to the moon 1963: JFK's VP, Roger Symington, is assassinated in Rio Grande, but JFK's reelection is rocked when it turns out Symington had ties to the USSR. 1964: William Goldwater defeats JFK for election, with VP Henry Lodge, Jr. Hiram Fong becomes Secretary of State, and Margaret Smith becomes the head of Veterans Affairs. As President, Goldwater capitalizes on the growing civil rights movement during election and passes the Civil Rights Act of 1965, over southern Democrat opposition. Black vote goes 37% to the Republicans in 1964. 1968: Goldwater wins re-election, while Lodge is incapacitated due to a stroke, leaving Goldwater to nominate Fong as the new VP, becoming the first non-white VP to be confirmed by the Senate. Goldwater gets 48% of the black vote due to the Civil Rights Act and efforts to enforce it. The Republican party in this timeline trends more towards libertarian views under Goldwater, while the Democrat party trends more towards central authority and heavier government intervention, leading to increased recruitment of further left elements, much like OTL, but slightly more slowly. 1972: Republicans lose the re-election, leading to the election of Henry Jackson, with George McGovern as his VP. 1976: Jackson declines re-election, leading to a toss-up for the Democratic nomination, giving James Carter the ability to gain the nomination over George McGovern, whom he named as his VP. Walter Fauntroy becomes Secretary of Education 1980: Ronald Reagan defeats Carter/Kennedy for the Presidency, with VP John Connally 2001: Muslim terrorists lead a three-prong attack on London, Berlin, and Washington, striking the Pentagon, World Trade Center, Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, and Tower 42 in London. The world is shocked by this attack, which has the opposite effect intended, and causes landslide election sweeps for more conservative (for Europe) parties, led by Julie Campbell (Conservative Party) in London, and Angela Fischer (LP) in Germany. President Daniel Gauthier (R) and Vice President Jeffrey Cain (first African-American VP) join the two European powers in invading Afghanistan to topple the regime, followed by Iran, then Iraq.