The year is 1946, but Is It What You Think?

In 1946, The Axis powers of WWII have won the war, and now have taken over the whole United States territory. The country has been split up into three sections. West coast consists of the pacific Japanese states, whose capital would consist of Seattle Washington. Central territory consists of Italian states, which they would dedicate Denver, Colorado towards their capital. And lastly, the east coast belongs to the Germans who have made what some would know of as New York as their capital. As some of you might ask what happened to the U.S. people? Well, they have relocated. After the U.S. knew they were going to lose the battle overseas it was only a matter of time before the Axis powers would reach America, thus taking that territory as well. So, they had to strike a deal with Canada, but it wouldn’t be for a cheap price. On July 1st 1945, just three months before the Axis powers would reach America the U.S. struck a deal with Canada that would give the U.S. all the territory towards the east of Manitoba running into the Atlantic. Anything that was west and north of Manitoba was still considered Canada. With this land, Canada also agreed to aid military support from the Axis’s power nation if they would every try to conquer the new U.S. territory. The deal costed a total of 900 Billion U.S. Dollars at the time, and would now be the currency of choice in the new U.S. territory as well as the rest of Canada.

On the bright side, The United States have managed to relocated 100 million people, all their government officials, military resources, industrial resources, and everything else they could scurry together to try and start a new nation by the skin of their teeth. However, the population of the United States in 1945 is 140 million. Meaning, there is over 40 million U.S. citizens still in America that would become hostage to the Axis powers now. As you can imagine, the government and its people are totally separate at this point in time. Harry Truman has faced something much different than all of his past Presidents have seen in their lifetime. The U.S.’s new capital would become Winnipeg; this is where they would set up their military and political leaders to try and bring order to their new country. When addressing the U.S.’s relocation, people wanted to know where they stood and President Truman stated, “they were alive, and that is all that matters.”  With the help of the Canadian Army and the surviving U.S. soldiers they would occupy Canadian army bases and set up a 24-hour watch on the border of the Axis’s powers nation.

As time went on, the Axis powers nation flourished with a vast array of culture within the three territories. Having taken over all of the U.S. industries, the east coast would import and export goods to and from Germany and Europe. The same can be said about the west coast, they had taken over import and exports to and from Japan and Asia. Italy, unfortunately, would be land locked. They would have to go through either, the German territory, or Japanese territory, to import or export any of their goods. The Japanese would finally sign a deal with Italy in 1948 saying they could have an import and exports ports in their territory, but there would be a Tariff on anything coming or going, and Italy agreed. The standard of living in the Axis nations increased drastically after the war, when we see the term “Suburbia” become a thing throughout the three territories. With 16 million eligible veteran soldiers from Italy, Germany, and Japan, the opportunity to buy a house was suddenly at hand. In 1948 alone, 540,000 veterans bought one; their average price was $7300. The construction industry kept prices low by standardization. For example, standardizing sizes for kitchen cabinets, refrigerators and stoves, allowed for mass production of kitchen furnishings. Developers purchased empty land just outside the city, installed tract houses based on a handful of designs, and provided streets and utilities, as local public officials race to build schools.

So, you’re probably wondering what happened, or is happening to these other 40 million U.S. citizens that the U.S. “left” behind? Well, the three territories: Germany, Japan, and Italy split up many POW camps that would hold about 13.3 million in each territory. Some U.S. citizens would work as hard laborers in military factories, refinery factories, and some were even servants for the powers in the territories. Even though Italy got some of the worst territory because they were land locked. However, their economy was one of the best out of the three because each year they would reach about 50 million tourists that would contribute towards their economy. Most of these tourists would come from different European and Asian countries such as: France, Spain, and especially China. This new Italian territory would keep their rich culture and architecture and incorporate that into their new land, thus people from all around the world wanted to experience this notion of “the new Italian society.”

As the new Axis powers territory flourished, the new U.S. territory would see the opposite. The new economy was in shambles, well they did have to start from scratch, and they didn’t have the amount of resources they wanted to boost industries like they would’ve post war in America. With this move, a significant minority of Americans would continue to live in poverty by the end of the Fifties. In 1947, 59% of all families earned less than $2,000 a year, compared with 45% in 1960. This 14% decrease would have to be attributed towards the Canadian governments efforts to help the U.S. get back on its feet after the move, thus at this time the U.S. was bankrupt because they were trying to formulate by spending money on infrastructure for factories to try and get the economy moving again, and let’s not forget about that 900 Billion that’s in the Canadians pockets now.