Timeline (The Three World Powers)

1860s

 * 1860 (U.S.A.)- South Carolina seceedes from the Union. Abraham Lincoln is elected president.
 * 1861 (U.S.A.)- In February, while travelling through Baltimore en route to his inauguration, president-elect Lincoln is shot by southern sympathizer Cipriano Ferrandini. This makes Lincoln the first president to be elected but no inaugurated. In March, Hannibal Hamlin is inaugurated as President of the United States. In his inaugural address, he openly oppossed slavery and threatened the secessionists with war. In April, Confederate forces attack Fort Sumter; war begins. President Hamlin quickly sends forces into the South. Hamlin declares it a war to end slavery by making the Emancipation Proclamation. The Union forces of George B. McClellan overrun Northern Virginia. Confederate President Jefferson Davis hurriedly moves the capital to Atlanta. The Army of the Potomac begins an unsucessful counter-offensive. Late that year, the Union fails to secure the pivotal Shenandoah Valley. However, Union troops take large parts of Virginia. Thus, the state of West Virginia is declared in December.
 * 1862 (U.S.A.)- The Confederacy, with their inexperienced army, begin the Fredericksburg Campaign in Virginia. Shockingly, the 45,000-man force takes the area. The C.S.A. further surprises the North by invading Kentucky. The gamble pays off, but both sides suffer heavy damage. Hamlin is criticised for not taking heavier action. Thus, the Union begin their naval campaign. By the end of the year, the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina are in nothern hands. The Confederate Navy is in shambles. Meanwhile, the forces of Ambrose Burnside attempt to find a route into southern territory via the Mississippi River. With the highly experienced Admiral David Farragut, the CSN is almost completely destroyed. The U.S. is stopped at the Tennessee River, where trench warfare begins.
 * 1863 (U.S.A.)- Robert E. Lee makes a further push in Virginia. The Union takes a heavy toll, and loses much land. The C.S.A. attempts to invade Maryland. The plan is an utter failure. Retreating Confederate forces are stopped and destroyed in Chancellorsville. In the west, Burnside's army breaks the Confederate line and takes large portions of Tennessee. By November, southern troops in Kentucky all surrender. At the same time, the Union begins funding black guerrilas. This leads to high damages to infrastructure in the Deep South.
 * 1863 (Japan)- Western powers intervene against the Tokugawa Shogunate, deeply damaging it.
 * 1864 (U.S.A.) Under Ulysses S. Grant, the Union pushes the C.S.A. out of Virginia. North Carolina is overrun, too. This massive success leads to Hamlin's re-election. Meanwhile, the U.S. begins a rapid advance through the Confederate heartland. Though they are stalled at battles like Chickamauga and Chattanooga, in October they reach Atlanta. President Davis signs an unconditional surrender. The Union is victorious. President Hamlin begins an occupation like of the south through 15 military districts. On December 2nd, the 13th Amendment is ratified, ending slavery in the United States.
 * 1865 (U.S.A.)- Beginning of reconstruction. John Wilkes Booth is arrested at the doors of Ford's Theatre for attempting to bring a gun inside, thwarting an assasination attempt on Hamlin. In the south, racist groups like the Knights of the Golden Circle and the Ku Klux Klan are supressed. The Union-funded black groups who helped destroy the South from within become dangerous elements. Former landowners are killed, and property is burned down. Most military governors like Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman begin pacifiying these groups. This works to an extent.
 * 1867 (Japan)- Emperor Komei dies; he is succeeded by Meiji. The shoguns defy Meiji's policies.
 * 1868 (Japan)- The Boshin War ends, officially ending the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Empire of Japan is established. The beginning of the modernization and industrialization of Japan.
 * 1868 (U.S.A.)- Hannibal Hamlin is barely re-elected over Horatio Seymour.
 * 1869 (U.S.A.)- President Hamlin brings the souther occupation to an end. The region's economy is industrialized, with the aristocracy destroyed. Special gubernational and congressional elections are held.

1870s

 * 1872 (U.S.A.)- Ulysses S. Grant, war hero and stern former military governor, is elected president. His presidency marks the true end to the reconstruction, but also the beginning of American militarization.
 * 1876 (U.S.A.)- President Grant is re-elected over Samuel J. Tilden.

1880s

 * 1889 (Japan)- The Meiji constitution is promulgated; Ito Hirobumi becomes Japan's first Prime Minister.

1890s

 * 1898 (U.S.A.)- The U.S.S. Maine is destroyed in Havana Harbour. The U.S. threatens force against Spain, who allegedly purpotrated the attack. On April 25th, war is declared. The U.S.A. sends troops to Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam (which is captured in 2 days). Through a vigorous land campaign, the U.S. takes control of Cuba by August. The Philippines, enroached by naval operations, falls to America in June. Puerto Rico is caught up in an inconclusive battle. The Treaty of Paris is signed. The U.S. gains all of those territories.
 * 1899- The Philippines declares itself a republic under Emilio Aguinaldo.