Stolen Legacies

An alternate timeline by Althistorian 2005.

From one man descends the most successful family of all time. Welcome to the world of Stolen Legacies.

Background: a group of time travellers decide to change world history for the better, but they realise they need to build up their influence, which will take time, so they copy some of humanity's greatest achievements from the 19th and 20th centuries, create them early, and take the credit. They build up their influence by going to different time periods pretending to be each other's children, creating the myth surrounding the 'most successful family ever'.

19th Century

1800's

1800: Edward Glenn (1780-1855), a relatively unknown inventor, patents the telegraph and quickly becomes one of the most famous men in America.

1802: Mr. Glenn patents a rudimentary form of photography.

1803: Mr. Glenn patents the lighter and the friction match together in a dual patent.

1805: Mr. Glenn patents the electromagnet and becomes the richest man in America.

1807: Mr. Glenn patents the bolt-action rifle.

1809: Mr. Glenn patents the lawn mower.

1810's

1811: Mr. Glenn patents the electric motor.

1812: The War of 1812 begins.

1814: Mr. Glenn patents the Morse code, named after local geographer Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) (father of Samuel Morse (1791-1872)).

1815: Mr. Glenn patents solar energy cells and an improvement to the telegraph.

1817: Mr. Glenn patents the fuel cell and the wood pulp paper production method.

1820's

1821: Mr. Glenn patents the pneumatic drill and the elevator, as well as finally creating a practical form of his 1802 patent.

1822: Mr. Glenn patents superphosphate, Portland cement, and reinforced concrete.

1823: Mr. Glenn retires at just 48 years of age, reportedly being tired from all the inventing.

1830's

Same as OTL.

1840's

1841: Mr. Glenn runs in the 1840 presidential election and wins, becoming the oldest person to take office up to that point. He immediately begins passing new legislation (especially regarding education) and proposing new constitutional amendments, making a great deal of progress.

1842: President Glenn states his intention to cut his term short by one year so that a new president will be inaugurated at the turn of the 20th century. He is quoted as saying: "a new president for a new century". He visits London to improve relations with the United Kingdom and gives some advice to the recently-crowned Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

1843: The Electoral College is abolished for the 1843 presidential election.

1844: James K. Polk (1795-1849) becomes the first US President to be elected by popular vote.

1846: Ex-President Glenn patents the phonograph and the telephone.

1848: Ex-President Glenn patents the light bulb and the bicycle before retiring for the final time.

1850's

Same as OTL.

1860's

1860: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1892) is inaugurated as the 15th President of the United States with ex-President Glenn's son, Richard Glenn (1816-1904), as his vice-president, causing the secession of the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) as its President.

1861-5: The Civil War happens in the same way as in OTL. Lincoln and his vice president are elected for a second term and Vice President Glenn saves President Lincoln from assassination.

1866-7: Reconstruction proceeds successfully under the leadership of President Lincoln and Vice President Glenn, with racist organisations like the Ku Klux Klan being nipped in the bud.

1868: President Lincoln steps down and Vice President Glenn is elected the 16th President of the United States. Under his leadership, Reconstruction becomes much more ambitious and breaks down racial barriers enthusiastically. A complaint service is also set up for US citizens to suggest changes to the country.

1869: With Reconstruction almost over, President Glenn Jr. has more time for foreign policy and improves relations with the British Empire. Queen Victoria remembers his father, giving their friendship a good start.

1870's

1870-1: The Franco-Prussian War takes place between France and the North German Confederation (dominated by Prussia), causing the various German states to unite as the German Empire. President Glenn Jr. immediately recognises the new country and visits Berlin, the capital of the new nation, where he is greeted by Crown Prince Frederick (1831-1901), who will someday become Frederick III of Germany. He bears many differences from his father, Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797-1873), who is staunchly militaristic and conservative.

1872: President Glenn Jr. is reelected for his second term. Meanwhile, his son, Fred Glenn (1847-1926), patents the car and the ballpoint pen, continuing his grandfather's scientific career.

1873: Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany is assassinated, making way for his son to become Kaiser Frederick III. President Glenn Jr. attends the funeral and warns the new Kaiser that smoking is harmful and will cause cancer, causing the open-minded Frederick to give up smoking, which ends up extending his life 13 years longer than in OTL. Later that year, the Triple Alliance is created between Britain, Germany, and America.

1874: Mr. Glenn patents the airplane and the zipper while President Glenn Jr. begins supporting women's rights.

1875: Mr. Glenn's airplane accomplishes the first powered flight and factories are built to mass-produce it.

1876: President Glenn Jr. is reelected for an unprecedented third term.

1877: Mr. Glenn patents the vacuum cleaner and improves photographic technology, patenting the first film camera. He spends the next few years focused on finding ways to record sound and color as well as establishing the first movie studio, which leads to him patenting various types of audio equipment in 1881. Meanwhile, the Russo-Turkish War starts when Russian troops enter Ottoman Romania to assist local rebels in gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece join the Russian side almost immediately.

1878: The United States joins the Russo-Turkish War on the Russian side and invades Ottoman Tripolitania and Ottoman Egypt. British forces later arrive to assist their American allies. Greece, seeing this as a good chance to gain land from their longtime rivals, joins the war on the Russian side and invades Ottoman Crete with help from the British and Americans.

1879: The Ottoman Empire surrenders and the Treaty of Sevastopol is signed. The terms of the treaty are:

1. Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece shall gain some land from the Ottoman Empire.
2. Romania and Bulgaria shall gain independence.
3. The region of Bessarabia, which is predominantly populated by Romanians, will be sold from the Russian Empire to Romania, but the Ottoman Empire shall pay for the land on behalf of Romania.
4. The region of Bosnia shall be split between Serbia, an independent Bosniak state, and an independent Croatian state.
5. Populations within Bosnia shall be allowed to move to their respective ethnic homelands.
6. Ottoman Tripolitania and Ottoman Egypt shall be ceded to the United States.
7. Ottoman Sudan shall be ceded to the British Empire.
8. The Sinai Peninsula and the Palestine region shall gain independence as a Jewish homeland, with the local Arab population being given the choice of either being deported to the Ottoman Middle East or peacefully integrating with their new Jewish neighbours voluntarily.
9. Armenian ethnic lands in the Caucasus region shall be ceded to Russia.
10. Kurdistan shall gain independence.
11. The Ottoman Empire will not be allowed to start any wars for 30 years.
12. The Balkan League, consisting of all Balkan nations, both existing and newly-formed, shall be formed to protect themselves from outside influence.

1880's

1880: President Glenn Jr. is reelected yet again while Russia joins the Triple Alliance, making it the Quadruple Alliance. Later that year, a conference is held in Washington to split Africa between Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and America. Spain is angered by not being invited, while a non-aggression pact, set to expire in 1915, is signed between all attendees of the conference in addition to their agreement on the partition of Africa.

1881: A conspiracy against Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1818-1895) is uncovered by American agents, allowing the tsar to continue reigning past his own son's death in 1894 until his own death in 1895, after which his grandson succeeds him as Nicholas II (1868-1948).

1884: After a great deal of planning, the Scramble for Africa begins while President Glenn Jr. is reelected yet again, now with his son William Glenn (1854-1935) as his vice president. This begins a 10-year period of relative peace during which President Glenn Jr. can focus more on domestic policy and support women's rights.

1890's

1894: With tensions rising within Cuba, the US government decides to support Cuban independence, provoking Spain into starting the Spanish-American War. The Spanish are easily defeated, and end up having to sign the Treaty of Boston, in which the terms are:

1. All Spanish-owned Caribbean and Pacific territories are to be ceded to the United States.
2. The Canary Islands, the region of Galicia, and all Spanish territories in Africa are ceded to Portugal.
3. The Spanish regions of Catalonia, Basque, Andalusia, and Valencia will gain independence and hold democratic elections to determine their form of government.
4. All countries on the Iberian Peninsula will form the Iberian League, similar to the Balkan League.

The Spanish government initially rejects the treaty as too harsh and attempts to renegotiate it, but they are reminded that they are not in a position to do so when US troops land on the southern coast of Spain. They reluctantly sign the treaty, but remain embittered at their defeat. Meanwhile, Colonel Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858-1919) becomes an American icon following his charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the war.

1899: Near the end of his term, President Glenn Jr. meets Queen Victoria one last time before the beginning of the Second Boer War. In this meeting, he advises her to make sure the British army does not perform atrocities such as putting the Boers into concentration camps.

20th Century

1900's

1900: Vice President Glenn replaces his father as president of the United States, with Teddy Roosevelt as his vice president.

1901: President Glenn III negotiates the end to the Second Boer War, with the Boers being deported to the Netherlands. The war affects Britain's international prestige less than it did in OTL due to the British army being ordered not to set up Boer concentration camps.

1903: The Balkan League and Quadruple Alliance begin planning to partition Austria-Hungary.

1904-5: Russia starts and loses the Russo-Japanese War, causing President Glenn III to intervene and mediate a peace treaty. However, despite Russia being in the Quadruple Alliance, he tries to be fair and Russia ends up having to give up any influence over Korea and Manchuria, as well as Sakhalin Island. Later on, Russia pays off part of their war debt to the US by giving up parts of Siberia. A revolution is started by the Russian defeat, but the Russian army manages to suppress it and the tsar is offered some American advisors.

1908: The Quadruple Alliance and the Balkan League announce a joint declaration of war on Austria-Hungary, which quickly falls after being attacked from all sides. Austria-Hungary is disbanded in the Treaty of Munich and partitioned according to the 1904 Agreement of Kiel:

1. Austria and the Sudetenland region are ceded to Germany.
2. Austria will be an autonomous kingdom within Germany, with Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (1863-1934) as its king.
3. Italy will gain Italian ethnic land including South Tyrol.
4. Romania will gain Romanian ethnic lands consisting of Transylvania and Bukovina.
5. Croato-Bosnia will gain Croatian ethnic lands and be renamed Croatia, with any local minorities being allowed to move to their respective homelands.
6. Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia will gain independence.
7. The Sudetenland will be a demilitarised zone to protect Czechia from potential German attacks.
8. Galicia will be ceded to Russia.

The sudden shift in the geopolitical situation shocks all of Europe, especially France, which expands its army against the Quadruple Alliance, makes plans to invade the Iberian Peninsula, and begins looking for more allies, preferably with historic grudges against countries in or aligned with the Quadruple Alliance.

1909: Italy joins the Quadruple Alliance, which is then renamed the Group of Five (G5).

1910's

1910: Sweden peacefully regains the Åland Islands to ensure they do not ally with France, while Spain leaves the Iberian League and allies with France.

1911: Hungary and the Ottoman Empire ally with France to regain their old empires and Polish rebels secretly sign a Franco-Polish alliance in Chamonix, near the Franco-Swiss border.

1913: After much hesitation, Denmark and the Netherlands join the French bloc. Japan also allies with France to gain more influence in the Far East.