Our Great America: A TL

Chapter One
“To Expand This Great Nation”
A TL
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Ulysses S. Grant, shortly after the Columbian Purchase of 1869, one of the most important purchases that would allow the United States to expand.

“British Columbia is a long way off. . . . With the exception of a limited official class it receives few immigrants from England, and a large proportion of its inhabitants consist of citizens of the United States who have entered it from the south. Suppose that the colonists met together and came to the conclusion that every natural motive of contiguity, similarity of interests, and facility of administration induced them to think it more convenient to slip into the Union than into the Dominion. . . . We all know that we should not attempt to withstand them.” – An excerpt from the Times of London

In 1867, the British Columbia had three options to choose from that would guide their future. The first was to remain a British colony, although that was very unpopular for obvious reasons, while the second was to join the newly formed Dominion of Canada. They were unsure of this option, however, as the new dominion was recently formed; it had yet to develop into a strong nation. The final option was to join the economically strong United States, which, although recovering from civil war, still was economically and politically strong. The third option was also more appealing to the British Columbia, for many of its citizens were American citizens that have moved from Washington and Oregon. Other reasons were that British Columbia’s economy mainly came from San Francisco, and that the American population exceeded that of either the British or French.

When the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia, American citizens in the British Columbia were overjoyed, with American territory to the north and south of them; it was nearly inevitable that sooner or later, people would soon start pushing for annexation by the United States. In April, William H. Seward developed a plan that would give the whole northwest of British North America to the U.S. in exchange for forgiving the Alabama claims. Alas, this plan was abandoned for an exchange in cash. However, when false information spread to the British Columbia that Britain was planning on ceding the British Columbia to the U.S., many colonists organized pro-annexation movements and three of the colonies six newspapers pushed for annexation. Before 1868, Britain did not care at all about the fate of British Columbia, until they realized the opportunities for Pacific trade.

Finally, in 1869, the Legislative Council of British Columbia, which was mainly controlled by anti-confederation (who were not necessarily pro-annexation), passed a resolution opposing confederation. The one pro-confederation had not recovered from his pneumonia, and the law would still stand. This would revive annexation support in the winter of 1869, where 140 white males signed a petition for annexation by the U.S. and sent it to the then-current President Ulysses S. Grant. After years of hard work, the President began negotiations with Britain for the annexation of British Columbia. Both the U.S. and the U.K. accepted these terms: The United States would take up the British Columbia’s $2 million debt, and pay 2 cents for every acre ($729,528), and the U.K. would give both British Columbia and Yukon territory.

“I refuse to deny the liberties and freedom the United States has to offer to fellow Americans…in order to expand this great nation, we must peacefully negotiate an agreement with Great Britain… I call upon you, Britain; allow us to grant our people these liberties!” - President Ulysses S. Grant, at the Conference of 1869, giving his famous speech.

After the Columbia purchase, many Americans rejoiced, and America took one step closer to becoming an empire.


WARNING:This my first TL, and any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. I hope you liked it so far. :D
 
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Alaska connected to the lower states... I wonder how long it'll take someone to try and build a railroad up there now that there is no pesky international border in the way.

Regardless of that you've got me interested in this timeline, so keep it up.
 
Alaska connected to the lower states... I wonder how long it'll take someone to try and build a railroad up there now that there is no pesky international border in the way.

Regardless of that you've got me interested in this timeline, so keep it up.

The Great Alaskan Railroad perhaps?
 
Chapter Two
The First Great European War
A TL

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Battle of the Channel, a famous painting by Johnathan Cumberson, a sailor during said battle. It is currently known to hang up in the Main Corridor of the British Parliament.

“The sky was a dark black, on account of it being around five in the morning… the cannons started to fire, and me and the others scrambled to the left side of the deck to see who it was…that’s when we noticed the newly sewn German flags flying high on the mast. Thus, the war had begun.” – An excerpt from the journal of a British sailor on the 20th of July, 1875.

Although the purchase of the British Columbia and Yukon had gone without protest, the British were still bitter about losing the chance of rapid expansion in the Pacific. But the main reason for selling the two territories that would allow British expansion in the Pacific was the need of finances for the upcoming war. In 1875, the Germans launched a pre-emptive strike against France out of fear for their rapid recovery from its defeat in 1871. The French Third Republic responded by mobilizing 1.2 million men for war against the newly formed German Empire. As war escalated, the British were neutral, but had sympathy for the French, and were secretly supplying them with weapons and supplies. This triggered a reaction that would cause Britain to join the war. On the 20th of July, 1875, German vessels fired upon British merchant ships, who were being escorted by British warships. This resulted in the Battle of the Channel, with 73 on the British side dead, and 46 on the German side dead. The German navy retreated, but not before news hit the mainland, causing the United Kingdom to go to war with the German Empire by sending 3 million soldiers to the French mainland, where they would then support the French soldiers already there.

In the east, Russia supported their western friends by attacking the east of Germany, catching Bismarck by surprise. Bismarck sent a letter to the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary Franz Joseph asking for support in this “Great European War”. He responded by sending 2.3 million men to the eastern front, as that’s where they were need most.

Meanwhile, the United States began fortifying borders in the north, especially in Columbia and Yukon, because there was fear that the Canadians would try to take back the coal mines in Columbia to supply their war in Europe. After months of fortification, the border became a nearly impenetrable wall. In response, the Canadians did the same, but it was still not as strong as the American’s wall, because much of their other troops would be supporting the British in their war.

“You could see the American’s a stone’s throw away from our position…you could see in clear detail the bayonets on their rifles, the wheels on their cannons…we did not know how many cannons they had, but we estimated about twenty… if war ever broke out between us two, may God help us.” – An excerpt from a Canadian soldier’s journal, Pvt. Thomas Wheaton.

With American tensions in the west, and a very big war on in the east, it is only a matter of time before someone else gets involved…
 
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And slipped into ASB there
Napoleon the III was a Anglophile, least for a Bonaparte, and a lot of his policies depended on having Great Britain on his side or at least friendly...there is no way in hell he would do this, and if any elements in his government or such tried it, he would've denounced them and joined the UK's side, most likely
Also what is your POD?...because the French had already installed Maximilian on the Mexican throne in 1864. He ruled until 1867, when he lost French support, who left due to Americans arming of the Liberals, Britain's unwillingness to help and Prussia's advances in forming Germany and touching on their borders, and so lost the civil war between the diminished conservatives and liberals and was eventually executed.
 
I think you need to change the first chapter due to ASB as well. 1% does not an annexation make.

But this won't be the first silly thing on this site. Don't have to read it after all. Carry on.
 
I think you need to change the first chapter due to ASB as well. 1% does not an annexation make.

But this won't be the first silly thing on this site. Don't have to read it after all. Carry on.

Someone told me this earlier, but the government that controlled British Columbia was made up of anti-confederationists and pro-annexationists, so when the petition was given, the government would've supported it anyway, making it nearly inevitable.
 
Chapter Three
The Great European War Pt. II, American Expansion in the West
A TL








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The Glorious Advancement, a painting based off of accounts of soldiers who participated in the Alsace-Lorraine campaign, specifically the Battle for Strasbourg.


“As a result of German aggression against our French allies, we declare war against the German Empire…I call upon you, young Britons, to fill your country’s call to arms…to defend our brave French allies and our great nation.” –The speech of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli on the 21st of July, 1867.

As war rages in Europe, Britain reinforces their troops with 2 million volunteers, as public support for the war still runs high. The French do the same, reinforcing with 1.5 million more troops. The Canadians send 150,000 soldiers overseas to support Britain. With fresh troops and supplies on the western front, planning for the advancement into the recently annexed Alsace-Lorraine began, with the main objective to take back Strasbourg. While the French would attack Strasbourg, the British and Canadians would attack two other main cities, Mulhouse and Metz. Meanwhile, the Germans and Austria-Hungarians were bulking their defense, in hopes that t would be enough to stop the Russian war machine that was advancing in the east. Their luck grew when they captured a Russian messenger who was carrying plans for the entire week. This would come to be Russia’s folly, because when the Russian troops marched towards Prague in March 2nd, 1877, they found both German and Austria-Hungarian troops waiting for them, cannons and all. It caused over 170,000 casualties, and would earn the nickname Bloody Prague, for its high deaths on both sides. Finally, the battle would be a turning point in the war, with the Russian army routed and the French, British and Canadians held back in the east.

While the Russian army was retreating in the east, Russian citizens began to question the Tsar and his motives for allowing at least 80,000 young men killed in a pointless battle. This is one of the main factors for the Socialist movement in Russia. The leader, Dmitri Barisov, was a father of two who had lost one of his sons in the war, and was a hard worker whose pay was extremely low. He and a few of his friends quickly gained supporters, and created the underground resistance movement of the Russian National Front, or RNF for short. When the Tsar Alexander the Second herd of this movement, he responded by issuing a notice that any and all members of the Russian Nationalist movement will be executed without trial. This only gave more motivation and followers to empower Dmitri, which would be very important later on.


In the United States, the war was nothing of importance to the government, except for the tensions between the U.S. and Canada. Also, President Grant pushed for a railroad to be quickly completed to at least the south of Yukon, where they could bring supplies to and from the troops on the Canadian-Columbian border. This would not be completed until at least 10 years later. Until 1876, the U.S. did not see the importance of having a Pacific trade route and dominance, until President Grant brought the idea to Congress about purchasing the German and British Samoa in order to unify their trading posts to create a more influential trade route in the Pacific to Japan and China. This idea was approved, and America bought both the German and British Samoa for $1.5 million each. This money, of course, would head towards the war effort in Europe. While American trade grew in the Pacific, Japan would begin to fear its growing power, and began secretly militarizing in preparation for war with the United States. Soon after, a controversial election occurred, which resulted in Rutherford B. Hayes being elected, signaling the end of Reconstruction.

“With an open trade route in the Pacific, we may expand farther into the Pacific territory, increasing our influence and power…similar to that of an empire…with these trade routes, we may grow as a nation.” – President Ulysses S. Grant addressing Congress in a speech about expansion in to the Pacific by the U.S. shortly before the election of Hayes.

War in Europe is still going on, and tensions are growing in the Pacific, America is growing exponentially, and the Canadians are waiting for a war. Could this be the early stages of a world war…?
 
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Two things. First, I'd change the name to something like the Russian National front as I do not think the term Fascist (an Italian or latin term I believe) would be used by the Russains as it didn't gain any prominence until the 20th century.

Second, the Alaska railroad isn't going to happen that soon. In OTL the Northern Pacific didn't complete its transcontinental railroad from Seattle to Chicago until 1883, and you couldn't take a train from Portland Oregon to Sacramento California until the line over the Siskiyous mountains was completed in 1887! It's also note worthy that construction of the Alaska railroad didn't start until 1903, and didn't really take off until the Taft administration. Now with the US owning British Columbia in TTL their may be a connection to the lower states, and there may be a push to build a rail line into BC ASAP, but I don't see a railroad to Alaska being tackled until the Klondike gold rush kicks off, and even then it probably won't be completed until the 20th century.
 
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