A Shift in Priorities

[rast]

The Fog of War

While the American public rejoiced at the news of Pancho Villa’s death, the Mexicans thought they had lost their leader. Even shady characters like El Moreno were not aware that their efforts had not been guided by ‘el Guardián del Pueblo’ but by an obscure Russian Jew.
Some resistance groups reacted with a ‘now more than ever’ attitude and fiercly attacked the Gringos, but suffered heavily in the process because of lacking co-ordination – and because the Americans expected these desperate sorties. Others reduced the level of their activities under the impression ‘all is lost’ and went to a very low profile. Only very few conducted business as usual.

At the same time, Ephraim Sklyansky, who reckoned that the Yankees now knew about his existence and his role in the game, was re-locating and changing his camouflage.

All this resulted in a ‘Golden October’ for the US forces. Something like twenty-five guerrilla groups were completely destroyed – and the overall level of violence was markedly going down.
The number of US soldiers killed or wounded dropped to an unbelievably low figure.

Thus, the impression materialized that the Owen Administration had finally mastered Mexican resistance – and that the US factually had won the war; an impression, which eagerly was boosted by the George Creel’s CPI.

With the electoral campaigns of the three contenders going into the hot phase, the ‘Golden October’ and the dream of victory would have an important influence on the results of the US presidential elections of 1924.

[Drizzt]

Nice updates!
Is "Golden October" some sort of Vietnam pun that i am not aware of or did you invent that expression?

[rast]

Actually it's kind of an advertising pun from Germany, some twenty or thirty years ago, suggesting high quality wine might be available for cheap money, same kind of pipe dream that is working here.

[rast]

Better a blind horse than an empty halter
(Dutch saying)

The negotiations at Port Elizabeth proved to be a tough challenge for everyone’s patience. The Nie-Blank side was anything but agreed in what they wanted. Therefore, it soon became necessary to hold negotiations before going to the negotiations.
The Wild Boers, on the other side, turned out to be utterly obstinate and not at all ready to compromise.

The Cape Area was firmly under the grip of the Wild Boers; dissenters had been confined to detention camps; untrustworthy families had their children or wifes taken hostage. Armed Boers controlled public life. The whole territory resembled a huge military camp.

Bored by the unproductive talks, Prince Heinrich turned to go sightseeing. At Nongoma, the Zulu capital, he met the charming sister of King Solomon kaDinuzulu, Magogo kaDinuzulu, a gifted musician and singer. Princess Magogo accepted Heinrich’s invitation to come on board the ‘Brunhilde’ and show him the beauties of South Africa from the air.

With Heinrich out of the way, Richard von Kühlmann felt free to use his elbows in order to get things moving. He had a very long private debate with Barry Hertzog, after which the Boer side suddenly showed willingness to come to a viable compromise.
The end result was a rather reduced Cape Colony, called Cape Republic, which would remain under control of the Whites: From Lamberts Bay to Calvinia to Victoria West to Graaff-Reinet to Jeffreys Bay the border would run. And the Boers agreed to hold free elections within three months.
The Cape Republic would be an exclusively white state; no Nie-Blanks were to live there. The costs of resettlement of the coloured people would be borne by the Cape Republic.

The rest of the former Federation of South Africa would fall to the Nie-Blanks. The United Peoples’ Alliance did honour all boundaries developed from plebiscites and elections in the past; only the areas formely inhabited by the Boers would be redistributed. The new name was to be Union of South Africa. Non-Boer whites were welcome and would enjoy equal rights.

With these regulations, fixed in the Treaty of Port Elizabeth, signed by all parties on October 30th, 1924, all natural resources of South Africa had come under the control of the coloured peoples.
This would allow them to develop their lands with the help of foreign investors, who indeed were all already present at Port Elizabeth: Japanese, Indians, Germans, British, Frenchmen, Italians and many more.

It was a huge experiment. Would these Nie-Blanks – without European tutelage – succeed in holding together the Union of South Africa and developing it into a prospering state?
For the Wild Boers in the Cape Republic, the answer was clear: That would never work. Very soon, the whole construct would collapse and revert to primitive tribal societies.
Then the Boers would have a new chance – leaving the agricultural subsistence farming behind, they would advance and take possession again of diamonds, gold and coal.

[BlairWitch749]

nice job as usual sir... keep it comming

[Winand_von_Rabenmund]

Originally Posted by BlairWitch749

nice job as usual sir... keep it comming

agreed
I hope the involvement of german-educated people will help the union to prosper and prove the Boers wrong

[Bmao]

Not only the Boers but also all the European colonial powers and the United States which as we all know was not exactly friendly to blacks at the time. Might we see emigres from the US to this new South African nation state?

[Drizzt]

Originally Posted by Bmao

Not only the Boers but also all the European colonial powers and the United States which as we all know was not exactly friendly to blacks at the time. Might we see emigres from the US to this new South African nation state?

Given how well Liberia worked out in OTL, that might not be neccessarily a good thing for South Africa.

[rast]

The Tibet Independence Caper

Nawaz’ ideas about adding Tibet to the Indian Federation had not really been appreciated by the leading men in Lahore. The Tibetans were a Mongolic people; their language was close to Chinese. Like the Burmese, they did not belong into the Indian Federation made up from true Aryans.
But the alleged Ottoman attempt to create a truly independent Tibet was something, which Sardar Ajit Singh Sindhu and his colleagues could also see as markedly beneficial.

After all, Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama, had declared Tibetan independence already in 1913, although no major power had ever recognised this and Beijing occasionally stated that they still considered Tibet a part of China.
Now, if the Sublime Porte and the Indian Federation recognised Tibetan Independence, wouldn’t that truly result in a neutral country that could serve as a buffer between the Pan-Turan Commonwealth, the Indian Federation and China?
Tibet was completely unattractive for foreigners because of the thin air and the austere living conditions. There weren’t even any noteworthy resources to be exploited. It was just a barren environment inhabited by people inimical to strangers.

Very soon, contacts between the Sublime Porte, the Potala Palace and the Lahore Fort became rather intensive – after all three sides had realised that they were pursuing converging aims.

But then events at Smyrna stalled the pourparlers for several weeks. On September 26th, 1924, Grand Vizier Mehmed Tâlât Pasha fell victim to a bomb while visiting the Agean metropole. The masterminds behind this assassination remained obscure at first, Greeks and Armenians being both highly suspect. But eventually the Dashnaks were identified as responsible – and another surge of pogroms crashed down on those Armenians still living inside the Ottoman Empire.
Enver Pasha finally won the internal power play and became the new Grand Vizier, while Mustafa İsmet Pasha followed him as Emir of Anatolia.

Thus, the Tibetan affair dragged along until October 30th, 1924, when the Indian Federation and the Sublime Porte officially recognised Tibetan independence and announced the exchange of ambassadors with the Potala Palace.

The Pan-Turan states followed suit in recognising Tibet as a sovereign state, and the Ottoman Empire’s European allies did likewise with two days delay. Here, Grand Vizier Enver’s status as trusted friend of Germany had made sure that the Ottoman initiative would be met with compliance.

Beijing protested vigorously, especially because Kham and Amdo were recognised as parts of Tibet, but the damage was already done.

[rast]

Contra the International Jew

An interesting facet was added to the US electoral campaign when automobile tycoon Henry Ford raised his voice in support of the Owen Administration.

Well known for his anti-semitism after the publication of the fife volume book ‘The International Jew – The World’s Foremost Problem’ in November 1920, which compiled a series of articles from Ford’s newspaper ‘The Dearborn Independent’, Ford had refined his theories.
In 1920, he – a renowned enemy of US involvement in the Great War – had already believed in a Jewish world conspiracy, his belief inspired by the ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’ (a forgery produced by the Tsarist Okhrana, as we know today).
Now, new evidence supported his belief that the Jewish world conspiracy, after having failed to bring down Germany in the Great War and having failed in Russia (Where the leading Bolsheviks all had been Jews, hadn’t they?) was about to bring destruction to the United States of America.
Leon Trotsky was a Jew, Emma Goldman was a Jew, Rosa Luxemburg was a Jew, and the late Pancho Villa had only been their complacent and naïve instrument. New York was controlled by Jews; Jewish Bolshevism and Jewish stock market capitalism both were tools of All-Judah in the quest to overcome the civilized nations.

Therefore, Robert L. Owen had been completely right when ordering the conquest of Mexico. All-Judah again had suffered a painful defeat, and people who demanded to ‘Bring the Boys Home’ or to end US engagement in the South were only playing to the tune of the Jewish world conspiracy. Because the Jewish parasites were not yet completely beaten, they only had sustained a reversal, but still were poised to enslave the US.

The American Jewish community immediately tried to counter Ford’s accusations. But many US citizens saw truth in his claims.
Before and immediately after the Great War, almost two million Jews from Eastern Europe had come to the US. And who was leading the US circles of Communists, Socialists and Anarchists? Jews from Eastern Europe! – While Ford’s allegations about a Jewish world conspiracy may have been too eccentric for many US citizens, they could clearly see that the Jews were trying to change the American Way of Life.
And after all, that Trotsky guy and the Goldman bitch were Jews, weren’t they?

[thales]

hum... if this keep up then the Jews will leave america for greener pastures, for example germany

I see a big "brain drain" coming. That will hurt the USA just as much as the money they will take with them...

Keep up the good work!

[trekchu]

And as it happens most of them go to a city that begins with B and has the Bear as it's symbol?

[rast]

No, the Reich is not interested in 'Ostjuden' even if they arrive from the west.
They'll be put through to Poland, the Ukraine or Russia, if they decide not to choose relocation to Mittelafrika.

[Kara Iskandar]

Originally Posted by rast

Contra the International Jew

The American Jewish community immediately tried to counter Ford’s accusations. But many US citizens saw truth in his claims.
Before and immediately after the Great War, almost two million Jews from Eastern Europe had come to the US. And who was leading the US circles of Communists, Socialists and Anarchists? Jews from Eastern Europe! – While Ford’s allegations about a Jewish world conspiracy may have been too eccentric for many US citizens, they could clearly see that the Jews were trying to change the American Way of Life.
And after all, that Trotsky guy and the Goldman bitch were Jews, weren’t they?

Scary...

[altamiro]

Originally Posted by rast

No, the Reich is not interested in 'Ostjuden' even if they arrive from the west.
They'll be put through to Poland, the Ukraine or Russia, if they decide not to choose relocation to Mittelafrika.

But I guess, before having handed a ticket further to the east or south they will be sifted for individuals whose presence may be advantageous to Germany?

[Drizzt]

If you want to avoid having TTLs Germany, become a giant vacuum cleaner for the worlds Jews (not that that wouldn't be fun for the irony of it) you might consider having Japan adopt an early ATL version of the Fugu Plan.

[rast]

Fascinating idea! But no, TTL Japanese are fare too xenophobic to adopt such a scheme.
No, many US Jews will turn to Canada (the last sane country on this continent), a number will go to Britain - and quite some to Italy. Italy is a rather liberal country with a prospering economy - and they gladly accept immigrants with white skin over some 'Gobbi' from Africa.

[Drizzt]

Originally Posted by rast

Fascinating idea! But no, TTL Japanese are fare too xenophobic to adopt such a scheme.

Well so were the OTL Japanese. Even more IMO.
And remember the Fugo plan didn't allow Jews to settle in Japan itself, only in it's colonies. If you think that's still too un-xenophobic you could take it a step further and have them settle Jewish refugees in Manchuko, then nominally they'd not be in Japanese real estate at all.
But well it's your story. An influx to Italy would also be interesting to witness.

[Expat]

Ach, Henry Ford you bastard! God help them if he runs for prez. The line at the voting booth'll look like the recruitment scene from Blazing Saddles.

And I love how the board is playing world travel agent to two million Jews. I would be willing to bet with labor shortages all over the world (so many emerging economies) lots of places might be willing to take them, so they might have something of a choice in the matter. Italy, Canada, maybe Eastern Europe, but general proximity anxiety of Russia might keep them away (I'd think Finland might be scrambling for immigrants of their own; they absorbed a lot of empty territory.) Then I guess it's a choice between Asia and Africa.

As cool as Manchukuo would be, Africa just has more advantages. Same perceived lack of civilization in both, but Africa at least has some other white colonists, and the prospect of no more winter might be appealing. Plus at least a continent away from the Motherland, and the Russians have it on the books that they want to overrun Manchukuo.

With all this people movement and perceived threats I would think Zionism might evolve differently. Something along the lines of, "The world is such a dangerous place. We are constantly forced to move, constantly chased out. One country opens their doors to us only to learn to hate us once we arrive. Sure, Poland wants us back now that they need workers, but who's to say they won't learn to hate us again in ten years? We need a place to band together and take care of ourselves that's practical" (so not Palestine.)

Israel might appear soon, but I wouldn't hazard a guess as to where.

A different question: What's the emigration policy of Russia? Are Russians allowed to leave the country if they choose? I would guess anyone who's not content to just sit on the farm and get drunk for the duration of their existence would want to leave.

[rast]

By the Russian constitution, everybody is free to go where he wants. - In practise, because of the huge losses in the Russian Civil War, this has been abandoned - and you have to be rather wealthy or influential (better both) to get a passport that allows you leaving the country. Habitually, only single persons are allowed to leave for business, the family has to remain in Russia.

Except when you are Jewish. Jews get passports very quickly. - There's also some kind of trade, Jews selling their papers to Russian families.