The American Monarchy

[Person Man]

Are you writing for the right?

[Lief 🗽]

The American Monarchy: 1912-1915

In 1912, Thomas Watson pushed forward with economic reform. In his first term, attempts to establish a national minimum wage had been struck down by the Supreme Court, so Watson now moved to amend the constitution to allow the federal government to set a minimum wage. Debate began on the 20th amendment to the constitution that spring, and it quickly became apparent that Watson, with support from the SDP and Roosevelt’s independents, would have the votes to pass it. On April 16th, 1912, the 20th amendment passed in the Senate by a vote of 321 to 87, and it was sent to the states for ratification. Both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition Debs celebrated the amendment as a victory for American workers. As the Senate prepared to adjourn for the summer, Prime Minister Watson pushed a new revenue bill through the Senate, further lowering the tariff and establishing an inheritance tax. While it passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, the revenue act barely passed in the Royal Council, by a vote of 25 to 22. On the final day of the session, Watson dissolved the Senate, and requested elections in November.

The big question of that summer was what would happen to Theodore Roosevelt and the independent Liberals who had followed him into a coalition with the Populists. In June, Theodore Roosevelt met with Liberal party leaders, assuring them that if he and his supporters were allowed back in the party and if he was elected party leader, he would lead the Liberals to victory that November. At the Liberal Party convention in Boston, party leaders gave Roosevelt a narrow victory on the first ballot. Writing the party platform was slightly more contentious, but by the end of the convention, both the Roosevelt-wing and the conservative wing of the party had agreed on a progressive, but pro-business, hawkish platform. The Populist convention took place in Jackson, Texas. While Watson was easily re-elected as Party Leader, the convention was split when Bob La Follette of Wisconsin asked that a plank be added to the platform opposing segregation and laws meant to decrease Black turnout in the South. Watson was livid, as a stance like that would alienate the Populist’s strongest supporters: working-class white Southerners. Put up to a vote, La Follette’s suggestion failed 73% to 27%. The SDP convention went much more smoothly, with Debs re-elected on the first ballot and the platform left unchanged.

On Election Day, the SDP saw losses, with both the Liberals and the Populists gaining similar amounts of seats. With the economy still strong, the rhetoric of the SDP was seen as radical, and voters who had briefly flirted with the SDP on foreign policy and economic issues return to the Liberals and Populists, respectively, as they were seen as the two major parties.



The Senate after the Election of 1912:
Liberal Party: 178 Seats (+23)
Populist Party: 200 Seats (+37)
Social Democratic Party: 79 Seats (-25)
Total: 457 Seats

With none of the parties gaining a majority, both Watson and Roosevelt met with Debs to negotiate a coalition. Though Debs and Watson had remained bitter enemies since their split in 1898, aside from foreign policy issues, the differences between the SDP and the Liberals were too great to form an effective coalition. With the uneasy support of the SDP and Populists, Watson was elected to a fourth term.

The Fourth Watson Cabinet (February 1913):
Prime Minister: Thomas Watson (P-GA)
Deputy Prime Minister: Robert La Follette (P-WI)
Majority Whip: Champ Clark (P-KY)
Secretary of State: Eugene V. Debs (SDP-IN)
Secretary of the Treasury: James T. Lloyd (P-MO)
Secretary of War: Victor Berger (SDP-NY)
Attorney General: William B. Wilson (SDP-PA)
Secretary of the Interior: Frank Oliver (P-ON)
Secretary of Agriculture: Andrew Volstead (P-WI)

When the Senate met that spring, Watson announced that he would allow all bills to the floor, from any party, dealing with the military, and that all votes on such bills would be strictly conscience votes. Many speculated that this new policy had been part of the deal struck between Debs and Watson. Debate quickly turned to the Creel-Longworth Military Readiness Act, written by Nicholas Longworth (L-OH) and George Creel (L-CA). The act called for the enlistment of 2 million men in preparation for war. It also set aside millions of dollars in further naval investments. While Debs supported a stronger navy, he was wary of increasing the size of the army so radically. The Secretary of State and SDP leader eventually voted for the bill, which passed with near unanimous Liberal support, strong SDP support, and a solid chunk of Populist defectors, by a vote of 262 to 191. The bill passed in the Royal council overwhelmingly (32 to 14).

Following the defeat over the Creel-Longworth Act (which Watson had strongly opposed), he moved forward with radical reforms. First was the Fair Railroad Act, nationalizing some of the largest, most frequently traveled railroad lines in the country. In his second and third terms, Watson had tried to use regulation to bring railroad prices and working conditions under control, but with those solutions now failed, he returned to one of the more radical planks from his first election. Debs and the SDP whole-heartedly supported the move, but there was staunch opposition from the Liberals and even some conservatives within Watson’s own party. Though it passed the Senate in early 1914, by a vote of 236 to 213, it was defeated in the Royal Council 26 to 22. King Robert II had also made it clear that he wouldn’t sign the bill if it did pass.

With two defeats early in his term, there was talk that Watson’s government would collapse. On June 3rd, 1914, Watson announced that he would retire from the Senate, and instead run for the Royal Council (an election in which he was almost assured victory). Robert M. La Follette was the natural successor, and Debs promised a continued coalition. That November, the Liberals gained a majority in the Senate, and the Populists managed to win back many seats lost to the SDP. Prime Minister Watson was elected to the Royal Council, and in a close race, former Senator William J. Bryan defeated the SDP incumbent in Nebraska to gain his own seat in the Royal Council. Unlike his Liberal and SDP opponents, Bryan ran on a completely anti-war platform, speaking out against the Creel-Longworth act.



The Royal Council after the Election of 1914:
Liberal Party: 26 Seats (+2)
Populist Party: 11 Seats (+3)
Social Democratic Party: 11 Seats (-5)
Total: 48 Seats

Robert M. La Follette was voted in as Prime Minister, with support from the SDP and most of the Populists. However, a handful of disgruntled Southern Populists, who believed that La Follette was too far to the left to lead the party, voted for John Nance Garner (P-TX), who had been elected in 1908. Nonetheless, La Follette secured a clear majority.


Prime Minister Robert M. La Follette

In 1915, La Follette made it clear that he would continue to stick to the progressive, reform agenda of Prime Minister Watson. Many in his party pushed for him to tackle the issue of prohibition, popular with many Populists and SDP. Debate on an amendment to the constitution allowing the federal government to pass prohibition laws began that March. While there was a broad majority in support of the amendment, La Follette quickly realized that it would be incredibly difficult to garner the support of 2/3 of Senators. After weeks of debate, the amendment narrowly failed, 293 to 159. La Follette (who had never really strongly supported the amendment), pushed onward, passing the Volstead Act, establishing a national minimum wage, which was also passed narrowly in the Senate, when a few Liberal Councilors voted in favor of it.

[Reignman]

What's going on in Europe?

[Lief 🗽]

Franz Ferdinand is still alive, but things are nonetheless incredibly tense. I'll cover this more in the next update.

[CultureKing]

So is the Pacific Northwest Part of Canada or Russia?

(we didn't buy alaska right?)

[Lief 🗽]

Alaska was purchased by the British from the Russians in the 1890s.

[HappyWarrior]

I'm hoping for WWI in the next update

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Thanks for the update Lief. It was really good as per usually. I wouldn't be surprised if John Nance Garner  becomes Prime Minister soon, or breaks away from the Populists and forms his own Conservative Populist Party. Of course it would have better name than that though.

May I ask Lief, who his Theodore Roosevelt's heir to the leadership of the Liberals? Could it be Hiram Johnson. Speaking of Hiram Johnson, what is he doing in this TL. If he has already made an appearance I apologize for asking this question.

[Lief 🗽]

Hiram Johnson is a Liberal, and a staunch supporter of Theodore Roosevelt. He became opposition leader in the Californian Senate in 1910 (against a Populist-SDP coalition government), and the Liberal Party took control of the chamber in 1914, so he is now President of the California Senate, and the head of government.

There isn't a clear heir to Theodore Roosevelt in the Liberal party, though Nicholas Longworth, co-writer of the Creel-Longworth Act, is popular among the conservatives in the party. Elihu Root is shadow Secretary of State, and part of the Roosevelt wing of the party, but he has little support from the conservatives in the party.

[HappyWarrior]

What about Woodrow Wilson and his RL vice president Thomas Marshall.

[Lief 🗽]

Woodrow Wilson is a prominent academic, especially with regards to politics, government and the constitution. After serving as President of Princeton University until 1908, he became President of Washington University in the Royal District (a university established by King George II in the nation's capital). In 1915 he resigned as President of Washington University to become a political advisor to King Robert II.

Thomas Marshall is a lawyer in Indiana.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

What about Warren Harding and Charles Evans Hughes? What are the presently doing in this world where America has a Monarch? Will they appear anytime soon? I am looking forward to the next update and the entrance of WWI in this TL. Sounds like we're in for a long ride!

[Lief 🗽]

Warren G. Harding has seen much success in the newspaper business throughout the state of Ohio. His newspapers have a strong, conservative Liberal tilt and as such, he's fairly powerful in the Ohio Liberal political machine.

After a successful stint in New York politics and some time teaching law, Charles Evan Hughes was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by Prime Minister Hanna.

[PBrunsel]

This timeline is by far the best one that this board has ever had. I want to thank Leif for his hard work and creativity, for it has amde this board a great one.

[Bacon King]

el bumpo

[Verily]

Robert II must be really getting on in years at this point, mustn't he?

[Person Man]

.

[Lief 🗽]

I'll update later tonight.

Robert II was born in 1846, so he's in his late sixties.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

WOOT!!

I'm looking forward to the update. What will happen next? I'm on the edge of my seat .

[Хahar 🤔]

Finally an update. By the way, could you provide a map of North America? Europe would also be great, if you could do it.

[Lief 🗽]

The American Monarchy: 1915-1916

As the year 1915 ended, Americans were generally prosperous and happy. Large strides had been made since the War of Succession. The economy was strong, though regulations and wage laws had allowed the working class to prosper as well. In the South, elections were becoming fairer and freer, as Attorney General Wilson, with the support of La Follette, made sure that fair elections were run in the South. The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Lincoln, had also made a number of rulings against voter intimidation practices and laws in the South. In Europe though, things could not be more different. On December 25th, 1915, seven bombs exploded outside Buda Castle, in  Austria-Hungary. The eighty-five-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I was killed in the Christmas Day Bombings, along with 43 others (120 were wounded, including Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who suffered a broken arm). Austrian police arrested three young Serbians on December 26th, who confessed to be part of a larger plot¹. In January, Emperor Franz Ferdinand I blamed the assassination on the Serbian government. Negotiations between Serbia and Austria quickly broke down, as Germany and Russia offered support to their respective allies.

The Austrians and Germans sent diplomats to Italy, to ensure that they would honor the Triple Alliance. The Italians were non-committal, strongly hinting that unless the United States honored its alliance with Germany, they would stay neutral. At the same time, in the United States, King Robert II received word from German foreign minister Gottlieb von Jagow that Germany was mobilizing its army, requesting American support. The German government believed that the war would be over quickly and thus only requested support from America’s navy (which was at the time, the third largest in the world behind Germany and Britain). King Robert II, who had lived through the devastating trench battles and massive defensive lines of modern warfare, warned the Germans that the war would last for years. The French seemed to have realized this, adopting a defensive position against the coming German attack. German military leaders, confident in their abilities, disregarded Robert II’s warnings. In February, with the Czar mobilizing, Germany declared war on Russia and France, as Austria prepared to invade Serbia.

That February, King Robert II came before a joint session of the Royal Council and the Senate and asked for a declaration of war against France and Russia. Many Populist and SDP Senators and Councilors came out against foreign intervention, including the Prime Minister. The Liberal Party came out in support of the war, with Theodore Roosevelt calling the SDP and Populists “traitors” and “cowards.” Debate in the Royal Council continued for a week, until on March 3rd, Germany advanced into Belgium, and the British declared war on Germany. Public opinion in the United States soon turned in favor of war, as many Americans felt threatened by the British to the North. German-Americans and Finnish-Americans, the SDP’s strongest voting blocs, came out in strong support for war, and, with British-Canadian forces mobilizing on the border, Eugene Debs was forced by his party to reluctantly come out in support of the war. This left Prime Minister La Follette and the Populist Party. If there was one issue that united the western Progressive wing of the party with the southern wing, it was their shared anti-war outlook². Determined to bring the question of the war to the people, La Follette called for a snap election in May³.

The Populist convention in late March was interrupted by the Battle of Mons, in Belgium, where a joint British-French force was defeated by the German armies. Both sides suffered staggering casualties, though the French were able to delay the German advance. Nonetheless, the Populists re-nominated La Follette and rallied around an isolationist platform. At the SDP convention, in early April, Eugene Debs was once again re-elected as the leader of his party. Speaking in front of the convention, Debs argued that it was the “duty of the American Worker to protect his country from the forces of Imperialism.” During the convention, Allan L. Benson (SDP-NY), challenged Debs running as a peace candidate, but he only won 20% of delegates. The Liberal convention met days after the SDP's, in Cleveland, Ohio. There, Theodore Roosevelt was re-elected as leader of the party. During the convention, the Battle of the Aisne was fought. French and British forces, after a week of bloody combat, halted the German advance seventy miles from the outskirts of Paris.

Americans voters went to the polls on May 23rd, 1916, while, in Europe, the German and Franco-British armies were racing to the sea, as trench lines extended across France. A week earlier, the first “battle” of the war in North America had taken place, when militia in northern California skirmished with British troops in Oregon. The death of three Americans in the short battle had made national headlines, and served to turn the country even further in favor of war. On Election Day, the Populist Party saw a resounding defeat, relegated to the anti-war South, as Populist voters in the West and Midwest, feeling threatened by British on the border, turned strongly to the SDP. Prime Minister La Follette lost his own Senate seat in Wisconsin, as the seven-strong Populist Wisconsin delegation was completely wiped out. Neither the Liberal Party nor the SDP was able to claim a majority, but both Debs and Roosevelt decided to form a wartime coalition government. On May 30th, with a clear mandate from the people, the Royal Council declared war on the allied powers.

The Senate after the Election of 1916:
Liberal Party: 221 Seats (+43)
Populist Party: 79 Seats (-121)
Social Democratic Party: 155 Seats (+76)
Prohibition Party: 2 Seats (+2)
Total: 457 Seats



When the new Senate met that July, Theodore Roosevelt became Prime Minister, and John Nance Garner (P-TX), was elected leader of the Populist Party. Prime Minister Roosevelt quickly formed a cabinet and began meeting regularly with King Robert II and military advisors. One of Roosevelt’s first actions was the creation of a cabinet position dealing with labor issues, at the behest of Eugene Debs.


Prime Minister Theodore Roosevelt

The First Roosevelt Cabinet (June 1916):
Prime Minister: Theodore Roosevelt (L-NY)
Deputy Prime Minister: Eugene V. Debs (SDP-IN)
Majority Whip: Meyer London (SDP-NY)
Secretary of State: Elihu Root (L-PA)
Secretary of the Treasury: Gifford Pinchot (L-PA)
Secretary of War: Nicholas Longworth (L-OH)
Attorney General: William B. Wilson (SDP-PA)
Secretary of the Interior: David C. Coates (SDP-CO)
Secretary of Agriculture: James W. Good (L-IA)
Secretary of Labor: Victor L. Berger (SDP-WI)

¹To this day, it is unknown who specifically was behind the assassination and bombing, though Serbian groups such as Narodna Odbrana  and the Black Hand are often pointed to as the mostly likely. Another theory is that the Serbian government, or other separatist groups within Austria-Hungary, funded the plot.
²Since the devastation of the Southern army in the War of Succession (over 1 in 10 soldiers had been killed, most during the trench assaults that marked the end of the war), Southerners had developed an isolationist, anti-war, bunker mentality. This expressed itself in the Southern wing of the Populist Party.
³La Follette’s memoirs reveal that he believed that by scheduling an election in May, he could delay a declaration of war by the Royal Council until after the elections, by which time he thought one side or another would have prevailed in Europe.

[Хahar 🤔]

Hooray for the SDP!

We've finally come to the Great War. I'd love to see some maps.

[HappyWarrior]

Sweet!  Teddy is finally PM!  Now we just need to wait for Debs to be PM, that would be awesome.

[Lief 🗽]

Finally an update. By the way, could you provide a map of North America? Europe would also be great, if you could do it.

I'll try and make some maps of North America at the moment, and then the world after the war.

And thank you for all the compliments guys. It's good to know that you're enjoying it.

[War on Want]

My prediction was right. America was going to war with Canada.