1924: Davis defeats Coolidge

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

January 13, 1943: The day of January 12, 1943 shall live forever in an infamy, President Ely exclaimed in a dramatic radio address. Our Nation is facing one of the greatest challenges in it's history, comparable only to our Revolution and the Civil War, as American soil is under a direct attack by the ruthless enemy, aiming to destroy everything that is dear to our hearts!

Invasion on Alaska, which seemed to be prepeared for months, considering Japanese forces effectiveness, was a true suprise for the American public, as most would expect attacking either Hawaii or even California. Actually, attacking Alaska makes the most sense, London-based TIMES wrote. It's the most crucial strategic point in Pacific right now, a bridge between American and Russia. Japan surely wants to severe American supply lines to Siberia. Also, Japanese army gains a lot of experience in tundra warfare in Siberia to be somehow comfortable in Alaska now.

January 16, 1943: Bavarian Minister-President Franz Ritter von Epp proclaims restoration of Wittelsbach monarchy and independence of the "Kingdom of Bavaria" from the defeated Weimar Republic. Von Epp assumes a title of Regent, before the last Bavarian Crown Prince, Rupprecht, can take the throne.

January 18, 1943: Reich President Wirth appeals to Entente powers to protect Weimar Republic territorial integrity.

January 23, 1943: Duke Ellington plays at New York City's Carnegie Hall for the first time.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Bump. This needs to continue.

[Mechaman]

Wow, I never saw a Japanese invasion of Alaska coming.
Keep it coming.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Bump. This needs to continue.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

In honor of this fantastic timeline, I mapped out all of the Presidential elections in Massachusetts.



1924: Coolidge was still well loved in MA. He loses some ground in areas that Teddy Roosevelt fared well in, such as Plymouth and Essex(which also occasionally posted double-digits for Socialist candidates aswell in the early 1900's) but that Western Mass brand won't rub off.

1928: I have a really, really, really hard time picturing Smith pulling this off as a Progressive, but I'll bite. Smith compensates for shedding WASP votes by taking large swaths of the vote out of areas such as Cambridge, Lynn, Salem, and Boston. Perhaps with an endorsement of the famed industrialist and former Progressive candidate Charles S. Bird (who I believe was still alive) he overperforms in Norfolk. Still, really tough to picture.

1932: Now, I can wrap my head around this. The makeshift coalition in Massachusetts forged by Smith is slightly reorganized, and Hoover exchanges the gains in Boston and other Democratic areas for surprisingly high totals in the Boston suburbs and increasing Progressive numbers on the Cape and in Plymouth.

1936: The once vaunted Bay State Republican party is as good as dead. The Progressives have taken over and the GOP has difficulty holding on to their redoubts in Franklin and Martha's Vineyard.

1940: A rather interesting exchange. Despite being a Bostonian, David I. Walsh is unable to deliver Boston to the Progressives. Joseph Ely, a favorite son of Western Mass, scores a surprisingly strong victory in Hampden and the Democratic percentage is nearly at parity with Boston.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Wonderful maps, Dallas

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I am back.


Despite President Writh's desperate plea to preserve defeated Weimar Republic's territorial integrity, the French, under their new government, quickly recognized Bavarian independence. For French, the unified Germany were still a symbol of the 1870 disaster and possible mortal threat.

Meanwhile, Poles and Czechoslovak, with their own diffrent political experiences, were observing a rapid disintegration of the German Reich with huge concern. Poles were uneasy about possible rebirth of strong, East-oriented Prussia, while Czechs were worrying about Southern German, now free from the Prussian dominance, in post-Habsburg areas. 

By late March 1943, Mecklenburg, Sachsen, Baden, Wurtemberg and Haseatic Free Cities of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen, followed Bavaria's example and, one by one, declared independence. The German Reich was now basically consisting reduced Prussia and several small states. Rhineland was occupied by French forces as the first step to create another buffer state, while Saar was formally annexed to the Third Republic.

By early May 1943, abandoning a legal fiction, a remaining German Reich was formally abolished and replaced by the Federal Republic of Prussia.


(A detailed date-event summary of January-May period coming soon)

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Blue: French Republic
Green: Republic of Poland
Yellow:  Czechoslovak Republic
Red: Federal Republic of Prussia
Gray: Kingdom of Bavaria
Levander: Baden-Wurtemberg
Orange: Republic of Mecklenburg
Light blue: Grand Duchy of Saxony
Dark red: Hanseatic Confederation

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Go President Ely! I must say, I was kind of disappointed that Walsh was a Progressive. ()

[Jerseyrules]

You sick, dystopia-loving sonufabeech.  I love it!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

How Come Coolidge Lost?
1924: The Election That Changed Face of the Nation


Today Calvin Coolidge is a forgotten figure, siding with such colorless and forgetable characters like Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce. An accidental chief executive and the man, whose defeat marked an end of the Republican Party, the same party that seemed invincible just four years prior to, and rise of the Progressives as a major force.

In spite of these modern assetions, Coolidge might have very well win and the history would be very diffrent. When scandals of Harding administration broke out, he seemed as the perfect man to hold the White House, calm, laconic and distanced from the now-disgraced President. Furthermore he faced, what seemed on the paper, the most uneven competition from the Democratic Party, a former Congressman named John W. Davis, nominated by a desperately deadlocked convention.

But Mr. Coolidge turned out to have a very bad luck, and made some serious mistakes, such as antagonizing the progressive and moderate conservative wings of the GOP, by dismissing such respected and popular figures as Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes and Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, destined become the first Progressive President, in no small part thanks to Coolidge ill-advised attempt to establish a cabinet of his own.

Then, campaigning problem. Despite predictions he'll campaign from the front porch as the President, Mr. Davis, a skilled orator, energetically hit the trail. Coolidge's perceived asset, being calm in times of turmoil, didn't work out so well there.

And the merciless press. While it's beyond doubts Coolidge was never involved in any Harding scandal, the Democratic and Progressive press daily savaged him as a crook. Accusation frequently means conviction in world of the ruthless politics. Before Coolidge could convince the American people, it was too late.

So that how Calvin Coolidge, a formidable politican who could have become a formidable President, never fulfilled his destiny.

Calvin Coolidge, Millard Fillmore of the 20th Century

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The Solid South (Well, with Exceptions...)

Can you see that annoying green area at entirely red map? That's Louisiana, a Deep Southern state that broke away from the Democratic Solid South. Controlled by the left-populist Huey P. Long machine, Louisiana became a Progressive electoral pocket when a charismatic boss switched parties, which basically meant the state switched parties.

Louisiana is also a bright spot as far as the civil rights issue is concerned. A full desegregation and enfranchisement is not an option yes, of course, as Long must consider long prevailing Southern customs and the way of thinking, but the Pelican State now has the highest number of Negroes (34%) registered to vote. 

Voling the Whole Ticket, Unless...

Florida remains a classical Deep Southern state for all means and purposes and therefore loyally voted the entire Democratic line, unless Senator Claude Pepper is on the ballot.

A popular incumbent had became the first freshman Progressive Senator from the South, managed to get elected in the 1936 election, even though President La Follette lost Florida in landslide. Due to his incredible ability of connecting with the voters and playing with the common issues, Pepper got elected to his first full term in 1938.

Red Pepper among Yellow Dogs

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm so thrilled to see this back.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Hanseatic Confederation

The Hanseatic Confederation (unofficially refereed to Hanse, Hansa or the Confederation) is a federal state formed after the collapse of the German Reich in result of the Second Great European War. The name is referring to the Hanseatic League, a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe between the 13th and 17th Centuries.

The Confederation originally consisted three former German Free Cities with strong Hanseatic heritage: Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck. The former League of Nations mandate of Klaipeda was later allowed to join by the victorious Entente. The former Free City of Danzig expressed interest in joining, but was annexed by Poland instead.

Each of the constituent city states maintains a prevailing degree of authority in own local affairs, while commercial, foreign and military affairs are controlled by the strong central government, known as the Senate. Four Mayors are forming a joint Presidency, serving as collective head of state and government Each Mayor serves rotationally (for two months) as the "President of the Presidency", a ceremonial post. The Chamber of Delegates is an unicameral confederate legislature.

[TX Conservative Dem]

If Coolidge had lost in 1924, what would have happened to FDR ?

Considering he never would have gotten past being NY State Governor.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

If Coolidge had lost in 1924, what would have happened to FDR ?

Considering he never would have gotten past being NY State Governor.

September 12, 1924: Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and 1920 Democratic vice presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in his Hyde Park, New York, estate on pneumonia complications. Largely forgotten in later years, Roosevelt memory was refreshed during World War II, in regard to his action in preceding "great war".

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Federal Republic of Prussia

The Federal Republic of Prussia is the largest state formed in result of the collapse of the German Reich. A successor to the Free State of Prussia, a leading constituent state of the Weimar Republic, the FRP is also, under international law, a successor to the Weimar Republic itself. Unlike other breakaway countries, such as Bavaria, Saxony, Mecklemburg or Baden, Prussia did not secede and agreed to assume the Weimar's international obligation.

The former state SDP-Centre government of Prussia, led by a veteran Minister-President Otto Braun, essentially transformed into a sovereign authority, as now-powerless Reich government under President Wirth resigned, presiding over a transition, including preparing a new constitution.

By March 1944, the new constitution was adopted, establishing a parliamentary form of government with strong Minister-President (refereed to as Prime Minister abroad) and ceremonial State President as the head of state. Despite his intentions to retire by nearest opportunity, Braun continued to head the government, while the bicameral Prussian Parliament elected aged Adam Stegerwald of the Centre Party as the first Provisional State President.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Kingdom of Bavaria

It was the secession of Bavaria that started a rapid disintegration of the Weimar Republic. Proclaimed as a Kingdom under restored rule of the House of Wittelsbach.

A driving force behind the separation was a 73-years old Franz Ritter von Epp, a longtime strongman of the Bavarian politics, leading far right and monarchist movements there. Von Epp became the first Minister-President of an independent Bavaria, also serving as a Regent until the throne can be filled.

Unlike Prussia, ruled by the centre-left government ever since the 1918, Bavaria was a main stronghold of the right, even far right, in Germany. The second most powerful man in Von Epp's government is Hermann Göring, a famous WWI flying ace, who succeeded assassinated Hitler as a head of the Nazi Party (not "National Party"), that despite setbacks everywhere else, remained a potent force in the South. 

[Yeahsayyeah]

Is Saxony turning into a socialist utopia, then? ;-)

And is the Zollverein (German Cumstoms union) still active or do they all have their own tariffs? Then I have strong concerns towards the viability of the Hanseatic City Confederation that has almost no "hinterland".

It's strange that you have a "Republic of Mecklenburg" on this map, of all places, but a "Grand Duchy of Saxony". Of course, Saxony always was "Red Kingdom" and "Musterland der Reaktion" at the same time. Even if I can see a restoration of monarchy happen as they were quite popular in parts of the population being a French and Checoslovak puppet state probably is no condition under which that would happen. Under a republican system I could also see a unification of Thuringia and Saxony in the Weimar dissolution process. But at least it would not be a "Grand duchy" because it never was. Napoleon baked the former Prince Elector Friedrich August III. a king's crown and I don't think this would be reverted.

What happens to the Germans in East Prussia and Chechoslovakia? Will they be expelled as IRL? I also wonder why there was no uprising of Bohemian Germans or have I missed the event?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Thanks for the input Yeahsayyeah

I'd like to hear more on Saxony before fixing this.