On September 8th, 1935, Carl Weiss takes aim at and attempts to kill Senator Huey Long, the controversial State Senator of Louisiana. Weiss is gunned down, dying on the scene. By some miracle, Weiss’ shots at Long missed and the Senator lives. An investigation of Weiss eventually leads to the discovery of a conspiracy involving President Roosevelt, Wall Street, and Standard Oil to have Long assassinated.
Roosevelt is impeached and arrested. John Garner becomes President, Garner's reputation remaining intact due to his carrying the torch to prosecute several of the businessmen also involved. Long manages to win the 1936 Democratic nomination for President, and despite most conservative Democrats rallying behind Garner for a third candidate, Long wins the 1936 election. Long’s Presidency sees him repeat his process in Louisiana on the Federal level, with Long stacking many political positions. Portions of Long’s Share Our Wealth program are passed, however opposition to Long rapidly grows and becomes increasingly radical. Militant organizations like the Klan, Black Legion, Silver Legion, Anti-Fascist League, and the newly founded “American Protection Society” grew rapidly in opposition to Long. The anti-Long Democrats also officially break with the Democratic Party to form the States'-Rights Party.
Political tensions across the USA escalate, and by July, 1938, an estimated three million Americans are participating in one or more radical opposition group. The Klan alone rebounded to north of half a million members. Long however has also assumed more or less total control over the Federal government, even successfully passing a bill that packs the Supreme Court. Then, during Independence celebrations on July 4th, Long is assassinated by Anarchists.
Burton K. Wheeler, Long's VP who was largely chosen to smooth over fears in the DNC, becomes President. Wheeler was not particularly pro-Share Our Wealth, but continues to push for a more moderate set of reforms. The United States remains polarized, but Wheeler is successfully able to reduce tensions somewhat, and the ongoing crackdown keeps the violence under control. Wheeler is able to successfully rally enough people to keep the Democratic Party in control of Congress in the 1938 midterms. When WW2 breaks out in 1939, Wheeler signs the American Neutrality Act which forbids the sale of war material or loans being given to the governments of the belligerents. Wheeler's government also cracks down on many of the militant groups in the United States without significant success.
WW2 continues relatively unchanged until 1940 during the fall of France where there is no miracle at Dunkirk, and the BEF is annihilated. The subsequent political crisis brings down the government of Churchill, and snap elections are called in August. A pro-peace government is brought into power and Britain signs an armistice with Germany. Despite Barbarossa beginning during the peace negotiations, Britain quickly loses any appetite to resume the war and (temporarily) accepts German hegemony in Europe.
Japan still seizes Indochina as per OTL, but no sanctions are placed upon Japan by the United States as President Wheeler, reelected in 1940, vetoes proposed sanctions. Britain also begins to seek rapprochement with Japan, seeking an alliance with Japan for a hypothetical resumption of the war with Germany. With trade upticks from Britain, and America not cutting off oil, Japan is able to continue its war with China unabated.
The German invasion of the USSR begins much like OTL, however with one massive difference. Stalin, fearing that he is going to be arrested (as per OTL) drinks himself into a stupor and chokes on his own vomit. In the aftermath, the USSR undergoes a period of internal strife even as the Wehrmacht storms into the country. The Germans successfully seize Leningrad and Moscow during 1941, with the defenses of both having been thrown into disarray by the ongoing internal struggles. Stalingrad and Kuybyshev fall in 1942, and by 1944 organized Russian resistance collapses entirely. The Greater Germanic Reich is proclaimed as German troops begin to secure the southern Urals. A rump Soviet regime holds on in Omsk, with Lavrentiy Beria emerging as General-Secretary.
The implementation of Aktion (Generalplan Ost and the Hunger Plan) in the eastern RKs begins to leak out into the broader world by 1943. In the United States, horror at the atrocities starts to break America out of its isolationist shell. Britain speeds up rapprochement with Japan, and pursuing friendly relations with America. With Hitler also engaging in a degree of saber-rattling in response to American condemnation, Americans begin to panic, fearing the possibility of a German invasion. This would lead to the 1944 election seeing the defeat of Wheeler and the isolationist Democrats by a Republican and States'-Rights coalition. Republican Harold Stassen became President, while States'-Rights Theodore G. Bilbo became VP.
The new interventionist government signs an alliance with Britain, Cuba, Brazil, Ireland, and Columbia in 1946. This alliance, informally dubbed the Havana Accords, positions itself in quasi-opposition to the Triparte Pact. Over the next two years several more nations sign to the Accords, while Spain and France officially join the Pact. Tensions between Germany and America continue to degrade, with both going though internal struggles during the late 1940s. Germany struggles to maintain order over Europe, with the ongoing guerilla resistance to Generalplan Ost being an ever malignant ulcer while the United States struggles to maintain political unity.
1947 sees the first major post-WW2 conflict as tensions between the increasingly left-wing Mexican government and the United States finally spills over into outright war. Germany intervenes by sending material, while Spain serves as a front for small groups of “volunteers” to assist the Mexicans. The Second Mexican-American War both provides justification for the United States to bulk up its army, and escalates the militancy of the isolationist elements within the United States. German aid to the Mexicans also escalates the tensions between the United States and Germans, and as 1948 draws to a close, both nations look on the verge of war.
On October 14th, 1948, events took a sudden and unexpected turn. Just after giving a speech to a group of veterans from RK Caucasus, Adolf Hitler collapses. He is pronounced dead two days later, a victim of a fatal brain hemorrhage. The Reich totters on the brink of crisis over the next several months as the risk of putsch or civil war looms. Despite the odds, Hitler’s successor Hermann Goering holds onto the reins of power, becoming the new President of the Reich with Joseph Goebbels as Chancellor.
Under Goering’s leadership, relations between the Reich and America improved somewhat, at least at first. However the Reich’s increasing influence in South America, and the Americans’ support for anti-German resistance in the Reichskommissariats and vassals leads to relations declining once again. Relations only further degrade as the two nations fight proxy conflicts in Indonesia, Peru, and Iran against each other.
In 1951, Alfred Rosenberg replaced Joseph Goebbels as Chancellor. This is largely in response to the latter’s disagreement with President Goering’s “Pragmatismus” campaign in regards to Generalplan Ost. Rosenberg, who sees the Slavs as not needing outright annihilation, is able to begin stabilizing the Reich’s eastern territories. This stabilization being the critical event by which the Reich is able to adopt an ever-increasingly confrontational attitude with America.
The 1952 elections in the USA prove somewhat contentious, but with the looming threat of Germany, both the Democrats and the Republican/States’-Rights coalition hold back on the more contentious tactics. Claude Pepper, a Democrat Senator from Florida, is elected President. Pepper brings back much of the old Share the Wealth programs albeit moderated, but in contrast to Long and Wheeler, Pepper is a solid interventionist.
The revitalized Reich, and the more oppositional America spell disaster for world peace. Both Reich and America begin to square up their political spheres in preparation for a showdown. Most of the British Empire is drawn into American orbit, although India once again revolts in 1953 which drags on the British effort. Italy was now led by the newly appointed Duce, Alessandro Pavolini, following Mussolini’s death by cancer and would renew its alliance with Germany in 1953 as well. Japan kept public neutrality during this period, although curiously their puppet regime in China nominally signed an agreement with Germany. The rest of the Americas nominally aligned with America while portions of the Middle East sided with Germany.
By mid-1954, the Reich and America formally broke relations. Across the planet, millions waited as catastrophe played out in slow motion; unstoppable and inevitable, the Letzterkampf approached. Every incident was screamed by the papers to be the final straw, the final outrage by the other party. Despite this, it took nearly a year for the actual incident to start the shooting.
On June 14th, 1955, a German U-boat accidentally strayed into British waters. Upon rising, the craft was sunk by the British. Germany accused Britain of hostile actions, the British claimed likewise, and after a week of ever-escalating demands, Germany sent one final ultimatum to Britain. Twenty-four hours later, it would be rejected by unanimous decree of Parliament.
The Reich responded by declaring war on Britain. The Third World War had begun.
