Chapter 446: Ode to Freedom
Leonard Bernstein’s “Ode to Freedom”
After the fall of equalism in Eurasia (and its impending fall in North Eimerica), the nations of the world turned to their next big challenge: climate change. Since the 1960s, studies had shown the Earth was steadily warming as greenhouse gases were pumped into the atmosphere. A landmark study published in 1981 showed a link between manmade greenhouse gas emissions, an increase in average temperatures, warmer winters, dangerous frequent weather phenomenon, and the depleting of the ozone layer. However, this study was soon overshadowed and buried by World War III. It would not be recovered and republished until late 1986, making the front pages of many major newspapers. The first country to sound the alarm was Kanata, surprisingly, which called for a conference in Markland to work on a comprehensive plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By January 19, the major powers of the world had agreed on a treaty to control ozone-depleting substances.
The treaty was structured around several groups of halogenated hydrocarbons that deplete stratospheric ozone. All ozone depleting substances controlled by the Markland Protocol contain either chlorine or bromine (substances containing only fluorine do not harm the ozone layer). Some ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) were not initially controlled by the Markland Protocol, including nitrous oxide (N2O). Signatories to the Markland Protocol were to phase out the use of these controlled substances in the next ten years.
Soon after the Markland conference, the United Nations called for its own conference, one which would bind all nations to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tsarist Russia first suggested to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1968 the idea of having a UN conference to focus on human interactions with the environment. ECOSOC subsequently passed Resolution 1346 supporting this. General Assembly Resolution 2398, passed in 1979, would convene a conference in 1982 and mandated a set of reports Secretary General af Olufsen suggesting the conference focus on "stimulating and providing guidelines for action by national government and international organizations" facing environmental issues. The outbreak of World War III would delay the environmental conference, held in Stockholm, until 1987. Climate change itself hardly registered on the agenda, which centered on related issues such as chemical pollution in the former Soviet Commune, Chinese atomic bomb testing, and Indian whaling in Antarctica. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was formed because of the conference.
While Otto would’ve preferred to spend his year focusing on climate change, the equalists in North Eimerica had other ideas. After months of disorder, the inevitable occurred as ethnic and sectarian tensions finally reached the breaking point. Just like the Fox Empire did in the 1920s, Equalism in North Eimerica was about to die a long and painful death, just as everybody feared. The Commune of Socialist Southern Altepetls (also known as the Commune of Southern Socialist Altepetls) would be the first to go.
The Southern Altepetls was in its heyday a regional industrial power and an economic success. From 1960 to 1980, annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 6.1 percent, medical care was free, literacy was 91 percent, and life expectancy was 72 years.
In the 1970s, the central government's control began loosening due to increasing nationalist grievances and the Equalist Party's ill-fated support for "national self-determination." This resulted in Muscogee being turned into an autonomous region of Mississippi, legislated by the 1974 constitution. This constitution broke down powers between the capital and the autonomous regions in the Delta (with large numbers of ethnic minorities) and Muscogee (named after its large ethnic-Muscogee population).
Despite the federal structure of the new CSSA, there was still tension between federalists, primarily Nahua and Cherokee who argued for greater autonomy, and unitarists, primarily Choctaw and Meskwaki who didn’t want to give up their influence in the central government. The struggle occurred in cycles of protests for greater individual and national rights (such as the Cherokee Spring) and subsequent repression. The 1974 constitution was an attempt to short-circuit this pattern by entrenching the federal model and formalizing national rights.
The loosened control basically turned the CSSA into a de facto confederacy, which also placed pressure on the legitimacy of the regime within the federation. Since the late 1970s, a widening gap of economic resources between the developed and underdeveloped regions of the Southern Altepetls severely deteriorated the federation's unity. The most developed republics, Tejas and Tsalagihi Ayeli (Cherokee), rejected attempts to limit their autonomy as provided in the 1974 Constitution. Public opinion in Cherokee in 1987 saw better economic opportunity in independence from the CSSA than within it. There were also places that saw no economic benefit from being in the CSSA; for example, the autonomous province of Muscogee was poorly developed, and per capita GDP fell from 47 percent of the Southern Altepetls average in the immediate post-war period to 27 percent by the 1980s. It highlighted the vast differences in the quality of life in the different republics.
Economic growth was curbed due to Sino-Roman trade barriers combined with the oil strikes in the Reich throughout the 1970s. The Southern Altepetls subsequently fell into heavy debt due to the large number of International Monetary Fund loans taken out by the regime. As a condition of receiving loans, the IMF demanded the "market liberalization" of the Southern Altepetls, which came slowly. By 1981, the Southern Altepetls had incurred $19.9 billion in foreign debt. Another concern was the unemployment rate, at 1 million by 1980 and 10 million after World War III. This problem was compounded by the general "unproductiveness of the South," which not only added to the CSSA’s economic woes, but also irritated Tejas and Cherokee further.
After the promulgation of the 1974 Constitution, the office of President of the Southern Altepetls was replaced with the Southern Presidency, an eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from the six constituent republics (Mississippi, Tejas, Alabama, Cherokee, Appalachia, Osage) and, controversially, two autonomous provinces of the Socialist Republic of Mississippi, Muscogee and Delta.
With the 1974 constitution, the influence of the central government of SR Mississippi over Muscogee and Delta was greatly reduced, which gave them long-sought autonomy. The government of SR Mississippi was restricted in making and carrying out decisions that would apply to the provinces. The provinces had a vote in the Southern Presidency, which was not always cast in favor of SR Mississippi. In Mississippi, there was great resentment towards these developments, which the nationalist elements of the public saw as the "division of Mississippi." The 1974 constitution not only exacerbated Choctaw fears of a "weak Mississippi, for a strong Southern Altepetls" but also hit at the heart of Choctaw national sentiment. Many Choctaw saw Muscogee as the "cradle of the nation", and would not accept the possibility of losing it to the majority Muskogean population, even if the province was named for the Muscogee.
Witko’s death would show that the short presidential terms established by the 1974 constitution were highly ineffective. Essentially, it left a power vacuum which was left open for most of the 1980s and World War III. The loss of the important industrial and port city of Mobile to Mitteleimerican forces in the war only furthered the view that the central government was completely incompetent.
During the years of Witko’s presidency, his policy is to push for rapid economic growth. Indeed, growth was high in the 1970s. However, the over expansion of economic growth caused inflation and pushed the Southern Altepetls recession.
The fall of equalism in Eurasia brought up the Southern Altepetl’s inner contradictions, economic inefficiencies (such as chronic lack of productivity, fueled by the country's leadership's decision to enforce a policy of full employment), and ethno-religious tensions to the surface. A decade of frugality resulted in growing frustration and resentment against both the Choctaw-Meskwaki 'ruling class' and minorities who seemed to benefit from government legislation. Real earnings in the Southern Altepetls fell by 25% from 1979 to 1984 and another 50% through World War III.
In August 1986, the Mississippian Academy of Sciences and Arts contributed significantly to the rise of nationalist sentiments by releasing the pro-Choctaw MASA Memorandum, which protested the weakening of the Mississippian central government.
Tensions between ethnic Choctaw and Muskogeans in Muscogee grew exponentially. This, coupled with economic problems in Muscogee and Mississippi, led to even greater Mississippian resentment of the 1974 Constitution. Muskogeans demanded that Muscogee be granted the status of a constituent republic beginning in the early 1980s, particularly with the 1981 protests in Muscogee. This was seen by the Mississippian public as a devastating blow to Choctaw pride because of the historic links that Choctaws held with Muscogee. It was viewed that that secession would be devastating to Muskogean Choctaw. This, eventually, led to the repression of the Muskogean majority in the province. Meanwhile, the more prosperous republics of SR Tejas and SR Cherokee wanted to move towards decentralization and liberalism.
In 1987, Mississippian equalist official Sheohmantho Mdewakanthunwan was sent to bring calm to an ethnically-driven protest by Choctaws against the Muskogean administration of Muscogee. Mdewakanthunwan had been, up to this point, a hardline equalist who decried all forms of nationalism as treachery, such as condemning the MASA Memorandum as "nothing else but the darkest nationalism". However, Muscogee’s autonomy had always been an unpopular policy in Mississippi and he took advantage of the situation and made a departure from traditional communist neutrality on the issue of Muscogee. Mdewakanthunwan thus started drifting away from mainstream equalism and towards right-wing Choctaw nationalism.
Mdewakanthunwan assured Muscogee Choctaws that their mistreatment by ethnic Muskogeans would be stopped. He then began a campaign against the ruling equalist elite of Mississippi, demanding reductions in the autonomy of Muscogee and Delta. These actions made him popular amongst Choctaw and aided his rise to power in Mississippi. Mdewakanthunwan and his allies took on an aggressive nationalist agenda of reviving SR Mississippi within the CSSA, promising reforms and protection of all Choctaw. Part of this agenda included renaming SR Mississippi to SR Choctaw, or the Choctaw Republic.
Riding the wave of nationalist sentiment and his new popularity gained in Muscogee, Mdewakanthunwan became the most powerful politician in Mississippi by defeating his former mentor President of Mississippi Istahba Sahiyaiyeskabi at the 8th Session of the League of Equalists of Mississippi on September 22, 1986.
Following Mdewakanthunwan’s ascension to the presidency, his supporters launched a series of revolts to install pro-Mdewakanthunwan leaders in Muscogee, Delta, and Alabama.
In addition to Mississippi itself, Mdewakanthunwan could now install representatives of the two provinces and SR Alabama in the Southern Presidency Council. The instrument that reduced Mississippian influence before was now used to increase it: in the eight member Presidency, Milošević could count on a minimum of four votes – SR Alabama (following local events), his own through SR Mississippi/Choctaw, and now AP Muscogee and AP Delta as well. In a series of rallies, called "Rallies of Truth", Mdewakanthunwan’s supporters succeeded in overthrowing local governments and replacing them with his allies.
Because of these events, in November, Muskogean miners organized a strike, demanding the preservation of the now endangered autonomy. This contributed to ethnic conflict between the Muscogee and the Choctaw population of the province. At 77% of the population of Muscogee in the 1980s, ethnic Muskogeans were the majority.
Later that month, on the 750th anniversary of Mississippi’s historic defeat at the fields of Muscogee by the invading Mexica, Mdewakanthunwan gave a speech to 200,000 Choctaws, with a Choctaw nationalist theme which deliberately evoked medieval Choctaw history. His answer to the incompetence of the federal system was to centralize the government. Considering Tejas and Cherokee were looking towards independence, this was considered unacceptable.
Tejas and Cherokee supported the Muskogean miners and their struggle for recognition. Media in SR Tejas published articles comparing Mdewakanthunwan to Persian dictator Reza Khan. Mdewakanthunwan contended that such criticism was unfounded and amounted to "spreading fear of Mississippi". Mdewakanthunwan’s state-run media claimed Tatanka Blackhawk, the leader of the League of Equalists of Tejas, was endorsing Muskogean and Tejan separatism. Initial strikes in Muskogean turned into widespread demonstrations calling for Muscogee to be made the seventh republic. This angered Mississippi leadership, which deployed police force, and later the federal army (the Southern People's Army).
In October 1986, ethnic Muskogean Apawonistaw Wazhaze, AP Muscogee’s representative on the Presidency, was forced to resign and was replaced by an ally of Mdewakanthunwan. Muskogean protesters demanded that Wazhaze be returned to office, and Wazhaze’s support for the demonstrations caused Mdewakanthunwan and his allies to respond stating this was a "counter-revolution against Mississippi and the Southern Altepetls", and demanded that the federal government put down the striking Muskogeans by force. Mdewakanthunwan’s aim was aided when a huge protest was formed outside of the CSSA parliament in Mississippi Delta by Choctaw supporters of Mdewakanthunwan who demanded that the Southern Altepetls military forces make their presence stronger in Muscogee to protect the ethnic Choctaw there and put down the strike.
On October 27, the SR Cherokee representative in the Southern Presidency, Mackkatananamakee Koholo, opposed the demands of the Choctaws and left Mississippi Delta for SR Cherokee, co-organized with the democratic opposition forces, publicly endorsing the efforts of Muskogean protesters who demanded that Wazhaze be released. Choctaw state-run television denounced Koholo as a separatist, a traitor, and an endorser of Muskogean separatism.
Choctaw protests continued in Mississippi Delta demanding action in Muscogee. Mdewakanthunwan instructed his supporters to make sure the protest continued while he discussed matters at the council of the League of Equalists, to induce the other members to realize that enormous support was on his side in putting down the Muskogean strike. Choctaw parliament speaker Bassechinga Oglala, a strong ally of Mdewakanthunwan, met with the current President of the Southern Presidency, Osage representative Voiengran Huhuganebabi, and demanded that the federal government concede to Mississippian demands. Huhuganebabi argued with Oglala saying that "You [Choctaw politicians] organized the demonstrations, you control it", Oglala refused to take responsibility for the actions of the protesters. Huhuganebabi then decided to attempt to bring calm to the situation himself by talking with the protesters and making an impassioned speech for the unity of the country.
This statement received polite applause, but the protest continued. Later Oglala spoke to the crowds with enthusiasm and told them that Mdewakanthunwan was going to arrive to support their protest. When Mdewakanthunwan arrived, he spoke to the protesters and jubilantly told them that the people of Mississippi were winning their fight against the old party bureaucrats. Then someone demanded that he "arrest Wazhaze". Mdewakanthunwan pretended not to hear the demand correctly but declared to the crowd that anyone conspiring against the unity of the Southern Altepetls would be arrested and punished. The next day, with the party council pushed to submission to Mississippi, army forces poured into Muscogee and Wazhaze was arrested.
In November, the crisis in the CSSA deepened after the adoption of amendments to the Mississippian constitution that allowed the Choctaw Republic's government to re-assert effective power over Muscogee and Delta. Up until that time, several political decisions were legislated from within these provinces, and they had a vote on the Southern Presidency.
A group of Muskogean Choctaw supporters of Mdewakanthunwan who helped bring down Wazhaze declared that they were going to Cherokee to hold "the Rally of Truth" which would decry Mackkatananamakee Koholo as a traitor to the CSSA and demand his ousting. However, the attempt to replay the anti-bureaucratic revolution from last month failed: the Choctaw protesters who supposed were to go by train to Cherokee were stopped when the police of SR Alabama blocked all transit through its territory in coordination with the Cherokee police forces.
Later that month, the extraordinary 14th Congress of the League of Equalists of the Southern Altepetls convened. For most of the time, Meskwaki-Choctaw and Nahua delegations argued over the future of the League of Equalists (the ruling equalist party) and the CSSA. The Meskwaki-Choctaw delegation insisted on a policy of 'one person, one vote', which would empower the Meskwaki and the Choctaw. In turn, the Nahua, supported by the Cherokee, sought to reform the CSSA by devolving power to the constituent republics, but they were voted down. As a result, the Nahua and Cherokee delegations left the Congress, and the League of Equalists split along ethnic lines, losing its ideological and political potency. All constituent republics adopted multi-party systems and called for elections.
When the individual republics organized their multi-party elections, the ex-equalists mostly failed to win reelection, while most of the elected governments took on nationalist platforms, promising to protect their separate nationalist interests. In multi-party parliamentary elections nationalists defeated rebranded former equalist parties in Cherokee on January 8, 1987, in Tejas on January 2, in Osage on December 9, and in Appalachia on November 18. Rebranded former equalist parties were victorious in Alabama on December 16 and in Mississippi/Choctaw Republic on December 23. In addition, Mississippi reelected Mdewakanthunwan as President. Now Mississippi and Alabama now increasingly favored a Choctaw-dominated CSSA.
In Osage, the nationalist Osage Democratic Union was elected to power, led by controversial nationalist Cheganonsas Thankja, under the promise of "protecting Osage from Mdewakanthunwan", publicly advocating for Osage sovereignty. Osage Choctaw, for their part, were wary of Thankja’s nationalist government, and Choctaw nationalists in Arkansas organized and formed a separatist entity known as AP Arkansas, which demanded to remain in union with the rest of the Choctaw populations if Osage decided to secede. The government of Mississippi endorsed the Osage Choctaws' rebellion, claiming that for Choctaws, rule under Thankja’s government would be equivalent to the fascist CSA, whose Nahua-dominated government committed genocide against Choctaws during World War II. Mdewakanthunwan used this to rally Choctaws against the Osage government and Mississippian newspapers joined in the warmongering. Mississippi had by now printed 1.8 billion marks worth of new money without any backing of the central bank.
Mississippian officials privately told the Osage Choctaw politicians how to organize their rebellion against the Osage, telling them to put up barricades, as well as assemble weapons of any sort in which he said, "If you can't get anything else, use hunting rifles". Initially the revolt became known as the "Log Revolution" as Choctaws blockaded roadways to Arkansas with cut-down trees and prevented Osage from entering the province. The blockade was damaging to Osage tourism (though most tourists came from the Eimerican Commune or the UTR anyways). The Osage government refused to negotiate with the Choctaw separatists and decided to stop the rebellion by force, and sent in armed special forces by helicopters to put down the rebellion.
The pilots claimed they were bringing "equipment" to Arkansas, but the federal Southern Air Force intervened and sent fighter jets to intercept them and demanded that the helicopters return to their base or they would be fired upon, in which the Osage forces obliged and left. To the Osage government, this action by the Southern Air Force revealed the Southern People's Army was increasingly under Choctaw control. The AP Arkansas was officially declared as a separate entity on January 21.
In the Cherokee independence referendum, 88.5% of all electors (94.8% of those participating) voted for independence – which was declared on January 25.
That month, CSSA counterintelligence agents revealed a video of a secret meeting they purported had happened some time in 1986 between the Osage Defense Minister and two others, in which the minister announced they were at war with the army and gave instructions about arms smuggling as well as methods of dealing with the Southern People’s Army's officers stationed in Osage cities. The Army subsequently wanted to indict the minister for treason and illegal importation of arms, mainly from Fusang.
The discovery of Osage arms smuggling combined with the crisis in Arkansas and the election of independence-leaning governments in six of the eight republics suggested the Southern Altepetls faced the imminent threat of disintegration.
On February 1, the Biloxi clash ensued, and the Southern People's Army was deployed. Eight days later, protests in Mississippi Delta were suppressed with the help of the Army.
On February 12, the leadership of the Army met with the Presidency to convince them to declare a state of emergency which would allow the Southern People’s Army to take control of the Southern Altepetls. The generals feared there was a foreign-backed conspiracy to tear apart the Southern Altepetls. Their statement effectively implied that the new independence-advocating governments of the republics were seen by Choctaws as tools of the Reich and China. The Osage delegate responded angrily to the proposal, accusing Oglala of attempting to use the army to create a Greater Mississippi and declared "That means war!" Oglala then called upon the delegates of each republic to vote on whether to allow martial law, and warned them the CSSA would likely fall apart if martial law was not introduced.
In the meeting, a vote was taken on a proposal to enact martial law to allow for military action to end the crisis in Osage by providing protection for the Choctaws. The proposal was rejected as the Appalachian delegate voted against it, believing that there was still the possibility of diplomacy being able to solve the crisis.
The Presidency crisis reached an impasse when the Appalachian delegate 'defected' his faction in the second vote on martial law the next day. Oglala briefly resigned the presidency in protest, but he soon returned. On February 26, the Mississippian parliament replaced the leaders of AP Muscogee and Delta with pro-Mdewakanthunwan politicians. This effectively deadlocked the Presidency, because Mdewakanthunwan’s Mississipian faction had secured four out of eight federal presidency votes and it was able to block any unfavorable decisions at the federal level, in turn causing objections from other republics and calls for reform of the CSSA.
After Oglala’s term as head of the collective presidency expired, he blocked his anti-Mdewakanthunwan successor from taking the position, giving the position instead to a pro-Mdewakanthunwan official from Alabama.
In the Osage independence referendum held on February 26, 93.24% voted for independence. On March 2, the second round of the referendum on the structure of the Southern Altepetls federation was held in Osage. The phrasing of the question did not explicitly inquire as to whether one was in favor of secession or not. The referendum asked the voter if he or she was in favor of Osage being "able to enter into an alliance of sovereign states with other republics?". 83.56% of the voters turned out, with Osage Choctaws largely boycotting the referendum. Of these, 94.17% (78.69% of the total voting population) voted "in favor" of the proposal, while 1.2% of those who voted were "opposed". Finally, the independence of Osage was declared on March 5.
On the morning of March 6, units of the Southern People's Army's 13th Corps left their barracks in Wichita and moved towards the Fusang border.
The move immediately led to a strong reaction from local Osage, who organized spontaneous barricades and demonstrations against the SPA’s actions. There was no fighting yet, and both sides appeared to have an unofficial policy of not being the first to open fire.
By this time, the Osage government had already put into action its plan to seize control of both the international Wichita Airport and Osage’s posts on borders with the MFS and Fusang.
The personnel manning the border posts were, in most cases, already Osage, so the Osage take-over mostly simply amounted to changing of uniforms and insignia, without any fighting. By taking control of the borders, the Osage were able to establish defensive positions against an expected SPA attack. This meant that the SPA would have to fire the first shot. It was fired on March 18 and would become the first shot of the Eimerican Wars.
Negotiations to restore the CSSA and prevent total collapse held by Senator Slobodan Milosevos Princip of the Reich and delegations from the recently established North Eimerican Community ended three days later with the declarations of independence of the Lakota, Illiniwek, and Pawnee republics from the Eimerican Commune (followed shortly by more secessions). Princip’s plan realized the CSSA was in a state of dissolution and decided that each republic must accept the inevitable independence of the others, along with a promise to Mississippian President Mdewakanthunwan that the North Eimerican Community would ensure that Choctaws outside of Mississippi would be protected.
Princip’s opinions became moot following Fusang’s recognition of Osage and Cherokee. The unilateral recognition was as an unwelcome surprise to the rest of the NEC (Kanata, Fusang, Mayapan, and the UPM, with Tawantinsuyu as a non-member observer) and the Reich, with whom there was no prior consultation. International organizations like the UN were nonplussed. While the CSSA was already in shambles, and the Eimerican Commune following quickly, it's likely that Fusang recognition of the breakaway republics made things worse for the decomposing multinational state. Kohl was the only major world leader to voice an objection.
Mdewakanthunwan refused to agree, as he claimed that the North Eimerican Community, which had just been created a few months ago, had no right to dissolve a country much older than it and that the plan was not in the interests of Choctaws as it would divide the Choctaw people between four republics (Mississippi, Alabama, Appalachia, and Osage). Princip responded by putting the issue to a vote in which all the other republics, including Alabama, initially agreed to the plan that would dissolve the CSSA and the Eimerican Commune. However, after intense pressure from Mississippi, Alabama changed its position to oppose the dissolution of the CSSA.
Two weeks later, the Osage War of Independence broke out between the Osage government and the rebel ethnic Choctaws of the AP Arkansas (heavily backed by the by-now Choctaw-controlled Southern People's Army). On April 1, Arkansas declared it would secede from Osage. On April 2, Tejas declared it would secede from the CSSA and join forces with Osage. President and Texan nationalist Tatanka Blackhawk returned to Tejas City, where he declared himself the first king of a Texan monarchy and granted the Mexica priesthood sweeping influence in the newly independent Texan government.
The influence of xenophobia and ethnic hatred in the collapse of the CSSA became clear during the war in Osage. Propaganda by Osage and Choctaw sides spread fear, claiming that the other side would engage in oppression against them and would exaggerate death tolls to increase support from their populations. In the beginning months of the war, the Choctaw-dominated Southern People’s Army and navy deliberately shelled civilian areas in Osage and Osage-aligned Mobile in Alabama. Choctaw media claimed that the actions were done due to what they claimed was a presence of fascist CSA forces and UPM terrorists in Mobile. UN investigations found that no such forces existed in Mobile.
At the same time, the Choctaw government contradicted its Alabaman allies with claims that Mobile was historically Mississippian, not Alabaman. The international media gave immense attention to bombardment of Mobile and claimed this was evidence of Mdewakanthunwan pursuing the creation of a Greater Mississippi as the C-SSA collapsed, presumably with the aid of the subordinate Alabaman leadership and Choctaw nationalists in Alabama to foster Alabaman support for the retaking of Mobile.
Destroyed SPA tank at Ozark
In Ozark, ethnic tensions between Osage and Choctaws exploded into violence when the SPA entered the town. The SPA and Choctaw paramilitaries devastated the town in urban warfare and the destruction of Osage property. Choctaw paramilitaries committed atrocities against Osage, killing over 200, and displacing others to add to those who fled the town in the massacre.
With the Delta’s demographic structure comprising a mixed population of a Mexica Caddo majority and minorities of Eimericanist Osage and Choctaws, the ownership of large areas of the Delta was in dispute. A similar problem arose in Appalachia and its large Meskwaki population coming into conflict with Choctaw settlers.
After March 18, the situation in the Delta grew tense. Its parliament was fragmented on ethnic lines into a plurality Caddo faction and minority Choctaw and Osage factions. In 1991, the controversial nationalist leader Roudanique Kickapougwoi of the largest Choctaw faction, the Choctaw Democratic Party, gave a grave and direct warning to the Delta parliament should it decide to separate, saying:
This, what you are doing, is not good. This is the path that you want to take the Delta on, the same highway of hell and death that Osage, Tejas, and Cherokee went on. Don't think that you won't take the Delta into hell, and the Mexica people maybe into extinction. Because the Mexica people cannot defend themselves if there is war here.
In the meantime, behind the scenes, negotiations began between Mdewakanthunwan and Thankja to divide the Delta into Osage and Choctaw administered territories to attempt to avert war between Delta Choctaw and Osage. A subsequent referendum on March 25 resulted in a narrow vote in favor of staying in a common state with Mississippi and Alabama.
In public, pro-state media in Mississippi claimed to the Meskwaki that Appalachia could be included a new voluntary union within a new CSSA based on democratic government, but this was not taken seriously by the Appalachian government.
On April 9, the Appalachian Choctaw assembly proclaimed a separate Republic of the Choctaw people of Appalachia and proceeded to form Choctaw autonomous regions (CARs) throughout the state. The Mississippian referendum on remaining in the CSSA and the creation of Choctaw autonomous regions (CARs) were proclaimed unconstitutional by the Appalachian government.
An independence referendum sponsored by the Appalachian government was held on April 19. That referendum was in turn declared contrary to the Appalachian and federal constitution by the federal Constitution Court and the newly established Appalachian Choctaw government; it was also largely boycotted by the Appalachian Choctaw. According to the official results, the turnout was 63.4%, and 99.7% of the voters voted for independence. It was unclear what the two-thirds majority requirement meant and whether it was satisfied. Appalachia declared independence on April 23 and received international recognition the next week. On the same date, the Choctaws responded by laying siege to Chattanooga, which marked the start of the Appalachian War.
The rebellion of the last constituent republic proved to be the last nail in the coffin for the CSSA, which had by now ceased to exist. Up in the north, the Eimerican Commune suffered a similar disintegration into its constituent republics and along ethnic lines. As every constituent republic declared independence, right-wing generals launched a coup in Michigan City, declaring the equalist republic dissolved and a monarchy established, with themselves as regents until they could deal with the Meskwaki Free State. In the old Union of Thirteen Republics, Kanatan nationalists bombed the Politburo building, killing the entire Party leadership in the process. The core seven republics declared their independence from the UTR as the new Atlantic Republic, whose ethnic Norse-dominated government outvoted the Rhotinonsionni delegations and petitioned for annexation into Kanata. Kanatan troops marched south into the Atlantic Republic and fully occupied the republic. The southern republics declared themselves an independent Cherokee state, uniting with the Cherokee republics breaking off from the CSSA and the Eimerican Commune to form a theocracy run by Eimericanist high priests. By May 3, the UTR, CSSA, and Eimerican Commune had effectively ceased to exist.
The chaos in North Eimerica quickly spread beyond the border of the former CSSA, UTR, and Eimerican Commune. Nationalists began an uprising in the outer provinces of the Meskwaki Free State, declaring the emperor of the Fox did not deserve to be the representative of the Meskwaki people. The MFS government, finding itself overwhelmed by the nationalists, requested UN peacekeeping from Fusang, Kanata, and the Reich. China, stuck in a diplomatic incident with the Reich after a Roman pilot landed in Nanjing, did not send troops. The Reich, though it contributed peacekeeping forces to the MFS, refused to send more troops to the rest of North Eimerica, especially after Mexico invaded Tejas, starting the First Mexican Gulf War.
Texan M-14 fighter jets over northern Mexico
As North Eimerica descended further into chaos, the Reich dispatched advisers to its other allies to make sure the chaos didn’t spread further. More military advisers were sent to Mali to stabilize the internationally recognized government and help it defeat the separatists. Kohl also decided he wouldn’t tolerate the military dictatorship in Bamako further. A week later, he successfully pressured the dictatorship into dissolving itself, restoring meritocracy for the first time in decades.
Over in China, Jiang and his junta could no longer ignore the strength and reach of the pro-democracy Tangwai movement, which threatened his grip on power. They had lost their best scapegoat in the Soviet Commune, and the Chinese people did not see the Reich as a threat to their way of life. The junta’s popularity gradually dropped as it lost justification for existing. Protests throughout China could no longer be effectively suppressed. Even the Xuantong Emperor was getting tired of Jiang’s antics. On October 15, the emperor officially demanded the end of martial law. Jiang protested, arguing it would lead to the fall of the monarchy, but the emperor insisted, and Jiang folded the next day and lifted martial law. He made no promises about restoring democracy, though.
The Reichsrat convened again at the start of 1988. No party or ideological faction made any substantial gains from last year. Kohl was relieved despite the CMU losing a couple seats, as he had been concerned by the SPR’s impressive gains from last year. Hoping to change the subject towards policy issues, Kohl quickly announced he would join the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
He then quietly left Constantinople and flew to Copenhagen, where he met with Queen Aleta III af Estrid of Denmark, King Magnus af Steinvikholm of Kanata, Tsaritsa Sbyslava Rurikovich of Russia, and King Temur IV Toghorilid of Finland (also Tsar of Yavdi) to discuss the chaos in the Eimericas (the Meskwaki Empire, the rump state in Michigan claiming to be the successor of the Eimerican Commune, had just invaded the Pawnee republic). However, the subject quickly turned to the other major issue that had been brought to the forefront by the collapse of equalism: Scandinavian reunification.
For the last seventy years, Scandinavia had been partitioned into four countries after its defeat in World War I. The “occupation zones” established in 1915-6 were intended to be temporary until a meritocratic and pacifistic Scandinavian government could be set up. The collapse of Russia, Yavdi, and Kanata to equalism and the evacuations of their royal families and governments to the occupation zones made them permanent, and over time they became internationally recognized countries (within reason) in their own right. With Russia, Yavdi, and Kanata finally freed from equalism, Queen Aleta suggested Scandinavian reunification could now proceed, as there was no longer a reason for the governments in exile to remain in exile. Kohl brought up the topic with Otto, and the Kaiser agreed. Over the next three weeks, the Russian, Yavdian, and Kanatan governments slowly relocated back to their home countries, and transitional authorities were established in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The transitional authorities took steps to integrate their economies, political systems, and militaries with each other. The process was gradual to prevent social instability and would likely take ten years to finish.
Although Kohl would’ve wanted to stick to one main issue that wasn’t the Eimerican Wars for the rest of the year, real life got in the way, as it always did. The aging Jiang Jingguo passed away on February 4. The son of the late Chiang Kai-Shek and the de facto leader of China for the last few years was gone, and the generals needed someone to replace him. They refused to consider any of Jiang’s sons, because Jiang had privately married a Tsarist Russian and they did not want a mixed-race man running China. For that matter, Jiang had anticipated this and instead nominated Li Denghui, a quiet and uncontroversial general, as his successor. The generals quickly proclaimed Li the next leader of the junta, planning to use him as a figurehead. But the succession only galvanized the Tangwai movement further, as it only highlighted the junta’s desire to stay in power despite having no reason to continue existing.
The Eimerican Wars continued through that spring. The Meskwaki Empire was forced to concede defeat after its invasion of the Pawnee republic was surprisingly pushed back, while the Appalachian Republic lost one of its eastern states to an expansionist Cherokee. Most importantly for the continent, the Eimerican Commune’s old UN Security Council seat, which had been claimed by the Meskwaki Empire, was officially revoked and granted to Fusang. Fusang would become the first non-equalist North Eimerican nation to have a seat on the Security Council, the first since the Fox Empire and the old Kingdom of Kanata in 1910.
The First Gulf War was over faster than anybody expected, and Tejas had inexplicably won, against all odds. The Mexican Republican Army had previously been considered one of the best equipped in Cemanahuac, and its strength had only been boosted by the collapse of the equalist armies in the north and their defections south. It had bought 1970s-era equipment from China, compared to the 1960s-era equipment used by most of the equalists. And the MRA was a professional army, compared to Tejas’s hastily organized militias. It was Mexico’s overconfidence that brought them down. They had expected to easily conquer Tejas and put no effort into trying. The Tejas militias inflicted devastating casualties on the MRA’s ranks in the first few weeks of the war, and by the end of September they had invaded Mexico and reached Tenochtitlan itself. Shocked by the Texans’ successes, Zolton Huicton quickly surrendered, quietly signing a treaty with Tejas in which he recognized the country’s sovereignty and agreed to “send humanitarian aid” to help set up the country’s economy.
Mexican soldiers surrendering after the ceasefire
In other news, India deregulated much of its economy, and Russia declared bankruptcy again. Many major Chinese companies used the opportunity to expand their economic presence in Russia and Yavdi, although the Reich’s control over several strategic industries and almost all Russian and Yavdian infrastructure prevented them from getting too far.
In December, the Xuantong Emperor held his diamond jubilee, celebrating his sixtieth year on the Dragon Throne. Dignitaries from every major world power attended the lavish ceremonies and parades in Nanjing. The military put on an impressive parade to show off its strength to the rest of the world, though the parade was routinely interrupted by pro-democracy protesters (who were censored by the state-run media). The Emperor himself didn’t appear in public much besides the necessary ceremonies, and rumors swirled he was very ill. The junta also suppressed those rumors as treasonous and un-Chinese.
1989 began, and just like last year, no party or faction made any noticeable gains, to Chancellor Kohl’s relief. Despite losing a couple more seats, that meant the people were generally confident in the CMU’s leadership. Later that day, he saw his approval ratings jump up another 10% after Yeltsin officially announced he had completed Russia’s nuclear disarmament.
In addition to abolishing the equalist dictatorship, the Belavezha Accords also mandated that Russia give up its nuclear stockpile, as Chernobyl had shown the country was incapable of regulating their use. Roman, Chinese, and United Nations observers oversaw the disarmament process over the next three years. Missile silos were placed under UN control, with some being integrated into Roman and Chinese military bases. Their warheads were decommissioned and shipped off to the Reich and China to be integrated into their own stockpiles. The Russian military would be placed under regular inspection by the UN to make sure it didn’t try to rebuild its nuclear arsenal. By January 1989, disarmament had been completed, and Yeltsin signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty a second time. Russia would be the first country to “voluntarily” give up its nuclear weapons.
In February, Kaiser Otto also celebrated his diamond jubilee. As the Roman military had already held its triumphs back in 1986, there was no need for another military parade. Kohl and his cabinet nevertheless arranged an impressive parade for the Kaiser, with marching bands and other performers marching down Mese Street past cheering crowds towards Augustaeon Square. A few hundred World War II and III veterans joined in the festivities and received standing ovations from the crowds that were only matched by the appearances of Otto and his family, their motorcade making their way down the crowded streets from Blachernae to Hagia Sophia, where they participated in a special prayer by Ioannes II to mark sixty years of his reign. Afterwards, Otto shook hands with the crowds outside, while the Kaiserin and Crown Princess visited Restoration Island. Restoration Island was an artificial island built in Constantinople's harbor in 1904 to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Roman unification. A statue of Saint Wilhelmina, dubbed the Statue of Romanitas, was built in the 1950s following World War II. The statue was bombed and seriously damaged in an RAF attack in 1985, and crews were now working to rebuild it, adding new plaques to the bottom to commemorate the sacrifices of Roman soldiers in the world wars and towards defending freedom as Saint Wilhelmina did.
However, Otto’s day was unexpectedly cut short by a short phone call from Kohl, who urged him to meet in the situation room immediately. There was troubling news coming from China that the Kaiser couldn’t ignore, even if it was his diamond jubilee today. When Otto arrived, Kohl told him the bad news: the Xuantong Emperor had passed away.
Rumors had been swirling for months that the Xuantong Emperor was deathly ill, explaining his lack of appearances during his own diamond jubilee. Those rumors turned out to be true. Throughout 1987, he had suffered from digestive problems, for which he ultimately underwent surgery on his pancreas in September. The surgery initially seemed to be successful, but in September 1988 he collapsed, and his health worsened as he suffered from internal bleeding. His physicians advised him to not make any appearances during his diamond jubilee, but the Emperor insisted, and that only worsened his condition. On February 2, 1989, at 7:55 AM, the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency officially announced the Emperor’s death, revealing details about his diagnosis with cancer for the first time. The Xuantong Emperor was survived by his wife, his children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His eldest son, Crown Prince Mingren, was immediately proclaimed the next Emperor of China, and he would take the reign name Mingzhong. His coronation would take place next year.
The Xuantong Emperor’s death marked the end of an era in China. His reign had spanned six decades from the late 1920s to the 1980s and was marked by sweeping social and political changes in China and around the world. Generations of Chinese had grown up knowing only the Xuantong Emperor as their emperor, and the succession would shake their already unstable society to the core.
On March 4, the Xuantong Emperor’s state funeral was held. Unlike that of his father, it was a formal ceremony but not conducted in a strictly Shendao or Confucian manner, as he had wished to have a mostly secular funeral. Almost every major world leader, Kaiser Otto and his immediate family included, attended the funeral. Otto gave a eulogy for the Emperor at his memorial service in fluent Chinese, hailing him as a “symbol of China” and a stabilizing force for Chinese society against equalism. He called the Xuantong Emperor a close friend, as they had both taken the thrones within months of each other and had reigned over their two superpowers since then. The Emperor would be buried in the Ming Imperial Tombs in the hills outside Nanjing, where every Chinese emperor since Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the dynasty who had driven out the Mongols in the 14th century, was buried.
The ceremony wasn’t entirely peaceful, though. Protestors picketed in front of the Imperial Palace starting a week after the announcement of the Emperor’s death, calling for the end of the military junta. They barricaded main roads to block Li and other junta leaders from attending the funeral and ceremony, though they took steps to lift the blockades for the Crown Prince or a member of the royal family. At the funeral, they protested in front of the main temple, calling out Li and other junta leaders by name. As the Emperor’s body was driven by motorcade to the Imperial Tombs, the protesters lined the streets, throwing fruits and light objects at the cars containing the junta leaders. More protesters demonstrated in the city center, including Tiananmen Square in front of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s death had struck a raw nerve in the Chinese people and pushed the Tangwai movement over the edge. Li was caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t crack down on the protesters without making himself look disrespectful of the Emperor, and he couldn’t let them demonstrate for fear of revolution. He consulted his fellow generals, but they simply resigned and retired to their country estates, hoping to ride out the storm. Faced with no other choice, Li ordered the troops to break up the protests by force. Tanks rolled down the streets of Nanjing and into Tiananmen Square, where protesters blocked their paths and threw rocks at them and at the picture of Chiang Kai-Shek hanging over the main gates to the palace. Soldiers fired canisters of tear gas and hit protesters with batons and the butts of their rifles. Thousands were arrested and tossed into prisons.
Tanks rolling through Tiananmen Square
Despite Chinese efforts to restrict foreign reporters, the crackdown gained worldwide attention. Empress Sita and the Indian government condemned the junta’s actions and called for the restoration of democracy in China. The North Eimerican Community, now led by Fusang, called for dialogue with the protesters. Riots broke out in Vietnam, Turkestan, Laos, and Nepal, all Chinese puppets ruled by juntas loyal to the Chinese military, and East Indonesia and Qiandao, whose military dictatorships were Chinese allies. The riots in Vietnam got so out of hand that the military declared martial law in Vietnam and invited Chinese troops in to restore order. Li also deployed troops to Siberia, where ethnic Siberians went on strike.
The Reich, though, remained silent on the protests. The Kaiser, still grieving over the recent death of his mother, Kaiserin Mother Zita, that April, ordered Kohl and his cabinet not to pick a side in the Chinese situation. This was part of China’s internal affairs, and the Reich had no business taking a stand in something the Chinese people should decide for themselves. The General Staff also warned of a partial Chinese mobilization on the Yavdi-China border, fearing Li might invade Yavdi to distract his people and keep himself in power. Otto placed the Roman ground troops and air forces stationed in Yavdi and Russia to go on high alert. April 1989 would be like a repeat of the summer of 1984, and it could not have come at the worst possible time after Zita’s death.
After a memorable 95th birthday, celebrated with her vast family for the first time at Saint Gunhilda’s childhood home in Kujawy, Poland since Zita was a child, the Kaiserin Mother’s strong health began to fail in 1987. Several weeks later, she developed inoperable cataracts in both eyes. Her birthday party would be the last major family gathering she attended. While visiting her daughter in the summer of 1988, she developed pneumonia and remained bedridden in Vienna for the rest of the year. In March 1989, she called Otto and told him she was dying. Returning from the Xuantong Emperor’s funeral, he and his siblings took turns keeping her company at her bedside. She passed away in the early hours of April 3, 1989. Zita was 96.
Zita’s funeral was held a week later and entirely paid for by Kaiser Otto. Her body was carried to the Imperial Crypt in the same funeral coach she walked behind during the funerals of Franz Joseph and Karl I in 1916 and 1918. The service was attended by the heads of over 200 major dynatoi families and 6000 attendees, including leading politicians, state officials, and international representatives, and it was officiated by Ioannes II. Zita would ultimately be beatified by the Church in 2009.
Attending two funerals in two months took its toll on Otto. For the rest of April, as the news recycled stories about Zita’s life and covered details of the funeral and the plans of each member of the royal family, Otto retreated to Blachernae to grieve, not making many public appearances. He also cut back his appearances in cabinet meetings, including those focusing on the reintegration of the eastern provinces. What should’ve been a time for celebration, to commemorate the end of the Reich’s division after fifty years, was instead overshadowed by the deaths of his mother and the emperor of the second most powerful nation in the world. Eventually, Kohl convinced Otto to appear on May 8 in Berlin for the special ceremony to officially finish Roman reunification. Otto dragged himself to the capital and forced himself to speak before an audience of billions on closing the darkest chapter in the Reich’s history.
The Volkskammer, the Parliament of the former DDR, passed a resolution on August 23, 1988 declaring the accession (Beitritt) of the DDR to the Reich, and the extension of the field of full application of the Augustinian Code to the territory of the DDR as allowed by article 23 of the Basic Law of the Augustinian Code, effective October 3. The legislatures of the other provisional authorities followed suit over the next four months, and by March 1989 all governments of the former Occupied Territories had declared their accession to the Reich.
In the wake of the resolutions of accession, the Reunification Treaty was signed by representatives of the provisional authorities and the Reich on May 1, 1989, and the provisional authorities effectively abolished their own existence.
The Reunification Treaty entered into force according to international law on May 4, upon the exchange of notices regarding the completion of the respective internal requirements for the adoption of the treaty in both the Reich and the provisional authorities. With that last step, and in accordance with Article 1 of the Treaty and the Declarations of Accession presented to the Reich, the Reich was officially reunited at midnight on May 8, 1989, exactly fifty years from the date Markos Angelos launched his failed coup and sparked the civil war that split the Reich. The former Occupied Territories would join the Reich as their constituent states, which would be organized into Lander like in the western Reich. The new Lander would participate in the 1990 examinations beginning on July 1.
At the same time, East and West Berlin officially reunited into one city and organized into a Capital Administrative Region like Constantinople. Berlin was still formally under the control of the Imperial Control Council, but the city's administrative merger was formally approved in a meeting of the ICC, which declared its job completed and subsequently dissolved itself. In an emotional ceremony presided over by Kaiser Otto, as renowned composer Leonard Bernstein conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Ode to Joy (with the word “freedom” replacing the word “joy”), at the stroke of midnight on May 8, the old red and yellow flag of the Reich—replacing the black and gold imperial eagle war flag used as the de facto official flag since 1946—was raised above the Brandenburg Gate, marking the moment of Roman reunification at the moment the orchestra finally blares out the “Ode to Joy” theme. The crowds roared with chants of “Long live the Kaiser!” and “God save our Kaiser!” before settling on a new phrase: “Long live the Phoenix Kaiser!” The news networks picked up on this phrase and spread it around the world. “The Phoenix (Kaiser)” would join the long string of epithets awarded to Otto over the next ten years.
Fireworks at Brandenburg Gate after the reunification.
The practical result of reunification was that the reunified Reich inherited the old western Reich’s seats at the UN, Central Powers, and other international organizations. It also continued to be a party to all the treaties the old western Reich signed prior to the moment of reunification. The Augustinian Code and statutory laws that were in force in the western Reich, as amended in accordance with the Reunification Treaty, continued automatically in force, but now applied to the expanded territory.
To commemorate the day that marks the official reunification of the Reich, May 8, previously a day to remember the failed Angeloi coup and the beginning of World War II in the Reich, has since been declared one of the official Roman national holidays, Reunification Day. It would be celebrated alongside other holidays like Unification Day (for Friedrich the Glorious’s first unification of the Reich), and Christian Unity Day (for Saint Wilhelmina’s Mending of the Schism and the unification of the Christian Church).
(The color will be fixed in the next picture or so)
The merging of the former Occupied Territories, referred to after Roman reunification as the New Länder, with the western Reich’s market produced significant economic pressure on the Bismarck-era welfare state. The Reich’s welfare state was sustainable under the economic conditions of pre-unification but had trouble accommodating the increased costs associated with the integration of infrastructure, migration and labor of the New Länder. The social welfare programs offered, i.e. state pensions, unemployment insurance, traditionally adhered to a means testing and an earnings related basis for recipients, which had the potential to be more generous where permitted. These expenditures are publicly financed, by the collective taxation of wage-earning employees and employers. This system requires a labor market characterized by high productivity and high employment to mitigate taxation and claims per capita for sustainability, both of which the New Länder lacked.
Workers contribute a portion of their income via taxation and employers match workers' contributions, where the sum is stored in a national pool that immediately reallocates funds to pay existing claims. There was an East-West productivity gap, attributed to poor labor market performance which was caused by high unemployment and lesser skilled labor in the New Länder relative to the West, increasing the demand for benefits and decreasing relative contributions for social welfare benefits. The expanded coverage of welfare policies to the New Länder permitted an exponential increase in the number of claims and beneficiaries nationwide. The disproportionately productive West had to compensate for the lack of taxed contributions, in addition to the influx in claims, from the less productive New Länder.
Increasing costs pressured reformation of the welfare expenditures. The growth in welfare costs was compounded by a decline in the contributor/beneficiary ratio: by the mid-1990s, the unemployment rate would be about twice as high in the New Länder than it was in the west and the number of welfare beneficiaries outgrew the number of wage-earning employees nationwide. Into the late 2000s, social welfare accounted for most costly portion of public expenditure: about 32% of national GDP and 50% of GDP in the New Länder. This contributed to the government breaking deficit thresholds.
Despite these problems, the process of unification slowly moved ahead. The Treuhand, staffed almost entirely by western Romans, became the virtual government of the eastern provinces. Throughout privatization, the agency decided which companies would live or die, which communities would thrive or shrivel, and which eastern Länder would be prosperous. It also decided who might or might not buy eastern firms or services.
Whether correct or not, reports persisted throughout the first years of reunification that foreign enterprises were being screened more carefully and more skeptically than Roman firms even as they were being invited to invest. Less than 5 percent of all investment in the eastern provinces was non-Roman, and most of that was from companies with subsidiaries in the western provinces who were expanding to the east. The Chinese and Indians did not invest, although they had earlier expressed some interest, and the offices Treuhand established in Shanghai and Mumbai found few investors.
As might have been expected, the economy of the eastern provinces underwent into a deep and precipitous slump immediately after reunification. Within a year after reunification, the number of unemployed rose above 30 million. Industrial production in the eastern provinces fell to less than half the previous rate, and the total regional product fell precipitously through 1991. One estimate was that in 1991 the entire production of the eastern provinces amounted to less than 8 percent of that of the western provinces.
Because the process of reunification was managed by persons from the western provinces, new eastern firms were usually subsidiaries of western firms, and they followed the western ownership and management patterns. Bank participation became customary, especially because the large Frankfurt and Constantinople banks assumed the assets of the former DDR State Bank, and most eastern firms owed money to those Frankfurt and Constantinople banks. The banks installed their representatives on the boards of the new firms and assumed some supervisory functions—either directly or through control by western firms with bank representation. The Treuhand had close contacts with western banks. Many of its employees came from those banks and planned to return to their jobs at the banks.
Because of these circumstances, private investment and economic growth came to the eastern provinces at a relatively slow rate. Little new equity capital flowed in. Investment during the early years of reunification was only 1 percent of the all-Roman GDP, when much more was needed to jump-start the economy of the eastern provinces. Much of the investment was for the purchase of eastern companies, not yet for their rehabilitation. Many western firms bought eastern firms on a standby basis, making sure they could produce in the east when the time came and paying enough wages to satisfy the Treuhand but not starting production. Many others, including Daimler-Benz, did not even meet the commitments that they had made when they had purchased the eastern firms from the Treuhand. Thus, western private investment was not strong enough to boost eastern economies.
As private funds lagged, and in part because those funds lagged, federal budget investments and expenditures began flowing into the eastern provinces at a consistently high rate. Government funds were used essentially for two purposes: infrastructure investment projects (roads, bridges, railroads, and so on), and income maintenance (unemployment compensation, social security, and other social costs). The infrastructure projects sustained employment levels, and the income maintenance programs sustained income. But neither had an early growth payoff.
Although the precise level of official expenditures in the eastern provinces has been difficult to estimate because funds appropriated in one year might have been spent in another, it is beyond dispute that the imperial government expended well over 350 billion marks in the eastern provinces during the first three years after economic reunification. After 1992, this requirement has continued at an annual level of around 150 billion marks, so the sum of private and public funds put into the eastern provinces during the half-decade between monetary reunification and the end of 1995 would probably amount to at least 750 billion marks and perhaps as much as 850 billion marks. Between one-fifth and one-fourth of those funds were private, and the remainder were government funds. This constituted about 50,000 marks for every resident of the eastern provinces, a far greater level of assistance than contemplated for any other area that had been part of the Soviet Commune (Yavdi, Livonia, Russia, Finland) and a token of Roman determination to bring the eastern provinces to western levels as quickly as possible.
There was also a political incentive to quick integration following reunification. The New Länder had acceded to the Reich just two months before examination season began, and Kohl knew if he played his cards right, he could potentially get millions of supporters. But he was also concerned about the economic situation in the east. Decades of equalist rule had left scars in the eastern economies, and unemployment remained high. If nothing was done, they could turn on him and the CMU or even radicalize. Local police agencies had already reported spikes in neo-Angeloi and far-right incidents throughout the eastern provinces. This unrest could be exploited by the SPR and other parties, which might contend the CMU and Hohenzollern Faction were not capable of handling the problem.
Meanwhile, the situation in China continued to burn slowly. Li’s crackdown had only temporarily suppressed the Tangwai movement, but like the original Fuxingyundong over 150 years earlier, it came back with a vengeance. After news of Roman reunification spread around the world, Tangwai supporters, mostly college students, turned out into the streets again, facing down tanks and riot police in the millions. They stormed through Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Xian, Changsha, and Chongqing. In the capital, they filled Tiananmen Square on July 7, disobeying curfews and breaking through military barricades with sheer numbers. A statue representing the “Goddess of Democracy” went up in the middle of the square as the students shouted slogans calling for the end of the junta and the restoration of democracy in between chants of “Huangdi Wansui!” or “Long live the Emperor!”
Alarmed by the strength of the Tangwai movement, Li panicked. Consulting with his generals, he ordered in the tanks again. On July 10, soldiers marched into the square, this time armed with live ammunition. They were accompanied by tanks and helicopters, surrounding the students from all directions. Orders went out over megaphones for the crowds to disperse or be shot. The students responded by cursing the soldiers. After waiting another day, Li realized the students wouldn’t listen to him. Left with no choice, he gave the order to open fire.
At that moment, a middle-aged man emerged from the rest of the crowd, clad in a formal business suit, and planted himself between the students and the tanks. In classical Chinese, he announced he was the Emperor himself, and he ordered the troops to stand down. The Mingzhong Emperor had disguised himself as a commoner, like some of his ancestors had in ages past. He had felt very strongly about the restoration of democracy, unlike his father, and decided he would join the Chinese people in their fight. The image of the Emperor of China in commoner’s attire standing in front of rows of tanks was printed on newspapers and shown on TVs around the world, bending international opinion in favor of the students and firmly against the junta. By the end of the day, the soldiers in the square had all broken ranks and sided with the students, and by midnight, the Kaiser had officially called for the end of the junta.
Realizing there was nothing he could do now, Li swallowed his pride. Hoping to save what was left of his reputation and escape prosecution in a hostile court, on July 12 Li officially resigned the chancellery, announced the complete restoration of the old Mingzhi constitution, dissolved the junta Wang Jingwei had established forty years ago, withdrew the Chinese Army from the Yavdian border, and called for snap elections to take place immediately. Several hours later, the juntas of Vietnam, Laos, Nepal, Turkestan, Qiandao, and East Indonesia all either dissolved themselves or were overthrown in bloodless coups, and all of them announced they would be drafting new constitutions under the oversight of their monarchs. Three months later, the Penglai colonial government, established at the beginning of the 19th century, convened in Aojing and unanimously voted to declare independence from China and dissolve itself, restoring the ancient Song Dynasty to power as the rulers of an independent Penglai.
In one fell swoop, authoritarianism in Asia and the Pacific had come crashing down, and democracy had returned to China and its sphere of influence. Radicalism around the world had been soundly defeated. It was clear the Cold War was over now, and the Reich had won. As the Roman writer Franz Fukuyama claimed in his well-known essay “The End of History,” published several years later, the fall of equalism, the reunification of the Reich, and the restoration of democracy in the late 1980s marked the final triumph of the liberal world order over the forces of dictatorship and authoritarianism that dominated the mid-20th century. Indeed, the composition of the Reichsrat didn’t change much as the 1990s began, while the CMU predictably was declared the winner of the examinations, with Kohl appointed to another term as the chancellor of the Reich.
Fukuyama argued that this marked the end of history, the turning point in human civilization after which there would be no more major wars or any radicalism. Nation-states would all have transitioned to liberal governments (democratic or meritocratic), and humanity would drift into a blissful peaceful paradise of liberal democracy and meritocracy.
Unfortunately for Fukuyama, he was completely wrong. History didn’t end with the fall of the Soviet Commune, the reunification of the Reich, or the restoration of Chinese democracy. History was just getting started.
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By the way, I gave each province in the former Soviet Commune and the Occupied Territories the following modifier for the next fifty years:
Local RGO throughput = -0.1 (was -0.5 for the first 20 years)
Local RGO output = -0.1 (was -0.5 for the first 20 years)
Pop consciousness modifier = 0.5
Pop militancy modifier = 0.5
Immigration attraction = -2 (removed after 30 years)
Immigrant push = 5 (removed after 30 years)
Population growth = -0.01 (was -0.1, removed after 30 years because it was completely depopulating a few provinces)
Local factory output = -0.1
Farm RGO efficiency = -0.1
Mine RGO efficiency = -0.1
