This is my first AAR, I'll complete it soon, hopefully...it's spring break after all!
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SEPTEMBER 3, 1977,
MONTERREY, U.S
In most of our memories, the Second World Wars is still an all too real reality. I don't know anyone over the age of 40 who cannot vividly recount times of absolute terror in a dark, stale bomb shelter, or a time when a man dressed in a depressingly brown uniform donning the Eagle-and-Lightningbolt patch arrived at a neighbor's door to bring news of a fresh death to the long list. I, an old bat of 44, lost a good friend to the grinding machinery of war.
But none of this really connects with the younger generations. They can only read about those trying decades the emotionless drivel of a history book or the lecturing voice of a boring fool like myself - scoulding them, for not truely understanding that there was a time when there were many nations of North and South America, or when English wasn't the dominant language in Monterrey.
20 years after the war, I wonder if this path was inevitable. Whether the march of history chose the ancient cities of Birmingham and London for its atomic wrath by some random chance, or if those people were simply doomed to this fate. The world never saw it coming until it was too late - maybe the sheer surprise and speed of those tumultuous years causes us to wonder, or maybe the slaughter of those twenty years or so beckons us ask: was this the only choice?
On this solemn anniversary, I will attempt to tell our generation's story as best I can. I, having been only a child for most of the war, can only bring so much to understanding World War Two on my own; for this reason, I have decided to use recovered manuscripts and diaries from across the world -One even found half-destroyed 30 miles from the BH(Birmingham) dead-zone - and will do my best to add as much context to the war as possible, hence my 19th century prologue.
In 1877, in response to a deepening economi downturn and poor standards of living, railroad workers called the first national strike in U.S History. The "Great Northern Railroad Strike" as it was advertised as quickly became centered in St. Louis, where its organizers assumed complete control of the city on August 27th, a Workers' Government proclaimed, and the few police assets still resisting the labor militias were quickly rooted out and hung.
Thus began what was later called the St. Louis Commune. For 2 weeks the state militia battled the workers, and for 2 weeks the state say defeat after defeat. Finally, the Federal government sent 2000 federal troops to quell the rebellion. In a stunning defeat on the outskirts of the city, the workers once again claimed victory.
Immediately 3 divisions stationed in Texas were mobilized to put down the rebellion - by the time they arrived to the Strikers' capital, the Workers' food supplies were low. The city's recapture was some of the bloodiest fighting in American history, outdoing Lincoln's New York bloodbath. An estimated 10,000 civilians died, many as a result of the summary shelling of the city prior to the assault.
After the rebellions were quelled, in the wake of nearly 15,000 deaths(5,000 deaths in Pittsburg and Chicago), the President ordered the creation of a national police agency, called the U.S Federal Security Legion, or FSL.
WORLD WAR ONE: "Not in the Name of European Imperialism"
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SEPTEMBER 3, 1977,
MONTERREY, U.S
In most of our memories, the Second World Wars is still an all too real reality. I don't know anyone over the age of 40 who cannot vividly recount times of absolute terror in a dark, stale bomb shelter, or a time when a man dressed in a depressingly brown uniform donning the Eagle-and-Lightningbolt patch arrived at a neighbor's door to bring news of a fresh death to the long list. I, an old bat of 44, lost a good friend to the grinding machinery of war.
But none of this really connects with the younger generations. They can only read about those trying decades the emotionless drivel of a history book or the lecturing voice of a boring fool like myself - scoulding them, for not truely understanding that there was a time when there were many nations of North and South America, or when English wasn't the dominant language in Monterrey.
20 years after the war, I wonder if this path was inevitable. Whether the march of history chose the ancient cities of Birmingham and London for its atomic wrath by some random chance, or if those people were simply doomed to this fate. The world never saw it coming until it was too late - maybe the sheer surprise and speed of those tumultuous years causes us to wonder, or maybe the slaughter of those twenty years or so beckons us ask: was this the only choice?
On this solemn anniversary, I will attempt to tell our generation's story as best I can. I, having been only a child for most of the war, can only bring so much to understanding World War Two on my own; for this reason, I have decided to use recovered manuscripts and diaries from across the world -One even found half-destroyed 30 miles from the BH(Birmingham) dead-zone - and will do my best to add as much context to the war as possible, hence my 19th century prologue.
RECONSTRUCTION: antimarxism and gettin' cozy with authoritarianism
In 1877, in response to a deepening economi downturn and poor standards of living, railroad workers called the first national strike in U.S History. The "Great Northern Railroad Strike" as it was advertised as quickly became centered in St. Louis, where its organizers assumed complete control of the city on August 27th, a Workers' Government proclaimed, and the few police assets still resisting the labor militias were quickly rooted out and hung.
Thus began what was later called the St. Louis Commune. For 2 weeks the state militia battled the workers, and for 2 weeks the state say defeat after defeat. Finally, the Federal government sent 2000 federal troops to quell the rebellion. In a stunning defeat on the outskirts of the city, the workers once again claimed victory.
Immediately 3 divisions stationed in Texas were mobilized to put down the rebellion - by the time they arrived to the Strikers' capital, the Workers' food supplies were low. The city's recapture was some of the bloodiest fighting in American history, outdoing Lincoln's New York bloodbath. An estimated 10,000 civilians died, many as a result of the summary shelling of the city prior to the assault.
After the rebellions were quelled, in the wake of nearly 15,000 deaths(5,000 deaths in Pittsburg and Chicago), the President ordered the creation of a national police agency, called the U.S Federal Security Legion, or FSL.
WORLD WAR ONE: "Not in the Name of European Imperialism"
