Post by greywall on Jun 13, 2021 19:00:21 GMT -6
Founded in 1845 among the various territories of the former Southeastern United States initially as the Union of Territorial States. In 1850, Texas joins the UTS and the loose confederation becomes a formal republic with a new constitution and stronger federalist policies. In 1854 the UTS is reorganized as the Dixie Republic.
The early years.
From 1854 to 1860, the Dixie Republic began an explosive growth as an agricultural economic power. It sells over 25% of the global supply of cotton making overnight an extremely wealthy upper-class of land barons. The biggest criticism of this growth is that the South keeps using slave labor to cut costs and under price their competitors. By 1860, the Dixie Republic begins emerging from the cataclysm as a competent neighbor to the other North American nations.
1860-1900
This period was a time of consolidation for the Dixie Republic, it put down various uprisings and slave revolts, slowly becoming the central power in the South. The Cotton Barons flushed the new government with massive amounts of money to supply it in order to preserve slavery. However, neighboring American states began to pressure and protest the use of slaves in the Dixie Republic going so far to embargo the cotton industry. Facing economic alienation, politicians in the Republic began pushing anti slavery legislation and were supported heavily by activist who wanted the practice to end. This caused heated political debates and even threats of civil war, this culminated to a head at the 1865 Presidential election between Francis Vigo and Charles McEwan. President Vigo had been neutral on the stance of slavery and refused to get involved in the topic to avoid picking a side, while McEwan a politician from Alabama pushed for the end of slavery. McEwan won in a landslide using the fact that the practice of slavery was immoral, harmed the local Southern economy and free workforce and even continued the threat of uprisings from the slave class. McEwan struck a deal with the Cotton Barons and struck legislation known as the "Freeman Act". All slaves would be freed and the owners compensated, to avoid the slave class being left abandoned the Cotton Barons would be told to hire them and assist in their education so they could enter the workforce. Initially it cost the Dixie Republic several million dollars in today's inflated rate but freed the slaves without bloodshed. This however did not mean they would be treated well or equally.
In 1870, McEwan won re-election as president. He began overseeing the rise of Southern economic might with a large workforce now under his presidency and worked with former slave members to enter the government, during a gala ball where he invited several members of Southern high society he was assassinated by Thomas Boothe a white supremacist who believed McEwan betrayed the Southern system of owning slaves. This crisis led to violent rioting and protests across the South, anti slave demonstrators murdered freed blacks and ransacked entire towns. President William Bolding ordered the Dixie army to enter and put down the rioting, this however escalated it when a terrorist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan attempted to wage war with the Republic in the Mississippi region. From 1872-1874, KKK members and the Dixie military would engage in brutal fighting that would end in the battle of Jackson. Integrated white and black Republic forces took back the city of Jackson, Mississippi from KKK forces and captured the grand wizard. He was put on trial and executed publicly, the event ended in some way the divide between white and black Southerners and vilified white supremacist groups. This part of history is referred to as Burning Mississippi.
President Bolding would serve in office until 1885, he was largely responsible for several civil rights policies passed to end segregation and laws that made former slaves lesser citizens. Bolding is considered one of the best presidents from this period for keeping the Republic together. His successor is considered the worst. President James Tull won by a margin of 4 votes, he was a former Cotton Baron and wanted to industrialize the South. He began pushing in his first years in office for new projects to modernize Southern cities but ultimately he struggled as he could not navigate the Southern Senate well and appointed personal friends to his Cabinet. Tull caused an small depression and looking for a scapegoat blamed non-humans from his own prejudices. Tull did not win re-election but did start the process of Southern hate toward non-human races.
In 1890, President Garth Fredricks began a successful campaign to extend Southern diplomacy in North America and Europe. The Fredricks administration was a welcomed return to stability and worked to end the economic recession caused by Tull. Fredricks modernized Southern trade practices and finished what industrialization he could pull off. The Fredricks presidency stabilized internal politics of the republic and improved its relationship with its North American neighbors. Fredricks remained in office until 1915, serving as the longest tenured president of the Dixie Republic.
1915-2000
1915 saw the year Elias Johnson the former Vice President to Garth Fredricks and the first black man to serve as president enter office. President Johnson expanded trade policies previously brought under the Fredricks administration and began seeing the republic become a wealthy agricultural state once more. In 1921, after winning re-election President Johnson began the Second Industrialization Act which oversaw the development of major cities across the South. The 1920's became a decade of explosive economic growth and the creation of a vast infrastructure network helped catch the South to the rest of the North American region. President Johnson won his 1930 campaign giving the South a bright and hopeful future, however, Mexico coming out of a brutal civil war had reorganized into the Mexican Empire and pressed claims into Texas and Mississippi. The political situation became the focal point of Johnson's last term and he prevented war with the Empire despite several border skirmishes.
In 1935 Nathanial McCloud became president of the Republic and began the process of militarizing the Dixie Republic following Mexico's invasion of Central America and the Caribbean. In 1937, following a bloody border engagement, President McCloud warned the Mexican Empire of further violence toward the Republic. August 8th, 1938 the Mexican Empire launched a massive invasion into Southern Texas followed by a delayed declaration of war. The Mexican-Dixie War had begun.
Mexican-Dixie War 1938-1943
The initial Mexican invasion was swift and effective driving deep into Central Texas, the Republic army which had been prepared by President McCloud for war responded hastily and a series of bloody engagements began. From 1938-1939, most fighting took place in Texas but Mexican Imperial forces had encountered a severe setback in driving so deeply into Texas, most of the population was well armed and local militia groups waged guerilla warfare from behind Imperial lines. This cut supply lines and caused Imperial troops facing well armed and well supplied Dixie troops to fail. By the fall of 1939, Mexican forces had their backs to the Rio Grande and Dixie artillery was shelling Juarez. The Mexican Emperor sent requests for cease fire but they were ignored as Southern troops began the counter invasion of Mexico. 1940 saw the bloodiest and fiercest fighting of the war as Mexicans fought for their homeland to stop invaders from entering it, for most of the war Mexico saw success in holding off Dixie forces to the North infuriating McCloud. After winning re-election, McCloud put in command of all Republic forces General Lawrence Grant, Grant immediately began conducting a scorched earth policy in his engagements with Mexican forces and commented "I'll make the Empire howl, my men and I will march to Mexico city and raze it."
After a year of destroying Mexican infrastructure and violently putting down Imperial forces with no quarter, Imperial morale plummeted as Dixie forces rapidly marched south. In the winter of 1942, Southern forces had reached the city of Queretaro where most of the Mexican imperial army was trying to rally and stop their enemy from reaching the capital. The battle of Queretaro becomes the bloodiest battle of the entire war, over 30,000 dead after a 3 week engagement and the entire Mexican Imperial army broken. Dixie forces arrived at Mexico city which had been abandoned by the Mexican Emperor, infuriated by the Emperor fleeing General Grant has the city razed. The Emperor is forced by his generals to accept defeat and signs the Puebla peace treaty which forced Mexico to pay severe reparations' to the Dixie Republic. The war was the first real international war for the Dixie Republic and a few months later, the Mexican Empire collapsed into a civil war.
Following the war, the South entered a prosperous period known as the Magnolia era, from 1950 to 2000 the South enjoyed economic success and thirty years of peace. During this period Dixie culture flourished, football became the national past time, households were generally earning high wages and the agricultural industry was spurring forward being able to compete with the region. Presidents elected often found themselves simply trying to find ways to maintain the peace and keep the general pleasant period going. The era came to an end during the late 1990's when an economic recession struck and Southern markets became crippled causing a large decline in Dixie trade leaving the nation.
2000-2020
In 2000, the Dixie Republic was still feeling the recession from the late 90's
2020-2040
Great American War
Conflict waged between the Dixie Republic against the ACCE and West American nation
WIP