Part 43: All Good Things

Chapter 32: All Good Things



In the past 30 years oil has risen sharply in price. This has been a boon to Texas already, but Ferguson desires more for the Republic. War is declared on the natives of Abu Dhabi.



Our troops pour into the small nation. They will fall quickly.




During the small war a group of capitalists from across the Republic announce that they joined together to bring industry to the rural state of Santa Cruz in Texan Argentine. They built an aeroplane factory there, beating the Californians to constructing the first aeroplane factory in the world. The residents of Santa Cruz, all sheep farmers, are given a crash course in aeroplane building and sent to work in the factory.

(The Private Initiative event gives a random factory in a random state, its a random event and certain economic inventions increase the chance of it happenning)




Abu Dhabi is annexed and we move on to Nejd. We are not going to annex Nejd, only take a neighboring oil-producing province and probably satellite them.



Russia decides that they have not taken enough land already from the Germans and declare war on the industrious German Empire.



The German defense falls quickly.



We force the King of Nejd, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, to relinquish the province of Al Qatif and accept the status of a satellite of the Republic.



A huge surge in the industrial sector occurs in our economy, and two new factories go up. Utah, recently taken from the US, gains its first factory: an electric gear production facility. But the state of Chihuahua receives a greater boon from this surge.



Another Texan first: A barrel* factory, which looks to be the most profitable factory in the Republic considering the demand for this kind of weaponry (especially by the Russians). Note the empty ammunition factory: it was built but we forgot about it and has remained unstaffed since its completion many years ago.

*first called "motor artillery", "motor vehicle guns" or even "landships", the armored automobiles with large guns on them have been experimentally used in the past few Texan wars with growing success. To disguise them, they were marked "whiskey barrels" on all official documents, and the troops have taken to calling them "barrels" for short.



We move to educate the locals as soon as we can and staff the factory, so that we may "get the barrels rolling", as it were.



The aeroplane factory in California is up and running now too.



The Republic of Texas is now officially the 8th ranked nation in the world, and therefore a Great Power. It was a long, tough road to this status but it is done. But will we rest on our laurels? No! Texas will forever strive for greatness.



The Ottomans, maybe looking to get very lucky and reestablish themselves as a contender, ally with the Germans and declare war on Russia

We ask for a map of the current Russian invasion of Germany, and what we receive is most disturbing.



The German Empire is being utterly crushed by the Tsar, but the Germans have not yet given in even though they control now none of Germany proper.



On July 1, 1931, Nationalist Party chairwoman Ima Hogg is assassinated by a disgruntled Yankee from Utah, dealing a sharp blow to the Nationalist Party.



The Serbians, who have been warming up to the Ottomans recently, join them in their alliance and declare war on Russia.



A few months later, the Russians reach the French border. The idiotic French decide to declare war on the Russians and try to pacify the Tsar's powerful empire.




But before the French can send any troops to fight the Russians in Germany, the Kaiser settles peace with the Tsar, ceding most of Prussia east of the area of Brandenburg. They retain the city of Danzig though.



Romania must be ruled by a fool, for they join the French in their war against the Russians. Unless the French kindly lend the Romanians a large number of troops (unlikely), we foresee only tragedy for them.



Russian troops must have all been in or near Germany, for the Romanians actually make some gains on their border.



The Russians arrive and crush them shortly. The Russians take half of the small nation in the peace settlement.



Our relations with Britain have been poor for the last few decades. We, too busy in affairs on this side of the Atlantic, have ignored them diplomatically and relations sunk as a result (~25). President Ferguson seeks to renew these relations, seeing the prospect of trade between our two great realms as potentially lucrative venture. But the British give us the cold shoulder.



We are creating two new divisions, this time with aeroplane fighter squadrons attached. They will be deployed to Houston, away from the American border so that they may remain a secret until the next war inevitably occurs.



Our peace treaty with the Independent City of Bogota expires and we declare war, to end that government's pitiful existence. Five divisions should be all that is needed.



Bogota is uneventfully annexed.



Two infantry divisions with Bomber Squadron attachments will soon join the fighter-infantry in Houston.



Four years have passsed, and President Ferguson has gotten little done. The Nationalists, faced with a dearth of strong leadership, are forced to fold to the incumbent's insistence that his wife "Ma" Ferguson run for the Presidency once again.



"Pa" Ferguson's 2nd Presidency has been fairly unpopular though, and the party polls reflect the dire situation the Nationalists are in. Between the three major parties, the Democrats, Fascists and Nationalists, it is nearly a dead heat, and the result is anybody's guess at this point.



Our peace treaty with the United States expires. We did not plan for this as much as we should have; the Golden Ten are still in our Middle Eastern holdings. They are loaded onto the transports and are going to be sent to the northeast coast of the US again.



Our industrial boom continues.



Our navy, carrying General Austin and his army once again, arrives at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay just as the news we were expecting arrives.



The United States, seeking revenge for what occured five years ago, declares war upon us. But unlike five years ago, we are the defenders.



And in a defensive war, we can call invoke our defensive alliances.



All of our satellites honor the treaties we forced them to sign many years ago, even the far off Kingdom of Nejd.

The United States of America is now at war with not only Texas but all of Central and South America. The US could barely stand against the Republic alone; how it can hope to take on the whole hemisphere and win, we do not know.



This war begins the same as the last, with an invasion of Maryland.




Our current plan with our border troops is to hold the line, since the Americans have put everything they have on the border it seems. Our allies are more than eager to supply us with extra divisions to conduct naval invasions with though. The Chilean troops are too far away and returned to the lender, but the Brazilians are moved up to Texan Colombia, where we can pick them up in our transports.



We are not going to waste time capturing Salisbury this time, and we head straight for DC once we are on solid ground.

Just as the war is getting started, the election occurs and the results are in:



The Fascist Party has won the elections, and for a multitude of reasons. "Farmer Jim" Ferguson's administration was very unpopular toward the end of the term; the re-opening of diplomatic relations with the UK was not very popular (Pancho did a good job of demonizing Europe in the average Texan's eyes) and neither were the escapades for oil that were conducted early in the term. Ferguson himself was not a very likeable character, and most of his political career has been seen as riding the coattails of Fransisco Villa.

The Fascist Party's candidate is the charismatic radio personality W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel. Originally a sales manager for a flour mill that he took over radio advertising for, he campaigned throughout the Republic and heavily on the radio with his band the Hillbilly Boys, spouting the merits of his political plans (including many reforms and changes), the Ten Commandments and his Hillbilly Flour. His campaign was very appealing to the lower classes, and the Fascists have commanded the vote of our soldiers for many years now.



General Austin (who has taken little interest in politics, wishing to stay out of that muck) easily defeats the Americans in Washington.

We notice that the residents of Philadelphia have taken up arms against the US government. In truth, ever since their defeat by Texas America has begun to face growing instability.



In the Central Caribbean, we have the first naval battle of this war. It is won, but that small group was probably only the tip of that iceberg.




On December 1st, 1934, the Fascists are able to push through a large piece of legislation that reverts the Republic to the old Radical Constitution, that granted the President a lifelong term and much more power. A flag we haven't seen for some time returns with it. There are changes: the Fascists have instituted a system of state capitalism, and minorities have been stripped of their citizenship. Pappy's goverment is also much less secular than any previous.



Our Central American allies are on the offensive! Honduras has invaded southern Florida while Mexico invades the panhandle. Honduras is notable for being a very successful nation, considering that they are a satellite and only one province.



Washington is taken. All ten divisions are told to dig into the city. They are bound to offer a peace agreement to our benefit if we hold their capital long enough.



Three Brazilian divisions and one Venezuelan division are loaded onto our transports, they will sail up the eastern seaboard and invade New York.



Honduras has captured Tampa and with it half of Florida. The US is sparing only a handful of troops to try to deal with the Central Americans, as they are too afraid to leave any portion of our border lightly defended.



Our navy encounters a large number of American ships near the Bahamas and are forced to retreat to port there.



The Central Americans are proving valuable in this war. Mexico is providing ample distraction and Honduras is actually making progress. We decide go ahead and try to finish transporting the South Americans while the US Navy is engaged in the Gulf of Mexico.



Unfortunately it does not work, and our navy is sunk outside Chesapeake. The only ships we have left are transports that are currently docked in Houston, and we will need them later to retrieve General Austin.



The United States sends their peace envoy; they realize they will not win this war and are offering nine provinces. It is not as great a victory as last time but it will do.


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And Texas grows.



The next year is largely spent putting down revolts. The Yankees were already unhappy where they were, and now we have to deal with them.



The situation is rather bad, as revolts are occuring at least once a month. But at least we are not doing as bad as the Americans. The United States of America is coming apart at the seams. Revolters are springing up across their nation every few days; their army can put them down but a nation can't survive under those conditions for long.



Our troops are repositions to the new border, where the highest risk of revolt is.



President O'Daniel never had the intention of actually acting on the many promises he made during his campaign (in fact, he intended the opposite of many), but he decided to relent and reinstitute the old socialist unemployment subsidies, so that the populace might be appeased.



France settles with the Tsar for a return to status quo, neither side able to conduct a successful naval invasion of the other.

Toward the end of December, 1935, President O'Daniel calls a special session of Congress. His intention is to finish what the Fascists started a year ago by instituting the old Radical Constitution, to change our nation to fit their vision for it, and to grant him the power to do it. As the session began, he approaches the podium:

"My fellow Texans, we have made great gains in the last two decades! Under the leadership of Fransisco Villa we have entered a new era in Texan history!

Will we let that all be taken away by the tretcherous Yankees? The heathen Mormons? They seek to tear our nation apart, will you stand and let them do it?

I ask this of y'all: grant me the power to put an end to this! By the Grace of God, I will lead our nation, our empire, into an era of prosperity and happiness not yet seen on this earth!

Thank you, and God bless."

Despite the vocal opposition of the single Populist congressman and a handful of Democrats, when the vote is counted the result is unanimous. President Pappy O'Daniel is granted near unlimited power and the Contitution is completely rewritten by the Fascists. Everything Houston, Lamar, Burnet and the other great revolutionaries fought for one century ago has been thrown out.

The Republic of Texas is dead.

Long live the Texan Empire.