Overview of the New American Republic

The New American Republic officially came into being through the Second American Revolution in 1951, but in reality owed its existence largely to the surge of nationalist, militarist, racist, imperialist, and other types of right-wing feelings during the 20's and 30's. The Republican Party merged with a large, right portion of the Democrats, as well as other smaller right-wing parties, to form the American Patriot's Party. Following the fall of Europe-and those countries' colonies-to Soviet-backed Communism, and the lost Asian War against Chinese Communism, as well as the perceived spread of 'Communist' ideals in the United States (such as the New Deal, lessened corporate powers, civil and equal rights, etc) the APP gradually called for many amendments and laws to be passed. Along with various paramilitary and semi-terrorist groups supporting the Party, either affiliated with it or merely blindly supporting it, the movement culminated in 1951 with the formation of a new Constitution and the creation of New America. A single Chairman headed the APP, and that Chairman was the one whom the APP always nominated for Presidential elections. It was not uncommon for the Chairman to remain in his position for as long as a decade, until his death.

In the Senate, the Party and its cause was championed by Joe McCarthy, Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond, Joe Kennedy, and Huey Long, while J. Edgar Hoover assisted (albeit illegally) with the use of FBI resources. In the military, Admiral Chester Nimitz and Army generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur provided figureheads for military supporters. Media icons such as Charles Lindbergh, Ronald Reagan, James Stuart, and John Wayne also helped push the Patriotic cause.

One of the reasons the Patriot's Party was able to achieve its goals was the fracturing of its opposition. Of the parties, factions, and individuals who did not merge into the APP, they now split and merged with each other to form the current mélange. There were still the Democrats, although a large part of the remainder had moved into the new Centrist party. The more-radical leftists of it formed the Left Democratic, sometimes called the Roosevelt, Party. The workers and peasants of America had their own vanguard now, in the form of the Socialist Party, and those who couldn't choose between the Socialists and the Roosevelts formed the Social Democrats. Meanwhile, a large number of non-APP legislators were Independent of any party.

However, the opposition parties were much smaller than the APP: in the last election, the Patriots received around eighty percent of the vote, while the largest opposition party got only ten percent. One of the less obvious reasons that the opposition could never agree on anything was that they were all riddled with agents of the APP; however, there were genuine ideological differences amongst them, and their lack of unity cost them dearly. Another reason that the APP remained in power so long was the fact that, since it had modeled the government of the New Republic round itself, it was now the favored party; the government (which now had state-controlled media at its disposal) continuously printed favorable propaganda of the Party, whilst detracting from the opposition as unpatriotic, selfish, against the common American, and agents of Communism.

            The Constitution of the Second Revolution forbade individuals, religions, or political parties to promote 'un-American beliefs;' this included the political ideologies of Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Anarchism, and other policies that promoted revolution against the government or repealing 'American ideals.' It also forbade religions that were polytheistic, paganistic/shamanistic, witchcraft, voodoo, or promoted 'hatred, polygamy, and injury against persons or groups.' Among other things, these clauses outlawed the Socialist, Social Democratic, and a large portion of the Roosevelt parties; trades unions (all trade unions were now under strict control of the Economy Department) and Freemasons, as well as the religions of atheism, agnosticism, Mormonism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto. In addition, the state-church barrier was removed; religion, albeit of a certain kind, was now endorsed.

Following the fall of Rome, Canterbury, and Istanbul to Communism, and the disestablishing of the Papacy and Anglican Church, the Church of America was established, ostensibly to replace the position held by the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican faiths, but also to ensure an added sense of patriotism to be mixed with religious piety (and as many Baptists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans, not to mention a not-inconsiderate amount of Mormons and Jews-converted as members of the other three faiths). The Church became sponsored by the government and became the NAR's official religion under the new Constitution. In order to ensure that people converted, non-believers were forced to pay a small but not inconsiderate tax, while believers not only got relieved of that tax, but also had several other taxes lessened. The head of the American Church was the Archbishop of Washington, and it was mandated that in order to serve in government or as a military officer, you would need to join the faith. In addition, they would need to know Americanized English, as that was now the official language of both America and its Church.

In addition with the new religion, there was a new 'Freedom Calendar.' It used the same days and months as the Gregorian calendar, but its starting year was 1775, the year that the First American Revolution began-hence, the name of the Freedom Calendar. Thus, 1775 AD would be Year of Freedom 1; 1795 AD would be Year of Freedom 20; 1875 AD would be Year of Freedom 100; etc. Although initially there were serious attempts to replace the Gregorian calendar with it, that quickly died down, and it was reduced to being used as a piece of patriotic propaganda to be displayed below the Gregorian date.

However, despite the new name, government, religion, and calendar, the American flag remained the same, Party bigwigs figuring that that was the one piece of American imagery that not even they could alter. The only change to it was the addition of more stars for the new states.

Jews were left relatively alone; they were treated slightly worse off than before the Second Revolution. A large number were drafted into the military and sent to Israel (the entire staff of the American Embassy there, including the ambassador himself, were Jewish); others were simply deported to Israel without the benefit of military training, under the guise of promoting the Zionist Movement. The fact that America was not too fond of Jews at home did not mean that it found them preferable to Muslims in the Holy Land; the fact that the Arabs were financed and assisted by the Soviet Union probably had more to do with that decision, though.

The establishment of the New Republic had brought about a change in size of the United States, as well. The various territories and protectorates had been brought in as states; Washington DC had had Arlington and several other small nearby towns added to it, and had also achieved statehood. The Virgin Islands were added to Puerto Rico, and Midway to Hawaii. All in all, the NAR had twenty new states: originally Washington City, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Haiti, Santo Domingo (former Dominican Republic), Palau, Micronesia, Mariana Islands, and Marshall Islands. In 1949, the Canadian Maritime provinces (Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick) became US territories, and achieved statehood after the Second Revolution. After nearly a decade of direct American military rule, Japan was added in 1954, the same year American military intervention in a civil war caused Guatemala to be annexed into an NAR state.

In addition, after the Communist victory in the Asian War was over, America imposed military rule over the islands of Formosa and Hainan, and after several years they were made into NAR states, the consensus being that American provinciality were better than Communist rule (although the government officials of the Republic of China being in the NSO payroll also likely influenced the decision). This raised the total number of states in the NAR to sixty. One other interesting side note on states: after the Second Revolution, all 'commonwealths', such as Virginia, officially became known as states.

Major forced migrations were put into effect in order to provide 'ethnic stability' within the Republic. English speakers were moved out of Louisiana, and French-speaking whites from New England, the upper Midwest, Haiti, and immigrants were moved in, and by the mid-1960s over eighty percent of the Louisiana population were French speakers. Japanese, Koreans, and Manchus were shipped to Japan, while other Asians were moved to Hainan, Philippines, and Formosa. Large amounts of blacks and Hispanics were moved to the Spanish states, and Jews were deported to Israel. Meanwhile, 'Colored' movement to 'white' states was greatly prohibited, outside of movements to Reservations or Colored Quarters. Eventually, the method of forced migrations ended, and was replaced with the practice of shipping white 'colonists' to Colored states.

The Second Revolution had brought with it an end to whatever moves had been made towards equal rights for women and minorities. Women and minorities were forbidden from entering government or voting, although they could still enter certain jobs in the military. Homosexuality was outlawed, and 'genetically inferior' people were forbidden from reproducing. Marriage between races was also illegal, although this was only enforced when whites attempted to marry a member of another race (or vice-versa). As for the 'separate but equal' practice, it was taken to new extremes; in the larger cities, 'Colored Quarters' were established, while 'Reservations,' or towns 'protected' by the military, were built in the South, Midwest, and other open places. Both the Quarters and Reservations were areas where blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Arabs, members of 'forbidden' religions, and other types of minorities were kept. Eventually, Jews and white members of opposition political groups were shipped to them, as well. It should have been no surprise that the Colored Quarters and Reservations developed into the hubs for the Counter-Revolution.

It is interesting to note that, when 'correct' (APP-supporting Christians, although preferably American Church) whites began settling in the Asian and Hispanic provinces, the opposite procedures were used: the white settlers built their own towns, and formed their own sections of existing cities.

With the rebirth of America as the New Republic came the rebirth of America's military, intelligence, and police as the Department of Defense. The Department of War, Department of the Navy, FBI, and many smaller organizations were merged together, to assure America's victory in this new Cold War. The Marine Corps and Air Force were made independent of the Navy and Army, respectively; in addition, the Army's Coast Defense Artillery Corps was moved into the Navy. The FBI, Office of Strategic Services, several military intelligence organizations, the Customs Service, Treasury Police Force, Alcohol Tax Unit, and part of the Secret Service were merged into the National Security Organization.

The Border Patrol, Immigration & Naturalization Service, Federal Marshals, National Park Service, and various state & local police departments and firefighters were merged and conglomerated into the National Police; although still divided into city/town, county, and state divisions, they were not manned by local people but assigned from Policemen from throughout the country.

Many changes were made to the local militaries, as well. The Army National Guard, as well as the Army and Marine Reserves, were formed into the Civil Land Defense. The Air National Guard, Air Force Reserves, Civil Air Patrol, Civil Aeronautics Administration/Civil Aeronautics Board, and Civil Reserve Air Fleet were formed into the Civil Air Defense; and the Navy Reserved, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine were merged into the Civil Sea Defense. All three civil defense branches, as well as the National Police, were placed under the control of the federalized Civil Defense Forces, which were also a section of the Defense Department.

The last major changes to the country's defenses were the irregular forces. The Ku Klux Klan, National Rifle Association and other shooting/hunting organizations, Boy Scouts, Police Explorers and other young paramilitary groups, the Civilian Conservation Corps, Neighborhood/Civilian Watch Patrol, National Sheriff's Association, and various soldiers/police/veterans organizations, gangs, and other militia groups were nationalized and reorganized into local Civilian Patrols, each city, sizable town, or mall county having its own. These retained autonomy from the government, although they received government funding, training, and materiel, and could choose who entered the local groups. The pretext given for the formation of the Civilian Patrols were education on weapons use, patriotism, how to help avoid the Communist menace, and to help train men, both young and old, in organization, respect, and military skills; in addition, they were tasked with helping to patrol neighborhoods, keep an eye out for suspicious individuals, and assist local NP forces. In emergencies, they would also help the military, and provide a base for rapid conscription into the DoD. They were especially helpful if the Party needed to terrorize or kill certain people, but couldn't afford official channels to do it. And if they did some unauthorized terrorizing on their own, then the Party would be willing to overlook it.

Although those were the major changes made to American defense organizations after the Second Revolution, there was another, smaller unit formed: the Freedom Guard Regiment. Formed from the Secret Service detachment used to protect the President, Vice President, foreign VIPs, et al; the White House Police Force/Military Office (which included the White House Secret Service and Marine guards, and the President's medical and communications detachments); the House and Senate Offices of the Sergeant-at-Arms; the various Washington honor/color guards (including the Commander-in-Chief guard and the ones guarding national cemeteries and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier); and various soldiers from elite units such as the OSS, Army Rangers, Navy Frogmen, police special units, and the like.

The forty-five hundred men of the Freedom Guard Regiment were the finest fighting force in the American Republic. They had the most advanced equipment and the best training money could buy. They were all veterans of at least one major conflict, and they had all volunteered both for the military and to apply for service in the Freedom Guard-it was figured that conscripts would not have the necessary dedication. Although originally consisting of various 'ceremonial' units, through strict physical training, cross-training in multiple specialties, additional recruiting into the Regiment, and removal of those deemed not worthy enough to serve, they had quickly become the most trained, deadliest soldiers in America. Although originally consisting of ceremonial, police, intelligence, aviation, medical, and engineering units, infantry, light armor, helicopter gunship, and light artillery units were soon added.

The men of the Freedom Guard were all of totally white descent, mostly from Southern states and from families with histories of politics consistent with those of the Second Revolution. They were all zealous members of the American Patriot's Party, and pious members of the Church of America. However, most importantly, the Freedom Guard Regiment was directly under the President's control, with no Defense Secretary, National Security Council, or Chiefs of Staff in the way. Each man of the Guard swore an oath to place the President ahead of themselves in all manners of life, and to defend him to the death.

In 1955, responding to the threat of a Soviet space program, one final change was made to the Defense Department. The various Naval Research Laboratory rocket programs, Air Force Space Operations Command, the Marine Rocket Agency, and the Army's Ballistic Missile Agency and Ordnance Missile Command, along with the civilian National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, were merged into the Space Forces, a separate division in the Defense Department. Its job was to ensure American military dominance in space exploration and exploitation, and to protect space from the Communist threat.

Besides the reorganization of the military units themselves, the laws, rules, and codes that they operated on received an upgrade, as well. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was now the permanent Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the National Security Council. The NSO and National Police, as well as the Department of Justice, were given more wide-ranging powers to arrest and search suspicious people and their property; if the situation was deemed necessary, no warrants would be needed. In addition, the draft was permanently brought back; anyone, at any time, could be conscripted into the military, for whatever branch was deemed necessary, for however long, and sent to wherever they were needed.

The military was not the only section of the government to be changed. The post of Vice-President was abolished, the President gaining all of his former powers. Officials were allowed to serve in more than one government job at once: one might be two secretaries, or both a Senator and a Representative, or both, etc. Military and religious men were granted the right to serve without resigning their posts (although all religious people in office were of the American Church).

The Department of Education, the public affairs office of the Senate, House, APP, White House, military, and other government organizations, and various news sources bought by the government became the Department of Information. A Department of Spirituality was established, with the Archbishop of Washington as permanent Secretary, to supervise the American populace to ensure that none followed any forbidden religions (as well as to unofficially supervise the enlarging of the American Church). The Departments of Energy, Transportation, and Industry became largely filled with CEOs and other high-ranking members of major corporations; and the Health and Environment Departments were mostly disbanded or placed under other departments.

The State Department stopped all representation in Communist countries and those who were allied with them; all of their representatives were expelled from America; and they were placed under interdiction: no Americans (other than select State and Defense Departments personnel) could travel there and none of their citizens could come to America, no Americans could listen to their news or get information from them, and no American company could trade there. This all obviously helped in the severe economic decline the NAR experienced, beginning in the Seventies.

In addition, the military and NSO were authorized to assassinate key members of 'enemy regimes', to infiltrate them with spies, and to finance, train, and recruit both individuals and groups who opposed their governments. The American government always denied any involvement, of course.

The vanguard of New Republic foreign policy was the Washington Pact, named after Washington City where it was conceived, negotiated, formed, and headquartered. Consisting of the NAR, Kingdom of Israel, Republic of Canada (OTL Canada minus the Maritimes), South African Union (OTL South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe), Anzac Federation (OTL Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea), Mexico, and later Colombia, the Washington Pact was a military, diplomatic, and economic alliance designed to halt the spread of Soviet allies. Amongst its numerous provisions were that each nation would support each other in war, help solve economic crises, intervene on behalf of the government in times of rebellions and civil wars, and that the Pact could be disbanded only by mutual consensus. The Pact provided that new members could join by majority vote by existing members, but oddly enough did not include any provisions for leaving.

All information cited above is copyrighted 2023 AD/YF 248, Encyclopedia Americana Corporation, Washington City, NAR