Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Story

The American Civil War: it was a conflict that shook our beloved home nation. A conflict which made the United States of America \*truly\* united, and it was all thanks to the Union's victory.

The American Civil War was also the centerfold of a dozen alternate scenarios where the Confederacy won.

In 1997, an author named *Harry Turtledove* had wrote an 8 part literary series of a world where the Confederacy had won the Civil War titled *"Southern Victory"*.

This is a 3 part page that will cover the wars and aftermaths of those wars (a fair warning that this 3-part page will contain spoilers. So read at your own risk)

## The Civil War

Just like in our reality, the American Civil War would begin when Confederacy Soldiers would attack Ft. Sumter in 1861.

But the story tells an alternate version of a real life event (like in Philip K. Dick's *The Man in The High Castle*), this time it is September 10, 1862 where a small team of Confederate Soldiers were told to deliver something called *Special Order 191* to Confederate General *Robert E. Lee* which would allow the Army of Northern Virginia to move through Maryland and invade Pennsylvania. In our reality, this order never reached Lee and was recovered by Union Forces who delivered it to their leader: General *George B. McClellan* which led to the *Battle of Antietam*. In Turtledove's story, the Special Order was successfully delivered to Lee and he was able to cross the Potomac (taking the Army of the Potomac by complete surprise)

The Army of Northern Virginia was able to successfully invade Pennsylvania and they invaded Philadelphia and with the Confederates invading Kentucky, the Union surrendered.

With the CSA's victory, they are declared a legitimate country and for the CSA's victory Britain and France formed an alliance (they actually allied during the war), the CSA also gained Kentucky.

The USA took their defeat quite hard. For one thing, *Abraham Lincoln* won't go on to become one of the USA's greatest Presidents, instead he'll be known to be the one responsible for the USA's loss in the war.

In 1864, Lincoln would be voted out of office and the next in line to be President was *Horatio Seymour*.

Meanwhile in Mexico, France invaded (just like they did in our reality) but instead of the Mexican rebels winning, the French and the Mexican Imperial Army wins and Mexico established their won monarchy.

### Aftermath

The Map from 1862, the CSA won in the Civil War. Their victory will have a huge effect on US history for the next 80 years.

In the years following the war, the CSA and it's allies were actually struggling to b=keep their alliance, and the reason for that is because the CSA still had slaves. Both Britain and France decreed that to make their alliance truly legit the CSA had to give up the very thing they fought and won for: Slavery. With much reluctance, the CSA decide to abolish slavery.

The American Civil War has proven to be financially draining for the USA (as they had to pay a lot in War reparations), and because of this they weren't able to purchase Alaska from Russia, so Alaska remains Russian territory.

Meanwhile, the CSA were successful in getting more states, along with getting Kentucky from the USA during the war, they even get Oklahoma (in Turtledove's story it is called *Sequoya*) and with the New Mexican Empire being a bit fund deprived themselves, they sold the Mexican Provinces *Sonora* and *Chihuahua*.

The taking of Mexican Provinces would be seen as an act of war by the USA who sees the CSA becoming a very legitimate industrial power. In 1881, the USA would declare war on the CSA, beginning the *Second Mexican War* (eventhough Mexico itself doesn't fight in this war)

## The Second Mexican War

The map by the start of the Second Mexican War.

The USA and the CSA are at it once again. Only this time, the CSA has allies: Britain and France. The CSA's allies help by Blockading key US Cities such as Boston and New York.

The USA try to gain the initiative by invading Kentucky's capital of Louisville, but after several weeks of a stalemate, the USA would be massacred.

The USA was also marred in having to fight a 2-front war as they weren't just fighting the CSA, they were also fighting the British as well. Though, the USA in the Montana Territory were able to fend off a British invasion, but the same can't be said when it comes to the State of Maine where the British successfully invaded and took the northern part as it's own.

Plus, the Mormons also tried to stage an uprising in the Utah Territory.

With this, the USA conceded defeat again.

After the war, the USA had to give up the northern region of Maine to Canada, but very little was changed in terms of Territory.

The USA (the losers again) have put the blame of their loss on the Republican party and have decided to oust the party from office altogether, creating Democratic dominance in the USA for decades.

Many Democratic leaders in the USA then quickly realized that in order to defeat the CSA (who has powerful European allies) is to find some European Allies themselves.

But because Britain and France are already taken, finding those European Allies were difficult.

But eventually, they found one in the form of the *German Empire* (as the USA had a large German immigrant population) and this alliance would prove crucial in the wars yet to come in Turtledove's story.

This is it for Part 1 of this 3-part page series. Page 2 will cover an alternate World War 1 and the aftermath. What will happen? Well, you can find out in the link below.

Part 2