California

**California**, officially the **Republic of California** is a country situated on the West Coast of the former United States. Gaining independence as the United States feared loosing the West Coast to the American Commonwealth, California was initially only supposed to be a short term nation, meant to be re-annexed into America once the war would be over.

These agreements however, never materialized. The United States was beaten back to Alaska and Hawaii, and since 1920 the young Republic has started moving away from the idea of a United country ever again, but peace is highly doubted, as war with the Legionists seem ever more likely.

## California In the Civil War

Created during the federal collapse, California has been in for a rough decade of existence. As the East and Midwest were ablaze thousands of people fled west seeking refuge from the violence towards the east. Months after the war began the Federals has lost most of it's territory East of the Rockies and was loosing dozens of miles by the day with the remains of the federal government relocated in Sacramento. James Rolph the governor of California met behind closed doors with the Adjutant General Richard E. Mittelstaedt and agreed that it was not in the best interest of California to go down with the sinking ship that was the United States. In a move that mirrored Texan independence a few weeks earlier, California peacefully (including the state of Oregon) declared independence, backed by Federalist forces.

Like Texas, the agreement that granted California independence stated that California would remain independent so long as rebels in the East remained a threat to the US. After several more months of fighting, California stayed independent, at the cost of the Federalist cause, which forced them entirely out of the continental USA, to Hawaii and Alaska.

## Peace and Cementation of the Republic

After peace was secured California began process of rebuilding, without the United States. Tens of thousands of displaced people continued to pour into California. Some were displaced by the war or fled ideological persecution, but many of them were fleeing the Legion of America and their increasingly violent racial policies which forced thousands to flee west to escape. The mass exodus of Jews, Black people and even Slavic people in California also exposed the Commonwealth with them, something Seattle hoped to maintain a secret. Their crimes were exposed by several journalists in California, permantely tarnishing the Commonwealth’s worldwide reputation and causing a deep divide and hatred by California against the Legion.

Elsewhere, without assistance and support from the rest of the United States, the Californian economy was in a free fall. It was only with added support from Japan that California was able to prop itself up enough to prevent an entirely knew economic depression. Many economists introduced rationing of various products, while the Republic quickly started normalizing relations with Mexico, Texas and Canada.

In July of 1932 the leader of California, James Rolph was succeeded by Frank Merriam who continued the rebuilding and attempts to deal with the refugee crisis. But in mid 1935 a massive Longshoreman strike rocked the west coast, this strike was crushed after Merriam deployed the National Guard and crushed the strike with force. This event resulted in the founding of the Socialist Party of California whom Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. quickly found himself at the top of.

Frank Merriam was a Republican but after the collapse of the U.S and the death of the Republican Party he along with a lot of his ex-Republican comrades and many of his ex-Democrat opponents formed the California Unity Party. The California Unity Party held the vast majority of the seats of the newly established California Congress in Sacramento. In 1935 Merriam visited Tokyo and Japan became the first major nation to recognize California securing California's position on the Pacific market after Japan and California signed a mutually beneficial trade agreement. Although there are some who criticize California's relationship with Japan, due in fact that the Japanese have made a name for themselves by exploiting several regions and places throughout the pacific, Merriam has ignored those concerns. As a result relations with the Japanese are very warm and friendly. As 1936 dawns over a broken American continent, California is in a unique position. Relatively unaffected by Radicalist elements and quite stable, the future for California seems bright. However, due to the establish of the Legion and Peoples’ Union, Radicalist elements still exist in the country. Not to mention, California is completely surrounded by their enemy, the Legion. If California is to survive, it must prepare for the prospect of war immediately.