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United States

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is composed of 48 states, one federal district, eight territories, and several minor Pacific possessions.

The United States spans across the North American continent, from its easternmost portion bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to its westernmost portion bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered on land by the Dominion of Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The US also shares limited maritime borders with the West Indies Federation, Cuba, and Russia.

History[]

Main Article: Timeline of the United States since 1917

The United States remained officially neutral during the course of the Weltkrieg, and as a result, was untouched by the devastation that visited the continent of Europe during the 1910s. Despite the loss of its favored side in the war, American industry and enterprise continued to flourish into the early 1920s under Democratic President William Gibbs McAdoo. The prosperity of the “Roaring Twenties” ended with the Stock Market Crash of 1925 and the onset of the Great Depression, brought about by the loss of its most valuable trading partner as a result of the British Revolution.

The collapse of both the French government in 1920 and the British government in 1925 had disastrous consequences for national economic health, as American companies were suddenly faced with the irrecoverable loss of countless millions of dollars in investments, loans, and other contracts. American banks and industries had supplied the Entente powers throughout the Weltkrieg, and with their governments’ collapse the substantial loans made to those countries continued to remain unpaid. German dominance over global trade ensured that the United States was progressively forced out of European, African, and Asian markets, and the gradual loss of political prestige on the world stage coupled with the precipitous economic decline resulted in an increasingly vicious cycle of domestic and social conflict.

While the election of Republican Herbert Hoover in 1928 initially promised a swift recovery, Hoover’s policies failed entirely to reverse the continued deterioration of the American economy, and by 1936 the country had spent over a decade in the midst of the worst financial crisis it had ever seen. This has fueled the rise of radical political parties, from the far-left Socialist Party of America (SPA) to the far-right America First Party (AFP). Hoover's contentious reelection by means of the House of Representatives in 1932 and the ongoing depression mean that these problems are unlikely to be resolved any time soon, and many throughout the country fear the upheaval that would result should one of the radical parties come to power, or should the Depression continue unabated.

Government and Politics[]

The United States is a federal constitutional republic in which the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary share powers reserved to the federal government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The US Constitution is the country’s supreme legal document and defines both the structure of the federal government and its relationship to the individual states. The US Constitution has been amended 19 times, with the latest amendment being adjoined in 1929. All laws and government procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law may be voided if a federal court determines that it violates the Constitution.

The federal government of the United States is divided into three separate but equal branches: the executive branch, headed by the president, is independent of the legislature and appoints members of the Cabinet to administer and enforce national laws and policy. The legislative branch is a bicameral Congress consisting of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate, which has the power to craft legislation, declare war, and approve treaties, as well as holds the powers of the purse and impeachment. The judicial branch, consisting of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, is appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate and has the power to both interpret laws and overturn those it deems unconstitutional.

The House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population, and each state draws single-member districts to conform with the census apportionment. The Senate has 96 members, with each state having two senators elected at-large to six-year terms; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every two years. The president serves a four-year term and is not elected by a direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college system in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states in numbers equal to its congressional delegation.

Political Parties[]

American electoral politics have been dominated by two major political parties since shortly after its founding, and since the end of the American Civil War in 1865 the two dominant parties have been the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. However, the inability of either major party to adequately address the ongoing Great Depression has led to the rise of several different third parties.

Republican Party[]

The Republican Party has been generally dominant in national politics since the end of the Civil War, save for the previous decade under the concurrent Wilson and McAdoo administrations. Led by President Hoover, the Republican Party is a market liberal party that supports laissez-faire economics, high tariffs, and restrictions on labor unions. Republican support is strongest in New England, the West Coast, and the territory of Hawaii. Governor Alf Landon of Kansas is expected to become the party’s nominee for the 1936 presidential election.

Democratic Party[]

The Democratic Party is divided into two wings, the social liberals in the Northeast and the social conservatives in the Southeast. Led by Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas, the party supports lowering tariffs, regulation of the economy, and unemployment relief to combat the Depression. Democratic support is strongest in the so-called “Solid South”, but the party’s influence in the region has recently been challenged by the AFP. Speaker Garner is expected to become the party’s nominee for the 1936 presidential election.

Farmer-Labor Party[]

The Farmer-Labor Party originated as a farmer protest movement in 1918, but has since grown into a viable national third party. Led by Governor Floyd B. Olson of Minnesota, the Farmer-Labor Party is a social democratic party that supports federal aid to farmers, desegregation of the military, and nationalization of various industries related to energy and transportation. Farmer-Labor support is greatest in Minnesota, though the party has also enjoyed sporadic support in the Northeast and Northwest. To counter the threat posed by radicals in the AFP and SPA, several high-ranking Democrats, Republicans, and Progressives have proposed a coalition ticket under Governor Olson to prevent either party from taking power.

Socialist Party of America[]

The Socialist Party of America (SPA) has quickly become the dominant force on the left-wing of American politics. Led by Senator Jack Reed of New York, the party advocates for the replacement of the capitalist economic system in the United States with a socialist economy. While ideologically dominated by mainstream orthodox syndicalism, various factions of the party support either radical socialism or totalism. The SPA, together with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL), make up the Combined Syndicates of America (CSA), an coalition of trade unions and socialist parties that seeks to bring about a syndicalist revolution in the United States. The SPA’s support is greatest in the Midwest and Great Lakes region, colloquially termed the Red Belt, although the party has also found success in industrial cities such as Seattle and in rural mining regions such as in Colorado. Political violence against the SPA is answered by the Red Guard, a decentralized paramilitary militia named after the 1917 Finnish organization of the same name. Senator Reed is expected to become the party’s nominee for the 1936 presidential election.

America First Party[]

The America First Party (AFP) is the newest political party on the national stage, having been founded in 1934 by Louisiana Senator Huey Long, a former Democrat and right-wing populist. The central plank of the party’s platform is the “Share Our Wealth” program, a plan to provide every household with a fixed income via a national wealth tax. The AFP has made rapid gains in the Southeast during its short existence, capturing several state legislatures and challenging Democratic dominance in the region. Although officially an authoritarian democratic party, various factions of the party support either paternal autocracy or national populism. Political violence against the AFP is answered by the Minutemen, a decentralized paramilitary militia named after the civilian volunteer force during the American Revolutionary War. Senator Long is expected to become the party’s nominee for the 1936 presidential election.

Special Interests[]

Outside of conventional politics lies certain special interest groups and individuals for whom financial and military resources are increasingly becoming tools of power. General Douglas MacArthur, a decorated military commander and public advocate of remilitarization, has recently given public interviews about his distaste of the current political climate. William Randolph Hearst, the famed newspaper mogul and frequent Democratic donor, has taken MacArthur's cause up in his influential newspapers the New York American and the New York Evening Journal. Henry Ford, the embattled industrialist, lost his son Edsel Ford in 1935 to a syndicalist assassin, and in his grief and belief in Jewish conspiracies, he has made public donations to the AFP, citing Long's ally Charles Coughlin as his inspiration.

Military[]

The United States Armed Forces boasts a large navy capable of rivaling the German Kaiserliche Marine, but the development of its army and air corps has been hampered by the ongoing Depression.

Army[]

The US Army is the land service branch of the armed forces and consists of a small active duty force, as well as a large number of National Guard Reserve forces and an exceptional officer corps. The US Army is one of few in the world that have dedicated armored elements, and one of even fewer capable of mobilizing a marine corps.

Navy[]

The US Navy is the most modern and powerful branch of the armed forces. It is one of the few navies in the world to operate aircraft carriers and boasts a significant number of capital ships. The Navy maintains an established presence in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is the second largest in the world behind the Kaiserliche Marine.

Air Corps[]

The US Army Air Corps is a subordinate branch of the US Army, and as such, is currently operated as an auxiliary force specializing in ground battlefield support and tactical reconnaissance. The Air Corps has sought to expand its operations to the US Navy and become its own independent branch should the need arise for a large aerial force. The Air Corps is extremely powerful and capable of taking on the German Luftstreitkräfte in a one-to-one confrontation.

Foreign Relations[]

The United States’ foreign policy is guided by the Monroe Doctrine, which holds that any intervention in the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the nation. At the beginning of the century President Theodoore Roosevelt adjoined to the doctrine the Roosevelt Corollary, which asserted the right of the United States to directly intervene in the affairs of Latin American nations to preempt intervention by European powers. As a result of this policy, the US wields a substantial amount of influence over most of Central America and the Caribbean, with direct American puppet regimes or pro-American governments currently in power in Guatemala and Costa Rica. In Cuba, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, formerly loyalist regimes were removed in coups, revolutions or democratic elections in the late 20s and early 30s, but the US still wields considerable sway over their economies. Mexico and Nicaragua are the only exceptions; ruled by socialist revolutionaries aligned with the Syndicalist International, the US views them as an existential threat to their influence in the Americas, but because of the continued economic and political crisis, is currently unable to intervene.

The US maintains cordial relationships with the rest of the countries of the Western Hemisphere, including Canada, the West Indies Federation and most of South America, excluding syndicalist Chile. It has poor relations with Germany and the German-aligned economic bloc of Mitteleuropa due to economic and trade reasons. Because of ideological reasons, the US also has poor relations with most members of the Syndicalist International.

The United States holds political, economic, and military authority over two countries, the small Liberia in West Africa, originally established as a settlement for Afro-Americans in the 1840s, and the Philippines, an island nation located in the Western Pacific, subject to America ever since its independence from Spain after the Spanish–American War of 1898.

Society[]

Culture[]

The United States is considered a prime destination for immigration from around the world and, as such, has an extraordinarily heterogeneous society retaining the cultural heritage of hundreds of distinct ethnicities and nationalities. The country is a "melting pot" of cuisine, music, art, literature, and, most importantly, politics.

Economy[]

The United States, without a doubt, boasts the largest industrial capacity out of all of the world's major powers in 1936 and when it comes to resources, the US can draw upon the vast natural wealth of North America, making them nearly self-sufficient. But with the economy badly damaged by the Great Depression and with the country torn apart by partisanship divided the ability of the US to draw upon its vast power remains in doubt.

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