A/N: I didn't include this on the first post, but I obviously don't own Babylon 5. This story is simply for my own enjoyment and I hope that you my readers will enjoy it as well.
Chapter 1 Strange Happenings
Sol System
Sol III (or Earth or Terra)
Date: early 1900's (~1902)
The Earth that the Kirishiacs journeyed to looked the same as before, but with several fundamental differences. The advances that lead to the electromagnetic waves (read: radio) that reached out to the world that they'd been imprisoned upon were the joint brainchild of Edison and Tesla. The two scientists working together created the first working radio almost twenty years before Marconi had the same opportunity to build his own model. Their invention, one of many the duo would patent, made the world an even smaller place with the ability to have nearly instantaneous communications. Radio made the transition of what was Mexico into an industrialized part of the United States of North America far quicker than the previous method of carpet baggers had tried. The realm of military technology flourished as President Theodore Roosevelt pushed for more countries in Central America to join as full partners in the new nation that would become the powerhouse of North America. In Europe, the radio allowed the imperialist ambitions of nations like France and Prussia to expand out into Asia and Africa. All due to changes that were wrought prior to the Kirishiacs arriving on Earth.
Military capabilities changed as well with the numerous inventions being patented by Edison and Tesla, so much so that the North American military gained in might to such a degree that several nations in Europe saw them as a possible enemy. Prussia even with their own territorial gains in Asia coveted the North American's recently acquired pacific territories of the Philippines and Guam. When diplomacy failed, the Prussian military was called in to take what they wanted by force. Possessing the largest navy and one of the better equipped armies at the time, the Prussian military was sent in a daring two pronged attack. One attack would be at their objective, Manila, and the other was aimed at the newest state to join the Union, Yucatan. Based on a combined navy/army assault, the Prussian military caught the North American forces by surprise in early January, 1902. Angered by what they saw as a blatant attack on their sovereignty, the North American military swung into action and mobilized a task force consisting of the 1st Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel Quanah Parker along with the 1st Pursuit Regiment (the first true instance of the newly invented airplane being used in warfare) under the command of Colonel William Blair. Overall command of the task force was given to General Pancho Villa, himself a former foe of the United States, but returned to command by order of Congress. Aided by Apache scouts, the 1st Cavalry was sent into the Yucatan peninsula campaign with a host of new technologies made possible by Edison and Tesla. Weapons designed and built by Hiram Maxim would also get a good workout during the military campaign in Mexico.
Those advances came when a brother and sister team (the first of the Kirishiacs in disguise) came into the employ of both scientists. Lance and Orolla Sanchez first came to the attention of both Edison and Tesla when one of their papers proposed the presence of exotic particles unknown to science. Having intrigued them with their proposal, both disguised Kirishiacs were recruited to work with the pair. As their work into more esoteric and exotic technologies continued, the Kirishiacs were intrigued by the weapons of warfare that the Earthers had developed in such a short time. Their own militaristic society was mirrored by the ones who they were now working with to advance. In order to further their goals of having a race that could take the war to the Shadows and by extension the other First Ones, the Kirishiacs involved with both Edison and Tesla convinced them of the necessity of providing the North American military with many of the their latest inventions. Smaller and smaller radios were coming into their own and the addition of one of these radios turned the small and primitive aircraft developed by Curtis and the Wright Brothers into an excellent scouting platform. Indeed the 1st Pursuit Regiment was built around a core of Wright Flyers mixed with several Curtis dirigibles. The mixing of advanced technology brought on by the short lived American Civil War lead to other more notable inventions of war machines. Not only were the North American cavalry outfitted with horses, they also had several durable early motorcycles that allowed them to range further than before along with automobiles (already proven by Pershing's early campaign against Mexico) that let the logistical train stay close to the battle lines. The old adage of an "Army marches on its stomach," came back against the ill prepared Prussian Army. Their distance from home along with the lack of logistical support further compounded their eventual loss to the North American Army. All the while, the Kirishiacs worked behind the scenes in their adopted nations to further science slowly. Their end goal was to unify the humans into one nation or grouping of nations to further increase the rate of scientific advancement by pooling their scientific talent together.
The professional Prussian Army was characterized by its initiative, maneuverability, and aggressive command at the operational level of war. They were setup more for a quick decisive victory, rather than an attritional one; far more concerned with tactics and strategy than logistics. This lack of planning for a longer conflict sowed the seeds of their eventual defeat. In a desolate area of what was once Mexico, the Prussian Army struggled against the terrain more so than the local militias in place. Even with cast-off equipment from what used to be the American South (mostly sold second and third-hand); their knowledge of the terrain enabled the militias to hold out long enough for the 1st Cavalry Regiment to arrive. The scouting and irregular abilities of the Apache force assigned to the 1st Cavalry would serve them well in the climate of the Yucatan peninsula. Differing from their native lands, the raiders turned Special Forces, used all of their acumen and skills in the new environment to launch stinging raids against the Prussian Army. With the Prussian Navy having to deal with a late season Hurricane, the few ships sent in by the North American Navy were able to slip by the blockading fleet. Even though Hurricane Walter was churning up the seas around the Yucatan peninsula, the more advanced North American warships, under Commodore James Dewey, were able to put themselves in place to shell an encampment of the Prussian Army. Even though the bombardment was short lived, the psychological impact set the tone for the rest of the war. Raids and lightning attacks by motorcycle-born cavalrymen and the Apache scouts led to a reduced combat capability of the Prussian Army within three days of the start of the harassment campaign. The attacks by the Apaches were even deadlier to the morale of the Prussians; the crack troops led a number of attacks that left sentries dead with only their scalped or horribly mutilated bodies left behind. Even after the raids had ended (less than a week later), the Prussian Army troops were too afraid to walk away from camp at night, even to relieve themselves.
It slowly led to the full involvement of the 22nd Infantry Regiment (Kentucky Rifles), who had been traveling for several days via the new rail lines leading to the lower states. The Kentucky Rifles were well rested, while the remnants of the Prussian Army were bedraggled at best. The lack of sleep and constant harassment proved to be the undoing of the formerly professional force. When the Kentucky Rifles arrived to do battle with the Prussian 5th Regiment, they were but a shell of their former glory. Not wanting to allow an invader any leeway, the commander of the 1st Cavalry and the 22nd Infantry met with the remaining Prussian commanders under a flag of truce. The only option given to the Prussians was their unilateral withdrawal from North American territories. The actions of the North American Navy against the second prong on the Prussian attack on the Philippines had been concluded the day before with a bloody victory over the Prussian Navy and the Army elements. Native tribesmen were given a bounty on any Prussian Army members at large on the numerous islands that make up the Philippines with few if any Prussians surviving in the harsh wilderness. The more veteran fighters most made up of troops who had already fought in the jungles of Asia and Africa would prove to be a thorn in the side of North American troops for several years following the official surrender. These well trained men waged a deadly campaign that came close to breaking the regulars stationed on the tropical island. Wanting the resources available there, the Prussians chose later on to fight a Scorched Earth campaign to deny those same resources. The results caused Manila to burn in the later stages and set the tone of the peace talks held in London (as a neutral nation) following the North American/Prussian War.
May 1904
During the peace talks President Theodore Roosevelt would also put forward an idea for a League of Nations as a place for nations to come together to work through their differences in a peaceful nature. A grandiose idea, though flawed by the thinking at the time, it proved to be a step backward for relations with most of Europe. Most of the colonies, however, liked the idea of the League and were eager to join a body where their grievances could be heard. Endorsed by the emergent United States of North America and by the British Empire, the League was mostly filled by the territories and colonies of both nations. The addition of a populist South Africa and Spain added some legitimacy to the League, but without Prussia (itself nursing its wounded pride) or France, the League was doomed to failure. The League's declarations of the rights of people versus the governments also caused many nations to shun them as well; most notably the Romanov led Russia. Trying to maintain their rule, the Romanovs alternated between harsh measures along with more subtle ones; such as building infrastructure and schools. Considering the governing documents of the League to give too much power to their conquered territories; the French, Dutch, and Prussian governments also declined to join the League of Nations. Even though such nations did not join, their people were buoyed to know that there were nations who would stand up for rights sorely lacking in their own nations. Scientists especially chose to join with the signatory League nations in spite of the failure of the governing body. One side effect of the failed League of Nations was the closer ties of the founding nations.
The closer ties resulted in not just pacts of economic benefit, but also scientific endeavors were funded and the Kirishiacs were there to benefit the most from this collective effort. Tesla's lover Orolla "found" an exotic particle in one such experiment that she named the graviton. The graviton existed in an artificial state caused by gravity fields. Theories at the time stated that all known particles had been discovered and this new one shocked the scientific community. The exotic particle's properties seem to defy all the "natural laws" of science and came close to ostracizing both Tesla and Sanchez in the international scientific community. It was only the support given to them by the governing agency that funded the project that allowed them to keep their jobs. History would go on to vindicate their discovery.
Other fields of science being researched by the various nations proved to be even more far reaching than just particle physics; metallurgy, chemistry, and rocketry all received big boosts by the massive funding being funneled by the USNA, the UK, and South Africa. Pretty soon a coalition of scientists from several European countries along with their assistants moved wholesale to a laboratory in Canada. Well-funded, but snowed in often, the lab became home to several of the Kirishiacs on Earth (aside from the Kirishiac who was with Von Braun). Their use of the Torvalus stealth devices and a mass reducer of their own design allowed the disguised Kirishiacs to interact with people at "normal (for Earth at least)" sizes instead of their own seven meter height. The research done by them and their human contemporaries encompassed numerous disciplines and laid a good deal of the groundwork for the advances of the 20th Century. Better aircraft and improved mechanics lead to monoplanes and the first primitive tanks, though they would not be to the same quality as the original timeline Earth would have later on in the 20th Century, they still proved to be enormously useful on the battlefield and in civilian roles.
Europe also was undergoing a technological renaissance as they attempted to keep up with the joint laboratory. As alliances were formed and reformed throughout Europe, the rumblings of war came all too soon. The beaten Prussians had managed to unify Germany into a major power and wanted to make up for their failings against the United States of North America. The USNA with its improved relations with much of what remained of Central America and South America was poised to become a massive nation almost encompassing the entirety of the two American continents. Their own alliances with the British Empire, the various colonies of the British, and with South Africa would plunge them into a war without meaning in Europe.
September 1912 to October 1916
The resurgent Prussian military, ostensibly in the guise of Germany, led a war of conquest across Europe gobbling up the Low Countries between them and Spain. Joined by a confederation of nearby countries and the Ottoman Empire, the Axis powers were born. After learning of their strategic weakness against the USNA, the lack of depth, the Germany military was prepared to engage in a long campaign. Their fleet quickly took over numerous parts of the Mediterranean and quickly brought the United Kingdom and their allies into the war. Egypt proved to be a difficult target for the Ottomans and became the sole holdout for British forces. Special Forces patterned after the British Gurkhas and the North American Apaches, but composed of those jungle fighters who had experience in the jungles of Africa and Asia and who survived the vengeful Philippine insurgency lead lightning raids into Allied holdings in Spain and France causing a great deal of chaos far and above what the raids actually did in relation to the terror caused. At the forefront of the Axis powers were the myriad of new combat vehicles, the metal monoplane leading the way in the order of battle. New ground vehicles also allowed the combat forces to strike deeply into France and came close to cutting the nation in two as the lead Prussian elements raced to the Atlantic Ocean. The surprise attack coupled with sabotage missions caused the initial alliances to falter as they tried (and failed) to counter the assaults. The initial assaults however ground down as the supply line troops (who were untested at the time) tried to keep up, but quickly lead to delays as fuel supplies dwindled. A few determined counterattacks (most notably in Arabia) and a bulwark (Egypt) lead to some early Allied victories.
The war began heating up as the United States of North America began to mobilize their fleet elements for the treks across the Atlantic. Cargo ships went over at first individually, but many of them did not arrive at English ports. Pretty soon word reached the USNA Navy's command that the Germans were operating a new type of warship that could glide under the water with ease. These undersea boats would prove to be a dangerous part of the voyage to Europe for the many commercial vessels plying their trade. Escorts were quickly put together and several of the new aircraft carriers accompanied the first few convoys. Eventually through much trial and error (more error than anything else), the USNA Navy had developed a way to combat the German U-boat threat.
This early lack of supplies would prove most telling to the Allied side, since most of the early shipping that was lost was made up of essential equipment and food. Food alone proved to be the linchpin as parts of the United Kingdom burned from rioters as they tried to get at strategic reserves of food and other essentials. It may even be likely that Prussian Special Forces were present to incite the riots and to deny those same reserves to the Allies should they make use of England to launch their attacks.
Advanced weapon systems pioneered by the Kirishiac-lead scientists moved to the forefront of the USNA Navy and Army. Lightweight coilguns, using a series of magnets to propel projectiles, proved to be incredibly dangerous to armored ships and tanks used by the Axis powers. The coilguns along with lightweight armor composites and several specialty munitions also caused much havoc among the Axis powers. A massive air campaign was fought by the Allies to take out the industry in Germany that was supporting their war machine, though these raids would be mere pinpricks when compared to later operations.
Dueling Special Forces seemed to be at the fore as the Apaches and Gurkhas began operations against the Prussian troops. Jerusalem itself became a mini battleground as the two opposing Special Forces dueled for control over the city. Eventually the better trained Gurkhas supported by Bedouin scouts routed the Prussian troops from the ancient city. Against the larger Ottoman army arrayed against them, they were able to hold out for over two months before a relief force from South Africa and India helped route the remaining Ottoman troops. The coilgun armed tanks of the South Africans proved to be too much for the Ottoman troops and like the similarly armed tanks of the Prussians, they quickly were forced back by the better technology. Even though it seemed like the Allies were winning through technology, they had just as many setbacks.
The loss of so many aid shipments came close to damaging the economy of the USNA; it was only the assistance of Brazil and Peru that allowed the relatively new nation to recover ground. That aid came because of the presence of the first female Vice President, Simone Bolivar, who showed that the USNA was willing to listen to all members of their nation. The new states and the increased size of the nation called for other changes as the nation went through an unrestrained period of growth and expansion. Racial and economic tensions were barely avoided when Congress passed a law requiring all companies to pay their employees fairly; this was especially a problem in the newer parts of the USNA. It was only the policies of the failed League of Nations, adhered to by the USNA for over ten years, which allowed the country to stabilize following the Great War.
Even though the city of Washington D.C. was entrenched as the political capital of the old USA, the new USNA needed a central location of government. Eventually the city of New Orleans in Louisiana was selected a central enough city. The combination of a thriving port and the central location of both rail lines and the new interstate highway system made it the ideal choice. Trading the malarial swamps for extreme heat (and a bevy of large critters, to quote some politicians), many bureaucrats were not happy by the move, but the will of people was strong in this case. It would be Vice President Bolivar who would travel to Paris to sign off the USNA's part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the Great War. Following the wishes of the Senate, the USNA lobbied hard against the economic hardships to be imposed on the losing Axis powers, but was overruled by the vengeful French government. Making a personal plea, the USNA was expelled from the proceedings by the French and Spanish delegates for being too soft on their foe. Backed by their allies, South Africa and the British Empire, the USNA declared that they would not follow the provisions set aside in the Treaty of Versailles in regard to the economic sanctions placed on the Axis nations. This olive branch would go far in repairing the relations between the USNA and Prussia following the failed Prussian attack on USNA soil a decade and a half prior to the start of the Great War. The vengeful France and Spain could do little as USNA aid convoys and aircraft over flights delivered much needed food and medical supplies to the now destitute Prussia (Germany itself dissolved by the Treaty of Versailles) and their allies.
A/N: Before anyone beats me up about how Mexico is not part of the US; that is true, but remember this is an AU. Benito Juarez (wiki him) was President of Mexico right before the French occupation of Mexico starting in 1861 (during the American Civil War), his election legal due to the 1857 constitution. His thoughts on annexation were more for the support of the veteran US Army (survivors of the American Civil War and a number of Confederate troops to fall back on as well) against the French military supporting Emperor Maximilian I. Even with a victory in 1862 (Battle of Puebla and the basis for Cinco de Mayo), Juarez needed help. He already had good relations with the US and offered that the US could annex Mexico in exchange for military aid. This aid also later included monetary support and other means to get the country rebuilt following the French expulsion from Mexico. Since Mexico already had a state structure, they were easily added to the US's state structure. Using the Monroe Doctrine as the rationale, the newly formed USNA managed to push out all of the Imperial powers in North America and came to unify the Continent just prior to the First World War. Regarding Diaz (think of him as my beta put it: he's the Grant to Juarez's Lincoln), he was a popular leader following Diaz even though his rule over Mexico was more of a dictatorship. Hopefully this answers anyone's questions about how history was changed and if you have any others, please feel free to send me a message on here.
