New York City: The Beginning
The sudden chaos that ensued when New York City was sent back in time nearly a 1,000 years almost wrecked the city, and only the strong hand of the Mayor (William Jay Gaynor) and the presence of the US battleship USS New York, kept the peace during the first turbulent 5 years after "The Event". When Mayor Gaynor entered office on January 1st, 1910 he said this to the 1,500 people assembled at City Hall: "I enter upon this office with the intention of doing the very best I can for the City of New York. That will have to suffice; I can do no more." He would be surprised that 16 days later the entire city of 4 million people would suddenly shift backwards in time, testing the mettle of the citizens, their sanity, and their total survival.
Once it was discovered what had really happened, the newspapers in the Big Apple told the whole story in a matter of hours, in fact the first four printings sold out completely, although it was said for their use as toilet paper as much as the "news". Hundreds of thousands of people were in shock and many died during the first chaotic weeks of the transition but the sailors of the USS New York until Captain Edward L. Beach (Senior) fired the guns over the city during the riots and panic, calming the citizens down and reminding them that the government was still intact, and had very big guns.
The mayor and other city leaders met during this time and made some of the best decisions under intense stress: new small fishing vessels of every type would be laid down and sent into the North Atlantic to feed the city of 4 million with fish, at least until sufficient food sources or farms could be made elsewhere.
Contact with the natives was sparse, they fled any and all approaches by the citizens of the City and the City Council declared (along with the mayors approval) that the survival of New York City and the American Way-of-Life must be ensured at all costs, even if it mean supplanting the native Indians that inhabited the area, including upstate New York.
In less than three months an entire legion of immigrants (100,000+) that had packed New York City from Italy and Ireland and Poland and many other European nations began the journey to the very fertile region of upstate New York to plant the vast farms that would be desperately needed to feed the city. Oil fields in nearby Pennsylvania would feed the tractors that the city was now pumping out and guns were constructed by the tens of thousands, including hunting rifles that kept the pots of many households full of turkey and deer and rabbit.
The USS New York made an initial journey to Europe during the first five years to discover what had happened on the Continent but the entire area was sunken in barbarism and little hope of help came back from the sojourn.
The cruise liner SS Lusitania was also in harbor during "The Event" and was used to ferry troops and civilians down into the Caribbean Islands to create the farms needed to grow coffee, bananas, nutmeg, sugar, and other spices. More than 50,000 civilians were landed on these islands and smaller warships protected the islands from attacks. New oil platforms were built to produce the oil that was literally flowing out of the ground on both Trinidad and Tobago.
By 1005 AD substantial farms were growing in upstate New York and central Ohio, as well as the Caribbean. Starvation was barely avoided. Conflict with the native American Indians waged on and off during this time but the inhabitants of New York City were determined to survive at any cost, and the hard-nosed life in the City encouraged whole families to pack up and move to the farms that were so desperately needed. More than a million people had moved out of the Big Apple into the surrounding Hudson Valley and beyond in 5 short years.
The US Navy, under now-Admiral Edward Beach, had grown as well, to 5 destroyers and two dozen support ships, including colonizers. They oversaw and protected the entire vast fishing fleet that caught the cod and lobsters and other fish in the North Atlantic, and bombarded the island of Montreal to drive out the natives and install a permanent naval Headquarters and civilian city there in 1005. Goals to circumnavigate the Americas and colonize the fertile regions of California and Washington state and possibly Hawaii are now being discussed, as well as possible elections.
Overall, Mayor Gaynor, who so successfully made the transition from the leader of one of America's largest cities to the mayor of its only city, has done well and he is looking forward to restoring the United States to its former glory.
Islands Colonized
Antigua
Barbados
Grenada
Jamaica
Martinique
Puerto Rico
St. Lucia
Tobago
Trinidad
1005 to 1010 AD
The transition through time to a much more barbarous era was difficult for most New Yorkers to understand and deal with, however starvation focuses a persons thoughts quite clearly and the citizens of the Big Apple continued to increase the farming capacity by expanding further into the Central Plains region, wresting control of most of Ohio, Indiana, and the region around former Chicago from the native American Indians. Continued growth, however, across the Continent of North America would be impossible without further immigration from Europe and the City Council decided in favor of opening up such a policy. However, they decided to ban the admission of criminals, anarchists, and the diseased into the newly forming United States. The City Council wrestled with the controversial idea for many weeks and came up with several dual track ideas, in conjunction with Admiral Beach.
Polish City Council Member Igor Wadyslaw, of the wealthy City Brass Works, had extensive connections and support from the Polish community within the borough of Queens and the City Council decided to encourage the expansion of Poland in Europe by buying goods and exporting guns and other modern technology to the Poles. The Poles had never been an aggressive nation like the Germans or the Russians, who they had been so sorely crushed between, and Wadyslaw used all his wealth, influence, and connections in the City Council to give ancient Poland a chance. The Mongols would be coming in 200 years and he wanted the Poles ready. A strong nation like Poland could be a major asset to New York's expansion across North America as well since they were a unified group that worked well together and with others. Polish immigration to America would be encouraged by New York City Council fiat.
Gershwen Goldberg was also a major City Council member and had the backing of the Big Apple's entire Jewery. He personally had control over the Goldberg Diamond and Precious Metals Company and was extremely wealthy in his own right. He used his influence on the Council to work out a deal for the Jews: they would be told the whole truth of the next 1,000 years under muslim and European rule (all of its horrific gory details) and given the chance to immigrate to America or back to the nation of Israel. Jerusalem had only recently fallen to the muslim hordes and Goldberg assured the City Council that with minimal support, the Jews could take and hold Jerusalem and Israel and help destroy the invading Fatamid Empire, which had already conquered all of North Africa, Spain, was invading Europe, conquered Sicily, and had the Byzantine Empire on the ropes. The Caliphate of Cordoba, which had overrun all of Spain and was threatening all of Europe from the west, would be utterly destroyed by a unilateral Council vote.
Milo Fabruzzi was also a Council Member and had the full support of most of the Italian factions in the City. His family was incredibly wealthy and had many ties to much of the less savory crowd of the City. He was able to convince Mayor Gaynor and the rest of the Council that a unified and modernized Italy would begin the core of the Renaissance and develop Europe more quickly, as well as hold back the invading muslims by support the current Pope, Sergius V. The Pope called for a crusade against the muslims when the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed in 1009 by the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah but he had little power since the Holy Roman Empire dominated most of Italy and the Mayor of the City of Rome, Crescentius III, dominated the region the Pope lived in. Fabruzzi encouraged the City Council to marginalize the Germans, and the French, while waring war against the muslims and kicking them out of Europe (Spain and Sicily). Destruction of the Fatmids and their ever-expanding empire was agreed upon by all 8 Council Members, the Mayor, and Admiral Beach. The US Navy would help the Europeans and Byzantines fight against the invading muslims, and in the next 5 years would work towards that very goal. Ambassadors would be sent to Rome, Poland, Constantinople, and to regions like the Dutch, Britain, Spain, Greece, and other war-torn areas, telling of a new peaceful land to be colonized and arranging the movement of the people into the Americas. Diplomats would arrange a history for each nation they would work with; Italy, the Byzantines, Poland, and the Jews. The work would be enormous but getting Europe back on its feet while colonizing America with its civilians was the main goal agreed upon by the Council. Italian immigration into America was strongly encouraged as well.
With this in light, the US Navy began a building program to take the fight to the barbarous European states and the muslims. The Brooklyn Naval Yard had survived the transit back in time with no damage and had been pumping out smaller destroyer-sized ships but new larger vessels were laid down, two New York-class battleships (which would be finished in 12 months). Serious need of iron ore would push New York to colonize more into Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and a a major new colony was set up at Houston as well to get access to the oil in Texas. Longhorn cows were brought into Texas as well; a hardy animal that was well able to withstand the heat of the Texas plains. Combat with native Indians continued on and off, with the Indians losing nearly every battle.
In the Big Apple itself three unique figures were found; Henry Ford was in the city on a tour and quickly set up brand new production lines for cars, tractors, and other weapons. Chester Nimitz too was in the City for a naval conference and began his climb up the ranks of the newly formed US Navy, taking the new battleship USS Rhode Island from the Brooklyn Yard when she was finally finished in 1007 AD. Two more New York-class battleships would be laid down (the Oregon and the Idaho) and after that Admiral Beach ordered cruisers and destroyers to escort the battleships be laid down. Two dozen large colonizer ships were also built between 1005 and 1010, with all of them heading to Europe to pick up prepared colonists. Finally, George Patton was on leave from the US Army and was in New York City when it traveled back in time. He too will begin his climb up the ranks of the US military and will one day change the course of history.
In preparation for its limited intervention in Europe, the US armed forces began a build up to make the policies put forward by the New York City Council happen. Tens of thousands of guns, rifles, and cannons would be needed, as well as armed ships. All US Navy ships were converted to oil use (coal is much heavier) and bases in the Madiera, Canary, and Azores Islands were established with a large contingent of civilian colonists added. Efforts to colonize South Africa and its rich mineral fields were contemplated but several large companies from New York balked at the expense and the Big Apple itself was severely financially stretched. In the end a small number of armed and horse-mounted mercenaries were sent to Mexico, forcing the inhabitants to give up much gold and silver to finance the further expansion of the United States.
Surprisingly, horses were the most valued commodity in the new USA, with many thousands being bought from Europeans in exchange for goods, sugar, and spices.
Ambassadors would begin to work with the Italians, Poles, and Byzantines in 1010; by then the US Navy and military would be ready to roll back the muslim expansions across Europe. Nearly 10,000 armed men would also begin a consolidation of southern England, trying to unify the island and make it a barrier and colonization zone from Europe. The US Army, under General Gordan Spraig, was virtually certain it could accomplish its mission with enough guns and ammo with the men allotted. Any Vikings, Danes, muslims, and any naval corsairs found on any of the seas would be sunk by the US Navy, no quarter given. The barbarism of the times demanded such harsh actions and Admiral Beach supported the policies given by the Mayor Gaynor and the Council.
The Invasion of England
In 1015 AD the City of New York was ready to help bring order from chaos on the Continent of Europe. Immigrants from the war-torn region were desperately needed to continue the expansion of the United States and the 4 million people of the Big Apple were already stretched thin, with most becoming farmers to prevent starvation for their families. The City Council in New York tasked the newly formed US Army to begin training sufficient troops to overwhelm England's wild attackers, mainly the Vikings and Danes, and consolidate the island under lawful rule. From there the natives of Europe could be processed in peace and be sent over to the Americas but the New Yorkers needed a foothold in the region and it was decided by Admiral Edward Beach that England would be the best location for such an effort: it was strategically defensible by sea and the warships of the growing US Navy would be able to easily crush any local sea opposition. The armed forces of New York had nearly 5 years to prepare for the attacks and were ready, with 10,000 men landing in the first wave and an additional 15,000 reserves available. The first landings would be on the vital Isle of Wight off the coast of southern England and in the spring of 1015 the landings occurred under the big guns of the USS New York, USS Rhode Island, and USS Idaho, all tremendous US Navy battleships. Escorted by nearly two dozen smaller ships, the invasion went off well and no resistance was undertaken by the locals, who appeared grateful for any help against the Viking and Danish raiders. Several years earlier Cnute the Dane had conquered most of southern England and had King Aethelred on the ropes in London. Local US Navy patrols were set up and immediately began sinking every ship that crossed the waves; all were surely Danish reinforcements to the invasion of England and Viking raiders. Within a few weeks nothing floating survived around the British Isles. With the Isle of Wight totally secure, it was time for the invasion of England by the US Army.
Commanding the US Army force was General Gordan Spraig and his staff, including Major George Patton and more than 10,000 fighting men. Supply and arms depots were set up and a series of docks and a small port was built on the island to support US Army and Navy operations from the island. In the next three months the heavily armed force of US troops, many equipped with horses, staged destructive raids against the invading Danes and crushed them utterly in the Battle of Ipswich. Eadric the Grasper died with his ally King Cnute and nearly 20,000 Danes were killed in the battles culminating at Ipswich. Over the next year the US Army consolidated all of southern England, with much help from the grateful locals. Training lessons were given to the people to be able to speak American English and the entire city of London gave a parade to General Spraig in the fall after a successful harvest. New food crops were brought in to help support the natives of southern England, including turkeys, geese and ducks, corn, melons of all kinds, squashes, and potatoes. The King of England, Aethelred , died in the Battle of Ipswich and although he had many children the Council in New York City agreed early on that England would be ruled by the US military until it got on its feet and elected proper leadership. The entire region of southern England in the fall and winter of 1015 became peaceful and quite as it transitioned into new governance by the US Army under General Spraig.
The US Navy, however, wasn't the least bit idle in the summer and fall of 1015, cruising around the North Sea and Baltic and causing incredible mayhem on the sea-going menace that was the Vikings and Danes. In late October of 1015 the very first US ambassador set foot on European soil at the port of Gdansk, where he rushed off to meet the King of Poland, Boleslaw I. The Polish Campaign would soon begin.
Ideas and Problems
Okay, so the entire City of New York has been throw back in time almost 1,000 years so its in a permanent State of Emergency. I didn't realize I had to tell people that but that is the story. Since there currently are no others US states and only 4 million New Yorkers, regional or federal elections are really moot at this point.
Economically I would think that since New York City has been in this new era for 15 years now, they have built up the infrastructure needed for the oil refineries in Houston. I didn't realize, again, that I had to state as much, but they have done so. For the record, New York City has built railways to Chicago, travelling through upstate New York. The area of Texas has the oil things necessary to run a small but growing oil industry. All infrastructure needed has been built over 15 years. One of the reasons why I kept the number of US Navy vessels down is it seemed plausible that warship building would take a back-burner to domestic needs like railways, roads, bridges, etc. Financing such a major build up is incredibly difficult, thus the raid on Mexico City and the possible mines being built in fantastically mineral rich South Africa. Its also easier to travel by sea to islands and South Africa than it is to get to Denver with all the hostile Indians around.
Speaking of the Indians, they avoid the new colonists at all costs. This is NOT an era where 15th-16th century European colonists are invading, its 19th century ones, with cannons and rifles and handguns, all being supplied by a major US metropolitan area: New York City. Again I forget to tell how many plagues and diseases have been ravaging the natives of North America. Mosquitoes are easily spreading Dengue Fever and other nasty diseases around, and they bite crows, who also have begun carrying several European-style diseases too. In all the population of the Indians has dropped probably 10% over 15 years, with much of the rest are fleeing in terror. New York has stopped its North American colonization expansion for now because of the security threats of the Indians, not just because their isn't enough people. Most Indians in the upstate New York region have fled to Canada, and Maine.
Expeditions; the US Navy now has small oil tankers to resupply its fleet. More than 30 colonizer ships plus the converted USS Lusitania now move people and goods around, and that's not including any private craft now used by the citizenry of the Big Apple. Small freighters of all sorts as well as fishing trawlers and other vessels are by now plying the coastlines and sea lanes.
Contact in Europe is being limited away from the heavily populated areas of France and Germany where it would be very difficult to control such a vast population. The armed forces of New York just do not have the manpower to control such a large group of people. The fact that NYC didn't have a very large German population to influence the City Council also plays into the decision making process. In addition, both France and Germany are fractured barbaric micro-states, while Poland in this era is under Boleslaw the Great, the first true king of Poland and a powerful European influence. After Boleslaw reads the history of future Poland, I am sure he will be doing things a little differently, especially if he has 50,000 cannon and rifle-armed Poles behind him. The Byzantines are also the major power in this era and helping them is plausible too; just give them enough guns and they themselves will take care of their own enemies.
In the end this is my thread and I hope to keep it as realistic as possible. The Holy Roman Empire is a fractious mess of barbarians and France is no better off. Italy can be consolidated because like England it has limited access to it (pretty much by sea only). Controlling entry into Italy will be easy if I control the seas; the only invasion route by land is from the north.
Nuf said.....enjoy the thread, guys. Maxx
The Empire of Poland
Boleslaw the Great, the very first King of Poland, was born in 967 AD and in 1015 he was a spry 48-year-old man with vigor still in him. During his reign (since 992) he had consolidated Poland in a way never seen before, going from Duke Piast to King Piast in a short time. He had also outlived his first two wives and married well a third time; to Emnilda of Lusatia a princess, daughter of Dobromir, a Slavic prince of Lusatia. She was noted as a wise and charming person. During her marriage, Emnilda bore her husband five children, two sons (the future Mieszko II Lambert and Otto) and three daughters. Boleslaw himself was a strong ally of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, but when he died relations between the HRE and Poland soured when Otto's cousin and heir Henry II took the throne. Under Boleslaw's rule, Poland has been able to fend off the Holy Roman Empire's advances as well as sack Kiev (in 1015). He was an able administrator, establishing the so-called "prince's law", building numerous forts, churches, monasteries and bridges and securing much freedom and peace in the nation of Poland.
Boleslaw I inherited from his father a realm that was close in dimensions to modern-day Poland. It centered on the core of Polanian country, the later Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska). Greater Poland encompassed the valley of river Warta, stretched to the north to the Notec river and to the south it encompassed Kalisz. Outside of this core the nascent Poland included the surrounding areas subdued by Boleslaw I's father, Mieszko I which included: parts of Pomerania to the north, including Kolobrzeg in the west and Gdansk in the east, Mazovia with its capital at Plock to the east and Silesia to the south-west. It is disputed whether Lesser Poland, centered around Kraków, was incorporated into the Polish realm by Mieszko I before 992 or whether it was added by Boleslaw I in 999. Either way by the year 1000 Boleslaw I was the lord of a domain larger than contemporary England, Denmark, León or Burgundy. In the same year (1003) Boleslaw I became entangled in Bohemian affairs when the Duke Vladivoj died earlier in that year. Following this Boleslaw I aided a pretender, Boleslav III the Red, in gaining the throne. Later Boleslav III undermined his own position by ordering a massacre of his leading nobles, the Vršovci, at Vyšehrad. Those nobles who survived the massacre secretly sent messengers to Boleslaw I and entreated him to come to their aid. The Polish Duke willingly agreed, and invited Boleslav III to visit him at his castle in Kraków. There, Boleslav III was trapped, blinded and imprisoned, probably dying in captivity some thirty years later. Boleslaw I, claiming the Ducal throne for himself, invaded Bohemia in 1003 and took Prague without any serious opposition, ruling as Boleslav IV for a little over a year. Polish forces took control of Moravia and Slovakia in 1003 as well. Wars with the Holy Roman Empire followed and although Boleslaw emerged victorious he was unable to keep holdings in Bohemia and Slovakia (for now).
When the first ambassadors arrived from New York City, the senior nobility at King Boleslaw Piast's court was astonished. So-called Polish emissaries have come from a distant land, bearing gifts and news and weapons that no one had seen before. The ambassador from New York City was a Pole, Henryk Brsk, a wealthy merchant from the Bronx who volunteered to help Poland overcome its enemies and be a stabilizing force in Central Europe. Brsk was welcomed openly as the Poles were known to do and during the fall of 1015 AD he showed King Boleslaw, his family, and all the senior leaders of the Polish nobility the timeline that was to befall Poland. Historically the nation had been wedged and crushed between two powerful and deadly opponents, Russia and Germany, and the nobility of Poland in 1015 was horrified at the stories they as a people would undergo. Especially shocking was the Mongol attacks in 1240 and 1241, just 200 years into the future. This deadly Mongol invasion decapitated the noble houses of Poland and the countryside was terribly ravaged in a way Poland had never suffered before. King Boleslaw was absolutely livid at the information he received, and enormously grateful when the ambassador and his escorts showed off some of the modern weaponry they had brought: rifles and handguns and two small cannons. Ambassador Brsk from the Big Apple pledged to Boleslaw that if his people were to work closely with the New Yorkers, the Polish people would never undergo the massacres and megadeaths that Poland had traditionally suffered in the future. If Poland would side with the New Yorkers, then they would arm the Poles and help train them to fight the wars that Poland was sure to need for securing its borders. Large numbers of troops from America would be impossible since the City was already engaged in several conflicts but the Poles would be armed with as many modern weapons and trained in tactics to use them; enough to nearly guarantee Polish victory on any battlefield. On the night of October 15th, 1015 AD the King of Poland agreed to commit his nation and his very own blood to the success of his country and its people, and the very first American alliance in Europe was inked. In addition, colonizer ships would be able to take as many Poles to the New World as wanted to go, those fleeing the warzone would be encouraged to leave and any peasant woman that would have additional children from then on would receive the New World foods to plant for free, and ten fowl (including turkeys). Ambassador Brsk also introduced potatoes from America to the nobles, knowing it would revolutionize the country's agricultural base and many new plant seeds as well.
During the next three years several US Army officials began intensively training the Polish armed forces, including Major George Patton. Nearly 50,000 small arms and rifles and almost 800 field artillery were delivered to the Poles during that time and a mounted cavalry of 15,000 horsemen prepared for war. In the next two years the Polish Army, under command of Patton and King Boleslaw, took on several minor powers on Poland's borders, "to blood them" Patton had said and to get the experience needed to take on more tougher opponents like the Germans and Russians. The Lithuanians, Kurs, Liets, and Livonians all came under the control of Poland after several armed attacks gutted their fighting forces; Polish losses were minimal. Then the came time for Bohemia, King Boleslaw's former home, but the Germans were waiting. From 1018-1019 the Holy Roman Empire had heard rather alarming news of Polish successes on the battlefield against people to the East and of remarkable weapons that threw death from a distance into an attackers teeth. When 40,000 Polish troops marched into Bohemia in the fall of 1020 the Holy Roman Empire was waiting for them, with 120,000 troops and mercenaries. While waiting for the imminent Polish attack, Henry II's forces suffered some losses as disease swept through the camps and he himself died on September 27th of cholera, throwing the Empire into a mini-crisis. Meeting at the critical hour, many German nobles backed the 24-year-old Conrad of Speyer (House of Salian) who told the assembled men that the Holy Roman Empire would utterly defeat the "witless Polanes and all their witless children". Within two days the Battle of the Danube saw the decimation of the German forces and their mercenary allies and the victory of King Boleslaw; Polish losses were less than 5,000 while Conrad lost over 70,000 dead by cannon fire and guns. Conrad II was forced to sue for peace after his encampment was captured by horse-mounted Poles with sidearms and rifles. The new border between Poland and the Holy Roman Empire would be the Odra River and Bohemia and Slovakia would be under permanent Polish rule. This decision caused a serious break in the relations between the various leaders in Germany proper and Henry V, the Duke of Bavaria left the Empire altogether in disgust.
From 1020 onward the Polish forces began a major push to the east, and in 5 year occupied all of the Ukraine and a significant portion of the Rus states, pushing their people out and encouraging Polish colonization of the area. With New York weaponry, no city, town, or military force was able to stop King Boleslaw's military advances, the extent of which frightened many European states so much that they joined together to protect themselves against possible future attacks by Poland: Austria and Hungary in 1024 AD and the Khanates to the far east.
In 1028 the nation of Poland had spread to its furthest extent possible and settled down into creating a more modern society, with railways and trains and modern agriculture equipment. The City Council of New York agreed to help Poland modernize and sell all the goods it wanted to its neighbors; weapons sales were forbidden however. Threats from the Rus states (under Yaroslav the Wise) never stopped but the Prince of Novgorod retreated to his estates to scheme further plots. The horse-riding khans also continued to heavily raid into now Polish-colonized Ukraine but each attack was decimated by artillery and rifle fire. All major Polish cities now included cannon wall defenses and civilians armed with guns for defense. New permanent fortifications along the Odra River to halt any further German advances across the low-lying plains included mines, barbed wire, cannon and artillery that could fire 360 degrees, flamethrowers, and eventually, poison gas. This gas was also used effectively against the invading khanate forces that tried to destroy Kiev in 1030, a cloud of which killed over 18,000 invaders and survivors fled with tales of death and they sued for permanent peace in 1031 AD.
Overall, now-General George Patton was pleased with the work the Polish nation had done. They had gone from a largely agricultural backwater state to one of the premier military and growing industrial powers within 10 years. Industry was still minimal but it was growing and fast-moving trains moved goods and people across the now-Empire of Poland nearly overnight. New factories were built outside Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, and many other major Polish cities and the people of the nation were grateful for the help and support of the New Yorkers. Together they wouldn't be defeated, not by any outside source and the future for the nation of Poland and King Boleslaw Piast was bright indeed.
MAP: this map only shows the Polish expansion (and creation of Austria/Hungary) from 1015 to 1030 AD with the help of General Patton and the military support of New York City. The Polish armed forces (90% of them army/cavalry) grew to 200,000 armed troops in 1031 AD. New York ambassadors also negotiated the Crimea from Byzantium to Poland in 1027: a permanent American naval base was emplaced at Sevastopol later that year to ensure the Black Sea would be dominated by the new alliance.
Conquest of Iberia
In the fall of 1015 AD the City of New York under the wise decision-making of Mayor William Jay Gaynor and the City Council had spent 5 years preparing for several interventions in Europe. It was a critical time for the Old World, with the muslim hordes overrunning all the Christian and Jewish regions in Israel, Egypt, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, and many other Northern African regions. The Byzantine Empire was seriously threatened by these muslim attacks, and the Pope in Rome as well (a muslim attack a few years earlier almost killed Pope Sergius IV). Expansion in the New World and the creation of the United States would be impossible for the City of New York without new European immigrants, and the Mayor and City Council set out on a program to encourage this policy.
The US Navy under Admiral Edward Beach commanding the battleship USS New York, had worked hard on the intervention plans for Europe: outright occupation of most of the Continent and its people was impossible but strategic intervention into critical areas could secure the future the Americans wanted, a prosperous and peaceful one. Army forces under General George "Slim" Tankersley were pre-positioned in the Canary and Madeira Islands in preparation for landings in Portugal, which occurred on October 27th and 28th, landing more than 20,000 troops and a small number of British Mark V tanks. Defenses outside the former capital city of Portugal (Lisbon) were easily eliminated by the US Navy battleships and their escorts, and troop concentrations were slaughtered by their big guns as well. Within a month the entire area of modern-day Portugal was freed from the Cordoba Caliphate's control, and the surrounding waters were denied to their reinforcements. An additional 5,000 troops occupied the Balaeric Islands and a forward US Navy base was installed there; fifteen destroyers were assigned to the base and sent out on hunt-and-kill missions against muslims ships and reinforcing troops. The next month saw the US Navy battleships New York, Idaho, Oregon, and Rhode Island destroying any and all installations along the North African coast, sending much of the population fleeing in terror. Similar attacks against the coastal regions of Spain were more precise and targeted muslim troops and their forts, softening up the region for the big push by the US Army in the spring against Cordoba, which was then ruled by the much-hated Umayyad dynasty.
With scout planes searching out the enemy and total domination of the local seas, General Tankersley began the invasion of central Spain on April 1st, decimating the local muslim defenders whenever they stood and fought. Fifteen tanks helped secure the city of Cordoba after heavy fighting and an additional 15,000 troops were sent in May from New York City to Tankersley to help destroy muslim power in the area. Local populace also rose against the hated muslim oppressors and killed many of their soldiers, but not before many civilians were murdered in the process; whole towns were put to the torch by the retreating Muhammedan forces under Ali ibn Hammud al-Nasir. Fleeing towards the coast near Barcleona, his remaining armed forces were slaughtered on July 10th by the US Army and the local civilians who had so poorly mistreated by the conquering Arabs.
Afterwards, the US Army and Navy secured the Iberian peninsula and set up local leadership; in Portugal the nation was once again ruled by the Jimenez family (Gonzalo Sanchez) while Spain was ultimately given to his nephew, Sancho III of Navarre (a man of considerable military skill). Castile remained independent under Ferdinand I (House of Jimenez) but he later died and all of the peninsula was ruled by Sancho III after. Local Spaniards were armed and trained to use guns and cannons over the next few years and mercenaries were eventually hired to take the battle to the muslim hordes in North Africa, Byzantium, and later Israel and the Holy City itself.
American losses in the Conquest of Iberia mounted less than 2,000 killed in battle and another 5,000 wounded. This fight partially delayed the Unification of Italy but it later went off in the fall of 1020, after the Battle of the Danube and the destruction of a large portion of the fighting men in central Germany. Uniting all of the Italies under a single leadership would take some doing but the leaders of New York were committed to it and support by the Pope and Italian immigration to the newly forming United States was critical to the plans for growth by Mayor Gaynor and the Council. From 1020 forward the US Army and Navy destroyed the Germans in Italy and united the peninsula under democratic control...but that's another story.
The Unification of Italy
Creating a stable environment in Europe in the year 1000 AD was proving to be easy for the citizens of New York City who had been thrown back in time a thousand years. Massive firepower, from battleship guns and armored warships to gatling guns and personal firearms, easily tipped the balance on the battlefield. Three times the New Yorkers had been successful in turning events in Europe to their advantage: the consolidation of England, the expansion of Poland, and the destruction of the Cordoba Caliphate. Now, in the fall of 1026, after many years of preparing for the conflict, the Unification of Italy was underway.
The US Navy under now-Admiral Chester Nimitz controlled nearly the entire Mediterranean Sea, from Gibraltar to Cyprus, and this interdiction halted nearly all naval military traffic by those nations opposing the New Yorkers and their new European allies. The deadly battleship USS New York and her consorts moved up and down the coast of Italy during the winter of 1026, softening up the German positions all along the occupied peninsula. Complete domination of the sea by the Americans allowed for an easy naval assault from Spain against Naples by the US 1st Army under General Roberto Garret, with nearly 40,000 troops at his back. In swift 2 months of fighting the Germannic forces occupying all of Italy were swept back beyond the Alps by US Army troops bearing gatling guns, flamethrowers, tanks, and backed by naval air and naval gun support. Rome itself was liberated on January 15th and the Pope (John XIX) met and blessed the US troops, many of whom were Italian and were enormously gratified in kicking out the hated Germans. Native Italian forces joined American ones in growing numbers and eventually the campaign wound down in southern France, which was permanently annexed to Italy by having it former inhabitants removed and hundreds of thousands of displaced Italians move in. By April of 1027 the entire peninsula was under Italian control and a Senate was set up to run the nation. Sicily, southern Italy, and Sardinia were given back to the Italians from the Byzantines through American pressure and Italian mercenaries backed by the US Army and equipped with American weapons began training in earnest. Eventually they would take large sections of North Africa away from the Muhammedan hordes and help with the enormous fight to come between the Byzantines and the much-hated muslims.
In 1027 additional troops and trade between Poland and the newly reorganized Italy commenced in earnest and Italian civilians by the tens of thousands boarded ships and American colonizer vessels bound for the New World, many of them settling in the newly forming American Colonies.
The Road to Jerusalem
In 1027, after nearly 17 years of warfare and war preparation, the people of New York and the growing number of American citizens around them, were ready for the final conflict in Europe: the destruction of the forces arrayed against the Byzantines and the reconquest of Jerusalem for both Christians and Jews. Nearly all the people of the era had been deeply enraged by the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009 by the Fatmid leader, Al Hakim. He also ordered the total destruction of all of the Christian churches in both Egypt and Palestine, horrifying the Christians and the Pope in Rome. The Byzantines too were shocked by this diabolic mayhem and vowed to return Jerusalem to its rightful (and godly) owners, the Christians and Jews who had lived in peace until the muslim invasion had come 100 years before.
The 1st American Army under General Garret and amassing 50,000 troops, landed in the eastern Med at Byzantium on August 21st, 1027. Working closely with his newly-armed Byzantine allies and sure of their technological and tactical advantages, the combined army of 150,000 allied troops smashed the Bulgars in the north, beating them soundly into submission, and then moved into Syria in December, forcing the Fatmid king to come to battle outside Damascus on Christmas Eve. Al Hakim, luckily, had also known of the coming of the allies and had gathered almost 200,000 troops, allies, and mercenaries. The US Navy pounded these troops whenever they could find them along the coast, killing thousands of them, but aerial recon showed the American General where and when to position his forces and in 2 days the Fatmids were gutted, Al Hakim was killed and a regent took over temporarily while the ruling dynasty fought over who would be the next caliph. Over the next year the allied forces under American supervision and with naval support bases on Cyprus, took over the land of Israel, allowing heavily-armed Jews to recolonize and hold the region. Many thousands of Christians and Byzantines also made the spiritual journey to Jerusalem for the first time in many years. The Byzantines, under Basil the Bulgar Slayer, allied with the Italians, Poles, and Americans, and expanded far to the north in an effort to eliminate the horse-dominated khanates to the east and claim Rus lands. Basil vowed to destroy the Fatmids totally but by 1030 he had died and his younger brother, Constantine VIII, took over the throne and continued his expansion into Eastern Southern Europe and southern modern-day Russia. Syria became an armed garrison that could easily hold back any Fatmid counter-attack and the Americans began building the Suez Canal in 1030, under the watchful eyes of the gun-armed Jews on the eastern side of the Canal.
The leadership of the faltering Fatmid Caliphate came to Al-akim's heir; he was succeeded by his young son Ali az-Zahir under the regency of his sister Sitt al-Mulk. In Egypt, the nation came under the complete rule of the Ismaili Dynasty, and had to cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing northern Africa.
In the end, the entire region of Europe and a portion of the Middle East had become more stable under American and Allied rule. US forces also began building bases around the world on islands to support ship movements and rich regions like Buenos Aires and South Africa were settled by American and European civilians. The US Congress and Presidency was formally created in 1040 AD and the 10 states at the time New York, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania all voted into office the very first President, former general George Patton.
With Patton in office and European colonization of the newly formed United States picking up, US foreign policy changed. Conquests along the coasts near Britain were made and the people there began living under civil law for the first time in nearly 500 years. Contacts were made in India and several dynasties were supported with guns, paid for by the vast mineral and gem wealth only available in India. The Rus would be pushed beyond the Urals by both the Poles and the Byzantines, and the Fatmids, Cordobans, and other enemies of the Allies and the United States would eventually be dealt with over time. Most of central Europe had been shocked by the American interventionism and united under various rulers who falsely told their people the US could be held at bay: mainly in Germany and France. By 1050, after 50 years of American colonization and interventionism, the world was looking like a much better place indeed.
