The Americans were just as unwilling to accept it. They had merely tagged along and played a small part in the war, yet they were being treated almost the same as the main villain, the British Empire. So many members of the Oceanic Alliance had taken part in the war. Why were the United States singled out for “special treatment”? When no explanation could be found, the blame naturally fell on the government’s incompetence. Other countries knew when to cut their losses, yet the US government had followed Britain all the way down the wrong path. If that was not incompetence, what was? As for the efforts made by the US government, sorry, this was an era that judged everything by success or failure. No matter how many excuses there were, failure was still failure. As soon as the treaty’s contents were made public, the United States exploded. Massive demonstrations broke out across the states, and the situation was only marginally better than Japan’s. In Washington, thunderous protests echoed through the skies, clearly audible even inside the White House. Theodore Roosevelt was splitting his head over it. Opposition lawmakers had already submitted impeachment articles to Congress. If nothing unexpected happened, the next congressional session would move straight to a vote. Given the current situation, if the Vienna Accord problem could not be resolved properly, he would become yet another president in American history to be impeached and forced from office. But overturning the Vienna Accord was easier said than done. If refusal had been an option, the American delegation would never have signed it in the first place. Facing the Continental Alliance, the United States was simply too weak. At the Vienna Conference, the American delegation had no voice whatsoever. They were only notified to come and sign after everything had already been settled. Not signing meant war. The Japanese had already learned firsthand what refusing meant. Rather than being beaten into submission before accepting reality, it was better to face it head on. In the end, the American delegation was forced to sign the agreement at the conference. Looking at the treaty’s terms, Roosevelt felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. His hands were trembling. Aside from ceding colonies, which was barely acceptable, every other clause was a trap. The enormous war reparations went without saying. It was an astronomical figure. Even if everyone in the United States stopped eating and drinking, it would still take three years of nonstop effort to pay it off. At this point in time, the United States was little more than an oversized copycat factory. Its industrial technology lagged far behind Europe, and its military industry was no exception. Advanced weapons like aircraft and tanks could technically be produced, but the military refused to adopt them. Just how awful their performance was could easily be imagined. Since advanced weapons would have to be imported anyway, shutting down the domestic arms industry seemed, on the surface, to have little impact. That, however, was only how ordinary people saw it. As a politician, Roosevelt understood all too well what losing a military industry really meant. If they truly accepted those terms, the United States would obediently become a second-rate power, a yes-man on the international stage, content to focus on economic growth and nothing more. The problem was that the current situation left the United States no room to refuse. War sounded easy enough. The slogans outside were thunderous and full of bravado, but once fighting actually began, the outcome would be a very different story. Anyone with even a basic understanding of the United States knew that ever since the South broke away, Washington’s authority had steadily eroded, and its ability to restrain the individual states had weakened further. Successive administrations in Washington had been trying to reintegrate the states. Joining this war was not only driven by domestic interest groups, but also carried the hope of using the conflict as a means to consolidate internal unity. Unfortunately, the United States had terrible timing. Before it could even begin to unify the states, the world war ended first. How could such a loose federation possibly stand against the Continental Alliance? As Roosevelt knew, the United States’ tiny standing army might not even be stronger than the militias of some individual states. If Washington dared to declare war, the states below would dare to declare neutrality. Do not think that “staying neutral for self-preservation” was some far-eastern specialty. The Western world had done it long ago. If pushed too far, some might even declare outright independence. At worst, they could simply side with the Continental Alliance. No one should expect them to die alongside Washington. At a moment like this, relying on the capitalist class was pure fantasy. To capitalists, their own wealth had always mattered more than preserving American sovereignty. Interest groups could not be relied on, and neither could the masses. Patriotic youths shouting slogans were one thing, but actually going to war with the Continental Alliance was another matter entirely. First, one had to remember what the United States was made of. It was, after all, a nation of European immigrants. Who knew how many people still maintained ties with their homelands? Pull a random person off the street and ask them who they were. They might say they were English, Irish, Austrian, Russian, Belgian, and so on. Almost certainly, they would not say they were American. In the original timeline, the United States did not truly begin to unify until after the First World War. Before that, most people still saw themselves as foreigners. Expecting a group of “foreigners” to defend America was obviously unrealistic. As long as the Continental Alliance was willing to pay a high enough price, there would be no shortage of collaborators. It could be said that ninety-nine percent of Americans had no desire to go to war with the Continental Alliance. That included President Roosevelt himself. At this moment, he had no wish to provoke a conflict with the Continental Alliance, because that would mean edging dangerously close to the guillotine. War crimes had not been pursued in this world war only because the British government surrendered quickly. Had they dragged it out, France would have been the textbook example. The French emperor and the aristocracy escaped punishment because they all belonged to the same political circle. Those outside the circle, once caught, almost all ended up on the guillotine. “Is there really no room to maneuver?” Roosevelt asked helplessly. “None,” Secretary of State Pete Neidermeyer replied without hesitation. He then explained, “According to top-secret intelligence from Vienna, Emperor Franz intends to abdicate early. With his style of governance, he will definitely leave his son a stable world. Before that, he will inevitably clear away any hidden dangers that could cause trouble. Unfortunately, we walked straight into his sights and gave the Holy Roman government the perfect excuse to act. This armistice treaty is an open scheme aimed at splitting the United States. There are already rumors circulating that if a state does not want to shoulder massive war reparations, all it needs to do is leave the Union. Personally, I believe this rumor is true. Under the Vienna Accord, the Holy Roman Empire is taking nearly four-fifths of the total reparations. Waiving part of the amount is hardly a big deal to them. The reparations are simply too enormous for the federal government to bear alone. They will inevitably be distributed among the states. And once we start distributing them, we will be stepping straight into disaster. No matter how the burden is divided, there is no way to satisfy everyone. Especially for the economically underdeveloped Midwestern states. They already run chronic budget deficits. Adding war reparations on top of that… I honestly cannot imagine the consequences.” Fragmentation was an even heavier topic than defeat itself. From the moment the United States was founded, internal contradictions had never ceased to exist. Even among immigrants, there were clear hierarchies. Broadly speaking, the old European chain of contempt was simply transplanted wholesale: Western Europeans looked down on Central Europeans, Central Europeans despised Eastern Europeans. As for Southern and Northern Europeans, they barely had any presence at all, hovering somewhere between Central and Eastern Europe, usually ignored by everyone. With the resurgence of the Holy Roman Empire, the hierarchy within Europe itself gradually shifted. Yet within the United States, the old social stratification remained firmly in place. At the very top stood the English. Below them came immigrants from the Holy Roman Empire and France, followed by those from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. At the bottom of white society were Italian immigrants, Eastern Europeans, and the Irish. As for immigrants of color, there was no need to elaborate. They had virtually no social status to speak of. Because different ethnic groups arrived at different times, their distribution across the United States was highly uneven. For example, English immigrants were heavily concentrated in the eastern states, while their presence in the Midwest and West was far more limited. In normal times, this demographic imbalance was not particularly noticeable. In a crisis, however, it became a fatal flaw. Once the Continental Alliance began courting these ethnic groups, trouble could erupt overnight. At the very least, the Irish, long stuck at the bottom of society, had no desire to share the same pot with the English. The American Civil War was a clear precedent. Several states that had originally remained neutral eventually leaned toward the South after European powers intervened. The current situation was even more dangerous. Europe was now dominated by a single hegemon. The Holy Roman Empire had effectively completed its integration of the European continent. Glancing out the window, Roosevelt let out a sigh and spoke slowly, “We must do everything possible to placate the federal states. No matter what, we cannot allow the United States to fracture again. If that happens, we will become criminals in the eyes of history.” His words were resolute, but his heart was full of uncertainty. The terror of an open scheme lay precisely in this: even when one understood the enemy’s plan, there was still no effective way to stop it. “Enduring for the sake of the nation” was not a concept well suited to America. Since the country had been built on shared interests, it could just as easily fall apart over interests. Southern independence was the best proof of that. As the economy developed, the divide between East and West within the United States only grew wider. Without the boost of the Panama Canal, the economies of the western states had never truly taken off. Eastern financial groups treated the Midwest and West as economic colonies, while the central states refused to be passive. In response, they launched their own local trade protection measures, clashing head-on with the East. With international forces stirring the pot, relations between the eastern states and the central and western states had long been strained. Washington, which should have acted as the coordinator of internal conflicts, appeared utterly powerless in the face of these “regional lords.” With the plan to integrate the nation having failed, Roosevelt had already lost hope for the future of the United States. At this point, doing his utmost to preserve national unity was the last shred of a statesman’s integrity. Secretary of State Pete shook his head and replied, “Mr. President, I think these issues no longer require our concern. Perhaps as soon as next week, this place will have a new owner. The opposition probably has no idea that the enemy intends to split the United States. They are busy trying to drive us out, eager to realize their own political ideals.” For some reason, Pete sounded faintly schadenfreude. They were already unlucky enough. Pushed onto the war chariot by domestic interest groups, they had sacrificed both their present and future reputations and been nailed to the pillar of shame. And yet, at this darkest hour, there were still people lining up to jump straight into the pit themselves. They had already taken the blame for the war. Compared to the fragmentation of the United States, responsibility for defeat was still a much lighter burden. After all, in American history textbooks, the worst president was always the unfortunate Lincoln, not the other scoundrels who truly wreaked havoc. After a brief pause, Roosevelt nodded slightly. After a string of disasters, this finally counted as one piece of good news. “Mm. Since this matter involves the Holy Roman Empire, we must proceed with extreme caution. Until the truth is verified, strict confidentiality is mandatory. First, gather intelligence. If we really are impeached and forced out, then hand everything over to the next administration. Under no circumstances can we allow the United States to fracture…” Every man looks out for himself. With others rushing forward to take over, Roosevelt had no reason to stop them. If the interest groups backing him had not refused to let him retreat, Roosevelt would have walked away long ago. Now that the opposition was eager to seize power, all the better. Being impeached and removed from office was an outcome everyone could accept. As for the enemy’s conspiracy, that could be left to the next administration to deal with. After all, this was a long-standing tradition of the United States. Almost every government left behind one problem or another for its successor. By comparison, Roosevelt could be considered conscientious. At the very least, he had gathered intelligence. If he had simply pretended not to notice anything, the next government would not even have had time to react. … Canada. With the signing of the Vienna Accord, the Dominion government was forced to confront the problem of withdrawal. “The British government has urged us repeatedly to begin evacuating as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, the enemy will be marching in,” Prime Minister Mackenzie Powell complained. “I cannot even imagine how I am supposed to explain this to the public. Once the news gets out, they will probably want to tear me apart.” Defy the order? If the armies of the Holy Roman Empire were not about to arrive, no one would have minded arguing things out with the British government. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option. The World War had been lost, Britain itself was struggling to survive, and the Canadian Dominion had been reduced to a disposable pawn. It was one thing to grumble among themselves, but when faced with the ferocious armies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Dominion government simply lacked the courage. The more one knew, the more one understood fear. An enemy that even the British Empire could not resist was not something Canada could hope to stop. “Fight to the end” sounded inspiring, but putting it into practice was another matter entirely. With only a few million people, confronting the world’s hegemon would be nothing short of throwing eggs at a stone. Besides, there were explicit orders from London. Responsibility for abandoning Canada did not need to fall on anyone present. “Don’t worry, Prime Minister. Giving up Canada was an order from the British government, not your personal decision. I believe the public will understand. In any case, this cannot be dragged out any longer. The sooner it is resolved, the sooner we can retire. It has been years since we last returned home, and who knows how things are there now. It is probably not very good. I hear the enemy’s bombing has been intense. Let us just hope the situation is not too terrible.” Charles spoke in a calm, measured tone. Unlike Mackenzie Powell, who had lived in Canada for decades, Charles was a civil servant directly appointed by the British government. He had only been posted there a few years earlier and naturally felt little sense of attachment to the Canadian Dominion. If it was lost, then so be it. At the end of the day, it was just another colony. The colonial empire itself had already collapsed. Even India was gone, let alone a barren land like Canada. As a competent civil servant, Charles had already made enough money over the past few years. Losing this position was no great loss. It simply meant returning home earlier to reunite with his family. “Sir, are we really going to leave just like this? Wouldn’t that be giving the Austrians too good a deal? What if we were to—” Before Mackenzie Powell could finish, Charles interrupted him at once, “Prime Minister, times have changed. The world today is no longer what it once was. The Holy Roman Empire has just become the world’s hegemon. Any small move we make now could trigger consequences that are impossible to predict. One misstep would not only bring disaster upon ourselves, but also plunge the country into endless trouble. Britain, as it is now, simply cannot afford any more turmoil.” The matter of behind-the-scenes deals had not been openly discussed, but everyone was well aware of the repeated and strict instructions from Britain. Although the Canadian Dominion had been established, it was still far from enjoying the level of autonomy it would have in later years, and even further from being an independent state. On the surface, Prime Minister Mackenzie Powell appeared to be the highest authority locally. In reality, Charles, as a civil servant appointed by the British government, wielded no less influence within the administration. If Mackenzie Powell insisted on defying the British government’s orders, it was questionable whether he would even be able to walk out the door that day. After all, since the decision had already been made to abandon the Canadian Dominion, the British government no longer needed to concern itself with Canadian public opinion.
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