God Bless American - An American War

My Fellow Americans,

I deliver you this message that the nation we love has entered a time of great turmoil. Unable to resolve the succession crisis our government has declared an official vote of no confidence from the people. Without a President, functioning congress or house of representatives the states have no faith. We must not waste any time further, the federal government has become a paper state. The states have been abandoned, the people have been left to fend for themselves.

I beg of you all to prepare for days of trial, for the future is uncertain and I fear there will be no peaceful resolution.

May god bless the United States of America, and may he help us all in these times...



Welcome to God Bless America, an alternate history exploring a near future American civil war. Please note this is a work of fiction and any viewpoints and comments in the story do not reflect the views of the writer.

The Succession War: How the hell did we get here?

In the past it was often assumed that the Second American Civil War would begin with a bang. A dramatic terrorist attack, a president going rogue and declaring a dictatorship perhaps even another country marching down the streets of DC and propping up a puppet government.

But end came with a whimper the death throes of an unsuccessful bid to hold onto what was left. In the early years of 20XX after increasing hostility and intense political theater between the federal government's ruling parties a stone wall appeared in the government that seemed impossible to overcome. Measures to push through new bills and laws were caught up in a whirlwind of endless debates and filibusters while those in desperate need were left in the streets to fend for themselves.

States were increasingly being left to monitor their own laws and dealings as the federal government's internal conflict began to stagnate federal processes. This stagnation began to lead to internal conflict between the federal parties elections were ignored and reset, leaders continued to grow unrecognized and ignored while zero progress was being made.

All the while internationally pressure increased on the United States to maintain its sphere of influence. But the once unifying force of the superpower became its weakness. War broke out across the world as nations smelled blood and fought desperately to make territorial and resource gains while the United States Military struggled to retain its hold but was overwhelmed.

With soldiers dying overseas in conflicts few cared to understand, those already struggling to find any support were furious by the stagnate federal government's failure to address issues foreign and domestic.

After a final election and attempts to estalish a definitive government led to a vote of no confidence from all sides of the government. The people finally snapped and took to the street en masse facing each other with raised fists and arms. As smoke rose over DC after a week of mass riots, America awoke to a terrifying new reality. The nation was headless and dangerous new powers were moving to fill the gap.

This marked the beginning of the conflict that would come to be known as the Succession War.

The Succession War: Belligerents
After the federal government was declared effectively defunct. States immediately made efforts to try and restore a system of unifying government. But the political trenches dug by hundreds of years of mounting tensions and resentments effectively made this process impossible as like minded states and territories began banding together hoarding their resources and refusing to trade unless appeased. But rather than force agreements this simply led to mounting tension and the formation of successor governments all which claimed legitimacy as the successor of the original federal government. The world war forced to pick sides all the while militia groups, warlords and underground political movements battle in the shadows of these ambitious giants.


Successor Governments

New American Union
The New American Union is the largest successor government in the northeastern United States with its claimed sphere of influence ranging for Maine all the way to Northern Virginia and the former capital of Washington DC. The New American Union is composed of like minded centrist figures in the former government who came together to make a claim to legitimate succession. They were the first successor party to be recognized by former powers and were given support from the UN, European Unions and former members of NATO. The New American Union signed a tready allowing for foreign peacekeepers to be deployed into the United States to try the calm the chaos of the early skirmishes of the succession war. But this ultimately ended up harming the New American Union's image, many declare them UN puppets and a foreign influence state with a lack of resolve to truly restore the nation. Now they are locked in a bitter stalemate with uprisings occurring throughout their claimed territory supported by their foreign allies.

People's Liberation Party
The People's Liberation Party is a far left successor state that originated in California and is perhaps one of the most radically reformist of the successors. The People's Liberation Party believes in reviving America anew with a government that stands for the people rather than for corporations and old imperialistic dreams. Their claim to legitimacy comes from backing by the Chinese government who supplies and arms pro-PLP forces throughout the West Coast and the PLP even performs joint military operations with the People's Liberation Army to suppress violent insurgencies on the west coast. Many dismiss the PLP as simply Chinese puppets but their considerable resources, strict organization and military strength make them a considerable faction.

American Phoenix Group
Centered in the midwest and contesting the People's Liberation Party for control of the west is the American Phoenix Group. Composed of government in exile officials such as politicians, military leaders and influential corporate figures who were outside of the country during the initial outbreak of the succession war their claim to legitimacy is tighter than the reformists. They are recognized by the Russian Federation and the Canadian government who arm and support their attempts to regain control of the nation. Many see the APG as a return of the old guard and old system. Many support their measures but others are less receptive. The APG is one of the most financially secure successor states thanks to its business connections which allow it to fund foreign mercenaries which help bulk up their military forces.

Dixie
In the American South there was the longstanding belief in the resurgence of the old confederacy that fought against the federal government in the first American Civil War. With the outbreak of the succession war, this dream was attempted to be realized with a number of like minded far right leaders in the south to collect their sphere of influence. The majority right wing successor government supported by paramilitary police forces, local national guard troops, militias and armed groups managed to secure footholds in the South and took up the banner of Dixie. Unlike the other successor states however Dixie is not fully unified it is a separatists government extremely localized by districts and different chapters with radically different and varying levels of extreme views and political goals. Because of this the Dixie bloc is often seen as a paper tiger but for those in the south they were a very real and everpresent force and in the border territories their militant supporters are infamous for their zealotry. They are commonly referred too as the "Dix" by their political foes.

Militant Groups

Community Defense Forces
After the initial chaos of the succession war many neighborhoods, towns and cities were caught in the middle of confused violence with no greater leadership to determine where they stood. Locals were forced to band together to try and defend themselves from the onslaught of violence from the various feuding groups. This led to the birth of Community Defense Forces, neighbors banding together in the name of mutual community defense against outside forces that threaten their homes. CDFs tend to be lightly armed militia with varied training from non-existent to well drilled. They tend to be the first line of defense against outsiders when combat breaks out so successor states and larger militant groups often make an effort to get in a good word with CDF locals to prevent getting fired upon during battle. CDF equipment is often varied depending on the successor state they live under and potential foreign suppliers they are cooperating with.

Ethnonationalists
Since the outbreak of the Succession War there has been a dramatic rise in the number of ethnonationalist militant groups. Among the first was a rise of armed white nationalist and supremacist groups who took advantage of the chaos to carve out territory and spread a reign of terror throughout the United States. However these movements tend to by nature be very fragmented, routinely these groups either collapse into infighting or splinter into different movements and submovements while only being loosely unified still this has led to the rise of a number of horrific groups who can only be recognized as terrorists such as the Millennium Totenkopf in the American South, the Iron Legion in the West Coast and Midwest along with the Death Eagle Corps in the Northeast.

The rise of these groups was intended to suppress minority groups in the United States but the violence and reign of terror brought by them led to a rise of ethnic nationalist among american minority groups. Indigenous Americans were among the first to begin taking up arms en masse such as the Indigenous Reclamation Forces a pan-indigenous militant group which has actively seized claimed native land, destroyed monuments and some more radical forces have even displaced non-natives who are deemed as illegal settlers. Black Americans have also given rise to several militant groups with varying ideologies from conservative militant groups such as God's Free Children, a black christian militant group that defends black churches, the left leaning Zulu Corps which is supported by the People's Liberation Party and even unconventional groups like the pro-Dixie Holy Lord Militia.

Large numbers of other minorities have formed similar groups throughout the United States. Thousands have been registered and identified by the successor states who struggle to deal with the rise of ethnonationalists who have both saved lives by fighting off their more radical enemies but have also killed countless thousands in ethnic fueled race based massacres and killings.

FDA
The FDA which is an acronym for the "Fuck Dix Army" and unrelated to the defunct food and drug administration is one of the largest militant groups in the American South. The FDA is composed of a large number of southerners, particularly those of minority descent such as black, native and latino americans who are resistant to the Dixie government policies and the white nationalist groups they align with. The FDA is loosely composed of a large number of individual cells the majority of which are located in urban centers which have fought a successful campaign of keeping Pro-Dixie and other radicals out of major urban centers and disrupt their organization. The FDA is supplied by a number of local and foreign powers in an effort to disrupt Dixie and save the lives of vulnerable people targeted by radicals in the south.

Armies of God
Religious militias have been on the upsurge as the succession war began. Initially volunteers who defended churches or simply militants making their religious affiliation known. There have been those attempting to use the surge of violence as a chance to spread their faith through force of arms. The majority of armed religious movements in America are christian groups usually of different ethnic background or cultural ties typically white christian nationalists. But there have also been a number of Black, Latino and Asian christian militants who coordinate their military efforts. Catholics and Protestant based violence has also seen an upsurge as feuding groups tend to compete for territory and influence. Outside of christians, non-christian armed movements have tended to be more defensive in nature as minority groups attempt to defend themselves from radicals. Such as the primarily Jewish Chariot Corps miliants who are found throughout the United States supplied by agents from Israel. There are also various Muslim groups who primarily fight a defensive operations to deffend mosques and preform per-emptive strikes on potential groups plotting mass killings of muslims. Curiously the Chariot Corps and these muslim militants tend to be allies more often than not cooperating to hunt down radicals.

Warlords
Since the outbreak of war in mainland america there has been a rise of opportunistic figures who form bands of armed militants under them. Some of these men and women are even former members of the military or national guard who use their expertise to their advantage in order to seize power. Warlords popup regularly across the unsecured territories of america often fighting with forces of the successor governments which limits their influence and ability to spread. Throughout America there are wanted lists for warlords and wanted individuals some of whom have become legends from their horrific acts during the war.

People's Militia
The People's Liberation Party supports and arms a number of far left militant groups scattered throughout america. Especially those groups located in Dixie and APG territory where they supply them with the arms needed to fight a sustained campaign. People's Militias typically are youthful in nature composed of young marxists or left leaning communists eager for radical reformations and willing to fight against other militant groups. They are somewhat infamous because their lack of discipline and their lack of real unity beyond ideology tends to lead to infighting and targeting a number of groups with no real cohesion. But they represent an active and ever present threat.

Foreign Nations

Canada
Canada being directly bordered with the formed United States of America is caught on the front lines of the Succession War. While initially attempting to maintain neutrality the rush of refugees toward the Canadian border along with outbreaks of violence following them increased demand for a government response to the American violence. The PM Clark Monroe took the bold step of authorizing the deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces to the border to repel American militants and keep the peace along the border. After the New American Union approved UN intervention the Canadian military deployed into US territory on peacekeeping and security operations. Sometimes decried as the Canadian invasion of the united states, the Canadian military has found itself caught in a tense combat between militants and successor state forces while attempting to keep the peace. Many Canadians fear the succession war will become Canada's forever war and spill into the nation itself.

Mexico
Likewise bordering the United States, Mexico finds itself unable to avoid getting directly involved with the Succession War. After increasing threats of violence at the border including feuds with the Dixie government over border security. After and American attack on Ciudad Juárez, the Mexican government declared war on the Dixie government declaring them terrorist. THe Mexican army is currently locked in intense border skirmishes with militants and military forces from Texas, Arizona and New Mexico as they wage a campaign to keep the violence north.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is one of the leading members of the UN effort to bring stability back to the Americas. British forces have steadily been deploying overseas to the east coast to support the UN mission and cooperate with Canadian forces in the region. However the UK is limited in its options as it works alongside the EU to try and maintain international stability after the loss of America's support.

China
China is actively involved in the succession war supporting the successor state of the People's Liberation Party. While accused of taking advantage of the violence, China maintains that its presence in the Americas in purely to protect trade interests and support the fight against rampent terrorism and violence assisting in suppression operations against militant groups and providing foreign aid to refugees and at risk people in the United States.

Japan
Weary of Chinese influence on America especially after the Pan-Pacific conflict, Japan has likewise found itself involved in limited fashions. While not directly involved in fighting the Japanese Self Defense Forces actively patrol and protect the pacific ocean and the island of Hawaii while shipping international aid to mainland America.

Others

United States Armed Forces
The US Military was the largest standing military force in the world and deployed across the planet. Naturally when the succession war broke out countless hundreds of thousands of US soldiers were overseas unable to be directly involved. The early days were chaotic, many soldiers dropping everything to return to america and protect their homes from the violence while a great many simply manned their stations awaiting orders. With no clear civilian government to answer too the leadership of the military was at a loss. Finally the leaders of every branch of the US military met in Hawaii to discuss the situation. It was decided that they would answer to none of the successor governments and elect to keep the full force of the US military out of the domestic united states until the situation stabilized.

The decision was immensely controversial and led to a number of defections and rogue troops returning to the United States in an attempt to fight usually ending up aligning with successor states. But those who complied with the order work to ensure that their weapons remain out of the hands of warring forces butchering fellow americans. The United States Military is now a force in exile working with local governments to keep the peace as they await news of their homeland's stability. Recently several leaders have relocated to Canada agreeing to work with the UN mission with the troops under their command simply for the hope of being able to return home.