Settling Accounts (Harry Turtledove)
Encyclopedia
The Settling Accounts tetralogy
is an alternate history
setting of World War II
by Harry Turtledove
in North America
, presupposing that the Confederate States of America
won the U.S. Civil War. It is part of the Southern Victory Series, following How Few Remain
(set in the early 1880s) and trilogies Great War
(World War I
) and American Empire
(interwar period
). It takes the Southern Victory Series world from 1941 to 1944.
is a continent divided. Canada
, minus the independent Republic of Quebec
, is under U.S. occupation — which, as the Confederacy re-arms and the United States redeploy forces south to meet them, has come to mean occupation by U.S.-allied Québécois
soldiers. To the south, Kentucky
and northwestern Texas
have recently been returned to the Confederacy by popular vote (Sequoyah — Oklahoma
— having been flooded by US citizens, and its original Native American inhabitants outnumbered, has voted to stay in the United States), but other formerly Confederate territories occupied by the United States after the Great War remain unredeemed
. In total, Virginia
north of Fredericksburg
has been annexed to West Virginia
, a sliver of northeastern Arkansas
is attached to Missouri
, and a U.S. salient into the state of Sonora
(purchased by the Confederacy along with Chihuahua in 1881) is part of an oversized New Mexico
that also contains the real-life state of Arizona
. The United States also control the formerly British island territories of the Sandwich Islands
(including Hawaii
), Bermuda
and the Bahamas; Cuba
, purchased by the Confederacy in the 1870s, remains Confederate.
On the international scale Britain
has reformed itself around conservative Winston Churchill
and fascistic "silver shirts"
led by Oswald Mosley
. In the wake of another defeat by the hated Germans, the French Third Republic
has collapsed under popular support for the hard-line Catholic and monarchistic Action Français. Both countries are politically allied with the Confederacy, as are Japan
(though it openly threatens Pacific European possessions) and Tsarist Russia (the Russian Revolution never occurred; as was mentioned in the American Empire series, the "Great Man" and the "Man of Steel" (Lenin and Stalin) were defeated by loyal forces at Tsaritsyn, a.k.a. Stalingrad/Volgograd)). The United States is allied with the German Empire
, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire
, while Quebec
stays neutral officially, but in fact continues to supply occupation soldiers to the United States for now-exclusively-English Canada
. Ireland
, with some material support from the United States, won its independence from Britain at the end of the Great War, but has now been invaded by British forces and exists in a state of guerrilla war.
On June 22, 1941, Confederate dictator Jake Featherston
launches the war with a bombing attack on all major U.S. cities within reach of the border, quickly followed by an invasion of Ohio
from Kentucky
. Despite fierce U.S. resistance, the country is cut in half, though both sides remain linked by (risky) shipping and the rail network in occupied Canada, though it is occasionally subject to sabotage by the Canadian resistance. Meanwhile, the Mormon
population of Utah
rebels against the United States with support from the CSA, and proclaims the State of Deseret, forcing the United States to send troops to try to put down the uprising. Meanwhile, Japan attacks the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii
), sinking a U.S. carrier and threatening to capture the islands, and taking Midway Island, resulting in fierce naval and air battles. In Europe, fighting breaks out between Germany and Austria, allies of the U.S., and Britain, Russia, and France, allies of the CSA. Minor fighting also takes place between American and Russian troops in Alaska
. As the war progresses, Featherston launches a campaign of genocide
against the country's black population. Many blacks arm themselves with U.S. aid and begin a campaign of resistance. Both sides launch air raids on enemy cities, and Confederate aircraft manage to kill U.S. President Al Smith during a raid on Philadelphia, forcing the inexperienced Charlie LaFollette to take office, and resulting in a massive retaliatory raid on Richmond
which fails to kill Featherston. The United States attempts a counterattack by invading Virginia
, but the advance bogs down under heavy resistance. Futile U.S. attempts to capture the heavily defended city of Fredericksburg
result in heavy losses. The stall allows the Confederates to concentrate their forces in Ohio and push into Pennsylvania, with the support of Mexican forces, committed by Emperor Francisco Jose at the demands of Featherston. However, U.S. forces manage to prevent the encirclement of Pittsburgh, forcing the Confederates into heavy street fighting, where their advance stalls. Meanwhile, two U.S. escort carriers reach Oahu
, and the tide begins to turn, as the Americans retake the Sandwich Islands. In a climactic battle, a Japanese carrier guarding Midway is sunk and Midway Island is retaken.
Under the cover of an early November storm, U.S. forces launch an armored offensive, which quickly breaks through the Mexican units guarding the Confederate flanks. Joining with another salient moving out of West Virginia
, the bulk of the invading Confederate army is encircled, and U.S. forces begin driving deeper into Confederate-occupied Ohio. An attempt by Confederate forces to reach Pittsburgh is stopped at Salem, and U.S. forces launch a number of incursions across Confederate territory, which prevents the Confederates from gathering enough troops to relieve their forces in Pittsburgh. One of the thrusts comes dangerously close to capturing a Confederate extermination camp and revealing its true purpose and its mass graves. Featherston refuses to allow his troops to fight their way out of Pittsburgh. Attempts to supply the besieged Confederates by air fail, and the remnants of the trapped Confederate army surrender, while Confederate control of Ohio crumbles.
On the European front, British, French, and Russian forces are gradually pushed back, as Irish and Serb rebels continue to attack their occupiers, and fighting between two sets of guerrillas supported by either sides continues in Ukraine
. Meanwhile, U.S. forces push into Confederate territory. Kentucky
and Tennessee
fall first, followed by an advance into Georgia
. At the Battle of Chattanooga, American forces land paratroopers atop Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge rather than fight their way up. The Confederates squander resources through a series of futile counterattacks. Meanwhile, a black revolt takes place in Richmond. As the genocide of blacks continues at the Concentration Camp known as Camp Determination, U.S. forces push into Texas
. As these troops are lacking in resources, Confederate forces manage to stall them long enough for the Camp guards to murder all the blacks. Meanwhile, both sides are seeking a nuclear bomb, and the Confederates try to stall the U.S. nuclear program by bombing the U.S. nuclear project site in Washington, to which the U.S. replies by bombing the Confederate nuclear research site in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Mormon rebellion in Utah is finally crushed, but a British-supported Canadian uprising against occupation authorities is fully active, forcing American units who had been previously fighting the Mormons to be transferred to Canada and hold it down. In Virginia, the ground fighting seems largely quiet as the Confederates are unable to attack U.S. forces as often due to heavy casualties. Fighting also takes place in other Confederate states the U.S. invades, and in Sequoyah (Oklahoma
), with both sides sabotaging oil wells there. The U.S. also begins smuggling arms to a nascent rebellion in Confederate Cuba
, recaptures Bermuda
in a costly action, and increases activity in the South Atlantic to cut off food shipments from South America to Britain. The U.S. demands the CSA's unconditional surrender: the Confederates refuse and fire two long-range rockets into Philadelphia.
U.S. forces drive through the center of the CSA and cut it in half, while a second U.S. force drives through Virginia to capture Richmond
, and eventually take it in heavy street fighting. With British aid, the Confederacy produces a fission bomb
and "nukes" the outskirts of Philadelphia: the U.S. responds by bombing Newport News and Charleston
. Six cities in Europe are also destroyed, and Germany and Austria eventually defeat their European adversaries and kill or overthrow their heads of state. Japan, having failed to capture the Sandwich Islands and Midway, begins contemplating betraying its British allies and invading their colonies. Texas
declares independence from the Confederacy and arrests Camp Determination officials. Featherston attempts to escape to the deep South, but his plane is shot down, and he is killed by an anti-Confederate guerrilla. Confederate Vice President Don Partridge then takes office, and agrees to unconditionally surrender to the United States. Before the war officially ends, some Confederate units continue to resist, but when the time to surrender comes, they peacefully lay down their arms. Top Confederate officials are arrested, tried, and most of them are executed. The Confederates involved in the murder of blacks are also extradited from Texas, tried for crimes against humanity, and hanged. Despite the surrender, small bands of Confederates continue to resist, and the United States responds to each attack by executing random civilians unless the perpetrators turn themselves in or are captured, and then executed. The U.S. dissolves the Confederate government and places the country under indefinite military occupation
. The revolt in Canada is also suppressed, and Texas remains independent but hosts U.S. troops on its soil.
Tetralogy
A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
is an alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
setting of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, presupposing that the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
won the U.S. Civil War. It is part of the Southern Victory Series, following How Few Remain
How Few Remain
How Few Remain is a 1997 alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the first part of the Southern Victory Series saga, which depicts a world in which the Confederacy won the American Civil War. The book received the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 1997, and was also nominated for...
(set in the early 1880s) and trilogies Great War
Great War (Harry Turtledove)
Great War is an alternate history trilogy by Harry Turtledove, which follows How Few Remain. It is part of Turtledove's Southern Victory Series series of novels...
(World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
) and American Empire
American Empire (Harry Turtledove)
The American Empire series is a trilogy of alternate history novels by Harry Turtledove. It follows How Few Remain and the Great War trilogy, and is part of the Southern Victory Series...
(interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
). It takes the Southern Victory Series world from 1941 to 1944.
Plot summary
At the beginning of Return Engagement, North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
is a continent divided. Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, minus the independent Republic of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, is under U.S. occupation — which, as the Confederacy re-arms and the United States redeploy forces south to meet them, has come to mean occupation by U.S.-allied Québécois
French-speaking Quebecer
French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....
soldiers. To the south, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and northwestern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
have recently been returned to the Confederacy by popular vote (Sequoyah — Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
— having been flooded by US citizens, and its original Native American inhabitants outnumbered, has voted to stay in the United States), but other formerly Confederate territories occupied by the United States after the Great War remain unredeemed
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
. In total, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
north of Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
has been annexed to West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, a sliver of northeastern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
is attached to Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and a U.S. salient into the state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
(purchased by the Confederacy along with Chihuahua in 1881) is part of an oversized New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
that also contains the real-life state of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The United States also control the formerly British island territories of the Sandwich Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
(including Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
), Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and the Bahamas; Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, purchased by the Confederacy in the 1870s, remains Confederate.
On the international scale Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
has reformed itself around conservative Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and fascistic "silver shirts"
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
led by Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
. In the wake of another defeat by the hated Germans, the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
has collapsed under popular support for the hard-line Catholic and monarchistic Action Français. Both countries are politically allied with the Confederacy, as are Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(though it openly threatens Pacific European possessions) and Tsarist Russia (the Russian Revolution never occurred; as was mentioned in the American Empire series, the "Great Man" and the "Man of Steel" (Lenin and Stalin) were defeated by loyal forces at Tsaritsyn, a.k.a. Stalingrad/Volgograd)). The United States is allied with the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, while Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
stays neutral officially, but in fact continues to supply occupation soldiers to the United States for now-exclusively-English Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, with some material support from the United States, won its independence from Britain at the end of the Great War, but has now been invaded by British forces and exists in a state of guerrilla war.
On June 22, 1941, Confederate dictator Jake Featherston
Jake Featherston
Jacob "Jake" Featherston is a fictional character inthe Southern Victory Series novel series by Harry Turtledove. He is the fictional timeline's equivalent of Adolf Hitler.-Character introduction:...
launches the war with a bombing attack on all major U.S. cities within reach of the border, quickly followed by an invasion of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
from Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. Despite fierce U.S. resistance, the country is cut in half, though both sides remain linked by (risky) shipping and the rail network in occupied Canada, though it is occasionally subject to sabotage by the Canadian resistance. Meanwhile, the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
population of Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
rebels against the United States with support from the CSA, and proclaims the State of Deseret, forcing the United States to send troops to try to put down the uprising. Meanwhile, Japan attacks the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
), sinking a U.S. carrier and threatening to capture the islands, and taking Midway Island, resulting in fierce naval and air battles. In Europe, fighting breaks out between Germany and Austria, allies of the U.S., and Britain, Russia, and France, allies of the CSA. Minor fighting also takes place between American and Russian troops in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. As the war progresses, Featherston launches a campaign of genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
against the country's black population. Many blacks arm themselves with U.S. aid and begin a campaign of resistance. Both sides launch air raids on enemy cities, and Confederate aircraft manage to kill U.S. President Al Smith during a raid on Philadelphia, forcing the inexperienced Charlie LaFollette to take office, and resulting in a massive retaliatory raid on Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
which fails to kill Featherston. The United States attempts a counterattack by invading Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, but the advance bogs down under heavy resistance. Futile U.S. attempts to capture the heavily defended city of Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
result in heavy losses. The stall allows the Confederates to concentrate their forces in Ohio and push into Pennsylvania, with the support of Mexican forces, committed by Emperor Francisco Jose at the demands of Featherston. However, U.S. forces manage to prevent the encirclement of Pittsburgh, forcing the Confederates into heavy street fighting, where their advance stalls. Meanwhile, two U.S. escort carriers reach Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, and the tide begins to turn, as the Americans retake the Sandwich Islands. In a climactic battle, a Japanese carrier guarding Midway is sunk and Midway Island is retaken.
Under the cover of an early November storm, U.S. forces launch an armored offensive, which quickly breaks through the Mexican units guarding the Confederate flanks. Joining with another salient moving out of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, the bulk of the invading Confederate army is encircled, and U.S. forces begin driving deeper into Confederate-occupied Ohio. An attempt by Confederate forces to reach Pittsburgh is stopped at Salem, and U.S. forces launch a number of incursions across Confederate territory, which prevents the Confederates from gathering enough troops to relieve their forces in Pittsburgh. One of the thrusts comes dangerously close to capturing a Confederate extermination camp and revealing its true purpose and its mass graves. Featherston refuses to allow his troops to fight their way out of Pittsburgh. Attempts to supply the besieged Confederates by air fail, and the remnants of the trapped Confederate army surrender, while Confederate control of Ohio crumbles.
On the European front, British, French, and Russian forces are gradually pushed back, as Irish and Serb rebels continue to attack their occupiers, and fighting between two sets of guerrillas supported by either sides continues in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Meanwhile, U.S. forces push into Confederate territory. Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
fall first, followed by an advance into Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. At the Battle of Chattanooga, American forces land paratroopers atop Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge rather than fight their way up. The Confederates squander resources through a series of futile counterattacks. Meanwhile, a black revolt takes place in Richmond. As the genocide of blacks continues at the Concentration Camp known as Camp Determination, U.S. forces push into Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. As these troops are lacking in resources, Confederate forces manage to stall them long enough for the Camp guards to murder all the blacks. Meanwhile, both sides are seeking a nuclear bomb, and the Confederates try to stall the U.S. nuclear program by bombing the U.S. nuclear project site in Washington, to which the U.S. replies by bombing the Confederate nuclear research site in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Mormon rebellion in Utah is finally crushed, but a British-supported Canadian uprising against occupation authorities is fully active, forcing American units who had been previously fighting the Mormons to be transferred to Canada and hold it down. In Virginia, the ground fighting seems largely quiet as the Confederates are unable to attack U.S. forces as often due to heavy casualties. Fighting also takes place in other Confederate states the U.S. invades, and in Sequoyah (Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
), with both sides sabotaging oil wells there. The U.S. also begins smuggling arms to a nascent rebellion in Confederate Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, recaptures Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
in a costly action, and increases activity in the South Atlantic to cut off food shipments from South America to Britain. The U.S. demands the CSA's unconditional surrender: the Confederates refuse and fire two long-range rockets into Philadelphia.
U.S. forces drive through the center of the CSA and cut it in half, while a second U.S. force drives through Virginia to capture Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, and eventually take it in heavy street fighting. With British aid, the Confederacy produces a fission bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
and "nukes" the outskirts of Philadelphia: the U.S. responds by bombing Newport News and Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. Six cities in Europe are also destroyed, and Germany and Austria eventually defeat their European adversaries and kill or overthrow their heads of state. Japan, having failed to capture the Sandwich Islands and Midway, begins contemplating betraying its British allies and invading their colonies. Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
declares independence from the Confederacy and arrests Camp Determination officials. Featherston attempts to escape to the deep South, but his plane is shot down, and he is killed by an anti-Confederate guerrilla. Confederate Vice President Don Partridge then takes office, and agrees to unconditionally surrender to the United States. Before the war officially ends, some Confederate units continue to resist, but when the time to surrender comes, they peacefully lay down their arms. Top Confederate officials are arrested, tried, and most of them are executed. The Confederates involved in the murder of blacks are also extradited from Texas, tried for crimes against humanity, and hanged. Despite the surrender, small bands of Confederates continue to resist, and the United States responds to each attack by executing random civilians unless the perpetrators turn themselves in or are captured, and then executed. The U.S. dissolves the Confederate government and places the country under indefinite military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
. The revolt in Canada is also suppressed, and Texas remains independent but hosts U.S. troops on its soil.
Novels
- Settling Accounts: Return EngagementSettling Accounts: Return EngagementReturn Engagement is the first book of Harry Turtledove's Settling Accounts series of alternate history novels. It is an analogy of World War II being waged on American soil between the United States and the Confederate States....
(2004) ; first book in the series and eighth in the overall timeline. - Settling Accounts: Drive to the EastSettling Accounts: Drive to the EastDrive to the East is the second book in Harry Turtledove's Settling Accounts series of alternate history novels. It is set in an analog of World War II in North America, fought between the United States and Confederate States. It was released in August 2005. It follows Return Engagement and...
(2005) ; second book in the series and ninth in the overall timeline. - Settling Accounts: The GrappleSettling Accounts: The GrappleSettling Accounts: The Grapple by Harry Turtledove is the third book in the Settling Accounts tetralogy, an alternate history setting of World War II in North America. It is part of the Southern Victory Series, which supposes that the Confederate States of America won the American Civil War. It...
(2006) ; third book in the series and tenth in the overall timeline. - Settling Accounts: In at the DeathSettling Accounts: In at the DeathSettling Accounts: In at the Death is the last novel of the Settling Accounts tetralogy that presents an alternate history of World War II that was released July 27, 2007. It brings to a conclusion the multi-series compilation by author Harry Turtledove, a series sometimes referred to as Southern...
(2007) ; fourth book in the series and eleventh in the overall timeline.