This investigation is sponsored by King Art Games.
Join us on Twitch one hour after this episode goes live as we command the Usonian Expeditionary
Corps and give away a bunch of Iron Harvest merchandise.
Since the first navigators spied its shores from the decks of their sailing ships, the
affairs of the New World have been considered at most, ancillary to those of Europa.
As the Age of Discovery gave way to the era of Colonialism, the American continents were
viewed merely as prizes to be won or obstacles to be overcome on the path to the far grander
territories of the Orient.
Even when Europa’s greatest colonial holdings in the New World were lost to the fires of
revolution, the declaration of a new sovereign Republic in their place was dismissed as a
charming experiment.
“What has taken place in America” one of the famous philosophers of Saxony declared
“is but an emanation of Europa.
The New World is only an echo of the Old”.
But within the greatest state of that New World, a different narrative has formed.
Its citizens see in themselves a nation where the sacred rights of mankind are not bestowed
by old parchments or musty records, but won through costly sacrifices on the altar of
freedom.
They work not for the betterment of those born with noble title, but to build a land
where every man might be a king.
Perhaps more so than any other nation across the world, the Federal Union of Usonia has
been carved from its philosophy, not its history.
And if the words of its founding fathers are to be believed, then like some majestic river
which enlarges and widens as it approaches its parent ocean, Usonia is destined to become
greater and greater through every age and outlive the ruins of the world itself.
Usonia stretches across the breadth of the American continent, bordered to the east and
west by the largest oceans of the world and to the north and south by the Dominion of
Laurentia and the United States of Aztlan respectively.
Its overseas territories extend to the Poniente Archipelago, the Hawaiian Islands, and many
other small atolls across the Pacific, to the Grand Canal and Coabana Islands in the
Caribbean.
It is a vast nation, third only in size to the Rusviet Union and its northern rival.
Within its borders can be found every manner of natural wonder, towering mountain ranges
and river valleys giving way to vast plains, tan deserts and verdant tropics.
The Usonian people are as diverse as the landscapes they inhabit.
A nation of immigrants, the concept of Usonian nationality is not linked to any race or ethnic
group but rather their shared history and cherished values.
Foreign expatriation is seen as an integral right and once a person has taken the Usonian
Oath of Allegiance, they enjoy all the rights of citizenship, no matter their ethnicity,
creed or culture.
They may even retain their former citizenship and every bond of fellowship with their home
country, so long as their loyalty to Usonia is paramount.
Binding the lands and peoples of Usonia together, are 48 constituent states.
The first 19 of these can trace their history to Europan colonies that fought for independence
during the Revolutionary Wars, while the remainder were federal territories or sovereign states
absorbed into the greater Usonian Union.
Each state is allotted various levels of power according to their individual constitutions,
but all are grounded in republican principles and bound to federal law.
While each state was initially responsible for managing most of their internal affairs
such as infrastructure, law enforcement, public education and public health, these services
have been increasingly centralized under the federal government, leading to continued tensions
and debate over the nature of state’s rights.
The Usonian federal government is based in the capital city of Washington, itself located
within the District of Columbia.
Here the office of the Usonian President, the Usonian Congress and Supreme Court of
Usonia hold authority over the nation’s executive department, legislature and judicial
system.
The power and duties of these branches, as well as their relationship with state governments,
are vested by the Usonian Constitution and further defined by acts of Congress.
While major offices, including those of the President, Congressmen and State Governors
are elected by popular vote, many others are held political appointees.
Nearly all elected officials are members of either the Democratic-Republican Party or
the Federalist Party.
While other smaller political parties exist, Usonia exists in practical terms, under a
two-party system.
First among the many issues that will decide Usonian elections is the role of the armed
forces in foreign affairs.
With the nation’s ascent to one of the world’s largest industrial powers, has come an extensive
rearmament campaign.
The four major branches of the Usonian Armed Forces are the Usonian Army, Usonian Navy,
Usonian Marine Corps and the Usonian Coast Guard.
Each has been modernized in the previous decade to include the mechanized walkers and exosuits
prevalent in Europan Armies since the height of the Great War.
An all volunteer force, the Usonian Army is comparatively tiny next to the vast formations
mobilized in Europa.
It is not even the largest armed group in Usonia, outnumbered by the private security
personnel within the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
When asked how the Empire would respond should a Usonian Expeditionary Force land on its
shores, the Emperor of Saxony is said to have remarked that he would simply have them arrested.
Yet such mockery overlooks the extraordinary esprit de corps present across the Usonian
military.
Its soldiers have developed an international reputation for sheer nerve, and bravery bordering
on recklessness.
During the Great War, a Usonian volunteer regiment was ordered by its Frankish attache
to retreat, and the response “Retreat?
Hell we just got here” has become a rallying cry across the entire Usonian Army.
The Army is also extraordinarily well equipped and highly mechanized.
The M-29 “Salem'' is not entirely dissimilar from its Europan counterparts, but contains
several novel design choices, while the M-19 Knox can go toe to toe with even the largest
walkers operated by Saxony or the Rusviet Union.
The nation’s extraordinary innovations in walker design can be attributed in part to
the prominent Usonian industrialists whose enormous corporations have made them celebrities
in their own right.
The Henry Ford Motor Company, General Motors and many other Usonian manufacturing firms
have gained renown for their improvements over Europan designs and become major suppliers
of the Usonian Armed Forces, but it is the Edison Electric Company that single handedly
transformed the nature of warfare.
While critics and even Tesla himself have claimed that the EEC merely stole designs
from his legendary Europan Factory, Thomas Edison’s work has produced some of the most
groundbreaking machines of the last decade.
Enormous airships, many the size of the battleships that ply the world’s oceans, spearhead the
advance of the Usonian Army, escorted by fleets of smaller craft.
Completely immune to the river crossings, mountain passes, and the other traditional
impediments of land campaigns, they have in the span of just a few years, rendered entire
armies obsolete.
While the various classes of Flying Gunships, Airlifts and Skybikes have made their way
into every modern Army, only the Usonian Air Mobile Corps currently fields what might be
classified a flying aircraft carrier.
The ZR-25 “Samson” has no equal across the world, capable of deploying an armada
of automated drones to drop ordnance onto distant targets.
These enormous airships are frequently escorted by the ZR-3 “Revere”, which can provide
fire support against both enemy walkers and rival airships.
While Edison’s craft were not the first of such vessels to take to the sky, with scattered
Europan prototypes developed in the first few years of the 20th century, their ubiquity
within Usonian service, and in particular, the journey of the Great White Fleet, has
made them synonymous with the New World.
Yet their increasing presence above Usonian cities, together with the nation’s growing
militarization have created a widening political rift in the country.
There are those who wish to use these vessels to acquire the colonies and prestige that
mark the other great powers of the world, and there are others who proclaim that such
actions are un-Usonian, a terrible betrayal of the nation’s founding values.
A revolutionary state, Usonian society has always had a complex relationship with militarism,
colonialism and imperialism.
The nation was born from a series of conflicts spanning a thirty year period that began in
the late 18th century.
What became known as the Usonian Revolutionary Wars pitted colonial states in both modern
Usonia and Laurentia against the great powers of Europa.
The belligerents on either side and the motives behind the wars shifted as the conflict evolved
and expanded, but generally stemmed from strict taxation policies, and a lack of colonial
representation.
By the time the last Europan colonial possession in Usonia had capitulated to revolutionary
armies, hundreds of thousands lay dead on both sides with many times that lost to disease
and famine.
The wars led to the centralization of Usonian republics into what would become the modern
Federal Union, but also brought about rapid socioeconomic change.
The destruction of the traditional Usonian upper class system during the wars against
Europa, the growing concentration of wealth into urban areas, the integration of historically
marginalized or disenfranchised groups into army units, and the high profile exploits
of those soldiers led to the collapse of Usonian slavery within a generation of the wars end.
While racial and ethnic tensions would persist, full suffrage was afforded to every citizen.
This social change at times threatened to destabilize the still fragile Usonian Union,
but the nation became increasingly expansionistic.
In the belief that Usonia was destined to expand across North America, one given form
in the concept of “manifest destiny”, Usonian settlers pressed relentlessly westwards,
coming into conflict with both the local indigenous tribes and secessionist state governments.
The major causes behind the Usonian Civil War were complex and have been controversial
ever since, but pitted the so-called “Federal States” against those on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal victory in 1875 came only after 4 years of brutal fighting, which remains
to this day the deadliest war in Usonian history.
The Usonian Frontier was declared closed and the continent fully settled in 1890, which
proved to be a psychological blow to a nation which had always defined itself by its struggle
against the wilderness.
The idea of Usonian Exceptionalism flourished in its stead, culminating in the first circumnavigation
of airships, known as the Great White Fleet in 1907 to 1908.
A year later, the plight of Coabanan Revolutionaries in their own war of independence against Hispania,
swayed the Usonian public to their cause.
Tensions with Hispania were aggravated by Usonian newspaper moguls, but it was the destruction
of the UAS Maine over Havana that ignited the Hispanian-Usonian war.
The brief conflict exposed the fatal design flaws of the first-generation airships of
the era, briefly ending their widespread use, but also brought to Usonia a wealth of overseas
colonies in the aftermath of their victory.
Burdened by ongoing insurgencies in their newly acquired colonies, Usonia stayed out
of the Great War in Europa.
It initially financed both sides, before siding against Saxony and its allies with a suspension
of all trade.
Several Usonian volunteer divisions fought under Frankish, Albionion or Polanian command,
seeing limited action before the end of the war.
Spared the devastation that befell Europa, Usonia entered the modern era as the single
largest industrial and economic superpower.
Initially dismissed by foreign governments as a backwater nation of cowboys and philanderers,
its shocking victory over Hispania and its emergence as a world power has forced Europa
to acknowledge Usonia as a growing rival for worldwide influence.
Its citizens and politicians claim that the 20th century will be Usonia’s century, for
as Europa struggles to rebuild, the innovation and industry of the New World has never ceased.
The fragile airships of the Great White Fleet have been replaced with a modern airborne
armada, and a journey that might have taken months in 1908, can now be achieved in mere
weeks.
A growing fear of the “Usonian Peril” has spread across Europa, for the vast ocean
separating these continents is no longer the formidable obstacle it once was.
Within Usonia itself, there is a growing sense that the next decades, years or even months
might present the opportunity for the nation to find its place within the world.
Since its founding, the country has been guided by its almost utopian philosophy, a philosophy
that states Usonia’s glory is not in dominion, but in liberty, that she does not go abroad
in search of foreign monsters to destroy.
In newspapers, the fiery critic Samuel Clemons has rallied millions against the nation’s
decent into Imperialism, with the words “we have invited clean young men to shoulder a
discredited musket and do bandit's work under a flag which bandits have been accustomed
to fear, not to follow; we have debauched Usonia”
Yet the relentless drive westwards, the easy conquests against Hispania and its own rising
status have convinced a growing segment of its citizens that within the nation a new
form of Imperialism is in the air.
It’s advocates claim it has new definitions and better inventions.
It is republicanism writ large, it is imperialism not for domination but for civilization, not
for absolutism but for self-government.
Usonian imperialism, it is said, is enthusiastic, optimistic and beneficial republicanism.
Within the halls of congress, senators and statesmen eagerly pin flags on world maps,
demanding new colonies, new territories and that wherever the Usonian banner is raised,
never must it come down.
Seldom mentioned is the terrible price Usonia has already paid to keep what it has claimed.
The fiery speeches and calls to action ignore the massacres of Wounded Knee or the Trail
of Tears.
It gives no admission to the thousands of deaths among civilians on Coabana or the Poniente
Archipelago, nor the Usonian-backed revolution that ended the rule of the last Hawaian Kings.
It ignores the fact that the weapons used to destroy the UAS Maine were well beyond
those of the Hispanian nationalists, and that the entire war might have been built upon
a lie.
Usonia has entered a crossroads, forced to choose between its national ideals and its
national interest, and the fate of the Usonial soul, the fate of the world might depend upon
the outcome of that choice.
Thanks to King Art Games for sponsoring this investigation into the shining city on a hill
that is Usonia.
Additionally, thank you to both the writing team over at King Art Games, and Jakub Różalski
for allowing the Templin Institute to contribute the backstory of this nation to the universe
of 1920+.
Usonia is available to command right now as part of the Operation: Eagle DLC for Iron
Harvest.
If you’d like to command the Expeditionary Forces of Usonia, you’ll find a link in
the description.