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Karin Maru

The Kanrin Maru in 1860 in San Francisco

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Timeline

In Anno Domini 1860, the Japanese-built ship Kanrin Maru was sent from Japan to the City of San Francisco in an attempt to establish a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan.

In OTL it was denied by the US Senate, but what if it wasn't?

What if instead the treaty was signed and the United States and Japan became closer trading partners, and possibly even allies...

How would this affect the Meiji Restoration, the development of Japan into a world power, and the World Wars?

POD[]

The industrialist John W. Fox is elected the Senator from Virginia. He is quick to realise the potential of Japan. They had successfully navigated the largest ocean in the world, after only having been brought into the modern era a few years before they acquired the Kanrin Maru.

Senator Fox successfully persuaded the US Senate to sign the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation. The signed treaty brought about the righting of unequal clauses in the Commodore Perry Treaty, it allowed for:

  • An American-Japanese Alliance
  • Unhindered trade between the US and Japan
  • Right of US ships to travel in Japanese waters, and Japanese ships in US waters

World in 2012[]

TFCN Map 19

San Diego Treaty Organization[]

Entente[]

Muslim League[]

Central Powers[]

Moscow Pact[]

  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Socialist Republic of Turkestan
  • People's Republic of Sudan
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  • People's Republic of China
  • Socialist Republic of Venezuela

African Union[]

  • Republic of East Africa
  • Central African Republic
  • United States of West Africa
  • Kingdom of Ethiopia
  • Republic of Somalia

Italian Union[]

Neutral[]

Differences from OTL[]

  • Japan grew into a large Empire controlling most of East Asia. This was mainly because of the US help in the Sino-Japanese War and the Great War.
  • America invaded and annexed all of North America, the Caribbean, and Columbia.
  • South Africa and Rhodesia were the same country.
  • There was only one major world war, caused by the same reason as OTL, and occurred from 1914-1953, the length of the war was caused by the four way war between the Alliance, the Entente, the Central Powers, and the Moscow Pact (who only joined after mass socialist rebellions).
    • Colonial, Socialist and Fascist rebellions also attributed to the length of the war.
  • Nuclear weapons were developed earlier, but there was never a true arms race, as they were used more frequently, thus never developing the "Nuclear Taboo".
  • The Portuguese Revolution was crushed by the Spanish, who integrated Portugal into the Iberian Union.
    • The Portuguese Republicans escaped to the Azores where they called on the US to protect them, the Azores and the US Canary Islands where united into the Republican State of the Azores, adding another star to the US flag.
  • The Russian Revolution fell apart as the Soviets lost support in Siberia and the Ukrainian War of Independence was supported by the Central Powers.
    • The Siberians refused to join the Provisional All-Russian Government and instead of fighting across an endless amount of frozen wastes the Soviet-Siberian Treaty was signed in 1920 but revoked in 1932 when the USSR invaded Siberia.
  • The Sino-Soviet Split never occurred as Mao Zedong was killed in the Great War by a Japanese sniper and was replaced by Sūn Démíng, a Chinese national taught in Moscow University.
  • France never decolonized Africa because of granting of civil liberties, control of the local white population, and help from others within the Entente.
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