A Conspiracy of Silence

PeterEzgo

A Conspiracy of Silence

War Crimes and the Great Mississippi War

By Anna Higgs
​

In the years since the end of the Great Mississippi War, people all over North America have been asking the same question: Who is to blame? Who caused so much death and destruction? Was it a single person? A group of people? A nation? A region? A river? So many have died. Was it all for nothing? Why did they die? Who sent them to their deaths? Who caused this? Who is to blame? I believe that I have the answer.

No one.

Needless to say, this is a highly unsatisfying answer to most. How can six million people die with no one to blame? I have been heckled for my opinion and called a traitor to Canada. People say that I am partisan, biased, unable to see the truth. They say that I have befriended war criminals and refuse to see them as they are. Maybe those allegations are true. I hope that by the time you are done reading this book you will understand my point of view even if you do not agree with me.

I am no expert in war, as I am sure some of you already know. My expertise is in Journalism, not soldiering. In the course of my reporting a single story, I came closer to dying than I ever have before or since. It is not an experience that I intend to repeat. I have only the utmost respect for those brave souls whose job it is to fight against other men with guns. I have nothing but contempt for those who turn their guns against civilians during the course of such fighting or who deliberately put civilians in harm’s way during a battle.

I will present in this book both as a general account of the Great Mississippi War, from its origins to its final conclusion, as well as a specific account of my brief and bloody foray into it. My hope is that the war itself will be seen both from the bird’s eye view of a historian as well as the lower vantage point of a ground observer. As my actions, thus far at least, have not spoken for themselves I hope to put them into context.

At my publisher’s request, I am stating up front that this book is intended for mature audiences only. People die, in this book and in real life. Some of them are children. If you do not wish to read about such things, please put this book down and forever put it out of your mind. Before you do, though, know that I do not intend to salaciously describe every death in a sick contest for readers but that I will not shy away from the events as they happened. I should also state that my opinions are my own and do not represent the opinions of my publisher or editor, both of whom disagree with me to some large or small degree.

Having said all of that, I hope this book gives you something to think about.

Fair wishes,

Anna Higgs

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This is the start of a story I have been thinking about doing for a while now. The POD (not to be revealed yet) is before 1900. The book, A Conspiracy of Silence, would have been published around 2005 but the events it describes take place in the late 1990s.

Any feedback would be appreciated! :eek:
 
Jonathan

Jonathan

PeterEzgo said:
This is the start of a story I have been thinking about doing for a while now. The POD (not to be revealed yet) is before 1900. The book, A Conspiracy of Silence, would have been published around 2005 but the events it describes take place in the late 1990s.

Any feedback would be appreciated! :eek:
Click to expand...

Seems a great and gripping first page, which is always great to grap the attention of the reader. I take it that Canada is the main force in North America?

The only wars I can think of that could take place here are:
British Empire Vs Mississippian Culture
US vs Native Americas - But how can there be 6 million
US vs CSA - Would the US want to kill 6 million of their brothers
CSA vs slaves - Instead of letting them free, kill them?
US vs Mexico/Aztec - Again like the NA how would there be 6 million
 

PeterEzgo

Chapter 1: From Origins to Invasion
​

The origin of the Great Mississippi War stems from attempts by Louisiana, the Carolinas, Canada, and in fact all countries in North America to control trade along the Mississippi River. The more immediate cause of the war was Louisiana’s invasion of the Trans-Mississippi Region in 1996.

Between these two causes (the general historical trend vs. the actual movement of troops) lies what I consider the most logical reason that the war began: cheese. Specifically, Creole Cream Cheese which was the favorite snack of Louisiana Premier Jacques Travert. He enjoyed it every day and often two or three times a day. His personal physician would later blame Creole Cream Cheese for Travert’s 1989 heart attack in St. Louis while visiting his family for Easter. It was this heart attack which would set in motion the events that would lead to the Great Mississippi War.

Travert was fairly popular among the masses but had long been deeply unpopular with the Louisiana Military. He constantly interfered with its internal affairs, forcing the retirement of a number of prominent generals and promoted in their place people who were personally loyal to him. This caused quite a bit of resentment to build up in the rank and file and by Easter 1989 a conspiracy among the Colonels of the Louisiana Army and Air Force had taken root. When Travert’s was hospitalized following his heart attack, the Colonel seized power in Baton Rogue. High level Generals were executed in the Star, Louisiana’s military headquarters. Travert’s hospital room was placed under heavy guard. Louisiana’s fragile democracy was swept into the dustbin of history.

Travert would die some three days after his heart attack. Although conspiracy theorists assert that the Colonel’s Council order his death, there has never been any evidence that he died of anything except complications of his heart attack.

After the coup, the government of Louisiana was reorganized into a military dictatorship. Brigadier General Reyer (the only conspirator of General’s Rank) was, by order of the Colonel’s Council, promoted to the rank of Field Marshal and named Military Governor of Louisiana. He, along with the members of the Colonel’s Council, would rule Louisiana for the next eleven years.

During that time, Louisiana would enter more and more into the orbit of Texas. From 1990 to 1993, Louisiana and Texas would collaborate on the development of nuclear weapons. Louisiana had exited the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with the coup and Texas had never been a signatory. Hidden in the Rocky Mountains, Louisiana and Texas built a reactor to enrich uranium. It would ultimately be destroyed in a Union air raid, which caused Louisiana’s relationship with the rest of North America to sour even more.

Throughout the early 1990s, Louisiana became more belligerent to its long standing claims on the Trans-Mississippi Region of the Carolinas and Virginia. While Louisiana’s long standing eastern border had been the Mississippi (except around the area of New Orleans), they now held that they had rightful sovereignty over the region between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers as well as a significant amount of land approximating the western halves of the Territories of West Florida and Alabama in the Carolina Confederation.*

The Carolinas and Virginia obviously held this to be a ludicrous claim on territory that had long been theirs and in 1995 they signed the Richmond Accords pledging to protect each other in the event of Louisiana attempting to enforce its claims to the Trans-Mississippi Region.

One outlet for Louisiana’s belligerency in the early 1990s was its support for Radical African Nationalists in the Carolinas and Virginia. Starting in 1992, Louisiana (and to a lesser extent Texas) began supplying RANs with weapons, bomb making materials, and money. The BSRA (Bureau for the Suppression of Rebellious Activities) in the Carolinas cracked down hard on what it perceived to be a mortal threat to the Carolina government.

International condemnation for the tactics of the BSRA and pressure from Virginia ultimately stopped the Carolinas aggressive actions against RANs. In response, a large number of Carolina citizens formed militia groups to protect themselves and their property against attacks by RANs. Pre-war, these militias started more fights than they stopped and only served to continue to radicalize black opinion against the Carolina government.

In January 1996, a clash between member of the Memphis People’s Protection Group, a white militia, and fighters of the Armed Revolutionary Council (ARC) resulted in 19 deaths, mostly civilians caught in the crossfire. The Carolinas mobilized the Army of West Carolina and sent in some two thousand troops to Memphis to suppress the violence breaking out there. Louisiana called this a violation of their national sovereignty and a threat to their holdings in Arkansas. On March 3, 1996 the Louisiana Expeditionary Force (LEF) would invade West Carolina and begin what is now known as the Great Mississippi War.

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*This corresponds more or less with Kentucky west of the Tennessee River, West Tennessee, and Mississippi in OTL. ITTL, this region is called the Trans-Mississippi Region. This is what Louisiana called it in the early 1990s when they began claiming the region as their own and the name eventually stuck. From their perspective, it's the region directly across the Mississippi River hence the name.

I don't think I will be posting a map for this story. I want the world to remain mysterious for a while longer.

Again, any feedback would be appreciated. I am trying to improve my writing skills. Constructive criticism would be deeply appreciated.

I hope you enjoy the story!
 
Errnge

Errnge

So... I'm guessing this is a world where the Confederacy wins independence, but then breaks up into a number of smaller political entities?
 

PeterEzgo

Errnge said:
Well, the city of Memphis, TN was founded in 1819, so the POD has to be after that.
Click to expand...

That was a mistake. I've given some thought to this and I've decided not to change it. The geography is already gonna be fairly confusing without a map so I don't think changing city names would be in the best interest of the story. You can think of it as either it just happens to be named the same thing in this ATL or its a sort of translation convention, where Memphis isn't what they call it but what I am calling it so as to not confuse the reader.

So, the POD is before 1819 but Memphis is Memphis. Ok?
 
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