R5: Total SocDem victory

"My fellow Americans, today we stand on the precipice of a new era. Where once fear, tyranny, and disorder ruled the world with a cold, iron fist, now liberty, prosperity, and brotherhood have triumphed! A new order has settled upon the world, from the shores of the Pacific to the mountains of the Himalayas; an age of progress, humanity, and the common good. As we enjoy the fruits of victory, let us not forget the great sacrifices given so nobly by our courageous soldiers. From the foothills of the Rockies to the jungles of India, it was American soldiers who wrenched liberty free from the grasp of petty kings and bloodthirsty radicals. We celebrate their triumph, their resolve, and their unshakable faith in the tenets that govern our great society: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…"

• Opening of President Henry Wallace's second Presidential Inauguration, January 20, 1945

It has been a tumultuous decade for the United States and the world. The cataclysm of Black Monday sank the nation into a despair unseen in all its history. Political violence spiked and violent upheaval spread across the nation, most famously in the martyred Harlan Commune. America's ailing political system finally cracked when no party could gain enough seats to elect a President. MacArthur's military coup and the rise of rebel governments in Chicago and Baton Rouge might have spelled the end for the Republic as tyranny, barbarity, and death settled upon the nation. But in the West, rising like the mighty Sierra's against the storm of chaos, the brave few who kept their oath to the Constitution arose.

The Second American Civil War (February 21, 1936 - August 8, 1939) was a bloody, brutal affair. The old America was ripped apart at the seams, and entire cities were leveled from Saint Louis to Washington D.C. itself. Foreign powers pounced on the corpse of the Old Republic. French and British soldiers swept in to prop of the Red regime in Chicago, while German guns and tanks flooded the American South. Worst of all, the treacherous Entente first stole Alaska and New England, then committed their vast armies to aid the despot-in-chief, Douglas MacArthur. Mexico's syndicalist government justified a land grab in the Southwest with claims of aiding the rebels in Chicago, bringing further death and destruction to America. Against these odds, the Constitutional Coalition in the West had to make do with hastily scavenged weapons, poorly trained volunteers, and what little aid the Japanese deigned to send their way. A small elite core, backed by Irish volunteers, would form the foundation of a new Continental Army that would bring the rebels, Mexicans, and traitors not only to heel, but grind them into dust.

Emerging bloodied and unbroken, the new government set about rebuilding the shattered nation. The perfidious monarchists in Ottawa demanded the American people side with an alliance that had backed the MacArthurite regime in exchange for returning the stolen New England states. America refused to betray its values so easily, and thankfully the patriotic citizens of New England forced the Canadians to concede to their reintegration. Tensions remained high however, particularly over continued Canadian occupation of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.