1920b

1920b is a mod created by u/SkipperPengn. It is a continuation of the 1916b or Bryanverse series. This mod is the sequel of 1916b, and the prequel of 1924b.

In 1920b, Democratic incumbent William Jennings Bryan must face World War I general and Republican Leonard Wood.

Background
After Bryan's ascension to the Presidency, he faced a large number of crises, which he found himself unable to handle, including 2 recessions, race riots, strikes, a red scare, a farm crash, and communist expansion throughout Europe.

The Great War's end
During his inauguration on March 4th, 1917, William Jennings Bryan announced a withdrawal of American troops from Europe. The Palm Beach talks, held by Bryan, aimed at the peaceful conclusion of the Great War, imploded after the Central Powers refused to accept the U.S.A.'s role as a arbitrator, and the Entente attacked America's abandonment of the Allied cause. Secretary of State Robert Lansing eventually managed to force through an vague agreement promising freedom of navigation for neutral powers on the high seas. In reality, this treaty was basically ignored and U.S. shipping was still threatened by German U-boats.

As in our timeline, Russia capitulated to Germany and signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; unlike in our timeline, however, it remains in effect after 1918 because the Armistice never nullified it.

In January 1919, the Great War concluded with an armistice. The following Treaty of Maisons-Laffitte merely handed Syria, Iraq and Palestine to France and Britain (as in our timeline) and German overseas possessions, such as German East Africa, were seized. However, a surge in socialist and Marxist movements in Europe soon caused a fundamental shift in geopolitics...

Economics & Labor
Bryan managed to force through certain parts of the "Common Prosperity" agenda (sounds familiar?) he espoused in 1916b, for example, inheritance taxes and farm subsidies were passed in 1917, but the archconservative Senate blocked large parts of his agenda, such as the implementation of a national health service. Canonically, Bryan appointed William G. McAdoo and William P. G. Harding as Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of the Federal Reserve Board respectively, but they were unable to agree on interest rate reductions, leading to increasing deflation and a hard economic crash in 1919. This results in a significant drop in the popularity of the Bryan administration.

In March 1918, the American Federation of Labor initiated a national steelworkers strike in protest of U.S. Steel's unwillingness to recognize their legitimacy. This strike was met with fierce crackdowns from national and local governments. Nevertheless, strikes continued to destabilize large sectors of industry, contributing to the economic recession.

In November 1919, President Bryan vetoed the Revenue Act of 1919, a bill that would have slashed taxes on the wealthy by 20 percent. This continued the negative economic trajectory and deepened the 1919 recession.

The Gore-Lee Bill, Bryan's attempt at passing further legislation to provide direct relief payments to languishing farmers, was significantly watered down in committee and ended up having little effect on the agricultural sector of America.

In early 1920, the President again attempted to pass his "Common Prosperity" agenda, submitting to the floor of Congress a package of legislation establishing a national health service, improving working conditions for industrial laborers, and allocating funding to states for public works programs. This was flatly ignored by the archconservative coalition in Congress, continuing the economic stagnation.

Racial Unrest
With black troops returning home from Europe, racial unrest has been inflamed across the country. Race riots and white supremacism eventually led to the most extreme squabble yet — the "Battle of Tulsa", which is prominently featured in the mod.

During summer 1920, Tulsa, Oklahoma erupted in race-fueled chaos. After the arrest of a black shoe shiner named Dick Rowland for the assault of a white woman, a crowd of armed black men clashed with a mob of white men attempting to lynch Rowland. This incident set off a chain reaction of violence across the city, and armed mobs of vigilantes and the Oklahoma National Guard attacked the affluent neighborhood known as “Black Wall Street”.

The President refused to intervene, citing the rights of states to handle race riots. This only caused the riot to escalate, and caused the Oklahoma National Guard to escalate its attacks, magnifying perceptions of Bryan's incompetence. Wood called for federal anti-lynching legislation to prevent future escalations, but ended up downplaying his stance after backlash from the heartland.

Instability in Europe
After Russia's October Revolution, a civil war broke out between the communist Red Army and the reactionary White Army. Britain, France, and Japan sent troops to aid the Whites. It is presumed that canonically Bryan did not aid the Whites during the war. The war does not conclude until after the election, but the Red Army wins it during the Wood Presidency, which is mentioned in 1924b.

On July 27, 1920, 800,000 men of the Red Army invaded the German satellite states of Livonia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Belorussia, aided by left-wing partisans behind the lines. This kicked off the German-Soviet War (no OTL parallel). Bryan ignored this threat, whilst Wood called for the dispatch of the armament surplus from the Great War to aid the Germans, despite the general unpopularity of interventionism.

To be finished

Miscellaneous
In 1918, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol, was ratified, though not directly a result of Bryan's support. Notably, Leonard Wood refused to address Prohibition during the 1920 campaign, and continued his opaque stance during his Presidency and 1924.

To be finished

The G.O.P. Field & Convention
To be finished

The Campaign
To be finished

The October Surprise
To be finished

Gameplay
To be finished

Reception
After its release, 1920b was lauded by most for its immersive and hyper-detailed lore. The Bryan side was widely praised for its replayability and built-in simulation of the Bryan presidency.

The 2023 Dan Bryan awards
1920b did not win any award during the 2023 DBA, but the entire series was given a flair after the award ceremony.