The United States Marine Corps, 1898-1934

After the Spanish-American War, and prior to the First World War, the Marine Corps was kept at a size of approximately 17,000. The Corps was a strictly volunteer only force, and did not accept conscription when it was implemented during the Great War, but the Corps did rise, by November 11th, 1918, to a force of nearly 70,000 men, many of whom saw significant combat, particularly at Belleau Wood, a battle that many historians regard as the engagement that made the Marine Corps internationally famous.

After the end of the First World War, the United States began an immediate draw-down of its armed forces to peacetime levels. The size of the US Armed Forces was further reduced by the Defense Act of 1921, by which time the Marine Corps was once again restricted to no more than 17,000 men.

Although its numbers were reduced and its funding restricted, the Corps was able to graduate about 125 to 150 officer candidates via the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis each year by 1933. Further officers and NCOs were "poached" from a rather unexpected place - the US Army ROTC. Since the Army was also under size restrictions and had a limited budget for officers in peacetime, the Marines were able to recruit the best and brightest Army ROTC candidates by offering employment and a highly likely chance of action in the field: a fast track to career advancement. This was a remarkable feat, considering that the United States Military was described by one period source as (sic) "...one of the most depressing career paths a young man can choose to follow."

By 1933, the USMC was around 15,000 personnel strong, with the majority serving in active duty positions and split between the East Coast and the West Coast. Traditionally, East Coast Marine units were deployed on operations to the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Africa, while West Coast Marine units were used almost exclusively on Pacific duty stations and, increasingly since the end of the Great War, in China.

It has been estimated that of the 15,000 Marines serving at the time of the outbreak of hostilities, about 70% remained loyal to Washington and to the Nationalist Government or were actively deployed abroad, as in China, or in the US Pacific Territories, such as Hawaii, and played no role in the Early War fighting. About 30% chose to align themselves with the Constitutionalist movement. The majority of Marines choosing to side with the Opposition Government were stationed on the West Coast, but there were exceptions to the rule, and the same can be said of the Marines deployed on the East Coast.

Most of the armored vehicles in Marine Corps service (consisting, at the beginning of the war, of six M1917 Six Tons in inactive reserve and approximately six King Armored Cars) remained in Nationalist hands, but two King Armored Cars stationed near San Diego did fall under the control of a Constitutionalist Marine unit fairly early on. Of course, the sixteen Disston Tractor Tanks (classified by the Marines as the M1933 Disston) ordered prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1933 were delivered to Quantico upon completion and began their service in Nationalist hands.

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It ain't easy being green

Here are some pics of the greens for the first two groups in the kick starter. The Minutemen and the Militia.

First Figuer for the Milita is up on the page.

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Just fallow this link to the first Militia fig for the 1933 "A nation divided"

"The American Nationalist Party"

The American Nationalist Party was organized by founding members of the American Liberty League, incorporated in April, and officially recognized as a political party on July 3rd, 1933. Notable founding members read like a list of the leading industrialists of the day. They also included notable politicians and political figures, many of whom had been opposed, to one degree or another, to President-Elect Roosevelt’s proposed reforms: General Secretary Charles Lindbergh, Former New York Governor Al Smith, and leading Senate Republican Robert Taft.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given some of the ideological leanings of the party, William Dudley Pelley, founder of the American Silver Legion, was an enthusiastic supporter. So too was self-described Black Nationalist, Marcus Garvey, who would later become a leading light in the Black Nativist movement.

In the 1933-1935 period, the ANP was still quite a new political party, with enthusiastic support, deep reserves of cash, and numerous supporters, but with only minority representation in National and State Governments. The vast majority of Congressmen and Governors chose to continue to identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats rather than officially designating themselves as ANP members, but the ideology was nevertheless highly popular among many Americans, and Charles Lindbergh, the unofficial leader of the party, predicted that membership would grow rapidly by the time of the next Presidential Election.

In that sense, one could argue the ANP is often represented largely out of proportion in any history of this period of the Second American Civil War. Nevertheless, the ANP made itself as visible as possible during this early stage, and it could perhaps be rightfully suggested that this was the impression that the ANP strove to make. The ANP was certainly a populist movement, and while few politicians of the era might have openly identified themselves as members, hundreds of thousands of Americans openly embraced ANP ideology, re-registered their party affiliation, and proudly supported the General Secretary. As a result, those who supported Lindbergh and the Federal government are often referred to as "Nationalists," regardless of their actual political affiliation.

While the Anti-Comintern Pact was still some time away at the beginning of the conflict in America, leaders of the ANP were eager to share their struggle against the threats of International Communism and Socialism, and found reciprocal, cooperative minds throughout much of Europe and Asia. From 1933 to 1935, this support surfaced primarily in the area of moral and political backing. By 1935, however, small quantities of small arms and vehicles had begun to reach the ANP, and these were eagerly accepted and pressed into service.

While the two are often confused, it is important to note that Fascism and National Socialism were politically quite different in a several significant ways. The most important distinction: the lack of religious freedom in a true National Socialist State, made the Nazi movement less palatable to many members of the ANP, but others (including Ford and Lindbergh) were self-confessed admirers of Chancellor Hitler.

Like many political movements of the time, and in the model of the European Statist and Fascist movements from which they had drawn inspiration, and support, the ANP maintained their own militia. At first, this involved securing the support of various local militias and elements of the American Legion. But because neither source was universally helpful to the cause, the ANP took an early decision to create its own, uniformed militia. The nucleus of this movement, with more than 10,000 members, was conveniently available in the form of the American Silver Legion.

William Dudley Pelley had formed the Legion in early 1934 as a right wing Fascist militia. The organization involved numerous veterans, and was comparatively well organized. With work, it was believed by the ANP that the Silver Shirts could become the equivalent of the Black Shirts in Italy. Ideally, these were to be hard working, patriotic men (and, in some cases, women) with a minimum of military training, useful as shocktroops and strikebreakers, who could be pitted against the guerilla movements and militias forming in support of Communism and dozens of other movements across the country.

While some of the goals of the Silver Legion were Classically Fascist – dedicated to the superiority of the state, the purity and nobility of the state idea, the sacrifice of the individual for the greater good, etc, there were other ideas that troubled many of the moderate members of the ANP, particularly the virulently Anti-Semitic speeches given and pamphlets printed by founder William Dudley Pelley in recent years. Though it is often forgotten in the post-war era, Classical Fascism had very little to do with racism or Anti-Semitism and as a result, Pelley’s ideas were not necessarily comfortable, or acceptable, to certain members of the ANP elite, who otherwise were friendly to the ideas of Fascism. In exchange for the services of his militia, therefore, the ANP offered funding, arms, and legitimacy. Pelley agreed to “tone down” the more controversial aspects of Silver Shirt Propaganda, and soon the Silver Shirts had become the official uniformed militia of the American Nationalist Party.

The Taft Report of 1934

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In January 1934, Senator Robert Taft was tasked by the United States Congress to create a study of the 48 states and determine which states were most likely to support the General Secretary in the instance of a "large scale civil disruption." His report was published a month later.

Taft's report collated intelligence, polling data, and information released by the various state governments to separate the states into three (3) groups.

"Loyal" states were states where the state government was likely to support the General Secretary, and/or states in which, at the least, the majority of the population would provide this support.

"Compromised" states were states where either the state government or the majority of the population were believed to have pro "Red" or "Opposition" viewpoints, states that might take up arms against Washington if provoked.

"Neutral" states were states which had professed outward neutrality in the political crisis or whose true loyalties at the time remained undetermined.

The following summarizes the data gathered; at the time, Senator Taft recommended that a military "show of force" might easily dissuade "Compromised" states from taking their resistance to a military level; this, in turn, formulated the basis for the planned Ohio River Valley Campaign.

Interestingly, the Territories were not considered with any significant degree of study by Taft and his staff. The assumption was that, being ostensibly governed by military authorities, they would quickly fall in line. This was, of course, not to be the case. Washington D.C., was also discounted, being the seat of Federal power.

"LOYAL" STATES

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Mississippi

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia

"COMPROMISED" STATES

Connecticut

Illinois

Indiana

Minnesota

Missouri

Oregon

Rhode Island

Washington

"NEUTRAL" STATES

California

Colorado

Kentucky

Montana

Nevada

North

Dakota

Oklahoma

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Wyoming

"In conclusion, we believe that the majority of the opposition beyond that compromised by direct involvement with the Communist Party of the United States of America can be persuaded, either through diplomacy or a show of force to lay down their arms peacefully and to support the national effort against the Communist insurgency."

- Senator Robert Taft (R) Ohio

Here is a photo of what the minutemen are going to look like. Sill have greens up in the next few weeks.

Minute men for the Ohio river campaign

1933 "A Nation Divided"

Greetings! Spreading the word that the American version of "A very British civilwar". Called 1933 "A Nation Divided" Is now live as a kickstarter. So give it a look and see if its your speed. So spread the word!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1926752146/1933-a-nation-divided

Thanks and Cheers!