IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 29.

 A LONG PERIOD OF PEACE.

From 1876 till 1884 the UNION was at peace. The economy boomed and living standards rose with each passing year. The only conflict was in Mexico where rebels continued to make sporadic raids on isolated settlements near the border with Iran. UNION troops maintained anti terrorist operations in these areas occasionally catching gangs of mainly Iranian fighters which usually resulted in a short fight with no prisoners.

During this period the UNION army had completed a number of organisational changes to bring the army to the structure we find today. This included the creation of heavy weapons companies in all infantry battalions with just one heavy weapons battalion being retained in each army under Army Command direct control. In addition artillery brigades had been abolished. The field artillery battalions had been allocated to infantry brigades while the heavy artillery battalions had been retained as Army Command controlled units. War experience had resulted in the design, construction and issue of new artillery guns and rifles and several vehicle types had also been either replaced or upgraded during these years. Another innovation was the creation of the 10th Reserve Army. Previously  reservists had only been used to replace casualties but with the years of peace the number of reservists available had increased to the extent that sufficient surplus men were available to man a whole army. Although this army would only be called up in a serious situation, all the weapons, equipment and vehicles for the whole army were manufactured and put into a huge store at Rock Island Arsenal.

The port of Miami had grown considerably over the years as more and more British merchant ships called. In July 1882 British warships also started using the port as a base of operations. A large timber trade operated using Canadian wood brought south by train for export to Australia. In addition Mexican coal was imported by train to Miami for the use of British ships. Although the UNION only earned railway transport fees they were happy to support the Mexican and Canadian economies. It had long been UNION policy that UNION made products and raw materials would never be exported for strategic reasons. However the emergence of the UNION into the wider TIAN community created demands for trade that that were best met by facilitating trade between the UNION'S various allies and friends.

In that respect the question of trade with Ukraine had also been addressed. The people of Ukraine had long requested the establishment of trading links with the UNION. They said that transport routes to Russia from the Ukrainian population centres around Kiev were far more difficult than the routes to the UNION. Although the UNION had refused, under the terms of the peace with Russia, to build a railway between Richmond and Kiev, they had cooperated in developing the road between those two cities to the highest possible standards. As a result Ukrainian food products, iron ore and coal was regularly transported by wagon to Richmond with usually either British or Mexican products making the return journey. Much of these Ukrainian materials ended up as supplies for British ships in Miami. 

The Russians had indicated their extreme unhappiness with these developments but were quite unable to offer any alternative. However the Russian government was convinced that this growing trade would over time lead to a move by the UNION to annex Ukraine. This concern was exacerbated in March 1883 by the establishment of a UNION sponsored and staffed agricultural school in Kiev following requests by the Ukrainian government. The Russians were fearful of UNION military strength but realised that if they ever wanted to recover Ukraine or at the least preserve an independent buffer state they would have to consider another war, perhaps an ally could be found to help in making this idea more palatable.

In China the government had , following the war, engaged in rebuilding their armies. Chinese industry was even more under developed than in Russia so like that nation, it was very hard to construct sufficient weapons to equip the army. However the Chinese burned with a hatred of the UNION and saw the recovery of their devastated southern territory as an essential goal, and the sooner the better.

Germany had been able to rebuild their army more quickly than China and Russia but realised that they had to become much stronger to take on the UNION army again if they ever wanted to recover what they saw as their stolen lands in the west of the old Federation. To that end conscription had been expanded to create over the years a huge pool of trained manpower. It would soon be time to test this new German army.

In the Arab countries north of Mexico the religious fundamentalism pervasive in those nations had become ever more extreme over the years and had focused on the UNION as the arch enemy. This was mainly due to the UNION's success in thwarting Arab efforts to subvert Mexico. With no real industry the Arabs had historically bought weapons from China. However the Chinese  had nothing to spare after the war as everything they could produce was being used to re-arm themselves. Britain, France and even Germany still refused to sell the Arabs weapons, however Russia saw an opportunity to at least cause difficulties for the UNION so in 1880 started supplying weapons, ammunition and explosives  to the Arabs in large quantities,  at the expense of arming their own troops. These munitions were shipped to  Mombasa in Africa and taken by caravan into the Arab countries, a slow journey meaning it took some years to accumulate a sufficient stockpile.

By early 1885 the Arabs were ready to initiate a Holy war in Mexico.