Washington, DC

Washington, DC in World War
Washington, DC was the seat of the United States government when the Race invaded that country and the rest of the Earth in 1942. Early in the ensuing war, Atvar decided to destroy Washington with an atomic bomb as its lack of industry and location on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean would minimize the industrial and environmental damage. Luckily for the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt and most of his important Executive Branch officials were not in Washington when it was destroyed.

Washington was never rebuilt. After the Race agreed to grant the United States sovereignty in a summit meeting with the great Tosevite powers at Cairo, the seat of government was permanently relocated to the rather odd choice of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Washington, DC in Southern Victory
Washington, DC is the official capital of the United States, but has not been used in that capacity for anything but ceremonial functions (such as Presidential inaugurations and state funerals) for years. At the outset of the Second Mexican War, it was bombarded by Confederate artillery and abandoned by the government in favor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Though that war lasted only a year, Philadelphia remained the seat of government in all but name for the thirty years of peace which preceded the Great War. During that war, Washington was once again bombarded by Confederate artillery; Jake Featherston took part in the bombardment. It was also invaded and captured in the early stages of a Confederate advance which eventually bogged down in southern Pennsylvania, and remained occupied until the war was almost over. It was in fact the last piece of occupied territory the Confederates held before being driven from the United States, and they made a stiff defense of it that required the United States to shell it for days.

During the war, a sophisticated and effective spy ring formed in Washington and provided the US government with valuable intelligence throughout the conflict. This ring was led by Bill Reach, who was apparently killed in the US bombardment to retake the city--but was in fact murdered by the late Nellie Semphroch.

The above Nellie lived her entire life in Washington DC, working first as a prostitute and later as proprietress of a coffee shop (and, during the war, as a spy). Other residents of Washington include her daughter, Edna Semphroch; her grandson, Armstrong Grimes; her deceased husband, Hal Jacobs; and her son-in-law, Merle Grimes, who settled in the city after serving in the Great War.