Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas. Named for crucial Texas politician Stephen F. Austin, the city of Austin is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. Historically, it was the national capital of the Republic of Texas from 1839 until 1845, the end of that country's existence. In modern times, it is a center of art, music, and popular culture.
Austin once again became a national capital in the spring of 1944, when Texas governor Wright Patman, seeing that the CSA was losing the Second Great War, declared his state's independence from the CSA; his government was recognized by the USA almost at once, but many suspected that the US was only biding its time until it was convenient to re-annex Texas. One of the conditions for recognition from the USA was to hold war criminals such as Jefferson Pinkard in place, or else face the destruction of Austin by a superbomb. The threat was probably not seriously intended (the US used it on the rebels of Saskatoon without meaning it), but Patman was cooperative and uncomplaining.
