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Editor says, what if Brian Piccolo had lived? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1943, on this day cancer survivor Louis Brian Piccolo was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Part of the American Heroes thread.
Pic"Pic" made the taxi squad for the Chicago Bears after missing out on selection for the 1965 NFL Draft. He then created a sensation off the field. In a break from the segregation living arrangements of the era, he roomed with the "Kansas Comet", an African American starting tailback called Gale Sayers. In direct competition for the same position, he eventually took the position of starting fallback during 1969. Although they were both very young men, it would be their final full season in the NFL.
Always close friends, both men had become full-on partners since the 1968 season when Piccolo nursed Sayers back from a serious knee injury that threatened his career. A year later, Sayers helped Piccolo to recover from a cancer scare. With the respective sporting careers cut short, they both moved on to transformative community projects in the city of Chicago. It was just the beginning of something absolutely incredible.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sports Source: Wikipedia Labels: Brian Piccolo, Cancer, Chicago Bears, American Football, Premature Death. Editor says, in reality he died aged twenty-six from embryonal cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of germ cell testicular cancer, first diagnosed after it had spread to his chest cavity. The month before his death, while accepting the George S. Halas Award for Most Courageous Player, Sayers told the crowd that they had selected the wrong person for the award and said, "I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees to pray, please ask God to love him, too".
~ It would certainly have changed the movie...
~ Interesting idea.
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Editor says, what if Khrushchev had lost control of events in Eastern Europe? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the November 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1956, at an emergency meeting of the Praesidium, Soviet leaders from the anti-party group forced Nikita Khrushchev (pictured) to resign as First Secretary of the Communist Party. [1] Because it had become increasingly clear that the de-Stalinization policies he launched in his "Secret Speech" at the 20th Party Congress were now beginning to break-up the Warsaw Pact.
Conjoined Crisis Part 8
Khrushchev Forced out of the PolitburoBut of course his downfall had been hastened by a recent series of blunders which had caused the escalation of the current crisis, namely the release of Russian Adventurer Boris Skossyreff, yielding to Władysław Gomułka the newly appointed First Secretary of the Party in Poland and then the highly publicized arrest of the maverick aristocrat Otto von Habsburg. The Western Media had then misreported a co-ordinated attempt to recover their thrones by the Imperial Houses of Eastern Europe.
Nevertheless, prior to the Hungarian Uprising, these events might even have been dismissed as minor adjustments in the arrangements of Eastern Europe. But in Hungary, Soviet forces had been withdrawn to their barracks, and then Imre Nagy announced the withdrawal of the country from the Warsaw Pact. This declaration was of course an unmistakable challenge to Soviet Authority. Almost certainly a military confrontation would be required to make the necessary correction. However Khrushchev had given mixed messages and therefore the Praesidium feared the Western reaction to direct intervention. During the turmoil, matters were made even worse when Michael King of the Rumanians announced his intention to re-occupy the throne that the Soviets had forced him to abdicate in 1948 when he was the last surviving monarch behind the Iron Curtain. An article from the Conjoined Crisis thread.
Entry posted by
Jackie Speel
© Jackie Speel, 2012-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Conjoined Crisis Source: Wikipedia Labels: Nikita Khrushchev, Egypt, Suez, Hungary, Politburo. Editor says, in reality the two crises were not directly connected and the time sequences have been adjusted to suite the story line. By Ed, Jackie Speel and Scott Palter
[1] In reality they met to reverse the decisions of the previous day.
~ I think back then the Soviets still had enough dance left in them to react strongly to Eastern Europe breakig away. By the late Eighties, nobody really believed any more and they were all just glad to have it OVER.
~ Khrushchev would certainly do a lot of shoe-pounding, and crazy enough to launch a repressive war, but they might've known when to quit.
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Editor says, what if America had an elective Queen? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the October 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2011, for the upcoming General Election, the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced a new format, eight event schedule featuring debates by the Presidential and Vice-Presidential plus their respective wives.
First Ladies DebateThe six candidate debates would focus on domestic and foreign policy in both town-meeting and lecture theate formats, whereas their wives two debates would focus entirely on family and social issues set in a more relaxed chat show format.
Needless to say, a significant amount of criticism was levelled at the CPD for formulating these misogynistic plans. However, they need not of worried, because the whole schedule was thrown a huge curveball by the late introduction of a third party candidate, Mitt Romney. The former CEO of Baine Capital, he was welcomed in some quarters as a Ross Perot-style pro-business candidate. But at the DNC, he was savaged by Ted Kennedy who had comprehensively beat him in a 1994 Senatorial Race and convinced many undecided voters that Romney was running on essentially the same eighteen-year old campaign platform.
The first debate was held on Wednesday, October 3 at the Magness Arena in the University of Denver. Despite his well deserved reputation for meeting control, the seventy-eight year old moderator Jim Lehrer would have struggled to maintain order over the six 15-minute segments. But the too and fro of this unwieldy format was further complicated by the divergent styles and behaviours of Obama, Romney and the GOP Candidate Ron Paul. For tactical reasons that emerged later in the campaign, Obama was attempting to trap Romney in an obvious falsehood, an obvious ploy given Romney's gaffe-prone campaign. Meanwhile, Romney presenting a high-level business pitch, that at least superficially, sounded credible. Given the opportunity to engage in a head-to-head with the President, this might have defeated Obama's professorial style. But unfortunately for both candidates, Ron Paul's presence introduced even more confusion, with some critics accusing him of trying to undo the twentieth century.
As a result, the CPD were forced to admit that the First Wives Debates (pictured) were a triumph of common sense, rational logic and control that utterly discreted the chaotic debates between their respective spouses.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Obama, Romney, Debate, Jim Lehrer, C-Span. Editor says, in preparing this post we have consulted with Jared Myers and Scott Palter.
~ Perhsps. to the extent of people saying, how did these nice ladies wind up with those bozos? Would they eventually become candidates?
~ *sigh* Ron Paul as the GOP candidate.....if only.
~ "Undoing the twentieth century?" Given that it has been called the "Century of Slaughter," for very good reasons, that sounds like an excellent idea.
~ Uh, no. They aren't running for anything. Besides, can you imagine Barbara Bush debating? Pat Nixon? Lady Bird Johnson? Bess Truman? Mary Todd Lincoln????
~ 1976 -Eugene McCarty suggested having the candidates' wives rather than VP candidates debate.
~ Well, Stan, I can very easily imagine Eleanor Roosevelt or Hillary Clinton in a wives' debate.
~ If the televised it, there'd be plenty of ad revenue.
~ Would E-lea-nor have gone down well on TV?
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Editor says, what if Martin Luther had not become a Monk? muses Jeff Provine on the This Day in Alternate History web site. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the August 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1517, after a study of social structure, lawyer and university professor Martin Luther sent his famous letter to Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, as well as publishing a copy on the door of the town hall with ninety-five questions critiquing the current political and economic system in the Holy Roman Empire called "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Rule".
Martin Luther Nails Ninety-Five Theses to Wittenburg Town Hall The points would become the most famous document of the time, being republished along with many other of Luther's works calling for social reform based upon early humanist ideals. With a sudden concrete philosophical base, peasants who had been kept under feudal thumb for centuries would successfully rise up to establish representation as Europe's dominant political system.
A new story by Jeff ProvineMartin Luther was born November 10, 1483, in Eisleben in the midst of the Holy Roman Empire. His father, Hans Ludher, was of comfortable wealth in the working middle class, serving in the copper industry as owner of mines and smelters as well as a citizen representative in the town council. As eldest son, Martin was expected by his hardworking parents to become a lawyer and make a great name for himself in Germany. Martin was well educated as a youngster and sent to the University of Erfurt (which he later described as "a beerhouse and whorehouse") where he would gain a master's degree in 1505 and enroll in law school. He found the law to be vague and his schooling to be nothing more than rote learning. Tutors inspired him to critique even so-called "great thinkers", but Luther found difficulty accepting cold reason when a loving God was key to the meaning of man.
On July 2, 1505, Luther rode through a thunderstorm on his way home from university and became terrified when lightning began to strike. He called out, "Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!" Luther survived the storm and told his father about his vow. Hans became livid and attempted to persuade his son not to waste his years of education by leaving law and going into a monastery. Luther was unconvinced until his father reminded him of the Fifth Commandment, "Honor your father and mother". Luther would have ample time to become a monk upon retirement after fulfilling his father's request of serving in the law. The moment would convince Luther of the effectiveness of reason in earthly matters, such as his own life, while unquestionable truths, such as carrying out his vow, were still in the realm of God and Heaven.
For the next decade, Luther threw himself into his work, completing his juris doctorate and establishing a successful practice in nearby Wittenberg. Still in his thirties, Luther began to teach at the university and worked to perfect the tangled mess that was the legal code at the dawn of sixteenth century Germany. After much struggle, he determined that the law being a "top-down" system was ineffectual when a much better "bottom-up" system would establish code of conduct as well as rights for all men. Although accused of anarchy and purporting regicide, Luther never encouraged and even decried violence against ruling royalty. In many of his writings, he supported the idea of rulers being placed in position by God, yet he said that if their position was abused, they should be removed legally, just as the servant with one talent had been unfaithful in Jesus' Parable of the Talents.
Upon publication of his thoughts in 1517, Luther would become an international name. Frederick the Wise would become a benefactor of Luther, whereas many lords called for his immediate execution for treason. It is said that Frederick, though holding his claim and estates, understood the changing of the times. The Bundschuh Movement had caused uprisings along the Rhine valley among the peasants calling for better treatment (the "bundschuh" being a tied peasant's shoe, which they used for their symbol). Each of these uprisings had been violently put down with mass executions of anyone resembling an instigator with even crusades launched against the followers of Huss, but more and more would crop up as years passed. Frederick encouraged his fellow nobles to read Luther's writings and attempt to work with the peasants instead of stemming an ever-increasing tide.
In 1521, Luther was taken to be questioned by Charles V, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and King of the Romans, Italians, and Spanish, as well as Duke of Burgundy and Lord of the Netherlands; he was the most powerful man in Europe outside of the Pope. At the conclusion of the diet, Charles declared Luther an outlaw and banned his books, but Luther was secretly taken to safety by Frederick to Wartburg Castle and eventually returned quietly to Wittenberg. Meanwhile, the "Knights' Revolt" would erupt with lesser nobility attempting to seize addition freedoms and rights, but would quickly be put down.
Three years later, peasants following Luther's ideals sent a petition to Charles called the Twelve Articles of the Black Forest addressing grievances, such as the demands of the Countess of Lupfen for serfs to collect snail shells for her thread spools during harvest-time. More radical leaders such as Zwilling and the Anabaptist movement were largely passed over since Luther had inspired a sense of separation of church and state in many of his arguments. The petition was ignored by Charles, and the peasants revolted with initial nonviolence, simply refusing to carry out the orders of those who had abused their post and electing new officials. Luther applauded the moderate revolution and noted the failures of the "poor barons" of the Knights' Revolt.
Finding increasing cohesion across Germany, the peasants' army grew into the hundreds of thousands, and their elected officials served effectively, especially those lesser nobles who volunteered after losing their claims in the failed Knights' Revolt. Scholars would later describe this joining of forces by the lower and middle class as instrumental in toppling the Holy Roman Empire and spreading their ideals to Italy, England, and Eastern Europe. The resulting confederacies would follow much of the Swiss style, creating the Reformed Era of Europe. For the next several centuries, the absolute monarchies of nations such as France, Sweden, and Russia would war against the Confederations, despite their inherent religious ties through Christendom. Technology and industry made leaps and bounds in central Europe, especially after advancements in capitalism and banking, and well judged political systems would ensure the sharing of resources and the rights of workers as early as the late eighteenth century as outlined by English philosopher John Locke.
Luther himself would enter a monastery on his sixtieth birthday, serving there until his death two years later.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Martin Luther, Catholic, Protestant, Church, Pope. Editor says, in reality Martin Luther was unconvinced by his father to avoid becoming a monk and entered a closed Augustinian friary only a few weeks later. He would be disenfranchised, writing "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul, " and soon set out to reform the practice of selling indulgences when only God may forgive. The resulting Reformation would split Europe along battle lines of Catholics and Protestants for centuries.
~ Don't you mean "What if Martin Luther had _not_ become a monk?" And he was a good monk for quite a long time...he wrote "If ever a monk gained heaven through his monkry, I did." He didn't start on his anti-indulgence thing for quite a long time...he was more involved in academic affairs. Fixed - thanks. Ed
~ Point well taken.
~ Interesting concept, like Turtledove's concept that Mohammed became a Christian monk). But in that era, there was a tendency to think not in terms of German or "Holy Roman" nationalism but in terms of the state in which one lived. Conditions varied considerably from place to place. The emperor was very remote from most people, his title was largely symbolic, and he had limited power to do anything outside his own territory.
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Editor says, what if Martians landed in New Jersey and offered humans an alliance? muses Chris Oakley Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1938, on this day Martian diplomatic envoys landed in the British town of Woking for a historic meeting with British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and his inner circle.
Part Two of Parley There was a certain irony in the locale for this meeting, given that in H.G. Wells' classic novel War Of The Worlds Woking was the site where Martian war machines had launched their first attack on Earth; journalists covering the meeting were quick to note the contrast between that violent fictional confrontation and the more cordial actual summit between the Martian diplomats and Chamberlain's cabinet.
For one man present at the summit, the event had a special personal significance -- H.G. Wells had agreed to write a commentary on the Woking conference for the London Times. In later years his article would come to be regarded as the definitive journalistic account of Great Britain's first direct encounter with extraterrestrials. Back in the United States, meanwhile, President Roosevelt and his Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, were debriefing selected members of Congress on FDR's discussions with the Martian delegation that had landed in Grover's Mill the previous night.
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Parley Source: Wikipedia Labels: War of the Worlds, Mars, Martians, Alliance, New Jersey. ~ And again--the Martian Manhunter?
Seriously, though, although this wasn't known in 1938, Mars looks to have been unlikely ever to have been capable of supporting complex native life, let alone a native intelligent species. The POD to change that would have to go back millions, maybe billions, of years.
Unless, of course, the "Martians" weren't native, but had arrived as colonists frm somewhere else, perhaps a long time earlier, and lived in artificial environments on Mars just as human colonists would have to.
~ My learned friend's comments above are all true, but a life-supporting Mars would not impinge on Earth until one side or the other achieved space travel.
~ Oh, good grief... And why would green Martians have humanoid faces?
~ Maybe aliens would be enough to overcome Chamberlain's "Peace for our time" cowardice allowing overwhelming Nazi build-up. Maybe.
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Editor says, What if there were two Chinas on the mainland due to the ill-conceived actions of US Secretary of State George Marshall? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1887, on this day Chiang Kai-shek was born in Fenghua, a county-level city in the north of Zhejiang province, China.
Birth of Chiang Kai-shekHe led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's nominal leader in 1926. He then served as Chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1948 when the country was partitioned.
Whilst the partition was a devastating setback for the Nationalist Government in Peking, responsibility for the reversal lay not with General Chiang Kai-shek himself but rather with his American allies who had struggled to grasp the full context of the conflict.
The Soviet Union had invaded Manchuria (and later Hokkaido) to defeat the Japanese, and this intervention provided a security buffer for the Chinese Communists. When the Soviets withdrew, Kai-shek's second "Northern Expedition" had been on the brink of victory. Having advanced into the outskirts of the city of Harbin, the Nationalists were on the verge of seizing the security key to the North.
Instead the "loss of north-eastern China" like so many setbacks for the country was entirely due to foreign meddling in the form of the unwelcome intervention of US Secretary of State George C. Marshall. Alarmed at the prospect of World War Three breaking out should the Soviet's intervene, he had convinced Chiang Kai-shek to agree to a ceasefire.
Marshall's actions might have headed off World World Three, but they created a conundrum for the United States. And the problem of "two Chinas" would vex American foreign policy until the mid nineteen seventies when both of the principles would die within a year of each other. By then Manchuria had been devastated by Mao's programmes which included the Great Leap Forward and also the Cultural Revolution. His successors would be forced to flee to Hokkaido, seeking refuge with the Communist Government of North Japan.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: China, Chiang Kai-shed, Mao Tse-tung, Formosa, Cold War. ~ Madame Chang's input might be worth knowing in this situation. She was an overlooked factor in a lot of what went on then.
~ Exactly what I was thinking, Mike. Madame Chang and Madame Nhu were extremely powerful forces...to the point where Madame Nhu's husband was not overthrown until she was safely out of Viet Nam, visiting America.
~ How are "two Chinas on the mainland" worse than two Chinas, one of them confined to Taiwan? If anything, Beijing would seem to be in a weaker position in this AH.
~ Communist Government North Japan?
~ It would require continuous diplomatic effort to keep the two Chinas from war. On top of that, the Chinese would be sick of centuries of foreign meddling, which might be a unifying force.
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Editor says, what if William McKinley had survived? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1901, on this day the 25th President of the United States William McKinley announced his intention for the Phillipines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba to be guided towards full independence before the expiry of his term of office in 1905.
A Powder Keg waiting to go offThose territories had been conceded to the United States following the recent war with Spain. The trigger for that war had been the explosion of the US Battleship Maine in Havana Harbour. The tragedy which had taken the lives of 266 American crewmen was originally blamed by war mongerers on Spanish sabotage, but later discovered to be a freak accident caused by the explosion of powder magazines.
Dispatched by McKinley against his better judgement, the crew's mission was to assist the valiant rebels fight their cruel Spanish overlords. But ever since the peace negotiations in Paris, rebels on all four islands had viewed the new US governments as a new set of equally unwelcome masters.
A civil war veteran, McKinley perceived the decidedly un-American outcome of the conflict which his Secretary of State John Hay had foolishly called "a splendid little war". And also the pressure coming from new forces in American society who were openly advocating an expansionist policy that utterly disregarded George Washington's prophetic warning against the dangers of "foreign entanglements". Because the projection of American power meant that imperialism, like the Maine, was a dangerous powderkeg just waiting to go off.
The iron had finally settled into McKinley's soul on September 6th, when an anarchist called Leon Czolgosz had attempted to murder him in Buffalo. His life was only saved by the operation of an experimental X-Ray machine being showcased at the Pan-American Exposition which the President was attending when the fateful shot was fired. The machine located the bullet, preventing the President from being infected by his bungling doctors.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© What Everyone Should Know about the 20th Century by Dr Alan Axelrod and Charles PhillipsStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: McKinley, Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Phillipines. ~ 1. an independent Guam is a joke Japan grabs it
2. a totally independent Philippine Republic either is grabbed by Germany or becomes a British protectorate
3. Our mistake with the Philippines was not doing a treaty of protection with the Philippine Republic. We get Suibic and Davo, keep the others out and do a trade treaty. It worked well for Cuba until Fidel made hash out of it.
~ Basically, what Scott said. It was hard luck on the Filipinos, but going it totally independently was just not do-able for them at that stage of things.
Comment from Peter Hebert on Facebook: What if it was discovered that Emma Goldman was linked to a Goldman of Goldman Sachs, which had an interest in the Panama Canal, and not the Nicaragua Canal. And the Emma Goldman linkage was tied to the McKinley assassination in order to have the Panama Canal speculation pulled off.
~ Mad scientists save the world!
~ Re Scott Palter's comment: It didn't really work well for Cuba, though it worked great for the country's privileged classes (from whom, ironically, Castro came), foreign corporations and of course the Mafia.
But the real "powder keg" in this situjation likely would have been the U.S. Senate, which would have gone off like the Civil War's Petersburg mine had McKinley made any such proposal. Quite likely, so would his VP, Teddy Roosevelt, who oozed condescension toward our "little brown brothers" in the Philippines.
~ I doubt it. Guam was too small. Philipines wasn't fully occupied. PR may
have been considered too small -- It had never rebelled. Cuba, maybe.
~ Even with independence, America would want to hold onto a lot of ports as "coaling stations" (naval bases).
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Editor says, what if the State of Nevada left the Union and joined Canada? muses Robbie Taylor. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the May 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1864, the Province of Nevada first achieved self-government as a state of the (former) United States.
Canadian Province of NevadaAlthough the congressional delegation did vote for the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution banning slavery on January 31, 1865, it was the only significant legislation Nevada had any say in before the American Union finally disintegrated after the Union defeat at Nashville in December 1864. With a fully reequipped Confederate army poised on the Ohio River on January 31, President Lincoln was forced to resign, and President Hamlin unilaterally declared a ceasefire on February 1.
In the resulting constitutional melee, Lord Palmerston offered the western states and territories a place - and British protection - in the future Canadian dominion, an offer that was gratefully accepted. Despite its small population, Nevada was formally recreated as one of the first seven Canadian provinces on July 1, 1867.
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Nevada, Civil War, Canada, Union, Lincoln. Steve Kudlak commented on Facebook: Why do people keep flogging the dead horse of Confederate Victory? It would not have been good for this country. Hmmm would a more powerful Canada be a good thing or abad thing I don not know.
~ Yeah, Nashville would have caused Nevada to join another province 2,000 miles away. Why not annex Tierra del Fuego?
~ "The dead forse of Confederate victory" continues to be "flogged" for the same reason as American defeat in the War of independence or Axis victory in Woeld War II are: it would, for good or ill (and I agree it would likely have been primarily for ill) it would have radically changed subsequent history.
Re Stan Brin's comment, I tend to agree, although distance from the contiguous 48 states didn't keep Hawaii or Alaska out of the U.S. in our hiistory.
~ So those new Canadian provinces would have had national health care...encouraging a lot of people to move there and creating very large cities indeed.
~ Hmm, interesting, although it could have happened even if the union won!
~ It could start a domino effect with Canada (and thereby Britain) picking up a lot of English-speaking territory.
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Editor says, what if the Soviet Union was still in the Axis camp when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1939, approval for the fateful decision to bomb Azerbaijan's oil fields was granted by the Prime Minister and his Minister of Naval Forces on this day at British General Headquarters.
Crazy HeadsIntelligence reports unambiguously confirmed that Stalin's supply of Baku's oil had been transferred to the Nazis in a secret protocol of the Soviet German Pact (pictured). Twenty-five million barrels of oil per year would be sufficient for Hitler's Panzers Division to conquer Europe, and therefore the strike order was transmitted to French Air Forces in Syria without delay. Trouble was, the operation was bungled, and the oil wells and refineries in Baku and the northern Caucasus escaped with minimal damage. Allied military leaders were forced to revert to the inferior Plan B, in which British submarines would seek to prevent the transportation of oil in the Black Sea.
The "the possibilities of bombing and demolition of Baku" were first raised in Paris by the US Ambassador to France, W. Bullitt. The French Government ordered General Gamelen and Admiral Darlan to work out a "plan of possible intervention with the view of destroying Russian oil exploitation". Ambassador Bullit informed US President Franklin D. Roosevelt that Daladye considered that aircraft attacks against Baku would be "the most efficient way to weaken the Soviet Union".
It would prove a costly mistake. In postwar statements, Charles De Gaulle would later claim that "crazy heads that were thinking more of how to destroy Baku than of resisting Berlin". He was right. Forced into the conflict after Pearl Harbour, the US would find itself at war with the combined might of the German-Soviet-Japanese Axis powers.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alfred Montestruc, Yahoo! Discussion Groups Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Resource War Source: Azerbijan International Labels: Soviet Union, Germany, Britain, France, 1939. Editor says, based on an original idea by Alfred Montestruc
~ No comment
~ One womders whether, if the Soviets were still allied with the Nazis at the time of Pearl Harbor, the Soviets might have tried a "Pearl Harbor" of their own against Alaska.
~ And in addition, this scenario invites the question of what happens later. If the Soviets remain allied with the Axis, are there "de-Communization" trials after the war (assuming an Allied victory? And does the swith in Soviet allegiance delay the end of the war in Europe long enough so that the first cities to be A-bombed are, perhaps, Berlin and Dersden--perhaps even Moscow?
~ Good question...
~ I'd think that blowing up the Baku refineries would be fairly easy---I've heard lots of comments that a refinery is a fire waiting to happen. Also, if the Communists stayed in the Axis camp longer, the resistance movements in occupied Europe would be a lot weaker---little though I love them, the Commies did bring a lot of underground skills to the resistance. And, after the war, assuming an Allied victory (A-bombs on Berlin and Moscow and Tokyo?) the Communist movement would be much less popular.
Comment from Mia Amani on Facebook: We might have lost the war. It seems improbable that we could have defeated Germany without the Soviets. In fact, ultimately they did most of the German-ass kicking and also bore the brunt of the casualties.
Would Japan have bothered to bomb the US if the Soviets were allies?
And would we really have gone to war against such a formidable axis?
~
~ America losing Alaska and a good deal of Pacific holdings in an embarrassing surrender... maybe, but it'd only be a matter of time before Hitler and Stalin turned on each other.
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Editor says, in this cross-over post, we wonder what if a triple apocalypse struck North America? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 2009, in Toronto on the production set of John Ringo's brilliant concept movie "The Last Centurion", filming was postponed indefinately on this day; the cause was a real life triple-apocalypse even more terrifying than the dual catastrophoes of the movie which portrayed a new mini-ice age and, nearly simultaneously, a plague to dwarf all previous experiences.
Click 
to watch the author's interview with Kelly Lockhart
Infected TorchbearersThe first Olympic torchbearers Catriona Le May-Doan and Simon Whitfield had carried the Olympic flame through a crowd of thousands in Victoria, but they also carried with them a slow-acting variant of the zombie virus known as "Solanum". Yet the prospects for quarantining the crisis had initially seemed favourable because the gestation period was over a fortnight, and patients injected early enough had a survival rate of over 95%.
And so Health Canada confidently informed all provinces and territories that volume shipments of vaccination shots would be sufficient to beat the pandemic. At a press conference in Ottawa, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said the Public Health Agency had already shipped six million vaccinations before the last week of October, and confirmed that GlaxoSmithKline had opened additional production lines at its plant in Ste-Foy, Quebec to fulfil a Canadian order of 50.4 million doses.
Just twenty-fours later, a hijacked Air Canada Jet Liner crashed into the production facility, and a terrorist cell of Al-qaeda launched a devastating follow-up assault. Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared a national emergency, and the prospects for there even being a recognisable Canadian nation to host Vancouver 2010 sharply diminished.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© "The Last Centurion" by John Ringo (2008), "The Zombie Survival Guide" Max Brooks (2003), "Zombieland" (2009) by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and directed by Ruben FleischerStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Wikipedia Labels: Zombie, Health Scare, Pandemic, Canada, Last Centurion. Editor says, this is a mashup/cross over post of recent apocalyptic movies and novels.
~ Not exactly a feel-good movie, is it? ;)
~ I wonder how many Canadians would believe it was an evil plot of the US and the CIA?
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In 2004, the world was rocked by allegations that while being held as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, Republican presidential nominee John McCain was not tortured as he claimed.
McCain's Change for America Part 2 by Zach TimmonsAlthough the allegations came from McCain's former guard in the prison, a Mr. Tran Trong Duyet, the rumors came at an extremely inconvenient time (4 days before the election), and also raised the issue of McCain's insistence on referring to his Vietnamese captors as "g**ks".
President Gore issued a statement supporting Sen. McCain, stating in part that "I may disagree with Sen. McCain on many issues, but no one can question the fact that he is a honorable man who faithfully served his country, and suffered terrible injuries for it".
Entry posted by
Zach Timmons
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Herald Tribune Labels: John McCain, Tran Trong Duyet, Hanoi Hilton, J.C. Watts, Presidency.comments powered by Disqus
In 2871, old style, a remarkable discovery was made by cyborg archeologists dispatched from the Post-American world of Samothrace in the Alpha Centauri system.
DedicationCarbon-dating and DNA matching techniques provided unmistakeable evidence that the human remains discovered on the Liliesleaf Farm belonged to the twentieth century revolutionary Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (pictured). Click to watch the first TV Interview of Nelson Mandela from 1961
Now a site of national heritage, Liliesleaf Farm was the location of the Rivonia Trial in 1963 at which Mandela famously declared "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die".
Ten leaders of the African National Congress including Mandela were executed, yet their ideal survived the desperate centuries of the domination that followed. During that time, the Drakas established the Final Society, populated by a genetically altered new serf race, Homo Servus, which was incapable of rebelling.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor Play the tune
© S. M. Stirling, Draka Series 1990-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: History Place Labels: Nelson Mandela, Draka, South Africa, Rivonia Trial, Apartheid. Editor says, In this cross-over post, we set Nelson Mandela in the Drakan Universe. A small play on words, we've used Mandela's own use of Domination to infer the Draka.
~ Very imaginative I must say with this cross-over. The part about Homo Servus not rebelling did give me a giggle though... :)
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Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Todayinah, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: 2nd Coming Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Holy British Empire, Robbie A. Taylor, Estelle Gerard, Pope, Catholic England.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Todayinah, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Mlosh Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Mlosh, 1720, Robbie A. Taylor, Warp, Alien.comments powered by Disqus
On this day in 1941, the Red Army commenced Operation Citadel. | |
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| Red Army insignia |
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Barbarossa41 Source: Wikipedia Labels: World War 2, Operation Barbarossa, Fascism, Georgi Zhukov, Axis Powers.comments powered by Disqus
"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it". | |
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| Margaret Thatcher |
And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. |
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Wikipedia Labels: Welfare State, 1992 Election, Great Britain, Conservative Party, Right wing politics.comments powered by Disqus
| Indira Gandhu | In 1984, in New Delhi, Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India gave a news conference in which she explained how she had survived a hail of bullets from her Sikh bodyguards. The secret was in brahmacharya, meaning "control of the senses in thought, word and deed". She had after all seen Bapu survive a similiar attempt on his life in 1948. |
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| Prime Minister |
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Element: Personalities row: 4 Source: BBC News Labels: Mrs Gandhi, India, Brahmacharya, Control, Assasination.comments powered by Disqus
In 1984, the Indian Government was unable to explain how Prime Minister Indira Gandhi survived a hail of bullets in New Delhi. Unconfirmed reports have emerged that the two assassins were believed to be her own bodyguards, and were found hanging upside drained of blood. "Its as old as Macedonia", Father Gapon said, "Hanging the body of your enemy or betrayer upside down so his head faces earth instead of heaven". | Indira Gandhu |
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| Prime Minister |
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Stephen King, 'Salems Lot', 1976.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Err:522 Source: BBC News Labels: Mrs Gandhi, India, Vampire, Red Menace, Assasination.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Crises Source: BBC News Labels: Tony Blair, George W Bush, Iraq, Insurgency, Pre-war planning.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Myint Myint Aye, Bow Wow Wow, High Cool, Theravada Buddhist rituals, Go Wild in the Country.comments powered by Disqus
| Emperor Bomb | In 1961, the January Society's fifteen-year campaign for nuclear disarmament received fresh impetus with a declaration from Julii Borisovich Khariton, Andrei Sakharov, Victor Adamsky, Yuri Babayev, Yuri Smirnov, and Yuri Trutnev. The change of heart from these guilt-wracked Russian scientists was caused by a tragedy. |
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| 100 megaton |
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev initiated the project on July 10, 1961, requesting that the test take place in late October, while the 22nd Congress of the CPSU was in session. The Soviet Union used it as a deterrent to the United States during the Cold War. Khrushchev approved of the bomb's development during a very tense time; construction of the first Berlin wall began on August 13, 1961. |
Variant entry posted by Todayinah Editor
original content has been repurposed to celebrate the author's genius © Kim Stanley Robinson, 'The Lucky Strike'.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Crises Source: Wikipedia Labels: Tsar Bomb, Emperor Bomb, Frank January, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Soviet Union.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Based on an idea from Steve, 2007.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Invision Power Board Labels: Eden, Suez Canal Zone, Suez Crisis, Nixon, America.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by
Creative Zen Straha
© Creative Zen Straha, 2007.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Yahoo! Discussion Group Labels: Ghosts, Science, Investigations, Halloween, Announcement.comments powered by Disqus
October 30
Editor says, what if Mussolini had played the long game? muses Ed. & Tony Rocca. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the November 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1922, on this day King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy invited thirty-nine year old Benito Mussolini to form a new government. An ill-disguised megalomaniac who dreamt of re-establishing the Roman Empire, he had the strategic genius to wait two full decades before making his power movie.
Rome wasn't built in a dayNeedless to say, Adolf Hitler wanted to move events forward at a much faster pace. And although Mussolini was among the founders of fascism, he was forced by military necessity to slow down the pace of the Fascist advance. Because Italy needed to delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942 for the following reasons: The army needed to substitute its outdated medium and large caliber guns with modern ones; Italian East Africa needed to be pacified so that a colonial army could be drafted there; the navy needed time to complete construction or refurbishing of six battleships; the 1942 planned world exposition in Rome had to be held in order raise foreign currency reserves; the Italians emigrants in France had to be repatriated for "military and ethical reasons".
Up until 1935, he maintained the pretense that the Italian Government was absolutely committed to resisting any future attempt by the Germans to change the Treaty of Versailles. And during the Polish Crisis of August 1939, he had still maintained sufficient distance from the Nazis in order to broker a last minute deal that avoided conflict with the Western European allies.
Of course the sending of Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano to Warsaw was a brilliant feint; although Britain and France reluctantly agreed to return the Polish Corridor and the city of Danzig to Germany, the continent was braced for war. All sides accelerated the process of re-armament. But when war finally came in 1942, Herr Hitler was allied with an altogether more powerful military partner than he would have had three years before.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Benito Mussolini, Italy, Italian, King Victor Emmanuel, Rome. Editor says, in preparing this post we have repurposed content from Wikipedia.
~ The Italians would still have had trouble, but might have avoided the worst of it.
~ Any outside chance that Franco could have shown Mussolini reason to avoid war all together? Mussolini was interested in building a strong infrastructure, too. so by then could the interest have wavered, and more of Hitler's wayward bent been visible?
~ So how does this version of Mussolini handle the Spanish Civil War? Is Italy involved at all? More than OTL? Less than OTL? How does this affect this TL's Italian military?
~ Would change up WWII a great deal. No more plans via Churchill to "strike at the soft underbelly of Europe."
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Editor says, what if American Graffiti had ruined Harrison Ford's chances of working with George Lucas again on Star Wars? Part 2 Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the November 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1975, on this day Star Wars creator George Lucas cast fifteen year old Tom Cruise in the role of Luke Skywalker of Tatooine (pictured).
Michael Douglas plays Han Solo, Part 2Completely overshadowed by Michael Douglas and his dazzling portrayal of the Corellian smuggler, Lucas was forced to slightly re-position the character of Han Solo as the main protagonist. Perhaps the most significant plot change would occur later on in Empire Strikes Back where their roles where reversed, such that Luke was frozen in a block of carbonite requiring Han to rescue him. [1]
But of course the chief imbalance was caused by the marked absence of Alec Guinness who had refused to star in the second movie, in fact only agreeing to the first on the condition that his character Obiwan Kenobe perished during the movie. To fill that gap, Lucas took a bold gamble and turned to a giant of science fiction genre, none other than Leonard Nimoy. [2]
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Hollywood Source: Wikipedia Labels: Star Wars, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas, George Lucas. Editor says, suggestions from [1] Jeff Provine [2] Mike Mcilvain
~ Nice work with the Nimoy cameo...
~ I would have liked to have seen Nimoy in some breakout roles like that!
~ So would the Big Question be "Did Luke shoot first?"
~ Wait, does this mean that Han Solo becomes a Jedi? Maybe it should be Leia who rescues Luke. The Organan princess was a breakout role for eighteen year old Julie Dawn Cole, who most Star Wars fans failed to recognize as Varuca Salt from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."
Nimoy, huh? I look forward to seeing how this turns out.
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Editor says, what if John Adams had inadvertently truncated the Republic? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the November 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1735, on this day John Adams, second President of the United States was born in Braintree, Massachusetts.
American Hero 2b
Birth of John AdamsOnce in office, he seized the opportunity to call for a Constitutional Amendment that would restrict the office of the US Presidency to just a single six year term. The occasion was Adams' finest moment of statesmanship, the signing of the Treaty of Mortefontaine which concluded a "quasi-war" waged by the United States and France primarily in the Caribbean.
Under huge pressure to seek a declaration of outright war from the Congress, Adams remained true to the principles of Washington's Farewell Address which called for his successors to avoid American involvement in conflicts with the European powers. Both the first and second Presidents shared the view that real patriots ignored popular opinion and resisted the influence of friendly nations to seek what was best for their own country
The address also warned of the broader dangers of sectionalism, a concept utterly alien to both Founding Fathers who believed that statesmen should act in the broader interests of the Republic rather than in accordance with the narrow agenda of party.
The Treaty signing might have come too late for Adams to win in 1800 yet with the full support of his predecessor, Adams took a bold step that might remove future Presidents from the short term pressures to act unwisely that either party or public opinion could bring to bear. So he crafted his own farewell address, drawing upon the experience of the quasi-war to justify a single term, six year term limit that would keep future Presidents honest. However he made a critical error by failing to address the issue of succession for a future President who died in office. Or how to avoid Congress pursuing a deselection policy with the blunt instrument of impeachment.
Worse was to follow. Because unfortunately for Washington and Adams, opposition forces (principally Jefferson and Madison) sought to take the proposal off the table by recommending even more comprehensive changes. Their counter-proposal was a Roman style political succession which would require politicans to progress from State Legislatures through to Capitol Hill prior to running for the highest office. The implication of such a change was obvious. A barbed weapon aimed at Adams himself, because such a proposal would rule out dynastic succession, almost certainly preventing his ambitious son John Quincy Adams from ever running for President in the future.
But the real consequence was the departure of "men of ambition" [1] who rushed to join the rebel Colonel Burr in his hinterland nation of Gloriana [2].
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: American Heroes Source: Wikipedia Labels: John Adams, Presidency, George Washington, Presidency, America. Editor says, [1] this idea was suggested by Tim Abbott - One wonders whether the thwarted aims of ambitious men under the Jefferson/Madison proposal might have lead more conspirators to join with Aaron Burr in his bid to set up independent nations in the hinterland... [2]Robbie Taylor's original idea.
~ Of course, Burr returned the concept of an aristocracy and monarchy to the Americas in his Gloriana, so that was the drain needed to pull all such boors from the US...
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Editor says, what if Tim Burton had recast Batman? muses Brian D. Wall. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1988, and four weeks behind schedule at Pinewood Studios, Director Tim Burton finally began filming the superhero movie "Batman".
The Demon becomes the JokerJack Nicholson's near fatal traffic accident in Los Angeles was the original cause of the delay. However, a further complication was that during recasting his replacement, the KISS rock star Gene Simmons convinced Burton to replace Mick Jagger's long-term partner Jerry Hall with his own girlfriend, Shannon Tweed.
Had Burton stuck with his original choice of Michael Keaton in the lead role, then it is possible that such a combination of three crazed expressive actors/actresses would have confused the balance of good and evil between the main characters. But in the event, he had chosen another different Beetlejuice castmember, Alec Baldwin whose stylish portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne created the perfect balance, transforming a potential epic movie into a true Hollywood blockbuster.
Entry posted by
Brian D. Wall
© Brian D. Wall, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Hollywood Source: Wikipedia Labels: Batman, Jack Nicholson, Gene Simmons, Alec Baldwin, Michael Keaton. ~ Sorry, I don't think I can see Alec working in the Batman role. :D
~ In the movie "Malice', there is a scene with Baldwin where an attorney asks his character (who's a doctor) if he has a 'God complex'. Baldwin responds with a sort of long answer that ends with 'You want to know if I have a 'God complex'? I am God." Ever since first watching that scene, I always thought that he would have made much better Batman.
~ I don't know how well Alec Baldwin would have worked as Batman, but Michael Keaton, while convincing in costume, was poorly cast as Bruce Wayne, whom he didn't resemble physically.
~ I'd watch it, but we'd have missed one of Jack Nicholson's best.
~ I agree with my learned friend Mr. Provine. Jack Nicholson was a perfect Joker.
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Editor says, what if the Crusaders were defeated at Tarifa? muses Jeff Provine on the This Day in Alternate History web site. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the August 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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By 1340, for some seven hundred years, the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, descended from the old Visigoths who had wrested it from the dying Roman Empire, had attempted to reconquer territory from the Muslims. Originating in the Middle East, the Muslim Caliphate had swept across North Africa, taking up lands as the Byzantine Empire declined.
Moroccans Rout Would-be Crusaders in Spain Originating in the Middle East, the Muslim Caliphate had swept across North Africa, taking up lands as the Byzantine Empire declined. Under the Umayyad Emirates, the Muslims had moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and onto mainland Europe, taking over all but the most northern reaches of Hispania. An expedition even marched far into what would become France, though they would be turned about by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732.
A new story by Jeff ProvineFrom that peak, the Muslim influence on Europe would begin to decline as the Christians counterattacked. The northern march had been stopped on the peninsula in 722 at the Battle of Covadonga, and the next 510 years would be spent pushing against Muslim strength. Feudal Christian kingdoms began with the aid of other nations, such as the Frankish liberation of Barcelona making way for the Catalonia, which would later be absorbed by Aragon. Eventually the realms of Portugal, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, and Castille would stand in a loose confederation with the Emirate of Granada as the last bastion of the Muslim Al-Andalus that had once dominated the peninsula. Infighting among the Christians slowed the last piece of conquest, and finally Castille turned Granada into a tributary state in 1238.
For the next century, Granada hung onto its lands on the southeastern edge of Spain and made tribute payments with gold that had been brought across the Sahara by merchants on camelback. The Nasrid people there worked in an uneasy alliance with Castile, fighting alongside in Spain and against the Muslim Kingdom of Fez and its ally Aragon in the early 1300s. Gradually, however, the peace began to crack. In 1325, King Alfonso XI of Castile declared war on Granada and set out to conquer while giving an invitation to other Christian kings to join his crusade. While his call went largely unanswered in the first campaign, the second was answered by Portugal and a contingent of Scottish knights bearing Robert the Bruce's heart in 1330. They attacked and took Teba, a key castle Granada, which prompted King Yusuf I to call for aid from the Marinid sultan of Morocco, Abu al-Hasan 'Ali.
Abu Hasan sent a small force in 1333, conquering Gibraltar and securing a foothold for his larger army to land. In late summer of 1340, Abu Hasan's fleet wiped out the Castilian ships, outnumbered three-to-one, and then he move moved his vast new army onto the Spanish mainland. King Alfonso hurried to put together an army to face him and, most importantly, rebuild his fleet. In October, Alfonso's new fast-built fleet of 27 ships joined 15 hired from Genoa and secured the Strait for Castile. Cut off from his supply-lines, Abu Hasan moved onto a siege of the castle at Tarifa. In mid-October, Alfonso marched with his army and joined up with his father-in-law, the King of Portugal, to create a force some 20,000 strong. Abu Hasan moved back from his siege and onto a defensive hill with the Granadan army of Yusuf on a hill nearby.
Upon the night of his arrival, Alfonso sent a force of 1,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry to reinforce Tarifa. They met with Abu Hasan's light cavalry on patrol, who pinned them with skirmishes until finally driving them back to Alfonso's main army. The cavalry officer reported proudly to Abu Hasan that no Christian had managed to enter the city. This would become instrumental in keeping the Tarifa garrison unable to aid the Castilian forces as they faced the sultan while the Portuguese and Leonese attacked Yusuf the next morning across the Rio Salado.
Initially, the battle seemed to go to Castilians, whose right flank took a bridge and center crossed to smash through the Moroccan's line and be caught fighting with the militia as it raided the Muslim camp. In the chaos, Abu Hasan ordered an all-out attack, which came at the same time Alfonso found himself isolated from the main army. Though he tried to escape, both Alfonso and the Archbishop of Toledo would be cut down. The Castilian rearguard arrived too late; the drop in morale gave Abu Hasan the chance to push and break the Christian army. Yusuf's forces were overrun, but Abu Hasan managed to turn about his army and defeat the remaining Christians while driving the attackers from their attempt to take his camp before resuming a successful siege against Tarifa.
The tide of power would change to give Muslims a stronger grip on southern Spain as the war with Castile ended in a stern treaty. Granada became a Moroccan vassal, and Abu Hasan would work to increase his navy to firmly establish control of the Strait of Gibraltar, having learned his lesson about maintaining supply lines. The coming of the Black Death suspended ideas of further warfare, and afterward the Ottomans would absorb the Moroccan wealth under Suleiman the Magnificent with aid from the Franco-Ottoman alliance that promised France conquest of the small kingdoms in northern Spain.
While the Mediterranean saw more concrete Islamic dominance, an Italian with an Anglicanized name of Christopher Columbus approached the English court of Henry VII to back an expedition westward, and his resulting discoveries would be the focus of much of the later Henry VIII's rule, establishing an English Empire across the New World.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Tarifa, Castille, Crusade, Columbus, Christian. Editor says, in reality the Castilian contingent reached Tarifa and reinforced the garrison despite the cavalry commander?s claim. In the next day's battle, the garrison was able to attack the Moroccan camp also, then joining up with the Castilian forces to surround Abu Hasan's army. The Muslim army broke and was pursued relentlessly with many slain and the riches of the camp seized. It would be the last Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. The completion of the Reconquista in 1491 after the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Aragon would unite Spain, which would dispatch the expedition by Cristóbal Colón in 1492.
~ Actually, Columbus' name wasn't "Anglicanized" but Latinized, fromCristobal Colon.
~ Having Columbus work for Henry VIII would have changed English history immeasurably---would the Papacy have awarded the New World to England, only to hear France and other countries point out that Father Adam's will had not been introduced as evidence?
~ Henry VII spent most of his reign bringing fiscal sanity back to his court and getting rid of pretenders to the throne. While it's possible Columbus would have found a willing ear, I don't think he would have found a willing purse.
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Editor says, what if Martians landed in New Jersey and offered humans an alliance? muses Chris Oakley Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1938, on this day farmers and police at the New Jersey town of Grover's Mill gathered near the crash site of what was initially thought to be a meteor.
Part One of Parley Closer inspection of the object, however, revealed it was actually an extraterrestrial spacecraft; even more astonishing, when the craft's occupants emerged they identified themselves as the advance party of a diplomatic mission from the planet Mars sent to establish what one of the Martians called "an alliance between the royal house of our planet and the free peoples of Earth against the tyrants who would seek to oppress both our worlds".
Under heavy police and military escort the Martian ambassadors were driven to a US Army Air Corps base on Long Island; from there they were subsequently flown to Washington for an emergency meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A new thread by Chris OakleyWhat Roosevelt heard at that meeting alarmed him: a group of Martian militarists seeking to overthrow their homeworld's monarch had sent its own emissaries to Earth to make pacts with Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, Mussolini's Italy, and the generals' clique that was increasingly dominating the Japanese government. There were even disquieting hints one such emissary had made preliminary overtures to Spanish Falangist warlord Francisco Franco.
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Parley Source: Wikipedia Labels: War of the Worlds, Mars, Martians, Alliance, New Jersey. ~ Martian Fascists vs Martian Monarchists! I love it.
~ So World War II becomes Worlds War I? Neat idea!
~ The Martian Manhunter???
~ Orson Welles would do some great reporting over this.
~ Oh my. I assume both alliances are going to get nice tech boosts so we can help the monarchists fight. The only problem being, how much of a monarchy is it, and how much like England is it? That could definitely determine the post war solar system.
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Editor says, what if Canadian Cabinet rebelled against the Dieffenbaker Plan? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1963, on this day, Douglas Harkness confronted Dieffenbaker directly at a Cabinet session. Ostensibly, the question was whether BOMARC ought to be acquired if it did not have nuclear warheads. Within minutes, Dieffenbaker was shouting at Harkess that this matter was really a vote of confidence in his leadership.
Canadian Cabinet in Turmoil 2 by Raymond Speer"It is more like a referendum on your sanity," a long-frustrated Harkness shouted back. "Are you crazy or simply a backstabbing bastard?"
Diieffenbaker announced that he had total confidence in the people of Canada. "I''ll be awarded the greatest majority ever when they get the chance to repudiate you and your friend Pearson". Shaking his fist at Harkness, the PM said he would see the Governor General by lunch and resign. Thereupon half the Cabinet said they would join their chief in resignations.
When the Cabinet meeting broke up into small groups, a secretary noted that (if verbal assertions of quitting were enough) three quarters of the Cabinet (including all major officers) had quit office. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was on the phone and in meeings all that day, trying to hold a majority together in the House of Commons.
AMERICAN DELEGATION TO OTTAWA
A dozen members of the North Plains Agricultural Association visited Ottawa today, asking Parliament to work with willing American allies as partners for the reconstruction of the continent.
They had an audience with Liberal leader Lester Pearson, who told them that the Liberals acknowledged American independence and would work closely with President Rusk in any policy that would be followed.
News filtered through the capitol that controversy had rocked a Cabinet meeting on the BOMARC issue and that the Government had split on it. Tomorrow would be the test on whether the Government would fall.
Entry posted by
Raymond Speer
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Cuba62 Canada Source: Wikipedia Labels: Canada, Cuba, America, Britain, Soviet Union. ~ Oh dear...
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Editor says, what if Canadian Cabinet rebelled against the Dieffenbaker Plan? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1963, newspaper report ~ TURMOIL IN CABINET. PEARSON & LIBERALS PLEDGE CO-OPERATION WITH AMERICANS.
Canadian Cabinet in Turmoil by Raymond SpeerIn the Cabinet of Prime Minister Dieffenbaker, dissent has focused on Defense Minister Douglas Harkness since October 22, 1962. Then, two days before the launches of the missles, President Kennedy had approved an escalation of the NORAD measurement from two (peace) to three (enhanced awareness) on the way to five (war). Not that anybody noticed in Washington DC, but the Prime Minister was infuriated that Canada was supposedly an equall partner to America in NORAD but no one consulted Ottawa.
Canada's Defense Minister, Colonel Douglas Harkness, thought the issue was too trivial to deserve a major debate on the eve of atomic war. Accordingly, the Minister did not make a fuss and even persuaded Dieffenbaker to consent to upping the NORAD scale to two (imminent war) on October 24, 1962,
The Prime Minister would remember that Harkness did not obey him immediately previous to World War Three, but hesitated from dismissing Harkness for fear of the support that man had among Tory backbenchers. In Dieffenbaker's opinion, an unwillingness to follow their leader was surely the most dysfunctional trait of Canadian Conservatives.
Harkness and other Cabinet members had been consulted by the Prime Minister some what. Dieffenbaker had mused that "an expansion of authority" was necessary to kickstart "the reconstruction of the continent and the rehabilitation of the populace". But before October 15, 1963, the Prime Minister had not stated that his plans involved Canadian mastery over the USA.
Dieffenbaker had run a General Election only four months before the Third World War and attained a slight edge over rivals (116 Con., 100 Lib., 30 Social Credit, 19 New Democrats and 1 Independent). Although the world had changed dramatically since June 1962, the Prime Minister had felt no need to hold a new General Election.
Before the Third World War, Canada had thought of building a jet interceptor for its defense, but the Arrow was estimated to cost nine million American dollars apiece, ten times the cost of a competing American jet, the F-104. The Liberals and later the Conservatives had agreed the Arrow was too expensive and ordered from the US contractor, Boeing, the BOMARC, an unmanned missle supposed to be cheap enough to scatter profusely over Canada.
No one ever accused "Dieff the Chief" of proceeding carefully with a master plan. The PM's style was to announce a great project all by itself and fail to consider whether his new ambition might have side effects on other matters.
In BOMARC's case, the system was not promised to be effective unless the missiles were capped with nuclear warheads. The problem was that another Dieffenbaker enthusiasm was that Canada would lead the world in refusing to put atomic warheads on BOMARCs. Defense Minister Douglas Harkness thought any expenditure on non nuclear BOMARCS would be a wasteful absurdity. Unfortunately, the shadow defense minister for the Liberals made the same observation, rousing suspicion in the Prime Minister that Harkness was in treacherous contact with the Opposition.
Entry posted by
Raymond Speer
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Cuba62 Canada Source: Wikipedia Labels: Canada, Cuba, America, Britain, Soviet Union. ~ Huh?
~ And again, huh?
"Canadian mastery over the USA"? How? If nothing else, where would the money come from?
~ What are the real Defcon numbers? It looks like you got them mixed up---"five" is both "peace" and "war."
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Editor says, what if the Fall of Germany ushered in a new and deadly phase of a protracted Second World War? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1944, on this day Group Leader Fritz von Scholz (pictured) was decorated with the US Legion of Merit for his outstanding leadership of the Waffen-SS Latvian Legion in the performance of outstanding services and achievements against Soviet Forces in the Baltic theatre of operations.
Torn to ShredsBecause in the months since the death of both Hitler and Roosevelt, Truman desperately needed to refocus the exhausted Western Allies, and especially the Wehrmacht - re-activated under a new, unified Allied Command Structure - on the titanic struggle with the Soviet Union. And he wisely determined that the ferocious conflict now underway inside Latvia was a "fight to the death" heavy with the appropriate heroic symbolism, continuing the struggle for self-determination as codified in the Atlantic Charter - after the Fall of the Third Reich.
Because the Second World War tore Latvia to shreds: annexed by the Soviet Union, occupied by Germany, then occupied again by the Red Army, brutalised, degraded and devastated, Latvia suffered dictatorship, colonisation and mass murder. One third of Latvia's prewar population, perhaps 630,000 people, was lost between 1940 and 1954. Almost the entire Jewish population of 80,000 was wiped out. Both Soviet and German occupiers conscripted Latvians into their armies. Brother fought brother.
Ironically, even as the Western allies finally made good on their security pledges to Poland, military expediency required a series of utterly ruthless decisions that would create controversy for decades to come. Because not longer after the Peace of Danzig was signed with the Soviet Union, the British Journalist George Orwell revealed that the mass murder of Latvian Jews in 1942 was ordered and directed by the Nazis, but Latvian extermination gangs - including members of the Latvian Legion - enthusiastically participated in the genocide.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© "A sordid tale that brings shame on Britain", The Times Online, October 8th 2009Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Heroes Source: Times Online Labels: Poland, Latvian, Soviet Union, Harry Truman, Britain. Editor says, please note that extensive amounts of content have been repurposed from the source article which describes the recent controversy in the European Parliament: "Last week David Miliband attacked the Tory alliance with Latvia's right-wing For Fatherland and Freedom Party, one of its new friends in the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping in the European Parliament. Every year, the Foreign Secretary pointed out, this party celebrates those Latvians who, in 1944, fought for the Waffen-SS in a doomed attempt to hold back the Soviet troops. For Mr Miliband, this is evidence of Tory association with some of Europe's most unsavoury neo-Nazi elements."
~ So how did the Soviets all of a sudden become the enemy, whilst the Nazi Germans joined the Western Allies?
~ a) FDR's earlier death and replacement by Truman who was i) not starstruck with Stalin ii) not likely to make the misjudgements FDR made in his sick last few months b) death of Hitler in the July plot c) No Slapping incident for Patton d) some other butterflies too.
~ The US public never signed up to fight Stalin. Neither did the British.
~ If things had worked out differently, Stalin might indeed have been the US' chief adversary during WW II...
~ If the Western Allies had started out fighting both the USSR and Third Reich, only to have the Reich collapse and switch side, you could have a situation like this.
~ I think it's an exaggeration, if not slander, to say that FDR was "starstruck" with Stalin. Remember, Winston Churchill was willing enough to ally himself with the Soviet leader, and Churchill was no fan of Stalin's. As for FDR's "bad decisions," they may look that way now, but I suspect that at the time they represented concessions to realities on the ground: FDR still needed the Russians to help finish off the Nazis, and possibly (if the A-bomb didn't work) the Japanese as well. (Remember, FDR died before the Trinity test proved the atomic bomb would work.)
As for how this scenario might have come about, suppose the Nazi-Soviet pact had lasted longer, so that the West faced both Germany and Russia from 1941 on. Suppose further that the Reich had collapsed earlier (perhaps due to a successful assassination of Hitler and subsequent political upheaval) and that a military regime had come in which rejected the pact and was willing to switch sides to go against the Soviets?
Something roughly similar actually happened with Italy, which, after suffering serious reverses, turned against the Nazis--though in our history Germany responded by occupying its former ally.
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In 2004, a new AP-Ipsos poll showed the McCain/Watts and Gore/Lieberman tickets in a statistical dead heat with less than a week remaining before Election Day, with the Democrats holding only a one point lead, 49% to 48%. McCain's Change for America Part 1 by Zach Timmons
For the majority of the campaign, Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (pictured) had been running slightly behind President Gore.
However, after solid debate performances by McCain and his VP nominee, former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, independent voters began trending Republican, perhaps being won over by the McCain campaign promise of 'Change for America'.
Entry posted by
Zach Timmons
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: John McCain, Al Gore, Joe Liebermann, J.C. Watts, Presidency.comments powered by Disqus
In 1958, in the conclusion to the plagiarism case of Garrett vs. Rand the verdict was found in favour of the estate of diseased author, Edward Peter Garrett.Garrett vs. Rand
It was an open and shut case, really. At issue were the unmistakeable similarities between Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged published in 1957, and The Driver, written by Garet Garrett in 1922.
In both novels, the protagonist is a transcontinental railway owner named Galt who is trying to improve the world but fighting against government and socialism. At one point in The Driver the central character asks "Who is Henry Galt?". This scene is repeated in Atlas Shrugged with the minor change that the character is simply named John Galt. Whilst Rand considered the novel to be her magnus opus, it was always unlikely that Atlas Shrugged would be a success being over a thousand pages in length, and ending in a fifty page speech from Galt.
Rand subsequently withdrew the novel, and refocused her writing exclusively on the philosophy of objectivism. By the time of her death in 1982, American leaders really were experiencing a "strike of the mind" and a real life idealist had arrived on the scene, determined to "stop the motor of the world" single-handedly.
Constitutionalist leader Ralph Shephard promised to end the dishonor that had gripped the nation since the loss of the Vietnam War. During his 1985 inauguration speech, Shephard paid tribute to Rand by quoting from Grant's speech, "To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason, Purpose, Self-esteem".
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Ralph Shephard Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ayn Rand, Edward Peter Garrett, Atlas Shrugged, The Driver, Plagiarism. Editor says, In this cross-over post, we re-examine Robbie Taylor's Constitutionalist timeline, replacing John Galt with Ralph Shepherd.
Wikipedia ~ Some parties, such as Justin Raimondo and The Mises Institute, have observed that there are similarities between Atlas Shrugged and The Driver, written by Garet Garrett in 1922. He reports that The Driver is also about an idealized industrialist who is a transcontinental railway owner, trying to improve the world but fighting against government and socialism, and that its main character was named Henry Galt. It is unknown whether Rand was familiar with this work, but in The Driver, the central character is Henry Galt, whereas in Atlas Shrugged the main character is John Galt. In The Driver, at one point, the question is asked Who is Henry Galt?. In Atlas Shrugged, many central and peripheral characters repeatedly ask the question Who is John Galt?. Whether this was a coincidence, an intentional allusion to The Driver, or plagiarism is not known however.
~ I don't know that Constitutionalism and Randism would necessarily be that cozy, but they could probably coexist quite comfortably...
~ Fascinating. Rand never did go back to writing fiction after Atlas, but the reasoning here is a bit sad. Nice touch that some of her ideals are brought to the forefront of American politics.
~ I think it'd take more to make a plagiarism case than that. One of these days, though, I have GOT TO get my hands on the Garrett novel; I've never seen a copy in my life.
~ Frankly, I'm not an objectivist, and there should be a special hell somewhere for those who treat people the way Rand did.
~ Evidently The Fountainhead isn't enough to get her ideas deeply enough to stem something of a Nietzschean response.
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© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
