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Editor says, what if Otto von Habsburg had recovered the Florentine Diamond? mses Jackie Speel. 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2000, on this day Archduke Karl von Habsburg's father Otto transferred over to him the position of Head and Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Recovery of Florentine DiamondBorn in 1912, Otto was the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in 1918. In 1922 his father died and he became Sovereign of the Golden Fleece and head of the Imperial House.
For the next seven decades he sought to recover the fortunes of the Habsburgs. And while he never managed to effect a restoration of the throne, he had in the final year of the century recovered the Florentine Diamond (pictured) [1]. This precious stone had gone missing during their forced exile in 1918 when the Crown Jewels were moved to Switzerland, and determined efforts were required to recover it from South America.
Entry posted by
Jackie Speel
© Jackie Speel, 2011-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: von Habsburg, Florentine Diamond, Jewel, King, Head of State. Editor says, after the fall of the Austrian Empire during World War I, the stone was taken by the Imperial Family into exile in Switzerland. The stone was stolen some time after 1918 by a person close to the family and taken to South America with other gems of the Crown Jewels. After this, it was rumoured that the diamond was brought into the United States in the 1920s and was recut and sold.
~ Bet that son-of-a-gun would go for a fortune at Tiffany's....
~ Would they change the Hapsburgs' motto to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond?" Sorry, couldn't really resist temptation. Seriously, this might put some more money into the Hapsburgs' pockets, but too much water had gone under the bridge by that time for a restoration of their throne(s).
~ Maybe they would take a clue from the thief, and try to find power in some sort of South American way -- after traveling up a long river looking for someone named Kurtz,
~ Sounds like a great mystery-thriller!
~ There is a copy of the diamond in the (South Kensington) Natural History Museum's geological galleries - which is what started off the idea.
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Editor says, what if proposed Anglo-French military intervention in the Winter War had actually gone ahead? muses John Faerseth. 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1939, on this day Soviet forces crossed the Finnish border in several places and bombed Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.
Western Allies intervene in Winter WarWithin the week, Anglo-French troops landed in Helsinki determined to support their Finish allies in the Winter War.
Because the Russian attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on December 14. The Allies had absolutely no problem with a de fact declaration of war on the Soviet Union. In their calculations, prospects for Anglo-French survival were improved, having permitted Germany to invade Poland. This way, they hoped to drive a wedge between the signatories of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, bringing Mr Hitler back into the fold.
Entry posted by
John Faerseth
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Disasters Source: Wikipedia Labels: Winter War, Western Allies, Russia, Soviet Union, America. ~ How do Anglo-french troops get to Helsinki in a week?
~ Anglo-French forces could get muddled down in a would-be Vietnam, encouraging isolationism, not to mention solidifying the Soviets as enemies. Hitler just needs to sit back and pick the winning side.
~ He could even decide to launch his assault on France a few months early.
~ There was an episode of NOVA on PBS I saw a few years ago. It was about the period when the Nazis and the Soviets invaded Poland but before the Nazis invaded the USSR. They were for all intents and purposes at the time allies, and in an interview with a former Red Army Officer who was part of the the Soviet occupation force from 1939-41, he said that the Germans and Russians had meetings and exchanged information about Polish resistance forces. He was at one meeting in particular where the Soviet officials told their German counterparts that if England and France attacked Germany, the USSR would fight on Germany's side. Granted that didn't happen, but if the above were to occur, then it wouldn't be that far fetched for the USSR to join the Axis.
~ There'd be a lot of resistance and attempts at sabotage of the UK/French war effort; there was a LOT of pro-Communist feeling in those countries at that time. You might have Young Jessica Mitford playing the role of a "Hanoi Jane"---maybe "Moscow Mitford?" And then she'd end up shot or hanged as a traitor. Awwww.
~ Re Brian Wall: If the Soviets had joined the Axis following an Anglo-French attack on Germany, here's a good chance Britain would have fallen along with France. There's also a near certainty that in that case the Nazis would have attacked Russia, aallty or not, within a year after the fall of Britain, given the Nazis' political and racial beliefs. (Japan, too, would have to watch its back sooner or later.)
~ Eric O, Jessica Mitford's sister Unity Valkyrie really was an open Nazi sympathizer who was openly in love with Hitler...and Jessica responded by saying that she hoped Sis would be stood against a wall and shot.
~ Could the USSR have survived an all-out war with Finland, Britain, and France?
~ Seemingly weird stuff like this could have happened. But, knowledge of Hitler;s internal doings was working its way to the surface, and into political circles, too. Those same circles, which can drive any one country's military down a certain path. It could have gotten even stranger. What if Sweden had entered, and similar countries, had entered, too?
~ Germany and Soviets as allies in a US-UK sense was not in the cards. Neither regime trusted the other. Neither regime trusted their officer corps. Anglo-French could not have sent enough men/material to enable Finland to win but they could have prevented Finland from losing as badly as they did. Of course this presumes Norway and Sweden give transit rights and join the alliance. The crazier part of the plan was Anglo-French air raids from Middle East [Iraq and Syria] on the Baku oil fields. Allied AF's vastly overestimated what their quite pathetic bomber forces could do and did not have their best units in the Middle East. However Baku at that time supplied over 90% of the SU's consumption plus all the oil Stalin was sending to Hitler. No Baku oil, no offensive into France in 1940.
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Editor says, what if Mitt Romney accepted a post in the Obama Administration? 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2012, on this day Mitt Romney graciously accepted the post of US Ambassador to Venezuela.
Gone SouthBoth men knew that the creation of a bipartisan spirit of friendship was a pre-requisite for making divided government work. And so agreement on a suitable appointment had been quickly reached at a convivial lunch time meeting at the White House.
But because foreign policy and the economy were the differentiators in their respective election bids, many cabinet posts had to be ruled out. Cynics argued that Romney could do little harm to the US relationship with President Hugo Chavez, but that was just mean talk.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Fiscal Cliff, Elections, 2012. ~ Does Uncle Hugo know what he's letting himself in for? :D
~ I can't imagine Romney accepting that assignment, even if his family had lived in Latin America. Ambassador to Switzerland, perhaps.
~ Unlikely, at best. But I've never liked ambassadorships being political plums; they should go to State Department professionals.
~ Of course not, John...to accomplish that, he would need an embassy in Cancun. But Switzerland seemed sufficiently wealthy, white and male to suit him.
~ He sounds like tough fit anywhere.
~ He is a businessman, so he might do something to open up trade. Closer relations could be beneficial outside of a few pockets, even.
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Editor says, what if Woodrow Wilson had lost California in the 1916 Presidential Election? 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 1916, the mood in the cabinet room was heated. Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt was giving forth in the grand manner.
Continues from Mr Hughes Goes To War: Part 1.
Mr Hughes Goes to War: Part 1 by Mike Stone"Mr President,(was there a hint of chagrin in his voice at having to call
another man that?) Is there really anything to discuss? The Germans have been murdering our citizens on the high seas for over a year. Now they have sunk an American ship going about its lawful business [unspoken - and if they hadn't
done, a week before election, you probably wouldn't be sitting here now] They are, to all intents and purposes, waging war against us now. What remains
except to recognise that simple fact?"
Secretary of State Charles Fairbanks responded. "The sinking of the Algonquin may well have been a mistake, as they claim. And anyone who goes through the
middle of a war zone on a belligerant ship has got to accept a certain amount
of risk. If I chose to take my morning constitutional across the Verdun
battlefield, I might not emerge unscathed".
President Hughes let them wrangle for a while, then observed, calmly. "Mr Roosevelt, as you spent the campaign season pointing out [he did not add "and nearly cost me the election with your sabre-rattling"] the previous
administration's neglect of national defence has left this country with a
negligible army. If I were to declare a war (which Congress isn't yet ready to
do anyway) without any means of fighting it, I should make this country a
laughing-stock. My own son is at a Citizen's Training Camp as we speak, but he isn't going anywhere near Flanders until both he and those beside him are
properly trained and armed. Which isn't the case right now. If you seriously
want me to fight, concentrate on giving me the wherewithal to do so".
And so it was. The Presdent's request for a massive expansion of the US Army went to Congress. It ran into opposition, extending in the Senate to an attempted filibuster, but anger at the Algonquin sinking helped to see it through. By next March, the US would have at least the beginnings of a serious military force.
Thread continues in Mr Hughes Goes To War: Part 2.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Mr Hughes Goes to War Source: Wikipedia Labels: Charles Evan Hughes, Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt, World War One, World War 1. Editor says, in this article we explore a point of divergence proposed by articles on the bulletin boards 1 and 2. We also repurpose content from Wikipedia.
Mike Stone adds: just for clarification, I wrote this part on the assumption that the outgoing President Wilson has gone through with his plan to appoint Pres-Elect Hughes as Secretary of State, and then for himself and the Vice-President to resign. Thus Hughes has taken office in mid-November, avoiding the normal four-month "lame duck" period.
~ Why would Hughes have taken TR as Secretary of War?
~ Would TR have accepted the SecWar position? Of course, he had been SecNav...
~ I see the Cabinet. I simply see Navy instead of War. TR had been in the Navy Dept. He had not made major trouble. In War he would be responsible for letting many contracts [base building, weapons etc.]. TR could often be a prig about patronage etc.
~ But would TR get the troops ready technologically, or would we see another wave of soldiers 'heroically" without even helmets cut down by machine guns?
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Editor says, what if the forward pass was declared illegal in American Football? 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 October 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1876, during an early game of American Football, a pivotal moment took place when Yale athletic legend Walter Camp tossed the ball forward while in mid-tackle to his teammate Oliver Thompson, who then went on to score a touchdown.
Forward Pass Declared Illegal in American Football The opposing team, Princeton, protested as only backward passes to teammates. As it was an action performed in a tackle, the beguiled referee determined to settle the decision with a flipped coin. In the end, Princeton was supported, and the touchdown was nullified, along with the notion of a "forward pass" in American-style football.
Americans had been playing various non-codified games for decades already by the time modern football began to take form. Early in the nineteenth century, boys and men alike often played forms of "mob football" that date back to English games of time immemorial. Rules varied from town to town, with the "Boston Game" taking the lead as a hybrid of the diverging "kicking" and "carrying" games that would later evolve into Association Football (soccer) and rugby, respectively. The Oneida Football Club of boys on the Boston Common established rules in 1862 for the first organized take on what would become the modern game. It was an uphill battle, however, as football was routinely being banned from universities as too dangerous or unbecoming of gentlemen, and it would be years until these organized fellows went to college themselves with a proven formula for gameplay.
A new story by Jeff ProvineThe bans on football ended, and colleges began to play one another in a loose intercollegiate league including Rutgers, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. These big four schools met in 1873 to determine a standardized set of rules that would resemble soccer more than rugby. Meanwhile, Harvard, McGill, and Tufts continued the fascination with the Boston Game, more rugby than soccer and incorporating the "try", which would evolve into the "touchdown" of carrying the ball into the end zone. In 1875, Harvard and Yale met for the first "The Game", which became an annual event, and a new league was born as they decided to make the hybrid football the new standard for competition. On November 23, 1876, a new conference determined official rules for college football, among them making note of, but not clarifying, the forward pass.
In the Yale-Princeton game the next week, the forward pass would officially be laid to rest. Camp was disappointed with the choice, but he worked to determine a better, faster game where speed became as important as brawn. He created the line of scrimmage and a system of downs to move the game in increments, creating an ordered form of strategy and cleverness where there had once been only mobs. Camp also determined game length, field size, and scoring methods, creating the skeleton of what would be American football today.
Key to the game was the idea of movement, which would prove its most influential piece as the twentieth century dawned. Players typically followed mass formations, moving violently as one unit and often crushing opponents during a charge. In 1905 alone, nineteen young men were killed, and cries arose for safety on the field, even to the point President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to end football nationwide. An attempt to limit scrimmages was made, but the resulting punting game did not work well. With the forward pass having been declared illegal, the solution came to be ending mass formations, making each individual a significant piece to the eleven-member team.
Under Coach "Pop" Warner, one of the most influential football players of all time, Native American Jim Thorpe, would revolutionize the game with his expert moves. Pop did not want the fragile track star to play in football on fears he would be injured, but Thorpe convinced him to try a play against the defensive line and "ran around past and through them not once, but twice". Later that year, Thorpe would single-handedly score all of the points for Carlisle Indian Industrial School in an upset victory over the famed Harvard team, 18-15. Coaches across the nation hurried to emulate the apparent need for speed, finally matching Camp's dream of a fast game working from a series of plays.
Since that time, American football has grown to enormous popularity and a multi-billion dollar industry. While America's pastime of baseball became notoriously corrupt and slow, football has grown to be its rival, making key advances in its skillfulness and complex, eager maneuvers in high scoring games. Another rival, basketball, has taken its own season with some players in college crossing over due to the similarities in passing and running, but still with the unique feature of a pausing scrimmage and of course the famed tackles of blinding gymnastic agility.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: American Football, Forward Pass, Walter Camp, Oliver Thompson, Princeton . Editor says, in reality the coin toss gave America its first forward pass. While still technically illegal, the pass would happen again in 1895 in a successful attempt by the Tar Heels to break a zero-zero tie between North Carolina and Georgia. After further experimentation, the forward pass was approved in the 1906 revisions and has become a mainstay of American football to this day.
~ Don't see how this changes surroundning history any.
~ Fewer things in politics get called a "Hail Mary?"
~ American sports would have been very different, if this had happened.
~ But when I was in college, every time I tried a forward pass, the girl slapped me. Usually they insist on a few beers before the pass...
~ Eric, it probably speeds things up a bit concerning college football. Rivalries between schools are going to be longer, different ie. (USC vs. Norte Dame) and/or different college football conferences, in name, and composition, ie. in this timeline Nebraska could be a founding member of the Big Ten, and in 2011 there are only 10 teams in the Big Ten.
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Editor says, what if Nixon decided to expose the stolen 1960 election? 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 June 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1960, on this day Richard Nixon's bid to expose vote rigging in Texas, Illinois, Missouri and Delaware (and thereby reverse the stolen election) received an unexpected boost when Luis Salas, the election judge in Alice, admitted that he and southern Texas political boss George Parr rigged the 1948 senatorial election of President-elect Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Landside LyndonVice President Nixon had been inclined to accept the outcome of the election for the good of the country, despite the encouragement of President Eisenhower who was convinced that a recount would expose suffficient irregularities to reverse the outcome. However reports of Johnson's record of corruption convinced Nixon that an LBJ Presidency would be a setback for the nation.
Early indications were that Congressman Johnson had lost. Six days later, however, Precinct 13 in the border town of Alice, Texas, showed a very interesting result. Exactly 203 people had voted at the last minute - in the order they were listed on the tax rolls - and 202 of them had voted for Johnson.
While Stevenson protested, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black upheld the result, and Johnson squeaked by with an 87-vote victory. For this feat, columnist Drew Pearson gave Johnson the sobriquet "Landslide Lyndon".
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Music Source: Wikipedia Labels: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Presidency, 1960, Luis Salas. Editor says, in our timeline the report emerged in 1977 four years after Johnson's death and two after Parr had killed himself. Johnson of course was the Vice President Candidate not the Presidential Candidate.
~ Ah, yes, the myth of Honorable Nixon - who let his proxies challenge the election instead of doing it himself. And, the challenges did actually reverse one state, Hawaii, which went from Nixon's column to his opponent's. Obviously, the POD in this universe was Nixon embracing ethics...
~ Hm. I knew that Hawaii's vote wasn't settled until January 1961, but I hadn't known it originally went to Nixon. Live by the sword . . . !
Nixon's supporters seldom mention how many states' results he tried to overturn, preferring the myth that the 1960 presidential election was stolen in Illinois. Actually, if Illinois had gone to nixon, he'd still hve lost in the electoral college (check it out sometime). Nixon was the quintessential sore loser throoughout his life.
And even if it had come out that Johnson's '48 Senate win was a fraud, so what? It would have been a propaganda coup for Nixon and a black eye for LBJ, but would have had no direct relevance to the 1960 race. Nixon would still have had to prove the 1960 vote was fixed--and in our history, despite frantic efforts, he couldn't do it.
~ Props to Mr. Taylor. While the election might still hold, if the scandal blew up enough, it could turn into a Watergate for LBJ.
~ The difference between LBJ and Nixon is very hard to see sometimes.
~ Yes Illinois itself was not enough which is why this POD requires putting Texas in play as well.
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Editor says, what if God called it quits? muses Jeff Provine on This Day in Alternate History 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 December 2010 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1914, in the two months since they had been kicked from Heaven, Satan and his minions had pushed the world over the edge. A minor assassination of a prince among the human empire of Austro-Hungary had led to war, which was an understandable course among vengeful men.
God Calls it Quits Through divine inspiration, the war would go into stalemate, proving to men the futility of war. With modern technology of print followed by the vocal word from radio, it would be a new chance to inspire love and brotherhood that had been given by Jesus as he had walked the earth. Through the past 19 centuries, he had waited as Immanuel at the right hand of God in Heaven for His Kingdom on Earth, and now was his time to return.
A new story by Jeff ProvineMankind, however, seemed once again too evil to embrace the government of Heaven. Instead, they wrapped themselves in an unending war, guided by Satan. In the west, soldiers would slay one another with new technologies: machine guns and poison gasses. In the east, near Lodz in the Polish lands, the humans added up hundreds of thousands of casualties in an indecisive battle that, out of arrogance, both considered victories.
God considered waking humanity and ending the war with a new plague, an influenza, but He at last decided the New Earth would not be worth the trouble. Hope had gone out of it. The Earth to come would be filled with decadence, heart-rending poverty, greater wars splitting the atoms themselves, and artificial, digital worlds where men would give up his body as well as his soul to mere entertainment. Having only recently annexed Earth, it already seemed too much to bother.
He had destroyed the world before, of course, with a Flood and planned to destroy it again with fire on the day of Judgment, but it all seemed too much now. There was hope, but it was distant and the rewards too small to carry the pain. God looked upon the whole of Creation and found it... depressing. He decided to end it.
Doing so, however, would mean the loss of His creations, the humans He genuinely loved. The love seemed only one-sided now, nothing but pain. Even so, he would have to eliminate Immanuel as well, His being on Earth. Without an Earth, there would be no need. It was pain, but it would be over quickly enough.
And God said, "Let there be naught," and the Earth was gone.
Now darkness was again upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved alone upon the face of the waters.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: God, Religion, End of Times, Apocalypse, Creation. ~ Well...if this happened, we wouldn't be here, now would we?
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Editor says, what if the polarities of Churchill's American-English background were reversed as he suggested in his 1941 speech to Congress, only slightly differently? muses Eric Lipps in this post.
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In 1874, on this day the first prime minister of the United Dominions of America Winston S. Churchill is born, son of Lord Randolph Churchill and an American mother.
An American Lion is Born
Alternative Churchill CareerHe will grow up in England, but will emigrate to the American colonies in 1909, following a bitter quarrel with his father. There he will enter politics, becoming active in the movement for North American sovereignty.
Churchill will disagree powerfully with more radical leaders of the movement, who argue for full independence, and in the end his position will carry the day. "If my father had been American and my mother British, instead of the other way round, I might have got here on my own" ~ Churchill's speech to the Joint session of Congress on 26 December 1941With him as its spokesman, the movement will amass increasing support in Britain for granting the North American colonies substantial self-rule.
The "Dominionists," as Churchill's faction is known, will ultimately prevail, but on Sept. 1, 1939, on the eve of what should have been their triumph, the Second World War breaks out, leading Parliament to table the so-called "Dominion Act" until 1946, following the end of hostilities. Churchill will become a world-famous figure for his role in rallying North America against the Axis powers, and the inevitable choice for the first prime minister of the United Dominions of America following the Dominion Acts passage.
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Liberty Fails Source: Wikipedia Labels: Napoleon Bonaparte, France, King Louis, Republic, French Empire.comments powered by Disqus
In 1957, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Edmonton Eskimos 32-14 in the 45 annual Grey Cup championship game. For Hamiltion fans the win was sweet redemption after their heartbreaking 1953 Cup loss against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers; their remaining ghosts would be exorcised in 1984 when the Ti-Cats beat the Bombers in Winnipeg's first Cup finals appearance since 1956. | |
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| Tiger Cats |
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Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Grey Cup Overtime Source: Wikipedia Labels: Tiger Cats, Canada, America, Sports, Football.comments powered by Disqus
On this day in 1941, the US carrier task force which had been dispatched from Pearl Harbor four days earlier was recalled on orders from CINCPAC. | |
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| Pearl Harbour |
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Chris Oakley
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Barbarossa41 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Shigematsu Sakaibara, Operation Barbarossa, Fascism, Europe of the Dictators, Axis Powers.comments powered by Disqus
In 1970, Fidel Castro is reported to have been killed in fighting between his guerrilla forces and U.S. Army Rangers. | |
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Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Cuba War Source: Wikipedia Labels: Free Elections, Cuban Revolution, Cuba, America, Fidel Castro.comments powered by Disqus
In 1954, in a television interview, engineer and science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke refers to his 1945 article in Britain's Wireless World magazine suggesting that orbital satellites might be used as radio communications relays and points out that with the Nov. 24 launch by the United States of Mickey, the first artificial satellite, such communications satellites are now technologically within reach. | |
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| Arthur C. Clarke |
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Earth Source: Wikipedia Labels: Arthur C. Clarke, NASA, Space Race, America, Cold War.comments powered by Disqus
Tragedy struck the Churchill family just three months later. Lord Randolph fell ill and died of tertiary syphilis at the age of just 25, leaving his wife and newborn son to fend for themselves.
Six months after the death of Randolph Churchill, Jennie Jerome left the UK and returned to the USA where she took up residence in Brooklyn. Jerome became notorious for a series of affairs, including a reported fling with Presidential hopeful Samuel J. Tilden (though the truth behind these rumours is disputed). While Jerome was extremely distant with the young Churchill, Winston would later recall an affectionate (if distant) relationship with his mother as the two of them acted as a comfort after his fathers death.
Leonard Jerome acted as the father figure in Winston's early life, driving the young Churchill to succeed. But despite this 'support' (Churchill did not recall his grandfather very positively) Churchill did not excel in academic life and proved to be a somewhat unruly and stubborn student.
As he entered his late teenage years, Churchill made it extremely clear that he wished to pursue a career in the military and attempted to gain entry to West Point Military Academy. He failed in this enterprise to begin with; however his mother used her considerable influence to 'convince' Roswell P. Flower, the Governor of New York to protest on his behalf. Thanks to some gentle nudging, Churchill went off the West Point in 1893.
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PJY
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Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
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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
| Gillian Gibbons | In 2007, a British teacher was found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad. The court in Khartoum have ordered Mrs Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, to receive 40 lashes for committing the offences. She had been accused on three counts of insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs. The British Foreign Office said it was extremely disappointed by the verdict. 'I have called in the Sudanese ambassador this evening to discuss next steps' said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. |
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| British Teacher |
Miliband said he was also 'extremely disappointed' the charges had not been dismissed and repeated his view that it had been an 'innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher'. 'Our priority now is to ensure Ms Gibbons' welfare, and we will continue to provide consular assistance to her. As a minimum the British Government will insist upon post-medical treatment following the punishment.' he said. |
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Religion Source: BBC News Labels: Gillian Gibbons, Teddy Bear, Muhammed, Khartoum, British Teacher.comments powered by Disqus
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As Minister of War in 1940, Neville Chamberlain delegated increasing military authority to Churchill, but they split fatally over Reynaud's call for Britain to fling the bulk of her air force into Battle of France, which Chamberlain felt he could not deny. As the British Expeditionary Force was beaten back, Chamberlain hesitated, failing to group it around Dunkirk in a timely fashion, and 300,000 British troops were captured or killed in the greatest military disaster in British history.
Churchill died in his Falklands stronghold, buried under a boulder inscribed, 'Founding Father of the movement to uproot Nazidom from the world.' His mission is unfulfilled at the time of writing.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Winston Churchill, Gold Standard, General Strike, Gallipoli, Car Accident.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Mountbatten, Plot against Harold Wilson, Partition of India, Interim Prime Minister, Viceroy.comments powered by Disqus
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Roots Source: Wikipedia Labels: African Holocaust, Alex Haley, The African, Jubilee, Margaret Walker.comments powered by Disqus
November 29
Editor says, what if the Royal Family recognized the Zong Massacre? 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2012, to commemorate the anniversary of the Zong Massacre, the British Royal Family and other members of the British establishment led an all day prayer vigil in the city of Liverpool.
Remember the ZongBecause on this day in 1781, a slave ship owned by a Liverpool slave-trading syndicate murdered one hundred and thirty-three Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.
The resulting court cases, brought by the ship-owners seeking compensation from the insurers for the slave-traders' lost "cargo", established that the deliberate killing of slaves could in some circumstances be legal. It was a landmark in the battle against the African slave trade of the eighteenth century, and inspired abolitionists such as Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson, leading to the foundation of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Disasters Source: Wikipedia Labels: Zong, African Americans, Slavery, Britain, Liverpool. ~ Perhaps the Royals should end the vigil by releasing 133 African Collared Doves into the sky or maybe funding 133 students from Sao Tome in British Universities?
~ It would be nice if it were commemorated, but that wouldn't bring one slave back to life.
~ But looking to the future.. perhaps the Royals should end the vigil by releasing 133 African Collared Doves into the sky. Or maybe funding 133 students from Sao Tome in British Universities?
Comment from Donald Peebles on Facebook: I never knew about the Zong Massacre in 1781 and I thank you for educating people about this. I would imagine if the spirits of the Ancestors haunted the British Royal Family and other members of the British establishment at the all-day prayer vigil in the city of Liverpool. I thought you made this up but this was a real event and of course the British establishment were not found accountable for murdering whom they considered SUBHUMAN, INFERIOR, AND ANIMAL.
~ But if you rent the movie Amazing Grace, you will see that there were many decent people who fought the slave trade and eventually won...including Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce and John Newton, the former slave trader who showed his repentence by writing the best-loved hymn of all time: Amazing Grace ("that saved a wretch like me").
~ the royal family were in the business of depravity, the enslaving of africans. i have studied this period of abomination and i cannot recall who was on the throne or if they sided with the abolitionists.
~ Kwame, the King of England in 1781 was George III...and Americans do not like him very much either. His grandfather, King George II, is hated even more bitterly by Scottish people, since he had them slaughtered after Bonnie Prince Charlie's revolt. In that movie I mentioned earlier, Amazing Grace, the Duke of Clarence owns at least one slave and offers him as a gambling stake. So if you dislike that House of Hanover, welcome aboard!
~ oh mad king george. there is plenty to dislike about the royals who sanctioned and profited from enslavement of people. from elizabeth I to victoria, we grow up learning about how wonderful they were, i guess they are if we ignore or sanitise their human rights violations.
~ The House of Hanover were Equal Opportunity Enslavers. They sent captured Highland rebels to be slaves in America, where some fellow Scotsmen ransomed them. And as for Victoria...her husband Prince Albert convinced her not to enter the Civil War on the Southern side, because he was so anti-slavery. Rhett Butler mentions this in Gone with the Wind, where he says that the Confederacy cannot count on the English for support because, "That fat Dutchwoman is against slavery." Victoria was also known as The Famine Queen, because she did nothing to save the Irish from the Potato Famine. And as for Queen Elizabeth, we remember four words: Mary Queen of Scots. Well, it's like Mark Twain said..."Kings are an ornery lot."
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Editor says, what if Mitt Romney had won the general election? 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2012, President Barack Obama hosted President-elect Mitt Romney for a private lunch at the White House, their first meeting since the Republican challenger defeated his Democratic incumbent in a bitterly fought election. And of course final recounts had delayed the activation of the transition team and their "readiness project" even though Romney had prematurely activated their web site on November 8th.
No such thing as a free lunchFrustratingly, much time had therefore been lost. Because way back in June, Michael Leavitt, the former governor of Utah, has been tasked with helping Romney set up a presidential administration, should he be elected.
The lunch meeting came amid bipartisan efforts to work out with congressional leaders a way to avoid a looming "fiscal cliff" that could push the U.S. economy back into recession. The pressing need to strike a deal during the transition period was already creating huge tensions. Although both men had been in regular dialogue, the purpose of the meeting was an attempt to demonstrate a unity of purpose.
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Fiscal Cliff, Elections, 2012. ~ And it was purely an accident that Obama kept spilling his hot coffee onto Romney's lap, while Romney's lemon mirangue pie kept landing on Omaba's trousers.
Comment from Bill Wodenhelm on Google+ Eh, it doesnt matter if he'd won it or not; The System picks who The System wants.?
~ As a registered Republican myself, I said that if the RNC nominated McCain, Guiliani, or Romney back in '08, we would lose. I later predicted that if the RNC nominated Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, or Perry, we would also lose (though Gingrich and/or Perry might have gotten surprisingly close by the end of it). I hate being right, in this case, but there you have it. Guys like Ron Paul are the future of the Party, and he was the only one who might have been able to pull the upset on Obama.
~ Don't be too sure about that...
~ would nominee Ryan run with Romney as an old VP, like Biden, Cheney, is an interesting prospect
~ Free lunch at the taxpayers' expense. Yeesh.
~ If Romney had managed to beat the Messiah, there would have been huge tantrums in all parts of the left wing. And possibly riots in some cities.
~ Or would Obama have laughed at Romney over several of the stomach-churning chores he would then get to ride ramrod over?
~ Jared - Had Ron Paul been nominated, he would have been crushed, worse than McGovern in 1972, a lot worse. He would have been laughed off the ballot. Do you really think that the Dems would ignore his obsession against Jews, or the absurd excesses of objectivist ideology, e.g. selling off the streets and sidewalks? Every crazy thing he has ever said or done would be used against him, and there are plenty. The future of the Republican Party is between a return toward reality and the center, or oblivion.
~ Well, Ron Paul never really had anything against the Jews, unless cutting foreign aid across the board (including Israel) is somehow newly anti-Semitic. As for his chances against Obama, IDK if he could have pulled it out, but he would have gotten the GOP vote + the youth vote + the 3rd-Party vote (Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, etc) + the anti-war vote, whereas Romney pretty much only got the (somewhat diluted) GOP vote. It definitely would have been a closer race if Ron were the GOP nominee.
~ Not to mention that Paul offered a clear distinction from Obama, which the GOP sorely needed (and sorely lacked with Romney).
~ Since Ron Paul was such a great Ayn Rand fan and abortion opponent, someone might have asked him if he knew his heroine's famous statement on abortion: "The enemy of abortion is no friend of freedom...or capitalism."
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Editor says, what if educators had seen over the horizon? 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1972, on this day the video game pong was released by Atari Inc.
USG bans PongIt was a two-dimensional sports game that simulated table tennis. The player controlled an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left side of the screen, competing against either a computer controlled opponent or another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side.
But within months, the Surgeon General would call for a strategic study of the impact upon the developing minds of young people. This research concluded that video games had a deleterious effect upon both concentration and attention. In short, gamers tended to narrow their focus on the rich detail of the immediate sensory input, but subsequently struggled with broader perceptions such as parallel plot storylines in childrens novels. The disturbing outcome was that these test children quickly lost interest in traditional teaching tools And of course the results put pressure on the USG to ban video games before academic consequences could take root.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Pong, Atari, Video Game, Arcade, Simulation. ~ I played pong in an arcade game in 1972. It was not, shall we say,
earth shaking. On the other hand, I spent endless hours with a game called
Adventure in 1979. No video, just a gigantic mind puzzle in
a collosal cave. Lots of fun.
~ But books for young people have become runaway best sellers...like Twilight and The Hunger Games. All of the warnings against the video games...from decreased reading to damaged physical fitness...were also sounded against TV when it first appeared. Heck, novels and the theater were condemned for spreading immorality. But the young people somehow survived.
~ I read an article in a newspaper 'a while back' where the author said that if interactive media had developed first, there would have been many negative comments about 'the development of the book' - only a single user, no interactivity etc.
~ Yes indeed, JS...in fact, I remember reading the theory that new media are always viewed with suspicion.
~ Oh, and let's not forget the dread disease of computer addiction...where people spend a lot of time talking with others on line. Of course, it COULD be that we...er, I mean, THEY...find people on line who share their interests...like, for instance, an interest in alternate history.
~ I am not sure that the USG would have the power to ban video games.
~ Interesting point, Jackie, comparing it to TV. What if the '50s government (which may've had more power) kept TVs out of peoples' homes, encouraging family dinners and discussions?
~ Well, Jeff, then the discussions might very well have centered around the destructive power of movies.
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Editor says, what if British North America had survived into the 19th Century? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1818, on this day the leading advocate of responsible government in British North America George Brown was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland.
Birth of George Brown, father of responsible governmentAfter managing a printing operation in New York with his father, he moved to Southern Ontario in 1843. He founded the Banner in 1843, and "The Globe" in 1844 which quickly became a leading Reform newspaper.
In a time when royal governors still ruled with personal authority, Colonial thought had finally caught up with the idea of local representation; for example Lord Metcalfe argued that his Council of Ministers, and their Legislature, must win every election in order to remain in power. But Brown rejected this development, demanding instead that the Council of Ministers should only be held accountable by the Legislature which of course was the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy.
The idea fired the popular imagination of separatists across the eastern seaboard, reigniting the extinguished "Spirit of 1776". Within twenty years, the Colonial office would not only accept the principle of governors as figureheads, but began to entertain the broader issue of self-rule across North America.
Brown himself would not live to see such an exhilariating future.
On March 25, 1880, a former Globe employee, George Bennett, dismissed by a foreman, tried to shoot Brown at the Globe office. Luckily, Brown caught his hand and pushed the gun down. Unfortunately, Bennett managed to shoot Brown in the leg.
What seemed to be a minor injury turned gangrenous, and seven weeks later Brown died from the wound. Buried at Necropolis, he rests but a short distance from the largest hub in the North American Confederation, the George Brown International Airport in the capital city of York.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: George Brown, Canada, Responsible Government, Nationalism, Toronto. Editor says, in our timeline George Brown was considered a founding father of the Canadian Confederation and his concept of responsible government only became a political reality during the 1860s.
~ North America staying British would have been interesting. Likely as not, the center of gravity of the British Empire would inevitably be North America, as it gained wealth, population and influence. Britain itself would be a backwater, like Greece was in Roman and Byzantine times.
~ OK, Clackmannanshire has GOT to be a made up name...
~ With the extra manpower from the beginning, WWI could have either ended early or turned into an even bigger bloodbath. Or both?
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Editor says, what if Operation Elster had made landfall? 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 September 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1944, on a stormy day, German submarine U-1230 came up from an eight-day rest on the ocean floor off the coast of Maine and delivered its package of two spies to Hancock Point in Frenchman Bay.
Operation Elster Makes American Landfall A freak wave caught the landing craft, however, tossing one of the spies, William Colepaugh, into the cold sea, where he drowned. The surviving spy, Erich Gimpel, determined to go on with Operation Elster (English, "Magpie") in gathering intelligence on rocketry laboratories, sabotaging the Manhattan Project, and, perhaps most significantly, setting up the radio beacons that would enable the Germans to launch their V-1 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
Gimpel would later say during his interrogation after being caught by coordinated FBI agents and Army MPs outside of Los Alamos, NM, that losing Colepaugh was the best thing to happen to his mission. Colepaugh was an American defector who had been expelled from the US Naval Reserve for, as the official report stated, the good of the service. He was a discontented and seemed unable to apply himself enough to complete tasks, yet when he defected to the German consulate in Portugal after leaving a Merchant Marine ship, Colepaugh was chosen for an espionage mission to the United States. He was paired with Gimpel, a radio-operator at mines in Peru before the war, and the two were trained to be spies at The Hague, still controlled by German forces. They were given orders, transported across the Atlantic via U-boat, and told that a pack of submarines bearing V-1 flying bombs would come behind them.
A new story by Jeff ProvineAfter managing to get to Boston by foot and hitchhiking, Gimpel took the train to New York City, where he acquired rooms and began construction of his radio transmitter. He was stunted in his chances for espionage without American Colepaugh, so instead he focused on establishing communications with Berlin. By Christmas, he was able to radio messages to Germany, and Hitler became ecstatic at the thought of a vicious strike to America, perhaps one enough to bloody her nose into retreat from Europe. The Fuhrer pressed resources into the Vulkan Docks in Stettin to assemble launch-canisters developed after the experiments with on-board launches in 1943 had been unsuccessful. Many in the German High Command thought the focus was waste and only annoy the American tiger as the end of the war was coming within view, but Hitler personally ensured that the project would go forward.
The United States Government had become aware of the threat the September before, when captured German spy Oscar Mantel had given up information during an FBI interrogation that the Nazis were planning a long-ranged missile attack. In the Department of War, which was largely under the weight of the Army, the recommendation to FDR was that no real threat existed. The Navy disagreed and, on its own, wrote up plans for an "Operation Bumblebee" that would become Operation Teardrop in which a sub-hunting fleet would track down and destroy submarines bearing rockets. Vice Admiral Jonas H. Ingram, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, prepared task forces within the bounds of allowed resource allocation.
Germany went forward with its attack plans. As 1945 began, Albert Speer, German Minister of Armaments and War Production, gave a broadcast stating that flying bombs "would fall on New York by February 1". The propaganda was largely dismissed, and February 1 passed without incident. German spy Gimpel finally established his radio beacons later that month and began his journey west toward Tennessee and New Mexico. In late March, a seven U-boat fleet set out with its hastily prepared launch canisters, and the US took notice of increased radio traffic as April began. Ingram's ships began a patrol, but it would be too late as the V-1 attacks struck in the early morning of April 3.
Many of the launches would malfunction and at least one rocket would fall far off-target into New Jersey, but several flying-bombs struck home, spreading incendiaries over Manhattan and one landing in the National Mall between the US Capitol and the White House, damaging the Smithsonian Museums. American sentiment flew into angry panic, especially upon news of FDR's death by stroke only days later. Ingram's Operation Teardrop was pressed forward, managing to sink five submarines at the cost of one destroyer, the USS Frederick C. Davis. Hitler's attempt at scaring the Americans into peace only exacerbated a public opinion of revenge akin to after Pearl Harbor, and newly promoted four-star general Patton was directed by now President Harry Truman to take Berlin rather than turning south to liberate Bohemia.
In a combined Soviet-American assault, Berlin fell, and Hitler would be found dead in his bunker from suicide. The war continued in the Pacific and in the minds of many Germans, such as Gimpel in New Mexico where he would be apprehended in late July, supposedly having witnessed the Trinity tests. After the war finally closed, Truman launched his doctrine of American invulnerability, never to allow another such attack on home soil to happen again. Typical post-war conservatism was scarce, and instead massive resources (including captured German scientists) were allocated to defense projects that would be able to take out any missile attack with strategies such as homing counter-measure rockets, supersonic jets, tracking satellites, and focused microwave-rays that could destroy incoming enemy (most likely Soviet) weapons with no fear of a "cold war" becoming hot with a surprise attack.
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Jeff Provine
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Operation Elster, William Colepaugh, Hancock Point, Frenchman Bay., Manhattan Project. Editor says, in reality Colepaugh survived the landing in Maine. Upon their arrival in New York, Colepaugh turned to womanizing and drink, then changed his mind about defecting and turned himself in to the FBI. His information aided in the capture of Gimpel, ending any hope of success of sabotage in Operation Elster. Rocket attacks proved infeasible; the Germans were never adapt their submarines to launch V-1 flying bombs, and scare tactics of a U-boat pack off the Atlantic seaboard were swiftly defeated by Operation Teardrop.
~ V-1s were simply too inaccurate to be considered a strategic weapon. Their only real guidance was their fuel supply -- they fell when their fuel ran out. If aimed at the Capitol, they were as likely to hit Richmond or Baltimore.
~ Among the best,well thought I have read.
~ Well done. The only point on which I disagree is the anti-submarine effort of the US Atlantic Fleet. By the beginning of the 1945, the US and British navies were covering the Atlantic like a big blanket. No group of U-boats could have gotten close enough to launch V-1s. The only possible exception would be a group of Type XXI boats, but I believe they were too scare by that point to form a strong wolfpack.
~ Not too likely to work out, I don't think.
~ Subtle differences but not completely out there. Maybe an early start to the space program.
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Editor says, what if the Nazi War Criminals had sufficient evidence to try a different defense plea? 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 July 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1945, on this first day of the Nuremberg Trial Hitler's top administrators pleaded not guilty presenting Chief Justice Robert Jackson with massive documentary evidence to support their tu quoque ("everybody else did it too") defence.
Everybody Else Did It TooThe civilians were dressed in cheap fitting suits and the military wearing their former uniforms with the insignia patches torn off. Ushered into an oblong box filled with two rows of straight-back chairs, the prisoners were only issued with neckties and shoelaces outside their cells due to the expectation that they would suicide. But these monsters refused to be demonized by victor's justice and they had a massive surprise in store for the Soviet, British and American judges:
- A memo dated 5 March 1940 in which the head of the NKVD Lavrentiy Beria authorised the execution of all members of the Polish Officer Corps leading to the Soviet massacre of 21,768 soldiers in the Katyn Forest massacre
- Witnessed dispositions of a British officer from 28 May 1945 assuring Cossacks that "I assure you on my word of honour as a British officer that you are just going to a conference" before releasing 2,700 soldiers to their certain death in Soviet hands at Lienz, a decision expressly authorised by the British Minister Resident Harold Macmillan
- Evidence of US Soldiers drugging POWs before handing them over to Stalin in contravention of "Leaflet Operation", the dropping of six billion leaflets over German lines, urging the Soviet Russians in German uniforms to surrender to the West, solemnly promising them good treatment, and denouncing "as lies the Nazi propaganda that Soviet nationals fighting or not fighting with the Germans would ultimately be forcibly repatriated to the Soviets if they ever surrendered or deserted to the Americans"
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Nazis, Nuremberg, World War 2, America, Justice. Editor says, in our timeline the court ruled out the tu quoque defence, Latin for "everybody else, the British, the Russians, etc did it too.
~ I still don't think that defense would've worked. In comparison to the Holocaust, the incidents named here are relatively small-scale and targeted to the military. Quite a different story from systematically exterminating millions of civilians. sir I suspect nothing would have worked however my point is there would potentially be other consequences
~ This might have put the cat among the pigeons. Another angle of attack would have been to point out that there were neutral Powers by whom the defendants could be tried...Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal all come to mind here. The Holocaust was not a big factor at Nuremburg itself, (in answer to my learned friend, Mr. Hartman). Or to point out that _German_ law covered an awful lot of what they had done...and those laws had been on the books before and throughout the Third Reich period.
~ I doubt that the Nazis in the dock would have been able to get away with using the Soviets' crimes as an excuse for their own. Not only was it the case that thr Holocaust trumped anything mentioned here, there is also the principle that "two wrongs don't make a right."
try them in Switzerland, whose banks had eagerly soaked up and protected billions in Nazi loot while confiscating the accounts of murdered Jews? Spain or Portugal, with fascist regimes of their own? I don't think so. Even Sweden wouldn't have done: the point of holding the trials in Nuremberg was to administer justice, insofar as that was possible, in a place strongly connected with the Nazis' injustice.
As for evidence of the Soviets' resonsibility for the Katyn Forest massacre: by 1947-'48, the Cold War was in full swing. People would have believed the Communists sank the Titanic, and never mind that it was ridiculous. Revealing Soviet responsibility for Katyn would have chqanged nothing, sinvce it would not have absolved the Nazis of their own crimes.
Basically, "everybody did it" was a doomed defense. Ironically, had the Nazis used it, it might actually have benefited Moscpow by undermining relations between the U.S. and Britain (see examples 2 and 3 above). Conceivably it might also have tipped the balance in the very close U.S. presidential election of 1948 toward Dewey, who could have tarred Truman with complicity while insisting that his own hands were clean.
~ Even further division between the Allies could have sparked a much-feared war with the Soviets.
~ I don't know, man. It's become depressingly obvious as of late that the only real war crime is to lose the war. The Germans lost the war, so nothing could save them. The Americans, British, and Soviets won the war, so whatever they did doesn't count.
Cynical, sad, gloomy, I know, and I'm not usually like that. But in this case, it seems to be true.
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Editor says, what if Horace Greeley had been the surprise victor of the 1872 election? 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 December 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1872, on this day in Pleasantville, New York the President-elect Horace Greeley died just three weeks after voters endorsed his crusade against the corruption of Ulysses S. Grant's Republican administration and too soon for the electoral college to have met to count their votes.
Death of President-elect Horace GreeleyAfter supporting the General in the 1868 election, Greeley broke from Grant and the Radicals. Opposing Grant's re-election bid, he joined the Liberal Republican Party in 1872. To everyone's astonishment, that new party nominated Greeley as their presidential candidate. Even more surprisingly, he was officially endorsed by the Democrats, whose party he had denounced for decades.
His success in exposing the depth of corruption of Grant's administration was the triumphant conclusion to a long career in journalism. Expert investigative and communication skills when combined with a sound reputation for unbiased reporting enabled him to maximise bipartisan support. This was enough for Greeley to score a narrow victory on November 5th, but not long after, his wife died and he descended into madness.
At the meeting of the electoral college, the Democratic electors had nobody to vote for, although three Georgia electors tried to vote for Greeley but Congress refused to count their ballots.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Horace Greeley, Ulysses S. Grant, Premature Death, Presidency, America. Editor says, in this article we explore some ideas from Straight Dope and repurpose content from Wikipedia which concludes ~ he was the new Liberal Republican Party's candidate in the 1872 U.S. presidential election. Despite having the additional support of the Democratic Party, he lost in a landslide. He is currently the only presidential candidate to have died prior to the counting of electoral votes.
~ Could Thomas Nast have been his VP?
~ Possibly.
~ 1. There is no meeting of the college. The electors meet in their state capitals and the ballot results are forwarded to DC where Congress counts them. 2. Constitutionally there is no compulsion for the elector to vote for the man they nominally were elected on behalf of. Some states have such laws but we have had numerous cases of faithless electors with zero penalties. What keeps this from happening more often is that the sort of party loyalists who are chosen as electors or alternates are subject to social pressures. 3. What would happen in this case is a new party convention to pick a candidate with a high probably that unless there was a near unanimous final choice [so the social pressure would kick in] the states would splinter when actually voting. Reconstruction is not one of my eras but my personal guess is the bulk go to Adams or Hendricks with the election being thrown into the House. VP would be even more confusing.
~ We'd have a President Brown. I know very little of him; Nast represented him as a tag on the end of Greeley's coat. POTUS-Greeley would probably have been an utter disaster; during the Civil War he alternated between despair and exaltation.
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Editor says, what if Burr hadn't taken the fateful shot at Weehawken? 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 December 2010 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1809, after Washington City fell to the army of the breakaway Republic of Gloriana and their allies, the Jeffersonian Rebels, bitter arch rivals US President Alexander Hamilton and his old nemesis, Colonel Aaron Burr were issued with dueling pistols on the White House Lawn.
A Pair of PistolsThe last time that they had squared off, Hamilton's finger had slipped on the hair trigger of his pistol, making him an easy target for Burr's much steadier hand. But, refusing to be condemned by history as a mere murderer, Burr pointed his firearm upwards before harmlessly discharging his bullet.
Within eighteen months of the interview at Weehawken, Hamilton would occupy the White House, and Burr would have stood down as Vice President. Out of office, Burr fled the young country along with a few hundred followers. He established his own republic in the former French protectorate of Louisiana. He names himself president, but acts much more like a king. Many Americans who had been on the Tory side of the revolution, on hearing of Burr's new Gloriana, immigrated.
Although never large, Gloriana proved to be a thorn in the underside of the American nation as it tried to spread west, constantly harassing the Americans who attempted to settle in the Louisiana Purchase or move through it to Mexico and parts west. Alternate ending to a story by Robbie TaylorAfter his re-election was assured, Hamilton decided that he could not leave office without handling "this minuscule king, this traitor, Aaron Burr", and asked for a declaration of war against Gloriana from Congress. The declaration passed swiftly, and Americans across the east coast signed up for the attack on Gloriana. Burr, seeing what was coming, tried to ask Mexico and the native nations around him for aid, but they all refused. Instead, hope arrived from a wholly unexpected quarter.
Of course the so-called "Founding Conflict" was rapidly expanding from a Hamilton-Burr dispute. Former President Thomas Jefferson had been bested by Hamilton during Washington's first term, forcing him to quit the administration and pursue a "Revolution of 1800". Problem was, Hamilton had set about rolling that revolution back. Seizing the final chance to restore the Jeffersonian Model of small government and states rights, Jefferson came out of his self-imposed retirement at Monticello, declared his support for Burr by leading a libertarian revolt.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: War Source: Wikipedia Labels: Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, America, Founding Fathers, Washington. Editor says, in James Patrick Kelly's post ~ History has never forgotten the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Their careers seemed to be one attempt after another to one-up each other, but the contest of wills ended famously on July 11, 1804. Hamilton's finger reportedly slipped on the hair trigger of his pistol, and, after that, he was an easy target for Burr's much steadier hand. Many thought Burr a coward for taking the easy shot at all; others felt that Hamilton got his final revenge by permanently damaging Burr's political career. Nottingham playwright James Patrick Kelley further asks of history, what if Burr hadn't taken the shot at all?
In 'The Duel', Kelly's alternate version of events onstage at West End Studio Theatre in Portsmouth through Jan. 22, Burr (Steven Bornstein) recognizes Hamilton's (Kevin Collins) missed shot and aims his own pistol toward the ground, furiously refusing to be condemned by history as a mere murderer. The play then splits with reality as Kelly ponders what events could have been wrought if rabble-rousing Burr had continued his endeavors. He supposes a seccession of New England from the Union, causing somewhat of an earlier, inverted version of the civil war.
In Act II, after the horror of battle and desperate lack of resources and allies has exhausted his troops, Burr hides out in a rooming house in Nottingham, only to be discovered by his old nemesis. Kelly?s provocative conjectures suggest that, had Hamilton lived, these two archrivals would have continued to find each other until one or the other fell to his grave. It's a fascinating point of view that's been proven historically true time and again.
~ I don't know that Burr would have done this. If all he had wanted was power, he could have walked into the Federalist Party at any time prior to the election of 1800 (after that, it more-or-less imploded IIRC) and taken it out from under Hamilton in two seconds---a lot of Federalists and anti-Jeffersonians disliked Hamilton for his foreign, illegitimate birth, among other things. Hmmm...that would make a good AH, wouldn't it? Burr more-or-less created the modern Democratic Party, not least by finding a way around New York's property requirements for voting. Imagine if he'd been a Federalist!
~ This would create a very strange system of international relations. Gloriana Tories would hold to British allies, but then we've got the Jeffersonian fans of Napoleon, not to mention the holdout New Englanders, leaning more toward Britain economically, but very much self-governed. Guess the Hartford Convention of 1814 would sort all this out: Federated States of New England, Gloriana, and Republic of Jefferson (if he'd allow the name... he's probably want something Enlightenment like "Liberty"). Gloriana expansionism would leak into Texas and then war with Mexico later on.
~ Burr wanted to be king, and if he couldn't be king of the US, then Gloriana would do. Hamilton, the patriot whose reach always exceeded his grasp, couldn't help but take one last shot at the old traitor...
Comment from Bruce Johnson on Facebook: The POD is itself problematic, leaving in a lot of questionable assumptions about what DID happen, as well as what would have been possible in the event of Hamilton's survival.
1) the duel - though I agree that the setting of the hair trigge...r indicates that Hamilton probably DID intend to shoot (contradicting the note he left behind to vindicate himself in case he didn't survive), it is by no means clear that Burr REALIZED Hamilton's error before he took his shot.
2) assumes a particular reading of Burr's western "plot" that is filled with many problems (starting with Jefferson's own error of trusting
3) MOST unbelievable -- that Hamilton would win the Presidency, much less that very year! The former is dubious in light of H's weaknesses (too polarizing), the second scarcely conceivable. Even in the unlikely event H became the Federalist candidate, Jefferson's own strong position (after success with the Louisiana Purchase, etc) makes it hard to imagine anyone defeating his re-election.
There's also something a bit odd about the 'Tory side' flocking to join a Republican like Burr, when Hamilton & HIS supporters were the clear Anglophiles.
What MIGHT be more credible is to imagine an undamaged Burr foregoing western exploits and himself eventually finding a way to the Presidency, perhaps after Jefferson's lackluster second term.
One element of the new scenario that IS quite plausible -- the basic premise that this destructive rivalry WOULD have continued is some form or other.
Comment from John Allen Hough on Facebook: FOR BEING SO BRILLIANT..THESE GUYS SURE WERE VAIN AND IDIOTIC WHEN THEY HAD DISAGREEMENTS...!!...BOXING OR ANY OTHER MEANS TO SETTLE A DISAGREEMENT IS MORE SENSIBLE..BUT SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER..JUST KINDA DUMB!!
~ One has the sense that "Gloriana" would have ended up (assuming it survived) as a sort of English-spoeaking banana republic (or perhaps tobacco-and-coton republic, considering its location), perhaps allyng itself politically with the Southern slaveholders of the reduced USA.
~ Too bad they didn't have UFC in 1804-- this would have been a huge main event. :D
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Editor says, What if Barack Obama's father had survived his 1982 car crash in Nairobi? We explore an even more stellar career, examining the importance of fatherhood in our development.
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In 2014, the former President of Kenya, Barack Hussein Obama II was confirmed as the ninth Secretary General of the United Nations.The Barack Obama Story, Part 5 - Common Ground
A gleeful Mama Sarah (pictured) proudly accompanied her grandson on his flight from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. At an official ceremony in New York City, Mr Obama was sworn in as the organization's chief administrative officer under Article 97 of the UN Charter.
The first Secretary General of dual heritage, his upbringing across three continents made Mr Obama uniquely qualified for the challenges that he would shortly face in the role. In Dreams of My Father, he joked that family meal-times in Hawaii were actually like a meeting of the United Nations, with his Indonesian step-father at the head of table.
Twelve months later, and not so far from that family home, Mr Obama would be drawn into a bitter confrontation at the United States deep-water naval base at Pearl Harbour. His adversaries would be the belligerent forty-fourth US President, Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Prime Minister of Japan, General Toshio Tamogami.
Absolutely nobody would describe Tamogami as the product of diversity. Shortly before Clinton's election in 2008, the General lost his job as chief of staff for Japan's Air Self-Defense Force after saying in an essay entitled True Perspective of Modern and Contemporary History that "it is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation [in World War Two]. "
Tamogami experienced a dramatic reversal of fortune in the second decade of the twenty-first century. His re-armament of Japan placed him on a collision course with Mrs Clinton. And it would be for Mr Obama to find common ground between the two.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Dreams From My Father by Barack ObamaStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Obama Source: Wikipedia Labels: Barack Obama, United Nations, Presidency, Kenya, Toshio Tamogami. ~ Obama manages to get them both agree to limit their use of arms maybe? Not without concensions on either side I guess, (Clinton lifts the threatened embargo, Tamogami publically admits he was wrong on World War 2... but doesn't back away from his own beliefs in private).
~ Vert interesting AH. I'm intrigued to see what comes next.
~ Obama could find ways to appeal past Tamogami to the average Japanese in the street---who are NOT interested in more war, thankyouverymuch. They remember all too vividly what the last one was like.
~ That makes five of us. :)
~ Six of us including the Editor :-)
~ Suppose there were a second Korean war, in which Cjhina intervened as in the first? In that case, Japanese militarists might well experience a comeback, especially if the U.S. sought Japanese aid in fighting the war.
~ How about this?
Tomogami's political resurrection came with the outbreak of the Second Korean War in 2013. All at once, it became expedient for the second President Clinton to make common cause with the militaristic Tomogami. in order to preserve Japan as the "vast aircraft carrier in ther Pacific" it had been caalled by U.S. conservaatives for decades. Yet Clinton remained wary of her Japanese counterpart's ambuitions, which included the idea (still unpopular with many Japanese) of developing a nuclear arsenal for his country.
Secretary-General Obama would prove indispensible in brokering the deal which refurbished the Washington-Tokyo alliance, persuading President Clinton to accept the revision of Japan's pacifist constitution to allow a full-fledged military buildup while getting Tomogami to set aside, at least for the present, his nuclear aspirations.
The new arrangement was extremely controversial in Japan, where its announcement nearly led to the fall of Tomogami's coalition government. It would be accepted only after China, repeating its move of sixty years before, launched a massive assault in support of Pyongyang--a million troops, armed this time with sophisticated tactical nuclear weapons as well as top-of-the-line conventional arms.
Under the circumstances, it was all to easy to heed the nationalists' caall for militarization. Tomogami and others echoed American claims that if Seoul fell, the Chinese and North Koreans would strike gagainst northern Japan next, just as the Soviets had been prepared to do in August 1945 berfore ther unexpected end of World War II in the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had mooted Western and Soviet invasion plans alike. All at once, what had been called "extremism" was now labeled prudence, and Japan's postwar pacifism was seen as outmoded.
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On this day in 1941, the US embassy in Tokyo informed the Japanese foreign ministry that the White House was accepting the Shigemetsu government's peace proposal; in turn, the Japanese embassy in Washington told the State Department that Japan would begin withdrawing its troops from China within 72 hours. | Shigematsu |
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| Sakaibara |
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Barbarossa41 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Shigematsu Sakaibara, Operation Barbarossa, Fascism, Europe of the Dictators, Axis Powers.comments powered by Disqus
On this day in 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald told his court-appointed psychiatrist that the same voice he'd heard on the day he surrendered himself to Dallas police had spoken to him again on the night of November 28th and told him he had been ordained by God to spread the Gospel to the downtrodden masses of the world. This was an ironic turn of events, considering that Oswald had for years been a dedicated Communuist. | |
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| Lee Harvey Oswald |
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Oswald63 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Lee Harvey Oswald, John F Kennedy, Kennedy Assasination, Dallas 1963, Secret Government. ~ So ,....he was not caught at theater?
~ Nope.
~ And Jack Ruby doesn't shoot him either. I'd like to see how this would play out. Over the next few months, if not years.
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In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints a special commission to investigate the murder of President Kennedy. His controversial choice to head this body is Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. | |
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Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: History Channel Labels: Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Racism, America, Civil Rights, African America.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Soviet America Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Joel Rosenberg, Robbie A. Taylor, Comrade, Soviet States of America, Communism.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Crises Source: Wikipedia Labels: Douglas MacArthur, Korean War, Brass Hat, Harry S Truman, Eisenhower.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Conspiracy Theories Source: Wikipedia Labels: Lyndon Johnson, Aliens, Kennedy Assasination, Dallas 1963, Presidency.comments powered by Disqus
Variant entry posted by Todayinah Editor
original content has been repurposed to celebrate the author's genius © Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Conspiracy Theories Source: Wikipedia Labels: Palestine, Israel, British Mandate in Palestine, Two States, Arab-Jewish Struggle.comments powered by Disqus
November 28
Editor says, what if General Petraeus launched a romantic surge? 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 December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2012, in a worldwide scandal that has made l'affaire Petraeus look like an episode of The Donna Reed Show, Benjamin Netanyahu and Hillary Clinton have run off together.
The Hillary and Bibi AffairThis has brought Israel and Gaza together in mass outrage .. starting with a joint resolution denouncing the notorious couple. This scandal could have been the first time that Israelis and Palestinians have gotten together since the Pope recently offered to administer Jerusalem, and both sides answered. "Thanks but no thanks".
"But how could I help it?" Netanyahu demanded, from their hiding place at The Sandals honeymoon resort, where reporters tracked them down holding hands and walking along the beach. "We spent so many hours alone together, everyone should have known this might happen".
Hillary's comment was, "This will pay Bill back for Monica Lewinsky. Anyway, since Bill cannot run again, Bibi is the now the cutest national leader around, except perhaps for Obama, and we all know what a good family man HE is".
Entry posted by
Jackie Rose
© Jackie Rose, 2011-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Benjamin Netanyahu, Hillary Clinton, Petraeus, Donna Reed Show, Romance. ~ :-D :-D :-D
~ And Bill Clinton was so unhappy, he had to call for a bunch of chubby interns. Seriously, though, if ever two people deserved each other...
~ Jared, I am afraid I don't know what :-D means and I hope you will tell me. All right, so I am cyber challenged.
And Eric, part of Hillary's motivation in this AH was that she wanted revenge for the chubby intern.
~ OK, Eric, I looked up :-D and saw that it standss for "wide smile or laughing." So thank you and :) from me, too.
~ Well, it might be one device to get more people to read.
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Editor says, what if Rohm Strikes First? 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 1887, on this day Sturmabteilung Commander Ernst Julius Günther Röhm was born in Munich.
Birth of Ernst RöhmHis 1934 conviction for treason and subsequent hanging provided those senior Nazi Party Officials who had survived the Night of the Long Knives with bitter satisfaction because the Government of Adolf Hitler had been fatally weakened by the SA Commander's pre-emptive counterstrike.
After Hitler's takeover had failed to deliver radical change the Sturmabteilung began to regard themselves as the vanguard of the National Socialist revolution. But in fact, Hitler's use of the SA as storm troopers was a political weapon he no longer needed and he had planned his own move against them for July 2nd. And so the time for a violent confrontation had finally arrived.
But an execution list drawn up by Schutzstaffel leaders Himmler and Heydrich had somehow found its way into Röhm's possession1. And when Hitler telephoned him on June 28th inviting him to gather the SA leaders at Bad Wiessee he decided to pre-emptively counterstrike rather than fall into a trap.
Cloaked in popularism, Röhm had gained the support of disorganized Socialist, and Communists. Problem was that the ultimate goal of the SA was to become the future army of Germany, replacing the Reichswehr and its professional officers who needed little encouragement to crush the rebellion. And so the Government survived, but at a terrible cost, because the Regular Army would never cow to Hitler and his expansionist plans for Germany.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ernst Rohm, Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, Fascist, Night of the Long Knives. Editor says, in this post we explore a discussion on the Different Worlds web site. (1) is our POD.
~ Details matter on this one. In theory the professional army of 10 divisions had a further twenty plus reserve divisions but this counts a lot of the SA and Stahlhelm as reserve units. A fair number of the army junior officers and enlisted sympathized with the Nazis but this was with Hitler as leader and the general aims of the movement rather than the clowns at the next level down. So whoever can grab the physical Hitler and Hindenburg starts off way ahead. Neither was that heavily guarded. As of 1934 the SS had signed up a lot of men but only had a few battalions of formed troops and these had no weapons above light machineguns
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Editor says, what if Eleanor Roosevelt attended the Tehran Conference? 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 September 2011 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1943, as the Second World War raged, the leaders of the "Big Four" Allied nations sought to meet, even though they would risk life and limb to do so.
Roosevelts Arrive at Tehran ConferenceThe Japanese Empire separated America from China, while Nazi Germany divided the USSR from America and Britain. They found a neutral point in Tehran, Persia, where Russian Premier Stalin could come from the north, Chinese Chairman Chang Kai-shek could approach from the east, and American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill could arrive from the west after a meeting shortly before in Cairo. They would discuss strategy for defeating the Axis powers as well as outlining post-war plans.
After a good deal of argument that the meetings would be strictly business between the immediate leaders and that women would not be allowed, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt convinced her husband that she and their daughter Anna would be necessary as future leaders in their own rights (and supposedly asking whether he had anything to hide, which would become more obvious after FDR's stroke in 1945 where mistress Lucy Rutherfurd was by his side). Roosevelt's arguments proved hollow as they arrived in Cairo and were surprised to be met by Mrs. Churchill. When they continued on to Tehran, they would be joined by Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong May-ling. Joseph Stalin also attended the meeting, though his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva had died in 1932 from apparent suicide (that was rumored to be actual murder at Stalin's hand) after the two had a public argument. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt formed a "Big Three" of the conference, edging out the war with the Japanese on the important matter of finishing off Germany with a European campaign.
A new story by Jeff ProvineWhile the men conferred, Eleanor gathered Mrs. Churchill and Chiang to tea on a number of occasions, which quickly turned into their own summit. Eleanor had long been a supporter of the Red Cross, while Mrs. Clementine Churchill was currently the Chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund as well as a number of home front charitable efforts and Madame Kai-shek had worked to build and fund orphanages and schools for Nationalist "warphans," whose parents had been killed in the dark times of the past decade in China. They agreed on a number of matters that would eventually become important parts of shared efforts worldwide in 1945 when Mrs. Roosevelt became a representative and charter member of the United Nations Organization.
At one point in the conference, Mrs. Churchill noted Mr. Churchill's worries about how eager FDR seemed to please the stony Stalin. Eleanor related the importance of the Soviet declaration of war against Japan once the Europe question was over, but Soong May-ling voiced concern they all shared that Stalin was working to ensure a powerful Soviet Bloc of buffer territory in Eastern Europe and would most likely soon be funding the communists in China to overthrow the republican government that would serve as the Japanese were driven out. The ladies' concerns grew, and Eleanor and Clementine voiced their opinions to their husbands. FDR began to rethink his position, and Churchill redoubled his conviction that the world would not be safe from "the scourge and terror of war" as long as oppression in the Soviet Union remained.
Even with the distrust of Stalin growing uniformly, Churchill and FDR put into effect Operation Overlord headed by General Eisenhower that would begin a new front in France. Stalin, in return, promised to declare war on Japan, though the action would not follow until Germany was fully defeated. Meanwhile, the western Allies grew closer to Chiang Kai-shek, whose anti-communist sentiment spread. By the time of the conference in Yalta in February of 1945, feelings had shifted away from giving the Soviets direct control over much of anything outside of their prewar borders. The Morgenthau Plan to de-industrialize Germany was written off to keep down potential resistance, which infuriated Stalin, who began to demand why he bothered to fight a war if the rest of the Allies were simply going to let Germany rest to fight again. Unsatisfactory plans were agreed upon, though it was understood that, after the war, they would quickly be shelved.
After the taking of Berlin, threats of use of the A-bomb caused Stalin to retreat across Europe and acknowledge the International Zones. In China, support from America bolstered the Nationalist armies, which snuffed out the communist forces in China in 1947 after taking their capital at Yan'an. Stalin found himself surrounded with few allies, and he turned inward to develop his own atomic weapons. The "Cold War" standoff would continue for nearly a decade until 1956 brought attempted incursions into Hungary, threats over the Suez Canal, and the internal disputes over leadership after the death of Stalin. The weakness urged NATO to push for the dissolution of the Soviet government, resulting in a swift war that brought on a new Russian constitutional convention. UN aid bolstered the Russian people and eased tensions to ensure the new government would not fall to another predatory dictator.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Eleanor Roosevelt , Tehran, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chiang Kai-shek, Allies. Editor says, in reality FDR objected to the Roosevelt ladies attending the conference in Tehran. He held that no women would be allowed to attend, even though Mrs. Churchill and Madame Chiang Kai-shek both attended, which left Eleanor and Anna most displeased.
~ And in this timeline, did the Soviets not get the Bomb? Otherwise, I doubt there'd be a "swift war" against them--at least one that didn't wreck much of the West as well as Russia.
~ FDR's inner circle was so heavily Soviet-penetrated that he'd probably have come around to "Uncle Joe's" POV anyway.
~ By 1943, FDR was already calling Stalin 'Uncle Joe'; he had postwar plans and needed the Soviets on board. And Eleanor had little effect on her husband's opinions: they had been living totally separate lives for 25 years at this point.
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Editor says, what if the acute digestive attack had killed Roosevelt outright? muses Alasdair Wilkins. 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 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died shortly after suffering an "acute digestive attack" while meeting with Stalin and Churchill at the Tehran Conference.
President Henry Wallace
33rd President of the United States 1943-45The Event: I'm choosing from a whole bunch of possibilities here, as our only four-term president spent the last couple of years of his presidency slowly wasting away under the tremendous pressure of his office, not to mention his own longstanding medical problems. On this particular occasion, he suffered an "acute digestive attack" while meeting with Stalin and Churchill at the Tehran Conference. Needless to say, he didn't die (yet). But .. what if he did - somewhat earlier?
The Successor: Vice President Henry Wallace (pictured).
Why the alternate history novel should be written now:
There's a reason why it was Harry S Truman and not Henry Wallace who succeeded FDR when he finally did pass away. Wallace had been dropped from the 1944 presidential ticket because he was, to put it mildly, nutty as a fruitcake. A New Age spiritualist, he dabbled in most major religions and a few of the minor ones. His spiritual counselor, Nicholas Roerich, was the most eccentric Russian political advisor this side of Rasputin (in his defense, he was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times).
Wallace sent Roerich on a fact-finding mission to Asia that may or may not have involved searching for Jesus's lost paintings that were hidden in Tibet (no, it doesn't really make any more sense when fully explained). This expedition proved so embarrassing to the U.S. government that Wallace was forced to fire Roerich, and when he wrote his memoir he tried to hide any connection between Roerich and himself.
Wallace faced criticisms of being a communist sympathizer for most of his political career, and, whatever the exact truth may have been, it's hard to dispute that he defended Stalin far too staunchly for his own good. He might also have been a bit of a pacifist, which could have made being the wartime commander-in-chief a little tricky. So now? imagine Wallace and Roerich running World War II. I can practically smell the Sidewise Award.
To be continued
Entry posted by
Alasdair Wilkins
© Alasdair WilkinsStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Io9 Labels: Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Presidency, Premature Death, Election. ~ This one doesn't fit short comments.
1. Wallace was if not an active Soviet agent a definite sympathizer - Venona shows him as an intelligence source but the intercepts do not distinguish well between knowing agents, fellow travelers, useful idiots and those controlled by active agents. So this means Moscow to a decent extent controls the US White House
2. However while the Venona intercepts were not widely known Wallace's leftie tilt was - he would have been hammered by Congress and much of the permanent government - we are setting up a constitutional clash worse than Andy Johnson and at least as bad as the de facto coup that brought down Nixon. So he cannot just concede Germany and Japan to the SU. However he could have made a mess during the year it took to replace him with a different Democrat on the 1944 ticket after which Wallace probably runs third party and elects Dewey. So this should really be more about Dewey's one term n1945-48.
~ Fairly standard actually.
Wallace, Hopkins, Mrs.Roosevelt were Soviet intelligence sources - one can debate whether they were knowing sources or whether they would have cared had they known. Hiss and service were Soviet agents but may or may not have seen themselves as such.
The elites that ran the US would not have been surprised at any of these names. They might have been surprised at the degree of knowing cooperation but nothing beyond that. So presume Wallace becomes President. He has a small but rabid clique on the left supporting him. Say a dozen votes in the Senate and three dozen in the House plus a small media clique centered on the usual left outlets[the Nation, the New Republic etc.] plus some big city left and socialist papers. Andy Johnson had a major party [Democrats] supporting him. Nixon had most Republicans. Wallace is a third party independent by week one of his administration. He can fire his entire cabinet but probably could not get replacements of his liking through the senate confirmation process. He probably cannot get most of the permanent government to obey him - they would take their marching orders from Congress and Wallace's vetoes would be massively overriden. So his influence is at the margins. He could sabotage / delay the Normandy landings except Stalin wanted those. He could back up US war production by siding with the endless wildcat strikes in defense industry except again that was not what Stalin wanted. On war policy the big chnage is putting more Communists and Communist controlled socialists in the interim Italian government and sending more supplies to red partisans in the Balkans.
The big change would be race relations. Wallace could integrate the US military by executive order which Congress promptly overrides. This triggers more race riots in the US and even some in deployed military units. However slowing down the war will be mostly felt in the Pacific. Macarthur may be set back a few months as may Iwo and Okinawa. Hard to tell as we are talking third and fourth order ripple effects here. Presume this happens. Net effect is a smaller south Korea and Chiang surviving in South China
as if the Soviets take Shanghai instead of just Beijing China is probably partitioned in 1945-46.
~ Could he have commanded that US nuke research be openly shared with Uncle Joe?
Comment from Bob Hufford on Facebook: God help us if this one had played out. And it could have; FDR had severe hypertensive cardiovascular disease for years before the fatal stroke of April 12, 1945.
~ Wallace wasn't quite as "nutty" as all that, though he was naive, at best, regarding the Soviets. He rovided decent service as Agriculture Secretary before being tapped for VP. As for his interest in spiritualism, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as governor of California in the middle of the night because Nancy's astrologer said it was a propitious moment--yet even the Falwell/Robertson crowd, to whom astrologers werew "witches" who in a godly nation would be killed, never brought that up.
I think it's likely, by the way, that Wallace would haave been challenged, and defeated, by Truman or someone else in 1944 for the Deemocratic nomination, given how he was viewed by the establishment. Whether he'd have then run on a third-party ticket or not, I can't say, but either way he'd be unlikely to be ina possition to weaken the U.S. position at the start of the Cold EWar, since he'd have had no more chance of actually getting elected on a third-party ticket in 1944 than he had in OTL in '48.
~ Tighter relations with the Soviets even for a while would start the Cold War to a very different pace.
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Editor says, what if Suharto had been assassinated at a critical decision point? Would twenty-five years of agony been spared for the East Timorese? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1975, on this day an independent State of East Timor was declared in the capital city of Dili. Senior officers of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) moved quickly to establish an interim government, having seized power after their recent victory in the brief civil war that had proceeded the end of Portugese colonial rule.
East Timor becomes a sovereign nation by Chris Oakley & Ed.Due to complex self-serving expediencies in the International Community, this outcome was generally considered to be "unfortunate". In particular President Gerald Ford and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared that the Indonesian archipelago would become an ungovernable Muslim country, destabilizing regional security.
A 1962 United Nations document notes: "the government of Indonesia has declared that it maintains friendly relations with Portugal and has no claim to Portuguese Timor.."..Actually the territory of East Timor was recognised as a province of Indonesia, not just by the Republic of Indonesia itself, but by regional superpowers in particular Australia. Because in 1972, Australia had signed a framework agreement to secure access to the rich seabed resources in the "Timor Gap".
Falsely claiming that assistance had been requested by East Timorese leaders, and "given the green light" by Ford and Kissinger, Indonesian military forces prepared an invasion plan for execution on 7th December. However, on the night of the 6th, with the Republic of Indonesia set to regain its sovereignty over East Timor the very next day, renegade officers in the military ordered a coup d'etat.
Due to the mobilization, there was a reduced security presence in Jakharta and the victim of this set of circumstances would be Suharto, assassinated at a critical moment in the nation's history.
Fearing the loss of the considerable resources in the "Timor Gap", the Governments of Australia supported by regional allies Phillipines immediately contacted Vice President Hamengkubuwono IX offering military assistance to re-establish security througout the country. Outnumbered, yet undaunted, the brave people of East Timor prepared to fight a bitter war of independence that would not official end until official recognition followed in 2002.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Wikipedia Labels: East Timor, Indonesia, Australia, America, Islam. Editor says, Wikipedia ~ For twenty-five years [after 1975] East Timor was subjected to extrajudicial executions, torture, and starvation. The 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre caused outrage around the world, and reports of other such killings were numerous. Resistance to Indonesian rule remained strong; in 1996 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two men from East Timor, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta, for their ongoing efforts to peacefully end the occupation. A 1999 vote to determine East Timor's future resulted in an overwhelming majority in favor of independence, and in 2002 East Timor became an independent nation. The occupation is estimated to have claimed more than 100,000 East Timorese lives.
~ A couple of points - if Suharto is assassinated the night before, & there is a coup as a result, why would the Indonesian military continue with the plans to invade East Timor? Given the fact that the Indonesian military will want to secure the country, from the inevitable popular outrage (as Suharto was very popular at this atge of the game) the last thing the coup leaders want is the army stuck in East Timor.
Furthermore, due to the political crisis in Australia, Whitlam is no longer PM. Instead Fraser is. And he shouldn't be considered a friend of Indonesia, so any support from Australia, for Indonesian involvement in East Timor, no longer exists.
~ Some good points well made sir and I defer to your better knowledge of the situation of course. The assumption is Indonesia doesnt proceed with the invasion (which succeeded in OTL) and in this ATL is cancelled (as you say) due to the coup or rather proceeds half-heartedly with reduced forces. So instead, RoI enters a long period of low-intensity conflict with ET that it eventually loses after 25 years. Regarding Fraser, hands up - you've got me. So the POD is Whitlam still in power in December 1975.
~ Apropos of the Santa Cruz massacre, the thought has crossed my mind that in this ATL the massacre could have taken place on the battlefield instead of at a protest rally the way it did in OTL.
~ Misses context. The post-Portuguese liberation movements were of the left and thus unacceptable to Indonesia. No one was going to go to war with Indonesia over this.
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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.
