| April 6 |  |
Editor says, what if the Great War had spread even further? muses Jeff Provine. 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1917, as the Great War rolled into its second year, it became obvious that Germany was caught in an unwinnable two-front war. Hoping to distract the Russians by deepening the revolution breaking out in early 1917, the German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman arranged for a group of Communists including the infamous Vladimir Lenin to travel through German territory in a closed railroad car, eventually taking them back to Petrograd. To weaken the Western Front, Germany announced its resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, crippling the supply line coming in from America.
April 6, 1917 - World War Expands to US, Mexico, and SwedenAmerica balked, with leaders such as former president Theodore Roosevelt shouting, "Piracy!" President Wilson attempted to maintain a virtual peace by arming ships to destroy U-boats. Despite the Americans' merchant marines, the submarine attack proved overwhelmingly successful. It was only a matter of time before America would come into the war.
Seeing that the war might spread, German leadership began to investigate ways to make such an expansion work in their favor. Zimmerman sent a telegram to the ambassador to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt, instructing him to suggest an alliance. Germany would contribute munitions and funding while Mexico created a new front for America. By the time of Germany's victory, it would give Mexico back Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, land lost in the Mexican-American War seventy years before. Mexico itself was in a very difficult position, still facing revolutionaries after decades of lawless fighting in the desert northwest. The US had already performed patrols into Mexico, chasing warlords such as Pancho Villa who raided American towns. Mexico adopted a new constitution on February 5, 1917, which was the first in the world to guarantee social rights. There was still much discontent in the country, and at last the Mexican government determined that solidarity could be established if the nation faced a single enemy. On April 6, 1917, the US Congress declared war on Germany and its allies, which suddenly included Mexico.
On the same day, the war spilled northward into the Baltic region. Despite its earlier prominence as one of the greatest nations of Europe, Sweden had long maintained its neutrality. Wars with Russia had weakened the country in the eighteenth century and resulted in the loss of Finland in 1809. In the Napoleonic Era, Norway was handed over to Sweden from Denmark, though the Norwegians fought for independence. In 1905, Norway won its independence, and Sweden became a fraction of what it had been. After much encouragement and seeing the weakness of the Russians, the Swedes finally determined to win back their glory by retaking Finland. On April 6, a Swedish force invaded from the north, backed by a flotilla, and was joined by hopeful Finns. "White" Finns who had enjoyed Russian protection in the Grand Duchy interrupted the Swedish advance, adding to the chaos.
Despite the entrance of the United States, 1917 proved a difficult year for the Allies. US troops were immediately dispatched to Mexico, which was quickly overrun thanks to armored vehicle advances made by effective military minds such as Captain George S. Patton. While the battles were one-sided, America became bogged down with long supply-trains and a difficult occupation. Revolutionaries who had long practiced guerrilla warfare continued their resistance, causing Americans to pour more and more troops into Mexico rather than the trenches in France.
Issues also broke out between the United States and Japan, who had been among the Allies since the first days of the War. Almost immediately after their declaration of war against Germany, Britain and Japan followed their treaty of 1902 to use Japanese ships to capture German colonies in the Pacific and destroy the Kriegsmarine stationed there. With Russia collapsing, the Japanese began to push further into Asia, bringing the question of expansion into China. The US had disapproved of the Twenty-One Demands issued by Japan to China, which Secretary of State William J. Bryan saw as a rejection of the previous Open Door Policy defending Chinese autonomy while supporting all foreign interests. Britain attempted to keep both sides happy and helped to clarify spheres of influence while hosting Japanese Foreign Minister Ishii Kikujiro and American Secretary of State Robert Lansing, promoting Japan while the US held the Philippines.
Russia dropped out of the war October 26, 1917, with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, forming a separate peace with Germany. While much of the Central Powers celebrated, the Russian Civil War proved to destabilize the conquered regions. As Socialist "Reds" expanded their powers in Russia following the November revolution, they crossed the border into Finland, creating a new front for the Swedes occupying there. The Swedish invasion turned into a multisided Finnish Civil War. After a Soviet victory in the Russian Civil War, the Swedes were chased out of Finland, which again fell under Russian dominance.
The exhausted Central Powers eventually collapsed in 1919, ending the fighting in Europe while it continued for years elsewhere. The American occupation of Mexico finally ceased in 1920, though it would forever mingle America in the affairs of Latin America. The ABC Nations (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) worked to counter America's Monroe Doctrine, causing division and a number of bush wars, such as the fierce fighting in America's occupation of Hispaniola and expansion into the Caribbean.
When Germany went to war against Western Europe again in 1939, the United States refused to join another World War as occupations in the south were so difficult. The war did expand to Asia, however, when the Japanese allies of Germany performed a sneak-attack on Vladivostok in 1941. Soon both hemispheres were once again embroiled in war.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Great War, World War One, First World War, Germany, America. Editor says, in reality Mexico and Sweden maintained their neutrality in World War I. US intervention shifted more abroad, gradually away from a paternalistic stance of the Monroe Doctrine and toward the Truman Doctrine’s global Cold War.
~ But one important event is missing, and it certainly changed the British Empire. Hint:
"Come gather round me players all...come praise 1916!"
~
I would say on this scenario that Imperial Germany is likely to win the war as the 1918 offensive will succeed, in the absence of the numbers of American troops in OTL.
Which is what the Mexican alliance was designed to do.
If not it is likely to go on till 1920 as calculated by the British general staff.
Woodrow Wilson isn't going to like the Mexican war as it will mess up his image of the BIG LIBERAL and Global Idealist, as well as undermining his ability to preside over a European Peace Conference as he is tied up elsewhere.
If Britain is foolish enough to allow tension between Japan and the US.;-
a) Wilson may chicken out of aiding the British and decided to remain neutral
b) Public opinion in the US. will not allow Wilson to go to war, and he will go along with it, or there may be a delay in America entering - say Wilson only declares war in Augut 1917.
Whichever way it is not good for the Brits.
~ If we'd gone into Mexico we'd have had a dreadful time---the terrain in most of Northern Mexico is a guerrilla's wet dream.
~ Scary stuff....
~ There was potential for it to expand in and around colonies in Africa and Asia, which did happen more so in WWII.
~ One other thing, Russia will not be ready for revolution in 1917 - it took two years of remaining in a war where they should have sought a separate peace to do that.
~ And I still wonder what the effect would have been on Irish independence, starting with the Easter Week uprising of 1916. For one thing, we might not have had great poetry from the IRA press agents like William Butler Yeats, as quoted in my first comment.
~ The Irish Home Rule Act will have been implemented with probably separate Home Rule for Northern Ireland and John Redmond as prime minister for Southern Ireland. The IRB will not state a rebellion till war actually starts. So everything is in free fall.
~ Why does a Mexican war influence the war in France in 1918. War in Mexico would have imply taken troops that lacked transport to reach France. US mobilized far more men than they could ship and could have mobilized more. It wouldn't have taken first rate US equipment to beat the Mexicans like a drum.
~ I find it extremely doubtful that a second Mexican war with the USA would not have resulted in more territorial transfer between the nations. At the very least Chihuahua and Sonora plus Baja California would have been seized, and likely territories between Sonora and the Rio Grande river where it exits New Mexico as well. These new south west territories were lightly populated in 1918, but today they would be additional states with lots of retiree's resettling there instead of in Phoenix, Arizona.
~ Because any delay in sending troops to France by them being diverted to Mexico means they will not be there to help stop the German Kaiserschlacht campaign in the West, the equivalent of the ne in OTL, and the Germans will reach Paris, the French will seek an armistice and Britain, as expressed by British politicians and generals in OTL "we will have 3 million hostages in France" and Germany wins the war.
~ The hold-up on the US buildup in France was two fold - 1. shipping
2. We were training from scratch without enough regulars and trained reserves to even be training cadre
[3. equipment was mostly an Anglo-French problem - they essentially had to kit us out beyond uniforms et al]
Mexico would only need half trained riflemen and probably not more than a million of them. We had the men and enough basic arms [rifles, pistols, Gatling guns etc.]. It was serious heavy weapons we lacked.
~ No, you had theGgerman liners and Britain gave you priority with our shipping. Also the calculation was it takes 15 months to create a division. So 2 years as all these drafted get trained. The heavy guns were produced by the French for you using equipment in new factories supplied by you. Britain will not be in a position to supply you after 9 months of war as we had to create a complete new munitions industry under the Ministry of Munitions with equipment and steel supplied by you.
The supply of Britain with industrial goods to create this industry is a crucial aspect of the war, as the MinofMun official history says in OTL "without the steel alone there would have been a negotiated peace in 1915".
Incidentally what is the pretext for war to break out in this Time Line in 1916. Does Franz Ferdinand survive the 1914 assassination attempt but gets totalled in 1916?
Germany after 9 months of war will not have enough subs, and Woodrow Wilson not have enough time to crank up the propaganda, to decisively sink merchantmen and for the US. to enter the war.
Comment from Ron Lewenberg on Google+ Given the victory of the Whites in Finland's real civil war with backing from Germany and Sweden, I doubt that your scenario would have occurred. Also, I find it more likely that Germany's Operation Michael would have succeed without US aid. The French and British would have been forced to negotiate and the Germans would have ensured pro-German governments in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, and perhaps Ukraine too.
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Editor says, what if Pope Nicholas V formed the tenth crusade in time to lift the siege of Constantinople? 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 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1453, with his capital city besieged by a vast Ottoman Turk force Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos reluctantly declared "Better the Cardinal's hat turban than the Sultan's turban!".
Better the Cardinal's hat than the Sultan's turban!Of course seven weeks later the siege was lifted by Venetian, German, and Genoese troops under the direct command of Pope Nicholas V. It would serve as the crowning moment of his impressive eight-year term as pope and herald a new age of military security in Christendom from outside threats.
But the inside story was simply incredible; even though the Tenth Crusade was the Byzantine's last hope, their plight was in no small part due to the earlier Crusades and caused by schismatic differences between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. And much as Constantine XI had feared, the triumph meant the end of the Byzantine period and domination over the European Muslims. Eventually though the "Third Rome" would rise again, but not until the emergence of Tsarist Russia, the new vanguard of the Orthodox Church.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Byzantium, Constantine XI, Ottoman, Turk, Byzantine. Editor says, in authoring this post we revisit an idea from Jeff Provine's Constantinople Siege Raise. In reality, a member of the Byzantine elite declared the opposite, "Better the Sultan's turban than the Cardinal's hat!".
~ I don't know if Byzantium would have lasted. Between Orthodox bitterness against the "schismatic" Westerners, and the fact that the Ottomans were getting stronger and stronger, eventually it would have fallen. And by the 1400s, the Crusades were very much a thing of the past. If they wouldn't fight for Jerusalem, why would they want to save a city full of "heretics?"
~ Cardinal's Hat eventually became such a famous cliche that it became part of the regular speech anywhere European peoples went -- and it could go in any direction, however. It could mean anything related to a final decision.
"It is Cardinal Hat that I get to work on time this morning," many of us might be saying.
It could mean plenty for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball in the U.S. Especially if they win a World Series.
~ The third paragraph is a bit sketchy.
~ Mike, you mean to say that the phrase should have been "Better the Cardinals' BAT"? :)
~ IIRC Constantine XI _was_ pro unification. It drew little real aid and was bitterly resented by a lot of the Orthodox population. IF a new full scale crusade came in you could see many Rhomaioi fighting under the Turkish banner.
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Editor says, what if the Republic of Texas had exported helium to Nazi Germany? 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 March 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1937, the United States Government was outraged to discover that Nazi Germany had formed a contractual agreement for the supply of helium, a byproduct of oil from certain geological strata located in the Republic of Texas.
Hindenburg DisasterIn an attempt to defuse the diplomatic dispute escalating between the three Governments, a technical statement was issued to the public by industry sources in Berlin. Hindenburg Airship Designer, Herr Fritz August Breuhaus and the former head of the Zeppelin Company Dr. Hugo Eckener presented reasoned arguments that supply was absolutely necessary to ensure the safe continuation of transatlantic passenger travel. Both Germans politely reminded Americans that helium had been selected for the lifting gas because it was the safest to use in airships as it was not flammable.
However the US Government had designated the gas as a material with "military value" and banned exportation under the Neutrality Act. Accordingly, Washington advised the German Embassy that henceforth airships fueled by helium would be denied use of the hangar and mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey (pictured).
For Germany, the cessation of the transatlantic lighter-than-air program was a transportation public relations disaster matched only by the Kriegsmarine sinking the Titanic. No longer would wealthy German Citizens travel in luxury to the East Coast. But it was not to be the last time that the swastika could be seen emblazening aircraft over New York City. Because the dispute was also just one step on the long road to war; within five years, anti-submarine patrol blimps were operated from Lakehurst and the only aircraft crossing the Atlantic were dispatched by the Luftwaffe.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Disasters Source: Wikipedia Labels: Hindenburg, Airship, Zeppelin, Fritz August Breuhaus, Hugo Eckener. Editor says, in reality the airship was re-engineered to use hydrogen which was considered a contributory factor in the disaster. Thanks to Scott Palter to contributing to certain facts in the preparation of the story.
~ Zeppelin wars! YES! I want to see military blimps!
~ Paging Mr. Turtledove...
~ US against Germany, wonder how the rest of Europe filled in: lots of neutrality, creating a nearly impossible-to-win trans-oceanic war, or if the Battle of Britain had gone very poorly (more zeppelins involved, eh?)
~ The North American coast was just about out of reach for the Luftwaffe, although they did get a few planes into US airspace (the CAP never spotted them as German, reporting them as "unknown.") Lighter-than-air by that time was considered too fragile for air-to-air combat.
~ As there were German flights during the war to and from Japanese Manchuria making a few planes that could reach the North American coast was not impossible. Germany trashed most of their ultra long range air programs for various stupid reasons [Adolph wanting 4 engine bombers to have dive bomb capability etc.].
~ Why would transatlantic travel via LTA craft screech to a halt? Clearly Germany is at peace with the UK and Canada, The Bahama's, Bermuda are all still available as destinations. Fly from Berlin to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then take a passenger plane to NYC if that is your final destination.
~ Zeppelins would have had limited military utility in an era in which airplane technology was advancing rapidly (jet fighters would first be used in World War II). However, if not for the Hindenburg disaster, the luxury pasenger trade might have revived in the postwar era as Germany's economy recovered.
A bigger problem with this scenario is the very existence of a familiar Nazi Germany in a world with an independent CSA. Surely that initial difference would haave affected, among other thngs, the course and aftrmath of World War I.
~ Maybe the RoT starts building airships of their own?
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Editor says, what if Huey P. Long had been impeaced in 1929? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1929, Huey Pierce Long, then governor of Louisiana, was impeached in the state's House of Representatives on a variety of charges ranging from corruption to "blasphemy". It was the beginning of a two-month drama which would end with his conviction in the Louisiana Senate by a single vote after the failure of an effort to derail the impeachment by obtaining sworn statements from one-third of the body?s members saying that they would vote to acquit regardless because the charges themselves were unconstitutional.
Kingfish Impeached by Eric LippsLong had run afoul of powerful business interests, in particular Standard Oil, which had been angered by his efforts to raise revenue for his ambitious social and construction programs through a five-cents-per-barrel tax on oil refining. Standard Oil had played a crucial role in building support for Long's impeachment. Ironically, though, this was to work to the ousted governor's advantage.
In October 1929, the stock market collapsed, touching off the cascade of economic failures which would produce the Great Depression. Long, quick to seize the moment, branded his Standard Oil adversaries as among those responsible for the spreading misery. In 1930, he won election to the U.S. Senate, and in 1932 ran for president of the United States, posing such a serious challenge to New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt that upon winning the Democratic nomination FDR offered the vice-presidential slot to Long.
Long accepted, despite privately sharing the pungent view of Texan John Nance Garner as to the worth of the vice-presidency. His acceptance, however, came with conditions: he demanded FDR's assurance that he would be allowed to speak and travel freely. Badly needing Long's support in the South, where he was viewed as deeply suspect for his liberal politics and Yankee background, FDR agreed.
Long would prove a capable second - so much so that Roosevelt would retain him through the 1936, 1940 and 1944 elections despite strong pressure from within the party to dump the outspoken and flamboyant Louisianan. As a result, when President Roosevelt died in April 1945, it would be Huey Long who would become the 33rd president of the United States.
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Conspiracy Theories Source: Wikipedia Labels: Huey Long, Smedley Butler, FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt. ~ So what does Long do as President instead of Truman? I hope there's a part II to this story as a result.
~ I wouldn't think that blasphemy was something impeachable, even in the Bible Belt. What would one have to do to be accused of it?
~ Not as much as you might think... ;)
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Editor says, Chris Oakley's observation that Mussolini never seems to get a break in any ATL hit a raw nerve, so we wrote this piece for "Il Duce" Please note that the viewpoints expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of the authors or the Editor.
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In 1941, on this day Adolf Hitler came to the much needed assistance of an old ally, Benito Mussolini - rescuing him from the painful consequences of his misadventure in Greece.
Mussolini's Botched Greek CampaignThe struggling political journalist had catastrophically underestimated the resources he would require for his occupation in Greece. By late 1940, it was absolutely clear that his ambitious plans to generate income with a decisive headline in the Italian press had failed. Not only was the prospect of "the leader" becoming increasingly remote, it was increasingly obvious that Benito would need a trust friend to bail him out - and big time.
And yet, while Mussolini's exploits in Greece created numerous problems for Hitler, Walt Disney's favourite cartoonist went out of his way to reaffirm his commitment to his Italian partner during a meeting with his agent. "From this city of Vienna," Hitler told the agent as the two men parted, "on the day of the Anschluss, I sent Mussolini a cable to assure him that I would never forget his help. I confirm it today, and I am at his side with all my strength". But it was the emotion with which these words were uttered that struck the agent. "He had two big tears in his eyes," he noted in his diary. "What a strange man!"
The grandly named anschluss was of course the union with Eva Braun who met Hitler, 23 years her senior, at Hoffmann's studio of Munich in 1929. He had been introduced to her as "Herr Wolff" (a childhood nickname). She described him to friends as a "gentleman of a certain age with a funny moustache, a light-coloured English overcoat, and carrying a big felt hat". He appreciated her eye colour, which was said to be close to his mother's. Her family was strongly against the relationship and little is known about it during the first two years until Mussolini provided a strong letter of recommendation for the then little known cartoonist.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Happy Hitler Artist Source: Hitlers Raid Labels: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Italy, Germany, Greece. ~ Seeing Benny-the-Moose as a journalist and editor is interesting, to say the least. I wonder if he'd run Carl Kolchak's stories (and I've just dated myself, haven't I?)
~ Jeez, the last time I saw anyone refer to Mussolini as "Benny the Moose" was in L. Sprague deCamp's novel "Lest Darkness Fall," written in 1939.
~ Glad to see I could be inspirational... :)
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In 1965, police in Birmingham, Alabama, arrest 45 demonstrators marching on behalf of desegregation and civil rights. The next day, 150 more people are arrested, including the Revs. Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr. King is placed in solitary confinement, and while in custody pens an impassioned letter on behalf of his cause. He is released two weeks later, on April 20.Ministers and Marches by Eric LippsOn May 3, under the aegis of the Southern Christian Leadership Congress, over 1,000 children, ranging from six to 18 years old, are kept out of school by their parents to participate in a mass civil rights demonstration. When they attempt to march downtown from their gathering point at Kelly Ingram Park, police close in and begin arresting them. Soon the city's police vans are packed and arrested children are being stuffed into school buses for transport to holding. The following day, a thousand more children are arrested in a second day of SCLC-organized civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama. In breaking up that day's demonstrations, Birmingham public safety commissioner 'Bull' Connor orders the use of high-pressure fire hoses whose streams are powerful enough to break bones and roll protesters down the street. In addition, he mobilizes K-9 units, whose dogs attack and injure a number of demonstrators. The Birmingham jails are crammed to overflowing.
In the aftermath, Connor responds angrily to criticism, blaming the children's parents for 'allowing innocent children to be used in the service of subversion.' He demands that these parents be sued for damages by the city. However, television coverage of the Birmingham demonstrations, including interviews with some of those involved, casts Connor in a bad light. Worse still from the viewpoint of the city council and the local business community, it casts Birmingham itself in a bad light. Fearing that the city's economy will be harmed by the damage to its reputation, the business community, with the reluctant assent of the city council, agrees to integrate lunch counters and hire more blacks. It is a welcome victory for the civil rights movement after a string of failures.
In Washington, President Johnson responds to the events in Birmingham by deciding to support a federal civil rights bill. His choice is driven by more than altruism: international media coverage of Birmingham has already embarrassed the United States. The Soviet news agency TASS has played up images of children being menaced by snarling dogs, knocked over by high-pressure fire hose bursts, and herded into police vans at gunpoint, and reports in the Western European media aren't much better. The only U.S. ally to be openly sympathetic to the Birmingham police is South Africa. Johnson fears that if the federal government does not distance itself from the racism on display in these reports, the reputation - and more importantly, the political influence - of the United States will be undermined, particularly in the Third World.
The reaction in some quarters is predictably hostile. On May 9, in a follow-up to his 'Ministers and Marches' sermon of March 21 condemning the involvement of clergymen in the civil rights movement, Rev. Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg, Virginia cites the violent Birmingham confrontation as evidence of 'what happens when ministers of the Gospel allow themselves to serve the purposes of politics.' The Lynchburg pastor declares, 'No man can serve two masters. Anyone called to the service of the Lord must forgo service to the causes of this world, however virtuous those causes may appear. If he will not, he risks substituting the fallen spirit of man for the Holy Spirit in his heart.'
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Wikipedia Labels: Civil Rights, Segregration, America, Lyndon Baines Johnson, South.comments powered by Disqus
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In 1199, King Richard I of England dies from an infected arrow-wound.
King Geoffrey I
by Robbie TaylorHis heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy, the entrails in Châlus (where he died) and the rest of his body was buried at the feet of his father at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou. The infamous mercenary captain Mercadier had the crossbowman flayed alive and hanged.
Through the subtle maneuvering that he had been known for, his brother Geoffrey claims the throne, overthrowing John, who had been ruling in Richard's place as he crusaded. King Geoffrey I became an even more powerful king than his father, Henry II, conquering the whole of France and adding it to England's empire.
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: King Richard I, King Geoffrey I, King Henry II, Conquest of France, Premature Death. ~ That was quick! OTL, the English never succeeded in conquering France,
but suddenly King Jeff does it. How?
~ Okay, you have Geoff avoiding that tourament and getting trampled. He's the older brother of John, so he would well be regent in England during Richard's absence instead of Lackland. Thus he wouldn't have to "overthrow" him. Obviously this could change a lot of the dynastic lines of England, unless those stories about Philip of France and him are true....
~ This after Richards imprisonment and ransom. So we still have the have England taxed into the ground to raise the king's ransom, and thus we still have the legend of Robin Hood.
~ Stan, at this point, England had control of half of France already - if Richard hadn't spent all his time in the Middle East, he probably would've taken the rest
~ Geoffrey would have run into a lot of the same problems that John did---among other things, the "Angevin Empire" had no real reason to be a unit; it was created via dynastic marriages and had very different laws, customs, langauges and what-not in its different regions. Also, as the French monarchy got stronger, it was harder and harder for the English to hold on to territory in France.
~ Presuming Geo-1 manages to oust the French king, it will have the general long-term effect of James Stuart of Scotland taking the English throne.
~ With no King John, what happens to the Magna Carta? A stronger king might have stood up to the barons at Runnymede.
~ If the English could hold onto France, we'd see a massive northern European empire. No King John means English autocracy holds on, too, meaning a major shift from our TL's political development.
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On this day in 2008, the jury in the Spitzer vs. Spitzer divorce case began deliberations.. | |
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| Eliot Spitzer |
Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Love Guv Source: Wikipedia Labels: Eliot Spitzer, New York, Governor, Prostitution Ring, America.comments powered by Disqus
On this day in 1977, the Colorado Blizzard made their National League debut with a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies; that same afternoon, the Tampa Bay Stingrays opened their inaugural MLB season with an eight-run shutout loss to the San Diego Padres. | |
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Entry posted by
Chris Oakley
© Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: MLB Expanded Source: Wikipedia Labels: Major League, Baseball, America, Canada, North America.comments powered by Disqus
In 1941, on this day Adolf Hitler formally declared war on the Soviet Union. | |
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| Adolf Hitler |
Variant entry posted by
Chris Oakley
original content has been repurposed to celebrate the author's genius © Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Blackpool40 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Blackpool, Adolf Hitler, Normandy, Britain, France.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: The Langes Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Dave Lange, Robbie A. Taylor, Jean Lange, The_Langes, Claw.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Mlosh Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Mlosh, 1720, Robbie A. Taylor, Warp, Alien.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sheridan Labels: Jacob Sheridan, Robbie A. Taylor, Livinia Sheridan, Mars Attacks, America.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: The Baron Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Mikhail von Heflin, Robbie A. Taylor, The Baron, Velma Porter, Dimensions.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Telka Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Speakers Line, Robbie A. Taylor, The Dreaming, Conspiracy, Speakers.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Arthur II Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Arthur Pendragon, Robbie A. Taylor, Camelot Redux, Merlin, England.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sockless Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Jerry Simpson, Robbie A. Taylor, Topeka, Grover Cleveland, 1861.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robert Silverberg, 'Roma Eterna', Robbie Taylor, 2005.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Society Source: Wikipedia Labels: Olympic Games, Olympiad, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Roma Eterna.comments powered by Disqus
Alternate Historians says, this post presents the event as a certainty, whereas in our reality, there is some controversy over whether Peary actually reached the pole, or at least was the first to reach it [RAT].
April 5
Editor says, what if Pocahontas had not died in 1617? muses Dirk Puehl. 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1614, the first recorded interracial in the New World between the planter John Rolfe and the "Mother of the Confederation" Pocahontas took place in Jamestown, Virginia. Initially, Rolfe saw marriage to a daughter of the paramount chief of the then already relatively powerful Native Powhatan Confederation as a good idea to secure his expanding tobacco plantations. What agenda Pocahontas and her father, known as Chief Powhatan may have pursued originally is unclear, but the baptised and newly-wed Native Princess took her husband to a visit of the English mother country, accompanied by trusted Powhatan advisors. She met with King James I in England who almost had Rolfe executed for high treason for forming an alliance without royal consent and excluded him from the meetings on grounds of his lower social status. Pocahontas fell ill when the couple was about to return to Virginia, but finally recovered and returned to the New World in the spring of 1618.
This post was written by Dirk Puehl the highly recommended author of #onthisday #history Google+ posts.
Mother of the ConfederationPocahontas went to the territory of the Powhatan soon after and was rarely seen in the colony for quite a while, probably dealing together with her father with the uprising of Tomocomo, a shaman who accompanied the Rolfes to England and was quite obviously set against teaming up with the English settlers with a vengeance. While the Powhatan territory became more and more a holding centre for refugees from the colony - two thirds of its inhabitants were actually there against their will, coloured slaves bought from a Dutch man-of-war as well as the deported from England who all fled west to Werowocomoco, the Powhatan capital on the York River - traditional elements within the tribal confederation pursued a policy of isolation against the foreigners. After the death of Pocahontas' father in 1618, his brother Opechancanough tried to turn the tide - the princess was acclaimed "High Chief" of all Tsenacommacah or tribes while her uncle collected the dissatisfied elements and began a guerilla war. Against the new "Mother of the Confederation" as well as the English invaders. Though Governor Thomas Dale repulsed the haphazard invasion of Opechancanough along the James River, he called to the mother country for reinforcements and Pocahontas' Powhatan Confederation had a full fledged war at her hands in the early 1620s.
Nonetheless, the English colonial troops were not strong enough to fundamentally harm the Powhatan Confederation but managed to dislocate the Tsenacommacah settlements east of the headland of the headwaters of the James River, securing the colony and allowing a permanent settlement of the Confederation in the Appalachian region between the new Pennsylvania and the territory of the Shawnee and Cherokee in what was to become Kentucky. After Pocahontas death in 1646 she was succeeded by her son Thomas Rolfe. His descendants dominated the Powhatan Confederation for the next 150 years until Powhatan joined the rebellion as 14th colony in 1776.
Entry posted by
Dirk Puehl
© Dirk Puehl, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Dirks Blog Source: Wikipedia Labels: John Rolfe, America, Pocahontas, Premature Death, Thomas Rolfe. Editor says, what really happened - In 1617, the Rolfes set sail for home, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes. She was buried in a church in Gravesend, but the exact location of her grave is unknown.
~ Might have worked out this way, but IMO the cultural gaps were just too great.
~ No Comment
~ The issue of foreign diseases as a backdrop might interrupt it, but overcoming that, the first Native Americans with guns would be grand conquerors.
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Editor says, what if Alexander Nevsky had been defeated at the Battle of Lake Peipus? muses Marko Bosscher. 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1242, Novgorod was under heavy pressure from both the East and the West. In the east the Golden Horde loomed, while Novgorod was repeatedly invaded from the west during the Northern Crusades. And when the Teutonic Order invaded once again Alexander, elected Prince of Novgorod, marched against them with a substantial army. Meeting the Teutonic forces, led by Hermann the Prince-Bishop of Dorpat, near the bank of Lake Peipus. Hoping to draw the knights into a disadvantageous position Alexander withdrew across the narrow strait connecting Lake Peipus with neighbouring Lake Pskovskoe.
Alexander Nevsky defeated at the Battle of Lake PeipusLake Peipus is unusually shallow for it's size and is frozen throughout winter, thawing out only at the end of April. The lake thus formed a solid surface for the combatants that 5th of April, but the heavily armoured mounted Teutonic Knights were at a disadvantage when having to charge across the ice. Although the knights drew up in wedge formation Hermann called of the assault when he saw the strength of the Russian position, deciding instead to go around it to find a better approach.
Seeing the Teutonic forces move towards the east bank of the lake Alexander sent out his own cavalry in an attempt to provoke Hermann into an attack. The lighter Russian cavalry was swift enough, even on the ice, to freely harass the Estonian infantry that made up the bulk of Hermann's force. But rather than being goaded into a frontal assault on the Russian position Hermann lined up his infantry in a defensive position, while sending most of his knights to the shore to move around the enemy position.
What was intended by Hermann to be a temporary position, to hold of the harassing cavalry in anticipation of an assault on Alexander's position, would become the focal point of the battle. Alexander seeing the opportunity to attack the outnumbered Teutonic forces, and worried about the knights working his flank moved his troops on the ice as well. Leaving behind only a token force to delay the knights moving against them. The battle soon developed into a furious melee as the remaining knights prevented the Russian cavalry from outflanking the Teutonic troops.
Alexander's ploy failed however when the Teutonic Knights returned, having heard the sounds of battle carried on the wind (a 'Zeichen Gottes' according to the knights own chronicler). The knights unexpectedly fell on the left flank of the army of Novgorod and panic swept across the battleline, quickly turning into a full rout. Only Alexander and the 'druzhina' (the "fellowship" or retinue, numbering a thousand of the best warriors) held and tried to fight their way back to their original position.
Badly outnumbered they never made it off the ice, Alexander fell among many of his men and the remainder surrendered after being completely encircled. The Teutons then marched South to take Pskov, which they had lost to Alexander the previous year. After receiving further reinforcement from the Livonian Order Hermann marched on Novgorod itself in the summer. It seemed that history would repeat itself as on the approach to Novgorod a Russian army marched to meet the Teutonic forces and oppose them in battle. But this Novgorod had not had the time to recover from it's losses, the Battle of Lake Peipus had not only cost the Republic most of it's seasoned warriors but also it's most capable military leader. The army of Novgorod was swept aside by the invading knights.
But even before Hermann reached the city walls of Novgorod he was met by envoys of the Council of Nobles, and they made a fantastic offer. The republic of Novgorod would submit to the Teutonic Order on the condition that the Republic would continue to exist and maintain it's current structure. It was a offer that Hermann could hardly refuse, but being a devout Catholic he could not allow Novgorod to remain Orthodox. He sent the envoy back with the message that he would only accept if Novgorod would only elect Catholic Princes, and marched on to lay siege to Novgorod.
Upon reaching the city Hermann found the gates open and messengers proclaiming himself the newly elected Prince of Novgorod. It was a devious political move as it effectively ended the war, but left the Teutons with an Orthodox country in their possession. It would only be the start of of political maneuvering that would see the Archbishop of Novgorod pledged allegiance to the Pope, but maintaining orthodox customs and traditions.
The Teutonic Order thus acted as the sword and shield of Orthodox Novgorod against it's neighbours and the mongol horde. It was an uneasy alliance held together by Novgorod's profitable position as gateway to the Baltic Sea and a slow conversion to Catholicism. But it ensured Novgorod's continued survival into the late Middle Ages and it provided the Teutonic Order with the means to maintain the large armies that were it's raison d'etre.
Entry posted by
Marko Bosscher
© Marko Bosscher, 2013-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Religion Source: Wikipedia Labels: Hermann, Novgorod, Teutonic, Teutonic, Lake Peipus. Editor says, in reality: Alexander defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of the Ice and went down in history as Alexander Nevsky, probably the most famous Russian warrior in history and granted sainthood by the Orthodox Church. Novgorod would thrive for several centuries, but would ultimately be annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the end of the 15th century.
~ Now what happens when/if the Reformation hits *Uniate Novgorod?
~ If Nevsky had lost the war, Sergei Eisenstein would not have made his great movie "Alexander Nevsky"...which some say was an influence on "Star Wars," with the Russian version of the Luke-Leia and Han Solo triangle.
~ Maybe he would've made an epic about the Teutons.
~ Are you kidding, Jeff? It was 1938, the Teutons were a real threat again...and besides, Eisenstein's producer was Stalin.
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Editor says, what if Alexios Komnenos had been Executed? 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1081, on this day Alexios Komnenos was executed. Still considered by many the eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium fell into renewed chaos in the second millennium after centuries of rule reestablished by military strength of Justinian, Maurice, and Heraclitus. Justinian had pushed the empire to its zenith in the sixth century, and other great emperors worked to hold onto its expansive territory. However, the cost in manpower and resources gradually weakened the empire as Arab strength grew. The Macedonian dynasty of Basil the first restored much of the declining Byzantine strength, but the death of Empress Theodora, childless at 76, left the empire without clear leadership in 1056. Her successor Michael VI abdicated to become a monk, and his successor Isaac I abdicated after nearly being struck by lightning, leaving rule to the wealthy Doukas family. They bloated the bureaucracy with highly paid but ineffectual leadership, undercutting the soldiers, who began to rebel on the frontiers.
April 5, 1081 - Alexios Komnenos ExecutedIn 1074, rebellion broke out in Asia Minor, which was put down by Alexios Komnenos. The Komnenoi were a successful military family, and Alexios fought bravely in wars against the Seljuk Turks and in putting down rebellions in the Balkans. During the political turmoil, generals Nikephoros Bryennios and Nikephoros Botaneiates revolted simultaneously, and Botaneiates successfully overthrew Michael VII Doukas in 1078. He effectively politicked for religious and public support and offered Bryennios the position as junior co-emperor. Bryennios refused and was subsequently defeated by Alexios, blinded, and forcibly retired.
As Nikephoros III Botaneiates, he attempted to establish a new court, but his efforts only worsened the confusion. The established bureaucracy became alienated and even more ineffective while Botaneiates' co-emperor John Doukas and the old court began plots to overthrow Botaneiates. They concentrated their efforts on Alexios, who had continued to serve as a heroic general in the West and prepared to battle against invading Normans who fought to return the rule of the deposed Michael VII. Empress Maria of Alania, former wife of Michael VII and then wife of Botaneiates, adopted Alexios as her son and sent him to raise an army along with his natural and adoptive brothers. His mother, Anna Dalassena, escaped the suspicious palace guard and sought sanctuary at Hagia Sofia. The guards attempted to bring her home, but she exclaimed falsehoods of a plan to blind Alexios and his brother, whom she said had fled the city so that they might continue to serve the emperor. Although they tried to quiet her, she swore that she would only leave the church if Botaneiates gave his cross to her along with the vow that he would do no harm to her family.
Botaneiates became suspicious of her theatrical appeal and refused to give such a vow. He sent agents to find Alexios and his brother, who were indeed raising an army. They were brought back to Constantinople on April 1, imprisoned, and executed. Anna Dalassena hid in Hagia Sofia, which Botaneiates surrounded in a "siege" that prevented food other than sacrament to enter. Embarrassed, she was forced to leave the church and resigned to the convent of Petrion. Botaneiates set about rooting out the rest of the conspirators, which crippled the government in a crucial time.
The Normans under Duke Robert Guiscard continued their invasion of Byzantine lands after securing Sicily and Malta from the Muslim forces to the south. Using the political instability as a pretense, his forces conquered southern Italy and began an invasion of the Balkans with papal blessing. His army overwhelmed Botaneiates' defenses at Dyrrachium and moved toward Constantinople. Botaneiates attempted to defeat the army in the field, but his armies were repeatedly crushed, and the loot won by the Normans kept dissension at a minimum. Finally, in 1085, Robert sacked Constantinople and ended the Byzantine Empire.
Robert died after a few years' rule in Constantinople, and the Norman kingdom there collapsed under Seljuk attack. The ruling Seljuk emperor, Alp Arslan, had established a frontier of feudal "beyliks" (states) after defeating the Byzantines in Anatolia in 1071 at Manzikert. When the Seljuks splintered after the death of Malik Shah, Kilij Arslan founded the Sultanate of Rum in Asia Minor, pushing westward with the Emir Chaka of Smyrna until the Normans retreated back to Italy and Sicily. Muslim control rolled westward across the Balkans, butting up against Christendom's strongest center in Italy. Many talked of a united Christian force to drive back the Turks, but the most that Pope Urban II was able to manage was a bolstering of defenses for Italy and a push to retake lands along the North African coast to affirm Spain's Reconquista.
Meanwhile, trade flourished between the Italian city-states, such as Venice. With the Byzantine stranglehold on east-west trade removed, the Muslims gained great influence shipping good westward. Trade with Kiev at the north of the Black Sea brought Islam to Russia, where it made great advances overriding the Orthodox Christian beliefs adopted in the century before. Constantinople continued being one of the main hubs of the world, and Europe continued as a rich market for Islamic traders for centuries to come. Christian kingdoms, meanwhile, expanded southward and across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World there. While Europe underwent a Renaissance in the seventeenth century, many great minds traveled to the libraries of Constantinople to study, keeping the Islamic world apace with innovations in medicine, mathematics, and science.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine, Premature Death, Constantinople, Execute. Editor says, in reality Alexios successfully overthrew Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Having taken the vow that he could do no harm to the family and facing Alexios' army that bribed the city guard to enter Constantinople without a fight, Nikephoros had no choice but to abdicate. Alexios began the Komnenian dynasty, which revitalized the empire for a time. Perhaps most notable for history, Alexios pleaded for aid from Urban II in fighting the Seljuk Turks as Christian allies, which culminated in the Crusades.
~ The BIG thing here is how badly one would have to screw up to get the Normans into Constantinople (at this point even the Hautevilles did not have much of a fleet). If they managed that then a Turkish invasion gets more probable.
~ The Islamic world could never have kept pace, certainly not under the Turks. I agree with Mr. Griffin -- the Normans weren't all that numerous. They controlled the sea, but found it hard to press far inland.
~ Must agree with Harvey on this one.
~ Would the Normans have been able to divide their time between the Middle East and England, where they were still busy suppressing the Saxons?
~ Different Normans. This set started out as crusaders/mercenaries in south Italy.
~ Well, OK, Scott...but I would have thought that ANY Normans would have to start out in Normandy.
~ Would the Normans have been willing to adopt Orthodoxy? This was just after the final schism between Eastern and Western churches, IIRC, and that was one big source of friction between the Crusaders and the Byzantines.
~ Re Stan Brin: Don't be so sure "the Islamic world could never have kept pace." Well into the Middle Ages, the Islamic world was in fact both more prosperous AND more advanced than "Christendom." It fell on hard times only centuries after this entry's POD.
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Editor says, what if George Romney had won in 1968? 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 April 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1991, on this day the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States John Goodwin Tower was tragically killed (along with twenty other people including his middle daughter, Marian, and the astronaut Sonny Carter) in the crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 on approach for landing at Brunswick, Georgia. He was sixty-five years old.
VP John Tower killedTributes were led by George Romney the thirty-seventh President of the United States with whom he had won back-to-back elections before his own narrow defeat to Senator Birch Evans Bayh, Jr. in his own bid for the White House during 1976.
Despite the enduring warmth of their personal popularity ratings, they had a modest record. The main achievements included pulling out of Vietnam also beginning a period of detente with the Soviet Union and China, but they failed at several attempts to reform government programs.
A remarkable figure of the Cold War era, he had been become famous through his historic election to the Senate: (1) first Republican U.S. senator from Texas since Reconstruction, (2) third Republican from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction, (3) first Republican from a former Confederate state since Newell Sanders of Tennessee left office in 1913 (a gap of forty-eight years), and (4) first Republican from the former Confederacy ever to win a Senate seat by popular election. it was a platform from which George Walker Bush would build in his own run for the Senate during the early 1990s.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2006-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Gregory Peck, Ireland, America, Ambassador, Liberal. Editor says, in authoring this article we have re-purposed content from the Alternate History and Wikipedia web sites.
~ Interesting stuff...
~ Interesting, but Veeps are a dime a dozen.
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Editor says, what if LBJ had been re-elected and sent Gregory Peck to Ireland in 1969? 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 2010 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1916, on this day Irish-American actor and statesman Eldred Gregory Peck was born in La Jolla, California.
Gregory Peck's Great AdventureOne of the world's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, he was appointed United States Ambassador (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) to Ireland by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Needless to say the appointment of a lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party would have been unthinkable had the Republicans won the recent Presidential election. The GOP nominee, Richard Nixon had actually placed him on his enemies list due to his liberal activism. This was primarily due to his opposition to Hollywood blacklisting; in 1947 he signed a letter which deplored a House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of alleged communists in the film industry.
An intensely private man, Peck had only accepted the "great adventure" because of his Irish ancestry. That flowery description of the new role was his own phrase, but surely the timing of his arrival in Ireland on the eve of the sectarian violence surrounding the "Battle of the Bogside was precipitous.
Peck had not sought political office. He had politely, but firmly declined, offers to run against Ronald Reagan for State Senate in 1964, and later the Governship of California in 1968. After the elections, Democrat supporters (including the defeated incumbent Governor Edmund Brown) were convinced that his charisma, and celebrity status, could have defeated his fellow actor.
A political confrontation between the two actors finally occurred in 1987 when Peck did the voice over on television commercials opposing Reagan's Supreme Court nomination of conservative jurist Robert Bork. Bork's nomination was defeated to the disgust of many, including another actor Charlton Heston who registered his protest by formally joining the Republican Party.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2006-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Gregory Peck, Ireland, America, Ambassador, Liberal. Editor says, in an interview with the Irish media, Peck revealed that former President Lyndon Johnson had told him that, had he sought re-election in 1968, he intended to offer Peck the post of U.S. ambassador to Ireland - a post Peck, due to his Irish ancestry, said he might well have taken, saying "[It] would have been a great adventure". Author Michael Freedland, in his biography of Peck, substantiates the report and says that Johnson indicated that his presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Peck would perhaps make up for his inability to confer the ambassadorship.
~ Charlton Who? Is that Hollywierd-type?
~ Difficult to say how he would have handled it, particularly if he were there for the start of the Troubles. Vis-a-vis the Troubles, the US always had to do a balancing act between the Irish-American lobby in the US (which saw Ireland through the lens of the Potato Famine and the Easter Uprising) and the UK, which was and is a very important ally.
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Editor says, what if Cuba had become the 49th State? muses Eric Lipps. 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2008, the fortieth President of the United States Charlton Heston died in Beverly Hills, California. He was eighty-four years old.
President Charlton Heston passes awayHis tenure was dominated by the contra war against the left-wing government of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia which re-opened an eighty year old dispute which began in the 49th State.
By 1898 armed hostilities in the Spanish-American War had come to an end. Ignominiously defeated, Spain was forced to relinquish control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine Islands to the United States.
Debate over what to do with America's new possessions was fierce. In the case of Cuba in particular, there had been considerable sentiment in favor of independence prior to the outbreak of war, when lurid articles regarding the real and alleged brutalities of the Spanish colonial regime appeared regularly in the newspapers of media baron William Randolph Hearst. Once Cuba passed into U.S. hands, however, ardor for freeing it cooled considerably. Businessmen liked the cheap sugar and other products Cuba provided, while naval officers saw it as an ideal site for bases.
The colonialist faction would ultimately triumph. In formal peace traty, signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, no mention was made of independence for Cuba. The following year, by act of Congress, the possessions taken from Spain was be declared U.S. territories.
On January 1, 1959, Cuba became the 49th U.S. state. That same year, Hawaii, also annexed in 1898, will become the 50th; Alaska formally became the 51st state the following year, and in 1965, the Philippines became the 52nd. In 1970, Puerto Rico at last became the 53rd U.S. state. Of the territories taken from Spain in 1898, only Guam would not have become a state by the turn of the century, chiefly due to its small population.
In 1964, the youthful and charismatic Lieut. Gov. Fidel Castro of Cuba was elected to the U.S. Senate. Castro, a former law student who entered politics in the 1950s, would be an impassioned voice for America's growing Spanish-speaking populace, and would be one of the sponsors of the Senate resolution formally granting statehood to the Philippines.
In the Senate, Castro would start out as a solidly moderate Democrat who initially supported the war in Vietnam, but will grow disillusioned, finally announcing his outright opposition in 1969. His change of heart would anger many conservatives in his home state, sparking a challenge from Republican Rep. Fulgencio Batista, a decorated Korean War veteran, in 1970. Sen. Castro survived, however, and in his new incarnation as foreign-policy liberal opposed President Heston's contra war against the left-wing government of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia in the 1980s.
In 2000, in a hotly-contested election, Democratic nominee Fidel Castro narrowly defeated former Texas governor George W. Bush to win the U.S. presidency, becoming the first native Spanish-speaker to hold that office.
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Spain, America, Spanish-American War, Fidel Casto, George W. Bush. ~ Well, President Heston would have to be a staunch supporter of Israel...since he became famous by playing the man who discovered it. For the same reason, the firstborn of Egypt might be very, very careful not to annoy him.
~ Wow. Some outlandish things happening here. The Philippines as a state? There was no war there in the very early 20th century, and no massacre on the island of Masbate?
Later on, I could see Castro taking some sort of job in baseball after his official days were over, and Heston having a knack for focusing on natural disasters and such.
"Damned you, damned you, damned you," he might he heard saying when looking at a towering inferno, volcano, or earthquake...
~ Actually, for Heston to end up as resident something would have had to happen to dead-end his movie career, just as was the case IOTL with Ronald Reagan.
~ Castro would be 74 in 2000, still kicking but I dunno if he could make a 2004 re-election.
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Editor says, what if Wal-mart only sold American-made merchandise? muses Jen Greenup. 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 1992, upon the death of founder Sam Walton his successors on the board of Wal-mart committed the long-term future of the retailer to American-made merchandise.
Wal-mart People save America By Ed & Jen GreenupWalton began his retail career in 1940 at a JC Penney store in Des Moines, Iowa. Five years later came his big breakthrough when he met Butler Brothers, a regional retailer. He was offered a store in Newport, Arkansas. But unable to agree a renewal on the lease, he opened a new franchise called "Walton's Five and Dime". In 1962 he opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City and within five years, the company expanded to twenty-four stores across Arkansas turning over $12.6 million in sales.
Key to his success in achieving higher sales volume was a pricing strategy of marking up products slightly less than his competitors who accused Walton of "running them out of town". By the time Walton tried to expand out of Arkansas, emerging markets were beginning to threaten to run America itself out of the global market place. But he stuck doggedly to his core belief in "buying American" insisting that Wal-Mart stores only sold American-made products.
After his death the policy of "Made in U.S.A". gave the retailer huge competitive problems. Advocates of NAFTA also had a big headache. Because opponents of the agreement used Wal-mart as a case study for arguing against "Made in China" products dominating Main Street.
Entry posted by
Jen Greenup
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Business Source: Wikipedia Labels: Sam Walton, Wal-mart, America, Protectionism, NAFTA. Editor says, in this post we explore some of the consequences of imported goods.
~ Is the divergence in part2?
~ No shortage of manufacturing jobs, but prices would be much higher. May have a huge effect on American immigration policy.
~ Walmart wouldn't be as competitive. Many/most people, particularly poor ones, shop price first, last and always, and couldn't care less about "Made in USA."
~ There might be more in the way of tariffs if gigantic Wal*Mart wasn't lobbying to keep the prices of imports low.
~ I like to say I always bought American first..... Till I lost my American job to foreign workers. All thanks to the Federal Reserve and trader politicians.
~ Hate to say it, but Dollar General, Family Dollar and other bottom feeders would probably pick up much of the slack, with WalMart not growing nearly so much. US Domestic industries might last longer and US economy might not be as gutted as it is currently.
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Editor says, what if the Royal Navy had set sail on schedule for the Norwegian Campaign? 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 1940, one of the great jokes of WW2 is that Churchill becomes PM because Chamberlain stands down after surviving a confidence vote over the Norwegian Campaign with a smaller than expected margin and large scale Tory defections. The conventional histories see the Norway debacle as being Churchill's fault as First Lord of the Admiralty. So his own botch makes him PM.
The Norwegian MuddleChurchill as warlord was at best an acquired taste. He kept strange hours by military standards [up all night and slept half the day]. He came up with new schemes a mile a minute and had no respect for either traditions or bureaucratic work flow. His military commanders found him impossible to work with and a source of chaos. However in reverse he found the aged commanders and endless committee muddle exasperating beyond measure. In the particular case of Norway he was more right than wrong.
The entire Allied response was perpetually two days later and two pounds short. Now let us presume that Chamberlain gives him more of his head on the Norway planning just to be rid of him from the main deliberations of war cabinet. I will only make a few changes. First he's allowed to get commanders able to work with him [Cunningham for the Navy, Alexander for the Army]. Second the fleet puts to sea two days earlier and with a clear plan to force landings in southern Norway. In OTL the British paralleled the German move to land all over Norway when the key was breaking the air link from Denmark to Norway.
A new article by Scott PalterSo Cunningham destroys the bulk of the German Navy [BC Scharnhorst, Gneisnau; CA Blucher, Lutzow; CL Koln, Konigsburg, Karlsruhe, Emden; 24 destroyers, light ships, transports and tankers]. He loses three combatants [BB Renown, CV Glorous, DD Glowworm] but the bulk of the carrier air group gets ashore to secondary Norwegian bases. The four British brigades with Alexander retake Bergen, Kristiansad and Oslo with Norwegian help, isolating the Germans at Trondheim and Narvik [as well as the heavy cruiser and 14 destroyers who landed them]. Alexander was no field genius but he was adequate [see Burma in OTL]. The fleet also lands an RAF fighter wing which uses the retaken Norwegian air base at Fornebu.
This creates a stalemate. The Germans can throw in more planes but they are operating at range while the British and the few Norwegians are not. Also pilots lost by the Allies can be saved while the German aircrew is lost. So the Germans have the advantage in an attritional contest but never quite gain air superiority. They sink a few lesser British craft and provide some support for their scattered and fleeing ground troops who are over the next two weeks mostly captured or chased into Sweden where they are interned. In the meantime Alexander gets 2 more British brigades, 2 small French ones and a Polish brigade. With these plus the rapidly mobilizing Norwegians [they have little in arms and less training but are quite willing to fight for their homeland and are more adept dealing with terrain and climate than their allies] he is able to push north while holding the south. Cunningham has in the meantime stayed at the fringes of German fighter range and mopped up the remaining German naval forces.
By the third week of April the Germans have to start shifting their air units for the main offensive. So Alexander and Cunningham are left free to slowly push north to Narvik chasing the two German garrisons into Sweden.
So what does this change? France still falls. The air and ground losses for Hitler are small change other than the paras. Those lost in Norway are unavailable to be pissed away at Rotterdam. So Holland takes two more days to fall. This is actually bad for the allies as it pins the very good French 7th Army at Breda for that period of time. In theory the French 7th was the motorized reserve that could have stopped Guderian. However in fact the French wasted this chance in OTL so it's a wash.
The big changes start when France falls. Sea Lion goes from a long shot to simply impossible and both sides know it. No German surface fleet left and no paras. So the ONLY way for Hitler to get at Churchill when he won't make peace is to go south. Instead of the Battle of Britain we have the Battles for Malta and Egypt. British will lose Malta in August and Egypt in November. A full German air fleet in the Med and a large panzer corps [all the Libyan ports could support in addition to the Italian 10th army and air units] is enough to bash the Western desert Group out of Egypt. British drop block ships in the Canal. One division [make it 4th Indian] retreats up the Nile for upper Egypt and Khartoum. The rest retreat back into Sinai after totally wrecking Alexandria and Cairo. Canal is now littered with block ships.
This sort of campaign does not produce a vast German campaign beyond into Iraq. Without Alexandria as a functioning port the limits of how many men can be supported in Egypt by truck from Tripoli and Tobruk is quite limited. In OTL it took more trucks to support Rommel than to keep an army group running in Russia. So Iraq would be at the expense of Barbarossa which I do not see happening. The probability is spending what supply can be brought forward on rebuilding Alexandria [rebuilds were never a Nazi strong point - no glamour], entrenching along the Canal and a push up the Nile to try and save the Italian army group in East Africa [hopeless but an Italian priority].
So the imperial disaster that will trigger the Quit India movement becomes Egypt not Singapore. In reverse the fall of Egypt means that Malaya and Burma are adequately garrisoned by late 1941 making the initial Japanese blitz near impossible. Similarly the Greek campaign does not happen because Benny the Moose has too much to do in Egypt and Sudan. A whole different war because the British fleet sails early and is better commanded.
Entry posted by
Scott Palter
© Scott Palter, 2008-. ?Final Sword Productions 2010Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Changing the Times Labels: Norway, Britain, World War 2, Churchill, Chamberlain. ~ A bit of a stretch to send so many men to Africa. Hitler would still have had Yugoslavia on his mind. Instead, he is more likely to try to butt his head against Norway, possibly delaying the invasion of France.
~ "A whole different war" indeed. Would the Allies go ahead with Operation Sledgehammer or go with Churchill's Operation Torch to strike at the Axis' weak underbelly?
Comment from Lars Walker on Facebook: It would have been AWESOME!
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Editor says, what if the first choice candidate Robert A. Lovett had accepted Kennedy's offer to serve (again) as Secretary of Defence? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1968, on this day the President of the Ford Motor Company Robert Strange McNamara introduced the Kennedy Continental, the rebranded 1969 model personal luxury car.
The Best and the BrightestThe rebadging decision had been discussed at the highest levels of management at Ford's Corporate Headquarters in Dearborn ever since President John F. Kennedy had been shot dead inside a customised Lincoln 4-door convertible.
The Secret Service had code named the vehicle "SS-100-X" after the Hess & Eisenhart company of Cincinnati, Ohio adapted a 1961 model, later updating the limousine with the grille/headlight/bumper assembly from the 1962 Lincoln. After the assassination, the limousine was repaired and retrofitted with full armor and a fixed roof, subsequently continuing in service for the White House for many years before being put on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2006-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ford Motor Company, Kennedy, McNamara, Dearborn, Limousine. ~ If he ran Ford Motor Company as well as he did Vietnam, the days of the Edsel would look rosy in comparison, and we'd all be driving Volkswagen Beetles.
~ "If he ran Ford Motor Company as well as he did Vietnam, the days of the Edsel would look rosy in comparison, and we'd all be driving Volkswagen Beetles."
Or BMWs. :D
Steve Kudlak commented on Facebook - I always like the comment which Robert McNamara made about his wedding invitations. His rto-be wife asked him what his middle name was. He replied "It's Strange" and she said: "Don't worry about that just tell me what it is!" ANd he said: "It really is Strange." Thiis is related in the film "The Fog of War" with a really neat Phillip Glass soundtrack; It has a very good retelling of the Cuban Missile Crisis which had to be in the top 3 scariest times of my life. I was just over 10 years of age and it really made an impressiion I will probably never forget!
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Editor says, What if Douglas MacArthur had run for President in 1948, and won? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1951, under immense pressure with Communists smashing across much of the Korean front, President Douglas MacArthur announced his proposals for a major spring counter-offensive at the US Congress on this day.
No Substitute for VictoryFamiliar with the characteristic belligerency of "Old Brass Hat", members of the House of Representatives were still shocked to hear the proposed reintroduction of Chiang Kai-shek's Formosan forces into the fighting. But the former General's plans went further then opening a second front on the Chinese mainland, much further. Because MacArthur was seeking authorisation to expand the war to China by bombing bases in Manchuria, if necessary, perhaps with nuclear weapons (thirty to fifty was the number he actually had in mind).
"[Korea has] snapped his brilliant but brittle mind" ~ TrumanCritics of the administration alleged that the architect of this escalation was of course none other that MacArthur himself. He had chosen to expand the war aims from the liberation of South Korean to unifying the peninsula. When US forces crossed the 38th parallel and advanced toward the Yalu River, the border with China, despite warnings from Beijing, MacArthur dismissed the danger of Chinese intervention and predicted quick victory. But China intervened massively in late November, pushing the US forces back to the 38th parallel and beyond.
Despite the fact that MacArthur was exaggerating the Communist Chinese threat to overrun South Korea, he replaced military logic with patriotic emotion - "there was no substitute for victory" he said. And now less than five years after the Pacific War had been ended with the use of nuclear weapons, US politicians realised there were staring down the thin end of the wedge. The United States Senator for Missouri Harry S. Truman called for impeachment, declared that the Korean Conflict had "snapped his brilliant but brittle mind".
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Paul Baldwin, "The 365 most important events of the twentieth century"Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Encyclopedia Labels: MacArthur, China, Korean War, Communism, Cold War. ~ Who wrote this? It's anachronistic nonsense. The Chinese Communists had already crossed the 38th parallel and were about to be driven back across it. What "exagerating" are you talking about? Try reposting this with some idea of the period. (I actually remember it.)
~ In 1948 Macarthur was busy rebuilding Japan, and wouldn't have been interested in going for the White House.
~ He was, however, nominated--by Gerald L. K. Smith's far-right "Christian Nationalist Party."
As for this post being "anachronistic nonsense," this is alternate history. I'm not old enough to remember the Korean War, but I know MacArthur wasn't President then. Perjaps in this timeline the course of the war had been different.
~ There is a point where the alternate is sufficiently alien such that outside comment is impossible and this is one of those. A US where Mac could get the GOP nomination must let have even a remote chance of winning is past ASB heading to a universe where the laws of physics don't work.
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Editor says, what if the German Army's 1918 Offensive had succeeded? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1918, an armistice on this day marked the end of the Great War. Notwithstanding the fact that the German High Command had succeeding in playing their "last card" and won, the gathering right-wing republican forces would soon topple the Imperial Government. They did so by fostering the "stab in the back" legend, that the Kaiser had saved his throne by accepting a loser's peace settlement whilst the German Army was undefeated in the field.
Stabbed in the BackThe defeat of Russia enabled the Germans to field an army of 2.5 million men on the Western Front. However, 1.5 million Germans had already died and the reality of their troop strength disguised the inexperience of the soldiers chosen for a final offensive. And yet the Western Allies were seriously worried, because the 191 divisions of the German Army were up against their combined force of only 178 divisions. At this point of decision, Ludendorff proposed the administration of a knockout blow before the US Army could arrive in strength.
And so on March 21st, German Artillery fired 1.2m shells at the British Third and Fifth Armies guarding the Somme. Fortunately for the Germans, a thick fog had appeared, allowing the German soldiers to quickly overrun the British positions.
And so history would record that it was Ferdinand Foch, the Marshal of France and Allied Supreme Commander who was forced to confront his political masters, and urgently request that an immediate armistice must be organized. The peace settlement that followed effectively restored Western Europe to its 1914 borders, enabling right-wingers to claim that the opportunity to overrun France, and gain a victor's settlement had been thrown away by the Kaiser.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Watson, Alexander. "Stabbed at the front", published in the December 2008 Edition of History Today MagazineStory Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: World War 1, Armistice, Great Britain, France, Germany. ~ If the West packs it in how does the Kaiser Reich fall?
~ A projection of displaced anger from the population of a shattered Germany who see no rewards from the War. When also the army has itself lost the will to continue fighting and therefore highly unstable.
~ I'd think that after that war, just going back to the _status quo ante bellum_ would be all right with a lot of people. The Kaiser's government could plausibly claim that they got the best deal possible, what with the Yanks being on the way. BTW---what would happen to the AEF?
~ So, in this TL, does the Kapp Putsch succeed? Or do the Nazis actually succeed in 1923 in Munich?
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Editor says, in Michael Pearson's "The Sealed Train" the author is quoted as saying that "Far from acting like a tiger in a cage, Lenin started to move only after the Germans forced him" But what might have been if they sent him to London, rather than St Petersburg?
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In 1917, following the entry of the United States into the Great War, the Imperial German Government realised that desperate measures were necessary to prevent impending military defeat. Accordingly, the Reich Treasury was authorised to finance political agitation in the European territory occupied by the Allied Powers.
In a single transaction, more than 5,000,000 gold deutsch marks would be paid to Alexander Parvus. The Marxist millionnaire guaranteed value for money, stirring more trouble amongst the war-torn lower orders of Europe than the German Government could have possibly imagined.
A Communist Britain, Part Three - The Tiger escapes his cageThe man that would cause that trouble was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (pictured). Whilst at University, he became involved in politics. After one protest demonstration he was arrested and taken to the local police station. One of the police officers asked: "Why are you rebelling, young man? After all, there is a wall in front of you". Lenin confidently replied: "The wall is tottering, you only have to push it for it to fall over".
But by March 1917, Lenin was living in Zurich in poverty, the exiled head of a small extremist revolutionary party that had relatively little following even within Russia. However, Parvus knew that Lenin had lived with his wife in Islington from 1902-3; he had worked in the borough on a revolutionary newspaper, and held a communist party congress there. Parvus used this information to convince the German government that Lenin's return would create political unrest in England, which would help to end the war on the Western front, allowing Germany to concentrate on defeating the other Western allies.
Once through Germany, Lenin continued by ferry to Dover; the remainder of the journey through London was subsequently arranged by English Communists. Yet the capital city that Lenin reached was a shattered echo of the city he once knew. Because unrestricted submarine warfare had brought Londoners to the very brink of defeat.
The war had a disastrous impact on the British economy. Food was in short supply and this led to rising prices. By January 1917 the price of commodities in London had increased six-fold. In an attempt to increase their wages, industrial workers went on strike and in London people took to the street demanding food. On 11th February, 1917, a large crowd marched through the streets of London breaking shop windows and shouting anti-war slogans.
Lenin saw that power lay on the streets of London, and he moved quickly seize it. Seemingly delivering on the short-term objectives of the mission, the consequences for his German paymasters would be absolutely disasterous in the long-run.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Communist Britain Source: Wikipedia Labels: Lenin, Germany, Britain, Communism, World War 1. ~ As a Russian, he'd have an uphill struggle. Most British workers despised foreigners only slightly less than they did "toffs."
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Editor says, what if ex-servicemen Robert Dole and John McCain had a golden opportunity to put things right for veterans in the United States?
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In 1997, on this day Admiral John Sidney McCain III retd. (pictured below))1 was pleased to accept the appointment of United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from President Robert Dole (pictured left).
What It TakesBoth ex-servicemen pledged to transform the US Government's second largest department (after the United States Department of Defense) in order to deliver a "fair deal for veterans". Because Admiral McCain and Lieutenant R. Dole knew a thing or two about the VA program - the hard way. And in his opening speech, the McCain read from an excerpt of Richard B. Cramer's What it Takes, describing a personal epiphany that Dole himself had experienced after his 1988 electoral defeat by George W. Bush.
"He blamed himself - what was wrong with him. But the worst part wasn't things he'd done. It was the pictures of Bush - that was what he couldn't stop - pictures of Bush! In his head! Bushing throwing snowballs, driving trucks, forklifts .. unwrapping his Big Mac. Dole never wanted to see that in his head. And he never wanted to say, even in his head .. Maybe I could have done that .. if I was whole".
And surely none could doubt the significance of this important appointment. Because within the next decade, the Department would be staffed by a staggering 278,565 employees, running an annual budget of $87.6 billion.
In fact Dole's first speech in the Senate in 1969 was a plea for federal aid for the handicapped. And the President himself now emphasised the need to revisit the Department's core mission, framed by President Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address: "...to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan"..
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Richard B. Cramer, "What it Takes"Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politics Source: Wikipedia Labels: Bob Dole, John McCain, Veterans, America, War. Editor says, in this post we imagine that:
a) McCain succeeded in becoming the third Admiral following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather 1 (please see link to New York Times article).
b) that Dole won the 1996 election.
c) the speculation that McCain received this appointment from Barack Obama was backdated by over a decade to a Dole Administration.
~ What's the POD? Did McCain not go into elective politics on returning from Vietnam?
~ Eric our POD is an alt on the New York Times article Taste of Senate Set Capt. McCain on a New Path (published not far from you I bet!) which suggested that McCain was actually offered the appointment to Admiral but turned it down. We assumed he accepts, Its an idea we explore in a number of threads on this site sir.
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In 1941, the largest military land campaign the world had seen to date was launched as the Red Army began Operation Guillotine, Stalin's long-planned invasion of the German occupation zone in western Poland; the attack involved nearly four million troops. | |
 | |
| Joseph Stalin |
Variant entry posted by
Chris Oakley
original content has been repurposed to celebrate the author's genius © Chris Oakley,2008-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Blackpool40 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Blackpool, Adolf Hitler, Normandy, Britain, France.comments powered by Disqus
| US President | In 1991, the bombardment of the Kuds ceases at dawn, Iraqi time. |
 | |
| Jack Kemp |
Although President Kemp is sympathetic to the Kurds, he is aware of NATO ally Turkey's concerns about the political effect of establishing a Kurdish state on its border. Nevertheless, he considers this risk worth taking. |
Entry posted by
Eric Lipps
© Eric Lipps,2007-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Jack Kemp, Presidency, Kurds, Iraq, Gulf War.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sockless Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Jerry Simpson, Robbie A. Taylor, Topeka, Grover Cleveland, 1861.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Sheridan Labels: Jacob Sheridan, Robbie A. Taylor, Livinia Sheridan, Mars Attacks, America.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: The Baron Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Mikhail von Heflin, Robbie A. Taylor, The Baron, Velma Porter, Dimensions.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Arthur II Source: Robbie Taylors Blog Labels: Arthur Pendragon, Robbie A. Taylor, Camelot Redux, Merlin, England.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Kurt Cobain, Drug overdose, Suicide, Nirvana, Premature Death.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Marion Morrison, Audie Murphy, Cowboys, Actors, Hollywood.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Marquis of Queensberry, Oscar Wild, Boudoir, Libel Case, Scandal.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Earth Source: Wikipedia Labels: Natural Selection, Origin of Species, Mankind, Genesis, Biblical interpretations.comments powered by Disqus
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Today in Alternate History, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Religion Source: Wikipedia Labels: Noah, Deluge, Antideluvian World, Old Testament, Bible.comments powered by Disqus
April 4
Editor says, what if the ninth President had not died after serving just one month of his term? 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 April 2013 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1841, after recovering from an illness believed to be pneumonia, US President William Henry Harrison announced a new policy on the issue of slavery in the federal territories. No new slaves could be born in the territories, but slaves could be brought in from existing slave states. The compromise alleviated the fears of abolitionists, primarily Northerners, about the direct expansion of slavery and brought great excitement to slave-holders, primarily Southerners, who gained a valuable new export. Harrison hoped it would be a transition into legalizing slavery overall in the territories, but it actually contributed to the end of slavery in America.
April 4, 1841 - Harrison Announces Slavery in TerritoriesHarrison was born in Virginia on February 9, 1773, the last president born before the Declaration of Independence. He was well educated at the Presbyterian Hampden-Sydney College, where he began to take part in the Great Revival sweeping the young nation. When word came that young William was beginning to participate in abolitionist meetings, his father put him into medical school in Philadelphia. Harrison disliked medicine and, upon his father's death, took Virginia Governor "Lighthorse Harry" Lee's advice to join Army.
Because of his rugged discipline and skill in command, Harrison quickly rose through the ranks. In 1795, while stationed in Ohio (then America's western frontier), Harrison eloped with Anna Symmes, and the two would have ten children together. According to historical study, Harrison also had six children through his slave Dilsia, all of whom were sold to avoid scandal as his career changed from the military to politics.
Harrison resigned as a lieutenant in 1797 and became the Secretary of the Northwest Territory, often acting as governor during the appointed official's long absences. Using his business of horse-breeding and the platform of cheaper land prices as encouragement for expansion in the territory, Harrison was elected to Congress in 1799. After Harrion's display of leadership in passing the Harrison Land Grant, President John Adams appointed him as Governor of the Indiana Territory. He worked to prove up the territory quickly and was granted the authority to make treaties with the local Indians. Many of Harrison's plans involved indentured servitude and the legalization of slavery in the territory, which would supply the manpower to improve the land all the sooner. As Indiana became increasingly abolitionist, Harrison's proposals for slavery were ended.
When the Shawnee under Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet began to create a confederation of tribes in 1810, Harrison came to national attention. Tecumseh argued that Harrison's treaties with the Miami people did not apply to the other tribes, meaning that Harrison had purchased substantially less land than the Treaty of Fort Wayne stated. Harrison disagreed, and Tecumseh threatened to kill anyone who settled the new land. War broke out, and, in 1811, Harrison defeated Tecumseh at Prophetstown near the Tippecanoe River, earning his nickname "Old Tippecanoe". The War of 1812 swiftly followed, and Harrison again defeated Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames alongside his British allies, defending the Ohio region from incursion.
After the war, Harrison's political career continued, including a stint as envoy to Gran Colombia, where he came into a feud with Simon Bolivar over freedom. He felt Bolivar would become a dictator over an anarchical people while Bolivar wrote, "The United States [seems] destined by Providence to plague America with torments in the name of freedom". In 1840, Harrison successfully campaigned to become president on the Whig ticket, creating many of the public relations activities used in politics today, include a jingle,
"Old Tip he wore a homespun coat, he had no ruffled shirt: wirt-wirt,
But Matt he has the golden plate, and he's a little squirt: wirt-wirt!"
He portrayed himself as a poor frontiersman and his opponent Martin van Buren as a stodgy rich man, though Harrison himself had been born wealthy and continued to be so. Harrison also mastered reversing attempted attacks on his campaign. When the smear rumor spread that Harrison was an old coot who would "sit in his log cabin drinking hard cider" all day, he spread the image of himself as a man of the people, which became popular. Democrats also played on his age, nicknaming him "Granny Harrison". To show that he was still a fit man despite being 68, Harrison gave a two-hour inaugural address standing in the rain without a hat. He became ill afterward but proved himself in recovering and contributing to the Whig cause.
With Harrison as president, Henry Clay hoped to promote many of his ideals in the American System. Clay initially was overly forward, to which Harrison responded, "Mr. Clay, you forget that I am the President". Instead, Harrison and Daniel Webster controlled the Whigs and encouraged development of the West. Many of Clay's ideals did come into play such as the renewal of the National Bank and the funding of internal improvements such as roads and canals, but tariffs proved too divisive. Harrison championed Western settlement, including the expansion of slavery for rapid economic improvement.
His plan of importing slaves and freeing newborns as they came of age brought about the custom of transporting pregnant female slaves back to the South. The action was deemed barbaric (especially by Southern slave-owners whose own property would be more valuable if only they could produce slaves), and it became illegal to transport a slave "with child". Outcry arose over Congress legislating on "property", but political precedent was established as the Constitution regulated interstate commerce. As anti-slavery factions began to gain power in Washington, further control over the transport of slaves under interstate law was enacted such as health screenings. The acts culminated in the liberation of Dred Scott when his case was brought forth by another citizen in 1857.
With slavery increasingly restricted to local markets, a balloon in the slave economy began with the price of slaves skyrocketing to four and even six times the 1850s value. Investors eventually looked elsewhere, such as tenant farming, and the price collapsed. Slave-holders cried for government assistance, demanding that a public fund be created to liberate slaves by purchasing them, often for slightly more than market value. Democratic President Stephen Douglas did so with his Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and, by 1866, slavery itself was put to an end.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: William Henry Harrison, Slavery, Civil War, America, Premature Death. Editor says, in reality Harrison died after only thirty-two days in office. As more and more territory came into the United States, the intensity of the expansion of slavery question increased. Many, such as Stephen Douglas, hoped popular sovereignty would solve the issue of slaves in the new territories, but it turned violent, such as the wars of Bloody Kansas.
~ Interesting! I don't know if Harrison would have done something like this; I know little of the man.
~ No Comment
~ Interesting indeed! This means no Civil War...and possibly no Jim Crow and Ku Klux Klan to follow.
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Editor says, what would happen to Western Hegemony if Christian society rejected the risen Jesus? In this article we explore an original idea from the 1903 novel When It Was Dark: The Story Of A Great Conspiracy authored by Claud Cockburn. 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 March 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 2013, the secret justification for a joint American-Israeli Strike on Iran was openly revealed by a Wikileak publication of top secret diplomatic cables originating from the Confederate State Department in Richmond, VA.
Mullah-ed, Part 2 In which Rick Santorum drops the bomb for JesusThe national intelligence agency of Israel (Mossad) reported that Hezbollah had discovered the body of the unrisen Jesus in a Syrian grave marked with the unambigous inscription "I, Jospeph of Arimathaea, took the body of Jesus, the Nazarene, from the tomb where it was first laid and hid it in this place". Details of the location of the tomb were held by their Iranian sponsors.
Understanding that such a revelation (even if proven false) would be a prize to radical Islam, the Israeli Government had engaged with the sympathetic Confederate President Santorum who immediately set about building an alliance of the willing with his counterparts in the Two Americas. A secret plan was devised to destroy both sites. Santorum also received strong backing from a "Christian brother", his occasional ally the Confederate Governor of Texas (partly because thirty-five years before Rick Perry had been selected as a CSA observer on Operation Eagle Talon during his participation in the Future Leaders of America program). But despite their conviction in this compelling "inside" story, the outside story had remained un-changed, that the Iranian Government was close to achieving nuclear launch capability and needed to be stopped at all costs.
This article is part of the Two Americas thread. in the variant Mullah-ed, Part 1 God intervened to prevent the destruction of Iran's atomic research facilities.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Two Americas Source: Wikipedia Labels: Risen Jesus, America, Rick Santorum, Iran, Confederate. Editor says, in this article from Word from the Word the novel is summarised as follows ~ "[When It Was Dark] where the author imagined that a group of atheistic archaeologists had found the body of Jesus in a Syrian grave. Then the author imagined what would happen if such a discovery were accepted as true. He suggested that Christians would lose their faith, Christian churches would close their doors, and Christian missionaries would be summoned home from the mission field. He predicted that within half a century, the western world would be plunged into chaos, defeat, and despair."
~ I always thought that Islam taught that Jesus did not die on the cross---that, instead, a substitute body was crucified.
~ If the Confederacy had won its independence, so much else would have changed that it's hard to believe WikilLeaks would ever have existed. Even Iran, in its modern form, might not, since the CSA's victory might have affected World War I and its aftermath, which carved Iran out of the Ottoman Empire's holdings.
~ Except in OTL, Persia, as Iran was known in 1914, was not part of the Ottoman Empire.
~ It would be difficult to make all of Christendom lose its faith. Nobody would believe something coming out of radical Islam outside of early PR shocks, and US-Isaeli action would be unnecessary and over the top (thank goodness it's never like that in OUR TL, eh?)
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Editor says, what if John Adams was denied the political advice of his wife Abigail Smith? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 1759, on this day in the town of Braintree on Massachusetts Bay, friends of the struggling lawyer John Adams burst into his drawing room just moments after his "Sweet Orlinda" Hannah Quincy had accepted his rash proposal of marriage.
Sweet OrlindaFor a brief moment he had forgotten his career and financial troubles, a customary lapse of judgement that Benjamin Franklin would later note in summing up Adam's character: "He means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise man, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses".
And despite his pivotal role at the very centre of events during the American Revolution, that character flaw would cruelly deny him the Vice Presidency twenty years later. Because in the final analysis, his brilliant legal mind was unsuited to the challenges of governance.
A manic depressive, Adams was overcome by despair and returned to Braintree to resume his career in law. But every dog has its day. Deep into his retirement, two delegates from the Hartford Convention rushed into his drawing room to offer him a second chance, to serve as the President of the New England Conferacy.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, America, Founding Fathers, War of Independence. Editor says, in our timeline, friends rushed in before he could propose. Hannah Quincy gave up waiting, and Adams did not marry for a further four years - to Abigail Smith who served as his wife and closest political advisor.
~ Not being real familiar wth Adams, I can't comment much, but the musical _1776_ would look very different.
~ A good lesson about not rushing in. The John Adams bio-pic was awesome.
~ You know, I never saw the Adams bio-pic...
~ But he notoriously wrote to her "you think to much." And when she asked him to "remember the ladies" in your fight for freedom, he answered that he and the British would ally together to crush a women's revolt. Nowadays those statements are passed off as a joke, if they are mentioned at all:In the musical 1776, he said that his remark about her thinking too much was "an irony." Some joke. Anyway, it all suggests that he didn't follow her advice all that closely...or at least that he didn't know he was doing it.
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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.
